his client as a follower-type personality who had acted under the control of Gertrude Baniszewski, suggesting that had he not carved part of the obscene insult into Likens' abdomen at Gertrude's request, Hobbs could well have been a state's witness as opposed to Stephanie Baniszewski. He then referred to Jenny's overall failure to notify authorities of her sister's abuse until she had already died, describing her as "a sister who could limp three-and-a-half miles to a park but couldn't take two or three steps out into New York Street to beg for help!" Nedder ended his closing argument by requesting a verdict of not guilty, stating Hobbs was "guilty of immaturity and gross lack of judgement", but not of the crime of murder. Rebuttal Leroy New rebutted the defense counsels' closing arguments by promising to "speak through the mangled and shredded lips of Sylvia Likens. I see her wherever I look". Outlining the catalog of mistreatment Likens had endured prior to her death at the hands of each of the defendants, New directly addressed criticism he had earlier received from Forrest Bowman in his closing argument regarding the prosecution "cross-examining children", stating: "The prosecutors' job is to present the evidence to the best of our ability. Now, let's look at some of the responsibilities here. Each one of [the] five defendants had first and foremost the responsibility to leave Sylvia Likens alone; we had the responsibility to bring all the evidence we could find that could explain this crime." Referring to the sentimental closing arguments made by various defense counsels regarding reasoning and motivation for their clients' actions, their attempts to divert responsibility to other defendants or participants, and their clients' collective failure to either help Likens or to notify authorities, New added: "All we hear is whining appeal, anything but blame where the blame belongs." He then speculated as to the reason Likens did not try to escape from the Baniszewski household prior to the abuse increasingly escalating in the final weeks of her life, stating: "I think she trusted in man ... I think she did not believe these people would do this and continue to do it." New concluded his closing argument by emphasizing the defendants' unison in their collective mistreatment of Likens, before asking the jury to dismiss arguments made by various defense counsels regarding who may have actually inflicted the "fatal blow" to Likens' head,