AB 10/04/18
1. Today C.W. did speak on the phone with SW’s parents and brother about probate. It was a 3 way conversation- Between the jail, Courtroom, and SW’s parents. Probate is not part of criminal case, but CW’s attorneys and the DA were all present for the conversation. The DA, Michael Rourke, sat in the gallery of the courtroom, as did Defense Attorney, John Walsh. The Judge sat at his desk. Defense Attorney, Kate Herold was at the jail seated right next to C.W. while he was on a phone. SW’s parents and brother were on a phone in North Carolina. We have no idea who spoke on that call. Hearing was scheduled to be one full hour, but only lasted 10 Minutes and 40 seconds. Since SW’s family was petitioning the court to take over SW’s estate, AB assumes the Judge asked C.W. if he opposed. AB was able to get 1/2 page of notes from the meeting, and on them it said that no one opposed, and specifically, C.W. did not oppose. Why would C.W. want to be in on that call if he wasn’t going to speak? SW’s family called for an emergency meeting so SW’s car and some Life Insurance could be dealt with in a timely manner.
2. CW’s truck was taken away as evidence weeks ago. All 3 bodies were in the back seat. Don’t know how long truck will be held as evidence. Police referred to CW’s truck as a “work truck.” AB showed photo of “1139” in the back window of CW’s truck which certainly makes it look like a work truck, but AB has asked but still not received an answer whether it’s a work truck or if it belonged to C.W. and SW.
3. Guest Attorney Kirk Nurmi (Jodi Arias’s Attorney) talks about probate hearing. Nurmi thinks a lot of things were left unsaid. Attorneys were there to make sure CW didn’t say anything incriminating. CW is under a microscope right now. DA was there to evaluate CW. He’s still trying to decide whether or not to file Death Penalty.
4. Guest, Probate Attorney, Bonnie Bowles, was asked her opinion of 10 minute Probate hearing. 10 minute hearing was probably normal for what they discussed today. It was only to appoint SW’s father as SW’s personal representative, as well as determine SWs heirs. Heirs probably weren’t discussed at that time because the meeting was so short, but they will probably schedule another meeting to discuss SW’s heirs in the future. SW didn’t leave a will, CW is entitled to be sole heir, but if he is convicted of murder, by state law, he is not entitled to anything.
5. Quick claim deed on house is made out equally to SW and C.W. Joint tenants. if CW is convicted, he will not be entitled to house. If he’s not convicted, it belongs to C.W.
6. Kirk Nurmi talks about what it is like to defend somebody everyone hates. How you feel about them personally doesn’t matter. You’re there to defend them. You ignore the animosity for our client. Given the abhorrent behavior, 2 children murdered, Nurmi thinks he would try to plead out before it ever made it to a courtroom, if the DP was off the table, and justice was being served. He would work with the County Attorney to try to resolve things in that manner. AB disagreed with Nurmi because C.W. blamed SW for children’s deaths. With that, C.W. might be able to convince one juror that he’s innocent. Nurmi disagreed with AB. He thinks AB’s perspective is a bit wishful because when you go before a jury with the fact pattern in this case, the reasonable doubt you have is lesser, decreased. We’re talking about a father killing his own children. Once jurors hear that, he’s going to be looked at with skeptical eyes. We also have inconsistent stories, here. CW’s attorneys have to consider what could be lost if he goes to trial. Could it be his entire life? Could it be lethal injection? That’s the calculus that has to be done. The likelihood of his manslaughter story being proven is probably unlikely. AB agrees, except she’s covered cases where irrationality was applied when determining reasonable doubt, like Casey Anthony and OJ. All it takes is one juror.
7. Couldn’t C.W. instruct his attorneys to go for it? Yes. Ultimately the only thing an Attorney can do is show CW the evidence and advise. They can’t twist the clients arm. It is entirely up to C.W.. Nurmi is guessing his attorneys, with this evidence, are trying to advise him to plea.
8. Will the Defense try to have CW’s confession suppressed? Nurmi says, depends on what the ultimate defense is, but if he is arguing manslaughter, his attorney can say C.W. made this confession, it was clearly against his interests because it was true. Therefore, the jury must convict him of manslaughter, not First Degree Murder. The confession is actually more favorable than the other outcomes if he goes to trial.
9. What’s it like to defend a client in a high profile case where everybody hates your client? Nurmi got death threats while defending Jodi Arias. Many people mistakenly believe that Public Defenders are there because they believe in and support their clients, but it’s not true. Defendants have constitutional rights. Public Defenders are assigned these cases.
10. How long will this take? Nurmi says it’s hard to say. If Colorado decides to seek the Death Penalty the time will drag on. Defense Attorneys will have to investigate CW’s life from birth to day of sentencing. That puts things on a different timeframe. Minimum 2 years is not unheard of, maybe more.
11. AB says Prosecutors are probably going to play the porch interviews at the trial, and everybody is going to think C.W. is a liar. Once a liar always a liar. How can Defense get over that? That’s going to be something CW and his attorneys will have to figure out. What was C.W. thinking at the time? What’s the explanation? Was he trying to be consistent with being innocent? Defense is going to have to try to explain.
Viewer Questions
1. Could it be that CW had his girlfriend over that weekend and he freaked out about the girls telling their mom, so he killed them? Maybe he killed SW at the top of the stairs where her phone was found, before he saw that her phone was missing? Sounds logical. Police have to run through every possible theory. Key part is we have a confession, and in that confession CW talks about how he sees SW killing the 2 girls and going into a rage and killing SW. That theory doesn’t fit with that confession. This is all part of the investigation. They made the arrest fairly quickly after the crime was committed. They’ve had all this time to put a case together. Next court date is November 19. They know what C.W. was doing, who he talked to, his affairs, his electronic footprint. They’re putting it all together.
2. What if SW was recording on her phone and she ran through that area and hid her phone right before she was killed. Evidence for the police. That would be a dying declaration. Video evidence has been used before. If that was the case this would play heavily in the prosecution of C.W.
