Accused Julio Foolio Killers Turn on Each Other in Explosive Opening Statements

Añadido: 2026-05-05

[00:00:00]An opening statement on behalf of your client, Isaiah Chance. Your honor.

[00:00:03]>> Okay, you may proceed.

[00:00:09]>> Good afternoon. As you all know, my name is Justin Petrus, and I along with Christopher Bolt, Richard Watts, and Brandy Smith represent Isaiah Chance.

[00:00:20]State seeking has charged Isaiah Chance with first-degree premeditated murder.

[00:00:26]That's as serious as it gets in the state of Florida. That is the weight of your decision and what we do here these next few weeks.

[00:00:35]And that is precisely why the constitution demands the highest burden in legal system beyond the exclusion of every reasonable doubt and every step of the way. Isaiah doesn't have to prove anything. I mention that again. Not that you don't know that. You know that very well. Not only because it's constitutional bedrock. Because I want you to view this state not through Isaiah but through what the state can prove and more importantly what they cannot prove.

[00:01:02]I ask you to hold the state to their very high burden which is ruling out every reasonable doubt of every fact and element necessary to prove the allegations against Mr. Chance. That is their burden. That's what you want to hold them to and that's what I'm going to ask you to do. As you know, they're attempting to prove three things against Isaiah Chance as a principle or excuse me, two things. Isaiah is a principle premeditated murder and conspiracy to commit that murder. And to do that, they need to prove three things. That Isaiah wanted Charles Jones dead. I ask you to look for that conscious intent that he wanted Charles Jones dead. Not speculation, not inferences, the conscious intent. Make the state prove that. I believe they will be un unable to do so once you've seen all the evidence. They also have to prove that he had actual knowledge of the plan, that specific plan to kill Charles Jones that night. Again, not inferences, not speculation, not assumptions on what his behavior may or may not have meant.

[00:02:05]I believe at the end of the evidence, they will be unable to do so once you've seen it all. And lastly, that he did something, some act, some concrete step.

[00:02:11]Mr. Harmon showed you the list of what constitutes that in the principal statute. Help, assist, cause, and courage. However, I believe once you see all the evidence, any act that he's done requires you to speculate as to its meaning and in that you also speculate as to the knowledge he had when he did that act. Watch carefully through this trial. I believe when you see all the evidence, the state will be want be unable to prove any of those three things. And if they can't prove any of those, you would have to find Mr. chance. Not yet.

[00:02:44]Let's start with knowledge. The state's theory will be that he was part of a conspiracy. That Isaiah was part of this conspiracy to kill Charles Jones. And you travel to Tampa knowing the purpose of that trip was to kill Charles Jones.

[00:02:57]But ask yourself, is there going to be a witness, a piece of evidence, a text message, an admission, something that proves that Isaiah knew about this plan, that he had knowledge of the plan to kill Charles Jones? I submit they will not they will be unable to rule out beyond reasonable doubt that Isaiah simply did not was not aware of the specific plan to kill Charles Jones.

[00:03:23]For instance, Mr. Harmon showed Isaiah Chance moving bags. Look for evidence that Isaiah knew what was in those bags.

[00:03:30]Not the assumption that he must have known or he could have known or he should have known. Look for proof that anyone knew what was in those bags. wait for a witness to testify that they could say what was in those bags and that Isaiah knew what was in those bags. I submit that will not come during the evidence.

[00:03:44]Now, in jury selection, Miss Dhy mentioned a principal hypothetical. I believe it involved Angelina Jolie. But in that scenario, we had a nanny who was the principal. We had a boyfriend who did the physical act of kidnapping the children in this case. But we were privy in that scenario to the conversation between the nanny, the principal, and the person who committed it. So there was no confusion about whether or not she had knowledge of this crime they're going to commit. That is not going to be the case. I submit here. You're not going to hear evidence that Isaiah was aware like in this case, like in the hypothetical.

[00:04:23]Do not fill in the holes to the state's case. Hold them to that burden. Make them prove that Isaiah had knowledge of his plan.

[00:04:32]Now, let's talk about an act in furtherance. Again, it needs more than being present. It needs more than association. It needs more than just traveling to a city. I believe the evidence will not show an act. Something that Isaiah did to assist this murder while having the knowledge the murder was taking place. This goes back to Mr. Wise's example in jury selection about the progressive commercial I believe with Jamie where he helps people drive away from a bank robbery not knowing they've committed the bank robbery.

[00:05:03]You have to have knowledge that the crime was going to occur and committed acting to help that crime. You need it all.

[00:05:12]We talked about the Airbnb being booked Mr. Harmon did in 1.3 miles I think he said away from the murder scene.

[00:05:18]However, I believe the evidence will show you that Mr. Jones did not book that that hotel until just before they got there, hours before, whereas the Airbnb was booked days before. So, this wasn't a situation where they followed someone to where they thought they were going to be. No one knew they were going to be at this home two suites.

[00:05:41]We've seen a picture of Isaiah on the phone, not his phone, on what they believe Alicia Andrew's phone, talking to who they believe, Sean Gathright.

[00:05:52]Look for the state to be able to prove what is the contents of that phone call.

[00:05:57]I submit they will not be able to prove what was said in that phone call and definitely not be able to prove that that phone call had anything to do with the murder. They want you to assume it did. They want you to say it probably did, but that's not beyond a reasonable doubt.

[00:06:10]I would also submit that that's the only time that he's seen with Alicia's phone and that will be stacked on the inference that he had knowledge doing something stacked on the inference that he had knowledge and you can't stack inferences.

[00:06:28]You also were shown that Isaiah didn't get to the crime scene allegedly until we know for a fact till after the shooter's car was already there. They were there first and he was there. We also know as Mr. Harmon pointed out the shooters were watching the shooter's car was watching Mr. Jones leave truth 18 so they knew when he left they Mr. Harmon also showed that Isaiah was driving at teasers. That's the only time he's seen driving that silver cruise just like that's the only time he's seen on the phone on Alicia's phone. Yet, Mr. Harmon continued to say through his opening, "Here's Isaiah texting from her phone. Here's Isaiah texting from her phone. Here's Isaiah sending this from her phone." There's no proof of that. I asked you to look for proof that Isaiah ever use her phone more than once. We have the one time on camera. They need to prove the other times. You cannot just assume every time her phone is used, Isaiah is the one using it. Without proof, I submit there will be none. Just like you cannot prove, you cannot assume that just because that silver cruise is driving that Isaiah is the one driving it.

