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Thread: James E. Cooke, Jr. - Delaware

  1. #21
    Administrator Heidi's Avatar
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    Cooke tossed from courtroom again

    Less dramatic this time, but former death row inmate James Cooke is out of the courtroom yet again.

    Judge Charles Toliver ruled Cooke was in contempt after refusing to take part in a demonstration involving a witness.

    Prosecutor Steve Wood tells WDEL Cooke was asked to stand next to a witness to prove that a man of similar height and stature could climb the balcony into Lindsey Bonistall's apartment.

    When Cooke argued and refused, Toliver tossed him, holding him in contempt until he agrees to abide by the court's rules.

    Friday marks the first time Cooke's attorneys will cross examine a witness in the case, but it looks like Cooke won't be present for that.

    http://www.wdel.com/story.php?id=41497
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  2. #22
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    Lindsey Bonistall neighbor: Defendant 'gave me the creeps'

    A woman testified Friday that she saw James E. Cooke Jr. riding slowly through the neighborhood on a red bicycle the night that Lindsey Bonistall of White Plains was slain.

    “It was kind of like he was pedaling in slow motion, very, very slowly,” Judy Romeo said. “It was weird. It gave me the creeps.”

    Cooke, 41, was not in the courtroom for the testimony as he continued to feud with Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV, who ordered Cooke taken out on a civil contempt charge.

    Cooke is charged with the rape and murder of the 20-year-old Bonistall on May 1, 2005, and with setting her apartment on fire. He faces a possible death penalty if convicted.

    In the first four days of testimony, prosecutors focused on laying the groundwork for the case, establishing times, dates and evidence. With Romeo’s testimony Friday, the state began to tie the crimes directly to Cooke.

    Romeo, who lived directly across a park from Bonistall’s unit in the Towne Court Apartments, said she was standing at her back door early May 1, 2005, on her way to get cigarettes from her car when she saw a light-skinned man with braids in his hair and wearing a gray hoodie ride by on a bike. Romeo said the man passed within 20 feet of her and shot her a look, giving her a clear view of his face.

    About 20 minutes later, Romeo said, she was back inside when she saw the lights from firetrucks and smoke from a fire at the Towne Court apartments.

    On cross examination, defense attorney Peter Veith highlighted inconsistencies between Romeo’s testimony and her statements to police in 2005, including how Romeo allegedly told police she did not get a good look at the man’s face. Romeo, however, maintained on the stand that she saw the man clearly, a man she positively identified weeks later in a photo lineup as Cooke.

    Cooke was not seen by the jury on Friday, as he watched proceedings from a holding cell via closed-circuit television. The problem for Cooke started when Deputy Attorney General Diane Coffey was attempting to get photos admitted of a Newark, Del.; police officer demonstrating how a person could easily climb onto the balcony of Bonistall’s second-floor apartment.

    http://www.lohud.com/article/2012031...ave-me-creeps-
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  3. #23
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    Friends Testify at Retrial in UD Student's Slaying

    Friends of a University of Delaware student killed in 2005 testified that they had never heard the name of the man charged in the student's death, though he had told jurors earlier that they were friends.

    They also testified Monday about Lindsey Bonistall's final hours in the retrial of James Cooke Jr., the former death row inmate charged with raping and killing the 20-year-old student. Friends said Bonistall went to a dorm to watch "Saturday Night Live" after work and when she said goodbye, she mentioned she would likely stop by a store on her way home.

    Cooke watched Monday's proceedings from a video link in an adjacent cell after choosing not to sit in the courtroom. If the 41-year-old is convicted, he faces a possible death sentence.

    http://www.wboc.com/story/17199566/f...udents-slaying
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  4. #24
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    Prosecution Wraps Up Case in University of Delaware Murder

    Prosecutors are wrapping up their case against a former death row inmate charged in the 2005 rape and murder of a University of Delaware student.

    The prosecution planned to rest its case against 41-year-old James Cooke Jr. on Monday, after which defense attorneys were to begin presenting their case.

    Cooke was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murder of Lindsey Bonistall. The state Supreme Court overturned Cooke's conviction in 2009 because his public defenders, without Cooke's consent and despite his repeated claims of innocence, argued that he was guilty but mentally ill.

