GUILTY NY - Karina Vetrano, 30, jogger found murdered, Queens, 2 Aug 2016 #5 *First trial MISTRIAL*

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Karina Vetrano Murder Trial Wraps Up After Judge Blocks Video Evidence


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On cross-examination, defense lawyer Jenny Cheung drew out an important distinction about the DNA recovered from the scene by using a basketball metaphor to trace out how easily genetic material can travel from one place to another.

“Steph Curry passes to Kevin Durant, who shoots, makes a three-pointer,” Cheung asked Razzano. “[Durant] goes to get his water bottle. It's possible for Steph Curry to get DNA on that bottle?"

Razzano replied that it was indeed possible, and that “DNA can be transferred from place to place,” meaning that DNA found at a crime scene did not necessarily mean that person was present. Throughout the trial, defense attorneys have tried to tease out that both Lewis and Vetrano were patrons of Gino’s, a pizza place that Vetrano visited minutes before her final run. Lewis’s lawyers were satisfied with the cross-examination and chose not to call their own DNA expert to testify.

Karina Vetrano Murder Trial Wraps Up After Judge Blocks Video Evidence


 
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Karina Vetrano Murder Trial Wraps Up After Judge Blocks Video Evidence


snipped

On cross-examination, defense lawyer Jenny Cheung drew out an important distinction about the DNA recovered from the scene by using a basketball metaphor to trace out how easily genetic material can travel from one place to another.

“Steph Curry passes to Kevin Durant, who shoots, makes a three-pointer,” Cheung asked Razzano. “[Durant] goes to get his water bottle. It's possible for Steph Curry to get DNA on that bottle?"

Razzano replied that it was indeed possible, and that “DNA can be transferred from place to place,” meaning that DNA found at a crime scene did not necessarily mean that person was present. Throughout the trial, defense attorneys have tried to tease out that both Lewis and Vetrano were patrons of Gino’s, a pizza place that Vetrano visited minutes before her final run. Lewis’s lawyers were satisfied with the cross-examination and chose not to call their own DNA expert to testify.

Karina Vetrano Murder Trial Wraps Up After Judge Blocks Video Evidence
Sure, it's possible that CL's DNA was transfered to KV at the pizza place.
I supposed KV could have dragged both of her hands and her fingernails on the table, then took off her shirt and laid on her back and neck to transfer the DNA there, then laid her phone face down on the table in such a fashion that the table cloth was bunched up enough to place the DNA up beyond the rim of the phone and onto the screen while it was upside down.
Once the jury applies "occam's razor" to this theory, they will be returning with a guilty plea imo, and that should be before Thanksgiving hopefully, so although the Vetranos' may not have a lot to celebrate this year, at least they can be thankfull that this is over.
 
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Queens jury deliberating Karina Vetrano murder case
NOV 20, 2018
Updated 28 mins ago

KEW GARDENS, Queens (WABC) --
Jury deliberations entered a second day Tuesday in the murder trial of Chanel Lewis, the man accused of killing Karina Vetrano while she was out jogging in Queens.

The jury spent over an hour Tuesday afternoon watching the last of two videotaped confessions from Lewis.

Later, they asked for readbacks totaling 74 pages from testimony by the prosecution's DNA expert. The jurors also requested to view, once again, the Vetrano autopsy photos.
[...]

Jury Asks To Review Confession Tape In Chanel Lewis Trial In Death Of Karina Vetrano
November 20, 2018 at 6:50 pm
NEW YORK (CBSNewYork) – A jury has asked to review a confession tape and other evidence in the murder trial of Chanel Lewis, the man accused of killing Queens jogger Karina Vetrano in 2016.
[...]
The NYPD tape is more than 45 minutes long, with more than 30 minutes the prosecution said was Lewis’ confession. on Tuesday, the jury has also asked for cell tower maps, 74 pages of DNA expert testimony, a DNA chart, autopsy photos showing all of Vetrano’s injuries and a map Lewis made during his confession.

The prosecution and defense teams made their final case to jurors Monday. Previously the jury asked to see several pieces of evidence including a photo of Vetrano’s neck injuries, a DNA report, Lewis’ phone web searches and Vetrano’s and Lewis’ phone records.
[...]
 
