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DONE!

Paul Hora wrapped it up today, spending most of him time on Hans’ state of mind and the damage done to the family when he killed Nina. The DA always has the last word.

Some excerpts:

Hans’ hostile e-mails to Nina were reviewed:

· I don't think you are evil because you are shrewd, I think you are evil because you can't help what you are.

· The problem here is that you think you can smile at me and I will forget. Those who anger slowly, cool slowly Nina.

· It is June 1941, and you are the Nazis. And you think we will not suffer the necessary amount to defeat you. We will.

Hora made several points, among them these:

· What kind of threat is that? 'Whatever it takes' is what he's saying. He just hated her.

· Not only did this guy hate her, but when you got a phone call that she's missing, the first thing he said, 'Call my lawyer,' not only is the last place she was, he hated her, call my lawyer, he went down and hired a criminal defense lawyer. Not only that, his car's missing the front seat, missing the back part of the car, that her blood is there, each fact, as you consider each fact, and you think about that, that blood, you add them together, it has more and more significance -- that's the power of circumstantial evidence.

· You do that analysis by looking at the entire puzzle because each piece has so much more significance when you consider all of the other evidence."

· He was hiding that CRX. He was desperate by the 17th. The police searched his house. He knew they were looking for it. The heat was on. And he was desperate to hide that, way out in Manteca or Stockton. He must have passed 100 storage lockers between here and Manteca and Stockton: Livermore, Pleasanton, Dublin, Castro Valley, Hayward, Fremont, San Leandro, Oakland. They're everywhere. Storage lockers everywhere and, 'Oh, it's cheaper out there.' Yeah right. Ridiculous lies. Excuses. It's not the reason. And the reason we know he was so desperate to hide the car is because that same afternoon, he threw the seat out. That was his mission that day. That's what he did.

· A man's actions are the mirror of a man's mind. If he eats, it's because he's hungry. If he sleeps, it's because he's tired. If he lies, it's because the truth is damaging. If he destroys and conceals evidence, it's because it can be used against him. If he covers up a crime, it's because he committed the crime. If he acts guilty, it's because he is guilty That's what this evidence tells us.

Hora closed on a sentimental note. He read from a children’s “bunny book” found in Nina’s car, about a mother’s love for her child; he showed the jury a birthday video when Nina kissed her son; and he emphasized the callousness of anyone who would snuff out the loving relationship between Nina and her children.

All this was cumulative in a sense, but part of the DA’s larger task – to motivate jurors to act against any remaining qualms and doubts and to return a conviction.

The jury will deliberate as soon as Judge Goodman concludes the instructions.

JBG