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Speaker 1: Hey, girlfriends, it's me Anna here to let you know

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Speaker 1: what's coming up. This episode covers Kelly's trial, so as

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Speaker 1: you'd expect, we'll be speaking about the night of the

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Speaker 1: murder in great detail, but we also dive deeper into

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Speaker 1: the case for the prosecution and the defense, and at

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Speaker 1: the end you can make up your own mind about

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Speaker 1: whether the right verdict was reached. If you feel impacted

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Speaker 1: by some of the themes in this show, you can

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Speaker 1: reach out to No More. There are domestic violence charity

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Speaker 1: with a lot of great resources to help you or

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Speaker 1: your loved ones. You can search No More dot org

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Speaker 1: and we've also put a link to their website in

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Speaker 1: the episode description. Oh and by the way, there's going

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Speaker 1: to be some swear words. When Tommy Donovan is first

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Speaker 1: arrested back in July of twenty ten, he immediately tries

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Speaker 1: to shift the majority of the blame for Angel Vargas's

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Speaker 1: death onto Kelly, and that he choked Angel to the

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Speaker 1: point of unconsciousness, but implying that it was Kelly who

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Speaker 1: really killed him. He then takes a deal where in

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Speaker 1: return for giving evidence against Kelly, his charge is reduced

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Speaker 1: to manslaughter. Here's an exchange from Tommy's sentencing that I

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Speaker 1: found in the court records.

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Speaker 2: I'll be playing the role of the court official, while.

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Speaker 1: My producer Jake will voice Tommy. By your plea of guilty,

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Speaker 1: you admit that on or about July seventh, twenty ten,

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Speaker 1: here in Queens, you, acting in concerts with another person,

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Speaker 1: caused the death of Reuben Angel Vargas by beating and

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Speaker 1: choking him.

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Speaker 2: Yes, the person you were acting in concert with. Who

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Speaker 2: was that person?

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Speaker 3: My girlfriend?

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Speaker 2: What's her name?

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Speaker 3: Kelly Harnett?

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Speaker 1: And the evidence shows both of you were involved in

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Speaker 1: the choking that led to mister Vargus dying. Yes, sir,

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Speaker 1: and that's the story. Tommy sixty until twenty thirteen.

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Speaker 4: Dear mister Epstein, as you already acquainted with me, I

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Speaker 4: will get to the point.

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Speaker 1: Kelly's reading from a letter sent by Tommy Donovan to

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Speaker 1: her lawyer David Epstein, and.

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Speaker 4: The night of July seven, twenty ten, I murdered Angel

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Speaker 4: Argus by strangulation. I committed this murder in full presence

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Speaker 4: of Kelly, though at no time was there any collusion

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Speaker 4: between her and I. Though my initial written confession differs

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Speaker 4: from this account. At the time I was exhausted, in

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Speaker 4: opiate withdrawal, and angry with Kelly. I don't know why.

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Speaker 4: Perhaps I was jealous of her going free without me

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Speaker 4: and concocted a version of events. I do not regret

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Speaker 4: much in life, but I do regret drag and Kelly

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Speaker 4: into this. I am here to tell you, and if necessary,

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Speaker 4: the court, that I myself intentionally cause the death of

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Speaker 4: decedent Vargas.

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Speaker 1: Holy shit, this has got to be as close to

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Speaker 1: a get out of jail free card as you can get. Right,

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Speaker 1: the kind of thing that gets a case thrown out,

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Speaker 1: charge is dismissed, except we already know that's not how

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Speaker 1: it goes down for Kelly. It's June twenty thirteen. Kelly's

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Speaker 1: in a pre trial hearing. This is where the defense

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Speaker 1: and prosecution can discuss any issues or questions surrounding the

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Speaker 1: upcoming trial, what charges the prosecution will move forward with,

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Speaker 1: what evidence will or won't be allowed in front of

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Speaker 1: the jury. That kind of thing presiding over everything is

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Speaker 1: the Honorable Judge Laysack.

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Speaker 2: But that's not what Kelly and some of her fellow

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Speaker 2: inmates know him.

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Speaker 4: As they called Judge Laysac mister murder.

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Speaker 5: They call him mister murder for two reasons.

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Speaker 4: He tries only murder cases, and he puts everyone away,

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Speaker 4: so in essence, he murders them.

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Speaker 1: All the while, Kelly's been in court listening to the

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Speaker 1: lawyer and the prosecutor go back and forth. She's been

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Speaker 1: chomping at the bit for her chance to chip in

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Speaker 1: and ask.

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Speaker 5: Your honor, can I ever mission you addressed the corpses.

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Speaker 1: Now, defendants don't normally address the court unless ask the question,

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Speaker 1: but Kelly is not like other defendants.

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Speaker 4: Judge Laysack says, talk to your lawyer. I said, your

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Speaker 4: honor is actually about my lawyer.

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Speaker 1: To say Kelly's k for the jury to hear Tommy's

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Speaker 1: new confession is a colossal understatement. But her lawyer, David Epstein, well,

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Speaker 1: as far as Kelly's concerned, that's another story.

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Speaker 5: He just didn't care.

