WEBVTT - Part 9: The Verdict 0:00:00.920 --> 0:00:05.240 It's day in the trial of David Castillo, the CEO 0:00:05.559 --> 0:00:09.720 is accused of planning the murder of environmental activists Berta Cassaris. 0:00:10.600 --> 0:00:13.480 On this day, the judge calls a witness for the 0:00:13.560 --> 0:00:21.800 prosecution to the stand. Daniel Atala is part of the 0:00:21.800 --> 0:00:26.680 Atala Zabla family. They sunk millions of dollars into David 0:00:26.720 --> 0:00:33.199 Castillo's company Dessa. For Berta's family and her supporters, Atala 0:00:33.360 --> 0:00:38.480 is a very important witness. He wasn't just an investor Indessa. 0:00:39.120 --> 0:00:42.240 He was also the CFO, the man who kept track 0:00:42.320 --> 0:00:45.800 of the company's money. He was in regular contact with 0:00:45.920 --> 0:00:50.720 David before and after the murder. Even more important for 0:00:50.720 --> 0:00:55.440 the prosecution the Atala Zabla family is David's connection to 0:00:55.520 --> 0:01:00.320 the powers that run Honduras. For them, just getting Danniel 0:01:00.400 --> 0:01:03.920 Atala on the stand carries a lot of symbolic weight. 0:01:04.880 --> 0:01:09.440 Bear To herself often complained that wealthy and politically connected 0:01:09.520 --> 0:01:14.720 business leaders are untouchable by the Honduran justice system. She 0:01:14.840 --> 0:01:18.080 and her backers have always alleged that a handful of 0:01:18.240 --> 0:01:23.000 rich families, the Atala Zablas among them, dominate the country's 0:01:23.040 --> 0:01:27.920 power structures. They contend that these families use their influence 0:01:27.959 --> 0:01:32.920 to buy protection from the government, from police and from judges. 0:01:33.959 --> 0:01:37.760 The notion that the Atala Zabla family might somehow be 0:01:37.840 --> 0:01:41.520 able to influence the outcome of this case has clung 0:01:41.600 --> 0:01:44.759 to it from the moment David Castillo was arrested as 0:01:44.800 --> 0:01:49.960 a suspect. It's an idea that the Atala Zablas dismiss 0:01:50.040 --> 0:01:55.920 as ridiculous and paranoid, not not the wealthiest family in 0:01:55.960 --> 0:01:59.280 the country. By by farm we have, you know, a 0:01:59.360 --> 0:02:03.480 strong and us win group. But it's we. We don't 0:02:03.480 --> 0:02:08.560 have the loving capacity, we don't have the fund capacity. 0:02:08.360 --> 0:02:12.399 We don't have the funding capacity. That's Daniel Atala when 0:02:12.400 --> 0:02:16.880 we spoke to him last year. It's a extremely limited 0:02:16.919 --> 0:02:21.000 and we and the investment that we have lost, as 0:02:21.080 --> 0:02:25.360 you know, made of big dent in in our in 0:02:25.440 --> 0:02:30.000 our finances. There are two kinds of prosecutors in this case, 0:02:30.560 --> 0:02:35.520 the state prosecutors and the private prosecutors who represent Berta's family. 0:02:36.480 --> 0:02:39.960 The private prosecutors big fear is that no matter how 0:02:40.080 --> 0:02:44.400 much evidence they present in court, David Castillo will still 0:02:44.440 --> 0:02:48.720 get off. That the Itala Zablas somehow will be able 0:02:48.760 --> 0:02:55.040 to shield David and themselves from punishment. So for them 0:02:55.160 --> 0:02:58.040 forcing a member of the Itala Zabla family to be 0:02:58.160 --> 0:03:01.280 grilled in the witness box is a test of the 0:03:01.280 --> 0:03:06.520 court's integrity and independence. The defense has repeatedly appealed to 0:03:06.560 --> 0:03:11.000 the court to not make Daniel Latala testify, So this 0:03:11.080 --> 0:03:14.799 is a very big moment in the trial. But when 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:19.639 Daniel Latala's name is called, he's not in the courtroom. 0:03:19.680 --> 0:03:25.560 The witness box is empty. To Bart's family, this is 0:03:25.600 --> 0:03:30.000 an ominous sign. A moment that seemed like a victory 0:03:30.440 --> 0:03:34.160 becomes a reminder that there are no guarantees in the 0:03:34.240 --> 0:03:47.840 trial of David Castillo. In our final episode will take 0:03:47.880 --> 0:03:50.280 you all the way to the end of this trial, 0:03:51.040 --> 0:03:55.800 the judges will decide David Castillo's faith and not guilty. 