GUILTY CA - Blaze Bernstein, 19, Lake Forest, 2 Jan 2018 #8 *Arrest*

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To be honest, I wanted to know what Woodward was going to say for years but based on the recent article shared, details of his "mental state deteriorating", and his disinterest or unwillingness to remember details about his life in court make this all the more miserable. He really did this for no reason at all. I don't think we'll ever know the truth. It sort of makes you just kind of numb to this entire trial. He's such a joke, it's embarrassing, he's embarrassing that's why he tries to cover his with his hair and mumbles in court. Judge, call it in already. It's time.

The biggest thing I do not understand is what did Blaze do? What was he talking about in the text he sent to a friend? I believe Blaze was a smart young man but the one thing that keeps me up is "Why did you meet up with this man? How did you feel comfortable meeting up with this man?" Past reports from students—one of Blaze's close friends on 48 Hours—said many thought Woodward would be the type of guy to commit a shooting, drew guns, made homophobic and conservative remarks, and wrote the n-word in a copy of Raisin in the Sun. Was it because it would make a good story? I am sure what happened was not something he expected to happen (obviously), but...(sigh) there's so much to discuss. Look out for yourselves everyone, never be too cautious. In one of the first interviews his parents did on Fox 11, the reporter said, "If you could turn back time". You can see Jeanne's face say so much, it could be so simple, but it's not possible, as she said herself. It's very tragic.
 
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Tuesday was [SM]'s third day of testimony and day 28 of his trial. (...)

[SM] said he matched [BB] on Tinder...in 2017 and at first was startled.

He said he unmatched [BB] but re-matched on Tinder again six months later. He said they started communicating through Snapchat...

The day ended as [SM] recounted how he picked [BB] up from his home on January 2, 2018, and went to a park in Lake Forest.
 

Orange County Superior Court Judge [KM] appears to be growing more and more impatient - or frustrated - with the pace of Woodward's trial.

She has stated several times the defense's line of questioning is taking too long.
 

In response to questioning, [SW] told the court there were times in his life where he felt he didn’t have friends and that virtually the only communication he had with other people was online. He acknowledged he matched with former high school classmate [BB] on a dating app, and six months later, when the two reconnected, he told [BB] it was awkward to be chatting since he came from a “conservative, Catholic family.”

“I had been looking for people for a long time to spend time with or talk to,” [SW] said during his third day testifying...
 

Tuesday was [SM]'s third day of testimony and day 28 of his trial. (...)

[SM] said he matched [BB] on Tinder...in 2017 and at first was startled.

He said he unmatched [BB] but re-matched on Tinder again six months later. He said they started communicating through Snapchat...

The day ended as [SM] recounted how he picked [BB] up from his home on January 2, 2018, and went to a park in Lake Forest.

There was some talk early on about SW freaking out because BB was trying to seduce him. But it seems he is now forthcoming with his stance.
 
Thursday, June 20th:
*Trial continues (Day 29) (@ 9am PT) – CA – Blaze Bernstein (19) (Jan. 2, 2018, Lake Forest; found Jan. 9, 2018; he was stabbed 19 times in his neck; 14 times on the left, 5 on the right & 1 stab wound in his left knee) – *Samuel Lincoln Woodward (20/now 26) arrested (1/15/18) & charged (1/17/18) & arraigned (11/9/18) with 1 count of felony murder with a hate crime enhancement for killing someone because of their sexual orientation & sentencing enhancement-personal use of a knife. Plead not guilty (again on 11/9/18). $5M bail, bail revoked (11/9/18). In custody of the Theo Lacy jail.
Trial began on 4/9/24. Court DARK on Fridays.
Judge Kimberly K. Menninger presiding. Prosecutor DA Todd Spitzer & Senior Deputy DA Jennifer Walker; Defense attorney assistant public defender Kenneth S. Morrison (from the Orange County Public Defender’s Office).
State rested their case (I think) on 5/7/24. Defense began on 5/8/24.

Court hearings from 2/2/18 thru 2/29/24 & Jury Selection Days 1-14 (3/6 thru 4/4/24) & Trial Day 1-27 (4/9-6/17/24) reference post #380 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ake-forest-2-jan-2018-8-arrest.618349/page-19

6/18/24 Tuesday, Trial Day 28: Defense witness: Samuel Woodward back on stand. Trial continues on Thursday, 6/20/24.
For more info see post #386 here:
https://www.websleuths.com/forums/t...ake-forest-2-jan-2018-8-arrest.618349/page-20
 
Here's another article on more of Woodward's testimony

June 19, 2024
 
From @thislouis tweeting LIVE from the courtroom today.

TWEET 1: Sam Woodward's story is that he and Blaze walked into a park, where Sam smoked a joint and got so high he blacked out. When he came to, he said, he discovered his pants were unbuckled. Blaze was holding his phone in one hand and had his other hand on Sam's penis.

TWEET 2: Woodward said Blaze told him something like, "It's too late, I got you, you hypocrite." Woodward panicked, believing Blaze had taken a picture and sent it around. He says he worried what his family would think if they saw. He tried to get the phone and couldn't.

