1564 Hillside Ave. N.,Photo By Council Member
Don Samuels
The prosecution has finished with its last witness in the case-in-chief, and defense has completed cross-examination of that final prosecution witness; Investigator Glen Miller.
The trial is now in a "redirect" questioning of Glen Miller by the prosecution, amid a volley of strenuous and often repetitive, fruitless objections by defense. At one point, Judge Chu literally made a gesture like "I'm going to tear my hair out" as defense and prosecution stepped on each other's verbiage while she tried to rule on objections.
Though prosecution "redirect" was not complete as of...
... the end of proceedings today, still there appears to be relatively little redirect left before the defense begins its case tomorrow, with proceedings starting at 8:45 a.m., 10th Floor, Hennepin County Courthouse.
Defense has a witness list with 57 names, but defense attorney Larry Reed says he plans to call approximately one dozen witnesses. Reed won't say WHICH one dozen, however, and appears not to know himself, which visibly frustrates prosecutors Brad Johnson and Liz Johnston. One suspects the last ditch Maxwell defense will be a desperate ad hoc effort staffed by whoever actually shows up in response to frantic pleas to help Larry Maxwell, not unlike the messy and ugly "Task Force Smith" situation at the Battle of Osan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_Smith
After two days of observing the jury, it appears obvious they are leaning hard toward the prosecution. At one point, one young male juror was nodding and smiling at a prosecution line of questioning, and at another point two female jurors appeared visibly irritated when Larry Reed tried to ask a question which had just been overruled by the judge a moment earlier. The jurors seemed grim and only lightly interested in the defense cross-examination, but noticeably sat up, became animated and even smiled and laughed when the prosecution did its redirect.
Most notably, during a break in proceedings when Judge Chu and lawyers for both sides left the room, the jury members stretched and chatted. However, none appeared to make eye contact with the defendant, nor did the defendant dare to look up and seek eye contact with the jury. One female juror appeared to sneak a look toward Maxwell with detached interest while Maxwell sat in his chair and looked straight ahead.
If I had to make a prediction right now, this trial is no longer a matter of whether Maxwell will be found guilty; rather it's a matter of whether he'll be found guilty of every count against him and whether aggravating "Blakely" factors will be added to the sentence. Sure, this thing ain't over until it's over, but unless somebody steps up and deliberately takes the spear for Maxwell, admitting to being the guilty party who did EVERYTHING, Larry Maxwell is headed for prison.
However, a drawn out appeal is all-but-certain, as defense attorney Larry Reed appears to be laying an extensive appeals groundwork on questions of evidence, validity of search warrants and opportunities for cross-examination. Defense motions prior to the trial show Reed's capacity for finding arcane technical issues to argue extensively.
Many individuals in the Jordan Neighborhood are interested in the role of former JACC Executive Director Jerry Moore, and have pressed me for information about any mention of Moore during the trial. Here's the summary about what little was said regarding Moore:
Two documents were introduced mentioning Jerry Moore and the $5k payment he received. Read aloud by witness Glen Miller, the two documents make it clear Moore received the $5k as a "referral fee" and the money came from the SELLER, I say again, SELLER.
At the end of today's proceedings, defense attorney Larry Maxwell seemed to be reading off a long list of "potential bad actors" who might be available to take the blame instead of Maxwell. Larry Reed asked witness Glen Miller if he knew Jerry Moore "worked at a mortgage company" and was also the boyfriend of Tynesia Snoddy. (Snoddy's name has come up repeatedly as a "bad actor" in the alleged crimes)
Miller indicated he knew these things. Then, in response to a question by Larry Reed, Miller answered he was not aware of any current investigation into Jerry Moore.
In a conversation with his co-counsel that took place in my presence, prosecutor Bradley Johnson indicated he put in 95 hours last week.
Your tax dollars, hard at work.
The trial is now in a "redirect" questioning of Glen Miller by the prosecution, amid a volley of strenuous and often repetitive, fruitless objections by defense. At one point, Judge Chu literally made a gesture like "I'm going to tear my hair out" as defense and prosecution stepped on each other's verbiage while she tried to rule on objections.
Though prosecution "redirect" was not complete as of...
... the end of proceedings today, still there appears to be relatively little redirect left before the defense begins its case tomorrow, with proceedings starting at 8:45 a.m., 10th Floor, Hennepin County Courthouse.
Defense has a witness list with 57 names, but defense attorney Larry Reed says he plans to call approximately one dozen witnesses. Reed won't say WHICH one dozen, however, and appears not to know himself, which visibly frustrates prosecutors Brad Johnson and Liz Johnston. One suspects the last ditch Maxwell defense will be a desperate ad hoc effort staffed by whoever actually shows up in response to frantic pleas to help Larry Maxwell, not unlike the messy and ugly "Task Force Smith" situation at the Battle of Osan.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Task_Force_Smith
After two days of observing the jury, it appears obvious they are leaning hard toward the prosecution. At one point, one young male juror was nodding and smiling at a prosecution line of questioning, and at another point two female jurors appeared visibly irritated when Larry Reed tried to ask a question which had just been overruled by the judge a moment earlier. The jurors seemed grim and only lightly interested in the defense cross-examination, but noticeably sat up, became animated and even smiled and laughed when the prosecution did its redirect.
Most notably, during a break in proceedings when Judge Chu and lawyers for both sides left the room, the jury members stretched and chatted. However, none appeared to make eye contact with the defendant, nor did the defendant dare to look up and seek eye contact with the jury. One female juror appeared to sneak a look toward Maxwell with detached interest while Maxwell sat in his chair and looked straight ahead.
If I had to make a prediction right now, this trial is no longer a matter of whether Maxwell will be found guilty; rather it's a matter of whether he'll be found guilty of every count against him and whether aggravating "Blakely" factors will be added to the sentence. Sure, this thing ain't over until it's over, but unless somebody steps up and deliberately takes the spear for Maxwell, admitting to being the guilty party who did EVERYTHING, Larry Maxwell is headed for prison.
However, a drawn out appeal is all-but-certain, as defense attorney Larry Reed appears to be laying an extensive appeals groundwork on questions of evidence, validity of search warrants and opportunities for cross-examination. Defense motions prior to the trial show Reed's capacity for finding arcane technical issues to argue extensively.
Many individuals in the Jordan Neighborhood are interested in the role of former JACC Executive Director Jerry Moore, and have pressed me for information about any mention of Moore during the trial. Here's the summary about what little was said regarding Moore:
Two documents were introduced mentioning Jerry Moore and the $5k payment he received. Read aloud by witness Glen Miller, the two documents make it clear Moore received the $5k as a "referral fee" and the money came from the SELLER, I say again, SELLER.
At the end of today's proceedings, defense attorney Larry Maxwell seemed to be reading off a long list of "potential bad actors" who might be available to take the blame instead of Maxwell. Larry Reed asked witness Glen Miller if he knew Jerry Moore "worked at a mortgage company" and was also the boyfriend of Tynesia Snoddy. (Snoddy's name has come up repeatedly as a "bad actor" in the alleged crimes)
Miller indicated he knew these things. Then, in response to a question by Larry Reed, Miller answered he was not aware of any current investigation into Jerry Moore.
In a conversation with his co-counsel that took place in my presence, prosecutor Bradley Johnson indicated he put in 95 hours last week.
Your tax dollars, hard at work.
Any other interesting tidbits gleaned from the proceedings?
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