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Wednesday, October 28, 2009

Lemaricus Davidson trial: Torture slayings case in hands of jury


Slaying victims’ families preview impact statements
By Jamie Satterfield
October 28, 2009

Knoxville TN--In the final round of closing arguments Tuesday in the trial of alleged torture slaying ringleader Lemaricus Davidson, both sides accused the other of trying to fool jurors with unsupported claims.
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“The prosecution has said they can’t tell you a story,” defense attorney David Eldridge told jurors. “What the prosecution did … was they made one up.”
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“(Davidson’s) story is totally absurd,” prosecutor Leland Price countered. “You haven’t been presented with a story (by the prosecution). What you’ve been presented with is a first-degree murder case.”
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...Eldridge argued earlier Tuesday that Davidson is innocent of all the crimes, including rape, even though the defense concedes DNA proof of “sexual intercourse” between Davidson and Christian. Although Eldridge never used the term “consensual,” the implication was clear.
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...Price told jurors that Christian and Newsom walked out of Washington Ridge apartments with jobs, money, loving families and friends, transportation and bright futures. Davidson, he countered, had none of those things when their paths crossed that fateful night. “He had no job,” Price said. “He had no money. … He had no ride. He had no girlfriend.” When the fatal encounter ended, Price said, the tables had turned.
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“(Christian) lost everything, just like her boyfriend,” he said. “Suddenly things are looking up for Mr. Davidson, because now he’s got (Christian’s) clothes to give to his girlfriend. He’s got a nice ride (in Christian’s SUV). He’s offering money as well to his girlfriend. He took everything they had and everything they were going to have. He took it.”
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...The judge is allowing the families to present photographs of the couple when they were alive, a move denied to them in the August penalty phase hearing in Cobbins’ case. Cobbins’ life was spared by a Davidson County jury, in favor of life in prison
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