After hearing four days of testimony and viewing more than 200 pieces of evidence, the jury for LaVon Chisley's murder trial withdrew to deliberate around 11 a.m. today.
Defense attorney Karen Muir argued in her closing statements that the charges brought against Chisley were the result of misunderstanding, supposition and speculation. Chisley, a former Nittany Lion football player, is charged with first- and third-degree murder in connection with the death of Penn State senior Langston Carraway inside Carraway's living room in 2006.
"The police heard what they wanted to hear," she said.
Muir said she supplied ample doubt on the legitimacy of the prosecution's admittedly circumstantial evidence.
Don't be fooled, District Attorney Michael Madeira rebutted, with the "smokescreen" the defense has thrown up around the case.
He said that inconsistencies in Chisley's statements and the numerous witnesses Chisley identified as giving false testimony were indicative of the 23-year-old stutter-stepping through his alibi "just as he did from the blood to the couch."
"There's not a single witness that corroborated any of the stories he had," Madeira said.
The trial is scheduled to end today, but Madeira said he wouldn't speculate on when the jury would return.
Keep checking The Daily Collegian Online for more updates from the trial.
