 He began by saying: "Let's get back to the facts. No 50 stories."
He began with the defense's assertion that medical journal
articles reviewed in testimony were relevant to the case at hand.
Wright said: "The defense wants you to debate the articles and not
this case. They don't want you to talk about Petrak and Denton."
"Their ‘it happened at another time' theory doesn't hold water,
and their expert Dr. Shuman was ‘deafeningly silent on the theory of
this being an accident.' Petrak presented fact. It is abuse. Elmore
said Denton was befuddled and confused. Did you see that?"
Wright went on to counter the statements Elmore made about Denton
being a hired gun. He said that the Peoria County coroner is the one
who called Denton to do the actual autopsy.
He loudly asked, "Who is qualified: Denton, who did the autopsy,
or Shuman, who just read about it?'
Wright said the evidence was clear: Lucas died from "inflicted
head trauma." He went on to say that took it out of the realm of
"grandma did it."
He continued: "And why didn't we hear from (grandma)? Because she
is now deceased." He then added, "Desperate times call for desperate
measures."
Wright asserted the evidence showed that at 5 p.m. on Aug. 22
Lucas was fine; his mother saw that. He was not in a symptom-free
period; Denton and Petrak testified to that.
Wright said, "Ty Cline took a healthy young boy and in 12 hours
he was essentially comatose." He continued: "And is this
circumstantial evidence? Yes! Because Lucas isn't here to testify."
He paused and said, "But his injuries are."
Wright said the text messages were presented to the jury to show
the defendant's state of mind. He apologized to the jury that they
had to hear it but added, "They were not my words, but Ty Cline's."
He also noted that in every text, Cline never once referred to
Lucas as "Lucas."
Wright continued with the messages, saying they were all about
Cline, focusing on himself, and he asked why, then answered: "He
knows he did it!"
Wright finished up by reasserting to the jury that Cline did
change his story about how the little boy fell into the rat cage and
the cage's proximity to a coffee table.
Wright finished his rebuttal at approximately 12:35.
[to top of second column] |
Judge Thomas Harris then talked to the jury. He conditionally
released the three alternates who have been in the courtroom every
day of the trial.
He instructed the jury on how they were to proceed, had the
swearing in of the bailiff who will see to the jury's needs during
deliberation, then sent the group off to lunch.
They returned to the jury room at 1:40 p.m., and at 2:50 they
asked for cold drinks
At 4:20 they turned a question over to the bailiff, who delivered
it to Harris. Over the next half-hour there was a slight fury of
activity. Cline was returned to the courtroom, and State's Attorney
Michael McIntosh was in the courtroom for a time. Attorneys Elmore,
Jeff Page and Wright spent time in the judge's chambers with Harris.
At 4:58 the judge and attorneys entered the courtroom. Harris
explained that a question had been asked and required a written
response. He had spoken with all the attorneys and the answer had
been recorded.
He verified in the courtroom that the question and answer had
been viewed by all the attorneys as well as by defendant Cline.
Soon after they were finished, the public was asked to leave the
courthouse as it was now closed for the night.
At 6:28 p.m. Harris' office notified Lincoln Daily News that the
jury had called it a night without reaching a verdict.
Deliberations will continue at 8:45 Thursday morning.
[LDN]
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