"I think it is pretty clear that the prosecutor is trying to make a tresspass and drunk in public into a criminal threat."

"Mr. Kamada in his closing said, It is pretty clear this and it is pretty clear that," said Ms. Andrea Sullivan, Michael Black's attorney. "I think it is pretty clear that the prosecutor is trying to make a tresspass and drunk in public into a criminal threat."

Regarding evaluating Black's intent, Ms. Sullivan said, "He is lying on the ground. He doesn't have any weapons."

In his testimony,Black said that Mr. Clanton told him to get  down on the ground; "I will shoot you faggot."

"Mr. Black said nothing until Mr. Clanton drew his rifle and ordered him to the ground."

Ms. Sullivan brought up making an emotional decision vs factual.

"There are credibility issues on Mr. Clanton's side. What about an attorney who takes dollars" and then doesn't return the money when the case is dismissed and then "promises to represent  him on a DUI and blows him off?"

Again, this is something the jury will remember because it relates directly to Black's testimony and information that came out during cross examination.

It was during Deputy District Attorney A.J. Kamada's cross of Black that Black mentioned how he was dismissed by Clanton's office staff when he tried to find out about his driver's license and then Clanton who was supposed to get back to him later that day about his license. Black had a job the next day and needed to know if he could drive.
Black went over later that night to Clanton's house. Black said over and over again, he was trying to be an asshole, he wanted Clanton to get out of bed at 4 a.m.

She told the jury  Black admitted he went to the Clantons' property. "He never denied making statements to the deputies. Mr. Black admitted to you he made a stupid decision. "

"You are asked to make a factual decision on six elements. How can he intend to be a threat? He has no weapons. Mr. Black couldn't even stand up. Mr. Clanton said, 'Get down or I will shoot you'."

"The threats came after Mr. Clanton ordered him to the ground. He was matching aggression for aggression."

She said Russ Clanton told Black more than once to get on the ground. "The man I saw (on the stand), Mr. Clanton" reminding the jury "how angry he got."

"It's a rural area. Mr. Black knows Clanton has heavy equipment." She mentioned the statement Black said Russ Clanton made about him not being the first client he could make disappear.

She said Black disputes saying certain things Clanton claims he did. "Even if my client said those things, he had a gun pointed at him."

Regarding Black being an immediate threat  Ms. Sullivan said that Russ Clanton told him over and over again, he would have shot my client. Thos was effective because the jury will remember hearing this from Russ Clanton himself.

"Mr. Clanton got the better of Mr. Black that night." "She said Black "felt humiliated and he is drunk."

Ms. Sullivan brought up jury instruction 225 and 300.

"There was no evidence presented tjat he harbored any evil intent before he went to the Clantons' house on May 8." Ms. Sullivan said statements made after May 8 do not help show what Black's state of mind was on May 8, 2018.

Ms. Sulivan said that on May 8, "This was not an equal discussion between two people." She said if Black had "sneezed", Russ Clanton would have shot him.

As far as energy, passion and focus, Ms. Sullivan's presentation won the closing argument hands down.

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