CA - Joey, Summer, Gianni, Joseph Jr McStay Murders - Feb 4th 2010 #9

[MsFacetious]

There are absolutely legitimate reasons for a defendant to allow delays. Even when they are innocent and incarcerated. Especially then.

I'm dealing with two right now who have trusted their counsels advice. Both are now at the point where the delays are no longer helping their case and so we are pushing for trial.

Both would vastly prefer prison to being held in jail. They have agreed to the delays to increase their chances of an acquittal. A few years in jail before exoneration is better than life in prison after wrongful conviction.

The prosecution has been the one to request every delay in these two cases. One 2.5 years and one 3 years. They have delayed because they realize they are screwed. A more ethical prosecutor would have dismissed a long time ago when the case started falling apart.

We used the delays to further investigate and prove lies or alibis. Now we are done allowing delays and the prosecution is upset we want to go to trial, because they don't have a case.

They were told by the judge this month that the cases will be dismissed with prejudice if they cannot go to trial as scheduled. There have already been misconduct issues with the prosecutor, the judge is fed up.

The two cases I'm working on are both much much stronger because of the delays. The hope being that they will be out after a few years awaiting trial instead of life in prison. I feel much better about the odds now than I did two years ago.

If the defendant is guilty I'm sure it's different. However, YES there are perfectly legitimate reasons for an innocent man to remain in jail while his team builds a case. Absolutely.

"Do you want a quick resolution or an acquittal?"

 

[Edmo]

Before we learned that L&C would be back as in the most recent threads, I had contacted Joe Nelson. Here is the email convo. We'll see, but thanks, Joe.

On Tue, Feb 26, 2019 at 10:36 AM
Hi Joe,
OK, I know someone else has been assigned to the trial, but we need you! Law & Crime is having difficulty with the live stream either technically or economically. Is anyone else providing a live stream?
Or will you be ours (live stream) ?

Hi! Let me forward this to the editor who is overseeing McStay trial coverage and see if she can help you out.
Joe Nelson

I tweeted him last week as well.

 

[Mony Mony]

#McStay - Good news. We have audio from the trial for yesterday and today. We'll be uploading to our youtube channel today.
Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) | Twitter

Nice!

 

[Meemaw12]

Just an FYI

The reporter I contacted did not respond. I know she has moved on to other things and busy so I’m not surprised I didn’t hear from her. But it was worth a shot.

Glad live-streaming will be returning soon.

 

[itsbrookie]

Why? I don't know one way or the other, but can you elaborate on that?

Well recently the pros was arguing that Chase's phone went off the grid on certain days and for certain times - A.K.A, when he was commiting this crime, burying the bodies and cleaning up the crime scene. However, the jury now has heard that his phone had a tendency to have connectivity issues, so that portion of the evidence may not be rock solid for them.

So far, I agree with another poster --the most incriminating evidence is the backdated cheques.

All JMO

 

[geevee]

#McStay - Good news. We have audio from the trial for yesterday and today. We'll be uploading to our youtube channel today.
Cathy Russon (@cathyrusson) | Twitter

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson
#McStay - More good news! We'll have our camera back in the courtroom Thursday. Tomorrow court is only in session in the morning and we'll have audio to upload.

I'm so pleased about both; it's very difficult to be given something valuable you didn't think you were going to get (the live stream of a CA trial so many have waited years for) and then have it taken away from you with no recourse.

Thanks L&C for re-fulfilling your initial promise of bringing us uninterrupted gavel to gavel coverage of this trial. Just don't take it away again, okay?

 

[missy1974]

I'm so pleased about both; it's very difficult to be given something valuable you didn't think you were going to get (the live stream of a CA trial so many have waited years for) and then have it taken away from you with no recourse.

Thanks L&C for re-fulfilling your initial promise of bringing us uninterrupted gavel to gavel coverage of this trial. Just don't take it away again, okay?

As bad as the live stream can be sometimes, and as annoyed as some (me haha) are that they pulled out for a few days.... when it comes back, we should pop into their chat and make sure they know that we are appreciative That way maybe they won't think no one will notice if they do it again lol

 

[citygirl]

I think I'm getting the measure of the way he thinks. If I'm not wrong he tries to think what would a guilty person do or say in every situation so that he can do the opposite. I'd say it's a gambling tactic.

Is that the McStays walking over the border? Well the family car's been put there to give that impression, they'll be expecting me to say it's them if I left it there so I'll surprise them and say it's not them. His thinking - they won't think it's me who parked it there. (trouble is he's already anticipating they are treating this as murder and they're not yet.)

