UPDATE: The Jury had to restart deliberations due to a family emergency for one of the jurors, requiring an alternate to be called in. There was no verdict delivered on Wednesday.
Closing arguments in the trial for Arthur Davies were presented to the jury on Monday. State Attorney for the state Charles Tsuei began his arguments with the same words as his opening statements, saying Arthur Davies and Parker Schumacher were “the only ones in the room” during the 3 to 5 minutes when the state says Arthur Davies violently shook the 17-month old, and struck him against a surface at least once, causing the blunt force trauma and retinal bleeding that led to the toddler’s death.
Prosecution recalled the testimony of two expert witnesses that went over the injuries the toddler succumbed to on Feb. 11, 2018. He also disputed the defense’s expert witness who says that he believes there wasn’t any evidence of abuse – testimony the state called “unreasonable, nonsensical and absurd.”
Defending attorney Zulu Ali says this is a case of training versus education – and that the prosecution’s witnesses rushed to judgment based on their training rather than looking at the facts of the case. Defense shifted the focus onto the mother, asking the jury that if she was concerned about Arthur Davies being alone with Parker, then quote “mom needs to answer for what she did. If you know that someone is doing something to your child, you are just as culpable.” Ali also pointed to the lack of physical evidence to back up the state’s claims.
Closing arguments ran into Tuesday morning before the case was handed to the jury for deliberation. The jury reconvenes this morning at 9:30, and z107.7 will report the verdict in the long-running case as soon as it’s delivered.
