Judge denies motion to end 2017 Worcester bridge attack trial early
A judge on Monday rejected a request to end Joshua Hubert 's trial early, ruling that the jury should be allowed to decide the case after hearing a week's worth of evidence from both sides.
"I feel like I'm the prosecutor in this case," said defense attorney Kevin Larson, in Worcester Superior Court.
He stood next his client, Hubert, who is accused of kidnapping a 7-year-old girl in 2017, raping her and then throwing her off a bridge.
Right after prosecutors told the court they would rest at 12:30 p.m. on Monday and call no further witnesses in the case — which has seen several people testify over the past week, including the girl herself — Larson filed a motion for a required not guilty finding.
He spoke to Judge Karin Bell as he argued that the case should not proceed to the jury because the evidence presented by the Commonwealth failed to support the charges.
Larson said the jury would "have to ignore the laws of physics, the laws of time and space," in order to find Hubert guilty.
He pointed out how the girl's story had changed over time and said key physical evidence contradicted her account — including cell phone data that did not place Hubert's cell phone at the bridge when the crime was believed to have occurred, which casts doubt on him being there. Additionally, there's surveillance footage that showed him at a Shell gas station nearby his house.
In addition, "you would have to ignore the medical evidence, which is not consistent with someone falling from a 40-something foot bridge," Larson said.
"And that leaves out the DNA evidence , which in this case, implicates [the girl's father]," Larson continued. Earlier in the week, jurors heard from experts who tested DNA found on the girl's underwear after the attack, which pointed them to her father — not Hubert.
"There is absolutely nothing forensically tying [Hubert] to this crime, but we do have forensic evidence that includes [the father's] sperm on the underwear ... you would have to ignore those things and just credit complaining witnesses' testimony," he said.
Bell ultimately denied Larson's motion, after prosecutors made the argument that "just looking at [the girl's] testimony alone, she testified to every element of the charges." This will allow the case to proceed to the jury.
No further witnesses will be called in the case. Closing arguments are expected to be heard on Monday afternoon.
More joshua Hubert
Read the original article on MassLive . Add MassLive as a Preferred Source by clicking here .