[00:07:39]I submit you will not be able to there will be no evidence showing that he's driving it at truth 18 and no evidence that in that video at the crime scene you'll have no evidence of who's driving the car and you cannot assume he's driving that car that time.

[00:07:52]They want you to believe he's a lookout but look for evidence of what he did, not assumption based on the phone use that we don't know he's using. look for evidence of what he did as a lookout at that crime scene to help in furtherance of the crime. We saw the car drive by.

[00:08:07]We didn't see it stop. We didn't see any communication between the two. Look for proof of communication between Isaiah, not a phone. Didn't belong to him.

[00:08:15]Isaiah and the alleged shooters. I submit you will not find any.

[00:08:22]Again, we need you need to find specific intent that he wanted Charles Jones dead.

[00:08:30]that night and that murder. And I submit you will not have that. The evidence will not show that. You will see no statement. You will hear no admission.

[00:08:39]You will put you will see nothing to put you in the mind of Isaiah Chance.

[00:08:42]Nothing on that stand will be able to put you in that mind. It will be assumption and speculation. They will lean on cell phone data and location evidence, but that is not intent. And they will lean on social media. You saw the spaces. That requires a lot of speculation as to what exactly that meant weeks before in uh what Mr. Harmon referred to as an argument. I would take umbrage with that. We'll see what you believe.

[00:09:08]What the evidence will not show you is a chance firing a weapon. Will not show you Isaiah's chance directing anyone to fire a weapon. The the alleged gun that he's in his possession, that's the last time he could see that gun. And there's no indication that specific gun was used or involved in the murder whatsoever.

[00:09:32]The state's evidence, I do not believe, will give you the unambiguous definitive proof the law requires before you can find him guilty of either charge.

[00:09:40]Prosecution is going to tell you a story. It's built on cell phone data, location, gang rivalries, a lot of which happened before Isaiah, probably could even drive. For instance, those two videos that weren't who I think the first one was spin and young and ace happened five years ago. That's what we're talking about. Five years ago.

[00:10:02]When you hear all the evidence, I do not believe you believe the state has proven their case beyond a reasonable doubt.

[00:10:07]They will show you he traveled to Tampa.

[00:10:09]They will show you he was present that night.

[00:10:12]But then they will ask you to make a leap to assume that presence equals guilt, that association equals conspiracy, and that being there means he planned a murder. And that is not proof. That is speculation. That is assumption. And does not meet their high burden. I'm going to ask you not to fill in the gaps with the state's case.

[00:10:31]They're going to paint a picture for you. They need to paint the whole picture. We can't ask you to connect the dots of part of the picture.

[00:10:37]They have a burden. It is a significant burden. And I'm going to ask you to hold them to that burden. And I keep bringing up that burden and I apologize but it is very important because it is it is a very high burden for a very important reason. At the close of this trial I will I will come back to you once we have actually seen all the evidence what has been presented and you'll have be able to review it and put what you believe your weight is on it and I think it'll be far less be below the burden of what they need to prove this case. And when I do so, I'm going to ask you to do one thing. When I come back before you at the end of this trial, follow the law.

[00:11:11]And once you've seen all the evidence and heard all the witnesses, I believe the only just verdict will be not guilty. Thank you.

[00:11:18]>> U council approach real quick.

[00:12:03]have Mr. Gatra. Do you wish to make an opening statement?

[00:12:05]>> Yes, sure.

[00:12:06]>> Okay. Very good. You may proceed.

[00:12:08]>> No.

[00:12:11]>> Sean Gather had nothing to do with these shootings that took place in Tampa.

[00:12:16]You've just heard a lot of theory from the state for several hours today. One thing I want to remind you, you haven't heard any evidence yet.

[00:12:26]You You saw Mr. Harmon showing you videos saying, "This is so and so. This is Shawn Guthright. This is Dav Murphy."

[00:12:35]No, you're the ones who are going to decide who these people are.

[00:12:41]The state gave you its theory, but over these these next couple weeks, you're going to decide. You're going to put the puzzle together.

[00:12:51]And what Mr. Harmon said, what I'm saying, what Mr. Petraus said, it's not evidence, you'll be seeing evidence over the next couple weeks, but you haven't seen anything yet.

[00:13:03]So, let me tell you a little bit more about the case.

[00:13:06]Sean Gthright was 18 years old when all these events you've heard about took place.

[00:13:15]He lived in Jacksonville with his mother and his older sister. His mother um was a retired Marine, served quite a while in the Marines, and that's that's going to have some relevance that I'll get to later, and you'll hear about more as the case goes on, but she likes shooting.

[00:13:29]She was a pretty avid shooter herself, and a lot of it goes back to the the time she spent in the military.

[00:13:35]Mr. Gath, is young, obviously. He's, you know, not far out of school. He's 18. He has he's started photography and pressure washing businesses for himself.

[00:13:46]and and he worked as much as he could.

[00:13:49]He was trying to build the businesses, you know, get jobs he in either of those fields. He would he would do the jobs, you know, wherever whenever he could.

[00:13:59]Videos you saw of things being loaded into the car are the equipment that he uses in the course of those businesses.

[00:14:06]Say would like you believe it's something else, but that'll be during the course of these next couple weeks.

[00:14:13]Some things you will not see, however, is Mr. Gather being a gang member.

[00:14:19]You've heard about that for the last couple of weeks. You've heard about the indictment. He's not charged with being a gang member.

[00:14:27]Some other things you won't see is any connection between Mr. Gathight and this rap scene. You saw numerous rap videos this morning. All these people who are allegedly involved, who have motives to want to kill each other. He he doesn't fit into that anywhere. You don't see any evidence of him having any connection to any of these rap videos or really any of these people that you heard about this morning. Frankly, you won't see any connection between him and Charles Jones or any reason he would want Mr. Jones to be harmed.

