Mock Trial Closing

May it please the court, opposing counsel, ladies, and gentlemen of the jury. This case is about truth. The commonwealth has concluded based on conversations that prove nothing and focus on an unreliable, late hypnosis session. They will raise suspicions, but you don’t convict on suspicion, you convict on proof. The truth is far simpler than what they want you to believe. Jordan Pike did not help kill Kennedy Lyon. She did not encourage it, she did not plan it, she did not assist it, she did not know it was going to happen. One man and one man only is responsible for the planning and execution of Kennedy Lyon, Brady “Butch” Pike.

You heard from Peyton Clark. He came because Jordan had once believed in him, helped him rebuild his life, given him a job he needed to stay clean, and stay alive. Peyton showed up and recounted the truth. When Butch borrowed Jordan’s car, Jordan specifically reminded him that he couldn’t take the gun because he was a felon. Peyton never saw Jordan hand Butch a weapon. Peyton never saw Jordan tell Butch to go to Kennedy’s house. And Peyton never saw Jordan act with any knowledge of what Butch intended to do.

Then you heard from Lou Robertson, a former police officer turned private investigator. Now, the prosecution tried to paint him as disgruntled. But think about his actions: He was on another case entirely when he happened to see Butch leave the Pike home. He saw Butch carrying what looked like a gun. He saw Butch driving away in Jordan’s car. He saw Butch alone, not with Jordan. Lou didn’t know any of the Pikes. But he still came forward. Why? Because the truth mattered more. He told us that the police never spoke to the one person, Peyton, who could confirm Jordan’s innocence. He told us that Butch’s behavior that day matched someone acting on his own impulses, not someone following a shared plan. And he told us that the investigation was sloppy, rushed, and built entirely on assumptions instead of facts.

Now consider the prosecution’s witnesses: Billie Anderson, Skyler Boyle, and Detective Carmen Webster. Their testimony relied heavily on interpretations and conclusions drawn after the fact. Billie Anderson and Skyler Boyle could not testify that they saw Jordan Pike plan, encourage, or assist in the murder. In fact, Billie’s memory of the night was so incomplete that hypnosis was used to recover recollections, raising serious questions about the reliability of that testimony. You cannot convict someone based on what could have happened, or what someone else imagined. The standard is proof beyond a reasonable doubt. A recovered memory is not proof.

Detective Webster pieced together circumstances, but even then could not place Jordan at the scene and could not tie Jordan to the act itself. None of these witnesses offered direct evidence of Jordan’s involvement. They raised questions, but questions are not answers.

There are no text messages between Jordan and Butch explicitly planning anything. No evidence that Jordan drove Butch anywhere. All Jordan did was be a good sibling and lend a car to her brother, such a good deed should not be stretched into criminal responsibility, especially when Jordan ensured a felon did not drive a car with a gun.

Look at Jordan: A mentor. A helper. A woman who guided Peyton Clark when no one else would. A woman who reminded her brother to follow the law. A woman whose only mistake was trying to protect the only immediate family she has left. Jordan exhibits a record of service, not violence.

The prosecution wants you to fill in the blanks of a story that simply isn’t there. The facts are Jordan didn’t know. Jordan didn’t participate. Jordan didn’t plan. The State wants you to believe Jordan Pike helped plan a murder, based on a sentence recovered weeks later through hypnosis that was never recorded. That’s not proof. You cannot convict on suspicion; you convict on proof.