OPENING ARGUMENT FOR ERIK MENENDEZ by Leslie Abramson
23 THE COURT: ALL RIGHT. THANK YOU.
24 JUST TO REPEAT, BEFORE WE GET TO THE
25 DEFENSE OPENING STATEMENT.
26 THE COMMENTS OF THE LAWYERS ARE NOT
27 EVIDENCE. THE FACT THAT THEY REFER TO SOME MATERIAL
28 THAT THEY EXPECT TO BE PRODUCED BY WAY OF EVIDENCE,
36079
1 OR AS EVIDENCE IN THE TRIAL, DOESN'T MEAN THAT YOU
2 HAVE HEARD ANY EVIDENCE YET. YOU'LL JUST HAVE TO
3 WAIT UNTIL OPENING STATEMENTS HAVE BEEN COMPLETED
4 AND THEN YOU'LL SEE WITNESSES TESTIFY BEFORE YOU AND
5 HEAR EVIDENCE IN THIS CASE.
6 ALSO, DURING OPENING STATEMENTS
7 REFERENCE WAS MADE TO SOME EVIDENCE, ALTHOUGH IT
8 WASN'T IDENTIFIED AT THE TIME OF THE REFERENCE, THAT
9 WILL BE LIMITED OR RECEIVED FOR A LIMITED PURPOSE.
10 AND IT REALLY WOULDN'T HAVE BEEN OF MUCH HELP TO YOU
11 DURING THE OPENING STATEMENT TO IDENTIFY IT
12 SPECIFICALLY, SINCE YOU WEREN'T TAKING NOTES. AND
13 WHAT WILL HAPPEN IS, WHEN THE EVIDENCE IS RECEIVED
14 FOR A LIMITED PURPOSE, IT WILL BE IDENTIFIED AT THE
15 TIME IT IS RECEIVED, WHEN THE EVIDENCE IS
16 INTRODUCED, TESTIMONY, WHATEVER IT MIGHT BE, AND IT
17 WILL BE IDENTIFIED AS EVIDENCE RECEIVED FOR A
18 LIMITED PURPOSE. AND AT THAT POINT I WOULD ASK THAT
19 YOU MAKE NOTE OF IT IN YOUR NOTEBOOKS, SO THAT IF
20 LATER ON DURING YOUR DELIBERATIONS YOU HAPPEN TO
21 REFER TO THAT PARTICULAR PIECE OF EVIDENCE, YOU'LL
22 KNOW THAT YOU CAN ONLY CONSIDER IT FOR THE LIMITED
23 PURPOSE FOR WHICH IT WAS RECEIVED. THAT WILL HAPPEN
24 WHEN THE EVIDENCE IS ACTUALLY PRESENTED TO YOU.
25 AT THIS POINT, AS I SAID, YOU DIDN'T
26 HEAR ANY EVIDENCE AND YOU WON'T HEAR ANY DURING THE
27 DEFENSE OPENING STATEMENT.
28 IS THE DEFENSE READY TO PROCEED?
36080
1 MS. ABRAMSON: YES. I JUST NEED TO SET UP
2 THAT TRIPOD AND HAVE MR. LEVIN HELP ME MOVE THE
3 CHARTS.
4 THE COURT: OKAY. SURE.
5 MS. ABRAMSON: THANK YOU, JUDGE.
6 (BRIEF PAUSE WHILE SETTING UP CHARTS.)