A Look at Karina Vetrano's Murder, as the Case Comes to a Close 2 Years Later
1:01 PM PST, November 20, 2018
[...]
As Philip combed through the tall grass and sunflowers on the side of the running path, he discovered his daughter’s body. It was as if she meant for him to make the gruesome discovery, he later said.

“She needed me to find her. ….She led me to her, she needed her daddy to find her, no question about it,” he told Newsday.
[...]
The conclusion of the trial likely brings little closure to Vetrano’s family, who have spoken about the struggle they undergo each day in contending with their loved one’s brutal slaying.

“There are no better days, there aren’t any worse days, they are all the same,” Philip told Newsday in July of 2017.

He has taken to creating a memorial for his daughter near where she took her last breath, creating a garden he visits twice a day to think about her.
[...]
 
Vetrano Murder Trial Jury Deliberates For Second Day
November 20, 2018
[...]
Jurors asked to “specifically listen to” a piece of the confession tape where Lewis uttered a partially unintelligible comment inside the interrogation room hours before giving detectives a confession.

After Det. Barry Brown promised Lewis he would be able to call his family “in 15 minutes,” Brown exited the room. Lewis, alone in the room, made an unintelligible remark.

During direct examination of Brown by prosecutors, Brown testified that Lewis said “in 15 minutes, it’s all going to come out.”

The defense disputes that interpretation and some in the courtroom said they thought Lewis said “in 15 minutes, I’m going to come out.”
[...]
 
Defendants In Adjacent Courtrooms Gave Statements to Same Detective
November 15, 2018
Two innocent Queens residents, both killed while enjoying life. Four families in grief as two young men face nearly a lifetime behind bars after confessing to murder.

And in both cases, which are taking place in adjacent courtrooms, the defendants gave their confession to the same NYPD officer: Det. Barry Brown from Queens Homicide South. The defense teams in both cases have called those confessions into question.

Chanel Lewis, then 20, was indicted for killing 30-year-old Karina Vetrano as she jogged alone in an unkempt trail behind her Howard Beach home in August 2016.
[...]
In a videotaped statement the morning after his arrest in February 2017, Lewis told Brown and another detective he murdered Vetrano. In another taped interview later that morning, Lewis told Brown and two assistant district attorneys that he killed Vetrano, though the two confession had several differences

At the end of his recorded conversation with the prosecutors and Brown, Lewis referenced something he and Brown discussed just prior to meeting with the the prosecutors.

Eventually, Lewis recalled the terms he said they had discussed: “restitution or a program.”

“You’re the attorney, right?” he asked the prosecutors moments later.
[...]
 
Hung Jury in Murder Trial Over 2016 Death of Jogger Karina Vetrano
  • Nov. 20, 2018
The case involving the murder of Karina Vetrano, a 30-year-old woman who was murdered while jogging in a Queens park in 2016, ended in a mistrial late Tuesday night.

After a day and a half of deliberations, 12 jurors returned to the courtroom split on whether to find Chanel Lewis, 22, guilty of the murder and sexual abuse of Ms. Vetrano on a late August afternoon in Spring Creek Park.

The defense lawyers requested a mistrial, and Justice Michael B. Aloise of State Supreme Court in Queens granted the motion, supporting the jurors’ sentiment that their conclusion would not change. “I’m inclined to believe them,” he said.
[...]
“The jury is understanding that DNA is not all it; the confession is not all it,” said Jen Cheung, a lawyer for Mr. Lewis. “There are issues in the case that, as you all see, are much more complex.”

Officials with the Queens District Attorney’s Office said that they planned to retry the case. A new trial is set to begin Jan. 22.

The Legal Aid Society released a statement pledging to continue its defense of Mr. Lewis.

“As we have said since Day 1, this case is far from conclusive and the jury’s deadlock proves this,” the statement said. “The death of Karina Vetrano is tragic and our hearts go out to her family, but the rush to criminalize our client is not the answer nor is it justice.”
[...]
 
Holy moly.

Is there anyone here who thinks Lewis is innocent and railroaded?
No.
Although hung juries are not uncommon, actually, I am surprised that was the verdict here.
It's hard to guess why, but I wonder if it was because those last two defense witnesses weren't allowed to testify. I know why they weren't, but I believe that would have opened the case up for appeal, had he been found guilty, imo.
 

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