Although litigation attorneys have a plan of action before going to trial, things can often change quickly.
That was certainly the case on Wednesday with the strategy of Chief Warrant Officer Bree Kuhn in the murder case, when the defense prematurely discontinued its case.
Kuhn, who is on trial for the 2021 premeditated murder of her husband Collin Turner, and Dr. Julie Harper had planned to testify on behalf of the defense. They argued that the defendant suffered from PTSD and abuse at the hands of her partner.
However, after a lengthy conversation with her attorneys, Kuhn told the judge that she had chosen to remain silent. Kuhn’s attorneys, Randy Etheridge and James Barnes, then said they would not call Harper to testify and would instead drop their case.
Attorneys and the judge expect the jury’s deliberations to begin Thursday instead of Friday as previously planned.
Bree Kuhn’s brother testifies he heard abuse and shooting over the phone
One witness who did testify on behalf of the defense was Kuhn’s older brother, Eric. He testified that he heard the lead-up to the fatal shooting over the phone on September 8, 2021.
“I heard a lot of talking — Collin yelling, things getting hit, at one point he was on the phone with the police,” Eric Kuhn said on the witness stand. “I heard his voice raise a couple times, yeah, and I heard kids crying.”
Eric Kuhn testified in open court that he knew his sister had a gun during the argument the day of the shooting, but prosecutor Mark Alderman raised a contradiction during cross-examination.
Eric Kuhn testified that he knew his sister had a gun to defend herself and her children against Turner, but Alderman claimed the witness never made such statements during his 2021 police interview, nor during his Zoom deposition in June 2024.
When asked about the discrepancy in his testimony, Eric Kuhn said he told investigators about the gun before they began recording his interrogation, but said nothing about it afterward because he didn’t want to call it “redundant.”
Eric Kuhn also testified that during his 2024 deposition, technical problems arose with Zoom, resulting in only his testimony about the gun being missed, and nothing else.
911 provides real-time visibility into events
In a recorded 911 call played during Tuesday’s trial, Turner calmly explains to the dispatcher that Bree Kuhn locked him in the garage when suddenly there is a loud bang.
“What was that?” the operator asked.
“She just shot me!” Turner said. The call then picks up three more shots, followed by silence.
This article originally appeared in the Pensacola News Journal: NAS Pensacola Chief Petty Officer Bree Kuhn Trial Dismissed Early
