"You don't convict people on maybes or possibly"

Deputy Public Defender Casey Russo started his closing argument with placing his hand on Jon Goldberg's shoulder and thanking the jurors " on behalf of myself and Mr. Goldberg."

In contrast to the prosecution, Mr. Russo presented a good and actual closing argument. He touched on the law but did not just repeat jury instructions. He was passionate. He gave used evidence presented and read witness' court testimony that backed his statements.

First, he acknowledged the length of the trial. "This has been a long haul, an emotional trial. We have seen a lot of witnesses."

He told the jury when people sign up for jury duty, they have no idea they may end up on a "case with this length; a case of this magnitude."

"When I was thinking about my closing and how to tie up the evidence; that is what closing is supposed to be," said Mr. Russo.

Part of a quote from Voltaire flashed on a screen next to him as he continued. "We are all formed of frailty and error."

"Human behavior is not simple; it is not predictable. It is messy."

"You cannot just judge a situation by its cover. " Mr. Russo talked about how emotions "affect us and our decisions."

"One thing that struck me about Mr. Bernthal's initial closing was he did not discuss emotions and humanity. That is all this case is."

Mr. Russo said that Goldberg is  man with no prior record, people who know Goldberg well have never seen him physically violent or agressive."He is not perfect." Mr. Russo described Goldberg as a committed husband and father.

Mr. Russo told the jury Mr. Bernthal wants to say that Goldberg planned a murder, "to kill a man in broad daylight, with no exit plan."

"That is what the prosecution wants you to believe."

"The prosecution's theory is completely devoid of what else might have happened that day."

"As I said, a perfect storm of super tragic events. One that caused the tragic death of Tim Smith. No one is going to discount the tragic death of Tim Smith."

At this point in his closing, a picture ofan elephant flashed on the screen. Mr. Russo referred to it as the " elephant sitting over the presumption of innocence."

"It is extremely difficult to sit in a courtroom accused of murder with all these people."

"Having the government call you a murderer; an abuser; using their wealth of resources that has a potential to put a cloud over Mr. Goldberg's head that it is extremely prejudiced."

"Before we proceed, I am going to ask the elephant leave the room. My client has to have the presumption of innocence. Whether the prosecution has proved their case."

"Your job is to follow the law. Scrutinize every part of the DA's case. Hold the DA's case up to the light."

Referring to Mr. Bernthal's initial closing, Mr. Russo said, "I assume his first presentation is so short because he saved it for the rebuttal."

"You have to hold him to his burden (of proof."

"You don't convict people on maybes or possibly," said Mr. Russo.

He went over reasonable doubt, what it means to have an abiding conviction.

Mr. Russo said that Mr. Bernthal was a "skilled attorney" but "a compelling argument does not mean the evidence is there."

Mr. Russo was particularly effective when he pointed out that the crime log was not started until an hour after the police arrived, Officer Ryan Richardson admitting that he wrote his interpretations in his report, Tim Smith's truck never being searched for guns but the prosecution claiming that Tim Smith was unarmed and Tim Smith lying to his wife about where he was on the 24th.

Mr. Russo will continue  with his closing tomorrow at 9:15. After he finishes, Mr. Bernthal gets to give a rebuttal argument.


Opening statements in this case:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/02/this-case-is-about-decision-made-by.html?m=1

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/02/what-this-case-is-about-is-not-cold.html?m=1

Previous posts:

https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/03/pre-trial-publicity-reasonable-doubt.html?m=1
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2018/03/due-to-illness-of-juror-7-closing.html?m=1