0:39 May it please the court, council,
0:42 members of the jury.
0:43 It's terribly difficult to go through
0:46 life without making any mistakes.
0:49 I've made mistakes. I'm sure many of you
0:52 have made mistakes. And if you haven't,
0:54 you know someone who's made mistakes.
0:57 Maybe a family member, a friend. And if
1:00 not, you know about celebrities, former
1:03 presidents who've made mistakes. But the
1:05 beautiful thing about humanity and the
1:08 beautiful thing about this country and
1:09 the beautiful thing about the great
1:12 state of Florida is that we're not made
1:16 to pay for these mistakes over and over again.
1:18 again.
1:20 And that's why we're here today.
1:23 John Perez.
1:25 John Perez
1:26 committed some crimes when he was
1:28 younger. He paid the price and he was
1:31 later recruited by the Miami Date Police
1:34 Department to involve himself in some
1:37 drug stings, some operations to bring
1:39 down criminals who are doing some of the
1:41 same things that he did in the past.
1:43 They thought that he would be an ideal
1:47 candidate. And in exchange for a place
1:50 in the witness protection program, a new
1:52 start at life, he agreed to help the
1:54 Miami date police department.
1:56 And he did exactly what he was asked to
2:00 do. Nothing more, nothing less.
2:03 They asked Mr. Perez to transport
2:06 drugs from Key West to Miami to make a
2:09 trip in a plane. And now they've charged
2:13 him with possession of the cocaine.
2:15 and they've charged him with the intent
2:18 to distribute or traffic that cocaine,
2:20 the same cocaine that he was asked to
2:24 take from Key West to Miami. Well, the
2:26 state has the burden to prove to you
2:28 beyond and to the exclusion of all
2:30 reasonable doubt that he was in unlawful
2:32 possession of that cocaine and that he
2:36 intended knowingly to traffic that
2:38 cocaine. And you know the story. They
2:41 alleged that he was flying the plane and
2:43 he somehow opened a trap door or a
2:46 normal door and he dropped a kilo of
2:48 cocaine from the plane that landed on
2:50 the ground that he intended to distribute.
2:52 distribute.
2:56 And that is how the story goes. Well,
2:59 in trials like this one, prosecution
3:01 puts together
3:05 stories, puzzles, kind of like a movie.
3:06 And there's different scenes of this
3:08 movie that they want you to put all
3:11 together at the end of the case to come
3:13 to some conclusion.
3:15 But at the end of the day, if there are
3:17 missing pieces of the puzzle or missing
3:19 scenes from the movie or even missing
3:22 links in the chain, then you must acquit.
3:24 acquit.
3:26 Now, in this case, the prosecution has
3:28 failed to prove to you beyond and to the
3:30 exclusion of all reasonable doubt that
3:33 Mr. Perez is guilty of the crimes for
3:35 which he's been charged. Let's talk
3:38 about this case.
3:40 Started off with my co-consel coming
3:41 before you and giving an opening
3:44 statement. And from the very start of
3:47 this case, our story has been
3:49 consistent. There's been no missing
3:52 pieces, no missing links in the chain.
3:54 And the state's council came before you
3:57 and also told you a story. They told you
3:59 that you would hear information about
4:01 how Mr. Perez dropped a package of
4:03 cocaine from the plane, how he opened
4:05 the door to that plane, and how he
4:08 intended to distribute that cocaine. But
4:09 let's take a look at the real evidence
4:11 that we have before us today. The only
4:13 evidence that you're allowed to consider
4:16 when you go back into that jury room.
4:19 Who else did we hear from? We heard from
4:21 an expert witness named Mikey Monday.
4:25 Now, Mr. Monday is an expert in the
4:28 logistics of airplanes. And he told you
4:30 that the air pressure in the plane would
4:34 not have allowed Mr. Perez to open up
4:36 the door of the plane while the plane
4:37 was in flight. And what is the only
4:39 conclusion that you can make from the
4:42 testimony of this expert witness? The
4:43 only conclusion that you can make beyond
4:46 a reasonable doubt is that the plane of
4:48 that door was not open. But you are the
4:51 wise judges of this court today, not me.
4:53 You sat here during the trial. You
4:55 listened to the testimony of all the
4:57 witnesses. You saw the evidence and the documents
4:59 documents
5:00 and now you have to go back and make a
5:04 decision. Well, I submit to you today
5:06 that the information that you have does
5:08 not prove beyond a reasonable doubt that
5:12 Mr. Perez is guilty of the crimes for
5:15 which he's been charged. If anything,
5:19 they prove that he is not guilty.
5:21 But in this state, the burden of proof
5:24 does not lie with Mr. Perez. And the
5:26 judge is going to instruct you that when
5:28 you go back into that jury room, there's
5:30 only one side that you have to place a
5:32 burden on today, and that's the prosecution.
5:34 prosecution.
5:35 And if the prosecution fails to prove to
5:37 you beyond a reasonable doubt any
5:39 element of the crime, then you must
5:48 Now, the reason why your job is
5:51 important today is because a man's
5:54 liberty interest is at stake. And you
5:57 can't allow feelings, emotions, the
5:59 things that you think about on an
6:00 everyday basis to cause you to make your
6:02 decisions. It's easy to make that
6:06 logical conclusion. The bad man theory,
6:08 somebody did something in the past, then
6:10 it's more likely that they would have
6:12 done it again. But that's not the law in
6:15 this state and that's not the burden
6:17 that you were to apply in this case.
6:21 This is a very serious burden. You have
6:23 to look at this charge individually and
6:27 decide if on that day Mr. Perez
6:29 committed the crime for which he's been
6:32 charged. And as I've said before,
6:33 there's no information that can lead you
6:36 to this conclusion. So members of the
6:40 jury, take your job seriously.
6:42 Go back into that room, communicate with
6:44 one another. Think about the credibility
6:46 of the witnesses that came before you.
6:47 Think about the witnesses who had
6:49 something to gain and think about the
6:51 ones who had something to lose. Think
6:53 about the plausibility of the statements
6:55 that they made. Think about the
6:58 alternative theories.
7:00 But I'm confident that at the end of the
7:02 day, there's only one conclusion that
7:06 you can make, and that is Mr. Perez is
7:10 not guilty of possession of cocaine
7:12 with the intent to traffic that cocaine.
7:14 Thank you for your time. Thank you for
7:19 Great. Now, let's quickly recap our
7:22 chalkboard tips. First, find clever ways
7:25 to humanize your client.
7:27 Second, recap the key facts of the case
7:29 for the jury.
7:31 Third, vary your tone and speed for
7:34 emphasis. Fourth, memorize your opening
7:37 and closing arguments.
7:39 Fifth, use analogy to explain the heavy
7:42 burden of reasonable doubt. Sixth,
7:44 communicate your theory of the case. And
7:46 seventh, restate your conclusion.
7:48 Remember, you'll want to watch this
7:49 video a few times, keep track of the
7:51 chalkboard tips, and begin to
7:52 incorporate them into your own presentation.
