Bratton V. Balmon Case Brief

A. Re Opening Statements: The Prosecution has the job of proving that the defendant, Jordan Bratton committed murder in the first degree by killing the victim, Preston Balmen. The evidence that they have which supports their case is as follows. The police found that there were tire tracks behind Preston Balmen’s house, which matched the tires on Jordan Bratton’s car: a maroon 1990’s Buick Century. It was determined by a medical examiner that Preston Balmen had been strangled to death with a cord-like object and that a microphone cord found in Jordan Bratton’s car is most likely the weapon that was used to strangle the victim. The examiner also determined by the way the victim was strangled, that the suspected murderer stood at a similar

A 3-count package of brown cotton gloves was found in the trunk of Jordan Bratton’s car, with 1 of the 3 pairs missing. The medical examiner determined that fibers found under the victim’s fingernails were most likely from the same type of gloves found in Jordan Bratton’s car. A witness saw Jordan Bratton’s car follow Preston Balmen out of the Hollyville Coffee Shop parking lot on April 13, 2009. Jordan Bratton sent a suggestively threatening message to Preston Balmen on the review site, “YellUp” if Balmen did not take down his negative review of Bratton. Jordan Bratton made a Twitter post on April 13th that he was going to “kill tonight and shut up the critics once and for all.” The prosecution can use this evidence to show that Jordan Bratton had a motive for killing Preston Balmen and given the quantity and types of evidence, they can try to persuade jurors that the findings of the investigation were not coincidental. They must convince jurors beyond a reasonable doubt that Jordan Bratton was responsible

Bratton also told Howard some suggestively violent statements directed toward Balmen. Howard should say that Bratton made such statements like “someone should shut him up” and “the world is better off without filthy liars like him” in regards to Balmen. This is important because the prosecution can show jurors that Bratton wanted to permanently silence Balmen, and had been suggesting it well before the murder. Howard should also say that Bratton assaulted one of his audience members during one of his shows after the audience member started making offensive comments towards Bratton. This is important because it shows that Bratton has a history of using violence against anyone who heckled or criticized him and can suggest to the jury that he was capable of doing it again. Howard should add about how he saw Bratton’s suggestive twitter posts on the night of Balmen’s murder. Bratton wrote that he was going to “kill tonight and shut up the critics once and for all.” This is important because it is similar to the statements that Bratton made to Howard about how someone should shut up Balmen. The prosecution can show jurors that Bratton had already said the same thing to Howard, but was now willing to carry out the act of shutting up Balmen himself. Howard’s testimony is important because it shows that Bratton has a violent past and