    Cooke began his retrial by acting as his own attorney. However, following frequent outbursts and his continued refusal to abide by court rules, the judge, over Cooke's objections, ordered that Cooke's court-appointed standby attorneys take over the defense.

    http://www.wboc.com/story/17304962/p...elaware-murder
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  5. #25
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    Former death row inmate denies killing Del. student

    A former death row inmate testifying in his own defense says he knew his victim and that they had consensual sex.

    James Cooke, was sentenced to death in 2007 for the murder of Lindsey Bonistall, denied killing the University of Delaware student in 2005.

    Cooke testified for about an hour under questioning from his lawyer Tuesday. He has claimed that racism is the reason for the charges against him.

    The state Supreme Court overturned Cooke’s conviction in 2009 because his public defenders, without Cooke’s consent and despite his repeated claims of innocence, argued that he was guilty but mentally ill.

    http://www.delmarvanow.com/article/2...elaware%20Wave
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  6. #26
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    Final cases made in Cooke trial

    There is no reasonable doubt that James E. Cooke Jr. raped and murdered University of Delaware sophomore Lindsey M. Bonistall on May 1, 2005, prosecutors told a Superior Court jury Wednesday.

    There was handwriting on the walls of Bonistall's apartment that ties Cooke to the slaying, Cooke's voice on 911 calls to police, and Cooke's DNA recovered from Bonistall's body, putting the odds at 1 in 676 quintillion that it was someone else, prosecutors Diane Coffey and Steven Wood said as they presented their closing arguments in Cooke's trial on murder and rape charges.

    Defense attorney Anthony A. Figliola Jr., however, questioned if the investigation was cut short once police focused on Cooke, pointing to a missing key to Bonistall's apartment and the DNA number of "one in a gazillion." Figliola noted that the expert who testified could not explain exactly how he arrived at the ratio of 1 in 676 quintillion.

    Figliola also said prosecutors failed to find -- or tie Cooke to -- the cellphone that made the 911 calls, recordings of which were played at trial. "They can't put the phone in his hands," Figliola said.

    What the defense closing largely skipped over, but prosecutors hammered repeatedly, was Cooke's own explanation for how his DNA turned up at the crime scene. Cooke told the jury he had been there 24 hours before the homicide and had consensual sex with the 20-year-old Bonistall.

    The problem with that story is that at the same time Cooke said he was alone with Bonistall at her Towne Court apartment, a time card shows Bonistall was working at a Newark restaurant. A witness also testified that she saw Bonistall working as a hostess at the Home Grown Café that evening, Wood said.

    Figliola also tried to brush aside Cooke's repeated, fervent denials in June 2005 that he knew Bonistall. "I don't know no Lindsey," he was heard saying in one recording of a police interview. Figliola said the 41-year-old Cooke was afraid police would not believe that he, a black man, had a relationship with Bonistall, a white woman.

    Prosecutors zeroed in on all the people who would have to be lying in order for Cooke's story to be true, including the police, Bonistall's friends, Bonistall's co-workers, a person who was considering moving into Bonistall's apartment, Cooke's co-workers at a shoe store, a person who played basketball with Cooke and the woman who was Cooke's on-and-off girlfriend for 10 years and mother of five of his children.

    Wood also encouraged the jury to compare the handwriting and mangled grammar of phrases written on the walls of Bonistall's apartment and the apartment of a burglary victim to samples of Cooke's writing. The person who wrote on the walls and Cooke both confuse the use of "our" with "are" and substituted "what" for "want," Wood said.

    In the courtroom for Wednesday's closing arguments were Bonistall's parents, several other family members and Delaware Attorney General Beau Biden. At one point, when prosecutor Coffey was about to show the jury a picture of Lindsey's beaten and lifeless body, the Bonistalls reacted to a nod from the prosecutors and lowered their eyes in unison.

    Cooke, who was not in the courtroom during brief testimony Wednesday morning, returned to the defense table for closing arguments, wearing -- as he has throughout the trial -- his white prison uniform. While Cooke repeatedly clashed with attorneys and the judge on Tuesday, he was calm and quiet on Wednesday.

