To keep an innocent person from going to prison (or worse)?

2/6/2012 10:40:10 AM

Just vote not guilty. No judge involved. Like wolfpackgrrr said...

2/6/2012 10:40:44 AM

Would you knowingly put an innocent person in jail?

2/6/2012 10:40:54 AM

I'm naturally suspicious of users who seem to have joined TWW just to post about this case.

But seeing as just about every other post is from me, I welcome the company.

[Edited on February 6, 2012 at 10:52 AM. Reason : ]

2/6/2012 10:43:22 AM

Opening arguments are boring.

2/6/2012 11:49:26 AM

Becky Holt's seemed like she was reading the transcript of her opening from the first trial...

2/6/2012 11:50:12 AM

Sorry if old, but I did lol reading the N&0 this morning.....The Wolfpack Web.

2/6/2012 4:43:00 PM

Young appeared to be in good spirits when I saw him strolling around downtown today at recess.

I, honestly, was somewhat surprised they chose to try this again (only because the jury was tilted heavily toward the not guilty side, and trending more toward that direction than a guilty verdict). I'd rather my tax dollars go somewhere else, but, it should be entertaining around the courthouse the next few weeks.

2/6/2012 7:21:12 PM

Hung juries don't win elections. They'll keep trying until they succeed.

2/6/2012 7:40:35 PM

If it had been 8-4 in favor of guilty the judge would've locked them in a room till it was unanimous.

2/6/2012 7:44:02 PM

"You can see your families again once you've finished slaughtering this man."

2/6/2012 8:03:21 PM

Quote :

"RALEIGH, N.C. — The sister of Michelle Young testified in her former brother-in-law's murder trial Tuesday that she went back and forth between him and sheriff's investigators, urging him to speak to them the night his wife's body was found in the couple's Wake County home. But Jason Young never did. "(I told investigators) that he wanted to have an attorney before he would speak to them," Meredith Fisher said. Expected to take the stand for a third day Wednesday in Jason Young's retrial, Fisher said Young and some of his family members had just arrived at her Fuquay-Varina home after a business trip on the evening of Nov. 3, 2006, when police knocked on her door. "They wanted to talk to us. They wanted to talk to Jason – to ask questions," Fisher told Wake County Assistant District Attorney Becky Holt. "What was your response?" Holt asked. "Ask away," Fisher said. But Jason Young did not want to, she said. He had been in the bedroom with his sleeping 2-year-old daughter, whom Fisher found earlier that day hiding beneath the covers of her father's bed while her pregnant mother lay dead in a pool of blood on the floor. "I went back in my bedroom and told him that police were there and wanted to talk to him. He stayed in the bedroom and said, 'No,'" Fisher said. "I went back to the police and said, 'He said no.'" The back-and-forth went on for some time, she recalled. At one point, she said, the two were on the back porch of Fisher's house talking about what had happened that day. "We hugged at a point," she said, adding that Jason appeared to be sobbing. "When he pulled away, his face wasn't wet. His eyes weren't bloodshot. I did not see one tear … I left with a bad taste in my mouth after that conversation." Holt said in opening statements on Monday that Jason Young, even after he got an attorney, never talked to investigators, family or friends about his wife's death and never asked about how the investigation was progressing. In fact, Holt said, he gave up custody of his daughter to Fisher and defaulted on a wrongful death lawsuit to keep from having to answer questions. The state claims that Jason Young traveled to Virginia on the night of Nov. 2, 2006, checked into a hotel and left about an hour later left through an emergency exit that he left propped open. He returned home, killed his wife, and drove through the night back to the hotel. Jason Young finally talked about what he was doing during his hotel stay, Holt said, when he took the stand June 22, 2011, during his first murder trial – a move that some legal experts say contributed to the hung jury that forced a judge to declare a mistrial. "He answered those questions 1,693 days after his wife's murder. When he answered those questions, what he said was that he did not kill his wife and that when he went outside the hotel, it was for the purpose of smoking a cigar," Holt told jurors. "(After 1,693 days), that is what he tells. How in any way would that have been incriminating?" Jason Young's defense attorneys say that despite there being no physical evidence linking him to the crime, that investigators "focused on him like a laser" and that because the case "got blown up in the media," that their client "simply shut down and kept to himself." "He didn't talk to anybody," attorney Mike Klinkosum said during opening statements. "He followed his lawyer's advice."[/b]"

http://www.wral.com/specialreports/michelleyoung/story/10701555/

2/8/2012 10:12:41 AM

I don't understand why you bolded that portion. Are you questioning his decision not to talk to the police?

2/8/2012 10:14:37 AM

as objectively described by the sister of the desceased and the prosecuting attorney

2/8/2012 10:21:33 AM

Never talk to the police. Never talk to the police. Never talk to the police.

