Catching a glimpse of a gunman’s limp and dreadlock hairstyle while ducking for cover as the car you’re in is being shot up is no way to make a positive identification that holds up in court.
That’s what the attorney for alleged Hobo “super gang” assassin Paris Poe argued Tuesday in his closing arguments to wrap up a marathon federal trial against Poe and fellow alleged Hobos.
In his closings, defense attorney Patrick Blegen noted Poe doesn’t have a limp.
Blegen tried to further undermine the testimony of a key eyewitness, Shanice Peatry, who said at trial how she saw a masked man kill her fiance, Keith Daniels, outside her Dolton home as they sat in a car with their two small children. Blegen argued Peatry didn’t even mention that the gunman had been wearing a mask during the 2013 shooting until long after identifying Poe.
BACKGROUND: Girlfriend of informant, killed in front of her, names his killer Hobo defense attorney confronts girlfriend of slain FBI informant
Blegen also pointed out that one of the couple’s two young sons — who were in the back seat when Daniels was shot — told authorities the shooter had short hair, not dreadlocks.
Daniel was targeted because he was worked as a federal informant against Poe and other Hobos, the feds say.
The feds say the Hobos killed eight other people, too, as well as conducted robberies, shootings and home invasions.
The ruthless and exclusive crew is an alliance of deadly street gangs forged in the now-demolished Robert Taylor Homes, according to the feds. During opening statements in September, Assistant U.S. Attorney Patrick Otlewski called the Hobos “an all-star team of the worst of the worst” of Chicago’s street gangs.
Jurors fidgeted at times Tuesday as defense attorneys presented lengthy closing arguments as the three month trial drew to a close.
Prosecutors formally rested their case two weeks ago after a federal agent read aloud the “beyond the grave” testimony that Daniels offered a grand jury prior to his death.
Earlier in the case, jurors heard from people who lived to explain how they were tortured by members of the gang.
They heard from more reluctant witnesses, too.
One former NBA player seemingly forgot how he was robbed at gunpoint before engaging in a high-speed car chase around Chicago with two alleged high-ranking Hobos.
And last month, jurors watched a man simply refuse to testify out of fear for his family’s safety. That man took two months in jail rather than testify against the gang.