[00:15:05]You heard a long backstory this morning about these reasons why people wanted Charles Jones killed.

[00:15:12]But what I want you to remember is when the vast majority, if not all of those things took place, all these prior events, these prior shootings that allegedly precipitated the shooting of Charles Jones, he was a kid. And I don't mean he Mr. Guth was 17. I mean he was a child when most of that stuff took place.

[00:15:33]Where does he fit into this motive to want to kill Charles Jones?

[00:15:42]I expect you will hear some detectives from Jacksonville who knew a lot of these people, had been researching a lot of these people involved, and they were on their radar because they knew there was violence taking place between these different groups, these gangs in Jacksonville. And I expect every one of them that you may hear from this week, I'm going to ask them, "Have you ever heard of Shan Gthright?" And every one of them is going to say, "No, I had no idea who Shawn Gathight was until Tampa police contacted us."

[00:16:12]These are people who are investigating all of the players allegedly involved. They have no idea who Sean Guth is.

[00:16:25]people who are with Charles Jones tonight in this shoot. You heard about several of them. Several people who unfortunately were shot themselves and survived. None of them know who Sean Gather is. I expect that's what you're going to hear this week.

[00:16:37]Other people who were in Charles Jones entourage that you may hear from, I expect none of them are going to know who Sean Gre is.

[00:16:46]It's a piece that simply doesn't fit into the puzzle.

[00:16:56]Some things you will hear, I expect over the course of these next couple weeks.

[00:17:01]The weekend that Charles Jones was having the show here in Tampa. Mr. Guthright's sister was having a birthday party in Orlando.

[00:17:10]And you will hear that he he was friends with Isaiah Chance. Uh he had met Chance, I believe, through his older sister.

[00:17:18]They weren't particularly close, but but um they had developed a friendship for a short time prior to this happening, but he has really no connection between either of the other two defendants in the case or or I think you'll see really anyone else uh that you're going to hear about the next couple weeks. But in any event, yes, he does he travels down here um with plans to to go um later to his sister's party in Orlando and to see his grandmother along the way. And you're going to hear he's here for a bit and and yeah, he's in he's in contact with with Zia Chance and and Mr. Andrews, I would suggest, but he's you can see he has nothing to do with this alleged shooting that takes place like that.

[00:17:57]Unfortunately, people allegedly that he had contact with may have had other connections, but you're not going to see any connection between Mr. Gathight and what happens these shootings later. And again, like I said many times already, you're not going to see any reason why he would have. It simply doesn't fit into that puzzle.

[00:18:19]phone records. You may be asking yourself a simple state just showed all these phone records where it was supposedly at.

[00:18:25]And I think you're going to learn a lot about how phones work during the course of this trial. Probably more than you ever wanted to. But you're going to see it's not quite as simple as I think the state would like you to believe as far as being able to tell where someone is based on these phone records.

[00:18:40]They're not that exact and all they're doing is really telling us where a phone may be in a in a approximated area.

[00:18:49]Nothing pinpoints anything. And you see when you're especially in a very populated area like this, you know, I left my phone on the table, but it one of our phones could be hitting three different towers at any point right now.

[00:19:01]So, these phones are not as precise as you may have been led to believe this morning, but you'll you'll see that evidence. You'll get to decide for yourself how much weight to give the phone tower evidence and not even really how much weight to give it, but how much you can really read into the phone tower evidence.

[00:19:18]But it it will show that yes, Mr. Gothreight is in Tampa, goes to his grandmother's in PK County and then moves on to Orlando to his sisters.

[00:19:30]Now, when he's at his grandmother's house, and and I think you'll hear from grandmother, this isn't that's not unusual for him to do. Um, she travels back and forth between here and and New York, and she had just gotten back into town um shortly before Mr. Gather came to see her. Um, you'll hear that it's not unusual for him to borrow her car.

[00:19:53]She knew that he worked, you know, he was working this pressure washing business. He was trying to get off the ground. He's not that didn't phase her at all. She's she talked about the bags and the move and she again knows that he works in pressure washing. She believes this is pressure washing but she's there watching and moving backs. It's not anything that's being done you know secretly.

[00:20:15]So he lets her or she lets him borrow the 4Runner and as you saw he cleans out the impala which I think she's going to tell you is something she expects to be done. she has some lung issues and she, you know, she wants that car clean. The other thing I think you're going to hear is that law enforcement later collects the rag that's used to wipe that down. So, it's not like there's anything, you know, being hidden from the from the pallet being cleaned out. But in any event, yes, he switches cars, goes on to Orlando to hang out at the Sisters Park.

[00:20:50]When he's in Orlando, that's when you saw a photograph of the Don Julio bottle. I think you're going to see lots of Don Julio photographs because I that's nothing unusual. You're going to see I mean you saw in a couple of the videos this morning. Everyone seemed to be turned to Don Julio involved in this case. You can read into what the meeting would may be and I think the state's going to suggest that it's some kind of a tear, but that's for you to decide.

[00:21:11]I'm going to suggest it's Bob Don Julio and you're going to see several of those after the after Orlando. Of course, Mr. Guthright returns back to Jacksonville.

[00:21:25]The traffic stop that you heard about that happens later on. Mr. Guthright is by himself when that happens. He's by himself, by the way, when he's gone to his grandmother's house, when he's gone to the party in Orlando, but he's he's by himself when the traffic stops.

[00:21:41]There are numerous firearm related materials found inside that car. And again, I told you his his mother is an avid shooter, a former Marine. has quite a few firearms or something. But I would suggest you the state at this point or or law enforcement rather probably thinks they have now found this gold mine. Look at all these guns. They must connect back to Tampa.

[00:22:01]But they don't.

[00:22:03]That includes a 9mm handgun that's inside the car. It doesn't match up to the shooting that took place in Tampa.

[00:22:10]Even though they find 31 9mm casings.

