Closing Arguments- Chase Merritt Charged W/Murder of Joseph, Summer, Gianni and Joe Jr McStay #2

[oceanblueeyes]

His interview with San Bernardino detectives was October 22nd 2014.

His Alaska & US borders searches - October 27th 2014

I don't know the date of the identity change searches.

Wow! The timing is not a mere coincidence.

It shows even then he knew once they deeply investigated the case the show was going to drop right on his murdering head.

Imo the reason he didnt flee is he stayed flat broke.

Imo, it takes a lot of money to be able to be on the lam forever, and be able to entirely create another identity successfully.

Imo

 

[mothwings]

I readily admit I always worry about any verdict happening in any CA trial.

This one has made me worry the most due to how shady this DT has been from beginning to end. Well scratch that. There may be more unethical behavior by the DT to come before its over.

I hate to even think any juror would put their own self centered interest before serving justice for any victims. However I am very worried it could happen in this particular case.

We have been shown this DT cannot be trusted. Imo.

Imo they have no ethical boundaries as to how low they are willing to go to get a cold blood killer off or to hang the jury so they can once again suck the CA taxpayers dry again by a retrial.

I don't put anything past them. I think they are capable of anything no matter how low they have to go. Sadly, I find them very much like their very own client in this trial, CM

JMHOO

I completely 100% agree.

The last two trials I closely followed ended in a mistrial after about two weeks of deliberation and the defense team was very similar to this one.

McGee and Maline have this personable affect so some people really like them but they know how guilty their client is. If it wasn't obvious before closing arguments it is now. It was the way McGee and Maline behaved this trial that was so full of impropriety and malpractice.

But some people are just gullible.

I couldn't imagine having to do this trial over. How long it would even take to get there. Probably another 9 years.

That's why they have to render a guilty verdict. Those bodies surfaced for a reason and it wasn't so CM could get away with murdering this family and throwing them away in the desert.

 

[dixiegirl1035]

Re: the Wallace guy

If he is the executive producer, he is the money behind the film. They most likely dubbed him a “media liaison” to give him access to the trial, as he probably wanted to be peripherally involved. You can’t tell the guy paying for your venture that he can’t be involved if he wants to be. IMO, he is loosely connected to the defense in that he is paying for the documentary, or whatever is being filmed. He’s not really a part of the defense team, per se, but he is affiliated with them.

Jose Baez 101, do anything that you can get rights to to obtain money for the defense or ?. Funnel it through photo selling, Dr. Phil, documentary, exclusive interviews, exclusive pictures, exclusive behind-the-scenes, selling exclusive rights to story, book deal, TV deal, Etc.

Moo

I have not followed this case for a very long time. Can somebody refresh me if this is a private attorney or a public defender? I'm just going Upstream a little bit it seems like the Antics are a private attorney.

 

[mothwings]

This family absolutely deserves justice.

 

[la2cabo]

Jose Baez 101, do anything that you can get rights to to obtain money for the defense or ?. Funnel it through photo selling, Dr. Phil, documentary, exclusive interviews, exclusive pictures, exclusive behind-the-scenes, selling exclusive rights to story, book deal, TV deal, Etc.

Moo

I have not followed this case for a very long time. Can somebody refresh me if this is a private attorney or a public defender? I'm just going Upstream a little bit it seems like the Antics are a private attorney.

The attorneys are kind of a gray area. Merritt qualified for a public defender, however, the rumor mill is saying the proceeds from the documentary are to pay for Maline and McGee.

 

[KALI]

This is OT. For documentaries, Ken Burns is THE man.

Thank you.

This is the very reason I don't waste my time watching any one sided biased documentary.
.
They are a farce imo. When all the truth is never presented the real truth will never be known.

I do enjoy watching any documentaries about D-Day or WW2, about our amazing fallen heroes who have fought, and died for our freedoms.

Imoo

 

[Karinna]

The attorneys are kind of a gray area. Merritt qualified for a public defender, however, the rumor mill is saying the proceeds from the documentary are to pay for Maline and McGee.

I thought the State of CA pays them in this case? If this wasn't a DP case then Merritt would of got a public defender and with that i don't think he would of got a choice?
I thought i read that a while back but could be wrong.

 

[Blondiexoxo]

If I am on a jury, not just on a jury but a death penalty capital murder trial jury, I don’t care what appointment I have I will reschedule. Jury duty is a more than reasonable ‘excuse’ to cancel any plans imo. The responsibility should not be taken lightly. Being a judge for a capital murder trial, I myself would not be allowing little vacay days here and there for anyone. If any member of the jury had an appointment I would explain how seriously this job should be taken, and suggest they reschedule.
IMO
But to allow everyone time out during deliberations is just absurd, this is a crucial time.
It needs to be done pretty much continuously except for time to sleep and reasonable breaks. There are juries that deliberate over 12 hours in one day. If there’s any time to rearrange any plans then it’s now. MOO

 

[Kavya01]

Almost all of January, then Feb, March, April, May. We are now in JUNE. These people are about to start their 6th month of serving . Yeah, I'll cut them some slack for their RL by now.

