Live updates: Prosecutors begin last argument in trial of former FSU, NFL player Travis Rudolph

WEST PALM BEACH — Day nine of the murder trial of former Florida State University football player Travis Rudolph began Tuesday. Attorneys for both sides presented closing arguments.

Rudolph testified in his defense Monday, adamant that he saved his and his brother's lives by killing Sebastien Jean-Jacques. Rudolph, who played briefly in the NFL, is charged with murder and three counts of attempted murder in connection with a fatal shooting outside of his Lake Park home two years ago.

Four men appeared on Rudolph's doorstep shortly after midnight onApril 7, 2021, to confront him about a dispute he had with his girlfriend hours earlier. The confrontation turned violent, Rudolph said, and he armed himself with a semi-automatic rifle.

Rudolph testifies: Football player says he 'had every right' to defend himself

More testimony: Brother says men who confronted football player Travis Rudolph 'came over to kill'

Prosecutors say the men were trying to flee in a black Cadillac when Rudolph fired 39 rounds into their car, killing Jean-Jacques in the passenger seat.

Rudolph asked Circuit Judge Jeffrey Gillen to dismiss the case last year on the basis of Florida's "Stand Your Ground" law, which permits the use of deadly force to protect against death or great bodily harm. Gillen denied his request, leaving jurors to decide whether Rudolph ended Jean-Jacques' life to save his own.

Follow along for live updates from inside the courtroom, where prosecutors began delivering closing arguments at 2 p.m.

Shooting was 'payback,' state says during last argument

Assistant State Attorney Richard Clausi Jr. derided the defense attorney's argument as vehemently as the defense attorney did the prosecutors'. Clausi said attorney Marc Shiner mischaracterized the night's event and invented a "phantom gun" to plant doubt in the jurors' minds.

"It's not true, ladies and gentlemen," Clausi said. "It's just not true."

The prosecutor reminded jurors that no one in Rudolph's family called 911 or agreed to talk to the investigators who arrived at their home. They only said that Tyler Robinson and Jean-Jacques aimed guns at Rudolph once trial preparation began, backed by Shiner.

Clausi contrasted the family's behavior toward law enforcement with that of the men who confronted Rudolph. Keishaun Jones called 911 after the shooting, agreed to be interviewed and has maintained the same story ever since: Rudolph began shooting after they fled, he said, none with guns pointed back.

He urged the jury not to heed Shiner's "five-minute verdict" recommendation. Jurors have two weeks' worth of evidence to revisit during their deliberations and will return at 10 a.m. Wednesday to begin.

Jury should reach 'not guilty' verdict in minutes, Rudolph's attorney argues

Defense attorney Marc Shiner compared the late-night confrontation on Rudolph's doorstep to an episode of the TV show "The Sopranos," calling Dominique Jones a mobster's daughter who sent her brother "to go whack" Rudolph because she felt disrespected.

Lead investigator Emily Vander-Laan was the target of most of Shiner's barbs once he moved on from Jones. He reiterated each place Vander-Laan didn't look for the gun that Rudolph says Jean-Jacques aimed at him: on the path the men drove from Rudolph's house, inside the auto body shop near where their car died, on the roof of the shop and at the nearby gas station.

Shiner suggested that Vander-Laan "didn't give a damn" about the truth, arguing that she instead wanted Rudolph convicted as another "notch on her belt." He urged the jury to acquit Rudolph and called their decision a "five-minute verdict."

Prosecutors will offer a rebuttal before the jury begins deliberating.

Defense attorney hurls insults during closing argument

Shiner blamed Rudolph's ex-girlfriend for Jean-Jacques' death and skewered the Palm Beach County Sheriff's Office for arresting Rudolph instead. The only thing Rudolph is guilty of is "not being smart with women," Shiner said.

He spoke derisively of the four men who confronted the football player, at one point mocking Edwards' characterization of Tyler Robinson as a hero for covering his friend's body with his own in the back of the Cadillac.

