Philip Moore robbed his lawyer, Mack Johnson. But, ladies and gentlemen, he didn’t kill him. After Philip left, or maybe even before Philip entered that house, Mr. Johnson died in his sleep, of natural causes. The prosecution wants you to believe that this is a case about greed and anger. You know what? They’re right. It is a case about greed. Philip stole from Mr. Johnson, and that was wrong and that was greedy.
[Note the absence of “may it please the court, or any of that thanking counsel nonsense. The jury pays the most attention to the first words out of your mouth. Don’t waste them. Start your story right away.]
It is a case about anger, but not Philip’s. The prosecution is angry. They’re angry that Philip entered that house that day, and that anger has blinded them to the evidence that Mr. Johnson died simply because it was his time. Instead, it has caused them to charge him with a crime that he did not commit. Let’s see why.
[These two paragraphs are argument, but it’s okay. Most judges will let you argue a little a the beginning of your statement, as you set forth your theme. If the judge shuts you down, no problem. Just jump right into the story. [Paragraph 4.] By admitting guilt to the robbery right away, you define where the fight is for the jury. No doubt, the prosecution will spend a lot of time proving up the robbery – which is no longer in contention. This may cause the jury to think that the prosecution is avoiding the real question in the case: how did the victim die?You refer to another theme: shoddy police work.
Philip woke up that morning, and he was drug sick. Philip does drugs, ladies and gentlemen, and, as you’ll see, those drugs have taken control of his life.
Philip was sick and penniless. He needed drugs, but he had nothing to buy them with, and he immediately thought of Mr. Johnson, his lawyer, who was known for his expensive watch collection.
So, Philip went to that house, broke in, stole the watches, and left. He didn’t see Mr. Johnson when he was there, he didn’t touch Mr. Johnson while he was there.
Now, ladies and gentlemen, you’re going to hear that Mr. Johnson was not a well man. He was elderly, he had heart problems, he had lung problems, he was obese. In fact, he rarely left his house. In fact, he rarely went downstairs because he couldn’t carry himself down. Instead, he had one of those mobility chairs that carries people down, but it’s slow going, and so Mr. Johnson mostly stayed upstairs in his bedroom and his housekeeper would bring him meals up there.
And that’s where he was when Philip broke in to take the watches and that’s where his body was found when the housekeeper came home. She saw signs of a break-in and called the police. They found Philip’s fingerprints and they jumped to conclusions. They just assumed that whoever robbed Mr. Johnson also killed him. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s not the case.
You’re going to hear that there is no evidence at all that firmly establishes that Mr. Johnson was killed by anyone. You’re going to hear from a coroner who will say that Mr. Johnson was strangled to death, but you’re also going to hear that, at the end of her autopsy, that was not her opinion. Mr. Johnson’s heart was so bad, she initially thought that he died of a heart attack. It wasn’t until after she read the police reports and learned that Philip confessed that she decided to call this case a homicide.
And let’s talk about that confession. Yes, Philip said he strangled Mr. Johnson, but that was only after the police threatened to charge his girlfriend with murder if Philip didn’t confess.
You see, Stephanie drove Philip to Mr. Johnson’s that day. She thought he was going to talk about a case. She didn’t know that he was going there to steal. She waited in the car the whole time. Nonetheless, the police threatened to charge her with murder, so Philip said that he strangled Mr. Johnson, even though there’s no evidence of it.
Ladies and gentlemen, Philip is guilty of robbery. He admits that. He’s always admitted it. He did not, however, kill Frederic Johnson. That’s why, at the end of this case, we’re going to ask you to find Philip not guilty of murder.