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go ahead mr nets council mrs may please support good morning ladies and gentlemen before really beginning i do want to thank you on behalf of ms hughes and myself a lot of you have taken sacrifices in your personal life to be here unlike many trials in pueblo county this one is expected to take i'll give or take more than a week and we understand that to be sacrificed for you all now that being said juries play a role of the utmost importance in our system in the united states frankly you guys find the facts decide what the facts are and our role in defense's role this cultural to seek justice could not be met without you so we appreciate the time you're spending here your citizens duty of being here so thank you i'd also like to take this time to apologize and by that i simply mean many of you have lived normal lives you do not see pretty much everyone else that works in this courtroom tends to see on a daily basis you're going to have to look at very difficult evidence hear testimony on difficult topics you will have to see medical examiner autopsy photos throughout this trial and just keep in mind you will see lots of very difficult images if you need a break at any time it is perfectly allowable for you to ask for that break because this whole trial will revolve around one particular act and that is through all the evidence that we intend to present to you through this trial we expect to prove that the last moments chloe chandler experienced on this earth or watching her own mother strangled her and robbed the last breaths from her life now as the court said there are different reasons why different rules of evidence schedules why witnesses are presented in the order they're presented we will try to present things to you in as chronological and understandable of a way but because certain things sometimes keep us from doing that i want to walk you through what we intend to prove to you and what we intend to present to you so that you know what to focus on you will have the chance to keep notes and through this opening i'm hoping to give you a road map times where you should pay particular attention to the evidence because frankly over days of testimony things can get lost but to reach the ultimate goal of justice we need you to pay attention throughout we expect or we intend to prove to you through our evidence that on july 2018 july 19 2018 chloe chandler granddaughter of cali cookit second cousin of brittany johnson the sister of her baby brother phoenix was killed by her mother the defendant kelsey thomas you'll hear testimony of how law enforcement and firefighters arrived on scene around 3 30 3 40 on that day you'll hear testimony from corey binge the tunnel fire department i believe he's the chief fighter chief deputy firefighter he'll testify to you how he was the first on scene and came in to the home went into chloe's room and found her lifeless he'll testify to you how he found her body cool to the touch how he tried to resuscitate her and could not get essentially a life reading how he found her airway was blocked by vomit you'll then hear from other law enforcement officers particularly pay attention to sergeant leffler and chief mcandrew not only will they explain how chloe was taken from home to the hospital just chronology the sergeant leftler will testify about how miss thomas explained what happened chloe you'll even see video because he recorded video and audio of his conversations with miss thomas at the hospital we'll present that to you you'll be able to evaluate it of particular importance when you're listening to that testimony and listening to that video pay attention to the demeanor of his thomas pay attention to how clear she is on specific circumstances because this is the first time this is the first story she gives as to how chloe died you'll hear her tests are essentially talked to law enforcement state that she wanted to put chloe down for a nap because she wanted to take a nap it was around 12 to 1 and she puts chloe down in chloe's room for a nap and then goes to take a nap herself she wakes up around 3 15 to her alarm to get ready for work because she works a shift later in the day and that she supposedly comes into chloe's room to find her doesn't see her on the bed goes to the closet finds her hanging there you'll hear on the video of how she specifically notes that chloe is hanging from pajama pants that she lifts chloe from the closet those pajama pants that knot just comes undone on its own and she takes her to chloe's bed where ravioli comes out of her mouth through vomit because chloe had eaten ravioli for lunch that day that's important because you'll have to compare it to her later statements and kind of like during jury selection we talked about different aspects of seeing how people tell the truth i won't go through that now but you need to pay attention to these statements to weigh their credibility because you'll also hear testimony later on from calvin kelsey's mother and the grandmother of chloe chairman five-year-old girl you'll hear cali testify about how on the day of july 19th at about 8 30 she hasn't learned that chloe's dead yet but she did see some things on facebook so she calls kelsey thomas kelsey thomas picks up cali asked her what are you doing she says i'm eating allie then asks her is chloe okay and kelsey thomas responds how did you find out you'll learn later on from medical professionals how chloe was declared dead at about four o'clock july 19th pay attention to those details because the context of that call four hours after a mother finds out her five-year-old daughter is dead gives you a lot of insight into the mental state of that person of that mother of kelsey thomas you'll hear cali testify as well about how kelsey had chloe what age how those things went you'll learn that kelsey had chloe when she was 16 from a guy who cheated on her left her and more importantly you'll learn from cali how kelsey met a new man aaron thomas they married they had another child phoenix and how cali describes kelsey behaving around chloe after phoenix is born will be incredibly important because we expect that you'll learn the context of this relationship how kelsey grew distant from chloe became more irritated with chloe and how kelsey asked callie on prior occasions if she would take chloe once again this goes to context so pay attention to it you will next hear from brittany johnson during this trial now brittany johnson is the cousin of cassie thomas is the second cousin of chloe and you'll learn how on july 20th the day after chloe dies brittany had a conversation with kelsey thomas you'll learn about quite a few statements but of particular interest keep notes about when she talks when britney describes how kelsey thomas talked about chloe one of the first things they talk about is how kelsey thomas is angry that facebook and the media has already gotten hold of this case and people already talking about it about how kelsey thomas had been depressed days before and posted on facebook about how she was unhappy or something to that effect more importantly britney will explain to you what kelsey said about bob the why was she was getting angry and sad again recalling how the man she had chloe with when she was 16 cheated on her and left her how chloe reminded her of that man and even up to that july 20th date noted that chloe's behaviors as she grew because she was five when she died how chloe's behaviors showed an attitude just like the guy that she did on kelsey and laughter and how it bothered you we expect that you'll hear testimony from different law enforcement officers that interview kelsey thomas but you won't