Defense says Cameron Park murder defendant is high-achieving family man
By Peter Hecht, The Sacramento Bee | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
Defense lawyer
He painted a story of Winkler as a lifelong high achiever. He portrayed his journey from high school student body president in
The defense lawyer also took on the victim, the mother of Winkler's three children. He depicted
The defense case, earlier revealed during cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, is that
Weiner had also depicted
But as the defense began presenting its witnesses Tuesday, it had to overcome Winkler's own videotaped interviews with El Dorado County detectives.
Weiner was faced with his client's admission that he had punched his wife before the encounter with the scissors and that at some point he broke away and then returned after putting on a motorcycle jacket. It was then that Winkler said that, during continuation of a "protracted struggle," he plunged the scissors into his wife's neck as she was saying they could work things out and was "pleading for her life."
One of the defense witnesses Wednesday,
"That particular day, as always, he was happy-go-lucky, glad to be out, to have the kids out, to be with his family," Johnson said. His wife,
The trial has also turned on the mystery of a fiery crash in
The prosecution has raised questions about his account and his lack of notable injuries after claiming he was thrown from the vehicle.
On Wednesday, Weiner summoned
While Weiner said in his opening statement that Winkler retired from the
"I know he had some difficulties in the
In
While Weiner said Wednesday that
In cross-examination of
As White testified that he and
While the prosecution has portrayed
Weiner had White read text messages in court about Rachel's financial worries and her concerns about providing for her children while affording her new life with White.
In the texts, White promised that he could pick up additional work. He also texted Rachel to assure her about income due from her husband. "Todd will have to support those babies," he wrote her. "That will alleviate some pressure."
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