[00:22:17]So, one casing or there are a couple of casings that apparently are matched back to casings that are found in the prior alleged shooting of Julio Fulio. I think again would have been when he was a juvenile. But in any event, I want you I want to emphasize because you heard you heard the word match used.

[00:22:40]Law enforcement is not saying and cannot say that these casings that are found in the car fired shots during the hula fool shoot.

[00:22:49]What they can say is allegedly and I'm going to ask you to pay close attention to how casings are allegedly matched. I would suggest to you it is a very subjective science and and it's questionable. But in any event, all it's saying is the same gun that allegedly was used in that shooting allegedly fired these. not the same time, not during the same incident. It just it's saying the firing pin markings on these casings were the same.

[00:23:19]Again, does not say when those casings found in the foreground of the fire, how they got there, anything of that sort. And again, it's mixed between numerous other firearms related evidence that has nothing to do with this case. No connection to this.

[00:23:43]Something else on that, by the way, and this probably goes without saying, but this prior shooting of Mr. Jones in Jacksonville, Jacksonville didn't just ignore that. You're going to hear they had been investigating that. They were trying to trying to obviously solve that crime that happened in Jacksonville. And again, all these detectives who are working that case never heard of Sean G. No idea who he is. They made no connection between him and this prior shooting of Charles.

[00:24:17]We jump ahead as you heard to a search that's later conducted in Mr. Goth's home, his mother's home, and obviously he too. And there are many different types of ammunition, firearms found in this. Again, this is a search of his mother's house in the mother's safe. And you may hear more about that safe and and who had access to it and things like that. But suffice it to say, there are two rifles now. And I expect again, law enforcement probably thought, "Oh man, we found we found the pieces of the puzzle now."

[00:24:49]But the problem again is nothing matches back to those rifles from the shooting that took place in the One of the rifles is is what's called a 300 Blackout. It's like a 30 caliber.

[00:25:00]And there are many many rifles. Those of you who are familiar with many many rifles fire a 30 caliber bullet, but a 300 Blackout is one. There are no 300 caliber or 30 caliber bullets I should say at the scene.

[00:25:15]No projectiles that are found match back to that 300. In fact, every projectile that is compared to it was actually eliminated is having to be fired from that.

[00:25:29]The other gun that's found, the 5.56, which is also 223 caliber. Um, and then can fire both cartridges. Several projectiles from the scene were eliminated from that one. And there are some that the examiner can't necessarily eliminate, but can't can't match to that gun either.

[00:25:48]So, at best, one of them can't be eliminated as having fired the projectiles, but no projectiles are matched to either one of those guns. And as I expect you'll probably hear, similar to the 300 caliber, the 30 caliber, the 223 caliber or 5.56 is also a very very common size projectile that's that's fired in the firearm, probably more so even than the 30 caliber. So the fact that projectiles were in that class doesn't really narrow anything down.

[00:26:24]So what is found that has relevance is allegedly there are two casings again 9mm casings that again are not matched to the shooting that took place in Tampa. They're matched to the same firing pen impressions as cases found in Tampa.

[00:26:45]You'll see in the videos, nobody runs back and collects shell cases the shooters. And only one of the shooters, by the way, is using a 9 millimeter because the 9 millm is the handgun. That handgun is numbered for recover by the way. It's not found in any of these searches of Mr. Gap's car home. There's no 9 millimeter found that matches this scene.

[00:27:06]But you'll see none of the shooters and certainly not the one fired at 9 millm go back and pick up the rounds that would have been objected from the gun.

[00:27:15]All this alleged match means is allegedly the same gun.

[00:27:20]>> I would object at this point to arguing.

[00:27:22]>> Okay. Um I'm going to overroll the objection and just remember again um ladies and gentlemen, this are the opening statements. This is what the attorneys believe the evidence will show. Okay.

[00:27:33]>> Thank you. I I believe the evidence is going to show you that all that means is the same fire and pin impression is found on the casings, those two in the house, and the ones found at the scene.

[00:27:45]And that's the most Jack, that's a misstatement of what the evidence will be, and council knows it. That's a misstatement.

[00:27:51]>> Okay. Listen, again, um I'm just going to remind um everyone that what the attorneys say is not evidence, and you are not to take it as such. They're simply telling you what they believe the evidence will show. As the evidence comes in is when you all will determine what in fact the evidence is. Okay. All right. Thank you, Mr. Wise. Please proceed.

[00:28:12]>> And ultimately, again, this goes back to the weight of the evidence that we talked about yesterday that that we heard about today. You're going to decide how much weight to get that out.

[00:28:21]Okay. So, you know, maybe Mr. Harmon believes that evidence is going to show you something different than what I believe. Comment, your honor. It's improper as to what I believe. what represented the state.

[00:28:31]>> Okay? And I I will sustain that objection. Okay?

[00:28:36]>> So ultimately, ladies and gentlemen, it's for you to decide how much weight to give this evidence. Okay? You're going to see the evidence over the course of a couple weeks. You haven't seen any. You've heard us and you're probably tired of hearing from us. I get that. But you're going to decide how much weight this evidence has. And I asked you, and that kind of transitions into what I was going to be saying next, pay close attention to the evidence that you're going to hear over these next couple of things, because there's a lot more to it than what you just saw this morning.

[00:29:05]Don't jump to any conclusions and look at the whole picture. I'm going give you a couple little examples. You saw these text messages this morning. Um, Mr. Gather's phone asking about someone.

[00:29:18]I expect you're going to hear no one who is with Charles Jones that night knows who the heck fat boy is or that there was any fat boy there.

[00:29:27]Again, there's a little more to it. Pay attention to the evidence. Look at those details. Don't jump to conclusions.

[00:29:34]>> You heard these uh >> you saw these clips from X Spaces where there's different people talking. I don't know if I'm sure everyone saw that, but you may not have been familiar with what next spaces was. Apparently, it's where a lot of people talk to each other on the internet and and there's a there's an allegation um that u allegally Mr. Chance is saying something to Fio about who is Charles Jones about how your foot.