"Where I’m from, you call them hoodlums," Shiner said.

He continued name-calling throughout his closing argument, deeming Jones a "gold digger" and the lead investigator — also a woman — "an embarrassment to the shield … either completely stupid, or a complete liar."

Rudolph, in comparison, was "the most mild-mannered man," Shiner said.

Prosecutor warns against considering Rudolph's celebrity status

Assistant State Attorney Francine Edwards picked apart Rudolph's defense point by point over the course of an hour.

Rudolph couldn't have seen two guns pointed back at him from inside the tinted car windows, she said. Rudolph was standing too far away to see through them.

She reminded jurors that Rudolph's own expert witness, who was paid $600 an hour to tell the jury that Jean-Jacques' grip looked as though he died with a gun in his hand, later said he may not have had anything in his hand at all.

Passing off Jean-Jacques' curled fingers as proof that he was armed is "pure speculation," she said. She characterized Rudolph's defense as a calculated attempt to keep the football player out of trouble — one that invented facts where there was no evidence to support it.

“You have to put a gun in the hand of the people you shot," Edwards said, her tone sarcastic. "You just have to.”

She replayed footage of the men's car backing up a second before Rudolph fired the first of 39 shots. He was pursuing them, she said — not protecting himself. Was he justified if he believed they "started it?" Edwards asked.

“The answer is a resounding no. It is an offensive no," she said. "They were fleeing for their lives. The video proves that beyond a reasonable doubt."

Edwards warned the jury against letting Rudolph's high-profile status distract them from the crime he's accused of. This case isn't about whether he's an ex-NFL player or an ex-celebrity, she said. It's about what he did to Jean-Jacques and his three friends.

State: 'Murder begins where self-defense ends'

Prosecutors used the same quote to bookend their argument Tuesday as they did to introduce it two weeks earlier: "Murder begins where self-defense ends."

Edwards played audio of the 39 rounds fired from Rudolph's gun into the young men's car, and the frantic 911 call Keishaun Jones placed soon afterward.

It isn't the voice of a man who conspired to hide the gun Rudolph insisted was aimed back at him from inside the car, Edwards said. It's the voice of a terrified young man, urging first responders to save Jean-Jacques' life.

Edwards mimicked Rudolph's mother, who sounded terrified, too, as she pleaded with her son to stop — "Travis, please, no, no! Travis, please!" — when he ran after the men with his rifle.

"Are you defending yourself?" Edwards asked. "Or pursuing people you think have wronged you?"

Rudolph testified that he saw Tyler Robinson arm himself with a gun during the fight on the lawn, prompting him to run back inside and grab his own firearm. Rudolph's mother and neighbor said they didn't see anyone but Rudolph with a weapon, Edwards reminded jurors, though Linda Rudolph later blamed her poor eyesight.

Robinson did bring a gun, but he testified that the only time he withdrew it from his pocket was after he'd been shot and fled on foot. He dumped it in a neighbor's lawn while he waited for first responders to arrive and treat his gunshot wounds.

That's because they weren't there to kill Rudolph, Edwards said, despite a text message from Jones that called Rudolph a "dead man walking" hours earlier. Jones said he only wanted to talk to Rudolph that night.

His testimony underscored that of Jones, who said his only intention that night was to talk to Rudolph — not kill him.

He called Rudolph six times that evening. According to the football player's phone records, Rudolph ignored five calls and rejected one. Rudolph denied ever receiving the calls, telling jurors his phone was broken during the fight with his then-girlfriend, Jones' sister Dominique.

Judge Jeffrey Gillen instructs jury before closing arguments

Tuesday's proceedings were scheduled to resume at 10 a.m. but began shortly after noon, thanks to last-minute revisions to the jury instructions. Jury instructions are meant to keep the jury on track as they deliberate, containing definitions of the law on which their decision must be based.

This article originally appeared on Palm Beach Post: Travis Rudolph trial update: Final closing argument begins