FL - FSU Law Professor Dan Markel Murdered by Hitmen *3 guilty* #14

[amicuscurie]

wow! that's new
Lacasse can date the point when the TV was broken ( based on when they'd hired movies)
It was broken between June 11th - 18th, 100% in that week. His impression was that the TV had been deliberately struck by somebody & didn't seem plausible could have created that much force.

( WA has previously claimed many times, that it had been broken for a loooong time)

Lacasse says that WA insisted that they should not watch the kids movie on the other TV in the house ( despite it being a similar make & model. WA insisted they all watch it on the damaged TV with distorted image)

Lacasse offers to get her a new TV. She rejected his offer several times!!

Why would she have not wanted them to watch tv in the other room? I don’t understand how that helps her with an alibi. The TV was broken. If she wanted a witness to that, she had one. (That seems to me to be why she asked LaCasse to determine if it was broken when the breakage was obvious). Can someone explain what might have been her thought process here In not just watching another TV? Did the boys break it and so she wanted them to have to watch the broken one?

 

[Gypsy Road]

I don’t think I’ve seen a defense attorney have such a temper tantrum and yell at a judge before like that

 

[amicuscurie]

Does this judge move his mouth when he talks? There’s a career in ventriloquism waiting for him if the judge thing doesn’t work out.

also, this seems like it’s a big deal. If Rashbaum didn’t question Wendi about the statement because he believed Georgia wouldn’t use it, that’s not fair. They can always put her back on, I guess. But a mistrial?

but- she said she wouldn’t offer double hearsay without an exception. He claims he took that to mean she wouldn’t offer the statement at all? That’s not reasonable. He should’ve been prepared. She never said she wouldn’t offer the statement.

also- Juvía dinner? Does he mean Yardbird? They are restaurants very near each other. He probably eats at Juvia a lot. Ha.

 

[amicuscurie]

dbm

 

[amicuscurie]

The ruling makes sense I guess. But this is a big deal. It really hurts the state’s case that they can’t introduce it. Hopefully there’s enough without it. They won’t call Wendi again, and she will take the fifth if the state does.

 

[nodamselindistress]

Wendi lied so much there are going to be numerous other opportunities for impeachment.

 

[clearskies1]

LOL. Lacasse: "She has a history of blurting out things that aren't in her self-interest." Like telling the cops about Charlie's hitman "joke"? JMO.

 

[amicuscurie]

Wendi lied so much there are going to be numerous other opportunities for impeachment.

Wendi lied so much there are going to be numerous other opportunities for impeachment.

True, but we all know the jury won’t have been listening just for impeachment. The jury would’ve heard that Wendi told Lacasse that Charlie looked into hiring a hitman. That’s huge! Makes Charlie look guilty. This is Charlie’s trial. Now they won’t hear that. The state is saying it’s for impeachment, but they want it in there for the truth of the matter asserted. They’re just trying to get around hearsay. And the cross we see now is weak.

 

[cottonweaver]

LOL. Lacasse: "She has a history of blurting out things that aren't in her self-interest." Like telling the cops about Charlie's hitman "joke"? JMO.

Used to call her Princess Verbal Diarrhea ( when she's not under threat. under threat she's the model of restraint)

 

[amicuscurie]

Dbm

 

[cottonweaver]

Rushbaum is losing his composure - he's confused. Judge has to remind him of what he's supposed to be doing next - which is continuing to cross Lacasse

ETA

Lacasse is brilliant - he holds firm while Rushbaum tries to argue that KMagbanua was trying to research WA's fraught divorce during the dinner they all attended. ( Lacasse is firm that KM only said 2-3 sentences on this topic across the whole dinner)
Next Rash tries to unsettle him over a text he sent to CA after their first meeting. Rash doesn't get very far.
Rash does a little better with emails he'd sent to WA

 

[cottonweaver]

lol
Georgia: ' Did you know you were hanging out with The Criminal Element in The Hot Tub?'
Lacasee: No!
Georgia: No further questions.

Bubbye Felicia!

 

[cottonweaver]

Why would she have not wanted them to watch tv in the other room? I don’t understand how that helps her with an alibi. The TV was broken. If she wanted a witness to that, she had one. (That seems to me to be why she asked LaCasse to determine if it was broken when the breakage was obvious). Can someone explain what might have been her thought process here In not just watching another TV? Did the boys break it and so she wanted them to have to watch the broken one?

