- 2 days ago
After 8 months on the run, disgraced personal-injury attorney Richard Merritt faces trial for the brutal murder of his 77-year-old mother, Shirley.
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00:00it's incredibly rare for murder defendants to take the stand it's a risk very few take
00:14at stake their freedom or even their lives this is richard merit a disgraced atlanta
00:23area attorney on trial for his mother's murder absolutely not i'm not a violent person i've
00:30laid a finger on anybody merit is facing the possibility of life in prison and he's taking
00:36the stand will merit's explanation convince jurors he's not the killer this monster took this dumbbell
00:42and proceeded to bludgeon my mother and they showed me pictures of my family and he said
00:48they're next or will prosecutors expose his story as lies ladies and gentlemen the defendant's story
00:56just doesn't make sense mr merit that story was a bx and he don't believe you
01:04take a courtside seat through the eyes of the prosecutor the legal analyst the defendant's
01:11brother and the journalist who covered the case he's got to tell one story to 12 people
01:17and try to convince them he didn't do it and that somebody else murdered his mother
01:22and he knows if i don't pull this off i will never see the light of day again
01:27i'm dan abrams and this is taking the stand raise your right do you solemnly swear i'm being honest
01:36with everything i say to you do solemnly swear the whole truth and nothing but the i would like to
01:41testify the testimony you are about to give the whole truth and nothing but the truth so how you got
01:46said that's been done
01:56that's been a good day
01:57smile yes please give us a little bit of a good day
01:59turn about zero
02:01and she's perfectlyzweded me
02:03and i'm cxxed you love testimony
02:05i do a terrible deal
02:06and i'm giving you a lot of вариант
02:07Uh...
02:11day, she would have just celebrated her 50th Mother's Day as the defendant's mother.
02:20But Shirley's dead.
02:27Ladies and gentlemen, everyone here, including Mr. Merritt, wishes that we were not here
02:35to death, that Shirley Merritt was with us, that she did not have her life taken.
02:39It is a tragedy.
02:43Richard Merritt's on trial for the brutal murder of his mother, Shirley Merritt.
02:48Prosecution will argue that Merritt killed his mother and then went on the run to evade justice.
02:54But the defense contends there is no evidence tying Richard Merritt to the crime, and no motive either.
03:01Will Merritt spend the rest of his life in prison?
03:04Or will his explanation convince the jury that he's not just innocent, but a victim too?
03:14Well, the long-awaited trial is set to begin for a Georgia attorney accused of beating and
03:19stabbing his mother to death.
03:22Richard Merritt was a personal attorney in his early 40s, married to his college sweetheart
03:28for almost 20 years.
03:30Two children, a son, and a daughter.
03:33And what appeared, at least from the outside, to be a pretty thriving legal practice in a
03:40very lucrative area of law, personal injury.
03:43He seemed to have it all.
03:46In 2018, things began to fall apart.
03:49More than a dozen victims said well-known Cobb County attorney Richard Merritt stole their
03:54settlement checks after handling their personal injury lawsuits.
03:59Several of the clients started reporting that he was stealing.
04:04Cobb County found that he had stolen hundreds of thousands of dollars, and he frauded many
04:12of his clients, most of whom were elderly.
04:16Shortly after he was arrested in 2018, his wife filed for divorce.
04:21So disbarred, accused, and divorced, Merritt saw his whole world begin to crumble.
04:28His mother surely put out the money to bail him out of jail.
04:33She was not pleased with his actions, but still, she was his mother.
04:39She wasn't about to let him sit in jail or live on the street.
04:46He had an enormously high bail set at almost a half a million dollars, and then she had
04:51to put her house up to be able to get the 10% so he could get out of jail.
04:56Now, mind you, many people were telling her not to let him out, that he should just sit
05:02there in jail.
05:02But one thing about my mom, if she makes her mind up about something, it's almost guaranteed
05:07she's going to do it.
05:09She insisted that he come live with her, and that she'd take care of him and make sure
05:15that he did the right thing.
05:17Finally, on January 18th, 2019, exactly two weeks before the day of the murder, the defendant
05:29faced a superior court judge in Cobb County and incurred a guilty plea to all 34 counts.
05:36Mr. Merritt came before a court and voluntarily pled guilty.
05:42He lost his bar license and he signed up for a lengthy prison sentence.
05:49He admitted his wrongs.
