"Police do get the wrong guy", "How does a person get arrested for a crime they did not commit? " What physical evidence shows that Mr. Arreaga pulled the trigger?

"When we started this trial, I emphasized the presumption of innocence," is how Ms. Heidi Holmquist started her remarks giving her closing argument in the Jason Arreaga case. " I told you the terrain of this trial would be rocky. My prediction proved to be correct."

"Police do get the wrong guy" Ms. Holmquist said that law enforcement wanted "so badly" to convict someone for the murders of Harley Hammers and Angel Tully that they were biased in their investigation.

"Mr. Curtis in his opening ignored a lot of hard facts. I want to talk to you about everything, not just facts convenient to me. What happened on September 3 was horrible and took two people's lives."

"In my opening, I told you that Mr. Arreaga is an easy person to blame."

"The bullets match the gun. What physical evidence shows that Mr. Arreaga pulled the trigger? Did you hear any evidence of blood on him? Were his fingerprints on the gun? The People have not eliminated the possibility of Shavonne Hammers' fingerprints on the gun. They didn't pick up an axe in the middle of a crime scene. They didn't take Rodney Coombs cellphone laying next to Harley hammers in his truck." She said the blood found on Jerry Bachus was not tested.

She showed an empty lockbox to the jury. "Do any of you see an imprint in here? The picture (of the lockbox Mr. Curtis showed during his opening) was taken after the gun was in the lockbox for days."

"The obvious evidence was collected, cartridges, guns but so much was lost. No one even took Shavonne Hammers up to the site where the clothes were burned."

"There is a lot of reasonable doubt," said Ms. Holmquist.

"Angie Ellers didn't remember stuff when I asked her but did when Mr. Curtis asked her. All witnesses except Jason and Carly knew each other"

"How does a person get arrested for a crime they did not commit? This case is a perfect example of that. This can happen when officers jump to conclusions and rely on unreliable evidence. This case is based on witness testimony"

"To convict Mr. Arreaga, you have to believe the testimony of Jerry Bachus beyond a reasonable doubt. Ms. Holmquist asked the exact question referring to the testimony of Shavonne Hammers and Rodney Coombs.

She then put up jury instruction number 226 about witness credibility and went over Coombs, Bachus and Shavonne Hammers testimony.

She brought up that Rodney Coombs testified to a fight between Mike Hillegeist, who is the father of Angie Ellers' children and Harley Hammers, yet the People's witnesses claimed not to remember Hillegeist being at Ellers' house where the crime occurred.

She said Coombs drove up in the middle of the incident, he was panicking. He could not remember what he told officers the day of the incident, he could not describe the gun. She quoted him, "All I seen is the gun sitting there."

She described Coombs demeanor on the stand as "frantic and aggressive. " And him saying, "This is a bunch of B.S. I feel like I am being prosecuted." Then pointing to Arreaga, Ms. Holmquist said, "It's not B.S. to him."

"Rodney knew Shavonne. He told officers shots were fired before he stopped the car. He didn;t see the shooting. This was corroborated by Detective Musson and Detective Fulton."

Bringing up Jessie Matson's testimony to challenge Coomb's credibility, Ms. Holmquist said, "She saw Rodney driving errratically. He wasn;'t going to the scene. They won't search his phone."

She said convictions are memorable and that Coombs had convictions on his record but "he won;t admit to it, I had to show him" proof.

Again quoting Coombs, "All I seen is the gun sitting there which corroborates Mr. Arreaga's testimony that the gun was sitting next to Shavonne. He showed no concern for Harley Hammmers or Angel Tully. You cannot convict based on Rodney Coombs testimony."

Then moving onto Jerry Bachus, "You can't believe anything he says. He was high and about to fight Harley. We have a person with his back to the shooter who now wants to tell you story about what happened. He has no idea what happened."

Ms. Holmquist said Bachus did not see the gun, did not see Angel Tully or Harley Hammers get shot. Ms. Holmquist did an excellent job of connecting her statements with actual testimony heard in court throughout her presentation.