[00:30:00]Well, then there's there's there's an attempt to connect that back to Mr. Gather because one of the Murphy's allegedly texts him, "Hey, tell your boy to chill. We got bigger. I think it's a bigger bigger sword to deal with something like that. Well, again, look at the full picture. It's responding to chance talking to Charles Jones and the person saying it is saying we have bigger things to not Charles Jones, we have bigger things to worry about. So, in any event, just a couple of examples, but these are things I want to highlight so that you again remember you haven't seen evidence. You're going to see a lot of evidence. Pay close attention.

[00:30:41]I firmly believe and I know once you do that, you're going to see John Gaffrey is not guilty of any of these charges.

[00:30:48]Those are the very last.

[00:30:52]>> All right. Very good. Uh Mr. Gonzalez, on behalf of Rashad Murphy, you may proceed.

[00:30:56]>> Thank you, your honor. May please court.

[00:30:58]>> Yep.

[00:30:59]>> Council, good afternoon, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:31:06]You may remember my name is Brian Gonzalez and I represent Rashad Murphy who is seated next to Danny Hernandez who is my co-consel in this case and next to Mr. Murphy is Billy Lane uh our investigator that will be assisting us during the course of the trial.

[00:31:28]Rashad Murphy has been charged with premeditated first-degree murder, conspiracy to commit premeditated first-degree murder, and three counts of attempted first-degree murder.

[00:31:46]As Mr. Harmon has indicated to you these four men who sit at that table right there as individuals are alleged to have followed stalked if you will located Mr. Jones at the hotel opened fire, hitting the Dodge Charger in which he was a passenger several times that resulted in his death. Additionally, three other individuals, Kamya Bentley, Xavier Edwards, and Gino Norris were wounded in that same hail of gunfire.

[00:32:40]These are individuals that had come with or along with Mr. Jones down from Jacksonville for this weekend of partying.

[00:32:53]Rashad Murphy has contended, ladies and gentlemen, from day one that he is not guilty of the charges that he has been accused of committing. And certainly that cannot surprise you because here we are.

[00:33:11]What Mr. Harmon indicated to you in his presentation about what occurred at the hotel and where the entourage with Mr. Jones traveled from one place to another did in fact occur.

[00:33:31]That is not a point in dispute. What occurred the the question as you listen and as you receive the evidence over the upcoming days into weeks, we'll see how that goes.

[00:33:46]Is did Rashad Murphy participate in this attack and did he conspire with anyone to do so?

[00:34:02]What evidence, not what speculation proves this to you? Because as I said and as I will say and as I will continue to say, these men are individuals and you have to treat the evidence as such.

[00:34:29]I submit that and I anticipate that there will be a a wholly insufficient lack of evidence that will be presented by the state in this case in attempt to convince you that Mr. Murphy specifically is responsible for a first-degree murder and conspired with anyone in order to commit a first-degree murder.

[00:35:01]I'd ask you to play pay very close attention to what the state in this case cannot show you in their attempt to approve or excuse me the to prove the elements of each of the offenses. And each of those offenses have different elements that you understand have to be proved. Primarily Rashad Murphy's presence in Tampa at the time of the murder.

[00:35:31]I'd ask you to determine what evidence the state provides you and who will testify that Rashad Murphy made an agreement with anyone. Rashad Murphy was in Tampa at 4:40 a.m. on the 23rd, early morning hours of June 23rd and how he attempted Rashad Murphy attempted to assist another person in actually committing a first-degree murder.

[00:36:02]I this prosecution I believe is rooted in circumstantial evidence. I don't believe you're going to hear that Rashad Murphy made a statement that implicates himself in a murder.

[00:36:20]I don't believe there's going to be testimony from an eyewitness that will identify Rashad Murphy as a shooter in this case or a person in Tampa at 1:00 2:00 3:00 4:00 a.m. through 4:40 a.m. the time of the shooting and the murder in this case. Remember, things that lead you to believe other things are dangerous.

[00:36:55]In order to find someone guilty of any crime based on circumstantial evidence, you must find that the indirect evidence is proof of one or more facts which you can find another fact.

[00:37:17]Don't be led to rely solely solely on inferences to support the necessary elements that are required by the law to sustain the state's burden of proof without carefully connecting the dots which unequivocally will become a period at the end of the sentence.

[00:37:48]Consider along the way the state's use of evidence and statements that say to you they did this or they did that during the balance of the trial over these next two weeks.

[00:38:10]Remember again that every defendant, Rashad Murphy, DaVon Murphy, Isaiah Chance, Shawn Gathight, they're all charged with the most serious crimes that we have. And as you listen to the evidence, keep in mind that these defendants sit here again at the same table for the course of this trial, but evidence against them needs to be considered where it needs to be placed.

[00:38:42]What one may be guilty of, others may not.

[00:38:54]You promised us that you would consider this evidence applicable to each of them separately.

[00:39:04]I believe that the evidence is going to indicate that there were multiple groups, gangs, groups that the state will allege are gangs, criminal gangs who are rivals on many levels. And one of those levels is rap music, the rap music scene. Um, you had the opportunity to uh hear and see uh two of those rap videos this morning.

[00:39:33]Um, I anticipate there will be more.

[00:39:37]And they are alleged to tell a story of animosity, a mocking of each other, if you will, and acknowledged disrespect that runs very deep.

[00:39:55]What those rap videos will not tell you, ladies and gentlemen, I anticipate the evidence will show, is any indication that Rashad Murphy participated in a plan to kill Charles Jones or actually did so.

[00:40:17]As you listen to the evidence in this, what the association of these rap videos that are performed by Spinabins, Young and Ace, WA with the Choa, Bass Money, Goon, Julio, Fulio, rap videos titled Who I Smoke, Fio Dead, game over as well as others I anticipate you'll hear and what they have to do with Rashad Murphy if anything at all.

[00:40:59]those very videos that are meant to disrespect and provide a social media following that accentuate this disrespect that provide a social media accounting of his death in its aftermath at a time when this death is already common knowledge in social media as well as news and print media.