05:51I would like to apologize profusely.
05:54It never should have happened.
05:55The Cobb County judge sentenced Merritt to 15 years in prison for stealing more than $454,000 from 17 different clients.
06:06And for some reason, the judge decided to give him two weeks to get his affairs in order before he had to turn himself into the Department of Corrections custody.
06:24So it's February 1st, 2019, and this is the day that Richard Merritt has to turn himself in.
06:31The original plan was that his cousin, Mike, would come and pick him up from his mother's home.
06:38He would then drive Richard to the jail to turn himself in.
06:44However, that morning, Mike received a text message and it said that things were not good there.
06:57Shirley asked them not to come and to come another weekend.
07:01She said that she and Richard had some things to take care of that day.
07:05Shirley's message said that she was actually going to drive Richard up to the jail herself.
07:12Well, that text message was the last Mike Jethko or anyone ever heard from Shirley.
07:20The last morning when he drove into Atlanta, Mike Jethko went into her house.
07:32On the day she's murdered, Richard Merritt never turns himself in.
07:51He just disappears for eight months until he's arrested in Nashville.
07:54For eight months, we all wondered what happened.
07:59The prosecution and the defense say that they know the events.
08:03They know how it all played out.
08:04Both sides had to spin the facts in a totally different way.
08:10Investigators found no sign of forced entry or any stamp rate at all.
08:16What's more, the two weapons that were used came from inside the house.
08:21That means that the defendant, Richard Merritt, had to have murdered her.
08:32The state is trying to weave a story to you out of nothing.
08:36What will you not have?
08:37You will have no forensic evidence, no fingerprints on the night game.
08:42No fingerprints on Mr. Merritt.
08:44Leave that out.
08:46The defense's strongest argument was no motive and no forensics.
08:51And so the prosecution can't prove this case with the evidence they have.
08:56You will not be presented with any information that Mr. Merritt and his mother
09:01had fights, arguments, or any kind of ill will,
09:05that he was ever violent with his mother.
09:09You will hear none of this because it doesn't exist.
09:12Susan Merritt would defend his mother.
09:23He was brutally attacked, killed, a seat, stabbed, four times back, one time to side.
09:32The force was so strong that the blade of that nine-inch knife lodged into bones in her skull and hammered off.
09:45Somebody picked up a 35-pound dumbbell and bludgeoned blade to the point where her skull was shattered.
09:5677-year-old Shirley Merritt was murdered in February of 2019, on the same day that her son Richard was required to turn himself into prison to serve a 15-year sentence.
10:11Just two weeks prior, he pled guilty to defrauding legal clients out of almost half a million dollars.
10:17What was Shirley's reaction after learning that the defendant had committed these crimes against his clients?
10:29She was devastated that her son had been capable of hurting all those people. It ruined her life.
10:38Merritt's fraud case is inevitably tied to his murder trial.
10:42As the prosecution argues, he killed his mother in the course of trying to escape his 15-year prison sentence.
10:50The defense actually welcomed testimony about Richard's fraud for their own reasons, to provide the jury with alternate suspects.
11:00The state focused her attention on the mistakes of Mr. Merritt, but not the bigger picture surrounding them.
11:08The fraud lent the defense probably their strongest argument as to why Richard Merritt didn't do it, that there were so many other victims angry with him.
11:35Richard Merritt's victims gave investigators a letter spelling out how Merritt illicitly settled our case and kept the money.
11:43Some who had lost a large settlement, $75,000 and more.
11:48He pled guilty and faced the wrath of 13 victims, each one in court to tell Merritt and the judge what he had done to their lives.
11:56I mean, there were some that were extremely angry, to the point of, I think it would be fair to say, they became obsessed with Richard Merritt.
12:06That case involved a number of families and people who had money taken from them.
12:13Individuals were upset.
12:14They were vocal about it, that it went beyond words, that it went into actions, that it went into fear-inducing and stalking behavior.
12:21The question is obvious.
12:25Did one of his victims kill Shirley Merritt?
12:31Dr. Mancosian, let me draw your attention back to January of 2019.
12:35This fraud case up in Cod County, it was a big deal, correct?
12:38Right.
12:39It involved the loss of hundreds of thousands of dollars, correct?
12:42Right.
12:42And at this time, tensions were kind of high up there in the area where you and Richard were living, correct?
12:49Correct.
