Dr. Martin MacNeill: Legal Commentary

We all waited with bated breath for Gypsy’s testimony but what we got fell extremely short. Here’s what our founder and the creator of Wild About trial thinks of the prosecutor’s direct examination of Gypsy Willis:

Oct. 29, 2013 - As a trial attorney myself, I believe that the prosecutor blew a golden opportunity to prove motive. If Dr. Martin MacNeill murdered his wife, Gypsy Willis was his reason for doing so. The prosecution failed to properly question her even after the Judge ruled that she could be treated as a hostile witness. She was never made to squirm. She was never asked if she was remorseful about carrying on an affair with a married man, she was never asked if moving into the house he shared with his wife weeks after her death was wrong, she was never asked to explain why she would carrying on a text conversation with Dr. MacNeill during his wife’s funeral and how inappropriate that was. The prosecution should have more thoroughly walked her through the number of phone calls and text messages they exchanged. The prosecution should have hammered home the amount of lies they told in an effort to conceal their relationship. She was never asked about how deep her love was/is for him and that only his incarceration has kept them apart. Instead, the jury was left with the impression that this was a casual affair and that Dr. MacNeill never intended to leave his wife for Gypsy. In sum, the prosecution completely blew a golden opportunity to prove motive. An opportunity that may cost them the case.

Alison Triessl, founder of Wild About Trial

http://www.wildabouttrial.com/legal_...al-commentary/