Tuesday, May 22nd continued.
Defense Closing Arguments
Katie Widner CBSL2
@KWidnerCBSL2
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Court is back in session for the #PinyonPines triple murder trial. Cristin Smith's attorney, John Patrick Dolan, has approached the jury to make his closing arguments.
#PinyonPines triple murder trial closing statements by Smith's defense attorney John Patrick Dolan: “The Friedli and Hayward families have to be feeling the most incredible, despairing feelings.” “You can’t blame them for wanting someone to be brought to justice for this”
Note from me - I've taken out the first line of "#PinyonPines triple murder trial closing statements, etc..... to make easier to read. 
The other side of the room are people who are in abject fear. They are afraid the wrongly accused men will be found guilty and responsible for these crimes.
The fear that is palpable for the Pape and Smith families is something you feel everyday.
We have to begin with a context for the evidence that you have heard. We’ve been looking back almost 12 years. Almost every witness said their memory had faded.
and they did the best they could under the circumstances.
"We don’t know the cause of death for Becky Friedli. There is no time of death. No sequence of death."
We know Cristin Smith was 17, almost 18 years old, when these horrible circumstances took place.
Cell phones back then are not the cell phones we have today. The crime happened almost 12 years ago. We just celebrated the tenth anniversary of the iPhone.
It’s important that we set this context before we start looking back.
There is no motive for these killings that have been presented to you. "To say the motive in the homicides is selfish is to ask you to buy a load of compost."
There is no way Cristin Smith participated in three murders because his friend was selfish.
“Let’s frame the difference between what the @RivCoDA says and what we say. We begin with the presumption of innocence. Then we add the undisputed facts. The stipulations.
"When we look at all of the evidence, we don’t know- and that’s the tragedy here. We don’t know."
"We need to separate the narrative, the story, from the evidence has been presented. The only facts that have been proven in this case are the facts which have been stipulated."
“We can’t be in a hurry about a case as grave as this. And we won’t be.”
"The bedrock of our judicial system is the presumption of innocence, which means Cristin Smith is not guilty..."
"...and as you look at what has been presented to you, you look at it through the lens of not guilty."
"We really, really hope that you have not made up your mind because that is the only way that you can have a fair trial."
“Circumstantial evidence doesn’t lie, but there can be lies based on circumstantial evidence and that’s what you’re going to have to watch out for."
Now playing audio of Cristin Smith's initial interview with investigators that took place at his father's home in Cathedral City.
Jurors are following along with transcripts of the recording. Some have been taking note today.
Audio recording of Cristin Smith interview with investigators: "I know he's Catholic and I know he's serious about it." -- Speaking about co-defendant Robert Pape, Becky Friedli's ex-boyfriend.
Audio recording
shorten: Recalling what he and Robert Pape were doing on the day of the murders. Going into detail about what they were up to. Suspended from work, played video games, fell asleep, went paintballing, got gas. Drove him home.
Audio recording: Says after he dropped Pape off at home, he himself went home, showered and went over to his girlfriend's house in Palm Springs where he spent the night.
Audio recording: Smith tells investigators that his mom was not comfortable around Pape after their high school prank got "really out of hand." Smith says he had to do community service as punishment for prank.
Audio recording: Says the last time he had seen Becky Friedli before the night she came over to his house to hang out with him and Pape was maybe three months before.
This is the same audio recording we have listened to previously in the trial. Cristin Smith being interviewed by investigators. Still a while to go before it is finished. Smith's defense attorney, John Patrick Dolan, will make his point of airing this clear once it is finished.
Audio recording has finished. The Judge has called a recess before we continue. Back on the record at 3:10.
Judge Bernard Schwartz is back in the courtroom. Jury is being called back in. Cristin Smith's defense attorney, John Patrick Dolan, is picking back up where he left off in closing arguments.
#PinyonPines triple murder trial closing statements by Smith's defense attorney John Patrick Dolan: Dolan has identified significant points from Smith's interview with detectives and has them projected on a screen so jury can see the timeline visually.
Dolan's Closing statements shorten again: Wants to point out the context of which the interview was conducted. Cristin Smith was 17-year-old being interrogated by two homicide detectives after father was asked to leave.
Detectives did not take the xbox the defendants were allegedly playing on the night of the murders for testing. No interview was ever done w/ Cristin Smith's mother, father or girlfriend.
The paintball gun was not checked out. The vehicle Smith said he was driving the night of the murder was not checked out.
"Did you ever hear anything about an investigation in the red truck with the white bed?"
A fire captain testified he saw a red truck with a white bed coming at a high rate of speed toward the fire truck, like in a game of chicken. One person inside.
Points out that first person to the crime scene saw the garage door open and was able to see through to the house. Later, a witness testified that the garage door had been closed.
Dolan says perpetrator was still @ the house when the 1st person arrived at the scene. Then lit a fire downstairs & closed the garage before getting into red truck & speeding away
Dolan also recalls testimony about a large amount of press being outside the crime scene the next morning & that a witness the night of the murders saw a body in the wheelbarrow.
Dolan says it is possible the witness spoke to the media and that alone defuncts the prosecution's claims that the defendants knew information that allegedly hadn't been released.
The area where prosecution says a "struggle" happened was pulled out of thin air. It was an area of disturbed soil. There is no telling what happened in that area.
Says there were five footprints found in two football field sized areas. There is no way to tell that there were two people who pushed the wheelbarrow. That is a made up narrative.
The crime scene was contaminated by investigation. Becky Friedli had DNA from unknown male on her ankle, in area the killer would have handled her body. Pape and Smith not matches.
#PinyonPines triple murder trial: We still have more closing arguments tomorrow. Pape and Smith are being tried separately by the same jury, so they have their own counsels. John Dolan, representing Cristin Smith, made his closing remarks today.
#PinyonPines triple murder trial: Robert Pape’s attorney, Jeffrey Moore, will address the jury tomorrow. Then the prosecution will have a chance at rebuttal before it is handed over to the jury.