0:03:55.920 --> 0:03:58.560 Verdict would allow him to reclaim a life that he 0:03:58.600 --> 0:04:03.360 says has been stolen from him. For Bart's family, a 0:04:03.480 --> 0:04:08.440 conviction would prove that justice in Honduras, five long years 0:04:08.600 --> 0:04:12.280 after they began searching for it, can still be found. 0:04:13.680 --> 0:04:24.760 I'm monte Reel and this is blood River. Danielle Atala 0:04:24.960 --> 0:04:27.800 is not in the courtroom when it comes time for 0:04:27.880 --> 0:04:31.440 him to testify. His image pops up on a video screen. 0:04:37.880 --> 0:04:41.120 That's the judge asking if he can hear her. Okay, 0:04:42.160 --> 0:04:46.640 other witnesses in Europe, in Mexico, in the United States 0:04:47.120 --> 0:04:51.520 have testified remotely, but the prosecutors wanted to question a 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:56.120 Tala face to face. So the judge asks, where are 0:04:56.200 --> 0:05:06.919 you when those things didn't He's into Goosey, Galpa, just 0:05:07.160 --> 0:05:11.040 minutes away from this courtroom, So why didn't he come in? 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:20.719 And when he says he didn't want to unnecessarily expose 0:05:20.839 --> 0:05:24.880 himself to COVID nineteen, he says his wife and his 0:05:24.960 --> 0:05:29.520 mother suffer from respiratory problems. He says he stayed home 0:05:29.600 --> 0:05:33.040 for them. But there are only a handful of people 0:05:33.080 --> 0:05:37.600 in the courtroom. Witnesses keep their distance from them. Everyone's 0:05:37.640 --> 0:05:41.239 wearing masks. The judge orders him to come into court 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:46.280 as soon as possible. This seems like a resounding symbolic 0:05:46.400 --> 0:05:50.279 victory for the private prosecutors, and a few hours later 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.440 he's there in the witness box, getting a microphone clip 0:05:54.480 --> 0:05:59.000 to his shirt, getting sworn in, and almost immediately he 0:05:59.080 --> 0:06:07.919 addresses the much. He tells the judge that, on the 0:06:07.960 --> 0:06:13.120 advice of his lawyers, he's decided not to testify. He 0:06:13.160 --> 0:06:18.440 informs the judge that he Danielle is himself under investigation 0:06:18.640 --> 0:06:22.880 for this murder. That being the case, he can't be 0:06:23.000 --> 0:06:28.280 forced to talk about it in court. The mood immediately 0:06:28.400 --> 0:06:33.400 changes in the room, particularly among the team of private prosecutors. 0:06:34.200 --> 0:06:37.880 They don't seem ready for this revelation. They huddled together, 0:06:38.080 --> 0:06:42.719 whispering among themselves at their tables. They say they're not 0:06:42.800 --> 0:06:46.839 aware that an official investigation of Danielle has been opened. 0:06:48.080 --> 0:06:53.320 The judge says she isn't either, but the public prosecutors 0:06:53.720 --> 0:06:59.800 the state's attorneys, say yes, it's true, Danielle is being investigated, 0:07:00.400 --> 0:07:04.719 and because of that, it's his constitutional right to remain silent. 0:07:06.120 --> 0:07:09.800 The private prosecutors say, if he's ever been interrogated about 0:07:09.840 --> 0:07:13.840 this crime, it's news to them. They argue that to 0:07:13.960 --> 0:07:17.000 let him off the hook would be a violation, an 0:07:17.000 --> 0:07:22.480 abuse of the rights of the victims. It's an awkward situation. 0:07:23.240 --> 0:07:26.760 Both sets of prosecutors, the state and the private teams, 0:07:27.360 --> 0:07:30.800 are supposed to be working toward a common goal, a conviction, 0:07:32.600 --> 0:07:35.680 But even from the very first days after the murder, 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:40.440 Bart's family has occasionally been critical of the state's handling 0:07:40.480 --> 0:07:45.720 of the investigation, and now the private prosecutors seem to 0:07:45.760 --> 0:07:50.920 be arguing with the public prosecutors. This goes on for 0:07:50.920 --> 0:07:54.920 about a half an hour, and finally the judge delivers 0:07:54.960 --> 0:07:59.680 the decision. The court won't force him to testify. The 0:07:59.760 --> 0:08:03.160 judge just have sided with the defense and the public prosecutors. 