As PIB fully transitioned to four lanes north of the Gwinnco driveway, the second police car moved to the right lane and began to pass the Omodt/Kautter vehicle. The passing maneuver was completed as the as the vehicles approached Roosevelt Circle on the left of PIB. The driver, Paul Omodt testified to this. He further testified that by the time they passed First Street, the police vehicle was “quite a ways” ahead of them.

On the photograph, Roosevelt Circle is on the left of PIB immediately behind the large pine tree that seems to jut out over PIB. If your eyes are good, you will be able to see the street and even follow it around the circle to the point where it returns to the intersection. First Street is immediately across PIB from the next street on the left that can be clearly seen. Georgia Highway 20 is just beyond that almost at the point where PIB seems to disappear. Raymond K. Smith Boulevard, where Omodt and Kautter stated that the police car turned right is immediately where PIB seems to disappear.

As the police car passed them on the right, Karl Kautter, the passenger, stated that he saw the police officer in profile for about 4 or 5 seconds as he passed them. It was very dark in the storm, but Kautter said he could see the officer by the light of his dashboard.

District Attorney Danny Porter took advantage of a typographical error in the transcript of the hearing of July 10, 1995 where the recorder had mistaken 4 or 5 seconds and wrote 45 seconds. In his opening statement, Porter railed at the jury that the two cars were window-to-window for 45 seconds and furthered this mischief by elaborating that this through 3 stoplights, even though testimony showed that all of these lights were a all green. This impression was never corrected, and the jury took it into their deliberations.

In the hearing of July 10, 1995, Karl Kautter stated that he did not live very far from Gwinnco Muffler, and that the pair arrived there shortly after 10:00 PM. He came up with an earlier time after he had interviewed by Danny Porter.

Officer Brian Reddy was at the time a carbon copy of Michael Chapel. Both were about 6’6” tall. Both were bodybuilders and weighed almost 300 pounds in their police gear. They had been friends and referred to themselves as 600 pounds of cop. Even their wives could not tell them apart at a distance until they moved.