12:50The defense had asked a lot of questions about the fraud victims, asking her about things that had happened to her that you would call, I guess, harassment.
13:01You were nervous about the whole situation.
13:03I was mortified that the whole world knew what my husband had done.
13:09You were concerned that maybe somebody was, or some person or someone was following you?
13:14And didn't someone come up to your job at some point in time, regarding the case?
13:18When Richard was first arrested, one of the victims called and told my boss what he had done.
13:25Of course, the implication to the jury is that these victims were so mad they may have come back after Richard and somehow in the course of it, kill Shirley.
13:35On one occasion, you were at least somewhat concerned because you did get a flyer, a cartoon in your mailbox, correct?
13:44I remember the cartoons in my mailbox.
13:48This was right before the day he was sentenced.
13:51Okay.
13:51And to your knowledge, did Shirley get that same flyer?
13:54Yes.
13:54The flyers were put in her mailbox as well.
13:56For the defense, they were pointing the finger away from Richard Merritt.
14:03Because of the underlying financial fraud crimes, they couldn't hide from the fact that he's a liar.
14:09However, they can use that exact crime to the disadvantage for the prosecution.
14:15The defense wanted to create enough doubt.
14:18The jury would say, hmm, maybe it was one of those victims.
14:23You were concerned and a bit nervous about the whole situation.
14:27I didn't want the victims to think that I was an accomplice.
14:32I was upset that they knew where I lived.
14:34I think some people called it sort of like a lynch mob after your husband, correct?
14:38Yes.
14:38They bonded together and they were very, very upset, hurt and angry and betrayed.
14:53What were the reasons that you divorced the defendant?
14:56He didn't pay our mortgage for six months, so we lost our home.
15:02I had a van that I used to transport my daughter and her wheelchair, and he pawned the van.
15:11Richard Merritt's on trial accused of killing his mother, instead of turning himself in to serve a 15-year sentence for fraud.
15:22His ex-wife, Janine Manicozzi, has testified about the events surrounding his conviction.
15:27But prosecutors now want to bring it back to this case and this victim, his mother.
15:33What was the relationship between the defendant and his mother like?
15:42Contentious.
15:43They argued a lot.
15:46I questioned whether I was going to call Janine as a witness, but I felt that her testimony was necessary because she did paint that picture of who he was and what was going on in all of their lives.
16:01She did a lot to help us, yet he wasn't always nice to her.
16:08He would get frustrated with her because he thought she was too involved in our lives.
16:17Throughout Richard's life, his mother, Shirley, was the emotional and at times financial bedrock of his life.
16:26She helped him when he started his legal practice, helped him financially when he needed to buy a home.
16:34Her grandchildren were her entire world.
16:37She was at birthdays and baseball games and band concerts.
16:43She did so much to help us.
16:46When we were first married, she helped us out financially because I was a student and we needed help paying our bills.
16:54And she gave him the money he needed to start his firm.
16:56I think she wanted him to be successful.
17:02I think she wanted to believe in him.
17:04She was very loyal.
17:07And every time he screwed up, I mean, she didn't give up on him.
17:13I would call him ungrateful to her.
17:16He fought with her all the time and was annoyed by her all the time.
17:20Did you ever witness him yelling at her or speaking in a demeaning way toward her all the time?
17:27I don't have any further questions, thank you.
17:35Good afternoon, Dr. Mancosi.
17:37Let's talk about Shirley for a minute.
17:40Shirley cared about Richard Manson.
17:44She obviously cared about him.
17:45She was the only one that stuck by him.
17:47But then you mentioned that there were times to believe your word was they could be contentious.
17:53Yes.
17:54Is it fair to say Shirley she was a kind and gracious lady, but she was strong-willed?
17:59She was a firecracker.
18:01And your husband, he was kind of strong-willed also.
18:07They butted heads a lot.
18:09About simple stuff?
18:10About a lot of things.
18:12Oh, so many things.
18:13However, though they would argue, there never was any fights or any physical violence between either one of them, was there?
18:23There was never anything physical, no.
18:25And regardless of your feelings about Richard, he did not have a reputation for physical violence, correct?
18:32No, but he was physically violent with me once.
18:35Tell us about it.
18:36We had an argument, and we were in our bedroom, and he pushed me to the ground, and I hit my head.
18:43And did you call the police?
18:45No.
18:45Did you make a report?
