I’ve been busy at work and have fallen way behind on here - was intending to catch up before posting, but that just doesn’t seem possible...
This is an exceptionally complicated case. I have never had any kind of personal experience with a case involving multiple murders where a defendant admits to killing one victim - and claims the victim killed the others. Add the dearth of known facts and the prevalence of social media - and I can totally understand why this case discussion is getting so heated. However, we are all here for the same reason - we want to know what happened. Maybe we will find out - and in that case, some will be right and some will be wrong. Or maybe we won’t ever know what really took place that night. I hope that’s not the case, but it’s possible.
I was asked for my thoughts on whether - based solely on the current known facts - I thought C.W. would be convicted for his daughters’ deaths. I hedged that answer a little bit - in part because when it comes to legal matters, it really *does* always depend...two situations are never the same. Change the facts slightly and you may get a different result. I also wanted to wait until I could give a slightly more detailed answer - so here it is. It’s not “pro-“ or “anti-“ either SW or CW - and it steers clear of pretty much any Monday morning quarterbacking if either of their parenting skills or decisions, documented forever thanks to social media.
Anyway - we have the initial charges brought by the prosecution. They want to cover their bases - so they might as well start with the most difficult to prove (first degree murder). If they can’t prove a required element, they can always go for a lesser included offense. Yes, they have to have some basis for the charges - but the fact that charges were brought does not mean that CW is guilty. Far from it. They will have to present additional evidence later on, to see if there’s enough to go to trial... and even *then*, it doesn’t mean he’s guilty - that’s where the trial comes in.
The affidavit lays out the basic evidence relied upon to support his arrest. It does not cover everything - a lot of details are missing, and IMO those details are pretty critical to the potential outcome of this case. We just don’t know what those are, right now. Then we likely have additional evidence gathered by LE - electronic, GPS, postmortems, forensics.
The trial. As you’ve seen on this site, the same exact facts can be viewed very differently by different people. Some people watch a video and reach one conclusion while others reach the opposite conclusions. It’s amazing, actually. Jurors are going to be the exact same way. Each juror will agree to take the evidence and apply it to the legal framework, as instructed, in reaching the verdict. But people are complicated, and reasonable minds may differ (wildly). Jury selection is probably my favorite part of the trial - and one of the most important parts, too. Each potential juror arrives with a wealth of background experience and knowledge that most definitely impacts their view of the case. I spend a LOT of time on jury selection. I take extensive notes... read facial expressions and body language... attempt to ask questions in *just* the right way, in order to reveal possible hidden biases - or allegiances (that otherwise may be denied, if asked directly). I want jurors who are open minded and reasonable - who will listen to the facts and the law and make their decision within that framework. Jurors who take their role seriously, who don’t go home at the end of the day and talk to their spouse or family about what they’ve heard.
The trial itself is about creating a compelling story that aligns with the evidence. It has to be reasonable and pass the common sense test.
So here, for example, take the few facts we actually KNOW. The prosecution will tell one story - how C.W. killed his entire family. What about the defense? I have a potential storyline that fits with everything we know so far, but I don’t want to upset people so after having second thoughts, I’m not going to post it now - but it exists - and i think it can be pretty compelling.