 

[Karinna]

If I am on a jury, not just on a jury but a death penalty capital murder trial jury, I don’t care what appointment I have I will reschedule. Jury duty is a more than reasonable ‘excuse’ to cancel any plans imo. The responsibility should not be taken lightly. Being a judge for a capital murder trial, I myself would not be allowing little vacay days here and there for anyone. If any member of the jury had an appointment I would explain how seriously this job should be taken, and suggest they reschedule.
IMO
But to allow everyone time out during deliberations is just absurd, this is a crucial time.
It needs to be done pretty much continuously except for time to sleep and reasonable breaks. There are juries that deliberate over 12 hours in one day. If there’s any time to rearrange any plans then it’s now. MOO

I very much agree with what you say. In a trial such as this where 4 family members were brutally murdered including two very young children there are no excuses unless a juror is so ill they just can't attend. And yes i have known of juries to deliberate for lengthy hours because they took their place as a juror very seriously, and that took precedence over all else.
Because of the absolute seriousness of this crime i believe it should of been a sequestered jury and had the frequency of any other trial i have followed in a DP case for a few weeks instead of all these months of inconsistency. Maybe things in this regard in California need to change in their legal system, IMO.

 

[Karinna]

Almost all of January, then Feb, March, April, May. We are now in JUNE. These people are about to start their 6th month of serving . Yeah, I'll cut them some slack for their RL by now.

They knew it would be months initially though.

 

[travelbug]

Did they deliberate on friday?

I mean did they deliberate on 31/5?

No they did not.

 

[travelbug]

It's just awful. IMO it's the judge - he set the tone from the beginning, allowing week after week of delays, Fridays off, dentist appointments not on Fridays, long lunches, late starts, early finishes, not enforcing rulings, etc etc.

It's crazy but I feel grateful for 4 hours and not the 2 or 3 they'd have done if the other juror had been allowed to stay!

I think it's evident the judge is in retirement mode already. I also think the delays meant momentum was lost which is not good for keeping the case coherent and jurors' attention.

I agree with every point you have made. JS set the tone for jurors and court decorum right from the start.

 

[Dogwood Energy]

Howdy, y'all. Came back to catch up and to read about any jury developments. My stomach is turning.

I try so hard to keep my keyboard shut about this case these days. At this point in time, my heart and energy just goes out to this family.

But, am I surprised there is some sort of film crew drama going on? Nope.

 

[MissJames]

Setting their own schedules is bound to cause unnecessary animosity amongst the jurors, IMO.
Everyone has stuff that’s important to them . Multiply that times twelve with barely any guidelines.
Yes , the trial went over the time expected . All the more reason to get in that room & get it done.
It needs to be taken with the respect & responsibility given in our justice system .
If they’re only giving a few hours a day , I don’t see that happening .
Other juries have often worked into the night or on weekends .
I’m not blaming them . The tone for the trial was set early on , by the court .
This trial was not what we’ve come to expect & it scares me this could be the future of the US Justice system.

One more thing :
Allowing a documentary of a trial to be filmed is fine , but this group of film makers is aligned with one side , biased from the outset . It should come as no surprise they have created a situation that could jeapordize the trial.
It should have been an independent film or nothing . Poor judgement call . JMO
ETA: I don’t dislike JS , I just don’t understand the reasoning behind some of his decisions .

 

[MsFacetious]

Tweets from Law and Crime Verdicts do work. Just got the alert for the Timothy Jones verdict, being read in a few minutes.

Tim Jones - GUILTY x 5

 

[mrjitty]

His interview with San Bernardino detectives was October 22nd 2014.

His Alaska & US borders searches - October 27th 2014

I don't know the date of the identity change searches.

The attorneys are kind of a gray area. Merritt qualified for a public defender, however, the rumor mill is saying the proceeds from the documentary are to pay for Maline and McGee.

There is no way doco production has enough margin to pay for a murder trial defence

 

[katydid23]

There is no way doco production has enough margin to pay for a murder trial defence

I think the defense team is counting on the publicity that a documentary will bring them. JMO

 

[Kittybunny]

Although I think CM will be found guilty, in the event there is a mistrial, hung jury, or acquittal, the biggest factors that could lead to that IMO are:

1. The lackadaisical and lazy investigation of the disappearance of the family by Dugal and SDSO. That it wasn't treated as a crime from the outset is a crime itself. That Dugal couldn't be bothered to push for search warrants when we have seen many many other cases where they did, and in this case there were young children involved - probably would have created an easy bar to get over. There were other investigative balls dropped as well.

2. Time - long time from crime to discovery of bodies. Absence of evidence is not evidence of absence, but it definitely helped CM.

2. The crazy schedule, delays, time from the end of the prosecution case and the completion of the defense case, and overall lack of continuity could hurt some jurors ability to have maintained the big picture of circumstantial evidence clearly in mind.

In the end, I don't think the defense recent shenanigans really are going to make a difference one way or another. I really believe these jurors have made up their minds one way or another. They either believe in the concept and weight of circumstantial evidence, or don't. If the former, there's a few 2-ton bricks in there for motive and consciousness of guilt that will convict him.

 

[Kittybunny]

DOUBLE POST, Sorry!