Yesterday (May 7) marked the third day of testimony in the first degree murder-for-hire trial of rapper Torrence “Lil Boosie” Hatch.
The prosecution called their first witness of the day, Michael “Marlo Mike” Louding.
Louding is accused of being hired by Lil Boosie to murder Terry Boyd in October of 2009.
The Prosecution
The prosecution said in a taped confession that Louding admitted that Torence Lil Boosie paid him to kill Terry Boyd.
While on the stand, Louding testified he never told police he shot Terry Boyd.
Louding said he was at Torence Lil Boosie’s house on the night of the murder and the two never left.
Prosecution lawyer Dana Cummings originally said that she expected Michael Louding to lie.
After Louding’s initial statement on the stand, Cummings ordered that the interrogation tapes be played to refresh Louding’s memory.
On the interrogation tapes, Louding gave an account of what happened the evening Terry Boyd was killed.
He told investigators that he and Adrienne Pitman, along with Michael Judson, went to the residence of Boyd in a white SUV.
He said that he shot Boyd through a window, while he sat on the couch.
Louding said once he got back to Boosie’s house and the phone calls came in that Boyd was dead, Boosie gave him $2,800.
After the tapes were played Michael Louding was called back to the witness stand.
He again denied having any involvement in the murder of Terry Boyd or being hired by Lil Boosie.
“I never killed Terry Boyd and Mr. Hatch never paid me to kill Terry Boyd,” Louding said.
When further examined by the prosecution, Louding became uncooperative.
He blurted out “where the other eight hours of the tape?”
Cummings agreed that not all of the interrogation was recorded to which Louding replied: “sound like somebody trying to hide something.”
Cummings then played a recorded phone conversation between Louding and a man known by the nickname, “Donkey.”
During the conversation, Donkey tells Louding: “you’re gonna shake the spot ‘cause you young.”
Donkey also tells him: “The whole thing set up to take Hatch down. Ain’t nobody see you do nothing. All those tattoos and stuff…that’s what we do for the videos.”
At that point, Cummings ordered Michael Louding to be released from shackles and for him to reveal a tattoo of an AK-47 on his abdomen that read: “Yo’ Boosie Who’s Next.”
Louding said that the tattoo doesn’t mean anything and the fact that he originally stated that it meant he was a hitman for Boosie was because, “The crooked police made me say that.”
“They told me that Torrence [was] trying to kill me and the best way to deal with him is get him off the streets. They said he had a $25,000 contract on me.”
Louding explained that this was especially believable, because he had just gotten shot at a couple of nights before.
Louding also said that he felt close to Lil Boosie and Boosie was like a brother to him and he occasionally called Hatch “Pops.”
After becoming frustrated with her witness Dana Cummings asked Michael Louding one last time, “How did Terry Boyd die?”
Louding responded: “you live by it you die by it.”
Cummings then asked, “Mr. Louding, are you telling the court that you were lying when you said Torence Hatch paid you to kill Terry Boyd?”
Louding said, “Yes ma’am.”
At that point the prosecution had no further questions.
The Defense
During the defenses’s cross examination of Michael Louding, defense attorney Jason Williams played the interrogation tape again, but this time let it extend past the time it was originally cut off for the prosecution.
“He reads him his rights and says alright you’ve come a long way dog …Now get it straight with me. Now what does he need to get straight if he’s telling his own story. If he’s telling his own story he doesn’t have to get it straight; just tell us what happened,” William argued.
The tape showed law enforcement saying they were not going to charge Louding with murder, but with aggravated assault and terrorism even though he confessed to murder.
Then the tape reveal Louding saying, “This dude wanna kill me? He bout to get out of jail now?”
Attorney Williams argued that law enforcement lied to Louding in order to get him to cooperate with getting his client Lil Boosie charged with murder.
The detective admitted to lying to Louding about having evidence that linked him to the case.
He said that it is not unusual to lie to a suspect and that lying is a technique taught to interrogators.
The defense also had Louding confirm that Adrienne Pitman had an outstanding beef with Terry Boyd and that Michael “Ghost” Judson, now deceased, had been robbed for $720 by Terry Boyd.
Michael Louding also admitted to receiving treatment for the voices he hears in his head.
The prosecution challenged the notion that Louding hears voices, saying that he seemed very competent and never told investigators about his mental challenges.
In regards to Pitman’s and Judson’s disputes with Boyd, Cummings then asked Louding “Are you saying you had nothing to do with the six murders?”
Louding replied, “I’m not a murderer, I’m a lover.”
Michael Louding was then excused off the witness stand for the day.
Testimony continues today.
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