teke184 0 Report post Posted August 10, 2004 Lee guilty in death of Geralyn DeSoto PORT ALLEN -- Derrick Todd Lee has been found guilty in the death of Geralyn DeSoto. The verdict was returned around 5:20 p.m. Lee case in hands of jury By ADRIAN ANGELETTE Advocate staff writer 4:00 p.m. PORT ALLEN - Derrick Todd Lee’s first case is now in the hands of jurors, who began deliberations in his murder trial about 3:35 p.m. They got the case after state District Judge Robin Free of the 18th Judicial District Court gave them instructions and lawyers gave their closing arguments. Lee, 35, is on trial for second-degree murder in the death of 21-year-old Geralyn DeSoto. For the first time in Lee’s trial, which started Aug. 2, people packed the West Baton Rouge Parish courtroom where it is being held to hear the closing arguments. Security officers counted the number of empty seats to determine how many more people the room, which can seat about 275 people, would hold. Shortly before opening arguments started, security officers filled all the seats, and the sheriff warned that people who left might not get their seat when they return. In his closing argument, prosecutor Tony Clayton called Lee a cold-blooded killer and that DNA should stand for, "Derrick's Now Accountable." "A cold-blooded murderer needs to be kept in a cage," Clayton told jurors. "When the good Lord calls him home, he should leave from a box." Clayton said that with the swing of a knife, Lee turned DeSoto from an "angel" to a victim by cutting her throat cut. He said Lee had to walk over DeSoto's body to get out of her Addis house. "Underneath her fingernails, she has been talking to you all week," Clayton said. "Why is his DNA under that child's fingernails?" The prosecutor said Lee picked up his paycheck at Dow plant in Plaquemine, putting him within a couple hundred yards of DeSoto's house on the day she was killed, Jan. 14, 2002. "He was going to look for his white girlfriend, in his mind," Clayton said of Lee, who is black. DeSoto was white. Clayton also said that the defense never attacked the DNA evidence in the case. Clayton urged jurors to return with a verdict in 15 minutes, about the same amount of time he said Lee allowed DeSoto to live once the attack began. Lee’s lawyer, Tommy Thompson, said other juries in other parishes will decide whether Lee committed crimes there and evidence presented during this trial about those crimes should be disregarded. Jurors heard from a Breaux Bridge woman who testified she survived an attack from Lee. And experts testified about DNA extracted from semen left in the body of Treneisha Dené Colomb, another woman Lee is accused of killing. "If we're going to try this case on emotion or media hype, hell, let's stick him up under a tree, string him up and let him die," Thompson said. He urged jurors to be brave, courageous Americans and protect the right of Lee and everyone else to a fair trial. He said the popular verdict would be to find Lee guilty, but if a reasonable doubt remains in the minds of jurors, he must be found innocent. Thompson attacked some of the prosecution’s evidence, saying Lee's boots are common among construction workers. During the trial, jurors saw prints of boot treads like Lee’s left at the crime scene. He also said Lee's knife, which police said he used to stab and cut DeSoto, is a common size and type and any of thousands of other such knives could have caused the fatal injuries. DeSoto is one of seven women Lee is accused of killing. He is set to stand trial for first-degree murder next month in Baton Rouge in the death of Charlotte Murray Pace. If convicted, he could be sentenced to death. Prosecutors contend DNA links Lee to all the deaths. Click here for the source, the Baton Rouge Advocate This is a big step for the state of Louisiana and Baton Rouge in particular, as it has gotten the first conviction on one of two serial killers caught within the past two years. Lee is accused of killing at least seven women and attempting to rape and kill another. DNA evidence has found that the chances of the killler being anyone but him to be about 12 trillion to one, as Lee has some VERY distinctive genetic markers. The second serial killer, Sean Vincent Gillis, plead not guilty when arraigned earlier this month. Gillis had been linked by DNA to several murders when a warrant was issued for his arrest and he confessed to a total of eight murders once he was in custody. The only setback will be if Lee can successfully argue that his court-appointed defense attorney was incompetent, although pending cases in St. Martinville and Baton Rouge should provide further convictions on Lee and a possible death sentence. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
yankovic fan 0 Report post Posted August 11, 2004 I live in LA and that's all that was on the news today. Glad to see justice served. I will say though, he seems to laid back to be a killer. I don't know that I believe he's guilty on all counts. I believed it in this case, and others with concrete DNA, but yeah, I'm just thinking they are trying to brush multiple crimes under the carpet and peg it on one sicko to save face. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
kkktookmybabyaway 0 Report post Posted August 11, 2004 I hope he says he's sorry or there'll be hell to pay... Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
Guest Agent of Oblivion Report post Posted August 11, 2004 Ooh, they're both three-namers. Share this post Link to post Share on other sites
