CLOSING ARGUMENTS (Tues 09/04/2012)

[LaLaw2000]

Guilty or hung jury is what I predict.

 

[vickij222]

I think the DT really failed to bring a good closing argument. I am curious to hear the rebuttal from the prosecution.

Thank you to those that have been doing such an awesome job in keeping us updated!

 

[fifteen89]

You make fine arguments, but I still have unanswered questions and that makes me have doubts about this case. I see so many loose ends that the prosecution has failed to tie up. I'm still playing devil's advocate and waiting until after the closings are finished. One thing though. Either DP was a smart cop able to make a murder look like an accident or he was just stupid. He can't be both and that's the impression I'm getting.

BBM
Why can't he be both? Jails are full of people who think they committed 'the perfect crime'.

 

[Wishbone]

But it was the middle of the night in a small sleepy neighborhood. Where is he supposed to go and dispose of the bloody evidence without being seen by someone he know? He cannot get caught being out at 3 am or he is done for.

The safest thing was for him to go home and throw the clothes in the wash, imo.

There are many other things he could have done rather than take the chance of bringing the crime scene into his home. Plus, he would have to dispose of that particular evidence 2 times vs 1 time. Doesn't make a lick of sense. Guess we have to agree to disagree on this one.

 

[back2back19]

I think the DT really failed to bring a good closing argument. I am curious to hear the rebuttal from the prosecution.

Thank you to those that have been doing such an awesome job in keeping us updated!

The defense's closing sounds horrible. Maybe it played better in person than it does on tweets but it sounds dreadful. I just hope the state's rebuttal brings it altogether.

 

[~n/t~]

I still think DP will walk.

I don't think I would be able to find someone guilty based on hearsay.

So if the jury comes back with a not guilty verdict, I will not be mad.

going by the law, I would have to find him not guilty.

JMO

No offense but the trial wasn't only about hearsay. Have you been following? Did you read the expert testimony ? Witness testimony?

 

[Wishbone]

BBM
Why can't he be both? Jails are full of people who think they committed 'the perfect crime'.

He can be both if thats what you want him to be. But having been a cop for as many years as he was, I have to give him a little more credit than that.

 

[katydid23]

There are many other things he could have done rather than take the chance of bringing the crime scene into his home. Plus, he would have to dispose of that particular evidence 2 times vs 1 time. Doesn't make a lick of sense. Guess we have to agree to disagree on this one.

Where could he have put them at 3 am in that neighborhood? I can only think of a few places. Some random garbage cans, or dumpsters maybe. But that seems much more dangerous than just going to the safety of his own home.

I am not sure why you think it was so dangerous to wash the clothes there. She was not going to be found for a few hours so he knew he had plenty of time to dispose of the evidence.

 

[fifteen89]

In Session “Kathy and Steve had a midnight quarrel, and Kathy hung up on Steve . . . that’s around midnight [on Saturday]. We know the Pontarellis come home, in two different vehicles at two different times . . . they saw the light on from inside the bedroom. And Mary [Pontarelli] is her best friend . . . so Mary assumes she’s studying. That evening, no dogs bark, no neighbors overheard [anything]; the neighborhood is nice and quiet.

<snipped by me>

Good point. DP knows where the dogs in the neighborhood are.

 

[katydid23]

He can be both if thats what you want him to be. But having been a cop for as many years as he was, I have to give him a little more credit than that.

He had recently been fired for accepting bribes from drug dealers. How much credit does he get for that ? He did lots of stupid things, imo.

 

[Bravo]

There are many other things he could have done rather than take the chance of bringing the crime scene into his home. Plus, he would have to dispose of that particular evidence 2 times vs 1 time. Doesn't make a lick of sense. Guess we have to agree to disagree on this one.

