Monday
Aug242009
A pause, but conflict shaping up in Dunbar Village trial
Monday, August 24, 2009 at 1:18PM The Blogmother C.B. Hanif for WAOD:
The morning in the Dunbar Village gang-rape case began and ended with Nathan Walker attorney Robert Gershman and Judge Christ Marx jousting over a motion in limine.
Gershman wants to enter into evidence records he said show the victim lied on West Palm Beach Housing Authority records, saying she had no money when she had just won a $50,000 settlement in a slip-and-fall accident if I heard correctly.
Marx concluded the morning session reiterating in other words what she consistently had stated: "I dont see how you're ever going to enter that in evidence." The burden is on Gershman to prove otherwise, she said.
The judge earlier indicated that housing authority director Laurel Robinson is slated to appear tomorrow morning.
Opening statements drew the battle lines along the general lines of: “The scientific evidence will tell you everything you need to know” (Prosecutor Craig Robinson), versus "There is no evidence that the defendant is that person" who did any specific act (Gershman).
The openings were followed by a procession of West Palm Beach police officers testifying to what they saw and heard, at the hospital to which the victim and her son walked, and later at their apartment.
Exhibits placed into evidence included a photo of the son's head — with a deep gash running perhaps five inches across top of his skull.
In the packed jury box (all white, a bone of contention for the defense side for the black defendants), the two sets of six members plus two alternates, for the two defendants being tried together with separate juries, seemed fully engaged.
The judge paused crime scene investigator Anetta Neighbors' testimony to give the jury a break for lunch.
I'll be reporting throughout the day from the Palm Beach County Courthouse on Twitter (cbhanif) and have a wrapup later today here at WAOD.
C.B. Hanif for WAOD:
This morning's session of the Dunbar Village gang-rape case began and ended with Nathan Walker's attorney, Robert Gershman, and Judge Krista Marx jousting over a motion in limine.
Gershman wants to enter into evidence records he said show the victim lied on 1997 West Palm Beach Housing Authority records, claiming she had no money when she had just won a $50,000 settlement (in a slip-and-fall accident case if I heard correctly).
Marx concluded the morning session reiterating what she consistently had stated: "I dont see how you're ever going to enter that in evidence." She said the burden is on Gershman to prove otherwise.
The judge earlier indicated that housing authority director Laurel Robinson is slated to appear tomorrow morning.
Opening statements formed the court battle along the general lines of: “The scientific evidence will tell you everything you need to know” (Prosecutor Craig Robinson), versus "There is no evidence that the defendant is that person" who did any specific act (Gershman).
Prosecutor Craig Williams helps wheel in the forensic evidence that he said will determine the trials' outcomeOpenings statements were followed by a procession of West Palm Beach police officers testifying to what they saw and heard, at the hospital to which the victim and her son walked, and later at their apartment.
Exhibits placed into evidence included a chilling photo of the son's head — with a deep gash running perhaps five inches across top of the skull.
In the packed jury box, the two juries of six members plus two alternates, for the two defendants being tried together with separate juries, seemed fully engaged. (The jurors all are white, a bone of contention on the defense side for the two African-American defendants.)
The judge paused crime scene investigator Anetta Neighbors' testimony to give the jury a break for lunch.
I'll be reporting throughout the day from the Palm Beach County Courthouse on Twitter (cbhanif) and have a wrapup later today here at WAOD.
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Reader Comments (19)
An all white jury? Oh God please make it stop... now the legitimacy of their crimes and the significant damage that has happened to the victim and her son will be undermined by claims of racism and a conspiracy to incarcerate black men.
@ BLKSeaGoat, yes, you may have a point there, I'm sad to say.
However, I'm also interested in the gender mix on both juries. It's been said for many years by DAs across the country, sometimes they don't want a lot of women on a jury for a rape or domestic violence case because some women don't believe other women and I guess some men know how men can be, what they are capable of doing.
How long is this trial expected to last? Y'all brace yourselves for a long, ugly ride.
:( :( :(
ReveMama,
I've heard that too, but not exactly how true it is. I just hope that no one is sympathetic to these leeches because they think they are children.
