Jan 30, 2020

"A human being lost his life and the law should be followed"



"The problem with the defense argument is that it's just not based on any evidence," said Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm. "The actual evidence in this case is so strong that they are trying everything to see what sticks."

Using the evidence, specific examples, Ms. Timm delivered a strong rebuttal argument.

Ms. Timm said the jury instructions tell the jurors to decide based on the evidence, to follow the law and not allow bias or sympathy to influence their decision.

"From the beginning of the case, Mr. Russo has tried to get sympathy for the defendant and disparaged the victim."

"I don't mean to say this is not a tragic situation. To garner sympathy for Mr. Kobak is not relevant."

"If Fred were truly violent, it might be relevant in a murder case. What is not relevant is to say Fred is homeless; that Fred is using street drugs. Mr. Russo asked you to speculate about what happened. None of this is relevant."

"A human being lost his life and the law should be followed."

Ms.Timm played the video of Loftus at N & S liquors. "That was just 40 minutes before Fred Loftus was murdered. You can see his demeanor. He was not out of his mind drunk."

"It comes down to intent and pre meditation."

Ms. Timm mentioned the type of weapon used, again. "8 out of 10 shots shot at Mr. Loftus; 6 of them were fatal. 4 of them were in his back. You shoot someone 10 times you intend to kill."

"He walked straight there, grabbed his rifle and shot Fred. The defense wants you to believe this was a sudden quarrel; that Mr. Kobak was intoxicated."

Ms. Timm said that Kobak acknowledged what he did was wrong. Kobak admitted he shot Loftus. Kobak said he was sitting down. "No, I just came out and said something to him and I shot him."

"The defendant's testimony in Court was not credible," said Ms. Timm. She mentioned jury instruction CALCRIM 105.

"Mr. Kobak could not remember anything incriminating. His testimony in the interview was directly contradictory to what he testified in Court."

Regarding the defense's claim of self defense, Ms. Timm said," there were no injuries to the defendant or Fred's knuckles." Photos of Kobak  taken in the EPD interview room that the jurors had previously seen were shown on the screen.

Showing photos of Kobak's apartment, Ms
 Timm said, "There is absolutely nothing knocked over. There is absolutely nothing out of place." She added, " the only thing out of place is Fred Loftus' body."

Ms. Timm said that Kobak never mentioned self defense in the 911 call; he did not say self defense to Det. Harpham in the EPD interview and he did not testify about self defense in Court.

There was no blood on Kobak's shirt or clothing. "He avoided getting blood on him." Photos of the clothing were shown on the screen.

"He doesn't even remember what he was upset about."

Ms. Timm said that this was not done in the heat of passion and gave several examples of what Kobak said.

Describing Loftus' wound while showing autopsy photos,m, Ms. Timm mentioned that Loftus was shot in the back. Ms. Timm demonstrated shots being fired. "Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang, Bang,Bang, Bang,Bang, Bang, Bang" for each of the 10 shots fired from the rifle.

Previous post:
https://johnchiv.blogspot.com/2020/01/i-want-to-start-out-talking-about-my.html?m=1

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