Tell us about Summer. Oh me? I couldn't stand the woman. And those kids were so badly behaved! His thinking - I wouldn't be saying that if I'd killed them all.

I'll prove to them I was there at lunch on the 4th so I'll tell them I'm almost positive Joey paid by card - would I say that and chance getting it wrong, if I wasn't there? (trouble is no one was looking for confirmation he'd been there so that was a big misjudgment, plus he chose the wrong card to play that day because Joey must've paid in cash).

etc.

Same thing with waiving his rights and wanting to take the state on without a lawyer.

He has a controlling personality so he wouldn't feel anyone could do it the way he wants it done (looks like he's running his own office in that corner of the room) and he is transparently devious - to anyone trained in looking for deception. If you look back over all his statements and deeds (backdating cheques, not phoning Joey that weekend, using past tense, telling them that Dan was a bad boy etc) he shows guilty knowledge that they're dead.

Home run!!!!

 

[citygirl]

I think another good question to ask is:

Would an innocent man or woman be willing to give up many years of freedom sitting in a locked jail cell, when they all had a constitutional right to demand a speedy trial be held?

Jmo

Not sure when he decided to represent himself ? Felt it was a ploy to have access to all his records and what they had and didn't have.

 

[LadyL]

I think I'm getting the measure of the way he thinks. If I'm not wrong he tries to think what would a guilty person do or say in every situation so that he can do the opposite. I'd say it's a gambling tactic.

Is that the McStays walking over the border? Well the family car's been put there to give that impression, they'll be expecting me to say it's them if I left it there so I'll surprise them and say it's not them. His thinking - they won't think it's me who parked it there. (trouble is he's already anticipating they are treating this as murder and they're not yet.)

Tell us about Summer. Oh me? I couldn't stand the woman. And those kids were so badly behaved! His thinking - I wouldn't be saying that if I'd killed them all.

I'll prove to them I was there at lunch on the 4th so I'll tell them I'm almost positive Joey paid by card - would I say that and chance getting it wrong, if I wasn't there? (trouble is no one was looking for confirmation he'd been there so that was a big misjudgment, plus he chose the wrong card to play that day because Joey must've paid in cash).

etc.

Same thing with waiving his rights and wanting to take the state on without a lawyer.

He has a controlling personality so he wouldn't feel anyone could do it the way he wants it done (looks like he's running his own office in that corner of the room) and he is transparently devious - to anyone trained in looking for deception. If you look back over all his statements and deeds (backdating cheques, not phoning Joey that weekend, using past tense, telling them that Dan was a bad boy etc) he shows guilty knowledge that they're dead.

[bbm]

very interesting ... can you elaborate on the part I bolded?

 

[citygirl]

See! LOL It doesn't matter.

So a defendant, any defendant, asserts their right to a speedy trial, does not waive their right to a speedy trial, the lawyer asks be dismissed, the judge dismisses him. Defendant is stalling.

C'mon Missy! He alluded to being so sick that he wouldn't last. He wanted that speedy trial. What happened? He looks pretty good to me. Fresh and clean. Crisp shirt and tie. Awake and alert. No portable oxygen tank. Color is good, though a tad flushed at times. MOO.

 

[missy1974]

audio's of the testimony is uploaded!

McStay Family Murder Trial - YouTube

scroll wayyyyyyy down the list

 

[citygirl]

We're like scavengers

Mud turtles.

 

[citygirl]

I'm so pleased about both; it's very difficult to be given something valuable you didn't think you were going to get (the live stream of a CA trial so many have waited years for) and then have it taken away from you with no recourse.

Thanks L&C for re-fulfilling your initial promise of bringing us uninterrupted gavel to gavel coverage of this trial. Just don't take it away again, okay?

Yes. My exact thoughts. Would they dare do it again? Maybe. Cautiously optimistic.

 

[itsbrookie]

Huge props to everyone for making L & C realise there is actually a huge following for this trial! Without you all, I doubt they would've returned to it so quickly

 

[mom2chloe]

See, I don't understand this statement at all. I would check into the forum between 2014-2018, I would read about how he was stalling, etc., and believed what the majority were saying at the time. Yet every article I have read about the delays in the last few months, it's actually not the case. At one point his lawyers asked to be dismissed because he would NOT waive his right to a speedy trial. He had a constitutional right to a speedy trial, yet when he tried to assert that right, he lost his lawyer, how ironic.

So now this is where you all reply and say that him NOT waiving his right to a speedy trial is a stalling tactic....

Can't win, right? He waives it... he's stalling. He doesn't waive it... he's stalling.

