The best you can hope for is a hung jury. The odds of a not guilty verdict are extremely small and would require jurors to ignore all evidence put on by the state.
My verdict is somewhere between felony murder (the 2nd choice) and aggravated manslaughter. While it is true the defense is under NO obligation to prove anything, they set THEMSELVES a very high bar- the state did not force them to come up with the absurd theory they chose. Having done so, they are now obligated to bring at least some EVIDENCE to support their theory OR else the judge CANNOT allow Baez to use his theory in closing as it now assumes facts NOT IN EVIDENCE.
My sense is that Casey came up with this theory and for whatever deluded reasons we can only guess at, Baez went along. HAD he chosen the more common simple “reasonable doubt” defense, we might well be looking at a different outcome- though we can’t be sure.
Casey and Baez put themselves in this corner- you can’t fault the state for exploiting it..
Well put.
You win a Cookie! Good thinking.