18:47No, because I was scared of what he would do if I reported it.
18:51I haven't seen a single report where you mentioned that that was an issue in your relationship.
18:55I didn't talk about it because it was very scary.
19:00It happened in the couple of months before he was arrested.
19:05That was when he started coming home very, very drunk and angry.
19:10His temper scared us very badly.
19:14There was one night where my son and I were looking for somewhere to run and hide, but my daughter was upstairs sleeping, and we couldn't wake her up, and we didn't want to leave her.
19:29That is a good story.
19:32You've never mentioned that in any of the statements you made to the DA, correct?
19:37I never mentioned it to anybody because it was so scary.
19:42I blocked a lot of it out because I was so traumatized by everything that he had put us through.
19:50You don't know what happened, correct?
19:53The day of the murder?
19:55Correct, because you weren't there, right?
19:57No, I was not there during the time that she was murdered.
20:02Let's be honest.
20:03At this point in time, you hate Richard.
20:07That's it.
20:11Of course.
20:14Nothing for it.
20:16The public defender was able to show that all of the bad character evidence from Richard's ex-wife didn't prove that Richard Merritt was guilty beyond a reasonable doubt.
20:28All right, Mr. Merritt, if you'll take the stand, please.
20:30And so at this point, it was looking like he would be ultimately found not guilty because there was no forensic evidence, no motive.
20:38Because why would a man who was so loved by his mother turn on her and kill her in an instance in such a bloody and horrific way?
20:47I had no reason to stab my mother.
20:50I loved her.
20:57All right.
20:57Mr. Merritt, if you'll take the stand, please.
21:00Do you swear I would just make the point that it would be true?
21:03Richard Merritt's brought to the witness stand, and he knows this, that I have to tell a story that will convince this jury that there is reasonable doubt in the prosecution's case.
21:20It has to be a story believable enough, unique enough, that the jury will say, hmm, maybe he's not the guy.
21:31What will Merritt say to convince the jury that one of his victims may have killed his elderly mother?
21:38Could his story get him an acquittal or, at the least, a conviction on a lesser charge?
21:43You said that you'd push him down.
21:50Ever push your wife down?
21:52Absolutely not.
21:54Did you and your mother argue fight?
21:56We were both opinionated people.
21:58We spoke our minds.
22:00But we also laughed a lot and spent a lot of time together during my 10 months out on bond.
22:06She opened up her home to me, and it was strange being back under her roof at, I guess I was 43, 44 years old when all this went down.
22:20But it was fairly normal under the circumstances.
22:26Richard's direct examination had two major components.
22:29First was his character and his relationship with his mother.
22:32I loved my mother.
22:33She stood by me.
22:34Very important, because his character had been dragged through the mud through most of the trial by the prosecutor.
22:41That day was a complete and utter nightmare.
22:44Second was that someone else committed this crime.
22:49Right about the 1st of January 2019, my mother's house kind of sits up on a cul-de-sac.
22:58And you can see the whole cul-de-sac.
23:00And I saw an abnormal amount of cars pulling slowly through, stopping in front of our home.
23:09My mother noticed the same thing.
23:11He talked about how, before he was sentenced, he had been the target of harassment by the victims of his financial crimes.
23:23He said that somebody in an unknown car had driven around the cul-de-sac in front of his mom's house 20 or 30 times.
23:31I began receiving hang-ups on my cell phone, numbers I didn't recognize.
23:37Some said unknown number, but area codes of numbers I didn't know.
23:40My mother was receiving the same thing.
23:43Were you ever involved?
23:45Yes.
23:46Did you ever feel that maybe somebody was about to get you?
23:49Absolutely.
23:50No doubt about it.
23:54So let's turn to take you to the work.
23:57Okay.
23:58Tell us what happened that day.
24:01I knew I had to turn myself in later in the day.
24:04Naturally, we were upset.
24:05And so she sent Mike the text saying that things aren't so good here.
24:12And that's exactly what it was about.
24:14She was sad.
24:15Just not a happy day.
24:18I mean, I was about to go away to prison for possibly 15 years.
24:21So it was a private time.
24:23There was no yelling or screaming.
24:27Now, is there a plan for y'all to have lunch together?
24:30Yes.
24:30My mother was a great cook, fantastic cook, and she was going to make spaghetti.
24:34So did she start preparations for lunch?
24:39Yes, she did.
