Trial Thread, May 1, 2012 Defense begins it case in chief

[KMouse]

The dance lessons should come in handy too. Especially the side step when Big Bubba is trying to make a run at ya. MOO

He can share the cell block with Bernardo and Williams. Unfortunately it will be somewhere much nicer than Kingston.

 

[Ardy]

Does anyone know if MR's lawyer is provided by legal aid or is someone paying him for MR

No income..........no assets..........probably legal aid.

But the lawyer has to be willing to work for the legal aid stipend, although in trials like this the defense can apply for additional funding to provide an adequate defense.

Derstine could be doing it for free.........lawyers do that for some cases as part of their "charitable" work.

Or.........someone with very deep pockets is paying the bill.

JMO..............

 

[Macright]

sorry maybe it is just me but I find it rather derogatory in the way that some people are referring to that witness this morning who took the trouble to notify police with what she witnessed and was a reluctant witness for the defence...why not just refer to her as another witness.. JMO it doesn't take much to realize that some are making a joke of this witness with the references to her eyesight and other things...I think that is really unfair and as I said derogatory... If my post is not in line with what is permitted on this site then I will respect if a Mod chooses to delete it but this is my opinion ...respectfully.... I will not go the route of alerting or pointing out posts but they are here...JMO it's almost as if who can top another...JMO

 

[KMouse]

I am really not sure what Derstine can say in his closing arguments. None of his suggestions were backed with any evidence.

Friday morning should be interesting.

 

[Macright]

Derstine won't be trying to prove his theory, but putting holes into the Crown accusations by way of another possible scenario.

I agree that Derstine made his inroads during the cross examinations.

He destroyed TLM's credibility with the revelations of the letters, music, and statements to her godmother. The jury now has to decide to believe all or any of TLM's testimony.

He forced the pathologist and forensics expert to admit there was no scientific proof of a sexual assault.

In addition to those cross examinations, Derstine presented a witness that raised questions with TLM's statements on how she abducted VS, and that there was no evidence of nefarious content on MR's Blackberry.

The Crown and defense now have the job of tying it up all for the jury to ponder during deliberations.

We will see how that goes.

JMO...............

I think he has already put some holes in the crown's evidence or lack of use of it...JMO

 

[JayFriend]

Maybe that's what MR was writing the whole time, his own version of the closing argument for Derstine LOL.

I sure hope the judge instructs the jury they are only to consider facts in evidence, not stories told by counsel in closing arguments. Even if Destine claims to be relating something Rafferty told him, or he deduced from TLM's rants and scribbles, it's not evidence.

 

[Macright]

I sure hope the judge instructs the jury they are only to consider facts in evidence, not stories told by counsel in closing arguments. Even if Destine claims to be relating something Rafferty told him, or he deduced from TLM's rants and scribbles, it's not evidence.

then why bother to have closing arguments...seems a waste of time to me if the jury is not supposed to mull over them...JMO

 

[lightlady]

In my opinion, Derstine used the witness today to try to show that VS was targetted by TLM (read "drug debt or gangs") and went willingly ("read MR didn't know what was going on"). He will tie it together with his closing argument to leave reasonable doubt on the Crown's case. I don't think he has to prove his scenario, just leave reasonable doubt about it happening the way the crown tried to show it did.
I think at this point he will try to spin the most believable yarn he can, because really that is all that he has got. In my mind the Crown did about the best job they could to give some credibility to TLM (scary) and provide what evidence was possible after MR had 3 months to cover his tracks.

 

[Ardy]

I sure hope the judge instructs the jury they are only to consider facts in evidence, not stories told by counsel in closing arguments. Even if Destine claims to be relating something Rafferty told him, or he deduced from TLM's rants and scribbles, it's not evidence.

The Crown will be putting together circumstantial evidence to prove their case.

The defense can use much of the same evidence to provide a different story.

Just one example.............

The pea coat...............

Will the Crown say that VS was hidden under the pea coat for several hours?

Will the defense then question that assertion by using the fact there was no DNA evidence from VS found on the coat? There was other DNA...but not from VS.

The expert testimony was there was no DNA evidence for VS on the coat, so Derstine would be using evidence (or the lack of it) to support his theory.

In some ways, the scientific evidence helped the defense, because so much of it had results that were inconclusive.

JMO.............

 

[Dmman]

Without an opening statement this morning, I'm not sure what Derstine was trying to prove with his witness. He didn't try to tie in a gang related-drug debt-child abduction for ransom. So I'm still left confused as to this witness' testimony. It's real hard to follow this trial sometimes when you're relying on twitter reports! I'm assuming there's so much more that will be released (finally!) when the jury are sequestered.

 

[Flowercb]

JMO I don't know if I can explain this simply but IMO so far..the questions that Dirk has thrown out there on cross and the info he has garnered by asking short simple questions and not going around and around leads me to believe that this Dirk is a smart cookie..those questions and responses cannot be ignored because it leaves some doubt in the crown's case IMO... I believe he knows exactly what he is doing..he must because he has people wondering and talking....JMO It will be interesting to hear his closing remarks...JMO

"Dirk" certainly hasn't fooled a lot or most of us here though. MOO.

 

[Ardy]

Without an opening statement this morning, I'm not sure what Derstine was trying to prove with his witness. He didn't try to tie in a gang related-drug debt-child abduction for ransom. So I'm still left confused as to this witness' testimony. It's real hard to follow this trial sometimes when you're relying on twitter reports! I'm assuming there's so much more that will be released (finally!) when the jury are sequestered.

I am wondering if the defense had a difficult time getting anyone willing to testify, given a lot of people involved seem to be involved in drugs.

While all of us would readily step forward if we knew something, those involved in drugs may not be so eager to incriminate themselves or to talk about things that could cause them trouble in the future.

Some of the witnesses who did come forward during this trial put themselves into the public eye...........and are not going to benefit from it to say the least.

Other than TLM.........did anyone step forward with testimony who admitted they were drug addicts themselves?

Rather unusual in a trial where the background is so full of drugs.

JMO.................

 

[nursebeeme]

new thread : move on over.. this one will close very shortly

[ame="http://www.websleuths.com/forums/showthread.php?t=170760"]The wait for closing arguments discussion thread - Websleuths Crime Sleuthing Community[/ame]