beach
Verified Expert
- Joined
- Aug 14, 2008
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Well, that was an eventful afternoon. LOL
My theory on why Fitzgeorge is fighting so damn hard to keep these FBI experts off the stand. I think they are going to testify regarding the GPS data and that phone that was wrapped in foil. Unless I missed something (which is possible), I think that is Taylor's phone. As we know, Jimmy's phone was destroyed...only pieces were found. No data could be retrieved. However, he was texting/calling Taylor. And he had loose lips. Careless. I think there is a gold mine of evidence on that GPS, phone & whatever other electronics on which they are going to offer testimony. I didn't think *that* much about it until Fitzgeorge nearly commited hari kari in a desperate attempt to keep them off the stand.
Here's the thing - as a defense attorney I imagine she is pretty good at intimidating/manipulating witnesses, especially ones as unworldly as Taylor Shoemaker. She is confident she can make the jury doubt/disregard her testimony. Same with Wayne. She will paint him as a convicted felon who struck a sweet deal - tons of motive. BUT....BUT...She can't do anything about the data retrieved off the elecronics. BLACK & WHITE - the data, nor the FBI experts -no motive. When you have witnesses that may have motives and/or maybe they don't come across well when testifying under cross-exam, jurors that feel uneasy will almost always rely on physical evidence. Fitzgeorge would like to get rid of the physical evidence. She won't be able to, but that is her hail mary pass. If there is a conviction, she will probably cite this as an appellate issue. I don't think that will work either, but heh...it's her job.
Let me be clear, I respect that she is fighting vigorously for her client BUT...BUT, BUT, BUT...you NEVER want to piss a Judge off the way she did today. Judge Kyle saw straight through what she is doing, however, his job is to make sure a defendant charged with a capital crime & facing the death penalty, gets a FAIR trial. Otherwise, we will all be back here again, on appeal. That said, Fitzgeorge went too far today. I don't even know if she realizes in the heat of the moment how far she overstepped. It spiraled so bad so fast...she was completely disrespectful to the Court. Whew...it was BAD.
One last thing - I cannot tell you how infuriating this is for the jurors. Before I started my career in law, I was seated on a jury in a high profile local case. Went 2 weeks. Life sentence in the balance. The most frustrating this for jurors is all the waiting. Think about it - you arrive at court at 8:30a. On a good day, it is usually 9:30 before a witness is sworn in. Then morning break around 10:30. Testimony from 10:45-noon. Lunch is usually 1-1.25 hours. Rinse & repeat after lunch. All that is peppered with endless Sidebars and whatever other reason the attorneys can find to delay. It gets real old, real fast. That is exactly why you hear Judge Kyle ALWAYS falling on the sword and telling the jury it is his fault. Even when we know it isn't. Being a juror is stressful enough. Waiting only makes it more stressful and, frankly, irritated as heck at whoever is causing it. If they knew for a minute who was causing the delay, they would subconsciously punish the side who they felt was at fault for the delay. It's hard to put yourself in the place of a juror. Know how it feels waiting in line at the DMV or a restaurant? Multiply that feeling x 100 and then do it everyday for 3 weeks. Jurors feel disrespected. Hope this is the last of these type delays or I fear we will lose some.
My theory on why Fitzgeorge is fighting so damn hard to keep these FBI experts off the stand. I think they are going to testify regarding the GPS data and that phone that was wrapped in foil. Unless I missed something (which is possible), I think that is Taylor's phone. As we know, Jimmy's phone was destroyed...only pieces were found. No data could be retrieved. However, he was texting/calling Taylor. And he had loose lips. Careless. I think there is a gold mine of evidence on that GPS, phone & whatever other electronics on which they are going to offer testimony. I didn't think *that* much about it until Fitzgeorge nearly commited hari kari in a desperate attempt to keep them off the stand.
Here's the thing - as a defense attorney I imagine she is pretty good at intimidating/manipulating witnesses, especially ones as unworldly as Taylor Shoemaker. She is confident she can make the jury doubt/disregard her testimony. Same with Wayne. She will paint him as a convicted felon who struck a sweet deal - tons of motive. BUT....BUT...She can't do anything about the data retrieved off the elecronics. BLACK & WHITE - the data, nor the FBI experts -no motive. When you have witnesses that may have motives and/or maybe they don't come across well when testifying under cross-exam, jurors that feel uneasy will almost always rely on physical evidence. Fitzgeorge would like to get rid of the physical evidence. She won't be able to, but that is her hail mary pass. If there is a conviction, she will probably cite this as an appellate issue. I don't think that will work either, but heh...it's her job.
Let me be clear, I respect that she is fighting vigorously for her client BUT...BUT, BUT, BUT...you NEVER want to piss a Judge off the way she did today. Judge Kyle saw straight through what she is doing, however, his job is to make sure a defendant charged with a capital crime & facing the death penalty, gets a FAIR trial. Otherwise, we will all be back here again, on appeal. That said, Fitzgeorge went too far today. I don't even know if she realizes in the heat of the moment how far she overstepped. It spiraled so bad so fast...she was completely disrespectful to the Court. Whew...it was BAD.
One last thing - I cannot tell you how infuriating this is for the jurors. Before I started my career in law, I was seated on a jury in a high profile local case. Went 2 weeks. Life sentence in the balance. The most frustrating this for jurors is all the waiting. Think about it - you arrive at court at 8:30a. On a good day, it is usually 9:30 before a witness is sworn in. Then morning break around 10:30. Testimony from 10:45-noon. Lunch is usually 1-1.25 hours. Rinse & repeat after lunch. All that is peppered with endless Sidebars and whatever other reason the attorneys can find to delay. It gets real old, real fast. That is exactly why you hear Judge Kyle ALWAYS falling on the sword and telling the jury it is his fault. Even when we know it isn't. Being a juror is stressful enough. Waiting only makes it more stressful and, frankly, irritated as heck at whoever is causing it. If they knew for a minute who was causing the delay, they would subconsciously punish the side who they felt was at fault for the delay. It's hard to put yourself in the place of a juror. Know how it feels waiting in line at the DMV or a restaurant? Multiply that feeling x 100 and then do it everyday for 3 weeks. Jurors feel disrespected. Hope this is the last of these type delays or I fear we will lose some.
). And then subtly slips in, if she has it.....then she will need more time to go over it with her expert. Does anyone else remember something about an expert witness needing more time because they were attacked? Delay? Yep, it does seem strange, the defense would ask for a delay for an expert to look over the files they now claim they never had in the first place. To me IMHO, a lot of excuses are being made concerning the FBI reports. Oh well, I am just an onlooker and will have to see how this plays out... curious.