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Speaker 1: Kelly says, he doesn't want to bring up the letter

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Speaker 1: at all, So now here she is taking matters into

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Speaker 1: her own hands.

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Speaker 2: The judge nods at her to say her.

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Speaker 6: Peace, Your honor, I am in possession of an exculpatory

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Speaker 6: letter from mister Donovan stating that mister Donovan acted alone

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Speaker 6: and I in fact took no part in this whatsoever.

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Speaker 1: Kelly wants to call Tommy as a witness so he

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Speaker 1: can tell his new story from the.

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Speaker 4: Dock without calling mister Donovan to my trial. This is

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Speaker 4: violating my right to a fair trial.

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Speaker 1: The judge looks down at kelly poker face, revealing nothing.

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Speaker 2: He ponders for a few moments while.

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Speaker 1: Kelly crosses her fingers, hoping she's done enough to convince him.

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Speaker 1: After an excruciating pause, the judge leans forward.

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Speaker 5: And he's like, miss Horn there, I don't know who.

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Speaker 4: You're talking to in a jail house, but he's saying

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Speaker 4: it's not admissible.

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Speaker 5: I was like girls he talking about hearsay.

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Speaker 1: Hearsay in a legal sense, means telling the court what

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Speaker 1: someone else told you, either in person or in this case,

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Speaker 1: by letter.

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Speaker 2: It's not allowed.

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Speaker 1: You can only talk about what you know, did, or

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Speaker 1: experienced firsthand.

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Speaker 5: That letter or whatever it is you have is her

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Speaker 5: say there you start again, your honor.

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Speaker 4: At no point in time did I request the letter

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Speaker 4: to be submitted into evidence.

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Speaker 5: I'm stating that I am in possession.

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Speaker 6: Of an exculpatory letter, which is leading to my request.

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Speaker 7: You have been called to testify on my behalf at

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Speaker 7: my trial. However, mister Epstein is refusing to call him.

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Speaker 7: Then mister Epstein, my attorney, deides with the judge and says,

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Speaker 7: she seems to think here'say is admissible.

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Speaker 5: After what I just said, Like, what the hell is everybody.

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Speaker 4: Listening to.

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Speaker 1: Kelly can't understand why her own lawyer wouldn't be fighting

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Speaker 1: tooth and nail to bring Tommy in unless he's working

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Speaker 1: against her deliberately.

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Speaker 5: I don't know what to think.

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Speaker 6: But when you have something as earth shattering as high

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Speaker 6: I'm the killer, your client is innocent, and you don't

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Speaker 6: use it, you have to assess it and attest to

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Speaker 6: the fact that he might have thrown this case. I

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Speaker 6: don't know how far does the rabbit hole, though.

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Speaker 1: I have to say I've not seen any evidence presented

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Speaker 1: in court or otherwise that Kelly's lawyer was trying to

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Speaker 1: lose the case on purpose, And unfortunately I'll never get

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Speaker 1: the chance to ask him because he died in twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 1: I can see it from Kelly's perspective. She's handing her

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Speaker 1: lawyer what she thinks is a smoking gun, and he

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Speaker 1: doesn't seem to want to know. With even her own

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Speaker 1: lawyer seemingly against her. It doesn't take very long for

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Speaker 1: Judge Laysac to shut down Kelly's request about the letter.

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Speaker 1: So for now, Tommy's original statement stand the ones that

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Speaker 1: say Kelly was a willing participant in the murder.

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Speaker 6: It was awful and the trial I feel that I

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Speaker 6: lasted before it began.

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Speaker 1: I'm Anisinfield and from the tea at novel and iHeart podcasts.

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Speaker 2: This is the Girlfriend's Gelhouse Lawyer.

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Speaker 8: Is Episode five.

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Speaker 2: Is He Dead Yet?

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Speaker 1: It's September fourth, twenty thirteen, the first day of Kelly

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Speaker 1: Harnett's trial for the murder of Reuben Angel Vargas. Like

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Speaker 1: a lot of trials, this one will turn out to

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Speaker 1: be pretty long and more than a little messy. Before

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Speaker 1: things even really get going, one of the original twelve

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Speaker 1: jurors has to be let go, which then leads to

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Speaker 1: a mistrial and the selection of a brand new jury,

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Speaker 1: so the whole thing has to start all over again. Eventually,

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Speaker 1: things do get moving and everyone's ready to play their part.

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Speaker 1: Taking on the role of prosecutor is Assistant District Attorney

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Speaker 1: Sean Clark. And the first thing you should know about

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Speaker 1: Sean is he's kind of a.

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Speaker 4: Dream boat when two minutes Clark ken he has dark hair,

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Speaker 4: handsome with glasses. Right, that's exactly what Sean looks like.

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Speaker 1: But unfortunately for Kelly, Sean isn't here to rescue her.

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Speaker 1: He's here to send her down, and he is very,

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Speaker 1: very good at his job. Kelly is facing two charges.

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Speaker 1: The most serious is murder in the second degree, which

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Speaker 1: essentially means murder that wasn't premeditated. The other charge is

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Speaker 1: criminal possession of a weapon in this case that the shoelace.