2/8/2012 10:33:48 AM

Especially if you are innocent.

2/8/2012 10:35:03 AM

I don't think anyone should talk to the police, guilty or not, they will treat you like a criminal regardless. That being said, the sister's testimony is pretty convincing.

2/8/2012 10:35:15 AM

I'm not watching it live

What is it convincing you of? Guilt? The state of their marriage? That he was a crappy person?

2/8/2012 10:36:24 AM

well, I am already bias that I think he did it. But this is the only testimony describing the moments after it all happened. Clearly the sister cared about the whole family, and she saw through him. I believe in gut feelings in a situation like this.

2/8/2012 10:38:59 AM

I think he did it too. I just don't think they've got him beyond a reasonable doubt. I discount gut feelings in all criminal trials. I didn't find Meredith Fisher to be a particularly compelling witness during the first trial, and I took her to be attempting to cast doubt and blame where none should be.

I kind of prefer to simplify cases to whether or not he committed the crime. Not if he was a party animal, or a all around bad husband. A perfectly great husband could still commit a murder, and plenty of slimeballs never lay a hand on their spouses.

Is there anything specific Meredith has testified to that you find compelling? Have you listened to the 911 tape? What do you make of her saying that Cassidy said there was someone in the house?

2/8/2012 10:41:53 AM

Quote :

"Wednesday was the first time Fisher has said publicly that her niece referenced her father that day during her interaction with the 911 operator. She never mentioned it during her testimony in Jason Young's first murder trial."

on wral.com

I wonder why was this left out during the 1st trial?

2/8/2012 12:31:33 PM

Because the bitch be lying.

2/8/2012 12:46:18 PM

From the GOLO comments:

Quote :

"I would think that the Prosecution was not allowed to bring it up in the first trial, because the judge had edited the 911 tape. this time he allowed it all, so it is fair game. imo"

is this true?

2/8/2012 12:49:01 PM

I don't think a judge has the ability to manipulate evidence. They would get to decide the admissibility of evidence.

2/8/2012 12:52:03 PM

BREAKING NEWS!!! SOMEONE'S IN-LAWS DON'T LIKE HIM!!! GUILT ASSURED!!!

2/8/2012 12:57:32 PM

^ As seen in the Cooper trial.

2/8/2012 1:05:53 PM

Quote :

""I would think that the Prosecution was not allowed to bring it up in the first trial, because the judge had edited the 911 tape. this time he allowed it all, so it is fair game. imo""

No... it is the same 911 call. There were questions after the last trial, over whether or not it was edited. They said yesterday that it was not.

2/8/2012 1:19:54 PM

Quote :

"Especially if you are innocent."

So if you're innocent, it's more important to not talk to the police than if you were guilty? How does that work exactly? If you've got a solid alibi then why not talk to the police?

Quote :

"Are you questioning his decision not to talk to the police?"

Not necessarily, more pointing out the sisters impressions, which i didn't remember from last time (do you think she's lying about the fake crying thing?), as well as him waiting 4.5 years to answer any of the questions, allowing his daughter to be taken from him and losing a wrongful death lawsuit in the process.

2/8/2012 1:27:20 PM

If the police are questioning you, they think you did it. Why would you say anything to people who are going to shoehorn your response into their theory that you're guilty?

2/8/2012 1:28:49 PM

I do think it's more important not to talk to the police if you are innocent. If you are guilty, the worst you can do is shoot yourself in the foot, and a guilty person goes to jail. If you are innocent, the police, "can and will use against you in a court of law" anything that you say. They can twist your words, try and trip you up, just to tie a pretty little bow on your case. In that instance, an innocent person goes to jail, because they talked to police, so yes, it is worse for an innocent person to talk to the police than guilty.

Case in point: Brad Cooper vs. Jason Young. One talked to the police, and went to prison for life. The other chose not to, and may very well get off of murder.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 1:31 PM. Reason : ]

2/8/2012 1:29:11 PM

Quote :

"If the police are questioning you, they think you did it."

False premise. Sure in some cases that might be true, but not always. And sure I can see getting a lawyer, but not waiting 4.5 years to address their questions.

Quote :

"If you are guilty, the worst you can do is shoot yourself in the foot,"

If you are guilty, and therefor don't have a solid alibi, I would think it *more* important to not talk to the police so you can establish a story and get any outside support you need. If your'e innocent *and* have a solid alibi, i see no reason not to talk to police.

Quote :

"Brad Cooper vs. Jason Young. One talked to the police, and went to prison for life. The other chose not to, and may very well get off of murder."

I think that's an overly simplistic comparison. You're also operating under the assumption that BC was innocent...which I can't say I agree with.

2/8/2012 1:30:27 PM

What if you are innocent with no solid alibi? Or like Brad Cooper, you think your alibi is solid, and then the prosecution finds a way to say you actually spoofed the call?