[00:41:45]I anticipate that the evidence will indicate as it relates to Rashad Murphy nothing.

[00:41:57]Associations, remember, are not crimes.

[00:42:01]I also anticipate that you're going to hear from many of Charles Jones, Julio Fulio's entourage that traveled with him from Jacksonville for this weekend.

[00:42:14]They'll each tell you in their own respective ways based on their own respective recollections about the night of the 22nd of June that carries over into the early morning hours of June 23rd.

[00:42:29]You'll hear about the stops they made and I anticipate that they will give you relatively minimal information about the actual shooting that took place. One thing I anticipate they won't be able to tell you is anything of substance as it related to who committed this crime.

[00:42:55]Their testimony anticipate will not get you any closer to credible evidence about the perpetrators and I anticipate that none of them will provide you testimony that they themselves are involved in any criminal gang and that Julio Fulio is anything more than a successful rapper.

[00:43:23]One of those individuals I expect you to hear from is Robert Howard, also known on the street as Kenny Caps. Mr. Howard, uh, I believe the evidence will indicate, is a close friend of Charles Jones who traveled with him to Tampa.

[00:43:44]You'll note that he's on some of the advertisements that Mr. Jones puts out Julio Fulio for his performances and his weekend that he wants to draw social media attention to for his own particular purposes.

[00:44:06]I anticipate that you will hear that over a year after Charles Jones Julio Fulio's murder and after he gave a statement to law enforcement after this shooting in Tampa, suggesting to them that he knew little to nothing about the events leading up to and during the shooting.

[00:44:31]Lo and behold, he is in need of some help for himself and runs to the table to suggest that he had multiple communications with Rashad Murphy both before and after the murder that are relevant based on what weight, if any, you choose.

[00:45:01]to give to Robert Howard under the circumstances. Again, your responsibility as to Mr. Howard as it is to every witness that takes the stand in this particular case is to judge that credibility, weigh it and decide whether it's worthy of a small part, a significant part, or total belief or no belief at all. If that's what you choose, after hearing it and analyzing it, I believe you'll also be instructed that you should judge the credibility of those witnesses, including those who may seek benefit from that testimony.

[00:45:49]I would only suggest, ladies and gentlemen, that you keep an open mind during the course of this trial.

[00:45:57]weighing that evidence from the witness standing the inconsistencies that arise during the course of the evidence that I believe will become very apparent along with other types of evidence as well. Evidence by way of pictures, by way of videos, by way of articles that were collected. All of those things are important in their own way, but you give them the weight that they deserve and you place them in a category as to how they affect what is necessary to find Rashad Murphy guilty of one or any or all of these crimes.

[00:46:46]not what weight you would give it or lack of weight as it relates to any of the other defendants that sit before you at that table accused of these crimes.

[00:47:00]Uh I'd like to just take a minute to briefly talk to you about a couple of things that we talked about in jury selection. Of course, the first and one of the foremost tenants is the presumption of innocence. know that all of these defendants and in my particular circumstance, Rashad Murphy is cloaked with that presumption of innocence throughout the course of his trial until proven otherwise. He does not have to show you a thing. I think the burden of proof, the single most important thing to find someone guilty of a crime, the burden of proof beyond into the exclusion of a reasonable doubt lies at the feet and at the table of the state of Florida. And you all have acknowledged in sitting here today that you respect that portion of the law and will abide by it.

[00:47:58]If Mr. Murphy chooses not to make himself a witness in this case, you have indicated to us unequivocally that you would not hold that against him and you would not wonder why.

[00:48:12]And on the other hand, if he chose to be a witness, you would give him the same credence and judge his testimony as you would any other witness. a witness who is a lay witness and as importantly a witness that is a law enforcement officer.

[00:48:44]It's my belief that one of the primary means that the state would intend to convince you that Rashad Murphy participated in the murder of Charles Jones, Julio Fulio.

[00:49:00]And why he would do so will be through the testimony of multiple Jacksonville gang detectives.

[00:49:11]I believe at least three.

[00:49:14]I believe that the evidence will show that their testimony, depending on what weight you choose to give it, is primarily based on opinion, speculation, hearsay from unnamed sources, and the fact that there were multiple prior shootings and murders. ers over the years, many of which are unsolved, many of which there have been no arrests and no prosecutions to this day.

[00:50:04]on its best day. I anticipate the evidence will require you to speculate as to what Rashad Murphy thought, what Rashad Murphy might have planned, and what Rashad Rashad Murphy might have participated.

[00:50:25]All under the guise of whether this murder is in furtherance of some type of gang activity.

[00:50:38]The state has indicated to you in their opening statement many things that they expect the evidence to show.

[00:50:49]But again, as you saw that presentation, you have to begin to compartmentalize what you see and how it falls into a bucket of one.

[00:51:09]Make it make sense to you, ladies and gentlemen.

[00:51:12]hold the state to providing you this evidence beyond into the reasonable doubt to the exclusion of a reasonable doubt that Rashad Murphy was in the city of Tampa at 4:40 a.m. on June 23rd of 2024.

[00:51:30]Compel them to show you that Rashad Murphy was one of the three shooters because that is what they allege in those early morning hours. Not by conjecture, not by speculation, not by opinion, but by facts and reliable evidence.

[00:51:57]I feel confident that after you hear the evidence, after you determine its weight as to the respective defendants in this case and especially Rashad Murphy, that you will find that there is insufficient evidence that he conspired with any defendant in this case to commit a premeditated murder. nor did he commit it.

[00:52:27]The same would account for three counts of attempted first-degree murder.

[00:52:34]I believe that the evidence will also indicate to you that he's not a principal to any of these acts that were committed by others.

[00:52:46]Look for Rashad Murphy. Look for Rashad Murphy at every turn. scour the evidence to locate him to see him as you receive it during the course of this trial.

[00:53:01]After you review all of this evidence, I believe that you're going to return a guilty not guilty verdict because Rashad Murphy's liberty should not be at stake and he should not be convicted of the acts of others that he cannot be legally held accountable for.

[00:53:21]Thank you.