0:08:04.080 --> 0:08:14.360 Danielle A Tala is free to go. Danielle unclips the 0:08:14.400 --> 0:08:17.720 microphone from his shirt, steps out of the witness box, 0:08:18.480 --> 0:08:35.320 and walks out of the courtroom. For those watching the trial, 0:08:35.840 --> 0:08:40.000 it's hard to make sense of what just happened. Joseph 0:08:40.080 --> 0:08:42.360 Barra is a law professor at U c l A 0:08:42.840 --> 0:08:47.920 who's monitoring the trial for numerous human rights organizations. He says, 0:08:48.000 --> 0:08:50.800 there are a couple of ways of looking at Atala's 0:08:50.880 --> 0:08:54.559 abrupt exit. It did kind of lead to some suspicions. 0:08:54.720 --> 0:08:58.439 I guess in the worst view or more cynical view, 0:08:58.480 --> 0:09:01.079 was there some kind of confabulation and to protect him 0:09:01.080 --> 0:09:03.720 by saying giving him that argument and said, yeah, you're 0:09:03.760 --> 0:09:09.920 under investigation, so you can avoid this testimony. This raises 0:09:10.000 --> 0:09:15.480 the possibility that the state prosecutors actually might be protecting Atala, 0:09:15.559 --> 0:09:19.120 and if that's true, they're undermining the case against David. 0:09:19.880 --> 0:09:23.320 On social media, Some of Berta's backers point out that 0:09:23.320 --> 0:09:26.720 the government has known about the connections between David and 0:09:26.800 --> 0:09:32.520 Danielle Atala, since they wonder why the state waited until 0:09:32.640 --> 0:09:37.280 now to reveal that Atala is under investigation. Was it 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:42.120 only to protect him from testifying, But Barris says there's 0:09:42.160 --> 0:09:46.800 another way of looking at this. Maybe Danielle Atala isn't 0:09:46.840 --> 0:09:51.760 being protected by the state. Maybe he's being pursued more 0:09:51.800 --> 0:09:56.920 aggressively than anyone suspected. Now, I guess the positive is 0:09:56.960 --> 0:10:00.240 that if he is under investigation, there's potential so that 0:10:00.400 --> 0:10:03.680 they could take the information that the family has been 0:10:03.679 --> 0:10:08.600 pointing at for a long time now that there is 0:10:08.960 --> 0:10:11.560 a network and a structure that was involved in this 0:10:11.679 --> 0:10:21.200 crime that goes beyond the vie Castillo. After daniel Atala 0:10:21.240 --> 0:10:26.440 has dismissed, the private prosecutors call several other witnesses. Their 0:10:26.440 --> 0:10:31.800 testimony takes weeks, and then it's finally the defense's turn. 0:10:32.600 --> 0:10:37.800 Their strategy is pretty straightforward. David has been framed. Maybe 0:10:37.800 --> 0:10:41.600 it was malice or maybe just in competence. Either way, 0:10:41.960 --> 0:10:46.280 his lawyers argue that the police botched everything. Here's one 0:10:46.320 --> 0:10:49.880 illustration that they highlight in court. It has to do 0:10:49.920 --> 0:10:55.120 with Mariano Diaz. Diaz, remember, was a middleman. He's already 0:10:55.120 --> 0:10:58.920 been convicted for helping to arrange the logistics of Bart's murder. 0:10:59.800 --> 0:11:03.160 The day of his arrest, Diaz gave a statement to 0:11:03.200 --> 0:11:07.200 the police. He said that Dess's former head of security 0:11:07.320 --> 0:11:10.760 had offered him about twenty thou dollars to help plan 0:11:10.880 --> 0:11:15.680 the murder, and DS says the money came from Dess's manager. 0:11:16.480 --> 0:11:21.080 Prosecutors say he was referring to David. The statement was 0:11:21.160 --> 0:11:25.640 read in court, but Diaz never actually signed it and 0:11:25.679 --> 0:11:29.520 it wasn't dated. The defense attorneys say this renders the 0:11:29.559 --> 0:11:36.400 statement worthless. The defense says another example of police incompetence 0:11:36.600 --> 0:11:41.679 centers on Brenda Barajona. She's the telephone expert who extracted 0:11:41.720 --> 0:11:45.480 most of the text, messages and calls that implicated David. 0:11:46.559 --> 0:11:52.600 His lawyers have questioned her qualifications, her training, her technological expertise, 0:11:53.360 --> 0:11:57.560 and they've done this inside and outside of the courtroom. 0:11:57.600 --> 0:12:01.240 They say they've uncovered one and thirty errors of fact 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:06.040 in her analysis. They say she quote hid messages that 0:12:06.160 --> 0:12:10.439 proved David and Verta were friends. They say she ignored 0:12:10.480 --> 0:12:15.960 messages suggesting other groups not Dessa also clashed with Berta, 0:12:16.200 --> 0:12:24.480 and Barahona didn't investigate them. That's from a video clip 0:12:24.559 --> 0:12:33.679 disparaging Barahona's work. David's team distributed it via social media. 