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Closing arguments begin in Dalia Dippolito retrial

Posted at 6:12 AM, Dec 12, 2016
and last updated 2016-12-13 04:09:29-05

Closing arguments began Monday in the high profile murder-for-hire retrial of Dalia Dippolito.

Her defense attorneys are making their last comments to the jury before the state gets a chance for rebuttal in the morning.

The state opened its closing arguments showing how many times Dippolito and a police informant communicated over a span of four days.

They replayed the most important evidence in the case, video recordings of Dippolito meeting with the informant and the undercover Boynton Beach police officer posing as a hit man.

Jurors sat still and quiet as they re-watched video and heard the voice of Dippolito talk about pricing and hiring a hit man to kill her husband.

State prosecutors replayed videos that show Dippolito talking about possible options for allegedly plotting her husband's death, even providing a picture of him.

Her defense attorneys have criticized the Boynton Beach Police Department's investigation because not all meetings and phone calls between Dippolito and the police informant were recorded. Dippolito's attorneys claim she was pressured to meet with the undercover hit man.

"Every call that came through should have been recorded," said the Law Enforcement Expert witness called on by the defense.

Dippolito's attorney's final witness weighed in on the investigation and it's involvement with the "COPS" TV show.

"You don't do things on cue, you do things as they unfold, if you're doing it for television then perhaps you're in the wrong line of work," added the LEO expert.

Controversial video in the case was allowed to be played in court Monday. Judge Glenn Kelley previously ruled not to allow staged crime scene video taken by the Boynton Beach Police Department which shows Dippolito's reaction when officers tell her that her husband is dead.

Defense attorneys objected to seating jurors who had seen the staged crime scene video on the news or when it was featured on the "COPS" TV show. The state was able to play it in court after prosecutors argued it's been mentioned enough in testimony for jurors to see it for themselves.

"We don’t feel like it did any damage at all I think it actually showed that this is a police department wasting resources, said Brian Claypool, Defense attorney for Dalia Dippolito.

The video of the staged crime scene was recorded and posted on YouTube by the Boynton Beach Police Department.

The state focused on Dippolito's emotional reaction at the fake crime scene.

"Could you see her face," asked the prosecutor.

"I could see her face," said Stephanie Slater, Boynton Beach Police Public Information Officer.

"Did you ever see tears run down her face?" asked the prosecutor.

"No," answered Slater.

The state will get a chance for rebuttal Tuesday morning. Jurors will then receive final instructions before they begin deliberations.

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