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William Balfour was denied bail at a hearing today by Judge Raymond Myles. His attorney, Joshua Kutnick, claims there are no witnesses and no connection between Balfour and the murder weapon. Prosecutors presented arguments that included:
Balfour is charged with three counts of first-degree murder and one count of home invasion.
- Balfour told detectives that he was home at the time of the shootings, but cell phone records showed he was in the vicinity of the Hudson family home.
- Balfour told police that after he had earlier been to the Hudson home to talk with his estranged wife, he had taken a CTA "L" train to his West Side home. But CTA card records show that Balfour had last used the card two days before. Also, Balfour had claimed to have used a particular "L" station, but surveillance cameras showed he had not been there.
- Balfour denied having a gun, but multiple witnesses said they saw him with one or heard him say he had one. The gun used in the slayings had belonged to Jason Hudson and Balfour had taken it without permission from Hudson's bedroom over the summer, prosecutors said.
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Double D'oh!
Sounds like someone needs a little refresher course on making sure ones alibi matches reality.
Oh let him out, what's the worst he could-
Ah. Right. Never mind.
He never made a confession and none of this is in "for the record" yet. So, let's all calm down.
Any good defense lawyer is going to raise the "is it possible" questions on all of these counts...
Is it possible he bought and used a different El card?
Is it possible that he was in the station and the camera's didn't see him?
Is it possible he was lying about having a gun?
I hope they have something more tangible on this guy, myself. Otherwise, it's going to be hard to get a conviction on purely circumstantial evidence. It's not like he's George Ryan, after all.
And the cell phone record showing him near the Hudson home at the time of the shootings, as opposed to at home, as he claimed?...
There might be cell phone records showing me near the Hudson home at the time of the murders. That doesn't mean I killed them, and it isn't conclusive evidence. It's circumstantial. They need something concrete.
Is it possible he left his phone at the house when meeting previously with his estranged wife?
What exactly does "near the home" mean? Within a mile? Two miles? How far away did he LIVE?
FULL OF HOLES. Reasonable doubt is a very difficult standard.