1.Penalty Phase Preliminary Instructions and Opening Statements

SUZANNE MAYES: Your Honor, may it please the Court?

SUZANNE MAYES: Time always reveals the truth, no matter what effort he took to conceal it. Timothy Jones never intended to be here to get caught. His plan was to destroy the bodies of his children and to escape justice. Then he threw them in trash bags and left them far away from everyone and everything that they loved. You've heard so much evidence. You've heard things that no one should ever have to hear. But the most important words are still left unspoken, who the children were, who they could have been. A light they brought to all of those around them. Five of the most beautiful souls. You heard Amber's letter to Merah. You heard her begin this letter, Merah, my sweet daughter. She wasn't able to finish that letter, but you heard the desperation in her words as she spoke to her. If she would have finished, Merah, you are bright, beautiful and smart. You were an answered prayer and I will always, always love you, Mommy. That beautiful girl was strangled to death as she pleaded for her life. She begged him, No, no, no. She looked him in the face and said, Daddy, I love you. He took her life anyway. And he put her in a trash bag, left her far from home for the wild animals. When Merah was found, the animals had taken away her hand. You also heard about Eli. When Eli was found, he was wearing a tee-shirt from the school that he loved, Saxe Gotha Elementary. And that shirt said, Power of One. And you're going to hear more this week about why that is so fitting. Because when those children walked through the doors of that school every morning, they knew they would be loved, cherished and they were safe. You'll hear more about Gabriel and Abigail. They were happy babies. They were adored by their siblings, who would do anything and everything under the sun to make those babies happy. Gabriel and Abigail, called Elaine, just two and one, innocent, just learning to talk. He didn't hesitate when he took that belt and choked the life from them. You heard the reality of Nahtahn's life in that home on South Lake Drive, how he could never seem to please his father. Nahtahn was named after a warrior and Nahtahn was a warrior until the end, but he never stood a chance in that man's world. You heard about those final moments of his life when Amber called. He must have felt hopeless at that point, exhausted by the circumstances of that life. You heard how small he was, 43 inches, that's three feet, seven inches, defenseless. Yet, he kept going. He kept going in that long agonizing fight to the end. Nahtahn never gave up. He took his life anyway. You've heard so much evidence and now you're going to hear more. It's going to involve the character of the Defendant. You'll hear from Nahtahn's teachers, who were his protectors. You'll hear how they tried to intervene. And for all of the children, you'll hear what's called victim impact testimony. And under the law, that's testimony that allows you to hear about their own unique characteristics, those special qualities they had that made them absolutely irreplaceable to those who loved him. Remember these five children. It's taken much time to arrive at this moment in this courtroom on this day. For justice, it's not too late. It's never too late. Another aspect of this phase that we call the sentencing phase is what's called evidence in aggravation. And that's evidence when there are certain circumstances that make it a case where the State finds it fitting and appropriate to seek the death penalty. In this case, there are two aggravating circumstances which apply: The murder of a child under eleven, and we know that's occurred because we know that each of these children are under eleven, not just one, but five. The second aggravating circumstance under our law is what's called the murder of two or more persons during one ongoing course of conduct. And in this case, again, we know from evidence in the guilt phase that that occurred. All of these children were killed on the same night in the same place pursuant to one ongoing course of conduct at his hands. These murders were all interconnected and I submit those aggravating circumstances have already been proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Just as the State will present aggravating circumstances, the Defendant will also present evidence in mitigation, known as mitigating factors or mitigating circumstances. And I echo what my colleague, Mr. Graham, said to you earlier at the very outset of this trial, as

SUZANNE MAYES: you listen to that evidence, ask yourselves whether that evidence is meant as an explanation or is it an excuse? When we talk about the character of the Defendant, which is a certain aspect of this phase that we can only offer now or would not have been able to offer in full in the guilt phase, it's going to involve several things. It's going to involve evidence about the crimes, the condition in which he left those bodies, the bodies of his children. You're going to hear more about that. But also when we talk about the character of the Defendant, keep these things in mind, some evidence that you've already heard. We know that his anger and malice towards Nahtahn extended even into death. We know he took that saw and cut him to the bone because he blamed that child for the murder of his siblings. That innocent child, he blamed. That was the real Timothy Jones when you talk about character of the Defendant. You heard how when Nahtahn stopped breathing, he refused to call 911. All so he could save himself. That's evidence of the character of the Defendant and that's the real Timothy Jones. Throughout that night, he made choice after choice after choice after choice, four more times, to murder his children. We know from his statement to law enforcement that Nahtahn was killed and that Merah and Eli was both witnesses to that. He talked about that. He spoke about that in that statement that you heard. Merah and Eli knew exactly what happened in that house. And Christina Ehlke lived just next door, a stone's throw away. He wasn't going to leave any witnesses alive. So think about that when you consider the character of the Defendant. That's the real Timothy Jones. It was all about buying him more time. It was all about him escaping justice. It was him over those precious children. As a jury, everyone in this room is aware of the sacrifice and duty that you've been called to bear. It's more than any county could ever ask of its citizens. Each of you were qualified to serve because during those initial qualifications, each of you testified that you would consider aggravating circumstances and mitigating and that in the appropriate case that each of you could render a death verdict. So when we talk about that, about why the State is seeking the death penalty, I ask you to keep in mind it's not about vengeance. It's about a punishment that truly fits this crime. An age-old definition of justice is to render every man his due. And now the question for you is what is his due? What is Timothy Jones' due? Throughout this trial, you have heard evidence that is so brutal, so callous and so vicious, it can only be described as evil, a clear and unmistakable evil. He bears sole responsibility for the murders of his children. He alone is responsible for the murders of Merah, Eli, Nahtahn, Gabriel and Abigail. He bears responsibility for the suffering that's been inflicted for the rest of the lives of everyone who loved them so dearly. These wounds that he left, these wounds won't heal. So now you will hear evidence as to why in this case, the appropriate sentence is death. Thank you.