For instance, Appellants speculate that Officer Walker disposed of Wilson's sweatshirt in furtherance of this conspiracy. Yet, Appellants offer no evidence, other than the act itself, that Officer Walker intended to further a conspiratorial objective. Rather, the undisputed evidence before the district court was that Officer Walker disposed of the sweatshirt because it was bloody and beginning to emit a foul smelling odor and he thought the investigation over the shooting had concluded.
Similarly, the fact that Dr. Saoud initially thought Wilson was shot in the back when he examined the body at the scene, while Dr. Frost later confirmed the officers' version of the events after performing an autopsy, is not probative of the existence of a conspiracy or their participation therein. Again, the undisputed evidence was that Dr. Saoud initially thought Wilson was shot in the back because of the relative size of the
wounds—the chest
wound was larger than the back
wound, a fact consistent with the back
wound being the entrance
wound. Upon conducting an autopsy, however, it was clear that the bullet first grazed Wilson's arm, thereby altering the trajectory and spin of the bullet, causing it to do more physical damage when it entered Wilson's chest than would have occurred under normal circumstances. Additionally, the chest
wound was located higher than the back
wound, a fact indisputably consistent with the police officers' account of Officer Lake's position in relation to Wilson: Officer Lake was on the stairs outside Wilson's apartment aiming downward towards Wilson when he fired the fatal shot.