0:12:34.000 --> 0:12:37.040 The defense team says their own experts dugout text that 0:12:37.160 --> 0:12:40.400 Barrajona ignored, and one of them is related to a 0:12:40.480 --> 0:12:45.120 key exchange between David and Douglas Bustillo. It's an exchange 0:12:45.120 --> 0:12:48.720 we've talked about several times in this series. The Mission 0:12:48.800 --> 0:12:53.360 Aborted texts. Bustillo, if you recalled, was the former head 0:12:53.400 --> 0:12:57.640 of security for Dessa at the Damn site. Barajona says 0:12:57.679 --> 0:13:00.800 he acted as the point man between David and the 0:13:00.880 --> 0:13:04.959 lower level hit men who carried out the killing. Remember 0:13:05.000 --> 0:13:09.280 that Barrijonah suggests that David and Boustillo originally planned the 0:13:09.360 --> 0:13:14.920 murder for February, about a month before Berta was actually killed. 0:13:15.600 --> 0:13:19.280 She says that plan fell through because Barta's family was 0:13:19.320 --> 0:13:22.800 with her when the hitman went to her house, and 0:13:22.880 --> 0:13:26.600 this was when Boustillo and David exchanged messages referring to 0:13:26.880 --> 0:13:31.720 a Mission Aborted. Before the trial, David had explained to 0:13:31.760 --> 0:13:37.520 me that bar Ijona completely misinterpreted this text. David says, 0:13:37.520 --> 0:13:41.960 when Boustillo messaged him in early February saying mission aborted. 0:13:42.559 --> 0:13:45.160 He was talking about a trip he'd planned to take 0:13:45.320 --> 0:13:49.120 to Choluteca. That's a town where Dessa was developing a 0:13:49.160 --> 0:13:52.840 solar project. David says he wanted Bostio to check it 0:13:52.840 --> 0:13:56.600 out because they'd been having problems with local gangs near 0:13:56.640 --> 0:13:59.920 the solar project. He couldn't not travel to the part 0:14:00.440 --> 0:14:03.160 that a specific date he was going to travel at 0:14:03.160 --> 0:14:07.320 a later date. David's team argues that they know of 0:14:07.440 --> 0:14:11.720 texts that specifically referenced this aborted trip to cho Luteca, 0:14:12.559 --> 0:14:15.640 and in court they asked an expert to read one 0:14:15.720 --> 0:14:20.520 such exchange that was extracted from Bustillo's phone. In this 0:14:20.680 --> 0:14:24.760 chat string, Bustillo references a job that he's doing. He's 0:14:24.760 --> 0:14:28.200 asked where it's located, and his response is read aloud 0:14:28.240 --> 0:14:37.640 in court that he had. He answers that it's at 0:14:37.680 --> 0:14:43.000 an energy plant in the South. He says, Castillo called 0:14:43.000 --> 0:14:48.040 me yesterday. In another message ten days later, Bustillo is 0:14:48.080 --> 0:14:56.240 asked where he's at there it is Luca. However, the 0:14:56.320 --> 0:14:59.880 prosecutors seem ready for this. They point out the dates 0:15:00.000 --> 0:15:07.560 of those texts. March eight, in March eighteenth. Berta was 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:11.520 killed on March three, so the references to this trip 0:15:11.560 --> 0:15:18.040 to Choluteca come after Berta's murder, after police began investigating 0:15:18.040 --> 0:15:22.640 the crime, and after members of Barta's family urged the 0:15:22.640 --> 0:15:28.800 police to investigate Dessa as a suspect. The prosecutors suggest 0:15:29.160 --> 0:15:33.560 this is just another example of David's deception, that these 0:15:33.680 --> 0:15:38.040 after the fact references to Choluteca our attempts to establish 0:15:38.240 --> 0:15:42.320 an alibi, that he was just trying to cover his tracks. 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:49.600 The defense isn't done trying to use text messages to 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:54.640 undermine the prosecution's case. One exchange they highlight is between 0:15:54.640 --> 0:15:59.920 Berta and someone identified as Heronimo. The defense says Heronimo 0:16:00.160 --> 0:16:05.920 is Oreleano Molina, an ex boyfriend of Berta's. The exchange 0:16:06.000 --> 0:16:10.320 was from June three, less than a year before the murder. 0:16:10.960 --> 0:16:15.680 It's extremely cryptic, but in it, Berta and Areliano discuss 0:16:15.720 --> 0:16:19.680 a piece of land a. Reliano suggests to her the 0:16:19.800 --> 0:16:23.760 land might be used to quote let a bird land 0:16:25.960 --> 0:16:30.720 bear to respond if there's no impact in the process. 