Elizabeth L. Parker, Esq.
DRAMATIC VIDEO SHOWN IN DIPPOLITO TRIAL The Sun Sentinel May 11, 2011 Alexia Campbell Jurors in Dalia Dippolito's murder-for-hire trial on Wednesday watched dramatic video of her August 2009 arrest and listened to her calls from jail as she begged her mother and husband for help. Some jurors smiled and one covered her mouth as they read steamy text messages Dalia had exchanged with her ex-boyfriend as the pair allegedly schemed to get her newlywed husband, Michael Dippolito, out of the picture. It was the last full day of the prosecution's case against Dalia Dippolito, 28, who is charged with solicitation to commit first-degree murder and faces up to 30 years in prison if convicted. Boynton Beach Detective Alex Moreno will take the witness stand again Thursday, for the third day. He already has answered nearly 10 hours of in-depth questions about his investigation of Dippolito's alleged plot to have her husband killed. Defense attorney Michael Salnick will continue his cross-examination Thursday. Earlier, Chief Assistant State Attorney Elizabeth Parker tried to discredit the defense argument that Dalia Dippolito thought she was acting in a reality television show and never wanted her husband killed. "Did you ever find any evidence that this was a stunt for reality television by Mike Dippolito?" Parker asked Moreno, her final witness. "No," he answered. Dalia Dippolito, wearing a collared blouse and white sweater, rolled her eyes when Moreno described her husband as an "emotional wreck" when told of the alleged plot to kill him. Dippolito was arrested in August 2009 after she allegedly paid an undercover officer, posing as a hit man, to kill her husband. Boynton Beach police staged an elaborate sting that was videotaped and went viral on YouTube. They told Dalia Dippolito that her husband had been killed, and one video shows her breaking down in front of their Boynton Beach townhouse. Later in the day, Michael Dippolito confronted her at the police station, and Dalia Dippolito was arrested. On Wednesday she looked calmly at police video that shows her talking with a "hit man" about how the murder would go, and how much she was willing to pay. "There's no changing‌ I'm determined," she said to the undercover officer. When police later arrested her, she sobbed, begging them to let her go home. Detectives who interviewed her tried to get her to confess. "We want to give you an opportunity to do some soul-searching, maybe, and get a load off your chest and tell us the truth," one detective asked. She denied hiring someone to kill her husband. Her defense is expected to begin Thursday, with Salnick using expert witnesses to persuade the jury that Dalia Dippolito never wanted him dead. She thought she was playing along with a reality show hoax her husband invented for publicity, he said, fully knowing that "Cops" television show producers planned to air footage of the murder-for-hire investigation.
Elizabeth L. Parker, Esq. A psychologist from Utah who researches aggressive behavior in reality television likely is one of the defense witnesses flying in for the trial, as are two Washington forensic computer experts. Salnick may present his entire case on Thursday, but he told Judge Jeffrey Colbath that he may need more time if Dalia Dippolito testifies. Whether or not the Boynton Beach woman will take the stand has been a key question in the case. It's also unclear whether her ex-boyfriend, Mike Stanley, will fly in to testify. Colbath initially planned for the trial to last only through the end of this week.