24:41Then what happened?
24:43It was, you know, the plan was we were going to eat around one o'clock.
24:50I was walking from the kitchen.
24:52I had just left the kitchen from keeping her company while she was making the spaghetti
24:57when I heard a very loud knock at the front door.
25:04We weren't expecting any visitors.
25:08So I went to the front door and I opened it.
25:13And there were two individuals, there were two men, and they both were pointing pistols
25:18at me.
25:19And they told me to let them in.
25:23After Richard Merritt, he was arrested by the U.S. Marshal's office, he refused to give
25:28a statement.
25:29But when he took the stand, he started to tell this story that I had never heard before
25:37and wasn't expecting.
25:39So what did you do?
25:41I let them in.
25:42I had never seen these guys before, and they were pointing pistols at me, so I let them
25:48in.
25:50About this time, my mother came to the foyer where I was standing with these two individuals.
25:57They said, head to the basement and don't say an effing word.
26:01So did you know what's the basement?
26:02The taller of the individuals, he was older, probably in his 50s, about six feet, walked
26:09past me, put the gun at my mother's lower back, and she started to head towards the
26:16stairway to the basement.
26:17The fact they said, head to the basement, led me to think they knew we had a basement
26:21and had cased the house before.
26:22The younger of the men, he was probably about 5'8", 5'9", shoulder-length brown hair,
26:30pudgy.
26:31He put his gun on my back, and we followed them.
26:34She opened the stair door to the basement, flicked on the light.
26:40They proceeded first.
26:42My mother was crying.
26:44She was making sounds like she might be wanting to scream or shout, and as they made the turn
26:54on the landing and took those first few steps, by this point, I and the guy behind me who
27:00had the gun on my back made it to the landing.
27:05He told her to shut the F up and pushed her down the stairs.
27:11You may want to have a seat, mom.
27:12It was the worst sound I've ever heard in my life.
27:16She plunged headlong into the wall.
27:21It's a sound I can hear to this day as I'm sitting here, and I could tell that there was
27:26a dent or a hole in the wall.
27:30She was trying to get up and move around, but from my vantage point, she appeared like
27:35she couldn't get her balance.
27:38She certainly appeared to be.
27:41And as I moved like I was going to try to go down the stairs, the guy dug the pistol into
27:47my back and grabbed my shoulder.
27:50The gentleman had pushed her down the stairs, put his pistol behind into the back part of
27:57his jeans.
27:58He ran down the stairs, turned the corner, came back with the 35 pounds weight that has
28:05been seen during the course of his trial.
28:08And where did the knife come from?
28:11Well, the knife came later.
28:14First of all, this monster took this dumbbell and proceeded to bludgeon my mother right in
28:21front of me.
28:22And she was, she stopped moving at this point.
28:27He then told the man who had his pistol in my back to bring me down to the bottom of the
28:34stairs.
28:36They shoved me over to the tile where the dumbbell rested.
28:40And then the older guy took off up the stairs.
28:44He came back a few minutes later with the kitchen knife and proceeded to stab my mother repeatedly
28:50in front of me.
28:50He stabbed her with such force, the handle broke off the knife.
29:04I cannot believe what I was seeing.
29:07The knife was still stuck in my poor mother's face.
29:14Disgraced lawyer and convicted fraudster Richard Merritt has taken the stand in his own defense.
29:20in an even more serious case, telling jurors that he did not kill his mother.
29:27He claims that people associated with his aggrieved former clients broke into his mother's house
29:32and bludgeoned and stabbed her to death right in front of him in a brutal act of revenge.
29:42He then turned and looked at me and he pulled out a cell phone.
29:48And he proceeded to show me a picture of my ex-wife dropping my children off at school.
29:56A picture of them all getting out of her van.
30:00And he said, and I'll never forget this as long as I live.
30:04If you say a single word, they're next.
30:07I had no doubt what next meant.
30:12And then they left.
30:16Did you call a police?
30:17I just witnessed an unimaginable act of violence.
30:25And then a man standing over the body of my dear mother that he skewered and bludgeoned
30:29and shows me pictures of my family.
30:32So no, I did not call the police.
30:37Then what happened?
30:38These guys had left.
30:39I went upstairs.
30:41All I could think about was Janine and the kids and what these monsters could do.
30:52And I left.
30:53So where'd you go?
31:00I went out of the neighborhood and just started heading towards 85.
