Defense, prosecution make final cases ahead of deliberations in Stern murder trial

Jurors were sent home Friday evening after a long day in the Sarah Stern murder trial, with deliberations set to begin Monday.

News 12 Staff

Feb 23, 2019, 1:31 AM

Updated 2,061 days ago

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Defense, prosecution make final cases ahead of deliberations in Stern murder trial
Jurors were sent home Friday evening after a long day in the Sarah Stern murder trial, with deliberations set to begin Monday.
Defense attorney Carlos Diaz-Cobo spoke for over two hours, making his case to the jurors inside the courtroom for why they should return with a not guilty verdict for accused killer Liam McAtasney.
Diaz-Cobo spoke spent a large portion of time trying to poke holes in witness testimony, including calling McAtasney's confession on a secretly recorded video a movie pitch.
He also spoke at length about the lack of evidence found inside Stern's home, contradicting what is heard in that secret video.
Meanwhile, Assistant Prosecutor Christopher Decker also spoke for more than two hours, meticulously showing what he calls corroboration between Preston Taylor's testimony early on in the case and McAtasney's words heard on the secret video.
Decker showed the jurors why he says McAtasney had to be the killer, despite a lack of a body -- showing Stern's tattered money and using pieces of the video to show McAtasney's words were no pitch, but a murder confession.
On Monday, Judge Richard English will charge the jury, reading and explaining each charge McAtasney faces, before jurors begin deliberations.
For his role in the alleged killing and cover-up, Taylor could spend 20 years in jail, while McAtasney faces life without parole if found guilty of first-degree murder.