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Speaker 1: Kelly actually had more charges before the trial began, another

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Speaker 1: murder charge and three more for robbery, but they were

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Speaker 1: all dismissed. Despite this, Seawan Clark leans into the robbery

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Speaker 1: angle in his story of the crime.

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Speaker 2: It's the primary motive. Cool, Okay, should we do this?

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Speaker 8: Yeah?

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Speaker 3: Yeah, let's do it.

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Speaker 1: I looped in my producer Jake again, this time to

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Speaker 1: be the voice of Superman Ekay Seawan Clark. This next

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Speaker 1: section is taken directly from official court transcripts.

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Speaker 3: What does make sense? The likely reason why they got

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Speaker 3: into an altercation with mister Vargas was to rob him.

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Speaker 3: That's the likely explanation here. Did I pull that out

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Speaker 3: of the air, No I pulled that out of the evidence.

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Speaker 1: In at least one of Tommy Donovan's statements, the oral

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Speaker 1: one typed up by police, it says that Ken robbed

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Speaker 1: Angel's wallet after the murder. Tommy says he then took

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Speaker 1: the cash out before throwing the wallet on the ground.

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Speaker 1: From police documents, we know that Angel Vargas's wallet was

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Speaker 1: found roughly near his body.

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Speaker 3: In that wallet identification credit cards to City Bank cards,

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Speaker 3: but no money. What's on Tommy Donovan when the police

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Speaker 3: stop him in his sock is sixty dollars three twenty

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Speaker 3: dollars bills. That's the likely motive for what happened.

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Speaker 1: One of the wildest parts of Tommy's multiple statements is

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Speaker 1: that he says Kelly didn't just hand over the shoelace.

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Speaker 1: She actually physically put it around Angel's neck and pulled

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Speaker 1: it before handing it over to Tommy. Tommy then claims

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Speaker 1: that after the attack, he walked away and looked back

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Speaker 1: to see Kelly on top of Angel choking him again

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Speaker 1: with the string. But Sean Clark in the prosecut they're

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Speaker 1: only going as far as to argue that Kelly kicked

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Speaker 1: Angel and then handed over the shoelace, which is interesting

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Speaker 1: because if you're trying to convict someone for murder, surely

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Speaker 1: you'd want to tell a story that makes them seem.

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Speaker 2: As culpable as possible.

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Speaker 1: Kelly, of course, argues that Tommy took the shoelace from

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Speaker 1: her foot, and when Tommy himself pulled it around Angel's snack,

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Speaker 1: it snapped.

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Speaker 4: It snapped so fist and I remember thinking about that.

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Speaker 4: When I saw a snap, I got scared. I said,

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Speaker 4: he's going to come back over to me.

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Speaker 1: Now there is physical evidence to support this. A broken

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Speaker 1: white shoelace was found near the crime scene. Kelly then

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Speaker 1: says that Tommy finished strangling Angel with his belt, a

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Speaker 1: theory that she says is also partially supported by physical evidence.

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Speaker 4: When you read the doctor's testimony, it clearly states that

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Speaker 4: there was an indentation in the form of a rectangle

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Speaker 4: that was unidentified right there.

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Speaker 2: Kelly's pointing to her neck.

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Speaker 4: I said, I can identify it. It's a belt buckle.

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Speaker 4: So if you take away the allegation of handing a

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Speaker 4: shoelace and put in the fact that he used his belt,

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Speaker 4: the entire charge does not meet any element of the crime.

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Speaker 1: For me, In addition to Kelly's lawyer David Epstein not

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Speaker 1: fighting to call Tommy as a witness, Kelly says he

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Speaker 1: also doesn't want her taking the stand in her own defense. This,

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Speaker 1: honestly isn't all that unusual. A lot of attorneys don't

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Speaker 1: want to risk putting their client on the stand if

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Speaker 1: they get up there and get flustered or say the

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Speaker 1: wrong thing. That's blood in the water for the prosecution.

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Speaker 1: But Kelly's worried they're missing an opportunity to make the

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Speaker 1: jury really see what she went through as a victim

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Speaker 1: of Tommy's abuse, something only she can truly explain.

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Speaker 5: If you don't mean to pictureize to that it was scared.

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Speaker 6: They need to hear more of it, Like maybe they

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Speaker 6: need to hear from me, and many told me don't estify.

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Speaker 1: So if Epstein doesn't want the courts to hear from

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Speaker 1: Kelly or Tommy, what is his case about.

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Speaker 2: Here's one angle he took.

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Speaker 1: Research shows that you can feel the effects of booze

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Speaker 1: at about zero point.

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Speaker 2: Zero two percent blood alcohol level.

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Speaker 1: On the night of the murder, Angel's bloods came out

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Speaker 1: at zero point thirty six. His liver was also found

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Speaker 1: to be enlarged and fatty, which is something commonly associated

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Speaker 1: with chronic alcoholism. In the trial, it's argued that Angel's

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Speaker 1: drunken state could have led to the bruising found on

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Speaker 1: his body by falling off his bike, for example. But

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Speaker 1: still it seems like there's no mention of Kelly's experience

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Speaker 1: as a victim of domestic violence already, any context from

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Speaker 1: her complicated life. The prosecution has painted this really vivid

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Speaker 1: picture of Kelly as a villain, but the defense doesn't

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Speaker 1: really present an alternative story. In fact, if you ask Kelly,

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Speaker 1: she says, Epstein's approach basically amounts to Kelly's not guilty,

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Speaker 1: and that's it.