"He (Bachus) had personal interest in this case. If he did not testify against Mr. Arreaga, he would not get out of jail."  Ms. Holmquist brought up that Bachus told "a completely different story on the stand then what he told law enforcement." This are questions she asked Bachus in court and the jury will remember.

"After being addicted to meth for 27 years, he says he just quit with no program, cold turkey. That's the most obvious lie. He is not emotionally involved with this case, he just cares about getting out of jail." She brought up that Bachus had an immunity agreement.

Then she said the People's last witness to incriminate Arreaga was Shavonne Hammers. Went over Judge Miles instructions about an accomplice.

"She was there for the whole ordeal from start to finish. She should have some memory, should tell details. She said she was way out of it. You saw the video, she was not out of it."

"Her memory got lot worse when I started asking her questions."

For about 15 minutes, Ms. Holmquist read Shavonne Hammers' actual testimony and her "I don't remember, I don't recall responses." It was very effective. This is a point I made in my coverage as have others who covered the trial and you can be sure the jury remembers too. I called Shavonne Hammers the weakest link in the People's case.

"I was blown away by the absurdity of her responses," said Ms. Holmquist. Quoting Shavonne Hammers, "I don't remember who burned the clothes."

"Her behavior shifted between when Mr. Curtis questioned her and myself. She can be quite an actress when she wants to be."

 Ms. Holmquist said that Shavonne Hammers got "a free ride" from law enforcement. That after her testimony against Arreaga, law enforcement gave her a hug.

Referring to Carly Michaels, "Mr. Curtis said she is motivated to help Jason. I didn't hear anything in her testimony to help Jason. She has a new boyfriend." Ms. Holmquist told the jury there was no breakup, Michaels did not visit, call or text Arrreaga. She said Michaels was willing to answer questions from both sides. Ms. Holmquist said that why would Michaels mention the first incident where Arreaga shot at Hammers feet if she wanted to help Arreaga.

"Mr. Curtis wants you to believe that part of her testimony because it is convenient to his case."

Mentioning the video of Shavonne Hammers that the jury saw, she described Shavonne Hammers as "loud, horrible, disrespectful and conniving. Mr. Curtis wants you to forget that one."

"She should know details if her story is what happened. She has interest in Jason being convicted, if she gets off, she does not have to face her family and her in-laws. She lied about using meth. She lied about Jason's confession. When you look at all the evidence, Shavonne is the one that had the motive."

"Just because her testimony is what the police want you to believe, doesn't mean it's the truth."

"Shavonne Hammers has beeen convicted by witnesses. She was hoping Jason would not testify."

"Carly wanted a mom, Shavonne wanted a daughter. It is pretty clear that Shavonne had a hold on Carly and Carly had a hold on Jason."

Reading Michael's testimony, Ms. Holmquist reminded the jury that it was Shavonne Hammers who said to get into the car, that "Jason was yelling what the fuck" and that Michaels heard Shavonne Hammers ask for help to move the body. Michaels said Shavonne Hammers was not sad.

"Carky said if Jason had confessed, she would say that. Carly said that Shavonne said hateful things about Harley after his death. Carly gave specific details." Showing an ID of Harley Hammers that was burned in such a way that it was more likely thrown into the fire with clothes than destroyed in a house fire as Shavonne Hammers claimed.

Ms. Holmquist ended with talking about her client and his decision to take the stand. "He got on the stand despite the fact that he didn't have to, to tell you what happened."

"He didn't skirt around the questions like Shavonne when they got hard. "

"His story is inconsistent with the video but he have a reason. None of the other people did that."

"They didn't bring a single witness to dispute what Mr. Arreaga told you because what he told you is the truth. He didn't have the luxury to hide behind the immunity agreement like Jerry Bachus and Shavonne Hammers."

Showing the tattoos of Angel and Harley on the arm of Harley and Shavonne Hammers 15 year old daughter and pointing to specific wouunds on the victims like the heart and groin, Ms. Holmquist said, "Ms. Hammers has the world's most old motive, jealousy."

"I ask you to write not guilty on the verdict forms, it is a weighty responsibility but this case is not to be taken lightly."

http://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2015/10/it-was-best-of-closing-arguments-it-was.html