Less Is More: What the Faust Defense Should Have Done Instead

Defense attorney Ahmad Cruz got held in contempt today. Fined $1,000. Due by 9 AM tomorrow. In the middle of his own opening statement.

And somehow, that wasn't even the worst part of his performance.

The State's Case Is Weak

Let me be clear about something: the state's case against Edrick Faust has significant problems. The prosecution admitted in their opening that they cannot prove how Faust entered the home. They cannot prove how he left unseen. They cannot explain why every single hair found on Tara Baker's body, in her hand, and on the murder weapon was Caucasian when Faust is African American.

No fingerprints. No DNA on any surface in the house. No witnesses who saw him enter or leave. No physical evidence placing him at the scene except DNA found in the victim's body 23 years later.

That's a case with holes. Big ones. The kind of holes a competent defense attorney drives a truck through.

Instead, Cruz spent nearly two hours making the prosecution's case look airtight.

The Opening That Should Have Happened

Here's what a defense opening in this case should have looked like:

Three minutes. Maybe four. Sit down. Let the state sweat through every gap in their case while twelve jurors watch and wait for answers that never come.

That's the power of less.

What Cruz Did Instead

Cruz talked for nearly two hours. And in those two hours, he:

Conceded the DNA evidence. He told the jury "DNA is not an issue in this case." The state's only evidence is DNA. And the defense just told the jury not to worry about it. That's like a murder defendant saying "the body isn't an issue." Now the jury isn't thinking about the gaps in the DNA evidence. They're thinking the defense has accepted it.

Put the boyfriend on trial without evidence. Cruz spent the bulk of his opening accusing Chris Melton, Tara Baker's boyfriend, of the murder. He showed photos of Melton's hands. He detailed Melton's behavior after the death. He accused investigators of trying to "explain away" Melton's DNA. But here's the problem: Melton isn't on trial. Faust is. And Cruz doesn't have evidence that Melton did it. He has suspicion. He has behavior he finds suspicious. But suspicion isn't reasonable doubt. Suspicion is just noise.

Violated the rape shield law. Twice. Georgia's rape shield law requires the defense to file a motion before implying the victim had prior sexual contact with anyone. Cruz tried to suggest Faust and Baker might have had consensual contact. He did it without filing the motion. Without having any evidence. The judge warned him. He did it again. Then he got held in contempt and fined $1,000.

Gave the jury reasons to dislike him. Every objection, every sidebar, every warning from the judge is a moment where the jury watches the defense attorney being told he's doing something wrong. By the end of the opening, the jury had watched Cruz get warned, get sanctioned, and get fined. That's not a good first impression.

The "Less Is More" Principle

There's an old rule in criminal defense: when the state's case is weak, keep your mouth shut and make them prove it.

The burden of proof is on the prosecution. They have to prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The defense doesn't have to prove anything. The defense doesn't have to present a theory. The defense doesn't have to explain the evidence. The defense just has to create doubt.

And sometimes the best way to create doubt is to point at the gaps and say nothing else.

Think about it from the jury's perspective. If the defense attorney stands up and says "the state can't prove X, Y, and Z" and then sits down, the jury spends the entire trial watching the state's case and thinking "okay, but what about X? What about Y? What about Z?" Every witness, every exhibit, every moment becomes an opportunity for the jury to notice what's missing.

But if the defense attorney stands up and talks for two hours about an alternative theory, the jury stops thinking about the gaps in the state's case. Now they're thinking about the defense's theory. And if that theory has problems, if the attorney can't back it up, if the attorney gets sanctioned for pushing it too far, the jury starts thinking the defense is desperate.

Cruz made the jury think about his theory instead of the state's gaps. That's backwards.

The DNA Problem

Here's the reality Cruz doesn't want to confront: his client's DNA was found in the victim's vagina and mouth. The match is 1 in 800 quadrillion. That's not a number you can hand-wave away.

There are only three ways to deal with DNA evidence like that:

Attack the science. Challenge the collection. Challenge the chain of custody. Challenge the lab procedures. Challenge the interpretation. The sexual assault kit is 25 years old. There may be issues with how it was stored, how it was tested, how the results were interpreted. A good defense attorney digs into that.

Attack the interpretation. The state used something called TrueAllele, a probabilistic genotyping software. It's controversial. Some courts have excluded it. Some experts question its reliability. A good defense attorney brings in an expert to challenge whether the "partial major profile" really means what the state says it means.

Provide an innocent explanation. If there was prior consensual contact between Faust and Baker, the DNA doesn't prove murder. It proves contact. But to make that argument, you need evidence. You need to file the 412 motion. You need testimony. You need something.

Cruz did none of these. He conceded the DNA. He didn't attack the science. He didn't challenge the interpretation. He tried to imply consent without evidence and got sanctioned for it. And now the jury has heard him say "DNA is not an issue" while also watching him get held in contempt for trying to explain the DNA.

That's the worst of all worlds.

What Comes Next

The trial continues. The state will present its case. Cruz will cross-examine witnesses. Maybe he'll find his footing. Maybe the state's case will fall apart on its own.

But Day 1 set a tone. The defense attorney is already in contempt. The jury has already watched him get sanctioned. And the prosecution's DNA evidence, which should be the thing the jury questions most, has been conceded by the defense as "not an issue."

Edrick Faust is presumed innocent. The state still has to prove its case. But his attorney just made that job a lot easier.

Less would have been more. A lot more.