Elliot Weinstein has his work cut out for him. So far, judge Dianne Kottmeyer has denied the attorney for Neil Entwistle’s motions for both a change of venue and dismissal of charges based on excessive pre-trial publicity. No reasonable legal observers expected the judge to grant either motion, especially the motion to move the venue to Duke’s County in Martha’s Vineyard, where, we all know, no one reads a newspaper, watches television, and the only thing they ‘surf” is the waves in Vineyard Sound. Which is hardly to criticize Mr. Weinstein: He is doing exactly what he should do as a defense lawyer: Use every legal vehicle, motion and tactic possible to defend his client. However, so far, 21st century reality has stepped in to limit those options.
As of Friday (June 6) prosecution testimony from both Rachel Entwistle’s mother, Priscilla Matterazzo, has served the prosecution’s objectives: Matterazzo, testified that Neil Entwistle did, in fact, know how to get into the Matterazzo’s home in Carver, Massachusetts. This directly contradicted Neil Entwistle’s statement to police, that he didn’t know how to get into the Matterazzo’s home, where the gun that killed the victims was located. More so, Matterazzo testified that the defendant had acted strange and distant at the time the couple moved into the Hopkinton, Massachusetts home they had rented two days before the murders. Rachel’s uncle, Lloyd Cook, is expected to take the stand and be cross-examined tomorrow by the defense (Monday June 9), when he will likely have some very interesting things to say.
While certainly anything can happen between now and the moment the jury gets this case for deliberations, Entwistle’s two attorneys’ have their jobs cut our for them in this case. I say this as a criminal defense attorney, knowing that a defense attorney’s job is to install reasonable doubt in the minds of the jury. So far, I don’t think this jury is doubting too much, but as I said, anything can happen in a trial like this. So stay tuned to this blog, and I’ll keep you posted on developments, and my analysis.