Defense Strikes Back! Dean Cummings Self-Defense Trial

Law of Self Defense - A podcast by Attorney Andrew F. Branca

Today the defense begins to present its case in chief to the jury in the murder trial of NM v. Cummings, the State having rested on Friday afternoon.  This means that finally the defense will be calling its own witnesses, and the State will be limited to cross-examination of those witnesses. We'll be live streaming today's proceedings in real-time, rather than playing catch-up as we were doing in our coverage of the trial last week. (That means no fast-forwarding through breaks, unfortunately--but we'll fill that time with other content.) Court is expected to come into session at 11 AM ET.  We'll start our coverage an hour prior, at 10 AM ET, perhaps with a replay once again of the opening statements to refresh everyone's recollection on what each side promised at the start of this trial to deliver to the jury.NOTE: We will read comments and answer questions FIRST from the Law of Self Defense Members chat, and SECOND from SuperChats on YouTube that are a minimum of $5.  I would humbly suggest that it's much more cost-effective to become a Law of Self Defense Member for less than $10 for an entire month than to pay for numerous $5 SuperChats (30% of which goes to YouTube) over the course of our coverage of this trial.  Become a Law of Self Defense Member INSTANTLY here:  https://lawofselfdefense.com/joinI've also sent out guest invites to the usual "Friends of Law of Self Defense," so we may have some of those great folks popping in from time to time to add insight, analysis, and humor, as their time and interest allows. The State's narrative of guilt of famous skier Dean Cummings in the shooting death of Guillermo Alliora presented in last week's case in chief proved shockingly weak. This was especially true of the State's final witness, the lead investigator on this case, who because of a 9-day coma has lost virtually all recollection of the matter, not even recalling if he testified before the grand jury (he did). The State's other witnesses, especially their law enforcement witnesses, were also just awful.  While no one can ever know what really happened in that cabin the day Cummings shot and killed Arriola, the State's burden to achieve conviction of Cummings is to disprove his legal defense of self-defense beyond any reasonable doubt.  So far any objective view of the evidence and testimony must conclude that it is entirely consistent with self-defense, rather than inconsistent--and certainly does not disprove self-defense beyond a reasonable doubt. Want to be able to stay with us for the LOSD Member portion of the show?  BECOME A LOSD MEMBER RIGHT NOW! It's less than $10/month, only about 30 cents a day!  https://lawofselfdefense.com/joinSUBSCRIBE TO our NEW YouTube channel for short content: "Law of Self Defense Briefs"https://lawofselfdefense.com/briefsSUBSCRIBE TO our STANDARD long-form YouTube channel:"Law of Self Defense"https://youtube.com/lawofselfdefenseFREE! Law of Self Defense “HARD TO CONVICT” Webinar!https://hardtoconvict.com/FREE, BUT VERY LIMITED SEATS!FREE LEGAL CONSULTATION!We ONLY consult on legal cases for our Platinum members!BE HARD TO CONVICT, become a Law of Self Defense Platinum member TODAY!http://lawofselfdefense.com/platinumFREE BOOK! “The Law of Self Defense: Principles”Physical book, 200+ pages, we just ask that you cover the S&H:http://lawofselfdefense.com/freebookFREE 5-ELEMENTS OF SELF-DEFENSE LAW CHEAT SHEET!Totally free cheat sheet explaining the 5-elements of any claim of self-defense.If you don’t understand these five elements you have no idea what legally qualifies as lawful self-defense.PDF download, zero cost:http://lawofselfdefense.com/elements #DeanCummings