As reported by CNN News, a New York City police officer has been accused of planning to kidnap women with the purpose of performing cannibalistic acts. As the man faces a jury his criminal defense lawyer has argued that his client was only fantasizing about the deeds and had no intention of performing them.
Jurors now must decide if email conversations are evidence of Officer G.V.'s true guilt or if they constitute his desire for fantasy role-playing.
In the emails G.V. and his co-conspirator discussed their plots to kidnap women with the purpose of torture and rape; and then to end their lives by cooking and eating them.
G.V. was arrested in October 2012 and was immediately suspended without pay from the police department.
The charges against G.V. include conspiracy to kidnap and accessing a law enforcement database illegally. If G.V. is convicted of conspiracy he faces a life sentence.
The female targets were never victimized.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Hadassa Waxman presented evidence during the trial that she reminded jurors of in her closing argument: She had shown proof that G.V. and his co-conspirators had entered into an agreement via emails to begin kidnapping women. Additionally, G.V., to move his plans along further, performed surveillance and handed out police charity cards to his intended victims.
Through his systematic planning, with help from the Internet on how to manage the kidnappings, Waxman argued that G.V. showed "real, practical concern" about getting arrested. G.V.'s research alone, according to Waxman, was proof he was being very cautious with his plans.
In a final message to the jury Waxman asked that they use "common sense" when looking at the "big picture."
Julia Gatto, G.V.'s criminal defense attorney, repeated phrases used in G.V.'s email to depict a different picture of his intention to the jurors. Gatto quoted, "I have a world in my mind. In that world I'm kidnapping women and selling them to people interested in buying them."
Gatto argued that G.V. had a "dark improv theater" in his mind that was akin to "crude, stupid, infantile, masturbatory storytelling."
Gatto further argued that the prosecution's case was "riddled with reasonable doubt."
The chloroform, rope, and an oven large enough for a human body that Valle alleged her client had simply did not exist as nothing was ever found by the FBI. Gatto concluded, "This case is about storytelling, and the government has told a story too."
In his rebuttal Assistant U.S. Attorney Randall Jackson said, "This was not someone just having fun" as the compiled evidence showed "things you would expect to see in a plot to actively victimize someone."
Jackson added, "His porn consists of dead bodies, that is not normal."
Judge Paul Gardephe told jurors to look beyond the defendant's thoughts before convicting him.
Contact a criminal defense attorney to best serve your needs in a criminal case. Whether facing a single charge or several charges, only a criminal defense attorney will be able to defend you properly in a court of law.
