Closing Arguments- Chase Merritt Charged W/Murder of Joseph, Summer, Gianni and Joe Jr McStay #3

[gitana1]

Hi gitana1, (BBM) McGee did put his hand on CM's arm, as the verdicts were being read, not once, but twice!

Yes. The perfunctory pat.

It's just me reading their body language as another attorney. They seemed distancing at a time when many would be closer or touching them in some way.

 

[geevee]

Did you remove it, geevee?

I think L&C did.

ETA: Addi said in chat that she needs to upload it again.

Thanks Missy, I was off doing stuff, sorry for the deleted one, I watched it
when I first linked it, not much there there.

 

[LadyL]

I think the reason the DT is so 'shell-shocked' is because they're so arrogant that they had this in the bag. Too much confidence boys. And if they set Merritt and his family up to expect a not-guilty verdict, then they're crap lawyers IMO. They should've prepared him for the reality of a conviction.

ETA: Also, I can't stand McGee. There, I said it. I've been holding that in lol.

 

[HelenK]

I think the reason the DT is so 'shell-shocked' is because they're so arrogant that they had this in the bag. Too much confidence boys. And if they set Merritt and his family up to expect a not-guilty verdict, then they're crap lawyers IMO. They should've prepared him for the reality of a conviction.

ETA: Also, I can't stand McGee. There, I said it. I've been holding that in lol.

bbm
If they really thought that, they are not only arrogant, they're delusional. Actually, the head-down display of emotion or whatever it was on Maline's part might have been the crestfallen realization that they are just as you describe -- crap lawyers.

 

[LietKynes]

Killed them with a sledgehammer for a lousy 30K. Idiot.

 

[Kavya01]

I am thinking Chase'll be quick to blame this verdict on inefficient counsel. Gaaaa it'll cost CA tons of $$ in appeals

And HOW could you have your ten year old son sit there as you are being branded a murderer. I mean, we all knew it would be a guilty verdict today, chances of not guilty were slim-to-none for anyone with any reasoning power.

That poor child. And if it was the DT trying to pull heartstrings, shame on them even more!

 

[LietKynes]

I remember
Alejandro Aliva. He abducted beautiful Samantha Runion. Sexually assaulted and murdered that beautiful little girl. I hate him.

Ita.

Is he the apartment handyman who killed himself after the verdict ?
I haven't forgotten Samantha.

 

[Recidivist]

I am thinking Chase'll be quick to blame this verdict on inefficient counsel. Gaaaa it'll cost CA tons of $$ in appeals

And HOW could you have your ten year old son sit there as you are being branded a murderer. I mean, we all knew it would be a guilty verdict today, chances of not guilty were slim-to-none for anyone with any reasoning power.

That poor child. And if it was the DT trying to pull heartstrings, shame on them even more!

I was wondering about that too. Maybe the boy insisted on being there for his Dad. Or maybe Cathy Jarvis truly believed Chase would be set free today.

 

[mrjitty]

I don't know. I don't think they were shocked by the verdict. I don't think the attorney was crying. And I don't think they felt he was innocent.

If I was convinced my client was innocent I would have an arm around his shoulder and a hand on his arm, as the verdicts were being read. I would give him a squeeze if it was bad news.

I wonder what the other attorneys think but I'm reading their body language as distancing. Even the perfunctory pat before the verdict.

Interesting maline and McGee spent the first 60s describing their own emotions and a journalist actually had to ask them how their client was doing

It's always been about them

 

[Mony Mony]

Interesting malone and McGee spent the first 60s describing their own emotions and a journalist actually had to ask them how their client was doing

It's always been about them

I could almost see their noses growing as they said they were shocked and believe their client is innocent.

 

[ilovesleep]

The young red headed boy is Chase's son.

Holy crap... That's got to be incredibly traumatic for a kid

 

[KALI]

Today was a hard day for me. It's been almost a decade since I met with the McStay family to start distributing flyers looking for their missing family.
After the verdict, I just could not muster up the energy to take care of my important "things to do list".
Everything seemed so trivial.
I took most of the day to contemplate on Joey and Summer's life, then death, and their loved one's heartache.

What a horrible, senseless crime.
I've decided that I do want Merritt to get the death penalty.
1. Because he deserves it and 2. Because the rest of his life will be miserable.

Bravo to the prosecution team. I cannot discuss my thoughts and feelings about the defence attorneys here.
IMO. Good won over evil today.

