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Defense Opening Statements

These are notes about the opening statements, not a transcript.

• Refers to questionnaire jurors filled out about whether they believed insanity was a valid plea.
• Comments on all of the horrible photos and reports that the jurors will see during this trial.
• Defense admits how awful the facts of this case are and how sad it is what happened to Gannon.
• Defense pretends to walk out. Then says he can't leave and "check out" now. It wouldn't be fair to the process and Ms. Stauch.
• Asks the jurors to not judge before the case has begun. Don't judge by what they have heard through the media. Asks them to do their jobs and give them "a fair shake".
• Says if jurors listen to all the evidence and weigh the evidence fairly but still choose to convict, then he can accept that.
• Speaks on motive. Even though prosecution doesn't have to prove motive, it is still important.
• Shows video of a happy family. Video is hard to see with angle and fuzziness of the video.
• Speaks on Letecia's troubled childhood from abusive men her mother dated.
• Experts will be called to speak on dissociative identity disorder. Jurors will have to believe that this is a valid plea and then decide whether it's valid in this case.
• Back to motive - there is no motive, because she was insane at the time.
• Claims Letecia was killing "demons" from her childhood and her life, not Gannon.
• Jurors are in "evidence gathering phase" and cannot form a decision until they are in the jury room to deliberate after all evidence has been presented.