I wonder if time was running out. Who knows how long it took him to get to the House. Enter it. Kill Kathleen. Clean up. Think and stage the kitchen to appear she was killed in the a.m. Stacy was calling if he checked his phone. The clothing was the one thing to tie him directly. Perhaps he was just running out of time:moo:

 

[Livingthedream]

There are many other things he could have done rather than take the chance of bringing the crime scene into his home. Plus, he would have to dispose of that particular evidence 2 times vs 1 time. Doesn't make a lick of sense. Guess we have to agree to disagree on this one.

One last thing for me on this. DP was on foot that night, not in a car. Where in the world was he going to run to, on foot, to dispose of bloody clothes?

He couldn't drop it off in a backyard of a neighbor as it would have been discovered by someone else. Also, in that scenario, he would not be able to go back to that yard during the day to retrieve it as he would be seen.

This is a subdivision, not a strip mall with a multitude of garbage cans. He has no choice to bring the clothes back, IMO.

 

[~n/t~]

In Session “The State gets the last word, if they want. They don’t have to have a rebuttal, if they think their case is so great . . . they go last because they have the burden of proof . . . I just ask you to do one thing: growing up as a kid, I never got the last word in with my mother, never! But think what our response would be to their rebuttal . . . what would Lopez and the others say? That’s deliberations. You’re going to go back, and then you can start your deliberations. You don’t have to come back at 5:00. You can come back whenever you want to . . . but when you go back there, I want you to think of that, how that lawyer [Harry Smith] laughed in this courtroom. Think about that!” That ends the defense summation.

Did he get teary eyed when he said the bolded part? This guy has issues. Good lord. When did this become about him and his mother? :lol:

 

[fifteen89]

I can't believe Lopez really said that. The cat ate the pie? OMG. Wow, does the DT think they lost the case? Because this closing thus far, awful.

IKR. I keep thinking is THIS the "show" we supposedly would want to be front and center for? Is this really the best they've got?

 

[LEFT-COASTER]

One last thing for me on this. DP was on foot that night, not in a car. Where in the world was he going to run to, on foot, to dispose of bloody clothes?

He couldn't drop it off in a backyard of a neighbor as it would have been discovered by someone else. Also, in that scenario, he would not be able to go back to that yard during the day to retrieve it as he would be seen.

This is a subdivision, not a strip mall with a multitude of garbage cans. He has no choice to bring the clothes back, IMO.

This was the point I was going to make.... He was walking..
He most likely didnt even know that stacey was trying to call him.. as he had his phone turned off.. He most likely figured He would get them washed and stuffed somewhere before stacey woke up and or saw them

 

[Bravo]

He can be both if thats what you want him to be. But having been a cop for as many years as he was, I have to give him a little more credit than that.

That's the beauty of a Sociopath. They dont view the world like the rest of us do. I also think he had Stacy wrapped and terrorized. Why would he care if Stacy saw him washing. Perhaps it was then he told Stacy he had killed Kathleen and said he would do the same to her if she opened her mouth. Guess she did open her mouth and I guess he did kill her too.

 

[Jackson44]

Did you all notice how many times Lopez said the word "accident"? By the time he was finished, I figured he would take a sticky with "accident" written on it and stuck it to the forehead of each juror. Really trying to implant that word into their brains. He was very obvious about it!

 

[passionflower]

Twtter just said judge gives 1 hour & 5 min for rebuttal

 

[Wishbone]

Where could he have put them at 3 am in that neighborhood? I can only think of a few places. Some random garbage cans, or dumpsters maybe. But that seems much more dangerous than just going to the safety of his own home.

I am not sure why you think it was so dangerous to wash the clothes there. She was not going to be found for a few hours so he knew he had plenty of time to dispose of the evidence.

It seems ridiculous to me for him to bring the crime scene home......

 

[Shelby1]

Won't they be sequestered during deliberation? Not sure I understand what he saying. If he predicts a verdict by 9:30, the jury would have been sequestered? :waitasec:

I took it to mean sequestered over night and until they reach a verdict???

I dunno.


Judge White also said that in Illinois, if the jurors ask if they can have the definition of reasonable doubt, the judge is required to tell them no because it is up to them to decide what reasonable doubt is.