trial thread: 04/03/2012

[nobodyzgirl]

MR's suits, shirts and ties are courtesy of taxpayers. More than likely purchased by his defense. Scary thought about shopping at Good Will, Salvation Army or Value Village. You may end up buying clothing or shoes worn by murderers. :what::moo:

I disagree. My opinion is that his family has sent suits, shirts, ties, etc. to his lawyer. I doubt the jury is giving it a second thought to be honest, I'm sure it's tough enough to get through the autopsy pictures without wondering why the accused is wearing purple, blue, green, and where his suit came from - again, JMO.

 

[Wondergirl]

I wonder what the Defense will suggest is the reason that MTR "helped" bag Victoria's nearly naked remains, and did not "help" put her underwear, pants, socks and shoes back on?

 

[Sailor Bug]

Rafferty trial has resumed. Dr. Pollanen now going thru the internal examination of #ToriStafford's remains

Pollanen discussing internal examination of body. Some organs and tissue preserved.

Pollanen says his next step was the internal examination.

 

[~n/t~]

RaffertyLFP:
Pollanen discussing internal examination of body. Some organs and tissue preserved. [via Twitter]

 

[Shasta]

a child was kidnapped by either one or both...she was taken two hours away from her home and eventually murdered by either one or both (although only one has admitted that she did the deed)..her small body was tossed onto a rock pile after receiving multiple blows from a hammer (as TLM has admitted)...we don't know if she was sexually molested before her death and probably never will so I find it very strange that people seem to be so anxious for this detail to be proven...it won't make much difference to the sentence of the accused..he will be locked away for eons..personally I would rather not hear that she suffered a rape before her death...we will never get the truth out of the mouth of TLM and MR is not about to speak...the worst injustice done to this little girl was the murder...I only wish her family had stayed away today or the court had only permitted the jury and the lawyers view the gory slides...seeing those will forever leave an indelible mark in their minds and it won't bring closure...and will always be the first thing they remember when they think of little Tori...I think this time the courts have gone too far to permit the public to witness these pictures.. MOO

With respect:

The family has every right to be there and families often do attend when these horrific trials take place. I would be there if this happened to my child. Families that suffer horrors such as this *never* find closure. Also, it was RS's express wish that the truth be made available to the public to raise awareness of risks to children. I will see if I can find the presser where he said that. Here is an expert explaining why families put themselves through these horrible trials.

http://http://www.huffingtonpost.ca/2012/03/19/michael-rafferty-trial-tori-stafford_n_1361375.html

"They can’t help it," says a Toronto lawyer who has worked closely with victims’ families. "They’re compelled by a need to be there for their child, to somehow protect her in death after being unable to protect her in life. It’s nothing short of excruciating for them,” said Tim Danson, who represented the families of Kristen French and Leslie Mahaffy, the teenagers killed by Paul Bernardo and Karla Homolka in 1991."

 

[~n/t~]

Linda Nguyen‏@LindaNguyenPN

#Rafferty trial has resumed. Dr. Pollanen now going thru the internal examination of #ToriStafford's remains

 

[matou]

‏ @RaffertyLFP

• Pollanen discussing internal examination of body. Some organs and tissue preserved.

@AM980_Court

• Pollanen says his next step was the internal examination.

 

[KMouse]

The Crown must have known going into trial that there was no physical evidence of sexual assault on Tori's remains. This makes me wonder whether there is other evidence that we have yet to hear that might prove a sexual assault did happen.

We did hear evidence. TLM's testimony.
Also, the child was kidnapped , murdered and found naked below the waist.

 

[matou]

@AM980_Court

• Abdominal organs were still identifiable. There was a wound in the liver.

 

[Sailor Bug]

Significant findings - liver had 5 cm wound on surface.

Abdominal organs were still identifiable. There was a wound in the liver.

Pollanen didn't originally know if the injury occurred before or after Tori died. May have been caused by the weight of the rocks,

 

[JayFriend]

I'm assuming that he is saying there weren't any visual signs of sexual assault, possibly signs when the biological samples were processed???

It was stated that due to the advanced decomposition of the remains, physical evidence would be impossible to find. (Remember, this is real life and existing technology, not a fantasy TV show like Bones or CSI.) But what about DNA? Could that still be obtained from decomposed remains? Maybe we'll find out when they get to the DNA forensics chapter.

 

[~n/t~]

Significant findings - liver had 5 cm wound on surface. [via Twitter]

 

[matou]

@RaffertyLFP

• Significant findings - liver had 5 cm wound on surface.

 

[matou]

@AM980_Court

• Pollanen didn't originally know if the injury occurred before or after Tori died. May have been caused by the weight of the rocks,

 

[swedie]

:truce:
I did not say that he did not commit a crime. I said that the bottle caps, even if they had his prints on them wouldn't prove he did commit a crime. With prints on them, the bottle caps would prove that he touched a bottle cap, at some point, but would not prove when (whether it was during the commission of a crime).

Remember TLM's testimony is evidence. She stated MR used bottled water to wash Tori's blood of his appendage. Then he had the audacity to use her white puffy coat to finish the clean up. I sure hope little Tori fought like crazy and injured MR enough to draw blood. Could that be why Tori ended up on the ground, because she injured MR and he got mad and threw her from the car? :what:MR was obviously bleeding from somewhere in order for his blood to be present on his gym bag. Maybe MR injured himself while swing the hammer?:waitasec: Maybe the water bottle lids had traces of blood or semen. Maybe with all the fighting and screaming Tori was doing, MR couldn't get off and he produce no semen? Just a thought. Here's hoping some showing sexual assault happened because that will certain seal this case and prove his guilt. IMHO.

 

[Sillybilly]

We did hear evidence. TLM's testimony.
Also, the child was kidnapped , murdered and found naked below the waist.

IMO, given those factors alone, it would be reasonable to conclude that a sexual assault did occur.

 

[Juris_Prudence]

I wonder what the Defense will suggest is the reason that MTR "helped" bag Victoria's nearly naked remains, and did not "help" put her underwear, pants, socks and shoes back on?

I don't think I would be able to place underpants and pants on a corpse, even in the best of times if there was no crime involved, but certainly not after realizing Tori had just been coldly murdered! :twocents:

 

[matou]

@AM980_Court

• Jury seeing a photo of the damaged liver. There's an obvious gash.

 

[~n/t~]

RaffertyLFP:
One possibility was the liver was injured by a blow to abdomen. Other was injury after death. [via Twitter]

 

[matou]

@RaffertyLFP

• Jury shown photo of injured liver.