the prosecution has presented substantial evidence the defendant teared up, there was enough evidence, the judge declared to go forward. basic conclusion gentlemen is that that motion is denied. so, with that setback, not unexpected the defense began its three prong line of attack. that the original police work was inept. that there was evidence some show that someone else committed the crime. and thirdly that michael george had a strong alibi. we decided that the strongest evidence was the alibi. that would be sufficient to win. but, knowing that we are dealing with michael s history and the affairs that could make him an unlikable character, joe and i realize that we really almost had to prove innocence. michael george told police that he had left the store with his daughter s a little after four pm that friday, they went to his month or janet
he said the defendant was at the store answering a phone call. once or the phone? michael george. how long did you talk to the defendant? less than five minutes. what time did you call the defendant? anywhere between 5:15 and 5:45. do you remember how he seemed to you? he seemed like he was in a hurry. how important is he to your case? without him we can t win this case. because without michael we cannot place the defendant, physically in that store close to the time of barbers shooting. and then came a routine moment that we ve all seen in courtroom dramas on tv. the prosecutor, in this case steve kaplan, rose and told the judge we rest. the defense respond in this michigan courtroom just as predictably was to try to get the case thrown out. not enough evidence state hadn t met its burden, and asking the judge for what is called a directed verdict.
detective needed help, google fashion shoe leather cops, to make the calls not on doors, so he recruited jimmy hall and leni rico, the three of them went into the old boxes, re-reading yellowing police reports. but there s a reason the crimes go into the cold case files, a lack of evidence. the three wondered, if they had one of those here. they seem to normal, and finally when we can see the conclusion that it s doable, we need to notify the family, that s why we finally contacted them. the cold case detectives were painfully aware of giving barb george s family falls of active 17 years. but in early 2007, the detectives laid out what they found, warts and all to barbara s brother joe and other family members. and we were honest with them, we don t know how successful we re gonna be here. still, after that meeting with the detectives, barb s family and friends allowed themselves to be optimistic.
in 2007 had simply slipped through the cracks back when. they d had it in the case file all along. in clear handwriting, there it was, a record of reno s july 14th phone call to the police. mr. or not stated that he called comic world around 5:30 and talked with the owner, michael george. well that s the one piece that was missing. even, so it was a piece that still had flaws as evidence. there were no existing phone logs to corroborate or not story, or to pin down the exact time he placed a call. to this day, former detective donald statement doesn t know how that note from run on when a stray. but he says he was unaware of the comic book collector s story of talking to the husband in the shop minutes before the murder. how did you not see it? well, i never saw. if we did seen it, we would not be sitting here today. it would ve gone for an arrest in gone to trial. 1991. no doubt about it. and now, the investigative leads pointed just one way,
the scene. he identified himself, wanted to know what happened in the store. lead the text of donald then of clinton county pd testified that michael said his wife was working at comics world. i advised him that there has been an incident at the store and his wife had been injured. did he ask you about her condition? no. did he ask you about how it happened? no. he told the husband that then lieutenant don brook would be driving him to the hospital where he could find out about his wife. the former lieutenant testified that michael started training without prompting. he made a statement that i thought was noteworthy. what was a statement? something must have felt or dropped on her in the back room. why is that statement interesting to you. because i never told him that mrs. george was in the backroom. of the store. he knows things he shouldn t know? he knows evidence that only the shooter would know. not realizing how unique that information is.