7
8 MS. ABRAMSON: CAN YOU SEE, JUDGE?
9 THE COURT: I CAN SEE, BUT DOES IT SEEM TO BE
10 STABLE ENOUGH UP THERE?
11 MS. ABRAMSON: WHEN I TURN THEM I THINK I'LL
12 HAVE MR. LEVIN STAND HERE. THEY'RE VERY LIGHT.
13 THEY'RE JUST BIG.
14
15 OPENING STATEMENT
16 BY MS. ABRAMSON:
17 GOOD AFTERNOON. I'M VERY PLEASED THAT
18 THE JUDGE AGAIN REMINDED YOU THAT OPENING STATEMENTS
19 AREN'T EVIDENCE, BECAUSE YOU'RE SITTING IN THIS
20 POSITION WHERE YOU HAVE TO HEAR TWO REALLY SEPARATE
21 CASES AT THE SAME TIME. THERE ARE TWO PEOPLE ON
22 TRIAL HERE. YOU KNOW HOW SERIOUS THESE CHARGES
23 ARE. WE'VE TALKED ABOUT ALL THOSE THINGS DURING THE
24 JURY SELECTION PROCESS. AND WHAT YOU HAVE TO DO AS
25 JURORS IN THIS CASE IS SEPARATELY CONSIDER AND WEIGH
26 THE SEPARATE EVIDENCE THAT WILL BE COMING IN FROM
27 BOTH THE PROSECUTION SIDE OF THE CASE AND THE
28 DEFENSE SIDE OF THE CASE, AS TO EACH ONE OF OUR
36081
1 CLIENTS, AND NO ONE THINKS THAT'S EASY. BUT WE
2 PICKED YOU, AND THAT INDICATES WE BELIEVE YOU CAN DO
3 IT. YOU HAVE TO SORT OF, THOUGH, BE MENTALLY
4 RIGOROUS ABOUT THAT PROCESS.
5 IN HIS OPENING JUST NOW MR. CONN, I'M
6 SURE, TO SAVE TIME, AND FOR WHATEVER OTHER REASON,
7 DIDN'T MAKE THOSE DISTINCTIONS FOR YOU. HE TALKED
8 ABOUT, FOR EXAMPLE, LYLE MENENDEZ DID THAT OR ERIK
9 MENENDEZ DID THAT; AND MUCH OF THAT IS NOT WHAT WE
10 CALL CROSS-ADMISSIBLE. IT'S WHAT LYLE MENENDEZ DOES
11 OR SAID TO SOME EXTENT IN THIS CASE, YOU CAN ONLY
12 CONSIDER AGAINST HIM. WHAT ERIK MENENDEZ DOES AND
13 SAID, YOU CAN ONLY CONSIDER AGAINST HIM. SO THAT'S
14 ONE OF THE MANY REASONS WHY YOU CANNOT TAKE
15 IMPRESSIONS THAT YOU MAY GET FROM OPENING STATEMENT
16 AND TRY TO USE THEM EVENTUALLY IN MAKING YOUR
17 DECISION IN THIS CASE.
18 THE OTHER REASON IS BECAUSE WE ALL LIVE
19 IN WHAT'S KNOWN AS LINEAR TIMES. YOU CAN'T HEAR
20 BOTH SIDES AT THE SAME TIME. ONE SIDE GOES FIRST,
21 ONE SIDE GOES SECOND. IF YOU MAKE UP YOUR MINDS
22 GIVEN THE FIRST THING YOU HEAR, THE SECOND SIDE MAY
23 AS WELL LEAVE THE COURTROOM AND GO HOME BECAUSE
24 YOU'RE NEVER GOING TO HEAR THEM.
25 THE DEFENSE GOES SECOND IN A CRIMINAL
26 CASE BECAUSE THE PROSECUTION, REPRESENTING THE
27 STATE, THE GOVERNMENT, HAS THE BURDEN OF PROOF; AND
28 BECAUSE THEY HAVE THE BURDEN, THEY HAVE TO COME
36082
1 FORWARD WITH EVIDENCE WITH WHICH THEY HOPE TO
2 CONVINCE YOU THAT THE CHARGES THEY FILED ARE
3 SUPPORTED BY EVIDENCE BEYOND A REASONABLE DOUBT.
4 NOW, WE GET TO GO SECOND, AND AS YOU
5 KNOW, IT'S GOING TO TAKE SEVERAL MONTHS TO TRY THIS
6 CASE. SO I AM HOPEFUL THAT IN SPITE OF THE FACT
7 THAT YOU'VE JUST BEEN SHOWN SOME THINGS THAT WOULD
