By Anonymous
tuesday, april 25, 2023 at 6:14:00 a.m. edt
Reasonably coherent version of day four and McCraney’s testimony here:
https://www.wtvy.com/2023/04/24/follow-day-4-mccraney-trial-here/
He did not return to the store, per se, but had gone somewhere else after having been “stood up” (by7 “Jennifer”), and on his way home he just happened to be driving by the store when his truck broke down, so he stopped in the parking lot where he saw the two girls by the pay phone.
And they just happened to drive by where his semi truck was parked because that was on the way to some shortcut he wanted to show them. So they stopped to see his semi truck, where he and “Jennifer” got in while Tracie waited in the car. Even though both girls were in a hurry, because they had to get home to avoid violating their curfew.
[11:11 a.m. The defendant stated that he began having car trouble on his way home and “coasted” into the Big Little parking lot. Marshall presented an overhead view of the Big Little parking lot and asked where his car stopped. He said he was all the way off to the side of the store. McCraney claimed he saw the girls near the phone as he pulled in. “It’s a remarkable coincidence,” Marshall said about McCraney’s car breaking down near the Big Little. “I guess so,” McCraney said.]
[11:23 a.m. He said that the girls were going to drive the shortcut with McCraney and then drive him back to his house before driving back on the shortcut to Dothan. McCraney said the girls did not know that his truck was there. He also said that he was not aware that the girls were trying to make curfew. He said that it was his idea to stop at the truck stop, where he and J.B. got out of the car, so McCraney could show her his truck. He stated that Tracie stayed in the car. They got in the truck around midnight, the front seat to begin with, according to McCraney. Marshall asked how the conversation changed when J.B. sat on the bed that was in the truck. McCraney said he got in the bed with her and continued “small talk” before they “touched each other.” McCraney said that they were talking when J.B. moved to the bed. Marshall asked if these events happened fast and McCraney said that they did. Marshall asked if they were in the bed about 12:05 a.m., and McCraney agreed. McCraney claimed that Tracie was still in the Mazda 929.]
Apparently having decided not to challenge the DNA evidence, and instead go with a story of consensual sex, he must have worked with his lawyers to come up with a story to explain events, including encountering the girls at the same store he’d left earlier when “Jennifer” failed to show up for their agreed meeting. And this is the best they could come up with?
N.S.: And then the ultimate coincidence: That after McCraney’s truck broke down at the Big Little Store, just as the girls were on the pay phone at the Big Little Store, and just after he had his “one thing led to another” quickie with “Jennifer,” and the girls dropped him off at home, that some other party murdered them both, while not raping either of them.
It’s a ridiculous tale, and yet the same ridiculous “coincidence” is at the heart of America’s most famous and revered courtroom drama, Reginald Rose’s 12 Angry Men (1957).
[“On September 20, 1954, Dramatic History was Made, with the Only Broadcast of the Original, 50-Minute, Reginald Rose Teleplay, 12 Angry Men (Complete, Restored Video)”; and
“Stacking the Deck: An Analysis of the First, TV Version of Reginald Rose’s Legendary Play, Twelve Angry Men, and Rose’s Dirty Little Secret.”]
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Here (https://www.wdhn.com/news/local-news/mccraney-murder-trial/closing-arguments-underway-in-mccraney-murder-trial/) is an account of the closing arguments of the trial for the murders of JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett.
The prosecution argument and rebuttal made the right points. The defense closing spun the usual fairy tales.
I can't confirm it but one observer said a few days ago there were only two black jurors and one of them was kicked off for not attending, plus an arrest record he didn't disclose.
The jury was said to be five men and seven women. This means the jury is largely White women.
"come up with a story to explain events"
And to explain why he wasn't home around the time the murders are assumed to have happened. Maybe he thought his wife (then girlfriend) might be called to testify, and would say he was not at home for most of that evening. His wife could have declined to take the stand, but since he voluntarily gave a DNA sample, maybe he and his lawyers thought it would look funny if she asserted her privilege not to appear as a witness.
So this guy had a big problem: he had to come up with a story to explain 1) why his semen was found on clothes belonging to JB, *AND* 2) why he was away from home that nite, and the reason he was away had to be connected to JB.
There ain't too many ways to explain both of those things.
But assuming 1) he's lying about knowing JB and about having an appt to meet her, and therefore 2) his encounter with JB and Tracie that nite, which resulted in him raping JB and killing both of them, was chance, then he must have been away from home at that time for some reason not related to his phony story of meeting JB.
What was the reason he was away from home on that nite during that time period?
McCraney Trial Day Five Update 12:36 PM Closing Arguments
https://www.rickeystokesnews.com//article.php/mccraney-trial-day-five-update-1236-pm-closing-arguments-197461
As reported, a pretty good summation/closing argument by the prosecution.
But I did not see where it was mentioned that there was no evidence of robbery. He did ask the jury to consider what would have been a motive for someone else to kill those two young girls? So he should have mentioned there was no evidence covering up a robbery could have been a motive.
Also did not see it mentioned the defendant had a criminal record when he was in the Air Force, and at that time owned a weapon of the same caliber (9mm) as the one that killed the two girls. Maybe the prosecution was barred from introducing that -- ?
And I would have reminded the jury that these murders happened nearly 25 years ago, and the defendant they see before them today was not only much younger back then, but also likely a completely different and somewhat dishonest, untrustworthy man, as shown by his infidelity.
Did not bother to read what the defense said. It's clear what their main points would be: for them it all revolves around the consensual sex story to explain the defendant's DNA. You either find that story credible or you don't.
Published: Apr. 23, 2023 at 5:30 PM EDT
DOTHAN, Ala. (WTVY) -
Ken Curtis
Suspected killer Coley McCraney will be found guilty—not guilty---or neither.
The other possible outcome of his ballyhooed trial is a hung jury that would keep his murder case lingering.
If all 12 jurors cannot agree on the verdict, Dale County Circuit Judge William Filmore would have no choice but declare a mistrial.
If that happens, JB Beasley and Tracie Hawlett’s families must suffer longer during their quest for closure.
They have already endured 24 years of living hell after the murders of those 17-year-old Dothan students, shot in 1999 after being forced into their car’s trunk and found hours later in Ozark.
It could take a couple of more years to retry McCraney, implicated by DNA in 2019, and which prosecutors would almost certainly do.
A mistrial would also affect McCraney’s family because Filmore probably would keep him locked up as he has been since his arrest.
There is no mandatory bond for Capital Murder in Alabama, and those facing those charges are usually confined as they await trial.
Jurors could begin deliberating his fate in the current trial at midweek after the defense presents its case and closing arguments take place.
--GRA
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