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Speaker 6: I think it was more of a selfish reason than anything,

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Speaker 6: because I think that he knew he was unprepared, and

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Speaker 6: I think that he wanted to just play it seef.

255
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Speaker 1: But playing it safe is not going to cut it here,

256
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Speaker 1: because the prosecution is about to unleash the biggest tool

257
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Speaker 1: in their arsenal. There's a witness who says he saw

258
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Speaker 1: the whole thing, and the story he's got to tell

259
00:17:00,520 --> 00:17:28,359
Speaker 1: looks really really bad for Kelly. One late night in

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Speaker 1: July twenty ten, Amando Perez is out jogging. It's about

261
00:17:34,840 --> 00:17:38,639
Speaker 1: two am on a balmy summer's night. The sky up

262
00:17:38,680 --> 00:17:42,880
Speaker 1: above is black. The lights of Manhattan are flickering off

263
00:17:43,000 --> 00:17:47,120
Speaker 1: in the distance. Amando is out late because he's training

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Speaker 1: for his football team or soccer.

265
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Speaker 2: If you must.

266
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Speaker 1: He's weaving through a story a park on his second

267
00:17:53,960 --> 00:17:57,240
Speaker 1: lap when he says he hears something that brings him

268
00:17:57,320 --> 00:18:06,359
Speaker 1: to a stop. Someone screaming. Amando ducks and hides behind

269
00:18:06,400 --> 00:18:09,600
Speaker 1: a tree. He says, he peers out into the darkness

270
00:18:10,040 --> 00:18:13,639
Speaker 1: looking for where the scream came from. His eyes land

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Speaker 1: on a shadowy figure who's got a man in a

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Speaker 1: chokehold on the ground. The figure shouts at a woman

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Speaker 1: standing nearby to kick the man he's holding down, which

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Speaker 1: she does. It's Tommy, Kelly, and Angel. Amando says he

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Speaker 1: hears Tommy ask Kelly to find a shoelace. He watches

276
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Speaker 1: as Kelly walks off, kicking at bags and a bicycle

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Speaker 1: before returning with something and handing it to Tommy. At

278
00:18:46,200 --> 00:18:51,040
Speaker 1: this point, it dawns on him he's watching a murder.

279
00:18:55,920 --> 00:18:59,920
Speaker 1: Amando sprints off to get help. Over the next hour,

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00:19:00,240 --> 00:19:03,760
Speaker 1: he runs into several people. Firstly, he tells some cops

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00:19:03,800 --> 00:19:06,359
Speaker 1: in a nearby patrol car, but he says they just

282
00:19:06,440 --> 00:19:11,399
Speaker 1: drive off. Next, he tries flagging down some teenagers, but

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00:19:11,480 --> 00:19:16,040
Speaker 1: they just laugh at him. In between these unsuccessful attempts

284
00:19:16,119 --> 00:19:19,640
Speaker 1: to raise the alarm, Amando keeps heading back to near

285
00:19:19,640 --> 00:19:22,320
Speaker 1: where Tommy and Kelly are. He doesn't want to lose

286
00:19:22,359 --> 00:19:23,640
Speaker 1: track of them.

287
00:19:24,080 --> 00:19:25,879
Speaker 2: He says. He hears Kelly ask.

288
00:19:27,560 --> 00:19:35,639
Speaker 1: Is he dead yet. Tommy replies that Angel is dead.

289
00:19:36,000 --> 00:19:39,960
Speaker 1: He's touched the body to be certain. Then Amando sees

290
00:19:40,040 --> 00:19:43,320
Speaker 1: him and Kelly hiding things in the woodchips on the ground.

291
00:19:44,520 --> 00:19:46,879
Speaker 2: Amando keeps leaving, trying to find help.

292
00:19:47,520 --> 00:19:51,000
Speaker 1: Eventually he comes across a group of four teenagers and

293
00:19:51,040 --> 00:19:54,560
Speaker 1: one of them calls the police. Once the police arrive,

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00:19:55,000 --> 00:19:58,000
Speaker 1: Amando walks them over to near where Angel's body is.

295
00:19:58,720 --> 00:20:01,560
Speaker 1: The police point out Tommy and Kelly and ask Commando

296
00:20:01,600 --> 00:20:06,840
Speaker 1: if he's sure it was them. Amanda replies, of course,

297
00:20:06,880 --> 00:20:09,240
Speaker 1: I'm sure. I've been watching them for over an hour.

298
00:20:10,880 --> 00:20:19,800
Speaker 1: Then Kelly and Tommy are taken away. Amando is the

299
00:20:20,240 --> 00:20:25,200
Speaker 1: key witness, essentially the core of the prosecution's case against Kelly.