8 UPSET ANYBODY, AND HEARD SOME THINGS THAT SOUND
9 TERRIBLE, THAT YOU REALIZE YOU DIDN'T SEE OR HEAR
10 ANYTHING THAT IS EVIDENCE YET. AND UNTIL IT'S ALL
11 BEFORE YOU, YOU HAVE TO TRY TO DO SOMETHING THAT'S
12 VERY HARD TO DO. KEEP AN OPEN MIND SO THAT YOU CAN
13 WEIGH IT ALL AND SIFT IT ALL IN THE END.
14 I'M GOING TO BE READING THIS TO YOU
15 BECAUSE THIS CASE IS COMPLICATED AND BECAUSE I'M
16 VERY MINDFUL OF THE RULES OF EVIDENCE. IT'S IN VERY
17 LARGE TYPE, SO IT WON'T TAKE AS LONG AS IT LOOKS.
18 BUT IT WILL TAKE A WHILE.
19 I THINK ONE THING THAT SHOULD BE OBVIOUS
20 TO YOU, EVEN FROM MR. CONN'S BRIEF RECITATION, IS
21 THAT THIS IS A VERY COMPLICATED CASE. AND TO
22 UNDERSTAND THE DEFENSE IN THIS CASE, YOU MUST ALLOW
23 YOURSELVES TO LEARN ABOUT THINGS MOST OF US WOULD
24 PREFER TO NEVER HAVE TO HEAR ABOUT. ONE THING THAT
25 SHOULD BE OBVIOUS TO YOU IS THERE'S GOING TO BE A
26 LOT OF TALK ABOUT GRUESOME GRISLY THINGS, BULLET
27 WOUNDS, BROKEN BONES, BLOOD. I MEAN, IT'S GRISLY.
28 BUT WHAT YOU WILL LEARN IS THAT AS YOU LISTEN TO
36083
1 THIS EVIDENCE IN A SCIENTIFIC POINT OF VIEW, AS YOU
2 HEAR SCIENTIFIC EXPERTS WHO ARE TRAINED IN THESE
3 AREAS TALK ABOUT IT, THE SHOCK REACTION GOES AWAY
4 AND IT BEGINS TO THEN BECOME EVIDENCE AND NOT
5 SOMETHING SIMPLY TO INFLAME YOU.
6 THE OTHER THING, THAT IF YOU'RE GOING TO
7 BE OPEN-MINDED JURORS IN THIS CASE, YOU HAVE TO BE
8 WILLING TO LISTEN TO, AND HOPEFULLY WILLING TO LEARN
9 ABOUT, IS THE SYSTEMATIC ABUSE OF CHILDREN AND THE
10 DISTORTING, THE COMPLICATED EFFECT IT HAS, ABUSE, ON
11 THE MINDS OF ITS VICTIMS.
12 NOW, AS I TOLD YOU, FOR THE DEFENSE, THE
13 PURPOSE OF MAKING AN OPENING STATEMENT IS TO LET YOU
14 KNOW THAT MORE EVIDENCE WILL BE PRODUCED IN THIS
15 CASE THAN WHAT THE PROSECUTION PUTS ON, AND THAT YOU
16 HAVE TO CONSIDER OUR EVIDENCE BEFORE FORMING ANY
17 OPINIONS OR REACHING ANY CONCLUSIONS.
18 WE WILL PRESENT EVIDENCE BEARING ON WHAT
19 I THINK YOU WILL FIND, VERY QUICKLY, ARE THE REAL
20 ISSUES IN THE CASE. FROM WHAT WE PRESENT, YOU WILL
21 LEARN THAT THERE IS NO DISPUTE OVER WHO KILLED
22 MR. AND MRS. MENENDEZ. THEIR SONS KILLED THEM.
23 WHAT OUR EVIDENCE WILL ADDRESS IS WHY THEY WERE
24 KILLED AND WHY THEY WERE KILLED, WE WILL SHOW YOU,
25 IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT TELLS YOU WHAT WAS THE
26 STATE OF MIND OF THEIR SONS AT THE TIME THAT THEY
27 KILLED THEM. AND THAT IS IMPORTANT BECAUSE THAT IS
28 A CRUCIAL ISSUE IN THE LAW OF HOMICIDE.
36084
1 NOW, BEFORE I GET TO THAT STATE OF MIND
2 AND HOW IT WAS FORMED, I JUST WANT TO GIVE YOU A
3 HISTORY -- BARRY, WOULD YOU GET THE POSTER BOARD
