The morning session was labeled “Day – Eight” – it should have been labeled as “Day – Seven – Morning Session.” My apologies for the confusion.
The charging conference was somewhat uneventful. Judge Stagg said he wanted a “slimmed down” version. About the only controversy was that the defense wanted a lesser included offense instruction so that the jury would be able to consider negligence. It seems that one of the arguments that the defense will make in closing was the Cody Tuma, Wayne Mallet and Todd Cage may have engaged in the illegal discharges without John Tuma’s knowledge and that he was merely negligent for not uncovering it. Judge Stagg is having a telephonic conference at 5:30 p.m. with counsel to determine the issue.
Closing begins at 9:00 a.m. tomorrow morning – each side is allotted and hour. I would expect that the jury will begin deliberations right after lunch.
More later.
As always, feel free to contact me at walter.james@jamespllc.com.
WDJiii