300
00:20:26,359 --> 00:20:29,840
Speaker 1: With Tommy's statements, any defense lawyer worth their soult can

301
00:20:29,960 --> 00:20:32,920
Speaker 1: argue he has a clear motivation to try and shift

302
00:20:32,920 --> 00:20:37,240
Speaker 1: the blame onto Kelly. But Amando, well, he has no

303
00:20:37,359 --> 00:20:41,320
Speaker 1: obvious reason to lie. Prosecutor Sean Clark described him as

304
00:20:41,400 --> 00:20:46,760
Speaker 1: a completely independent eyewitness who doesn't know Kelly Harnett, has

305
00:20:46,840 --> 00:20:50,000
Speaker 1: never met Kelly Harnett, has no reason to come in

306
00:20:50,040 --> 00:20:55,159
Speaker 1: here and say negative things about Kelly Harnett. Amando is

307
00:20:55,640 --> 00:20:59,240
Speaker 1: a neutral party who can testify that he saw Kelly

308
00:20:59,400 --> 00:21:03,760
Speaker 1: hand over the shoelace. He doesn't actually ever mention anything

309
00:21:03,840 --> 00:21:07,359
Speaker 1: about seeing Kelly strangle Angel, which is probably why the

310
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:10,640
Speaker 1: prosecution have decided to ignore that part of Tommy's statement.

311
00:21:11,680 --> 00:21:16,040
Speaker 1: But crucially, Amando also says that he saw Kelly kick Angel.

312
00:21:16,680 --> 00:21:19,480
Speaker 1: In his earlier police statements, he doesn't specify where on

313
00:21:19,520 --> 00:21:22,280
Speaker 1: the body Angel was kicked, but by the time Kelly's

314
00:21:22,320 --> 00:21:25,320
Speaker 1: trial rolls around, Amando says it was quote from the

315
00:21:25,400 --> 00:21:29,879
Speaker 1: stomach to the chest. He also says that Angel was

316
00:21:29,960 --> 00:21:33,160
Speaker 1: lying face down, which is something Kelly takes issue with.

317
00:21:34,200 --> 00:21:38,160
Speaker 5: The person was face down. That's an impossibility.

318
00:21:38,560 --> 00:21:42,359
Speaker 4: You cannot kick someone from the stomach to the chest

319
00:21:42,520 --> 00:21:44,800
Speaker 4: if they are face down.

320
00:21:45,960 --> 00:21:49,400
Speaker 1: I interpret this a little bit differently to Kelly. Amando

321
00:21:49,560 --> 00:21:52,919
Speaker 1: could just be describing general areas of the body. I

322
00:21:52,960 --> 00:21:55,520
Speaker 1: think I'd say the same thing even if someone was

323
00:21:55,560 --> 00:21:56,760
Speaker 1: being kicked from the side on.

324
00:21:57,440 --> 00:21:58,399
Speaker 2: But I'm no lawyer.

325
00:22:00,119 --> 00:22:04,159
Speaker 1: Instead, it's up to Kelly's defense attorney, David Epstein to

326
00:22:04,200 --> 00:22:07,320
Speaker 1: cross examine the hell out of this witness, to keep

327
00:22:07,359 --> 00:22:10,600
Speaker 1: poking holes in Amando's story until it's left in tatters

328
00:22:10,640 --> 00:22:14,920
Speaker 1: on the courtroom floor. So come on, David, dig deep,

329
00:22:15,600 --> 00:22:16,600
Speaker 1: it's time to strike.

330
00:22:20,600 --> 00:22:21,200
Speaker 4: I surenest.

331
00:22:21,520 --> 00:22:28,800
Speaker 5: David Epstein stood up. He dropped all the peoplework everywhere.

332
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Speaker 4: I said, Oh Jesus Christ, if this is foreshadowing, I'm screwed.

333
00:22:39,440 --> 00:22:44,840
Speaker 1: Amando's testimony makes for a compelling story, but especially according

334
00:22:44,840 --> 00:22:47,960
Speaker 1: to Kelly, there are some holes in it if you

335
00:22:48,000 --> 00:22:52,160
Speaker 1: look hard enough, and planted in those holes are some

336
00:22:52,280 --> 00:22:58,560
Speaker 1: striking red flags. The first has to do with language barriers.

337
00:22:59,200 --> 00:23:02,800
Speaker 1: Kelly claims that Amando can't really speak English, and police

338
00:23:02,840 --> 00:23:05,640
Speaker 1: documents do show that his statement was transcribed for him

339
00:23:05,640 --> 00:23:08,879
Speaker 1: by a cop. I've looked at this written statement and

340
00:23:08,920 --> 00:23:11,520
Speaker 1: there are phrases in it like where the scene was,

341
00:23:12,000 --> 00:23:14,560
Speaker 1: which honestly does sound like something a cop would say.

342
00:23:15,359 --> 00:23:18,879
Speaker 1: I think we have to interrogate how much Amando understood

343
00:23:18,920 --> 00:23:21,959
Speaker 1: his own statement or how his words could have been

344
00:23:22,000 --> 00:23:24,440
Speaker 1: interpreted into helpful.

345
00:23:24,040 --> 00:23:25,640
Speaker 2: Shorthand by the police.

