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The Murder Inc Trial/Day 7: Defense Claims "Overwhelming Doubt" in Case, Jury to Deliberate
After seven days of testimony and enduring, lengthy closing arguments, the jury of four women and ten men are expected to reach a verdict this morning in Murder Inc.'s money laundering trial.
Judge Edward Korman called for a recess for the jury to deliberate. The trial is expected to resume today.
With rap star power including Jay-Z making appearances in the courtroom yesterday morning, loads of people stood in line to enter the court room following the lunch break.
Before resuming his closing arguments, defense attorney Gerald Shargel asserted that he was doing "serious work" despite his humorous quips. He then revisited Donell Nichols' testimony and accused him of being a "compulsive liar" and brought up the witness's claims, including having his identity stolen and consulting police forces to combat terrorism.
Shargel later moved onto Jon Ragin's testimony and showed that "the truth leaked" from the witness's mouth when he confessed that convicted drug lord Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff planned on using part of the money Def Jam paid him for the Crime Partners soundtrack to repay The Inc. for purchasing the rights to the movie on his behalf.
The animated attorney then reminded the jury that he felt the government was looking at the case with "dirty, dirty glasses, psychological cataracts and blind..."
Towards the end of his argument, Shargel sarcastically recounted the prosecution's arguments in an attempt to show how far fetched the case is. He discussed the numerous text messages brought up by the prosecution, accusing them of overlooking key parts and misinterpreting their context.
Shargel then concluded by stressing that the case hasn't been proven. Shargel's fellow defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt then grabbed the baton and also attacked the grounds of the prosecution's claims, noting that Juan "Rico" Romano was given a non-prosecutional deal a week prior to the beginning of the trial while Phillip "Dalu" Banks made a deal a month before.
"There's a cultural divide," Lefcourt told the jury. "They don't like to hear rap music. They don't like the way they talk. They don't like the name Murder Inc. They don't like Irv [Lorenzo] Gotti. Well, too bad."
Lefcourt later told jurors that the prosecution "got it wrong with their own witness." The defense attorney highlighted how Banks admitted to lying every time he claimed he could be trusted. Reading from the transcripts of Banks' testimony, Lefcourt reminded the jury that the witness admitted that he would lie about Irv if it could earn him his freedom. Lefcourt also pointed out that case because McGriff was "a taker. He don't give."
Lefcourt concluded by saying that there's "overwhelming doubt" in the case.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Sean Haran began by taking his hat off to the defense. He then noted that Shargel targeted Detective Anthony Castigliati when "the ground was falling right from under him."
Haran then recalled Shargel's opening statement in which the defense lawyer said that the case would prove that McGriff "never brought these men money of any kind." Haran then proceeded to read text messages, including one in which Chris asks McGriff about money. Haran said the document alone was sufficient to convict the defendants.
The prosecutor later read the chart of Murder Inc salaries and focused on notes that allegedly read that McGriff earned $100,000, but owed $35,000 to The Inc.
"They're guilty," Haran told the jury after breaking down the chart. "That's it. It's done. It's really not that complicated."
Reading from text message correspondence between McGriff and Irv, Haran further stressed that evidence was enough to convict the Lorenzo's. The text featured Irv asking for money with McGriff responding that he "was putting it together." Haran argued that he had to put together because it was money he soon expected to be generating from his Baltimore drug trade.
Haran also rejected the defense's claim that McGriff was a taker, reading text messages that he felt the closeness between the defendants and McGriff. He also opposed Shargel's claim that Nichols and Ragin had contradicting testimonies.
Like fellow prosecutor Carolyn Pokorny, Haran dragged his argument, causing several people in attendance, including Ja Rule, to dose off at several moments. The jurors also appeared to be drained from the long day.
While the all-star support waned towards the end of the trial day, Ja and Ashanti remained while Inc. producer 7 Aurelius and Rap-A-Lot's J. Prince were also on hand.
As the courtroom emptied at the close of the day, the defense appeared confident as Shargel smiled and joked with the Lorenzo family, Ja and Ashanti.
