HORRY COUNTY, S.C. (WPDE) — The murder trial in the 2023 killing of 20-year-old David Roldan Dimas continued into Thursday.
Abdullah Seifullah is one of the men charged with the murder of Roldan Dimas who was shot while sitting in his car outside of the Planet Fitness on June 19, 2023 around 11 p.m in Carolina Forest.
Branden Huertas is the other man charged with the murder of Roldan Dimas. Court officials told ABC 15 Huertas pled guilty last week and is waiting to be sentenced.
After a cold case detective from the Horry County Police Department, a woman who knows Huertas, and the Planet Fitness general manager testified on the witness stand Wednesday, at least three more witnesses are expected to testify Thursday.
The first witness to take the stand was a South Carolina Law Enforcement Division forensic scientist in the firearms department.
James Green has worked for SLED for 20 years, and is responsible for looking at fire ammunition, fired bullets, and if certain cartridge cases were fired by specific firearms.
Green says he does this by looking under two microscopes connected by a bridge that can look at two things simultaneously.
He says there are a number of conclusions that can be made when looking at bullets fired, cartridges, and certain firearms.
Here are four conclusions mentioned on the witness stand by Green:
Positive: bullet fired by same firearm examined
Negative: bullet not fired by firearm examined
Inconclusive: There are not enough markings to make a determination
Unsuitable: Too damaged, no markings to examine
The prosecution confirmed Green was given a firearm to examine in this case. Green said it was Taurus model semi-automatic pistol, 9 mil caliber weapon.
During questioning, Green said he examined a bullet near the victim, Roldan Dimas, as they were moving him on the scene back in 2023.
Green said after examining both the firearm, bullets, and cartridge cases, the three items were most consistent with the Taurus pistol that was fired on scene.
Defense attorney for Seifullah cross-examined Green, asking him even if he could tell this bullet was fired by this weapon, he wouldn’t be able to tell who shot the firearm or where the firearm came from?
To which, Green responded “no we cannot.”
The second witness to take the stand was Katherine Leisy, another SLED agent in the DNA case work department of homicides and investigations.
She said she developed DNA profile from unidentified biological material in crime scenes and investigation.
From swabs of Seifullah, Huertas, and Roldan Dimas she said she was able to take pieces of evidence and examine them with “touch DNA.”
Touch DNA is something someone has touched or been in contact with.
Leisy said she examined the steering wheel of the Dodge charger, Taurus pistol, and the slide of the pistol.
Leisy said from swabs taken for DNA and the DNA found on the Taurus pistol, she found the DNA from Abdullah Seifullah was 520 septillion times more likely to be on the handgun and two unidentified individuals, than if it were three unidentified indviduals.
The defense fired back, stating that SLED is provided information on the case prior to examining the weapon, and the DNA seen on the handgun only means there was a transfer of DNA, not necessarily meaning Seifullah touched it.