4 WITH THE HOUSES, PLEASE. IT'S OVER BY NANCY.
5 THANK YOU.
6 THE COURT: MR. LEVIN, YOU CAN SEE
7 MS. SLONAKER OVER HERE.
8 MS. ABRAMSON: MR. LEVIN, IT SHOULD BE
9 OBVIOUS, ALSO REPRESENTS ERIK MENENDEZ, ALONG WITH
10 MYSELF. WE ARE CO-COUNSEL IN THAT REGARD, AND YOU
11 WILL SEE OVER THE COURSE OF THE TRIAL THAT WE SHARE
12 THE DUTIES. I'M SPEAKING TO YOU TODAY. YOU WILL
13 SEE THAT HE IS DEALING WITH WITNESSES. AND WE
14 EXPECT THAT HE'S GOING TO BE THE ATTORNEY WHO CALLS
15 ERIK MENENDEZ TO THE STAND AND EXAMINES HIM, BECAUSE
16 OUR CLIENT WILL INDEED TESTIFY IN THIS CASE. WE'RE
17 NOT GOING TO BE PLAYING ANY MYSTERY GAMES WITH YOU
18 AT ALL.
19 NOW, I WANT TO FIRST RELATE TO YOU,
20 THOUGH -- YOU KNOW WHAT? I'M GOING TO KEEP IT
21 HERE. I CAN JUST HOLD THEM UP. THESE ARE VERY
22 LIGHT.
23 THIS IS A HISTORY OF THE MENENDEZ FAMILY
24 AS IT WILL BE GIVEN BY WITNESSES IN THE TRIAL SO
25 THAT YOU DON'T HAVE TO SPEND A LOT OF TIME TRYING TO
26 FIGURE OUT THESE SORT OF DEMOGRAPHIC THINGS.
27 ERIK MENENDEZ, MY CLIENT, WAS BORN ON
28 NOVEMBER 27TH, 1970. HIS OLDER BROTHER, LYLE, WAS
36085
1 BORN ON JANUARY 10TH, 1968. THEY WERE THE ONLY
2 CHILDREN OF JOSE ENRIQUE AND MARY LOUISE MENENDEZ.
3 YOU HAVE HEARD MRS. MENENDEZ REFERRED TO
4 AS KITTY. THAT WAS HER NICKNAME.
5 JOSE MENENDEZ WAS A CUBAN-BORN IMMIGRANT
6 WHO, OVER THE COURSE OF HIS CHILDREN'S LIVES, WAS AN
7 EVER-MORE-SUCCESSFUL AND EVER-HIGHER-EARNING
8 BUSINESS EXECUTIVE.
9 MRS. MENENDEZ TAUGHT SCHOOL FOR A FEW
10 YEARS IN NEW YORK CITY, BUT BECAME FULL-TIME
11 HOMEMAKER WHEN ERIK WAS BORN. AND WHEN ERIK
12 MENENDEZ WAS BORN THE FAMILY LIVED IN CEDAR GROVE,
13 NEW JERSEY, A VERY MODEST LITTLE HOUSE YOU CAN SEE
14 HERE IN THE SNOW. THESE ARE TAKEN FROM OLD FAMILY
15 PHOTOGRAPHS, WHICH IS WHY THEY'RE NOT HIGH-TECH.
16 WHEN ERIK WAS JUST A FEW MONTHS OLD THE
17 FAMILY MOVED TO ILLINOIS, TO THIS HOUSE, A SUBURB
18 CALLED EAST HINSDALE, RIGHT OUTSIDE OF CHICAGO. AND
19 AT THE TIME THAT THE MENENDEZ FAMILY MOVED TO THE
20 CHICAGO AREA, MR. MENENDEZ' SISTER, WHOSE NAME IS
21 TERESITA BARALT, AND HER HUSBAND, CARLOS BARALT,
22 ALSO MOVED TO NEW JERSEY; IN FACT, A BLOCK AWAY,
23 BECAUSE MR. MENENDEZ WAS TAKING OVER A COMPANY AND
24 HE WAS GOING TO EMPLOY HIS BROTHER-IN-LAW, CARLOS
25 BARALT, IN THAT COMPANY.
26 HOWEVER, THINGS DID NOT WORK OUT WITH
27 THAT COMPANY IN ILLINOIS. THE FAMILY ONLY LIVED IN
28 THAT AREA LESS THAN TWO YEARS. AND SO SHORTLY
36086
1 BEFORE ERIK MENENDEZ' SECOND BIRTHDAY THE FAMILY
2 MOVED AGAIN. THIS TIME TO MONSEY, NEW YORK. AND
3 THIS PHOTOGRAPH HERE IS A PICTURE OF THE HOUSE THAT
