State v. Bradley Cooper 5-2-2011

[sunshine05]

I thought that the search warrant that everyone keeps referring to that was after the phone was wiped was for the memory card (not sim card) in the phone.

No, the SW was supposed to be for the retrieval of data on the phone.

 

[Cheyenne130]

If you read the whole thing you see the prosecution response. The response is not "that's false" or "that's supposition" Pretty much everything that is listed in that document has come out in court and not been refuted. not really understanding why people still claim these things to be fictitious.

They insinuated everything. They didn't prove anything.

 

[CaryFrom NJ]

Curious, has anyone compared what Kurtz said in his opening statement with what he actually produced at trial?

Not sure I can really answer your question in detail, but (as much as you don't want to admit this or have me admit this), Kurtz did a phenomenal job in this trial. He pretty much discredited all of the prosecution's evidence / witnesses / theories.

Just think of what more he could done for his client if the judge wasn't so biased in this case. If he was truly allowed to present his case as it should have been allowed to have been presented by a fair judge, I would have NO doubt at all that the jury would come back with NG. However, I don't think the defense was given a fair trial in this case at all. So, I don't know what the jury members will come back with.

 

[jrb0124]

So now we're going to OJ? For the record, I'm a BII'er and I believe OJ was guilty.

Amazing how some are equating those not convinced of BC guilt/those who think he's innocent with OJ supporters?!

I mean take your pick of trial/case forums on this site where the sentiment is 99-100% guilty if you don't want your beliefs challenged in this one. This is one of the weakest CE murder cases I have ever seen. This and the guy in Texas who was executed for burning his family in the house and later pretty much exonerated...some consolation that was.

 

[Cheyenne130]

No, the SW was supposed to be for the retrieval of data on the phone.

They specified "storage media". That to me indicates a memory card.

 

[gbay]

Snipped
No matter the verdict, we must look more closely at a lot of what we have seen in this case.

I would agree with this statement. As we move more and more into the digital world, technology will hold the key to many crimes. LE need to get the process and quality procedures in place so no issues exist. Otherwise they will continue to spin their wheels as their current procedures leave them wide open to continued criticisim and tampering charges.

 

[CaryFrom NJ]

Yes, I absolutely agree with you - and forgot about JY's testimony about the SIM card. His demeanor completely changed on that topic and he appeared to be either dishonest in his answer or withholding information. And remember the 2nd defense witness (after JW) - can't remember his name (?) said instructions to wipe a phone had to be in written format per AT&T's policies - they could not give that info out on the phone. We never rec'd follow up information from AT&T confirming this, but if it's true, it's one more thing JY was not honest about.

This just all proves that Kurtz was 100% correct in his opening statement. He proved that the CPD was inept. Noone can deny that. I will state that, in my opinion, both lead detectives on this case were inept.

 

[RaleighNative]

Maybe because there was nothing relevant? I do remember a page shown at some time showing the amount of usage for NC's phone for calls and texts. So they did have that information. I'm pretty sure it was a defense exhibit but I'm not positive.

If there was nothing relevent, then why didn't the prosecution state that in their direct case?

If they simply believed it was not relevent to the case, then they certainly would have been all over that when the crossed the mobile phone expert.

That information was only on the SIM card. An extremely complicated device to delete, yet deleted without any explanation.

 

[SleuthinNC]

They insinuated everything. They didn't prove anything.

The defense does not have to prove anything and nothing that they stated has been proven to be false or even unreasonable.

 

[CrimeAddict]

Finally got to watch the morning testimony today.. I think the pros did a good job with the rebuttal about the eye witness Mrs R and her running around with her theory.. she definitely seems like she needed some attention and conversation in her life.. I was impressed on how they handled things this morning.. phew.

 

[Madeleine74]

I guess those who believe CPD planted evidence in this case will need to go to the DA of Wake County and insist...no, demand that he move forward and arrest the officers/detectives and prosecute them.

Hey, maybe a citizen's arrest can be done! That'll play well to the cameras. March in there and put one of them under arrest as a citizen of the county.

 

[Cheyenne130]

The defense does not have to prove anything and nothing that they stated has been proven to be false or even unreasonable.

You think the state should have to go out and prove the defense falsehoods? Everyone is already complaining about the amount of time the state had to take in order to undermine the attempts of the defense to make it seem that they did not investigate the case fully. Do you want to add two more months? How would it help the case to go and prove that Brad is the father of his child? Or that RZ did have TONS of follow-up (although they did have to waste time with that today). The evidence is what it is and the job of the defense is to try to confuse the jury so they don't pay attention to the evidence. Hopefully the jury isn't swayed like some here are. MOO

 

[sunshine05]

OK, I'll bite on this one. Sorry, but I can be annoyingly logical.