IMHO opinion, I believe CM thought he would wait it out and hopefully die before he had to face his crimes. His alleged heart attack and Old Man status didn’t work out during the investigation, so what does he have to lose?
Personally I wish he had committed crimes in Texas where there is an express way leading to a death penalty conviction. In CA, despite a death penalty conviction, it is essentially a life without parole sentence.
CM’s luck was never good anyway but I believe it’s run out and I can’t wait to see the conclusion of this trial, where I think and hope they will find him guilty BARD.
Perhaps we should all await the trial before we determine how the prosecution is performing. Again, they know much more than we do.
Regardless, he is alive and has a cot and three meals a day, which is significant compared to what he deprived his children and the mother of his children of their entire lives. There are enough people in the world who deserve our sympathy. Chase deserves the worst this jury and the judge can sling at him IMO.

 

[missy1974]

Listening to the audio of Part 1 from yesterday... I will have to listen again and make notes to completely "get it", without the maps, it's hard.

I think I've figured out where Cathy was getting her info. Which is interesting IMO

 

[mothwings]

This audio is better than it's been the whole trial!

 

[UndiscoveredTruth]

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 11m11 minutes ago
#McStay - Updates from today, day 24: McGee on cross exam of Agt Boles on cell phone/tower info, "Did any of the detectives ask you...that you could say the cell phone was at the grave site?"
Boles: "The data doesn't allow that kind of precision."

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 11m11 minutes ago
#McStay - Prosecutor Imes on redirect verified the last date Merritt's phone pinged off cell tower near the burial site before Feb 6, 2010 was July 12, 2009. (Yesterday I tweeted this as 2010. It was 2009).

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 12m12 minutes ago
McStay - Prosecution recalled Det. Edward Bachman. Bachman participated in Merritt's arrest on Nov 5, 2014. From Merrit's home they seized an Apple Iphone 6. On 10/2/14 there was a captured image showing search "us border?" and "can u get to alaska after going through canada"

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 12m12 minutes ago
#McStay - More searches on Merritt's phone: 10/27/14 "alaska" . Searched the day Merritt was interviewed by police: "whats necessary for a search warrant?"

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 12m12 minutes ago
#McStay - Bachman went over more images from Merritt's phone. 12/20/13 photo of the tire tracks with the memorial in the background and GPS coordinates.

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 12m12 minutes ago
#McStay - Screen capture in Merritt's photos on his phone of a search on 12/17/13 "How to change your identity" Background tab of "The strangest story of the McStay family who was found in the desert. " Another search on 12/18/13 "identity change".

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 12m12 minutes ago
#McStay - Cross exam by Raja Maline: Bachman says he doesn't know how the screenshots of photos, searches got on Merritt's phone. Maline: Did you learn that Mr. Merritt was writing a book? Bachman: Yes Maline: The book was about what happened to the McStay family. Objection sus

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 13m13 minutes ago


#McStay - Maline: Rick Baker was a guy that was writing a book, right? Bachman: He had already written it. Maline: He had photos of Joseph McStay's phone records in that book? Bachman: Yes
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Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 16m16 minutes ago
#McStay - Bachman says under cross exam some of the screenshots of images of searches testified to earlier on Merritt's phone were taken by an IPad,he doesn't know who took those and/or sent to Merritt. Merritt's phone never actually had web searches for change your identity, etc

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 16m16 minutes ago
#McStay - Imes on redirect: Did you find other photos? Bachman: Yes. Imes: I'm showing you some photos, these are photos of what? Objection defense, sidebar. Imes goes back to a photo. Imes: What were there pictures of? Bachman: We saw pics of Merritt posing by Joseph's cross.

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 16m16 minutes ago
#McStay - Bachman says Merritt admitted during many jail visits to searching for "change your identity". Defense objected. Judge sustained and told jury to disregard.

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 16m16 minutes ago
#Mcstay - Recross by James McGee: Bachman says he made the maps and he testified in the 2015 preliminary hearing before he was certified.

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 13m13 minutes ago
#McStay - Something interesting and not the norm that many legal experts have noticed in the #CharlesMerritt trial is the judge allows any attorney to object, even if they didn't do the questioning and redirect can be by different attorney, recross by different attorney.

Cathy Russon‏ @cathyrusson 10m10 minutes ago
#McStay - Court adjourned early (again) at 3:39pm. Tomorrow, court is only in session in the morning as a juror has a prior commitment. 4 day court weeks. Start around 9:45, 1.5 hr lunch, end by 4:15pm. Is it any wonder why this trial was slated to last 4-6 months?

​

 

[Emi]