Judge Blocks Renisha McBride Cellphone Pictures In Trial

Wayne County Judge Dana Hathaway ruled on Monday that pictures from Renisha McBride's cellphone displaying the victim with a gun, marijuana and cash, will not be viewed by the jurors, according to The Associated Press.

Attorney's for Theodore Wafer, the Detroit-area man who shot a young, drunken woman on his porch, want to show the photos from McBride's cellphone to demonstrate that she had an aggressive side, but Hathaway said there could be a "million reasons" why the 19-year-old posed that way, the AP reported.

"There is nothing in the photographs that establishes a reputation for violent or aggressive behavior," Hathaway said, according to the AP.

Wafer, 55, of Dearborn Heights is charged with second-degree murder, but argues he shot her in self-defense in response to pounding at his door last November, the AP reported. Trial is set for July 21.

In court filings and arguments, Wafer's attorneys have clearly signaled their strategy: He lives alone in a neighborhood on the edge of Detroit and was afraid of what he was hearing at about 4:30 a.m., according to the AP.

Separately, Hathaway agreed to approve subpoenas to get access to social media sites that the victim may have used, the AP reported.

Another defense attorney for Wafer, Cheryl Carpenter, has tried to get the judge to allow the defense to use McBride's text messages, which carry a slang reference to marijuana, and the provocative photos, but the judge won't budge, the AP reported.

"Our defense is blown to pieces if you don't allow me to argue to the jury that she could have been up to no good. ... She could have been running from somebody," Carpenter said, according to the AP. Carpenter acknowledged that questioning McBride's reputation "leaves a bad taste" but "we have to do this."

Three hours before Wafer shot McBride in the face, she crashed her car about a half-mile away in Detroit, but walked away before an ambulance arrived, the AP reported. It's not known what she did between the crash and the shooting, but reports say she was not armed.

Her family believes McBride probably was seeking help at Wafer's house, but the defense says there's no evidence, according to the AP.

"The prosecutor argued she was meek and mild. ... She was violent. She was aggressive. She was pounding," Carpenter said, the AP reported. McBride's aunt, Bernita Spinks, left court at one point because she didn't like Carpenter's argument.

"She wasn't a violent person. She wouldn't harm a fly," Spinks said in an interview, according to the AP.