just hear from them you will see video here audio of those interviews you'll learn that medical examiner michelle cavalier took an autopsy of chloe chandler you'll look at the photos should explain her findings what she found on the physical body of kelsey what kelsey's body essentially tells you and testifies to you even though she's not here to testify to herself you'll find out that investigators learned before their interviews from the medical examiner that when dr cavalier the medical examiner evaluated this quality compared it to the story that kelsey thomas gives of the hanging made numerous findings that did not align with the child or person generally hanging in the way that kelsey thomas said she found hope now you hear testimony about how this autopsy established that ligature marks a fancy word for marks of choking indicated strangulation indicated this wasn't just a hanging indicated that you do the hemorrhages inside the neck a struggle occurs dr cavalier will describe different suspicious bruises describe and you'll hear this term frankly it's a medical term you don't have to understand it she'll describe how on the highway of boeing there was hemorrhaging and she'll explain the importance of that in determining whether someone is choked strangled asphyxiated through a hanging or through a struggle with another dr catalina will talk about how she explained these findings to investigators these investigators are going to be don schnitker and michael steer you'll see them in videos interviewing kelsey thomas they interviewed her on two days july 24th and july 26th less than 10 days from the death of a mother's five-year-old pay attention once again to kelsey thomas's demeanor particularly on the 24th pay attention to the tactics they use because we expect you'll hear how they let kelsey thomas leave the room when she wanted to we expect to hear how when she wanted water they got her a bottle of water we expect that you'll hear that whenever she wanted a bathroom break she got it she could talk to anybody she wanted she could walk out the door and in fact the doors were unlocked pay attention through the july 24th clips that you'll see because in particular there are certain phrases that you'll have to evaluate that determine kelsey thomas's credibility frankly we expect you'll hear from july 24th that she continually says she did not hurt chloe you'll see from the investigators that pretty early on they are upfront with her that they believe she did it or that at the very least this did not happen like she said it happened they will ask her if she's covered for someone else if they have to look into aaron thomas her husband you'll see certain conversations and we expect you'll hear them talking about how kelsey had two children had at work had a home to take care of and they'll ask her have you ever had a break in particular pay attention to her answer when she shrugs and says now and put that into the context of a medical exam what it shows kelsey thomas's claims of not being involved and what it shows we also expect that you'll see from july 24th to the 26th how the investigators arrange another meeting how kelsey thomas tells them she wants to keep talking to them she wants to prove that she didn't do this you'll see how they set up the interview for jen july 26 how kelsey thomas was to come on her own she did you'll learn all those details showing how that july 26 interview took place and then you'll see the july 26th interview and on that interview you will see kelsey thomas initially denied being involved in chloe's death beyond taking her out of the closet to admitting that chloe was never in that closet how she had left that morning early in the morning to take her father kelsey took her father to a doctor's appointment how she took phoenix with her but she didn't want to take chloe because chloe just acts out now she didn't give breakfast to chloe and she left her at the home you'll learn how she went to walmart with her father in phoenix and on this video we expect that she'll then say how she came back home around noon how chloe came to the door and opened it for her mom told her i miss you and how kelsey then goes in and sees chloe was watching tv was out of her room and how she should have been and think of the context of that relationship as well because that will matter quite a bit in understanding these dynamics and deciding what's credible and what's not in this case kelsey in this second video we'll talk about how she wanted chloe to take a nap because she was just so tired she had worked the night before she were usually works late shifts which is why she was going to get up at 3 15 for another shift you'll learn how chloe just she doesn't behave she goes out of her room when she's not supposed to she tries getting food from the kitchen when she's not supposed to she gets into the cabinets as a five-year-old isn't supposed to and then kelsey will tell you how i got frustrated got angry and looped some pajama pants around chloe's neck and tightened possibly twisted and started choking clothing she'll describe different things or important in light of the medical examiner's testimony the two points that are particularly important is that she'll describe chloe's eyes as they looked at kelsey and they bulged it's important because the medical examiner will explain the importance of that in comparing it to a strangulation versus a hanging kelsey will also tell you how chloe's body there's a bit of a struggle then she started twitching and then went limp that's also important because you have to compare to the medical examiner's testimony when it comes to how bodies react how a child's body reacts but that is not going to be the only evidence that will present to you of kelsey confessing once she is out of questioning with law enforcement you will hear audio evidence that will present you of jail calls they're recorded and you'll hear kelsey thomas calling aaron thomas her husband and telling him something to the effect of i'm sorry i didn't mean to do this it was an accident you've got to believe me once again context is incredibly important you'll hear aaron thomas's reply saying something to the effect of stop talking you need a lawyer that's important because it tells you the context of what she means when she's saying i'm sorry it gives you context of what she means when she says i didn't mean to do this this case is about context but more importantly it's about how a five-year-old girl chloe died and how kelsey thomas took her life without any justification you'll also read a letter written by kelsey thomas at the end of her interviews with law enforcement saying that she's sorry for doing this that she needed help and that her family should have stepped in and helped her you'll see the time she spends writing that note and you'll get to decide whether that's coerced or not whether that's credible or not and frankly you'll see all the rest of the letter and you'll get to decide what type of person would write it to some extent you'll get to decide the credibility of person that writes that wording in light of everything else by the end of the state's presentation of evidence we expect they can find kelsey thomas guilty for homicide in the first degree for killing her daughter for wrapping pajama pants around her neck and strangling her and then admitting to it through interviews with law enforcement but also interviews with their own our discussions with our own husband during a jail phone call in light of all that evidence we expect that you'll come to what we will assert is the only reasonable outcome in this case and that is that kelsey thomas murdered her daughter thank you ladies and gentlemen