We work in the field and provide forensic support as well as litigation consulting. We study persuasive science and often are involved in developing demonstrative exhibits for trial teams. I am a fan of GC and believe she put on a solid case. However, I'd like to share with you what our approach would have been to the call records on July 17, 2014.
Recall how persuasive it was when GC presented the timeline showing KM's bank account and she clicked her PowerPoint to have the graph show the dramatic spike of cash that coincided precisely with the murder. When you have such a dramatic exhibit, it always helps to mirror it with a corroborating exhibit. In this case the call activity on the day of the murder is obviously critical. I believe it should have been the centerpiece of an exhibit that was used in a manner that would resonate with the bank record presentation. It is also very important to coordinate the direct testimony being used to introduce the exhibit. Let's assume GC has laid foundation for the following. To leverage the persuasive value of the evidence, I'd suggest she ask her witness questions along these lines:
Q: Agent Sanford, I'm showing you a timeline that includes the year 2014 when Mr. Markel was murdered. For the record, what was the date of the murder?
A: July 17th.
GC clicks to show the vertical line representing the date of the murder:
Q: Now, Agent Sanford, have you've studied the phone records for Charlie Adelson, Donna Adelson, Wendi Adelson, Katherine Magbanua and Sigfredo Garcia?
A: Yes.
Q: Did I ask you to compile the number of calls made daily among and between these five people?
A: Yes you did.
Q: And for the calendar year 2014, did you make a daily count for calls among and between them?
A: Yes I did.
Q: Did you find there was one day among the 365 days of 2014 where the number of calls made between these people had a particularly high total?
A: Yes. There was one day when the call activity among and between these individuals was much higher than any other. We found a flurry of calls placed between those phone numbers on a single day.
Q: And what day was that, Agent Sanford?
A: July 17th, 2014
GC clicks to superimpose the call activity over the same date as the murder:
Q: Now Agent Sanford, I'm going to zoom into the 24 hour period starting just after Midnight on the 17th.
(At this point I believe GC should use an interactive Timeline that allows her to graphically take the jury through the calls made. I've whipped up an example using the free online Timeline Software Tiki-Toki. A number of our clients use this simple tool in their courtroom presentations. You can view the Markel Murder Timeline I made here:
Dan Markel Murder -- you can switch to and from the 2D/3D views by clicking the little "2D/3D" icon in the lower left corner of the screen.
Below are two screen shots from the Timeline. You can use your mouse wheel to scroll through the day and you can click on any of the calls to pull up information about the call duration:
The screenshot below shows how we've incorporated the murder 911 call in the timeline. Seeing that graphic adjacent to the visual depiction of the telephone tag going on is extremely persuasive and makes the temporal connection between the conspirators and the event:
Again, I'm a fan of the work done by the prosecution. However, I do believe that modern trials benefit from careful preparation and use of presentation tools that help the jury understand the case and the issues. I think the jury might not fully appreciate the significance of the phone traffic if it is presented in a somewhat sterile list that looks similar to the phone bills they've reviewed many times at home. By adding images of the defendants with a dynamic graphic depiction of the timeline, the persuasive impact and importance of this particular phone traffic becomes evident.
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