Not sure why she was so adamant that she wanted them to watch a movie on a broken TV rather than a functioning TV in another room other she wanted as many people as possible to know that the TV needed fixing or replacing

Lacasse said that he didn't believe the damage was done by a child ( of that age)
He insinuated with his gestures that somebody had taken an arm& fist to the TV.

Me personally, I can only imagine that WA at this stage was anxious & she'd had a pre-murder schedule of steps fixed in her head. She didn't want to deviate from those. She already knew that on the day of the hit she would have a TV repairman cover her whereabouts.
However could be other reasons. I never got the impression she was a very Mummy Mother. She also might not have wanted her two kids hanging, popcorn/drinks/mess in her bedroom during kids movie night? who knows?

 

[amicuscurie]

They must think LaCasse is extremely damning to their case, judging by how angry and belligerent Rash was on cross. I think LaCasse held up well.

I still think it’s bad that the jury didn’t get to hear that Wendy was speaking of Charlie hiring a hit man within a week of the murder.

At this point, what is going to convict Charlie are the wiretaps and the payments, and the sheer implausibility of his defense theory. I don’t see how the state can convey that implausibility unless ChArlie testifies. Or in closing argument. The defense has essentially admitted to a lot of the evidence, like the payments. They think they can explain the wiretap conversations. They may believe this makes the prosecution‘s job more difficult, because they have to focus on the things the defense does not admit to: LaCasse’s testimony, the dolce vita Conversation, the celebration dinner. That’s why these were the subjects of motions in limine.

Without these things. there is no specific piece of evidence that can’t be explained by the defense theory. So, again, it all rests on the sheer ridiculousness of that theory. That’s not evidence, though it is persuasive.

I think this ruling was a big blow to the state.

 

[Wishbone]

I must have missed the cop testifying to the location of the crime scene tape and parked police car in earlier disclosures. His testimony brings to light the real location of WA and her car right after the murder. She just had to see for herself and get caught in a big lie.

 

[clearskies1]

This must be what Mentour Lawyer was talking about last night. He said Donna’s lawyer on the Zoom looked furious when the extortion card was played, as if that card was supposed to be reserved for Donna. You’re right that it could have worked for Donna, but it’s not going to work for Charlie.

Too bad the Zoom was not recorded. I would have liked to see the reaction myself.

I thought ML was saying that during the zoom hearing about the State's right to interview HA and DA that Rashbaum looked furious and ML speculated that was because if the State interviewed them before the trial it would learn ahead of time what the defense (extortion by Katie, Rivera and Garcia) would be. ML seemed to be saying that he thought CA, HA, and DA would all have the same extortion defense. I thought ML was saying that the State should have followed through and interviewed HA and DA, because then it would have gotten advance notice (before the opening statement) what CA's defense was. JMO.

 

[Gypsy Road]

I am unclear about whether or not the jury got to hear that Jeffrey was told by WA that Charlie looked into hiring a hit man. Can someone clarify? I was working earlier and missed it.

 

[clearskies1]

Did the judge say that the State can recall Wendi to the stand during its case in chief and thereby give the defense a chance to ask more questions about the Lacasse issue -- potentially leading the way to Lacasse being allowed to impeach her on the alleged hitman statement?

 

[clearskies1]

I am unclear about whether or not the jury got to hear that Jeffrey was told by WA that Charlie looked into hiring a hit man. Can someone clarify? I was working earlier and missed it.

Lacasse wasn't allowed to testify to that in front of the jury. The jury didn't hear it.

 

[Blue Shakehead]

lets be honest, this has been a terrible day for the prosecution. Lacasse is there to provide context about Wendi’s emotional instability, pathological lying and manipulation and then the coincidences of the timing of her feelings relative to the murder trips and court filings. he’s there to tell us how he was set up as a patsy and murder suspect. And he’s there to tell the jury that Wendi told him about Charlie looking into hiring hit men the year previously and the celebration dinner. For a jury that knows none of the history, what did they learn today?

Lacasse wasn’t able to do any of this things - partly because the prosecution never let him tell his story and walk him slowly through their relationship and then also because Georgia did not predict that his impeachment testimony might be excluded - by Rashbaums tactics and their conversations at side bar. I’m sorry, but that is amateur hour.

The State also lets Rashbaum (and the judge!) mischaracterize Wendi’s statement to Lacasse as “double hearsay” because “Wendi said that Charlie said he looked into hiring a hitman last summer“. That is a total fabrication. Wendi told Lacasse that Charlie looked into all options including hiring a hit man. Wendi never said Charlie told her her. Just that he did it.

We need Lacasse back on the stand but a lot of damage has already been done.