31:08With how horrific the events of my mother's murder were,
31:13I had to believe that they would keep their word and take it out on my ex-wife and my children
31:19if anything was said.
31:21So I adopted a new identity and I made a vow to myself that I would never reveal who I was.
31:32Did you show your mother?
31:34Absolutely not.
31:37I loved my mother.
31:39She stood by me.
31:41I'm not a violent person.
31:43I've laid a finger on anybody.
31:46I'm a friend.
31:49The fact that he fled, the fact that he didn't render aid,
31:52the fact that he didn't call the police, I was just dumbfounded.
31:57And then his complete lack of emotion when he testified
32:01and when he spoke was frightening.
32:06Ice cold.
32:08It just, it's crazy.
32:11Ms. Pot.
32:12Yes, Your Honor.
32:13So, my strategy in cross-examination first was to point out the fact that he was a liar.
32:22That what he said had happened just didn't make sense.
32:31Mr. Merritt, what you said happened in front of your eyes on February 1st, 2019
32:39must have been horrifying for you.
32:43It was.
32:45You said that it shook you up.
32:48Absolutely.
32:50Yes.
32:51And you were so scared that you got out of there as fast as you could.
32:57I did.
32:58Okay.
32:58Made the decision not to turn yourself into the Cobb County Jail, right?
33:02Correct.
33:03And, um, instead you cut your ankle monitor off.
33:07Yes.
33:08But before you even did that, you made some stops along the way.
33:12Yes.
33:13There were a lot of holes in Richard's story.
33:16His first priority for skipping town was to protect his family.
33:23Yet his actions did not show that.
33:27You stopped at a Kroger, correct?
33:31Correct, I did.
33:32Okay.
33:33And then you stopped at a QT in Norcross.
33:36Okay.
33:36So you bought waters and a candy bar?
33:39Yes.
33:39Did you feel that you were being chased at that point?
33:41At that point, no, I did not.
33:43Okay.
33:43Did you feel like your life was in danger at that point?
33:47I didn't know.
33:50He never called the police.
33:52He never reached out to family members.
33:55So he didn't have any concerns for his family.
33:58You didn't make any calls to anybody to warn them that their lives were in danger.
34:04Right?
34:06These gentlemen told me, and I know you gentlemen very sarcastically, these monsters told me, don't say a word to anyone.
34:13After what they did to my mother, I didn't say a word to anyone.
34:16Okay, so these monsters, do you think that they were the same people who had been chasing your house starting at the beginning of January?
34:24Well, they sure knew we had a basement right off the road.
34:26Okay.
34:26And how many times had people driven around the cul-de-sac as you testified earlier?
34:29Suspiciously, at least 20 or 30 times by my count.
34:3420 or 30 times?
34:36Did you ever get any of their tag numbers?
34:38No, we didn't.
34:39Did you ever call the police to say, oh my gosh, somebody is following me?
34:43No, we didn't.
34:45Did you ever call DeKalb County Police?
34:47Because that's where your mother's house was located.
34:50No, I didn't call, and neither did my mother to my knowledge.
34:52To me, the biggest hole in the story was that they targeted Shirley Merritt.
35:01And that these mobsters let him go even after he watched them commit this brutal crime.
35:12But they did not leave a scratch on you.
35:18They roughed me up a little bit going down the stairs, but no, they didn't.
35:22Okay.
35:25And you were the person who they were after, right?
35:30I'm quite certain that that was their intent when they came there, yes.
35:33Okay.
35:34But they just let you go scot-free.
35:37I believe when my mother started to get loud, that's when the gentleman pushed her, and then he finished her off.
35:45So she wouldn't make any noise.
35:46That's what I personally think.
35:47And they didn't realize what they got into when they took off.
35:49I don't know what their real intentions were.
35:51We never got that far.
35:53The prosecutor had no forensic evidence in this case that linked Richard Merritt to the murder of weapons or the victim's body.
36:01She didn't have DNA.
36:02She didn't have fingerprints.
36:04She didn't have blood matches.
36:05But to have none of it and have a case only built on circumstantial evidence, it's really a disadvantage for the prosecution.
36:13In a case like this, providing an explanation only set up the jury to be able to say whose story makes the most sense, and I'll go with that one.
36:26Richard Merritt's life is on the line, and he needs the jury to believe that the prosecution didn't prove their case.
