During our last day of Forensics Week, we completed a mock trial for the case. After being assigned our group yesterday, we had to work with our team to create questions for the trial today. I was placed on the prosecution side were we had to show that Paul Nease was guilty of murder in the first degree. Our opening statement was "Your honor, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my name is Joslyn Upshaw and I am the lead prosecutor. I represent the State of Alabama in this case. On March 29, 2023 at around 9 am 911 operator (insert name) received a call from Paul Nease claiming his wife had committed suicide. The police arrived to find his wife Rachael Nease dead on the floor with a single bullet to the head. When the officers entered the house, Paul Nease fled the scene with a bloody rag, and his bloody prints were found on the gun used. During the trial, you will hear from several witnesses being called to the stand. Before we begin, I’d like to leave something with you. Rachael suffered from mental illness like so many of us today. Paul Nease, knowing this, unjustly ended her life despite the struggle she worked so hard to overcome. At the end of this trial the prosecution will ask for a guilty verdict. As the jury, you have been called here to determine through the layers of presented evidence whether Paul Nease is guilty of homicide in the first degree. "
police department let him get get away with the rag, suicide note, shell casing of the bullet would have had her finger print". The other side tried to prove that he was innocent and it was a suicide. It was very cool to get to question witnesses and work with my team to curate our responses. We ended off with our closing that said "As this trial comes to a close I urge you as jury members to remember the order of the evidence how the prosecution has presented it. “Sometimes it’s dangerous to presume, and while the defense may have an assumed presumption for all matters discussed in the trial, they cannot deny the facts of the case as they have been stated. Let it be known that: Paul Nease fled the scene with a bloody rag. He hung up on the 911 operator after being asked to remain on the line. He never asked an estimated time of arrival, not knowing how long it would take for first responders to arrive. He installed destructive equipment on his and his wife’s shared computer. He exchanged controversial conversations with his sister in law prior to Rachael’s death. His search records state his previous interest in a gun similar to the murder weapon. Let it be heard that Paul Nease lied on the stand under oath about touching the murder weapon after it was used. The reason he moved the gun, proven by his positive fingerprint records in his wife’s blood, was to stage the suicide scene. The rag he took from the scene can be proved to be soaked in blood, but the defendant said under oath that he only touched his wife’s neck. Proven by previously shown picture evidence, there was no blood on the victims neck whatsoever. The position of the blood splatter on the wall proves that she was shot on her knees, almost as if begging for her life. This position is also seen in execution style killings. Regarding Rachael, her searched articles prove that she had suspicions of both her husband and sister. She was concerned he had a motive to take her out. These are the facts of the case, nothing more. Rachael Nease was murdered on March 29, 2023 with a single bullet shot from a gun registered to Paul Nease. After considering the evidence presented today, the prosecution asks that you take into careful account everything you have heard today, because it is up to you to decide whether or not Paul Nease is guilty of murder in the first degree. Thank you." In the end, the jury found him not guilty, as was the real case. It was a great learning exprience.
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