[00:53:23]>> All right. Very good. Uh, Mr. Sardi on behalf of Davon Murphy.

[00:53:27]>> Thank you. May it please.

[00:53:30]>> Yep.

[00:53:30]>> Ladies and gentlemen, jury, fellow council.

[00:53:46]>> Good afternoon.

[00:53:47]As you all will recall, my name is Nick Sonardi and I am representing Dave Murphy who uh sitted that council table with me in conjunction with uh Deborah Tume who is also an attorney representing Mr. Murphy and Scotty Sinardi who we've identified as related to me but not my son and Katie Rain who is our investigator. And on behalf of all of us, I want to extend to you our gratitude for your service. I know it's been a difficult task. You're asked to come in, sit down, go out, come back and everybody's questioning you and on behalf of the five of us, I want to extend to you our thanks. Uh the court has said this over and over, but I think it's important. I know Mr. Harmon with the state was up. I didn't time them, but I'm going to say three hours, giving you what he believed to be the outline of the uh case that allowed the state of Florida to charge these defendants with the crimes with which they're charged.

[00:54:46]Again, over and over again, what the state says or what I say is not evidence. So, simply because he was up here talking that long means absolutely nothing in the form of evidence.

[00:55:00]And I would ask, you keep hearing the name Murphy and we've identified obviously there's a Rashad Murphy and a Davon Murphy and ask you all to please make sure that you keep those names separate throughout these proceedings.

[00:55:14]Uh the court will instruct you at the close of all the evidence that you will have to make a decision based on individual facts or lack thereof as to each. And I'm concerned uh for DaVon that the name Murphy gets may be brought up and there may see some confusion as to uh which Murphy. So please keep that uh in your mind. So what are the facts of this case that the state outline for three hours and that is we'll agree that on June 23rd 2024 Charles Jones known as Julio Fulio was in fact shot and killed at the home two suites in Tampa Hillsboro County Florida. As a result of that homicide, five people were originally charged.

[00:55:57]Isaiah Chant, Sean Cart Gath, uh, Rashad Murphy, Alicia Andrews, and Dave Murphy. That's why we're here.

[00:56:06]Okay. And what was the motive for that homicide? The state alleges that it was a gang war. And it may well have been a gang war. Uh, they went through a number of individuals over the years all the way back to, I believe, to 2018. And I'm not going to go through them all, but I believe they talked about Spaz and Bby and Jake Jid and Lou Hobe and Tilly and Mr. Jones himself who was shot that this was the background of the gang war that was going on. So that it's absolutely clear Mr. Davon Murphy is in no way a suspect, a defendant, or anything to do with any of those homicides and the attempted homicides on Mr. uh Charles Jones. Okay. has nothing to do with DaVon Murphy. It has to do with the alleged gang wars between some gangs.

[00:56:57]So, just make sure that that's clear.

[00:57:02]Also, the state in its opening uh went into the the the drill wrap videos. Uh again, they're alleging that this is part of the motive for the death of Charles Jones, that these drill rap videos were uh dissing or being disrespectful to each other, and that's what caused a part of the wars that apparently allegedly go back to 2018.

[00:57:28]Uh we're talking about uh Spenna and uh Youngsen Ace and these are some of the drill rep uh performers and some of which um but again so that we're clear this is part of the motive and nowhere in any of those videos those drill videos has DaVon Murphy mentioned a participant name brought up or anything has nothing to do with DaVon Murphy.

[00:57:53]Okay.

[00:58:00]And I believe we're going to find out from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office detectives who are part of their gang enforcement unit. Uh two or three of them. Each are uh assigned to different uh particular gangs. I I anticipate we're going to find out that none of them had heard of or knew anything about DaVon Murphy prior to the homicide of Charles Jones. All right. We have listened to the detectives testimony and I submit to you they had no knowledge of any involvement of DaVon Murphy and any gangs in the Jacksonville area up until the time of the uh the death of Charles Jones.

[00:58:47]So, what is the state's evidence?

[00:58:50]What is the state's evidence or lack of evidence as it applies to DaVon Murphy?

[00:58:59]They showed you part of a Tesla video.

[00:59:02]That's the the video from from the Tesla vehicle. Uh what uh well, there's they allege three individuals are the shooters. One of which they allege is DaVon Murphy.

[00:59:13]But in that video uh you cannot identify anybody.

[00:59:23]Uh the the videos are do show somebody doing some shooting but we can't identify who the shooters are.

[00:59:33]Okay.

[00:59:35]So, what is the evidence that the state hopes to convince you beyond the excusion of every reasonable doubt that DaVon Murphy is somehow involved in the death of Charles Jones?

[00:59:53]Uh, there's the evidence from the Airbnb.

[00:59:57]All right. What evidence is there from the Airbnb? The state brings that up.

[01:00:02]The only time that you see DaVon Murphy at the Airbnb is when he's leaving the day. It was technically still the 23rd, but in the later morning of the 23rd, uh that that afternoon that early that that day, the 23rd, there is no video of who they allege Rashad Murphy as a participant in this homicide. And there is no video of Rashad Murphy at the Airbnb.

[01:00:32]Um, so the only time that we see DaVon Murphy is leaving the Airbnb and earlier in the evening prior to the actual homicide, we see him at the McDonald's drive-thru. the video that the state showed you on that.

[01:00:51]Recall that the vehicle that he's in is not the black and plow, but the silver cruise. Okay.

[01:01:00]The state mentions and goes through a long litany of the uh license plate readers, etc. that they allege that's evidence to try to convince you that DaVon Murphy is somehow involved in the homicide of Charles Jones.

[01:01:16]Uh, the license plate reader is number one. Obviously, you can't tell who's in the vehicles. Number one, uh, Mr. Davon Murphy is not the owner of any of those vehicles. The the silver crews.

[01:01:33]Um, and we cannot tell, as I've indicated, who the actual occupants are that vehicle is the state's speculation that it is, in fact, Davon Murphy. Uh now I believe the detectives will testify that uh although there was a Ring camera at the Airbnb, there was no camera in the rear portion of the Airbnb.