36:34It's bang or bust, it's either a walk out of here or never see the light of day.
36:40Okay.
36:41I don't want anything for you.
36:42Y'all might be seated.
36:52We are now ready to begin with the closing arguments from the attorneys.
36:56Richard Merritt should have turned himself into a Georgia prison on February 1st, 2019, after pleading guilty to defrauding his clients.
37:10Instead, prosecutors say the former personal injury lawyer killed his mother.
37:16He's just finished testifying.
37:18All the evidence in the case is in.
37:24I will submit to you, ladies and gentlemen, that the defendant's testimony was not believable.
37:32He admitted to crime to his clients, to deceiving his wife and family.
37:41So why would you believe him now?
37:44Mr. Merritt, that story was a B.S., and he don't.
37:51Oh, thank you.
37:54I think Helen Pott had a very strong closing argument.
37:58Mr. Queen, did you want to say something?
38:00But then the defense got up and hammered home the point that you have no forensic evidence at all matching Richard Merritt to this murder.
38:09There is evidence in this case.
38:13And then, of course, as you heard, there was no animosity between Richard and the woman.
38:20She helped provide for him.
38:22She helped provide for the wife.
38:24There's no insurance policy.
38:26There's no will.
38:28Because we want to make things work.
38:29We want something to make sense.
38:31In this case, there is no evidence.
38:33And there's no evidence for why Richard Merritt goes home.
38:39How do you think?
38:48You all may be seated.
38:51All right, ladies and gentlemen, I understand that you all have reached a verdict.
38:55I was very surprised with how quick the jury came back with a verdict.
38:59They came back in under an hour.
39:02I believe it was 59 minutes, almost exactly.
39:05A verdict in less than an hour?
39:08There's no reading of the tea leaves.
39:10You can't gauge really where they are.
39:12If you will give the verdict form to the deputy.
39:15But that's a fast verdict.
39:17Is he going to walk?
39:20Or is he going to go to jail for the rest of his natural life?
39:24The tension was huge at that point.
39:30Sir, if you will read the verdict form from the very top,
39:34starting with in the Superior Court, all the way to the bottom.
39:39In the Superior Court of DeKalb County,
39:42State of Georgia versus Richard Vincent Merritt,
39:46we the jury find the defendant guilty.
39:50Richard Merritt was found guilty on all counts.
39:56Aggravated assault, felony murder, and malice murder.
40:02It felt good knowing that justice had been done for Shirley Merritt.
40:10What I found most disturbing was the manner in which she was murdered
40:15and the brutality of it.
40:17Words cannot describe what that makes you feel like
40:20and what it looks like.
40:21To have to see someone that you knew and loved in that condition.
40:27Richard needed to be held accountable.
40:28So from that standpoint, you know, I think everyone is pleased.
40:33I wish to make a voice to address the floor was hot.
40:36Why don't you pull the microphone closer to him and turn it on?
40:39When he was addressing the court before he was sentenced,
40:45he never mentioned my mother's name.
40:48It's a very surreal experience to be sitting here
40:50and realize that life is a blessing, whatever form it may take,
40:55even a very difficult situation such as what I'm facing right now.
41:00So it was all about him and what he was going to suffer.
41:03Like, who is this person?
41:05I grew up with this person.
41:07I don't know who this person is.
41:10Mr. Merritt, if you'll please stand, sir.
41:14Mr. Merritt, I do sentence you to life without the possibility of parole.
41:20He was going to prison for life.
41:23The question is obvious.
41:25Well, why did this happen?
41:26Why did he do it?
41:27I believe he likely told her he wasn't going to report.
41:35And I think she just absolutely led into him,
41:39just laid it all on the table, and I just think he lost it.
41:44He realized that he had to face consequences
41:48after committing these offenses for years.
41:51He flew off the handle.
41:52Richard felt like his mom was the only thing keeping him from his freedom.
41:59And he just went out of control and killed her.
42:05He eliminated that one person in his life who always bailed him out
42:10and learned the very hard way that he couldn't skirt past accountability without her.
42:16The irony is if Richard hadn't have killed Shirley
42:21and had turned himself into the Cobb County Jail,
42:24he probably would be eligible for parole around now.
42:36Defendants are never forced to take the stand,
42:39but that decision is likely the biggest one they'll ever make.
42:43For Taking the Stand, I'm Dan Abrams.
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