0:16:31.880 --> 0:16:35.320 He replies, there could be an impact, you can't be sure. 0:16:36.240 --> 0:16:40.040 A bit later, bert To send him another message she 0:16:40.120 --> 0:16:46.240 writes one time, no more. David's defense leaves the meaning 0:16:46.280 --> 0:16:50.920 of this open to interpretation. There's no other evidence presented 0:16:50.960 --> 0:16:54.560 to elaborate on it, but their suggestion is clear to 0:16:54.600 --> 0:16:59.600 the court that Berta was involved in something shady. On Twitter, 0:17:00.120 --> 0:17:04.720 an account dedicated to David's defense suggests that the bird 0:17:04.920 --> 0:17:08.960 was an airplane. The Twitter post states that the exchange 0:17:09.119 --> 0:17:13.160 quote alludes to narco trafficking and what could have been 0:17:13.400 --> 0:17:18.200 another line of investigation. Remember that this trial is being 0:17:18.280 --> 0:17:22.600 live streamed and that spectators are commenting in real time 0:17:23.600 --> 0:17:26.959 in the comments section next to the video feed. David's 0:17:27.000 --> 0:17:31.680 supporters pounce on this accusation. They suggest Berta was a 0:17:31.760 --> 0:17:35.520 drug dealer and that Brenda Barahona protected her by not 0:17:35.680 --> 0:17:41.119 revealing these text messages earlier. To Bert's supporters, this feels 0:17:41.160 --> 0:17:44.440 like an outrage, but it's one they say they've come 0:17:44.440 --> 0:17:49.119 to expect. Karen Spring is a Canadian activist in Honduras. 0:17:49.680 --> 0:17:51.960 She was a friend of Berta's and worked with her 0:17:52.040 --> 0:17:56.440 on several campaigns. She says this strategy of personal attack 0:17:56.840 --> 0:18:02.119 felt familiar to her. That's something that um they try, 0:18:02.880 --> 0:18:07.959 government or companies try. Wealthy companies, wealthy families try and 0:18:08.000 --> 0:18:10.639 do to sort of say these people are bad people, 0:18:11.040 --> 0:18:13.919 they're involved in drug trafficking, and therefore they get whatever 0:18:14.000 --> 0:18:18.040 comes to them. She says these smears are particularly common 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:21.600 against women. It was obviously alarming, you know, because you 0:18:22.040 --> 0:18:24.800 if people are watching and they don't understand those themes 0:18:24.840 --> 0:18:28.119 and those sort of um patterns, then it's easy to 0:18:28.200 --> 0:18:31.880 fall into sort of question, well, maybe she was involved 0:18:31.880 --> 0:18:34.720 with some bad guys, or maybe she was involved in 0:18:34.760 --> 0:18:37.199 drug trafficking. But it's such a common pattern that it 0:18:37.280 --> 0:18:41.320 wasn't surprising to me at all. The private prosecutors have 0:18:41.440 --> 0:18:46.720 insisted that gender and sexism are integral parts of this case, 0:18:47.520 --> 0:18:52.639 and Berta's daughters Bertita, Isabel, and Laura routinely refer to 0:18:52.680 --> 0:18:56.440 their mother's murder as a femicide. They say there's a 0:18:56.560 --> 0:19:01.760 machismo embedded in the Honduran political, economic, and justice systems. 0:19:02.800 --> 0:19:07.040 Barretta's daughters say that mindset is at the root of 0:19:07.080 --> 0:19:10.760 the harassment, bear to endure it as an activist. They 0:19:10.880 --> 0:19:14.800 argue that it hasn't gone away, that Berta is still 0:19:14.840 --> 0:19:27.920 a victim of it right here in this trial. One 0:19:27.960 --> 0:19:31.359 of the final witnesses for the defense is a telephone 0:19:31.400 --> 0:19:35.760 expert who is hired by David's lawyers. He scoured Berta's 0:19:35.800 --> 0:19:40.000 phones and came up with additional messages and recordings that 0:19:40.080 --> 0:19:45.160 the prosecutors didn't include in the evidence they entered. Yet 0:19:45.240 --> 0:19:49.119 in the end, the prosecutors become interested in some of 0:19:49.160 --> 0:19:52.800 the messages he's extracted from her phone. They asked him 0:19:52.840 --> 0:19:57.080 to play one in the courtroom. A voice that's been 0:19:57.200 --> 0:20:02.080 silent throughout all these weeks of testimony rings out. It's 0:20:02.160 --> 0:20:09.919 Bear too. Thank you, colleagues. We are urgently denouncing that 0:20:09.960 --> 0:20:13.600 we are being harassed and illegally detained by employees of DESSA, 0:20:14.119 --> 0:20:20.080 the company Dessa of the Aguasarka Project Depreto Electric Sarca. 