One2Snoop
04-28-2008, 07:43 PM
:beer: :beer: :beer:
Reiser Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder
POSTED: 8:28 am PDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 3:20 pm PDT April 28, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- After less than three days of deliberations, a jury of five women and seven men Monday found Oakland computer expert Hans Reiser guilty of first-degree murder in the disappearance and death of his estranged wife, Nina.
When the verdict was read, Reiser looked straight ahead, lowered his head and sighed. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman ordered the bailiff to remove Reiser from the courtroom as soon as the verdict was read.
The jurors had four verdicts they could have reached in the case -- not guilty; first-degree murder carrying a 25-to-life sentence; second-degree murder which carries a 15-to-life term or voluntary manslaughter which carries a maximum 11-year term.
The jury -- which is not sequestered -- returned to their third full day of deliberations early Monday and sent word shortly after lunch that the verdict had been reached.
They had requested that no deliberations be held on Fridays and left the courthouse Thursday afternoon after re-examining several pieces of evidence presented during the highly watched trial that began in November.
The court clerk would not reveal which pieces of evidence had been requested.
Prosecutor Paul Hora, during his closing argument and rebuttal last week, asked the jurors to return a first- or second-degree verdict.
Defense attorney William Du Bose has claimed that Nina Reiser -- born and raised in Russia -- has fled the country and is in hiding and was not the victim of a heinous murder.
He also attempted to convince the jurors that Hora had not fulfilled the legal requirements for a first- or second-degree verdict.
Nina Reiser, then 31, vanished after taking the couple's two children to her estranged husband's house on Sept. 3, 2006.
She left behind her passport, her minivan (complete with her purse and sacks of groceries) and thousands of dollars. And she left behind her children, a 6-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl -- something friends and relatives testified she never would do.
During the six-month trial, prosecutors described Hans Reiser as obsessed with the details of the couple's divorce, reading from bitter e-mails he sent to his wife, including one in which he called her "evil."
When Reiser himself spoke on the stand, he often gave rambling answers and repeatedly was scolded by the judge for arguing with the prosecutor's questions.
Reiser is known in programming circles for his ReiserFS computer file system and Du Bois portrayed him as smart but eccentric. He compared Reiser to a duckbill platypus -- "odd in every way" -- but said there was nothing in his past to indicate he is violent.
Prosecutors presented evidence including small amounts of her blood found at Hans Reiser's home and on a sleeping bag sack in his car. They also noted that after she disappeared, Hans Reiser's car went missing. It was later found with the passenger seat gone and the floorboards soaked with water.
Hora pointed out that Reiser did not join in the search for his missing wife and began traveling around the area, visiting Reno, Nev., at one point. And when he was arrested, Reiser was carrying his passport and thousands in cash.
snip....
http://www.ktvu.com/news/15992691/detail.html?treets=fran&tml=fran_break&ts=T&tmi=fran_break_1_05170204282008
Reiser Found Guilty Of First-Degree Murder
POSTED: 8:28 am PDT April 25, 2008
UPDATED: 3:20 pm PDT April 28, 2008
OAKLAND, Calif. -- After less than three days of deliberations, a jury of five women and seven men Monday found Oakland computer expert Hans Reiser guilty of first-degree murder in the disappearance and death of his estranged wife, Nina.
When the verdict was read, Reiser looked straight ahead, lowered his head and sighed. Alameda County Superior Court Judge Larry Goodman ordered the bailiff to remove Reiser from the courtroom as soon as the verdict was read.
The jurors had four verdicts they could have reached in the case -- not guilty; first-degree murder carrying a 25-to-life sentence; second-degree murder which carries a 15-to-life term or voluntary manslaughter which carries a maximum 11-year term.
The jury -- which is not sequestered -- returned to their third full day of deliberations early Monday and sent word shortly after lunch that the verdict had been reached.
They had requested that no deliberations be held on Fridays and left the courthouse Thursday afternoon after re-examining several pieces of evidence presented during the highly watched trial that began in November.
The court clerk would not reveal which pieces of evidence had been requested.
Prosecutor Paul Hora, during his closing argument and rebuttal last week, asked the jurors to return a first- or second-degree verdict.
Defense attorney William Du Bose has claimed that Nina Reiser -- born and raised in Russia -- has fled the country and is in hiding and was not the victim of a heinous murder.
He also attempted to convince the jurors that Hora had not fulfilled the legal requirements for a first- or second-degree verdict.
Nina Reiser, then 31, vanished after taking the couple's two children to her estranged husband's house on Sept. 3, 2006.
She left behind her passport, her minivan (complete with her purse and sacks of groceries) and thousands of dollars. And she left behind her children, a 6-year-old boy and 5-year-old girl -- something friends and relatives testified she never would do.
During the six-month trial, prosecutors described Hans Reiser as obsessed with the details of the couple's divorce, reading from bitter e-mails he sent to his wife, including one in which he called her "evil."
When Reiser himself spoke on the stand, he often gave rambling answers and repeatedly was scolded by the judge for arguing with the prosecutor's questions.
Reiser is known in programming circles for his ReiserFS computer file system and Du Bois portrayed him as smart but eccentric. He compared Reiser to a duckbill platypus -- "odd in every way" -- but said there was nothing in his past to indicate he is violent.
Prosecutors presented evidence including small amounts of her blood found at Hans Reiser's home and on a sleeping bag sack in his car. They also noted that after she disappeared, Hans Reiser's car went missing. It was later found with the passenger seat gone and the floorboards soaked with water.
Hora pointed out that Reiser did not join in the search for his missing wife and began traveling around the area, visiting Reno, Nev., at one point. And when he was arrested, Reiser was carrying his passport and thousands in cash.
snip....
http://www.ktvu.com/news/15992691/detail.html?treets=fran&tml=fran_break&ts=T&tmi=fran_break_1_05170204282008