Yes, it was very over simplistic, but a great example. I am not talking about the best outcome for your case, I'm talking about the best outcome for society. The worst that happens when a guilty person talks to the police, is that a guilty person goes to jail. For society, that's still the right outcome. The worst that happens when an innocent person talks, is that the blame can be placed squarely on his shoulders with words that were not intended to convey guilt. In that instance, society is worse off, because the killer is free, and an innocent person behind bars.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 1:35 PM. Reason : ]

2/8/2012 1:33:57 PM

Quote :

"you think your alibi is solid, and then the prosecution finds a way to say you actually spoofed the call?"

I'm not sure I'd call a phone call a solid alibi...and I'm not a VOIP engineer for Cisco so that wouldn't be a major concern/potential alibi crusher for me, personally

Quote :

"I am not talking about the best outcome for your case, I'm talking about the best outcome for society."

I was just going off the initial assertion that is was more important (to you, the suspect/potential suspect) not to talk to the police if you're innocent. i think that opinion is a little skewed by you wanting to show that JY shouldn't have talked to the police.


[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 1:39 PM. Reason : ]

2/8/2012 1:35:39 PM

It's the phone call, coupled with his entrance into HT minutes later that makes the alibi solid. If that phone call happened, Nancy was alive at that time, and Brad Cooper could not have killed her. If the phone call was spoofed, then by all means, that is a death knoll for his case. But, we digress from the point of this thread.

And you don't have to be a VOIP engineer at Cisco to spoof a call. You could do it right now if you had the inclination.

And to address your added point, for the purposes of your criminal trial, it is NEVER a good idea to talk to the police, guilty or innocent. The less ammo you give them, the better your chances are. What is to gain from talking to the police?

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 1:42 PM. Reason : ]

2/8/2012 1:38:21 PM

2/8/2012 1:44:02 PM

What video is that? Youtube is blocked at my work.

2/8/2012 1:52:29 PM

that's the "don't talk to police" lecture by James Duane.

2/8/2012 1:56:02 PM

Awesome. That's exactly what I was hoping. We watched that in my criminal procedure class too.

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 1:57 PM. Reason : Also just noticed your "status"... ]

2/8/2012 1:56:39 PM

Apparently the gas station attendant was involved in a serious car accident when she was 7, and suffered from brain damage as a result. The Judge just ruled that the attorneys would be allowed to ask her about the accident in her testimony.

2/8/2012 2:46:11 PM

Oh God.

That IDIOT Cummings is on this trial as well?

this wont end well, I hate that dude.

2/8/2012 3:30:32 PM

interviewing the witness at the gas station with the brain damage.

this should be interesting.

2/8/2012 4:31:25 PM

Please post updates. I can't watch, and I've had to resort to reading websleuths to get news.

2/8/2012 4:36:33 PM

Just asking her introductory questions:

"where did you work?"
"what times were you there"
"did you have to take pre-pay only at that time"

she seems to have an obvious speech impediment, changing R's to W's.

Fairly well spoken though and very polite, yes maam at all questions.

Asking about person she remembers as supposedly Mr. Young.

says "news paper man was there when it happened and he told gentleman at about 5 in the morning he had to come in and pay, paid 20 and was cussing mad (that she) wouldnt authorize the pump without pre-pay"

asked to point out the person if they are in the room, points to Mr. Young and describes what he is wearing as the man that was at the gas station that night.


[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 4:49 PM. Reason : d]

2/8/2012 4:42:46 PM

Thanks. I'm really interested to hear what she says about height. I wonder if they'll get to the defense before the day is out.

2/8/2012 4:53:39 PM

doubtful, they normally roll out at 5 on the dot.

be tomorrow before Defense gets a try im sure.

she did say she saw him driving a white SUV

now point out the exit ramp on google maps and which way youd have to go etc.
weird questions...

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 4:55 PM. Reason : f]

2/8/2012 4:54:20 PM

Thanks. I couldn't remember if it was 5 or 5:30. It's been almost a year since the Cooper trial started, and I've forgotten!

2/8/2012 4:55:14 PM

Hope I remember to turn this on in the morning...wanna hear from the defense.

What time will they start?

2/8/2012 4:55:15 PM

Usually 9:00, 9:30 on Mondays.

2/8/2012 4:56:20 PM

pretty unfortunate there wasn't video at that gas station

2/8/2012 5:12:43 PM

going past the 5 mark.

a really interesting part, they asked her how she knew what the detectives were asking about.

said that her friend had seen it on the news and told her all about it.

making it a point that she HAD NOT seen it on the news before the detectives came to see her.

breaking for the day...defense goes in the morning

[Edited on February 8, 2012 at 5:15 PM. Reason : f]

2/8/2012 5:14:42 PM