346
00:23:26,240 --> 00:23:30,040
Speaker 1: And obviously, if Amando can't fully understand English, it does

347
00:23:30,160 --> 00:23:33,080
Speaker 1: call into question whether he could fully understand the things

348
00:23:33,080 --> 00:23:39,000
Speaker 1: he claims he heard Tommy and Kelly say. Another issue

349
00:23:39,119 --> 00:23:44,000
Speaker 1: is that Amando really struggles with judging distances. He claims

350
00:23:44,040 --> 00:23:46,399
Speaker 1: at one point in the trial that he was maybe

351
00:23:46,640 --> 00:23:49,960
Speaker 1: eight feet away from Tommy, Kelly an angel. Then at

352
00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:52,480
Speaker 1: another point he says he was about twenty feet away.

353
00:23:53,400 --> 00:23:55,800
Speaker 1: To me, both of these options seem like they would

354
00:23:55,800 --> 00:23:58,919
Speaker 1: bring him way too physically close to Tommy and Kelly

355
00:23:59,200 --> 00:24:02,080
Speaker 1: without being noticed, so I can't see.

356
00:24:01,880 --> 00:24:05,000
Speaker 2: How either could possibly be true.

357
00:24:05,240 --> 00:24:07,960
Speaker 1: Then in the courtroom, he's asked to judge a distance

358
00:24:08,000 --> 00:24:09,440
Speaker 1: of about three feet.

359
00:24:09,560 --> 00:24:10,520
Speaker 2: But he's not able to.

360
00:24:12,040 --> 00:24:14,879
Speaker 1: And when Amando is asked to mark everyone's locations on

361
00:24:14,920 --> 00:24:17,880
Speaker 1: the night of the murder on a map, Kelly spots

362
00:24:17,920 --> 00:24:18,639
Speaker 1: more issues.

363
00:24:19,600 --> 00:24:23,080
Speaker 4: He tells the witness to put an X where the

364
00:24:23,119 --> 00:24:25,520
Speaker 4: body was, an F where the female was in, an

365
00:24:25,720 --> 00:24:29,000
Speaker 4: M where the male was. Then he said put an

366
00:24:29,040 --> 00:24:34,800
Speaker 4: ap Amanda Perez for his initials. Now this, I just

367
00:24:34,800 --> 00:24:38,560
Speaker 4: want to let everyone know those initials are taken on

368
00:24:38,680 --> 00:24:41,560
Speaker 4: a bridge that you cannot.

369
00:24:41,160 --> 00:24:44,080
Speaker 5: Even get up on. There's no way in God's green

370
00:24:44,080 --> 00:24:45,560
Speaker 5: eerd that he was standing there.

371
00:24:46,359 --> 00:24:49,040
Speaker 1: But there appears to be some confusion, and at some

372
00:24:49,160 --> 00:24:52,119
Speaker 1: point Amando seems to claim that the ex actually marks

373
00:24:52,160 --> 00:24:57,040
Speaker 1: where he was standing, and this confusion about who was where.

374
00:24:57,760 --> 00:25:00,280
Speaker 2: It doesn't end here.

375
00:25:00,280 --> 00:25:03,000
Speaker 1: In the trial, the prosecution alludes to the fact that

376
00:25:03,160 --> 00:25:07,040
Speaker 1: Kelly and Tommy moved Angel's body around eighty feet away

377
00:25:07,080 --> 00:25:08,080
Speaker 1: from the actual.

378
00:25:07,720 --> 00:25:08,640
Speaker 2: Scene of the murder.

379
00:25:09,200 --> 00:25:12,040
Speaker 1: Prosecutor Sean Clark tries to make sense of it by

380
00:25:12,080 --> 00:25:14,480
Speaker 1: saying that because the murder happened near a lit path,

381
00:25:14,920 --> 00:25:16,639
Speaker 1: Angel's body could have been discovered.

382
00:25:17,320 --> 00:25:19,160
Speaker 2: He then says, if.

383
00:25:18,960 --> 00:25:21,840
Speaker 3: You drag him into the middle of the park, you

384
00:25:21,960 --> 00:25:25,160
Speaker 3: drag him in the middle where there's no lights, He's

385
00:25:25,200 --> 00:25:27,320
Speaker 3: not going to be found until morning.

386
00:25:29,240 --> 00:25:32,840
Speaker 1: But here's the thing, Amando never explicitly said he saw

387
00:25:32,920 --> 00:25:36,560
Speaker 1: Angel's body being dragged. None of his police statements reference

388
00:25:36,640 --> 00:25:39,919
Speaker 1: the body being moved at all. The police themselves also

389
00:25:40,040 --> 00:25:43,520
Speaker 1: deny moving the body when questioned on this too. This

390
00:25:43,600 --> 00:25:46,080
Speaker 1: whole thing with the body being moved seems to be

391
00:25:46,119 --> 00:25:49,119
Speaker 1: a tactic the prosecution lands on in order to explain

392
00:25:49,160 --> 00:25:53,359
Speaker 1: away Amando's confusion over who and what was where. The

393
00:25:53,400 --> 00:25:56,280
Speaker 1: prosecution claims that all the dirt and grass on Angel's