 

[ab01]

I can entertain that people could have pause to whether the state was able to prove their case beyond a reasonable doubt

I for one think they did without any doubt whatsoever

But for the life of me I will never understand how anyone who followed all the evidence in this case from day 1 could ever come to any reasonable conclusion whatsoever that Mr. Merritt is truly innocent

There were just too many things that could not be reasonably explained away IMO

CM got exactly the just verdict that he deserved for the evil deeds that he did to the Mcstay family

JMO

 

[MrsPC]

Holy crap... That's got to be incredibly traumatic for a kid

IMHO I doubt Merritt's son was traumatized and more likely barely even knows his dad. He didn't show any anguish from what I saw this morning. I saw on FB a week or so ago where Merritt's sister was talking with Jarvis about Jarvis being a good mother & the sister said she knew that Jarvis did all the "rising" (raising of the kids) and Jarvis responded that Taylor is the one who got to actually spend some time with Merritt growing up & that she wished Merritt hadn't had to work so hard all the time or he could have been a better father. (She went on to say when he (Merritt) gets out of this that hopefully he could spend more time.)

Interestingly too - Jarvis is FB friends with the other ex girlfriend of Merritt.

I think they honestly thought Merritt would be acquitted. It just blows my mind how some families can be in complete denial about their loved ones.

 

[sweetcaro]

Fantastic verdict, may he rot in hell.

 

[QueenBofOB]

Holy crap... That's got to be incredibly traumatic for a kid

 

[Karinna]

It was so good to see Justice was finally served for the brutal murders of the McStay family.
The Jurors deserve thanks too for getting it right and taking all the evidence into consideration in their deliberations. They listened and realized there could of been no one else except Merritt that was responsible for this heinous crime. All IMO.

 

[MsFacetious]

The whole thing is just so sad. I am unable to find joy in any of it.

Neither am I. It's just awful. So many people destroyed.

Thank you I was not aware he would change lawyers for the appeal.

It is actually not permitted for the same attorneys who did the trial to do the appeal. The reason being that one of the things the appeals court looks at whether the defendant raises it or not, is ineffective assistance of counsel. That is the reason for the attorney change for the appeal process.

Now that said, the trial attorney can certainly assist the appellate attorney. Since they were there for trial they are very familiar with all of it. They just won't be the attorneys of record after sentencing.

My boss is assisting on the appeal of a case right now that he was the trial lawyer for. He's even made the appellate attorney a list of all the things he could have done better or differently. I realize he's the exception however.

Thank you!

Raj looks like he’s been crying.

That would not surprise me.
It's hard for me to see the comments about the defense attorneys. They are not all horrible people. My boss definitely gets attached to his clients and their families. He takes injustice very hard, when an innocent person gets convicted it is hard on him.

I don't know these attorneys... but they were doing their job. Without defense attorneys our system can't function at all. It already has enough issues as it is.

Usually kids aren't allowed in courtrooms unless it's an adoption case!

Kids are allowed in courtrooms, they just have to be quiet. I've taken my kids to observe court in the past with non violent cases.

However, with our client's minor children we advise they are not in the room unless they are testifying. We do our best to avoid them needing to do so, we will proffer their statement whenever possible.

When they DO need to testify we try to save them for last so that their support system (other parent, adult siblings, friends) can all be in the courtroom for support if the exclusionary rule is invoked.

There's just no reason the kid couldn't have at least waited in the hall.

 

[MissJames]

Killed them with a sledgehammer for a lousy 30K. Idiot.

IMO it was part of the trigger but there’s more .

Chase had an active warrant out. What are the odds Joey ,or Summer via Joey , threatened bringing in LE upon discovering charles merritt received funds from EIP’s acct that Joey had not given him. Final straw for Joey?

Supposedly they were getting some big orders with the potential from 10’s of thousands to millions. At the same time Joey is distancing himself & these desls from charles merritt. Think Chase might be getting angry?

After the disappearance, Chase had nothing good to say about Summer McStay . Summer didn’t like Chase & was not quiet about it . Blow to the jaw was probably part of the rage Chase had built up , blaming Summer for turning Joey against him, stories he tells himself in his warped brain.

He even seemed to dislike the two boys . He thought they were spoiled brats.

So it wasn’t over just $30,000 in my view . It was about more possible jail time , losing part of the profits from a million+ dollar job and any future jobs.
Rage

All , JMHO

 

[MsFacetious]

It is still strange for me to be in a position of not having a strong opinion on a verdict.

I just always remember that juries don't always get it right. (Bella Bond's case)

Sometimes guilty people go free simply because of a lack of evidence. (Caylee's case.)

Sometimes innocent people are convicted for a variety of reasons including lies or corruption or incorrect identification.

Sometimes people still hate a verdict even if it's the right one.

Sometimes people still like a verdict even if it's the wrong one.

Sometimes the majority opinion is the correct one.

Sometimes the minority opinion is the correct one.

I always try to remember all of those things. It helps me to keep perspective when working on these cases. They are always awful because nothing changes the reality for the victim's and their family's.

I hope this verdict brings them some peace and I hope justice has been served.