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Dan Markel— Case Archive
Garcia–Magbanuatrial-daytrial-dayjury_instructionsclosing_argumentrebuttal_closingDay 10 - October 10, 2019Closing arguments presented competing accounts of the alleged plot before final instructions and jury deliberations.
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Day 10 - October 10, 2019

Closing Arguments, Final Instructions, and Jury Deliberations

Judge James C. Hankinson
10Proceedings
1Pages
0Witnesses
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Day 10 of 11

Closing arguments presented competing accounts of the alleged plot before final instructions and jury deliberations.

Full day summary

Closing arguments focused on the parties' competing accounts of the alleged murder-for-hire plot. The State argued that the custody and relocation dispute supplied a motive and that Magbanua connected the Adelsons with Garcia and Rivera. Garcia's counsel challenged Rivera's reliability and argued that the evidence did not directly place Garcia at the murder scene. Magbanua's counsel argued that the State had not proved her individual involvement and offered an alternative explanation involving Charles Adelson and Garcia. In rebuttal, the State addressed the investigation and Rivera's credibility, while expressly stating it lacked evidence to identify a reported sidewalk sighting as Wendi Adelson. Judge James C. Hankinson gave final instructions on the charges, lesser offenses, liability principles, burden of proof, and verdict forms. The jury then received deliberation instructions and began deliberating.

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1. Closing Arguments, Final Jury Instructions, and Deliberation Questions

Judge Hankinson gave final charge and deliberation instructions as the parties completed closing arguments, then the jury began deliberating.

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Jury Instruction
Final Jury Instructions - Charges and Deliberation Law
11 lines

The court instructed jurors on the charges, burden of proof, credibility, deliberation rules, and separate verdict forms for Garcia and Magbanua.

Closing
Closing Argument - Georgia Cappleman Georgia Cappleman
117 lines

The State argued that corroborating records and testimony tied both defendants to an alleged murder-for-hire conspiracy and requested guilty verdicts.

Closing
Closing Argument - Saam Zangeneh Saam Zangeneh
16 lines

Zangeneh attacked Luis Rivera's credibility, disputed the State's corroborating evidence, and urged acquittal based on reasonable doubt.

Jury Instruction
Final Jury Instructions - Firearm and Technical Corrections
15 lines

The court corrected the firearm-aggravation instruction and made technical revisions to the final jury instructions without objection from Garcia's counsel.

Closing
Closing Argument - Christopher DeCoste Christopher DeCoste
31 lines

DeCoste argued that the State had not proved Magbanua's involvement, attacked Rivera's credibility, and urged acquittal.

Rebuttal
Rebuttal Closing - Georgia Cappleman Georgia Cappleman
9 lines

Cappleman rebutted defense arguments, emphasized the State's claimed corroborating evidence, and asked jurors to convict both defendants.

Jury Instruction
Deliberation Instructions and Alternate Juror
24 lines

The jury received final deliberation directions and began deliberating; the court retained the remaining alternate for a possible penalty phase.

Procedural
Deliberation Evidence and Penalty-Phase Logistics
70 lines
Jury Instruction
Supplemental Jury Instructions - Principal Liability
15 lines
Jury Instruction
Jury Question - Cell-Tower Demonstrative
55 lines
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