Laura Babcock Murder Trial 12.11.17 - Charge to the Jury - Day 3

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Sillybilly

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This is the Babcock murder trial discussion thread.

A few general reminders about the trial:

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:tyou:
 
:rose: Remembering Laura Babcock and waiting for Justice :rose:

1297999253571_ORIGINAL.jpg

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You are not forgotten ... Rest peacefully, Laura
:rose: :rose:
 
Judge lays out manslaughter, murder verdict options for jury at Laura Babcock murder trial
By Adam Carter, CBC News Posted: Dec 08, 2017

laura-babcock.jpg


Justice Michael Code laid out verdict options for jurors at the Laura Babcock murder trial today, telling them that manslaughter, first-degree murder and second-murder options are all on the table.

Code began his address, which lasted the entire day and will resume on Monday, by telling the jury the case is based on two crucial questions — whether Babcock is actually dead, and whether co-accused Dellen Millard and Mark Smich killed her.

[...]

On Friday, Code said three verdict options are available, even though Millard and Smich both face a first-degree murder charge.

"If you have reasonable doubt as to whether Ms. Babcock is dead, then you would find both accused not guilty. You would proceed no further in your deliberations," Code said.
 
It's expected the charge will finish up tomorrow, and then the jury will be sequestered to deliberate on a verdict.
by Adam Carter 9:16 AM


Justice Michael Code will continue his charge to the jury today. On Friday, he had started running through a recap of evidence in the trial, and that's where we'll pick up again today.
by Adam Carter 9:15 AM

I'm back at the courthouse today for the Laura Babcock murder trial. You can follow along for updates.
 
Big thanks to those that have been helping with the tweets. :)
 
I'm in the courtroom now, but there are some legal arguments happening before the jury is brought in. It's pretty much empty today, except for Babcock's parents, a couple of family members, and two spectators.
by Adam Carter 9:53 AM
 
I'm in the courtroom now, but there are some legal arguments happening before the jury is brought in. It's pretty much empty today, except for Babcock's parents, a couple of family members, and two spectators.
by Adam Carter 9:53 AM
Today would have been an excellent time to go.

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk
 
I can cover Adam until the lunch break

We're taking a five minute recess now, before things get underway this morning.
by Adam Carter 9:59 AM

The jury is coming in, we're now getting underway.
by Adam Carter 10:11 AM
 
Code says he expects to finish his review of the evidence in the charge today, and then finish a small part tomorrow morning. The jury will then start deliberating on a verdict tomorrow morning. Of the 14 jurors, only 12 will actually deliberate on a verdict. Two were alternates.
by Adam Carter 10:15 AM
 
Code is now moving on to the evidence from Desi Liberatore and David Cronin, who were friends of Smich in Oakville in 2002.
by Adam Carter 10:18 AM

Liberatore described an unstable upbringing in his testimony, Code says, and has an opioid problem.
by Adam Carter 10:18 AM

Code's charge says Liberatore testified that Smich performed a rap song for some people in a garage, that was about "torching a woman's body and throwing her phone in a lake." He said at the time, he thought Smich "made it up."
by Adam Carter 10:21 AM
 
Code now going through how Liberatore was withdrawing from opioids, and he was picked up for shoplifting. He offered information to the homicide squad about the Babcock investigation.
by Adam Carter 10:23 AM

"He agreed that he told the police at the time that his memory was poor, adopting his statement about a 'memory fog' and smoking myself 'into oblivion' both on prior occasions and at the time of Mr. Smich's garage statement. However, he insisted in his testimony here in court that he remembered what happened in the garage in 2012," Code says.
by Adam Carter 10:25 AM

He's now moving on to David Cronin, who testified he had an unstable home life as well, and was addicted to heroin at one point. He was also in the garage in 2012.
by Adam Carter 10:26 AM
 