394
00:25:56,280 --> 00:25:59,720
Speaker 1: face and clothes show his body was dragged, But I

395
00:25:59,720 --> 00:26:02,760
Speaker 1: don't by that those could easily have come from Angel

396
00:26:02,840 --> 00:26:05,280
Speaker 1: trying to fight off Tommy while they were wrestling on

397
00:26:05,320 --> 00:26:08,760
Speaker 1: the ground. The theory that the body was moved also

398
00:26:08,880 --> 00:26:12,680
Speaker 1: goes against physical evidence. A shoelace was found right by

399
00:26:12,760 --> 00:26:16,280
Speaker 1: Angel's body. If he'd been moved eighty feet after he

400
00:26:16,400 --> 00:26:20,440
Speaker 1: was killed, wouldn't the shoelace that the prosecution claim was

401
00:26:20,520 --> 00:26:25,000
Speaker 1: used to kill him be much further away? But next

402
00:26:25,080 --> 00:26:28,480
Speaker 1: up is the biggest and reddest flag.

403
00:26:28,200 --> 00:26:28,640
Speaker 2: Of them all.

404
00:26:32,359 --> 00:26:35,199
Speaker 1: At one point in the trial, the prosecution decides to

405
00:26:35,200 --> 00:26:39,320
Speaker 1: secure an easy win using a tried and tested tactic.

406
00:26:40,520 --> 00:26:42,879
Speaker 1: While Amando is on the stand, they ask him to

407
00:26:42,880 --> 00:26:46,639
Speaker 1: point out the girl he saw kicking Angel Vargas, the

408
00:26:46,720 --> 00:26:51,160
Speaker 1: girl he claims willingly handed over her shoelace moments before

409
00:26:51,200 --> 00:26:58,840
Speaker 1: Angel was strangled to death. Amando scans the courtroom and then.

410
00:27:01,520 --> 00:27:02,680
Speaker 5: He says, she's not here.

411
00:27:04,520 --> 00:27:05,200
Speaker 2: What the fuck?

412
00:27:17,119 --> 00:27:22,080
Speaker 1: After Amando's frankly unbelievable answer to the seemingly easy question,

413
00:27:22,359 --> 00:27:25,760
Speaker 1: of is the woman you're testifying against here, the court

414
00:27:25,840 --> 00:27:29,480
Speaker 1: goes into recess. When everyone comes back into the courtroom,

415
00:27:29,760 --> 00:27:32,880
Speaker 1: the prosecution try to ask Armando again, but it still

416
00:27:32,880 --> 00:27:36,640
Speaker 1: doesn't go great. He says, I'm not sure because it's

417
00:27:36,640 --> 00:27:44,280
Speaker 1: been three years. Some star witness for the record, I

418
00:27:44,320 --> 00:27:47,720
Speaker 1: find the fact that this happened incredible, like a finale

419
00:27:47,760 --> 00:27:50,800
Speaker 1: scene out of A Good Wife or something. Amando doesn't

420
00:27:50,800 --> 00:27:55,080
Speaker 1: even attempt an educate a guess. Kelly is literally standing

421
00:27:55,160 --> 00:27:58,680
Speaker 1: a few feet away from him at this point. Of course,

422
00:27:58,720 --> 00:28:01,320
Speaker 1: we do know that Kelly was in the park that night.

423
00:28:01,800 --> 00:28:05,160
Speaker 1: That's not up for debate even by her. Maybe Amanda

424
00:28:05,280 --> 00:28:07,480
Speaker 1: was just too far away to recognize her in court,

425
00:28:07,840 --> 00:28:11,199
Speaker 1: especially all these years later. But if he was so

426
00:28:11,440 --> 00:28:14,480
Speaker 1: far away to the point that he's unable to identify

427
00:28:14,600 --> 00:28:17,879
Speaker 1: Kelly when she's right there in front of him, doesn't

428
00:28:17,920 --> 00:28:20,840
Speaker 1: Kelly have a point about this guy? How much stock

429
00:28:20,880 --> 00:28:23,200
Speaker 1: can we put into his testimony about what he could

430
00:28:23,240 --> 00:28:26,720
Speaker 1: apparently see and hear from really far away in the

431
00:28:26,720 --> 00:28:31,560
Speaker 1: middle of the night. Given he's the prosecution star and

432
00:28:31,840 --> 00:28:34,919
Speaker 1: only witness of the events of the murder, this has

433
00:28:34,960 --> 00:28:35,280
Speaker 1: got to.

434
00:28:35,280 --> 00:28:36,480
Speaker 2: Put a dent in their case.

435
00:28:37,160 --> 00:28:40,600
Speaker 1: Kelly's lawyer, David Epstein certainly seems to think so.

436
00:28:40,720 --> 00:28:43,920
Speaker 6: He did state to me, well, being at the sory

437
00:28:44,040 --> 00:28:47,840
Speaker 6: witness didn't even point you out. I think that they

438
00:28:47,840 --> 00:28:50,240
Speaker 6: are the ones that are on the weak side right now.

