The prosecutor impeached Wafer’s credibility, saying he had used certain “buzzwords” in front of the jury, and that he had every reason to lie to “save his own skin.”
He then touched on the instruction for “false exculpatory statements,” which provides that if the jury believes the defendant lied about an earlier excuse for a crime they can interpret that as consciousness of guilt evidence. In this case, Muscat argues that Wafer first tried to advance an accident defense, and only later self-defense, and that the first was a false exculpatory statement from which they should infer Wafer’s guilt.
Muscat then spoke to self-defense, noting that at the time you use deadly force in self-defense you have to reasonably believe you are facing death or great bodily harm. Wafer, however, did not have to use deadly force immediately, “He had many other options,” and his use of deadly force was “reckless, it was negligent.” Wafer, he said, engaged with McBride and through his actions “creates the confrontation.” His actions were “unnecessary, unjustified, and unreasonable.”