California v. Markhasev
"The Ennis Cosby Murder Trial"
Bill Cosby attends court as closing arguments take place
July 6 (Court TV) -- He said that he would not attend court because he only wanted justice to be served. He did not want the media spectacle surrounding his attendance at trial to overshadow the legal issues concerning Mikail Markhasev, the man accused of killing his only son, Ennis.
But as closing arguments began Monday in Markhasev's trial, Bill Cosby and his wife Camille took front row seats in their first appearance during the two-week trial.
Seated next to Markhasev's mother, grandmother and cousin, the Cosbys heard prosecutor Anne Ingalls tell jurors that Markhasev convicted himself by writing letters to friends while in jail that essentially confess his role in Cosby's murder. She said that these letters show that Markhasev knew details about the case that only the murderer would know and reminded jurors that a handwriting expert linked the defendant to the letters. Markhasev, the prosecutor said, wanted to get rich quick, and that is why he tried to rob Cosby.
Ingalls also told jurors that Markhasev implicated himself when he bragged about the murder to two friends, Christopher So and Michael Chang, and asked them to help him find the murder weapon, which he had thrown away in field. So later gave police information leading to their recovery of the murder weapon two months after Cosby's January 1997 slaying.
The defense, however, countered the prosecution's closings by emphasizing that there is reasonable doubt over whether Markhasev is really Cosby's killer. Defense attorney Henry Hall said that the only thing the prosecution has proven is that his client is "a foul-mouthed adolescent" who repeated used the derogatory language in reference to Cosby's murder (So had claimed Markhasev said, "I shot a nigger. It's all over the news.")
Hall accused prosecutors of repeating Markhasev's use of the word "nigger" to enrage the jury and distract them from the legal holes in their case against Markhasev. He discredited So's testimony, referring to the state witness as Chris "Does my story sound good?" So -- an allusion to testimony from police that So asked investigators such a question when telling them what he knew.
Hall also focused on the fact that So's testimony against Markhasev is motivated by his desire to collect a $40,000 reward offered by the National Enquirer. (So could collect another $100,000 if Markhasev is convicted.)
Judge David Perez was expected to instruct the jurors that they must only consider whether Markhasev is guilty of felony murder during an attempted robbery and not a lesser offense such as second-degree murder. This could prove problematic for the prosecution because if jurors find Markhasev not guilty of attempted robbery, then they also must find him not guilty of Cosby's murder. Jurors may also find these other problems with the prosecution's case during deliberations:
- The fact that the only witness who may have seen Cosby's killer, Stephanie Crane, could not identify Markhasev as the murderer in a live police lineup and in court.
- So and Chang both have significant credibility problems. So is a convicted embezzler who faces other pending charges. The defense suggests that So's testimony is influenced by a desire to collect reward money from the National Enquirer and, possibly, the promise of a deal with prosecutors in handling his other offenses. Chang, the other friend to whom Markhasev allegedly confessed the murder, invoked his Fifth Amendment rights and refused to testify at trial.
- The alleged resemblance of the police sketch to Eli Zakaria, Markhasev's friend whom the defense claims is the real killer. (The prosecution says the sketch resembles Markhasev more closely.)
- Defense allegations that investigators tampered with the evidence. During trial, the defense focused on the fact that there was discrepancy in the amount of hairs investigators gathered from the knit cap found wrapped around the gun used to kill Cosby. Investigators say the DNA from the hair matches Markhasev's DNA.
Jury deliberations began Monday afternoon. If convicted, Markhasev faces life in prison without the possibility of parole.
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