    Wood ended the case as he began it a month ago, by telling the jury that Lindsey Bonistall did not know the name of the man who surprised her in her apartment on May 1, 2005, beat her, bound her, raped her and strangled her. But he said the evidence makes clear who is responsible.

    "Ladies and gentlemen, please say his name with your verdict of guilty," said Wood, his voice rising as he pointed at Cooke. "Tell us his name."

    The jury was dismissed and sequestered Wednesday evening after Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV finished reading instructions and the panel was directed to return to the courthouse at 9 a.m. to being deliberations.

    Cooke is facing 11 criminal counts, including two counts of first-degree murder and one count each of first-degree rape and first-degree arson.

    If the jury convicts Cooke, the panel will then reconvene for additional testimony to decide if Cooke should receive the death penalty.

    This is the second trial for Cooke. The result of a previous trial, in which Cooke was convicted and sentenced to death for Bonistall's rape and murder, was tossed out by a divided Delaware Supreme Court in 2009 because Cooke's previous attorneys entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill over Cooke's explicit objections.

    http://www.delawareonline.com/articl...de-Cooke-trial
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

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  7. #27
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    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  8. #28
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    Bonistall jurors to reconvene today

    Jurors in the retrial of James E. Cooke Jr. on charges that he raped and murdered Lindsey Bonistall, a University of Delaware sophomore from White Plains, retired Thursday without reaching a verdict after a full day of deliberations. The judge directed the 12 jurors to return to the courthouse in Wilmington, Del, to resume their work at 9 a.m. today.

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    I have a really bad feeling in this case. Why do they need another day?
    No murder can be so cruel that there are not still useful imbeciles who do gloss over the murderer and apologize.

  9. #29
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    Lindsey Bonistall killing: James Cooke found guilty of murder, rape, burglary, arson

    James E. Cooke Jr. was found guilty of murder, rape, burglary, arson in the death of White Plains resident and University of Delaware sophomore Lindsey M. Bonistall in 2005.

    Attorneys in the case and Bonistall’s family began gathering in the courtroom a short time ago. The jury began deliberations yesterday morning.

    Cooke is facing 11 criminal counts, including two counts of first degree murder and one count each of first-degree rape and first-degree arson.

    If the jury convicts Cooke, the panel will then reconvene for additional testimony to decide if Cooke should receive the death penalty.

    This is the second trial for Cooke. The result of a previous trial, where Cooke was convicted and sentenced to death for Bonistall’s rape and murder, was tossed out by a divided Delaware Supreme Court in 2009 because Cooke’s previous attorneys entered a plea of guilty but mentally ill over Cooke’s explicit objections.

    http://www.lohud.com/article/2012041...yssey=nav|head
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

  10. #30
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    Cooke is a character. He is an inmate I see volunteering numerous times just to appeal at the last minute.

    Opening statements begin in penalty phase for James E. Cooke Jr., convicted of killing Lindsey Bonistall

    Opening statements have begun this morning in the penalty phase of a man found guilty last week of the rape and murder of University of Delaware sophomore Lindsey Bonistall in 2005.

    In this phase of the trial jurors will decide whether James E. Cooke Jr. should live or die for murdering Bonistall. Their decision does not have to be unanimous.

    Prior to the start of the hearing, Cooke was asked if he wanted to be in the courtroom for the hearing. Cooke told Superior Court Judge Charles H. Toliver IV that the process was unfair, as had the trial, and wanted the mitigation waived.

    “Just give me the death penalty. That’s what I deserve,” he said, adding he did not kill Bonistall. “I’m an innocent man. Just give me the death penalty.”


    Cooke was convicted and sentenced to death five years ago.

    The 2007 verdict, and the subsequent imposition of the death penalty, were both tossed out by a divided Delaware Supreme Court in 2009 because Cooke’s attorneys entered a plea of guilty-but-mentally-ill over Cooke’s objections.

    The justices ruled that only Cooke could choose to admit to the charges, not his attorneys.

    http://www.lohud.com/article/2012041...dsey-Bonistall
    An uninformed opponent is a dangerous opponent.

    "Y'all be makin shit up" ~ Markeith Loyd

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