0:20:20.920 --> 0:20:24.400 The message was recorded about three months before her murder. 0:20:25.160 --> 0:20:28.879 On the day of the recording, her organization Copeine was 0:20:28.920 --> 0:20:34.000 holding a protest against Desasaguasarca Damn and the protesters ran 0:20:34.040 --> 0:20:38.160 into resistance. Bear To recorded this message to let other 0:20:38.200 --> 0:20:46.240 backers of her cause know what's going on. Those employees 0:20:46.240 --> 0:20:48.840 are being supported by the military police. They have a 0:20:48.880 --> 0:20:52.520 private security company, and they are blocking the Copenen buses 0:20:52.600 --> 0:20:56.480 and threatening to damage them. They're insulting and offending us, 0:20:56.520 --> 0:21:00.159 and these slurs are full of racism, of discrimination, and 0:21:00.240 --> 0:21:09.040 sexism in the understands offense. For those who Knubert to 0:21:09.359 --> 0:21:13.680 this moment is powerful to them. It's as if she's 0:21:13.760 --> 0:21:33.040 there in court testifying against David and his company. After 0:21:33.119 --> 0:21:37.560 nearly three months of testimony, it's time for the closing arguments. 0:21:38.359 --> 0:21:41.040 The state prosecutors lay out the bones of their case. 0:21:41.800 --> 0:21:45.119 They review the key text messages and witness statements, and 0:21:45.119 --> 0:21:48.320 they sketch a portrait of David as a killer, an 0:21:48.320 --> 0:21:52.240 executive driven by the simple desire to protect his interests 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:57.240 and to undermine anyone who threatened them. The private prosecutors 0:21:57.280 --> 0:22:00.480 representing the victims try to put the case ace in 0:22:00.520 --> 0:22:05.040 a broader context. They say, David needs to be in prison, 0:22:05.840 --> 0:22:09.320 but this trial is bigger than him, and it's bigger 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:18.160 than bear to The private prosecutors tell the judges they 0:22:18.200 --> 0:22:22.720 have a historic opportunity to break a cycle of impunity 0:22:22.760 --> 0:22:26.240 for the powerful and Honduras. They point out that David 0:22:26.359 --> 0:22:29.320 comes from a life of privilege and that he doesn't 0:22:29.320 --> 0:22:33.159 fit the stereotype of a cold blooded killer. But the 0:22:33.200 --> 0:22:41.760 prosecutors warn that appearances can deceive. To meet David Castillo 0:22:42.320 --> 0:22:47.240 judging by his appearance, his background, nobody would think he's 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:50.399 capable of committing a crime like this one because he 0:22:50.440 --> 0:22:54.320 doesn't have the appearance of a classic criminal. But this 0:22:54.400 --> 0:22:58.639 is the profile, these behaviors at this level that have 0:22:58.800 --> 0:23:02.480 shaped the history of this country. It's from these positions 0:23:02.520 --> 0:23:06.280 of power, and not just through this act, but many acts, 0:23:06.320 --> 0:23:10.240 that they've destroyed the social fabric, that they've destroyed the 0:23:10.359 --> 0:23:21.960 institutions of this country. It is this observation that David 0:23:22.119 --> 0:23:27.159 wasn't a typical murder suspect resonated with me. I'd met David, 0:23:27.520 --> 0:23:30.439 He'd looked me in the eye, repeatedly insisting that he 0:23:30.520 --> 0:23:33.960 was innocent. That he too, mourned Bear to his death. 0:23:34.800 --> 0:23:38.960 He said, he admired her. Berta was my friend. It 0:23:39.040 --> 0:23:41.720 could not bring my mind to do any harm, not 0:23:41.800 --> 0:23:46.119 only to Berta, to any human being. I'd met his mother, 0:23:46.560 --> 0:23:50.359 his oldest friends. I'd spoken with his former classmates at 0:23:50.359 --> 0:23:54.560 West Point. All of them were certain of his innocence. 0:23:55.200 --> 0:23:59.240 They couldn't imagine that he could be even tangentially involved 0:23:59.240 --> 0:24:03.840 in a murder, much less planed one. I'm convinced their 0:24:03.920 --> 0:24:07.880 faith and trust in him was sincere. They had no 0:24:08.040 --> 0:24:11.880 hesitancy in vouching for him. They believe he's a good man. 0:24:12.600 --> 0:24:16.760 They love him. Try to imagine, just for a moment, 0:24:17.040 --> 0:24:22.200 that David deserves their trust, that he's been falsely accused. 