In a case filled with complicated evidence and contradictory testimony, today's arguments could prove pivotal in helping jurors decide which theory to support once they go behind closed doors to deliberate. The prosecution team, which includes Mecklenburg assistant district attorneys Gentry Caudill, David Graham and Jack Knight, will give the first round of closing arguments. Rudolf will follow with arguments he has said should last about two hours. Because defense lawyers presented evidence, the law allows the prosecution to follow Rudolf and give the final closing argument. Charlotte defense lawyer Jim Cooney, a death penalty expert, said closing arguments are more important in long cases where there are many differences over seemingly small points.
Gentry gives very powerful closing arguments.
His style is not only to represent to the juror what the evidence shows, but to do it in a very authoritative way. When Gentry speaks to the jurors, he's speaking as a representative of the people. He's going to use his closing to breathe a lot of life into the facts that have fallen by the wayside. I'd expect him to play the tape of Cherica Adams' 911 call. He's going to remind the jurors that this case is about a dying woman in the middle of the night.