Jury To Decide Jesse James Hollywood Case

The Los Angeles times reports that nine years after the murder of 15-year-old Nicholas Markowitz, the criminal case against Jesse James Hollywood is finally in the hands of a jury. Jesse James Hollywood is accused of kidnapping Markowitz over his drug addicted brother's drug debt and then ordering his murder.

At trial, prosecutors argued that Jesse James Hollywood was an admitted marijuana drug dealer and kingpin of a group of drug addicts and abusers who masterminded the plan to kidnap Nicholas Markowitz and hold onto him to force his older half brother Ben to pay Hollywood back on a $1,200 drug use debt.

The case against Jesse James Hollywood reached global notoriety when the facts of the case became the impetus for the 2007 major motion picture "Alpha Dog" starring hip hop music and pop star Justin Timberlake.

At trial Jesse James Hollywood's criminal defense lawyers argued that the case against their client was "manufactured" out of the testimony of drug abusers and tainted by the movie "Alpha Dog."

During closing argument, one of Hollywood's lawyers described one witness, who testified against his client, as "a human bong" for his drug abuse. He also referred to another witness as a "a little weasel."

As for "Alpha Dog", the "the movie is about an animal," said one of Jesse James Hollywood's criminal defense lawyers, referring to the metaphorical use of the term for a wild dog who leads the pack. "Don't you think that, from a defense point of view, that dehumanizes your client?"

At trial, Hollywood admitted to kidnapping Markowitz because the boy's half-brother owed him money for marijuana, but he denied having anything to do with the murder which, the defense argued, was committed by a friend of Hollywood's named Ryan Hoyt, who killed Markowitz in an effort to win the Hollywood's approval.

Ryan Hoyt has already been sentenced to death for the murder.

Now the jury must decide the fate of Jesse James Hollywood who, if convicted, could be sentenced to the death penalty. After a six week trial, was Jesse James Hollywood telling the truth or was he really the mastermind of a kidnapping and murder plot that was intriguing enough to be made into a Hollywood movie? The answer finally lies in the hands of the jury.

Written by Gabriel Dorman
gabedorman@gmail.com
www.criminaldefenseduilawyer.com/blog/