0:24:23.240 --> 0:24:26.639 If that's the case, those friends and family members have 0:24:26.800 --> 0:24:32.720 been deeply wronged. And then, of course there's the other possibility. 0:24:33.160 --> 0:24:37.439 What if David didn't deserve that trust. In that case, 0:24:38.040 --> 0:24:41.280 the suffering they've endured over the past three years seems 0:24:41.280 --> 0:24:47.240 even worse. It seems cruel. Berta and her family and 0:24:47.320 --> 0:24:52.320 everyone who loved her there obviously the primary victims, but 0:24:52.359 --> 0:24:55.040 no matter the outcome of this trial, they're not going 0:24:55.080 --> 0:24:59.040 to be the only ones. Murders like this are insidious. 0:24:59.680 --> 0:25:24.440 The stims multiply before the judges reached their verdict. There's 0:25:24.480 --> 0:25:27.760 one more step in this trial. The judges want to 0:25:27.760 --> 0:25:31.520 give the people directly affected by this case a chance 0:25:31.560 --> 0:25:36.480 to address the court. First, the judges here from Bart's family, 0:25:36.920 --> 0:25:48.000 her children, Yes, very sorry. His daughter, Bartita Isabel tells 0:25:48.000 --> 0:25:50.520 the judges that her mother raised her and all of 0:25:50.520 --> 0:25:55.399 her siblings to recognize injustice, to always fight on behalf 0:25:55.440 --> 0:25:59.120 of people whose rights had been trampled. But she says 0:25:59.240 --> 0:26:02.600 she never thought they'd have to apply those lessons to 0:26:02.680 --> 0:26:08.520 their own mother. Barrett's youngest daughter, Laura, tells the judges 0:26:08.640 --> 0:26:11.520 that by fighting for her now, they're fighting for all 0:26:11.560 --> 0:26:14.600 the women and mothers who have been victims of violence, 0:26:15.680 --> 0:26:17.920 But she says it's a fight that won't bring back 0:26:17.960 --> 0:26:20.840 all the hugs and the knights with her that they've lost. 0:26:21.960 --> 0:26:26.720 Next is Berta's son Salvador. He's kept a much lower 0:26:26.760 --> 0:26:30.200 profile than his sisters in the years following his mother's murder. 0:26:30.960 --> 0:26:38.600 He addresses the court from a remote video feed. He 0:26:38.680 --> 0:26:42.240 tells the judges that this is a unique opportunity to 0:26:42.320 --> 0:26:45.760 punish not just low level hitmen the poor who are 0:26:45.800 --> 0:26:48.840 paid to kill, but to punish those who pay them, 0:26:49.280 --> 0:26:54.760 the economic powers that support a culture of murder. Together, 0:26:55.400 --> 0:27:00.240 the Cassarus family issues a unified plea deliver a ulty 0:27:00.400 --> 0:27:04.280 verdict and set a precedent that might protect future victims 0:27:04.720 --> 0:27:10.399 and prevent similar crimes. Then, for the first time during 0:27:10.440 --> 0:27:19.680 this trial, David Castillo speaks. He greets everyone in the courtroom, 0:27:19.920 --> 0:27:25.520 including Barton's daughters, but they're not interested in listening to him. 0:27:25.560 --> 0:27:30.200 Both gather their things, rise and walk out of the courtroom. 0:27:30.400 --> 0:27:36.720 As he talks. He says he first wants to thank 0:27:36.800 --> 0:27:40.520 God for the life he's living, despite the challenges of 0:27:40.560 --> 0:27:43.720 the past couple of years, and even though bar To 0:27:43.760 --> 0:27:53.480 his children have left the courtroom, David addresses them. I 0:27:53.520 --> 0:27:58.200 want to say, especially to all of the family members 0:27:58.240 --> 0:28:02.560 of Is, that I had nothing to do with her murder, 0:28:02.680 --> 0:28:08.040 neither directly or indirectly. I want to underscore that I 0:28:08.119 --> 0:28:12.239 did not participate at all. I had no payments, I 0:28:12.280 --> 0:28:16.800 didn't intervene at all. I had no involvement in the 0:28:16.920 --> 0:28:21.600 logistics or in getting weapons. I want to state this 0:28:22.720 --> 0:28:36.199 so that it's clear and present in your minds. Again, 0:28:36.400 --> 0:28:39.800 he says that he and bear To were friends, friends 0:28:39.840 --> 0:28:42.840 who held different points of view on a lot of things, 0:28:43.360 --> 0:28:48.760 but friends nonetheless. While mentioning this, David refers to his mother, 0:28:49.160 --> 0:28:52.640 to Nora, she's sitting in a chair near the rear 0:28:52.720 --> 0:29:01.480 of the