I think it's sad that with an all White jury, that might be our best chance for getting a conviction.
:( :( :( :( :(
I was gonna say that... but felt guilty thinking it...
I have a problem with the defense even considering bringing up an allegation of previous perjury. What does that have to do with the price of tea in China?
Nothing Monica, but they have to pull out all of the stops... There's supposedly some past previous allegation of abuse that one of the Defense attorneys want to bring up to. If I read it correctly, he wants to present the eveidence in such a way that infers the victim had sexual desires towards her son. I'll try to find the article... it was published in the PalmBeach Post some weeks ago.
Thank you very much for covering these trials. I have been searching the web regularly for updates ever since this horrible crime occurred.
I don't think these defendants would be found not guilty by any jury of any color. I was very upset at the prospect of one of these monsters only getting 20 years in exchange for testifying against the others. There is only one just punishment for these losers- life in prison with absolutely no possibility of parole. Personally I think rapists and child molesters should be executed but the Supreme Court disagrees.
I'm very proud of "What about our Daughters" and the good work that they do.
Even if the victim made some sort of false abuse claim in the past it is pretty difficult to fake the damage caused by bleach being poured on one's genitals. What else are they going to allege, that she had her son lie about the attack too? I know this is going to be a tough one for the defense but their best bet would be to allege that their client wasn't there not that the attack didn't happen. Attacking a victim that was so clearly harmed, no matter what her background or previous purjeries or even if she had some odd feelings toward her son (which I think is even beyond the pale for them to allege) will not matter.
Lets not run hypotheticals about the victim's past in thi forum. If the defense attorney wishes to do so, so be it, but I shan't be offering you a platform to defame this woman here. Even if you do so" innocently." Its irelevant. The defense has already conceded rape, now they are battling over the roles their clients played in the rapes.
Just remember they have to give the defendants the "best possible" defense available, otherwise years from now they'll say the trial was unfair, the defense lawyer was incompetent, and some group will work to try to get them released or granted a new trial. Better to do everything right the first time and make sure they get life sentences for their crimes.
I wouldn't be too concerned about having an all-white jury. A similar thing happened in Jena 6 where the jury was all-white, the defendants were black. During that trial it was said that very few blacks showed up to participate in jury duty. If I'm not mistaken what they call a "jury of your peers" does not have to be made up of members of your race or gender. I believe it just has to be made up of citizens.
FYI: Gina, there is a wordpress plugin that will post a digest of all tweets on the blog at the end of the day.
Sorry about that Gina. I was paraphrasing what I read from the Palm Beach Post.
@ Duane,
ITA, those white people are not worried about being labeled racist . Southern whites could care less about PC, they're still bitter over the pres. election.
I just hate how attorneys will go to the extreme to lie so well in court that they'll make these trolls look like cub scouts.
Short of any procedural maneuvering, I suspect this trial will be over by Labor Day. They already got the forensic evidence out of the way. Laurel Robinson is tomorrow. The victims, should they testify will likely be this week. and who are they going to put on the stand for the defense? the two defendants and maybe a forensic scientist. It doesn't sound like they are challenging that the scientific evidence, but are arguing that they didn't play a central role.
@Gina
"It doesn’t sound like they are challenging that the scientific evidence, but are arguing that they didn’t play a central role."
I know. As someone who knows nothing about law...this seems surreal. It's like, yeah I was there...and I participated...a little bit. Does this really help their case? Or, do their attorneys already know they're toast and there just aren't any more options.
Didn't the death penalty used to be on the table for rape cases....back in the day?
Well in Texas it wouldn't matter who did what. If they all participated, then they would be part of the same criminal enterprise and would face the same consequences. I wonder why the prosecutor didn't throw in come conspiracy charges and that would have nipped this "all I had was a blow job" BS in the bud.
This is the 1st time that I've heard about an all-White jury and SMILED. ;-) :-)
I know, right! ;)
Not to mention, now that you know we people like our "Concerned" poster, we know some blacks wouldn't have found them guilty. Can you believe that?