Referring to Joseph's using his military service as mitigation, the prosecution said "And you go to that wall in Washington, and there are fifty thousand names of soldiers who have died, of heroes. You pick out any one of those names of the fifty thousand. Pick one out. Soldier, you've given the ultimate sacrifice. You've been there. Would your service in any way mitigate or excuse the horrible conduct of this defendant, the intentional, malicious murder of his father and of a 13-year-old, defenseless, innocent child? They would be insulted by the question were they alive, insulted by the question. To use that as an excuse for what went on here is insulting."