4 THEY LIVED IN IN MONSEY. MONSEY AT THAT TIME WAS
5 SORT OF A SEMI-RURAL AREA IN UPSTATE NEW YORK. IF
6 YOU KNOW THE SHAPE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, IT WAS
7 SORT OF -- IT WAS VERY CLOSE TO THE NEW JERSEY
8 BORDER, ON THE LONG BAR OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK,
9 QUITE FAR AWAY FROM NEW YORK CITY, WHERE
10 MR. MENENDEZ WORKED FOR THE HERTZ CORPORATION AND
11 COMPUTED DAILY. IT WAS A HOUSE IN THE WOODS, AND
12 YOU WILL HEAR TESTIMONY ABOUT WHAT SIGNIFICANCE OF
13 THE RELATIVE ISOLATION OF THAT HOUSE HAD AND ABOUT
14 CERTAIN THINGS THAT HAPPENED IN THE WOODS BEHIND THE
15 MONSEY HOUSE.
16 IN 1977, WHEN ERIK MENENDEZ WAS GOING ON
17 SEVEN YEARS OLD, THE FAMILY MOVED AGAIN TO THE
18 PRINCETON AREA IN NEW JERSEY. AT THAT TIME TERESITA
19 AND CARLOS BARALT HAD LEFT ILLINOIS, HAD MOVED TO
20 NEW JERSEY, LIVED IN THE PRINCETON AREA, AND HAD
21 URGED THEIR RELATIVES TO MOVE THERE BECAUSE IT WAS
22 AN EASIER COMMUTE TO NEW YORK CITY THAN MONSEY, AND
23 THEY WANTED TO BE TOGETHER AGAIN AS FAMILY.
24 FOR ONE YEAR THE MENENDEZ FAMILY RENTED
25 THIS HOUSE, WHICH STILL LOOKS LIKE THAT. STILL HAS
26 THE WHITE WITH DARK SHUTTERS ON MILL ROAD IN NEW
27 JERSEY, IN AN AREA CALLED PRINCETON JUNCTION, WHICH
28 IS CLOSE TO THE UNIVERSITY TOWN OF PRINCETON.
36087
1 AFTER THAT YEAR, IN 1978, THE FAMILY
2 BUILT THIS CUSTOM-MADE HOUSE WHICH IS VERY HARD TO
3 SEE BECAUSE, AGAIN, IT'S OBSCURED BY WOODS WHICH ARE
4 ALL AROUND THAT HOUSE, IN WHAT WE CALL HERE
5 PENNINGTON, NEW JERSEY. IT'S JUST ANOTHER SUBURB.
6 PRINCETON IS LIKE A WHOLE SERIES OF BEDROOM
7 COMMUNITIES. THIS IS ANOTHER SUBURB OF PRINCETON,
8 WHERE THEY BUILD THIS HOUSE.
9 THIS HOUSE HAD A TENNIS COURT AND THIS
10 HOUSE WAS ON THE LAKE. BOTH THE LAKE AND THE TENNIS
11 COURT FILLED LARGELY IN THE LIVES AND THE
12 DEVELOPMENT OF BOTH ERIK AND LYLE MENENDEZ WHILE
13 THEY LIVED IN THAT HOUSE. THEY LIVED IN THAT HOUSE
14 FOR QUITE SOME TIME, UNTIL MARCH OF 1986.
15 IN MARCH OF 1986 THE MENENDEZ FAMILY
16 BOUGHT A REALLY GORGEOUS HOUSE. YOU CAN SEE IT
17 HERE, AND YOU'LL SEE LOTS OF OTHER PICTURES OF IT.
18 THE FIRST REALLY WEALTHY LOOKING HOUSE THAT THEY
19 LIVED IN. AND THIS HOUSE WAS ACTUALLY LOCATED
20 INSIDE PRINCETON TOWNSHIP; YET IT WAS ON ITS OWN
21 PRIVATE ROAD, SITTING ON SEVEN ACRES WITH A PRIVATE
22 LAKE. AND TO GET THERE YOU HAD TO DRIVE THROUGH
23 THESE VERY DENSE WOODS, PAST THE GATE, THE PRIVATE
24 ROAD PART.
25 THEY MOVED THERE. BUT WITHIN THREE
26 MONTHS OF MOVING THERE, MR. MENENDEZ ENCOUNTERED
27 ANOTHER SITUATION OF TROUBLE AT HIS WORK. AT THAT