State v Bradley Cooper 3-18-2011

[Just the Fax]

Seriously, Cummings need to be replaced as a presenter in this case. He's awful. Maybe he's better behind the scenes as someone who can help with strategy, but his delivery? I fear he's going to help lose the case for the state.

They need to get Zellinger (the other male ADA) to do the direct and redirect and leave Howard on the bench! (IMHO)

I agree, he is terrible. Totally unprepared...at least that is the way he came across.I was really surprised the way he handled the stomach contents and caffeine .It was almost like he just read the autopsy for the first time this morning. Wake up Howard or you are gonna lose!

 

[ncsu95]

I think they are attempting to suggest that NC may have vomited as she was being strangled...as a result of the action of being strangled, which would account for why there was little left in her system (and possibly there could be evidence in some other place in the case).

But the ME kind of dismissed this by saying if she vomited enough to completely clear her stomach. Wouldn't that be hard to do with someones hands around your neck? I mean seriously (and I know this is gross)...I had a stomach bug last month. When I vomited, it took about 5 full heaves before I was dry heaving. That is what it would have taken to empty her stomach contents. And that is highly unlikely. It's also highly unlikely that she didn't eat or drink anything after 7:00 PM. So the ME testimony really points to her dying much later than 1:00 am.

 

[DogWood]

A little more about what happened in court this morning.

Judge scolds lawyer in Cooper trial
http://abclocal.go.com/wtvd/story?section=news/local&id=8020641

 

[SleuthyGal]

And that is highly unlikely.

Why is it highly unlikley NC couldn't have gotten sick and vomited enough to clear out her stomach (before ever being strangled)?

Just because it took YOU a certain amount of vomiting to clear YOUR stomach, doesn't mean it's the same for everyone.

 

[Just the Fax]

Maybe upcoming witnesses giving lab results can indeed prove Nancy vomited. Not the ME's job to figure this one out. The defense certainly steered clear of that issue. We shall see.

iMO, the defense steered clear of vomiting because it was so far fetched. They knew they won that argument and , imo, Cummings looked desperate suggesting it..
If they had some proof (can't imagine what it would be, cause Butts said he would have no way of knowing that), why did Cummings later say perhaps she ate at 7 and he killed her at 1AM? He waffled and showed the jury he has no confidence in his own theory.

 

[raisincharlie]

Now don't do that RC! I don't have time right now to replay her testimony... tell me what you noticed! ;-)

ETA: I already know D. Lopez made the avocado salad which contained chopped onion and Nancy ate some of it.

Just ask yourself why did they have JA point out that the ducks and sticks were gone, why Alice Stubbs grilled Brad about the foyer area ad naseum, why Dismukes says he believes Nancy was murdered in the foyer, why the ME testified to how long it would take for loss of consciousness and if the pressure was released what would happen, and what was the point of Donna Lopez at all in the scheme of things, she didn't know Nancy from boo.

 

[dgfred]

He could have hit her in the head concussing her, causing her to vomit at some point. Strangulation could have been a while later.

 

[carolinalady]

So far, the only indication that JA Young actually erased the BB data is Kurtz saying so in his opening. In light of that several pieces of his opening have been shown to be, shall we say - windys ? Another came out yesterday, in his opening Kurtz also accused the FBI of wrong doing with respect to the computers, that was clarified yesterday and even Kurtz agreed the FBI did not do anything it should not have done.

With that in mind and not being willing to accept Kurtz's opening, I'll wait for testimony regarding the supposed wipe out of Nancy's BB.

It's in the motion to dismiss and it states that the defense received a letter 9 months after the erasure of the phone that notified them that the contents had been erased.

 

[carolinalady]

He could have hit her in the head concussing her, causing her to vomit at some point. Strangulation could have been a while later.

Wouldn't the concussion be noted during the autopsy?

 

[Just the Fax]

So what time did she eat her food at the party?
There was earlier testimony, right?

 

[SleuthyGal]

what was the point of Donna Lopez at all in the scheme of things, she didn't know Nancy from boo.

Donna Lopez

1. Helped established Nancy's state of mind on 7/11 at the party as being very unhappy & headed for divorce with a lot of tension in the marriage (per what NC told her)
2. Established what she saw Nancy eat at the party (which included a dish that had onions)
3. Confirmed that Nancy drank wine and beer
4. Confirmed that Nancy had some kind of stomach issue in which she shouldn't eat dairy, but Nancy did eat lemon cake and Nancy made mention that she shouldn't eat it)
5. Showed that Nancy was helpful (carrying her daughter to the car and getting the girl settled in)
6. Showed how worried even a new acquaintance could be in hearing how tense things were for Nancy and the dread she felt about Nancy's situation.

If there is something else I obviously missed it.

 

[SleuthyGal]

Nancy was seen eating by various people at different times that night.

She got to the party around 6pm. At various points she was seen munching on pita and hummus, avocado salad, ribs, lemon cake, had some wine and beer. So it sounds like she ate for some period of hours (maybe munching a bit here and there).

We don't know exactly what time she took her last bite of food.

 

[dgfred]

Wouldn't the concussion be noted during the autopsy?

I'm not sure... but good question/statement.

 

[SleuthyGal]

And of course all the questioning of witnesses about items in the foyer, what was there before 7/12 and on or after 7/12, along with Stubbs' questions about all the cleaning in the foyer area are to suggest that BC attacked NC in the foyer...or at least had her body there at some point, and items were possibly damaged (and thus discarded) and the area needed to be cleaned.

 

[carolinalady]

She had Crohn's, right? I guess we'd have to hear testimony about what her normal reaction to eating dairy is?

 

[SleuthyGal]

She had Crohn's, right? I guess we'd have to hear testimony about what her normal reaction to eating dairy is?

Correct, she did have Crohn's.

 

[Just the Fax]

For all we know she was killed at 4AM when he said Katie woke up?
The state obviously wanted to say around midnight when she came home. They should have anticipated the stomach contents issue and given the jury a much bigger window to consider all along. The defense had a much more believable argument on this portion of the evidence.

 

[SleuthyGal]

For all we know she was killed at 4AM?

Yes! He could have snuck into her room in the early morning hrs of 7/12 (well after 1am) and strangled her in there. There's certainly nothing that precludes that scenario from happening.

 

[NCEast]

Correct, she did have Crohn's.

I have a friend with Crohns disease and her digestive motility is very, very fast. Much quicker than the typical 4-6 hours. I don't know how this may play into the prosecution's case, if at all, but I know first hand what this disease does to my friend.

 

[ncsu95]

Why is it highly unlikley NC couldn't have gotten sick and vomited enough to clear out her stomach (before ever being strangled)?

Just because it took YOU a certain amount of vomiting to clear YOUR stomach, doesn't mean it's the same for everyone.

Because the evidence doesn't suggest it. She had an undigested onion in her stomach. There has been plenty of discussion on here that onion takes longer to digest than other foods. So she threw up EVERYTHING else except the one piece of food that would have taken longer to digest? I think the ME's testimony really hurt the prosecutions case. Now we have to believe she threw up (everything except for the onion of course) in order for her to have been murdered when they think she was. I think it is highly likely she died in the morning time (either by BC or someone else).

My guess is the voip calls are going to be the same way. In my opinion, they are going to show how it could have been done but offer absolutely no evidence to show that it was actually done.

This case is falling apart.