Judge Charlaine Olmedo gave both sides in the Danny Masterson retrial the day off yesterday to prepare their closing arguments as this proceeding has sped to a conclusion more quickly than the first trial last fall.
Last time, Judge Olmedo read instructions to the jury on a Monday afternoon, November 14, and closing arguments began the next day. They were finished by the end of that Tuesday, and the jury had the case just a few minutes before they left that afternoon.
This suggests that, barring some drama from the attorneys this morning, Judge Olmedo will begin with jury instructions before letting the attorneys begin their closing arguments. Will they get everything done by the end of the day? Last week, they were saying that they hoped they might. But we suppose those arguments may go into tomorrow morning before the jury gets the case.
Last time, Deputy DA Reinhold Mueller began with the government’s statement, followed by Philip Cohen with the defense closing argument, and then Mueller came on again for the final word for the People.
This time, we think the prosecution’s two portions might be split between Mueller and Deputy DA Ariel Anson, but we don’t know which portion will be handled by which. We are very much interested to see Anson deliver part of the closing. We think she was really terrific questioning witnesses in the retrial as her role became much more visible this time.
As for Cohen, we expect that we’ll get the focus on “proof beyond a reasonable doubt” that will make it seem like the DA’s burden is so extreme, no one can ever be convicted of anything anywhere.
And as for the case details, we are especially interested to see how Cohen is going to handle Det. Esther Myape (Reyes) in his closing argument.
On direct examination, Deputy DA Mueller asked Det. Reyes if she believed the witnesses speaking with each other had contaminated the case.
She said no.
This was a stunning moment not only because she wasn’t asked that in the first trial, but also because Cohen has built much of the defense on the notion that the case was contaminated, and primarily because the Jane Does ignored Det. Reyes’ admonitions not to speak with each other.
The Jane Does explained in testimony that they spoke to each other because they had no choice: The LAPD (and Reyes specifically) was mishandling the investigation and they had no one else to turn to.
And so it’s all the more surprising that Det. Reyes, who has been criticized so heavily in this trial, stood up for the Jane Does and said that even though the women talked to each other, they didn’t contaminate the case.
Is Cohen going to argue today that the case was contaminated, even after Det. Reyes said it’s not true?
As always, we’ll have reports coming out at the breaks, so watch your inboxes!
Alabama man threatened Mark Bunker
You probably saw an excellent story yesterday by Tracey McManus at the Tampa Bay Times about the arrest of a man from Alabama who was extradited to Pinellas County, Florida for phoning in frightening threats to Clearwater City Councilman Mark Bunker.
We spoke to Bunker about it, and he is looking forward to talking more about this story. But for now, he’s waiting for the case to make its way through the courts. As soon as he is able, however, we’ll be debriefing him for our Underground Bunker audience.
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This trial seemed more chaotic than the last one, and I say that in a good way. The defense didn’t seem as in control. I hope I’m right. Please jury, serve justice.
Who told the best story this time? I think that the prosecution did as well as it could and that the defense had no 'gotcha' moments or cast doubt on the victims stories. We will see how much the jury paid attention when the verdict comes down.
Why in the wide world of sports would anyone threaten Mark Bunker? The 'alleged' stalker seems to be a mental case to me.