CrimeWatch

OAKLAND (BCN) ― The defense lawyer for computer engineer Hans Reiser told jurors Thursday that prosecutor Paul Hora's interpretation of the circumstantial evidence in Reiser's trial on charges that he murdered his estranged wife Nina doesn't make any sense and doesn't indicate that he is guilty.

Hora said on Wednesday that the most incriminating circumstance in Reiser's trial is that the battery on Nina's cell phone was removed when police found the battery and the phone in her minivan when it was discovered on Sept. 9, 2006, six days after she disappeared after she dropped off the couple's two children off at Hans' house in the Oakland hills.

Hora said that removing Nina's cell phone battery made it difficult for authorities to locate her and likely was done by someone like Reiser who's familiar with technology.

But in the third day of closing arguments in Reiser's lengthy trial, which is expected to conclude on Monday, DuBois said if Reiser were as shrewd and deliberate as Hora says he is then he wouldn't have left the cell phone and the battery in Nina's car.

"The easiest thing he could have done would have been to pick up a cell phone" if Reiser had killed Nina and was trying to hide incriminating evidence, DuBois said.

DuBois also said Hora's theory that the reason Reiser removed the front seat of his car and threw it away is because it contained evidence linking him to Nina's death also doesn't make any sense.

He said that's because Reiser didn't remove the car seat and throw it away until Sept. 17, two weeks after Nina disappeared.

Reiser testified that he removed the seat because he wanted to make it easier to sleep in his car. He said he didn't want to stay at the house where he lived with his mother because that would have hurt his chances of getting custody of his children.

DuBois said it doesn't make any sense that Reiser would drive around for two weeks with evidence that linked him to Nina's disappearance. He also said Hora never disclosed what kind of evidence might have been on the passenger seat that Reiser removed and threw away.

DuBois said if Reiser had had a plan to kill Nina "there wouldn't even be a car or a cell phone" that could be found and told jurors "Hans's conduct is not consistent with someone who has just killed his wife."

Nina Reiser, who was 31 when she disappeared, and Hans met in Russia, where she was born and was trained as a physician and where he often spent time doing business for his computer file system company.

They married in 1999, but she filed for divorce and separated from him in 2004. Although Nina was awarded legal custody of their children, Hans had visitation rights.

Nina's body has never been found, but Hora says that circumstantial evidence as well as blood and DNA evidence proves that Hans killed her.

Hans Reiser has pleaded not guilty to the charges against him.

Hora has asked jurors to convict Reiser of either first- or second-degree murder but DuBois said he should be acquitted.

Jurors are expected to begin deliberating Reiser's fate either late Monday afternoon or Tuesday morning. DuBois will complete his closing argument Monday morning and Hora will conclude the trial, which began on Nov. 6, with his rebuttal closing argument.

DuBois told jurors Thursday that "it's one of the great screw jobs of all time" that Reiser is accused of murdering Nina.

He accused Hora of "shading" the evidence and of attempting to compare Reiser to Scott Peterson, who was convicted of murdering his wife Laci and their unborn son in a highly-publicized trial several years ago.

DuBois also accused Oakland police officers and Nina's mother, Irina Sharanova, of lying on the witness stand in an effort to manufacture evidence and convict Reiser.

In addition, DuBois said he thinks there's a good chance that Nina is still alive, telling jurors, "I'm not sold that she's dead" and "it irks me" that virtually everyone who testified in Reiser's trial, including her friends, school teachers, fellow parents and her mother and son, thinks that she's dead.

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