Cronin testified that Smich said that he had "killed a girl," that he "burned her body," and that he "threw her in a lake," Code says. Smich also performed a rap about it, he said.
by Adam Carter 10:28 AM

"Mr. Cronin testified that the teenage boys did not believe what Mr. Smich had told them, and they did not take it seriously at first," Code says. "Mr. Smich would make up tories to make himself seem like a big gangster and they initially though that he was b***s***ting, as Mr. Cronin put it. However, Mr. Cronin and Mr. Liberatore eventually came to believe that it was not a lie or a joke."
by Adam Carter 10:29 AM

Code now talking about the note that was found on Smich's iPad backup on Millard's computer. It was created on July 24, 2012. It was then modified on Sept. 22, 2012. It read "The b**** started off all skin and bone, now the b**** lay on some ashy stone. Last time I saw her was outside the home, and if u go swimming u can find her phone."
by Adam Carter 10:31 AM
 
Is it routine from LE to offer up leniency to a criminal if they have info on a larger crime?
 
Maybe my memory is slipping but I don't recall the judge in the TB case basically giving an overview of the trial?

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk
 
Code now talking about how the iPad Smich had originally came from Shawn Lerner and was given to Babcock. It was subsequently named "Mark's iPad."
by Adam Carter 10:36 AM

Code now talking about a red bag that was found during a second police search of Smich's home. There were cans of spray paint inside the bag. There was a tag on it -- it had Babcock's name, address and phone number on it.
by Adam Carter 10:37 AM

We're now moving to the cell phone evidence heard as part of the trial. "This is extremely important evidence in the case," Code says.
by Adam Carter 10:38 AM
 
"They indicate when a particular telephone number contacted another telephone number, whether it was a call or text message, and the duration of any call," Code says. In particular, they indicate which telephone number was in contact with Ms. Babcock's telephone number shortly before her phone stopped sending and receiving phone calls and text messages on July 3/4, 2012. Second, they indicate which cell tower was used by a particular phone number when sending or receiving a call or text message. The cell tower location provides some evidence as to the vicinity of the phone at the time it sent or received a particular call or text message. In particular, it provides some evidence as to the vicinity of Ms. Babcock's phone at the time of her final calls and text messages."
by Adam Carter 10:41 AM
 
Code now talking about how cell phone tracking works in rural areas versus rural ones. "In dense urban areas, there are many cell towers because of obstructions and heavy cell phone traffic," Code says. "In rural areas there are less cell phone towers because of less obstructions and less cell phone traffic."
by Adam Carter 10:44 AM

After a 7:03 p.m. call on July 3, there were no further outgoing calls or text messages on Babcock's phone, Code says. "The cell tower used for this last outgoing call was located at 210 Markland Drive in Etobicoke."
by Adam Carter 10:46 AM

The defence position here is Babcock could have changed her phone number, Code says.
by Adam Carter 10:46 AM
 
Maybe my memory is slipping but I don't recall the judge in the TB case basically giving an overview of the trial?

Sent from my SM-T320 using Tapatalk

In the LB case, more so than the TB case, much of the evidence is circumstantial. For this reason, I believe that Code is going further in assisting the jury as to the legal "weight" of the various pieces of evidence. But each judge also has some latitude in bringing their own "style" of instruction to the jury.
 
Code now moving on to evidence about Babcock's phone using two cell towers close to Kipling subway station in Toronto between 6:16 p.m. and 6:28 p.m. on the evening of July 3, 2012, and then moving to a cell tower close to Millard's home in Etobicoke at 7:03 p.m. that evening.
by Adam Carter 10:50 AM

One of those last calls was to Millard's phone, Code says.
by Adam Carter 10:50 AM

The judge now going through how the phones moved the next day. Millard's phone pinged off of two cell towers close to his home in the morning, then moved west along the lakeshore between 11:13 a.m. and 12:29 p.m. At two points on that trip, the phones ping off cell towers close to Lake Ontario.
by Adam Carter 10:53 AM
 
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