TWEET 3: "I couldnt even see what was going on at that point," Woodward said. "At that point I just — the phone wasn't even in the way anymore. Nothing was in the way anymore. It just kept — I just kept driving and driving and driving the knife down."

TWEET 4: Woodward, 26, is charged with first degree murder and a hate crime; prosecutors say he killed Blaze because he was gay. Blaze, a second-year student at UPenn, was also Jewish.Woodward, 26, was a member of a neo-Nazi group. This narrative of second-degree murder is his defense.

TWEET 5: He will have to hope that the jury believes this narrative; prosecution has said that in the weeks before the killing, Woodward wrote on a napkin, "Text is boring but murder isn’t."
 
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From @thislouis continued:

TWEET 6: Defense's final two questions: When you picked Blaze Bernstein up at his house that night, did you hate him because he was gay?Woodward: "No. Not at all."And when you picked Blaze Bernstein at his house, did you hate him because he was Jewish?Woodward: "No, not at all."
 
An even more detailed report from Louis Keene.


Excerpt:

"His description of the killing left some in attendance in audible shock. Some could be heard crying, and as Woodward proceeded to describe his efforts to bury the body by hand, Bernstein’s mother, Jeanne Pepper, who was the first witness to testify in the trial, stormed out of the courtroom.

Morrison closed by asking Woodward whether he hated Bernstein either because he was gay or because he was Jewish.

“No, not at all,” he said.

With about half an hour remaining in the day, lead prosecutor Jennifer Walker began her cross examination. She led by getting Woodward to admit that he had created an account on the gay dating app Grindr whose bio read, “All f*gs and fakers are in for it, get ready to die.”
 
“I just kept driving and driving and driving the knife down,” Woodward testified.

“When you say driving the knife down, Sam, were you stabbing Blaze?” Assistant Public Defender Ken Morrison asked.

“At that point, yes I was,” Woodward answered, as Bernstein’s mother abruptly rushed out of the courtroom.

Do you have a memory of how many times you were stabbing Blaze?” Morrison said.
1718992235137.jpeg
“No,” Woodward replied.

“What were you thinking?” The defense attorney asked. “Do you remember what you were thinking when you were driving the knife down again and again and again?”

“Anger like nothing I had ever felt in my whole life,” Woodward said.
 
Do any of you have any thoughts you'd be willing to share about Woodward's testimony so far? Anyone feel an element of half-truths? Like what he said happened happened but Woodward was set on killing him that night regardless?

It's Blaze's texts between friends months before and the final text message sent from Bernstein which leave this haunting question I believe we will never know the answer to: What is the "horrible" thing Blaze claimed to have done?

THE FINAL TEXT: "I did something really horrible for the story"

According to reports on Woodward's testimony, Woodward claims to have tried snatching the phone while Blaze was in the middle of something—to keep it PG. This makes no sense, because Blaze would have never been able to send a text message if Woodward did in fact kill him right after as he claims to have done.

It's really annoying how so many reports leave out pretty big details and you end up finding more on others.

I strongly believe this final text is going to be brought up again.

His defense is trash, his explanation is trash, the judge is annoyed, and I bet the jury is reasonably annoyed by Woodward as well who takes forever to respond to simple questions while they wait to go back to their lives already.
I'm pretty sure he's going to get life without parole. Because from what I understand Thursday's hearing ended with the prosecution just starting to question him. All these lies are about to be exposed and he doesn't seem to have the energy to do so because I think he knows there's no way around them. It's over.

At this point the trial was about hopefully hearing the truth about what happened. We're not gonna get it.
 
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Do any of you have any thoughts you'd be willing to share about Woodward's testimony so far? Anyone feel an element of half-truths? Like what he said happened happened but Woodward was set on killing him that night regardless?

It's Blaze's texts between friends months before and the final text message sent from Bernstein which leave this haunting question I believe we will never know the answer to: What is the "horrible" thing Blaze claimed to have done?

THE FINAL TEXT: "I did something really horrible for the story"

According to reports on Woodward's testimony, Woodward claims to have tried snatching the phone while Blaze was in the middle of something—to keep it PG. This makes no sense, because Blaze would have never been able to send a text message if Woodward did in fact kill him right after as he claims to have done.

It's really annoying how so many reports leave out pretty big details and you end up finding more on others.

I strongly believe this final text is going to be brought up again.

His defense is trash, his explanation is trash, the judge is annoyed, and I bet the jury is reasonably annoyed by Woodward as well who takes forever to respond to simple questions while they wait to go back to their lives already.
I'm pretty sure he's going to get life without parole. Because from what I understand Thursday's hearing ended with the prosecution just starting to question him. All these lies are about to be exposed and he doesn't seem to have the energy to do so because I think he knows there's no way around them. It's over.

At this point the trial was about hopefully hearing the truth about what happened. We're not gonna get it.
My feeling is that the text is non-existent. An excuse made up by Woodward to justify the killing in his mind. I've seen this kind of behavior before.
 

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