A verdict is expected today.
Source: sohh.com
Judge Edward Korman called for a recess for the jury to deliberate. The trial is expected to resume today.
With rap star power including Jay-Z making appearances in the courtroom yesterday morning, loads of people stood in line to enter the court room following the lunch break.
Before resuming his closing arguments, defense attorney Gerald Shargel asserted that he was doing "serious work" despite his humorous quips. He then revisited Donell Nichols' testimony and accused him of being a "compulsive liar" and brought up the witness's claims, including having his identity stolen and consulting police forces to combat terrorism.
Shargel later moved onto Jon Ragin's testimony and showed that "the truth leaked" from the witness's mouth when he confessed that convicted drug lord Kenneth "Supreme" McGriff planned on using part of the money Def Jam paid him for the Crime Partners soundtrack to repay The Inc. for purchasing the rights to the movie on his behalf.
The animated attorney then reminded the jury that he felt the government was looking at the case with "dirty, dirty glasses, psychological cataracts and blind..."
Towards the end of his argument, Shargel sarcastically recounted the prosecution's arguments in an attempt to show how far fetched the case is. He discussed the numerous text messages brought up by the prosecution, accusing them of overlooking key parts and misinterpreting their context.
Shargel then concluded by stressing that the case hasn't been proven. Shargel's fellow defense attorney Gerald Lefcourt then grabbed the baton and also attacked the grounds of the prosecution's claims, noting that Juan "Rico" Romano was given a non-prosecutional deal a week prior to the beginning of the trial while Phillip "Dalu" Banks made a deal a month before.
"There's a cultural divide," Lefcourt told the jury. "They don't like to hear rap music. They don't like the way they talk. They don't like the name Murder Inc. They don't like Irv [Lorenzo] Gotti. Well, too bad."
Lefcourt later told jurors that the prosecution "got it wrong with their own witness." The defense attorney highlighted how Banks admitted to lying every time he claimed he could be trusted. Reading from the transcripts of Banks' testimony, Lefcourt reminded the jury that the witness admitted that he would lie about Irv if it could earn him his freedom. Lefcourt also pointed out that case because McGriff was "a taker. He don't give."
Lefcourt concluded by saying that there's "overwhelming doubt" in the case.
Meanwhile, prosecutor Sean Haran began by taking his hat off to the defense. He then noted that Shargel targeted Detective Anthony Castigliati when "the ground was falling right from under him."
Haran then recalled Shargel's opening statement in which the defense lawyer said that the case would prove that McGriff "never brought these men money of any kind." Haran then proceeded to read text messages, including one in which Chris asks McGriff about money. Haran said the document alone was sufficient to convict the defendants.
The prosecutor later read the chart of Murder Inc salaries and focused on notes that allegedly read that McGriff earned $100,000, but owed $35,000 to The Inc.
"They're guilty," Haran told the jury after breaking down the chart. "That's it. It's done. It's really not that complicated."
Reading from text message correspondence between McGriff and Irv, Haran further stressed that evidence was enough to convict the Lorenzo's. The text featured Irv asking for money with McGriff responding that he "was putting it together." Haran argued that he had to put together because it was money he soon expected to be generating from his Baltimore drug trade.
Haran also rejected the defense's claim that McGriff was a taker, reading text messages that he felt the closeness between the defendants and McGriff. He also opposed Shargel's claim that Nichols and Ragin had contradicting testimonies.
Like fellow prosecutor Carolyn Pokorny, Haran dragged his argument, causing several people in attendance, including Ja Rule, to dose off at several moments. The jurors also appeared to be drained from the long day.
While the all-star support waned towards the end of the trial day, Ja and Ashanti remained while Inc. producer 7 Aurelius and Rap-A-Lot's J. Prince were also on hand.
As the courtroom emptied at the close of the day, the defense appeared confident as Shargel smiled and joked with the Lorenzo family, Ja and Ashanti.
A verdict is expected today.
Source: sohh.com