Primarily, defense lawyers attacked the manslaughter and weapons charges during presentation of their case and cross-examination of prosecution witnesses.
Judging from his cross-examination of prosecution witnesses, he is likely to say that Mr. Milan never awarded any city contracts in exchange for money from the mob, and that many of the government's witnesses, including Ralph Natale, the former Philadelphia mob boss, are convicted felons testifying under grants of immunity.
They have repeatedly expressed concern about Mr. Milosevic's health, as his self-defense -- especially his long cross-examinations of prosecution witnesses -- has clearly taken its toll.
On Wednesday, Mr. Muhammad's lawyers conducted far more extensive and aggressive cross-examinations of prosecution witnesses than he did, and they raised far more objections, many of which were sustained.
With aggressive cross-examinations of prosecution witnesses, they challenged the evidence collection techniques, and they called Dr. Henry Lee, one of the nation's foremost criminalists, who testified that "something's wrong" with the physical evidence.
The travesty that the trial represents reached new heights last week when the judge ruled to move to the final stage of the trial, bypassing defendants' requests for examination of the prosecution's evidence.
Due process rights are so extensive that the cross-examination of one prosecution witness lasted 41 days.
The cross-examination of the prosecution's star witness — the woman who said she was raped — was hardly as volatile because the defense lawyers were deliberately gentle.
Friday was the first full day of the much anticipated cross-examination of the prosecution's star witness — the 29-year-old accuser — in the rape trial of Officer Moreno and his partner, Officer Franklin Mata.
On February 17th, for example, during a long sidebar preceding the testimony of the prosecution's fingerprint expert, William Bieniek, Siff complained almost to the point of tears about the judge's treatment of him during his cross-examination of a prosecution witness the previous day.
Earlier, in the cross-examination of another prosecution witness, John Bennett, 34, a tow truck driver who happened upon Mr. Faison being arrested, defense lawyers tried unsuccessfully to dislodge him from his statement that two other officers had punched Mr. Faison as he lay on the ground before Officers Tortorella and Jackson arrived.
