Closing began at 9:30 a.m. today in the case. Each side had one hour. The government reserved ten minutes for rebuttal.
Leslie Lehnert argued the case for the government. She set the tone early - the case turned on the credibility of the witnesses. She argued that Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma had no reason or motive to lie. She also did not dispute what the operations at the facility were supposed to be - that the facility was supposed to be treating waste water. But, she continued, the facility had to discharge millions of gallons of water to keep up with the waste water coming in to the facility. Ms. Lehnert recounted the testimony of the City of Shreveport employees that the facility was discharging when it was not supposed to be discharging. She recounted the testimony of regarding the discharges in August and December 2006. She recounted the testimony of Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma regarding discharges to the Red River. She reminded the jury of the testimony of Charles Burns with Republic Contractors that there was no cap on the outfall when the December 2006 line was installed. She questioned why there was a need for the blue pipe extension into the Red River when the facility had no permit to discharge to the Red River. She conceded that monitoring equipment was installed; but recounted the testimony of Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma that it was bypassed. The recounted how Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma would watch for a white van signaling that the City was approaching.
Ms. Lehnert reminded the jury of Ana-Lab’s testimony that it did not control the discharges to the Red River or the valve that lead to the Red River. She discussed the fused pipe installed in October 2007 for which there was no purpose. She recounted how John Tuma could not tell the jury how long it would take the facility to treat even just one truck load of waste water. She recounted the site visits by Ken AuBuchon and the troubles he encountered. Finally, she reminded the jury that the plant worked so well that the new owners dismantled it.
Jim Boren handled the closing for the defense. He presented what I would describe as a typical defense oriented closing (and we would expect no less). It was a passionate argument that hammered on the credibility of Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma: “This is America – we demand proof beyond a reasonable doubt.” He detailed, once again, that the facility worked. He argued that the government found and caught three people, Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma, who were guilty and they blamed John Tuma. He argued that the government ignored Charles Tubbs and the other thirty employees who worked at the plant. He passionately argued that Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma were all liars.
Mr. Boren admitted that there was a lot of smoke there, and then asked did John Tuma know? What piece of evidence do you have? He said, you have to believe Wayne Mallet. Mr. Boren argued that John Tuma was not at the facility in December 2006 and was not at the facility during the USEPA visits. Mr. Boren argued that the only way the jury could convict John Tuma was to believe admitted liars, Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma. Mr. Boren presented a time line and recounted evidence favorable to the defense that he argued proved discharges could not have occurred. Mr. Boren probed discrepancies in the witnesses’ testimony. He argued that the discrepancies proved that the witnesses were lying.
Mr. Boren argued that if the jury believed Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and Cody Tuma, then John Tuma was guilty. Then he asked the jury if they were to go out of town for a month, would they trust Wayne Mallet, Todd Cage and/or Cody Tuma with their house, their computer and passwords and credit cards?
Mr. Boren finished by telling the jury that John Tuma is presumed innocent and that the evidence presented was not evidence beyond reasonable doubt.
Ms. Lehnert handled rebuttal for the government. She took words by Jim Boren and turned them around. She argued that the only smoke provided was from the defendant. She recounted Charles Tubbs’ testimony that the treatment system did not work. She also argued that John Tuma had motivation to lie himself, the $5,000,000.00 in subsequent payments for the sale of the facility. She recounted as how Todd Cage has been telling the same story since October 2007. She recounted how Wayne Mallet met with the internal investigation team over a year ago and told his story without benefit of counsel. She asked the jury to weigh the credibility of John Tuma. She argued that based upon the testimonial evidence, the pipes that make no sense and the pipes that did not belong at the facility prove the guilt of the defendant. She asked the Jury to find John Tuma guilty on all five counts.
Judge Stagg then gave the jury a 15 minute break, and upon their return read the jury charge to them. The case was submitted to the jury at 12:30 p.m.
Those handicapping the case expect a verdict before 5:00 p.m. today. We shall see.
It is my opinion that both sides did very well in closing; however, I am of the opinion that Ms. Lehnert did a better job overall detailing all of the evidence. Mr. Boren was somewhat theatrical and I believe lost the jury by beating up on Cody Tuma as much as he did. I do not know how either argument will affect the jury deliberations. I will post again when there is a jury verdict.
More later.
As always, feel free to contact me at walter.james@jamespllc.com.
WDJiii
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