Laura Babcock Murder Trial 12.05.17 - Closing Arguments - Day 1

[Ashley96]

what a sad sad little man DM is ...

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
57s58 seconds ago
Marlena Meneses is a liar, Millard says. She admitted it, he says. #LauraBabcock

 

[Kamille]

Millard presses on.

"Is it really so unimaginable that someone would chose not to call home and not to call friends, given the rocky relationship at home?"

Linda Babcock, sitting beside her husband, now shakes her head.

We're almost seven hours in now to Millard's closing address, minus about 90 minutes for lunch and recesses.
by Shannon Martin 4:45 PM

Millard has circled back to Gabe Austerweil - the witness he called last week, who claimed he saw Babcock at a nut store in Toronto, in October 2012.

He's now playing audio of the transcript he earlier read to the jury today.
by Shannon Martin 4:50 PM

 

[DeaconBrodie]

Do you have a link for that? I thought it was done by the order they were charged, not alphabetical. I've heard conflicting information and haven't fully understood where it stands for this trial.

I looked it up and I correct myself. In my jurisdiction it is always done alphabetically but apparently it can be different depending on the tradition for each jurisdiction. Someone with experience in Ontario would need to weigh in.

[h=3]"Multiple Co-Accused[/h]The order in which the accused are to be asked for their election on whether to call evidence after the closing of the Crown's case will depend on tradition for the particular jurisdiction.[SUP][1][/SUP] However, most frequently the accused will be addressed in the order in which they appear in the information.[SUP][2][/SUP]
An accused can apply to the trial judge to have the convention changed. The Judge’s trial management powers entitle the judge to change the ordering subject to consideration of the risks inherent with the proposed changes.[SUP][3][/SUP] "

http://criminalnotebook.ca/index.php/Trial_Process#Multiple_Co-Accused

 

[Tealgrove]

Man, he's all over the place. It almost sounds like he's starting all over again. Please make it stop! :gaah:

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
2m2 minutes ago
Millard plays again the Austerweil testimony about not really recognizing #LauraBabcock in the video shot on her phone at the beginning of July. "He's wishy washy, but he definitely tells us it looks like Laura."

 

[Kamille]

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
1m1 minute ago
A video is different from seeing someone in person, and when Austerweil thought he saw #LauraBabcock in a store months after she disappeared, he was "97%" sure it was her. "That makes him a very reliable witness," Millard says.

Lisa Hepfner‏ @HefCHCHNews
25s26 seconds ago
The crown has not even answered the question about whether #LauraBabcock is still alive, Millard says, he wants the jury to only look at evidence at this trial. "First time I've done this, thank you for your patience."

 

[matou]

Even though motive isn't important to show, I'm still interested in why he wanted AM to keep track of Laura's whereabouts? Sounds like he was worried about something she was going to do or info she had. Remember he was considering how she could be useful to him. Maybe she was a 'wildcard' in that she couldn't be trusted anymore for some reason, maybe to do with her mental instability. JMO

 

[Kamille]

Millard concludes:

"She could be alive right now. That's the evidence we have before you at the trial."

He's finished his closing arguments. Justice Michael Code asks the jury to return Wednesday at 10 a.m. We'll hear from Smich's lawyer Thomas Dungey, and the Crown.


by Shannon Martin 4:54 PM

 

[kaRN]

I hope it takes the jury a hot minute to convict the psychopath. What an ordeal that was.

Sent from my MotoG3 using Tapatalk

 

[Stratocaster]

So most of you think Dell is guilty?

His uncle nailed it......."he's a sick twisted little prick" that brings narcissism to a new level, M1

 

[Night_is_Mine]

If LB is alive that would be something.

 

[mimimic]

DM - Wishy washy #1, not credible #2 but even though my witnesses seem to lie you.... my jury you should believe what I need you to. ack!

 

[Kamille]

Even though motive isn't important to show, I'm still interested in why he wanted AM to keep track of Laura's whereabouts? Sounds like he was worried about something she was going to do or info she had. Remember he was considering how she could be useful to him. Maybe she was a 'wildcard' in that she couldn't be trusted anymore for some reason, maybe to do with her mental instability. JMO

I don't know. I think the "wildcard" with the mental instability was DM.

MOO

 

[Tealgrove]

So all of that to try and convince the Jury that Laura may still be alive. I'm not buying it. Apparently he's not buying it either since his big oops earlier this morning.

Well, Dell, I'm pretty sure you're pooched.

MOO

 

[tea7]

Millard says the investigation for Babcock's disappearance began in May 2013, while Lerner started his investigation in early July 2012.

"All those people who saw Laura, saw her in that time period," he says, ten months he points out.

"How many more people who may have had leads on where Laura went, had there been investigation been underway? How much more useful would that be to my defence? We don't know the answer."

Millard says, "Police were less interested in finding where Laura went, than in securing a conviction and building a case for court."

by Shannon Martin 4:35 PM

BBM - I thought I couldn't get any angrier than I did with all the stuff DM said on the last day of last weeks trial....but sooooo many things today have me venting!!

 

[Jasper52]

Even though motive isn't important to show, I'm still interested in why he wanted AM to keep track of Laura's whereabouts? Sounds like he was worried about something she was going to do or info she had. Remember he was considering how she could be useful to him. Maybe she was a 'wildcard' in that she couldn't be trusted anymore for some reason, maybe to do with her mental instability. JMO

RBBM

DM explained that by saying (not verbatim) that if he knew LB's whereabouts, he could avoid running into her. :facepalm:

 

[clefk27]

Is this opinion based on jury body language (i.e. - are you in the courtroom)?

Ya, seems the Jury ain't having it DM. I don't think they like you

 

[Night_is_Mine]

I think Dell did a great job. He could have been a hell of a lawyer if he went a different path.

 

[Slooter]

From Shannon Martin:

[FONT=&quot]My colleague Adam Carter is in court with me today. We'll both be back tomorrow, Adam will be taking over the live blog, as I work on a couple of special projects related to the trial.[/FONT]
[FONT=&quot] [/FONT]
[FONT=&quot]We'll have plenty to come in the following days, on web, radio and television. Thanks for following along today.




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