"A innocent person does not need this many excuses"

After jury instructions this morning from Retired Humboldt Superior Court Judge John Feeney, Senior Deputy District Attorney Whitney Timm gave her closing in alleged molestor Trinidad Gomez' jury trial. I was there after lunch Deputy Conflict Counsel Owen Tipps'closing and most of Ms. Timm's rebuttal. I did not wait to hear concluding instructions or to see the case being turned over to the jury. I do have notes which I will post on the blog later this evening. I did not see any other media when I looked into the courtroom a few times this morning. No other media was there this afternoon for the closing and rebuttal.

There are only two male alternates left.  The make up of the jury is now 7 men and 5 women.

The jury was 6 men and 6 women with three male alternates. Court minutes for 5/29 were not up at the end of the day except for the cover sheet and based on my experience with this court clerk, court minutes won't be up today. I am not staying at the Courthouse until 5 p.m. 

**I had already previously given a warning that there is graphic language because of the nature of the case and this is coverage of court testimony, statements in court and court records. I am not going to do this for every post. People know this is a site for court and crime. **

The closing argument from Mr. Tipps is the worst closing argument I have heard in 12 years; let alone in a molestation case. He was reading from notes and mixed up the examples for circumstantial evidence. I have heard that argument and example given so many times, I wouldn't mix it up.

HJ, Jane Doe's mother, has issues. Those were addressed in Ms. Timm's opening statement. Anyone who saw HJ testify knows she is a problematic witness. HJ is far from mother of the year. I would not demean the word mother and use it for HJ except I have to identify her and cannot use her name because Jane Doe has suffered enough.

Mr. Tipps said the defense and Gomez do not dispute how old Jane Doe was at the time of the alleged incidents.

Mr. Tipps: "Clearly she was touched that night."

Mr. Tipps trying to tell the jury not to be emotional and ignore their morals about HJ and Gomez's "shockingly depraved relationship." Those words were used by Ms. Timm according to Mr. Tipps and they are accurate.

Mr. Tipps himself in his closing described the relationship between HJ and Gomez as "sexual; hypersexual." "Sex consumed their relationship."

I was in disbelief when Mr. Tipps said that the incidents "involved touching; not sex." When he tried to dismiss what Gomez did on the couch as Gomez being concerned that Jane Doe was vold.

Mr. Tipps admitted that Gomez did not report anything to his employer until the allegations came out later and even then, Gomez only informed one employer, Humboldt County Office of Education.

It comes down to Jane Doe and the other witnesses. No one knows what the jury is thinking, especially when they just start deliberations. As deliberations proceed, there are hints.

I was finding it hard to follow Mr. Tipps during closing and I am familiar with the jury instructions he brought up. I was almost falling asleep at the end of the hour due to the repetitive theme.

Ms. Timm addressed the defense's selective interpretations of jury instructions, testimony and evidence. What took Mr. Tipps an hour to repeat, Ms. Timm addressed succinctly.

Ms. Timm: "This case is not about text messages in evidence; it is not about Mr. Gomez and HJ's relationship; it is not about whether Mr. Gomez had a prior history. This case is about what he did to Jane Doe."

"Lewd intent or accident ? typo" The words flashed on the powerpoint presentation as Ms. Timm continued her rebuttal.

"The defense wants you to believe that every act was an accident."

"Every message is a typo."

"How many accidents have to happen before you stop?"

"A innocent person does not need this many excuses." This one sentence was the perfect one liner to shut down Mr. Tipps' entire closing.

Gomez told HJ, "don't use this against me?" If it was not about a 13 year old, why would Gomez say that is a question Ms. Timm presented to the jury.

"There are no messages missing," said Ms. Timm. People's exhibit 4 flashed on the screen."Mr. Gomez plans to molest a child." Ms. Timm read Gomez' words. "It is not going to happen because your child won't stay in bed with you. " "I am going to fuck the shit out of you." 

"During his testimony, Mr. Gomez tried to deflect and say this was sarcasm."

Ms. Timm read another text message and the specific language from Gomez about Jane Doe and said that he"did exactly that to Jane Doe on the couch."

I cover cases from arrest to conclusion. I reported Gomez working at MUSD before the trial. Included below are all the posts I have done on this case with exclusives before anyone else reported or the trial started.