Posted on 02/07/2006 4:55:30 AM PST by Tarkin
A teenager charged with murdering his family on newsman Sam Donaldson's ranch was a cold-blooded killer who methodically shot his father, stepmother and stepsister, then hid their bodies in a manure pile, a prosecutor told jurors Monday.
In her closing argument, prosecutor Janice Schryer urged jurors to convict Cody Posey of first-degree murder despite defense claims that the 16-year-old suffered years of physical and mental abuse.
(...)
Defense attorney Gary Mitchell has said the boy -- 14 at the time of the killings -- told teachers, family and friends about the alleged abuse but the state failed to help him.
"This abuse against this child needs to end and that means the abuse by the state of New Mexico in prosecuting it, too," Mitchell said.
(Excerpt) Read more at cnn.com ...
I've caught bits and pieces of this trial. Glad I'm not on the jury.
Poor boy, killed 3 people and he's the one being "abused"...
100 years ago, this boy would have already been hung and standing tall before the Man.
Although I deplore abuse..I cannot get past the killing of his 13 year old step sister even though she ratted on him.
Three murders just cannot be assigned to "self defense".
I've been following this trial on Court TV and I second that. I'm very glad I'm not on this jury. What the DA calls discipline, many call abuse, literally. Seems Scot Keys, the DA, was found to be abusing his step daughter.
I have been watching this a little. The prosecution is coming off as very cold. Also, the prosecution witnesses are very... unapproachable. The defense is very endearing, and really has put on a strong case. The string of witnesses to bolster the abuse defense has been long and impressive.
I do have to feel for this kid. He thought he had escaped it all until his mom died and he ended up back with dad.
It's one of those trials that you can sway back and forth. Didn't know that about the DA. Did they report that on Court TV?
Sam musta made the discovery when he went out for a refill before headed to the office.
Yes. Very sad life this kid had.
I'm impressed with the ranch hand that supports Cody. He seems about as down to earth as one can get.
Will he throw himself on the mercy of the court as he now an orphan?
Except for the long stream of witnesses that say they never saw any such thing.
Besides, why didn't any of the witnesses who supposedly saw so much abuse report something or get the kid out themselves??
There were reports to social services. And I believe that some distant family members offered to take the boy after the mom died.
I am sure there are others that remember this better, but didn't dad actually relinquish parental rights. But, after mom died, they still sent him back to dad?
Yes, that's what happened.
I've been watching the trial too and it's a tough one. There really is no hard evidence of abuse, and as a matter of fact, it can be interpreted as "strict discipline". I have no idea which way the jury will go with this.
Court TV just showed the 2 alternates. Both leaned toward manslaughter. One woman said she may have even given a pass on the dad.
Last night, one of the alternates was interviewed on local TV and she opined that they would most likely go with manslaughter, which would allow for a juvenile sentence.
I have watched quite a lot of this trial, and I do believe the abuse charges. Also, I believe that when Cody finally snapped, the reason he killed the step-sister is that he was in a kind of "zone" or mental state where she was as much a part of the enemy as the parents. Testimony was that she snitched on him to his dad. Also, the home computer records indicated google searches for incest sites.
The prosecutor seems very inept to me, and very aware of being "on-camera". I think the DA made a mistake in charging Cody as an adult in the first place.
As to why no one interferred on Cody's behalf, I think rural people are inclined to shy away from sticking their nose into a neighbor's business. The tragedy was that Cody was sent to his dad after the man had signed away his parental rights.
As a mother who lived through the teen-age angst of five children, and watched them torn by hormones during puberty, my sympathies are with Cody. I hope he gets a lot of help.
Well, he picked a good hiding place anyway.
"Poor boy, killed 3 people and he's the one being abused... "
And his slimebag defense attorney isn't even original. This defense worked quite well for the Menendez brothers 10 years ago, and both are still alive and doing quite well (although in prison). And their murder of their parents was not less heinous -- they actually reloaded their shotguns and blasted away a second time to ensure both were dead.
The "abuse" line works well especially with weepy, motherly, addle-brained liberal female jurors. After the Menendez hung jury, the jurors were seen outside the courthouse screaming at each other over their differences -- the women shouting, "they were abused" and the men shouting, "they murdered their parents in cold blood!"
OH my gosh. I just heard about the plumber who was blocked from testifying. He had to pull the dad off of the baby cody; he was beating the baby with a belt.
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