When a sane adult makes a decision to do something wrong, they have typically done some mental evaluation of the risk vs reward of doing it and have decided that the reward outweighs the risk.

In this case, we know what the risk is. Evidence tampering is a felony in most states, I assume it is in NC as well. The maximum sentence that I see for this crime in many states is 10 years. I would guess that if caught, the person doing the tampering would also face perjury and possibly obstruction of justice charges. If multiple people are involved, there would also be conspiracy charges.

Thus, they would not only lose their job and their family's livelihood, they are facing prison time. Obviously they would never work in LE again and will face a challenge finding any employment after their sentence is complete as many companies do not hire convicted felons.

So, we understand the risk. What exactly is the reward that would outweigh this risk? Improving the odds of one single conviction in a career of investigations, arrests, and prosecutions? This isn't taking down the head of some major crime family or something similar that would be a "career making" case. Furthermore, it's not even guaranteeing a conviction. It's just boosting your chances.

What is the logical explanation of why a LEO would put everything he and his family have at risk to improve the chances of convicting BC?

Crazy as it sounds, it does happen. They get cocky and think they will not get called on it. Read unc70's latest post. There is a lot of evidence they did completely botch this case. We'll have to see what, if anything is done about it after the trial.

 

[RaleighNative]

I guess those who believe CPD planted evidence in this case will need to go to the DA of Wake County and insist...no, demand that he move forward and arrest the officers/detectives and prosecute them.

Hey, maybe a citizen's arrest can be done! That'll play well to the cameras. March in there and put one of them under arrest as a citizen of the county.

I know you are being sarcastic. However, I am being serious. As a citizen of Wake County, I do believe the actions of the CPD need to be investigated regarding this case.

 

[jrb0124]

The evidence is what it is and the job of the defense is to try to confuse the jury so they don't pay attention to the evidence.

It seems like the premise for this statement is that all defendents are guilty; therefore, confusing the jury should be the focus of their case. I don't agree with that.

Or are you talking about just this case specifically?

 

[Lori59]

I am impressed how some of you are still wanting to hash through all this evidence......not sure the jurors will follow the same path. I sure hope we hear from the jury. I feel they will look at Brad and his behavior more, coupled with Nancy and her friends, although the techy stuff seems to dominate this thread. He alone had the motive and means..... jurors seem to always fall back on common sense, which will make them discount much of the defense claims. JMO

 

[SleuthSayer]

Crazy as it sounds, it does happen. They get cocky and think they will not get called on it. Read unc70's latest post. There is a lot of evidence they did completely botch this case. We'll have to see what, if anything is done about it after the trial.

I absolutely agree with the point that they were inept and handled the evidence poorly. I said that long ago. I said that from the beginning they should have sought help from an agency with more experience in murder investigations. The erasure of the cell phone was phenomenally stupid.

However, I see no reason to believe that they intentionally did anything wrong.

 

[Madeleine74]

No I'm serious. Evidence planting/tampering is illegal. Punishable by a lengthy jail term, perhaps even life in a capital case. It must be that securing a conviction for Brad Cooper is worth the risk of being caught, prosecuted, and sentenced to state prison. How else to explain it?

 

[sunshine05]

You think the state should have to go out and prove the defense falsehoods? Everyone is already complaining about the amount of time the state had to take in order to undermine the attempts of the defense to make it seem that they did not investigate the case fully. Do you want to add two more months? How would it help the case to go and prove that Brad is the father of his child? Or that RZ did have TONS of follow-up (although they did have to waste time with that today). The evidence is what it is and the job of the defense is to try to confuse the jury so they don't pay attention to the evidence. Hopefully the jury isn't swayed like some here are. MOO

Actually, in this case, the state tried to confuse the jury with the mica, bugs, giant rolled up rug lugged up to the witness that had zero evidence on it, the piece of straw that there is zero proof of, long sleeves instead of short sleeves, cell phone pings, and on and on.

Defense clarified everything so the jury was no longer confused. The state had fuzzy claims, the defense refuted them with facts.

 

[jrb0124]

No I'm serious. Evidence planting/tampering is illegal. Punishable by a lengthy jail term, perhaps even life in a capital case. It must be that securing a conviction for Brad Cooper is worth the risk of being caught, prosecuted, and sentenced to state prison. How else to explain it?

I am sure Mike Nifong would agree.