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March 26, 2008

Lawyers make their cases for and against Kluth

PROVIDENCE -- The case against John P. Kluth Jr., accused of using a phony broken-down lobster truck story to appeal to people's better angels while actually preying on them for money, is headed to the jury.

Prosecutor Stephen A. Regine sought in Providence County Superior Court today to remind jurors of what the case is about.

It's about good people, he asserted in closing arguments, who want to help others -- thirty-one people who, when encountered by the accused, wanted to help.

Regine walked toward Kluth in the courtroom, pointing at him, and said: "Good citizens in our state who came up against this man. A con man. A confidence man."

Regine also said: "If this happened to you, are you going to remember it? It's going to be embedded in your mind."

But lawyer Mark L. Smith vigorously defended Kluth, saying in his closing argument that the jury needed to consider all 31 allegations individually.

Smith compared the photo array that various police departments, including Providence's, used for people to pick out a suspect as a shell game for witnesses. He sought to raise doubts about how all of the complainants could pick the same person each time. He talked about how some were older and could not see well yet identified Kluth.

Smith also raised the question of whether they intended money they gave as a gift. He also noted an instance in which some people gave Kluth money at a casino but did not question why, if his lobster truck had broken down, he was at a casino.

Smith spoke of the professions of some of those who gave Kluth money -- including a retired lawyer, an official at the state Attorney General's Office and an accountant.

Kluth, a former Newport lobsterman, went on trial beginning on March 12 on charges of obtaining money under false pretenses.

Following closing arguments, Judge Netti C. Vogel was slated to give the jury its instructions this afternoon.

Read about more testimony from the trial.

-- projo.com staff writer Michael P. McKinney, with reports from Journal staff writer Amanda Milkovits

Posted by Mike McKinney  at 4:22 PM | Permalink

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