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Tuesday, August 25, 2009

City The Kalebu Tapes: Guilty and Not Guilty.

Posted by Eli Sanders on Tue, Aug 25, 2009 at 6:40 PM

On April 29, more than a year after he allegedly threatened to kill his mother (and then allegedly bashed in the windows of her car to drive home the point that he didn't like her telling him to take his Bipolar medication), Isaiah M. Kalebu entered a courtroom in Kent and pleaded guilty to harassment and malicious mischief charges stemming from the incident.

This video of his appearance had some glitches in it, so we can only bring you an excerpt. But it happens to be the most relevant excerpt. What we unfortunately can't bring you—because we weren't able to get it—is video of a subsequent hearing at which Kalebu withdrew his guilty plea. According to sources involved in the case, Kalebu was told he'd have to give a DNA sample as part of his plea deal. When he realized that would be an unavoidable part of pleading guilty, he decided he'd rather face trial.

This is the end of this series. Check back tomorrow for a post that sets all of the Kalebu tapes in chronological order, beginning with his first court appearance in April of 2008 and ending with his court appearance on July 23 of this year—one day before his arrest in the South Park rapes and murder.

Video wizardry: Kelly O.

Comments (6) RSS

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Was there any explanation for his resistance to providing a DNA sample? I guess the inference one might draw is that it might implicate him in another crime, but this was before the South Park rapes and murder, right?

As horrifying as this whole drama has been, this is an incredible series of posts. Great work, Eli.

Posted by Lee on August 25, 2009 at 7:58 PM

Eli -- Just wanted to express my appreciation for your vigilance in putting these videos out there and for your excellent commentary. Cheers.

Posted by Quintus Slide on August 25, 2009 at 9:06 PM

And again his attorney is leaning away from him, not looking at him.

Posted by Patti on August 25, 2009 at 9:24 PM

@3: I was tempted to make the same observation, but I think that drawing any meaning from that would require looking at a lot of other courtoom videos where we don't already know the outcome.

I mean, I think it's actually pretty reasonable to think that the default attitude of public defenders toward their clients is one of indifference that borders on discomfort. The fact that Kalebu's attorney displays this doesn't really indicate anything out of the ordinary to me.

Posted by Lee on August 25, 2009 at 10:14 PM

Thank you for the report Eli.

Posted by dj007 on August 26, 2009 at 7:45 AM

@1,

Maybe he already left his DNA at the scene of other crimes. Or maybe he was planning on raping/murdering someday, which definitely makes him a cold-blooded monster.

Posted by keshmeshi on August 26, 2009 at 11:18 AM