[01:02:05]Uh we're not sure exactly who all was in the Airbnb. Uh we we know that Rashad Murphy allegedly is not in the Airbnb because there's no photos of him coming or going from the Airbnb.

[01:02:18]Uh and what about the the state touched on the security videos that were came from the Teasers uh club? Uh there's zero security video of Damian Murphy at teasers or at truth 18. Those security videos where you see some of them walking up and they showed you the v the video of um Charles Jones. There is no videos or showing that Davon Murphy is at either one at teasers or at Truth 18.

[01:02:59]Um the state I believe indicates that the occupants of the black empower, the three individuals at the home two suites that exit exit from the black empower and those are the individuals the state alleges are the shooters. Uh however obviously in any of the videos can you cannot identify any of the shooters that exit the uh black Impala.

[01:03:40]again. Uh the uh they had the license plate readers that alleged that DaVon Murphy was again uh leaving the um Airbnb again driving the silver Chevy cruise, not the black Impala.

[01:04:02]Uh, at no point in time do we ever see any video or anything whatsoever that places DaVon Murphy in the black Impala, which alleges the state alleges uh transported the three suspects to the home to suites.

[01:04:25]The state also presented a lot of evidence that was recovered at Shan Gathight's residence. all the guns, the ammunition, etc., etc., etc. None of that whatsoever is in any way connected to DaVon Murphy. Okay. There there is no evidence from from that uh items that were recovered from Shawn Murphy's residence that connect to uh DaVon Murphy or that were in fact recovered from the gold SUV that uh Shawn Grot was was operating. Uh, none of that, all those guns, ammunition, all that stuff, none of it ties back in any way, shape, or form to Dave Murphy.

[01:05:09]Okay.

[01:05:13]What about the cell phone records? I believe the state talked about that.

[01:05:19]Uh the important thing, the bottom line, the state and their opening showed you the his not the history but the cell phone records of uh how it hit cell towers etc. all those uh towers.

[01:05:41]Uh, the state cannot show you any sale cell phone records that show that Davian Smith was ever at the home to suit.

[01:05:52]Okay. There may be evidence of the other codefendants or codefendants that may have been present, but the phone records will show that DaVon's Murphy was not at the home two suites at the time of the homicide of Charles Jones. Okay. Um, so let's boil it down to what is the evidence the state alleges or has presented in the form of an opening statement that uh supports any accusations of a murder in the first degree, three counts of attempted murder, and a conspiracy to commit first-degree murder. Well, we have the video at McDonald's.

[01:06:42]So, he went to McDonald's. We don't dispute that.

[01:06:47]And he was driving a silver cruise, not a black and pallet.

[01:06:56]What is the other evidence that the state alleges? Phone records.

[01:07:02]I'm not concerned about the other codefendants. I'm only concerned about DaVon Murphy and his phone. Although it does track from Jacksonville to Tampa, then does goes from Tampa back to Jacksonville that the state showed you.

[01:07:15]He was not at the home to suite at the time of the homicide of Charles Jones.

[01:07:23]Okay. What about the license plate readers that the state went into? All they show is same thing. if you believe and we don't know who's in that silver cruise. We assume that it's Davon Murphy. But all that shows is that a vehicle with that tag number was going back came from Jacksonville to Tampa and the next day returned from Tampa to Jacksonville.

[01:07:52]And what about the videos themselves uh of the uh from the home two suites?

[01:07:58]You can't tell who's who in those videos, okay? I mean, there you can see people shooting, etc., but obviously impossible to identify anyone in those videos.

[01:08:09]Uh, I believe the state showed you a quick uh excerpt of of u Mr. Dave Smith at when he was being interviewed at the Jacksonville jail where he's shooting pretend shooting a gun. But we'll learn when that witnesses testify that Mr. Davon Murphy was drunk and was playing to the music that was being played inside the interview room at the time that that occurred. Uh, and again, I'm going to reiterate that at no time do any of the detectives from the Jacksonville Sheriff's Office, gang detective, have any knowledge of DaVon Murphy. And I keep saying DaVon because I want to make sure that you all remember DaVon versus Rashad that DaVon Murphy had that any of those gang detectives had any knowledge of DaVon Murphy prior to the homicide of Charles Jones.

[01:09:10]So what does all this mean? It means that based on very weak, I submit to you, circumstantial evidence, the state of Florida has charged DaVon Smith, Davon Murphy with count of first-degree murder of Charles Jones, three counts of attempted murder and a conspiracy to commit murder.

[01:09:38]I submit to you there is no physical evidence whatsoever that connects Davon Murphy to the death of Charles Jones. There is no DNA on all the projectiles that were found there.

[01:09:54]The ones that were found at Gathite.

[01:09:56]There's none. There's no fingerprints.

[01:09:58]There's zero physical evidence that connects DaVon Murphy to the death of Charles Zone.

[01:10:07]DaVon Murphy's phone exonerates him because his phone is not at the home to suites at the time of the homicide.

[01:10:18]There is no direct evidence or any direct testimony that links Dave Murphy to the death of Charles Jones.

[01:10:27]The fact that he was present at the McDonald's and may have been present at the uh Airbnb is insufficient to make him a principal.

[01:10:38]Just mere presence is insufficient.

[01:10:41]And again, each and every one of you will have to determine the evidence as it applies individually to each of the defendants that are charged. Okay?

[01:10:55]And we've all agreed before this that DaVon Murphy is not obligated to do anything.

[01:11:05]DaVon Murphy may determine whether he wants to testify or does not want to testify. And the judge will instruct you that you ought not to consider the fact if he chooses not to testify in any way uh as uh against Mr. Burton.

[01:11:23]That is the state's burden, not Mr. Murphy's burden, to convince you beyond and to the exclusion of every reasonable doubt that he is somehow involved in the homicide or death of Charles Jones. I submit to you that a close of all the evidence or a lack of evidence or the conflict in the evidence that you'll return a verdict as it pertains to Damian Murphy of not guilty. Thank you.

[01:11:52]Okay. Very good.

[01:11:55]All right. State