courtroom, working her hands nervously. He says his 0:29:01.560 --> 0:29:04.680 mother always raised him to be a good Christian, to 0:29:04.840 --> 0:29:08.520 respect others, and to accept those who don't share the 0:29:08.600 --> 0:29:13.160 same beliefs. He speaks of his father, who died shortly 0:29:13.200 --> 0:29:16.280 after he was detained in prison. He speaks of his 0:29:16.400 --> 0:29:20.320 children who haven't seen their father in three years in 0:29:20.440 --> 0:29:27.200 four months. This has been difficult for me too, obviously, 0:29:28.520 --> 0:29:31.520 but God has a plan from my life. I don't 0:29:31.600 --> 0:29:39.320 understand it and I don't question it. Throughout the trial, 0:29:39.840 --> 0:29:43.160 the prosecutors have described David as a representative of a 0:29:43.280 --> 0:29:55.720 powerful economic and political class. He addresses this, I have 0:29:57.080 --> 0:30:02.719 felt at a disadvantage going against the state prosecutors and 0:30:02.800 --> 0:30:08.240 the teams of private prosecutors, because in reality I don't 0:30:08.320 --> 0:30:13.640 have political or economic power. However, you all you do 0:30:14.360 --> 0:30:19.000 through your systems of communication, with all the political support 0:30:19.080 --> 0:30:27.680 that your organizations received, all your David ends his statement 0:30:28.360 --> 0:30:32.720 asking that the court evaluate all the evidence fairly impartially 0:30:33.600 --> 0:30:35.880 so that he might soon be able to get his 0:30:36.000 --> 0:30:52.560 life back. And that's that. The judges dismiss everyone so 0:30:52.680 --> 0:30:55.760 they can spend the next several days reviewing the evidence, 0:30:56.720 --> 0:30:59.080 and after that they'll call them all back to the 0:30:59.120 --> 0:31:13.080 courtroom for the announcement of the verdict. Five days later, 0:31:13.480 --> 0:31:17.080 the judges sent out a message they've reached a verdict. 0:31:22.440 --> 0:31:25.720 Crowds of Bartes supporters gather outside of the court house. 0:31:26.640 --> 0:31:30.040 For months now, they've transformed the sidewalk in the busy 0:31:30.120 --> 0:31:32.719 street in front of the building into a sort of 0:31:32.800 --> 0:31:37.520 shrine to Bart. They burn incense and arrange candles and 0:31:37.600 --> 0:31:41.640 flowers around her portrait. Some hold signs with pictures of 0:31:41.680 --> 0:31:45.920 her smiling. Others hold pictures of David with one word 0:31:46.000 --> 0:31:52.680 scrawled across his face, guilty. Inside the small courtroom, the 0:31:52.760 --> 0:31:56.240 judges have allowed ten people from David's side and ten 0:31:56.320 --> 0:32:00.680 from Berts to sit in the back. The lead judge 0:32:00.680 --> 0:32:04.640 greets them and assures them that the court has been impartial, 0:32:05.240 --> 0:32:08.160 that the judges have not allowed themselves to be influenced 0:32:08.160 --> 0:32:17.640 by any outside interests. She now says she'll read the 0:32:17.680 --> 0:32:29.200 court's verdict, which was unanimous. She begins with a straightforward 0:32:29.240 --> 0:32:32.520 review of the facts of the case. She outlines the 0:32:32.600 --> 0:32:36.440 damn project, bear to opposition to it, and David's role 0:32:36.520 --> 0:32:44.920 as CEO of Deessa. In that context, managers who oversaw 0:32:44.960 --> 0:32:49.200 the hydroelectric project, including the director, Mr David Castillo, so 0:32:49.320 --> 0:32:52.200 to take action to neutralize the movements and opposition of 0:32:52.360 --> 0:33:00.360 Mrs Berta cass and others in the organization Copine. The 0:33:00.440 --> 0:33:03.200 camera in the court doesn't show David or the judges. 0:33:03.960 --> 0:33:06.440 It's pointed at the spectators in the back of the court. 0:33:07.200 --> 0:33:12.160 Most sit motionless, listening intently. In the front row. David's 0:33:12.200 --> 0:33:15.240 mother sits with her hands in her lap. Her back 0:33:15.320 --> 0:33:18.680 is perfectly straight and her heads held high, but when 0:33:18.680 --> 0:33:22.480 the judge flatly states that her son sought to quote 0:33:23.040 --> 0:33:30.760 neutralize bar to his actions, her head slumps. The lead 0:33:30.840 --> 0:33:35.960 judge says the evidence against David was circumstantial, but she 0:33:36.040 --> 0:33:40.680 says it's the accumulation of numerous strands of circumstantial evidence 0:33:41.240 --> 0:33:44.680