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Articles  »  Trials of the Century / Mock Trial

Allen Not Guilty, Jury Finds

     The prosecution felt that even if Allen were the real killer, it would be very difficult to prove. "The Zodiac Killer was meticulous, he left no evidence behind, so everything we had on Allen was circumstantial." Prosecuting attorney Jason Clinkscales.

     The prosecution had a difficult time sticking anything incriminating on Allen, even one of the sides' best witnesses, Michael Magough said that the killer wore a hood. Magough was attacked by the Zodiac Killer and had lived to testify against Allen.

     Defense attorney, Laren LaMonica felt that there was no evidence to tie his client to the vicious killings. Witness Kathleen Johns greatly helped Allen's case by testifying that her attacker was a black male, while Allen was white.
LaMonica wishes he hadn't put his client on the stand, because his testimony weakened his own case, but the opposing attorney might disagree.

     "He took the fifth," Prosecution attorney Clinkscales said, "I made it difficult to connect him to any of the crimes." Though the defendant's pleading of the fifth did not sway the jury, it did affect the thinking of those uninvolved. 
"I think he's obviously guilty," Noel said, as he was walking past the courthouse. "If you take the fifth, you must have something to hide."
On the other side, another bystander, Paul Kutner said, "How could they prove he did it? I mean, he wore a hood, and there was no evidence against him."

     With both sides having strong opinions, one wonders if this is a case of a smart killer, or of a fast talking lawyer.