439
00:28:55,800 --> 00:28:57,960
Speaker 1: So I've told you about how things went down in

440
00:28:58,000 --> 00:29:01,240
Speaker 1: the courtroom, some of what the prosecution argued and how

441
00:29:01,240 --> 00:29:04,760
Speaker 1: the defense tried to fight back. But there's another side

442
00:29:04,760 --> 00:29:12,479
Speaker 1: we should hear from Angel's family. I know that so

443
00:29:12,560 --> 00:29:14,800
Speaker 1: far in this show, I haven't told you very much

444
00:29:14,800 --> 00:29:18,680
Speaker 1: about who Reuben Angel Vargas was. I'm also well aware

445
00:29:18,680 --> 00:29:21,720
Speaker 1: that in many true crime series, too many the person

446
00:29:21,760 --> 00:29:24,360
Speaker 1: who actually lost their life becomes something like a background

447
00:29:24,400 --> 00:29:27,680
Speaker 1: character in their own story. Their voice gets drowned out

448
00:29:27,680 --> 00:29:31,040
Speaker 1: by everyone else's, including of course podcast host like me.

449
00:29:33,040 --> 00:29:36,840
Speaker 1: Part of the reason I haven't told you much is practical. Unfortunately,

450
00:29:36,840 --> 00:29:39,800
Speaker 1: we just don't know that much about Angel. I tried

451
00:29:39,840 --> 00:29:42,640
Speaker 1: and I failed to track down his family. So I've

452
00:29:42,680 --> 00:29:46,320
Speaker 1: pieced together snippets from articles and court documents, trying to

453
00:29:46,320 --> 00:29:50,480
Speaker 1: patchwork together an impression of who this man was. We

454
00:29:50,600 --> 00:29:53,560
Speaker 1: know that Angel was likely an alcoholic, both from the

455
00:29:53,600 --> 00:29:56,959
Speaker 1: evidence provided by the medical expert and also from Kelly,

456
00:29:57,280 --> 00:29:59,760
Speaker 1: who says Angel had an AA chip on him.

457
00:30:00,440 --> 00:30:01,320
Speaker 2: We also know.

458
00:30:01,440 --> 00:30:04,720
Speaker 1: That Kelly claimed Angel sexually assaulted her on the night

459
00:30:04,760 --> 00:30:08,280
Speaker 1: of the murder, which is objectively a horrific.

460
00:30:07,800 --> 00:30:08,360
Speaker 2: Thing to do.

461
00:30:09,560 --> 00:30:12,920
Speaker 1: But as Kelly has said herself, Angel didn't deserve to

462
00:30:13,000 --> 00:30:16,480
Speaker 1: die that night. I think it's only fair to take

463
00:30:16,480 --> 00:30:19,640
Speaker 1: a moment to get to know him, to remember that

464
00:30:19,800 --> 00:30:26,080
Speaker 1: he was someone's son, someone's uncle, in someone's brother. So

465
00:30:26,240 --> 00:30:28,400
Speaker 1: I'd like to read you a section from his sister's

466
00:30:28,520 --> 00:30:34,840
Speaker 1: victim impact statement. My name is Olga Vargas and the

467
00:30:34,920 --> 00:30:38,880
Speaker 1: sister of Reuben Vargas. In a few words, I'm going

468
00:30:38,920 --> 00:30:43,320
Speaker 1: to tell you what he was like in person. He

469
00:30:43,480 --> 00:30:48,200
Speaker 1: was a good son, who was an excellent brother, who

470
00:30:48,280 --> 00:30:51,880
Speaker 1: was a warm uncle and a very great friend. He

471
00:30:51,920 --> 00:30:55,400
Speaker 1: worked with everybody, He helped everybody. We were a great,

472
00:30:55,400 --> 00:30:59,520
Speaker 1: big family. The last day that we were together was

473
00:30:59,560 --> 00:31:05,120
Speaker 1: on July fourth. We laughed, we played. Nothing changed until

474
00:31:05,160 --> 00:31:07,840
Speaker 1: July seventh, where we were given the sad news that

475
00:31:07,880 --> 00:31:12,240
Speaker 1: had been unknown to us until that moment. This changed

476
00:31:12,280 --> 00:31:15,680
Speaker 1: life for all of us, for all those who knew him,

477
00:31:16,280 --> 00:31:17,280
Speaker 1: especially our family.

478
00:31:20,760 --> 00:31:25,600
Speaker 2: I feel destroyed. How can they feel, my parents that

479
00:31:25,680 --> 00:31:26,640
Speaker 2: it's to lose the sun.

480
00:31:28,120 --> 00:31:31,360
Speaker 1: It's not easy to accept, to know the terrible way

481
00:31:31,400 --> 00:31:32,720
Speaker 1: in which his life was taken.

482
00:31:33,360 --> 00:31:36,240
Speaker 2: My brother's life, my brother.

483
00:31:36,040 --> 00:31:39,760
Speaker 1: Is another victim who dies unjustly, and it's for him

484
00:31:40,240 --> 00:31:41,200
Speaker 1: and all my family.

485
00:31:41,960 --> 00:31:45,600
Speaker 2: They asked for justice.

486
00:31:47,880 --> 00:31:52,720
Speaker 1: For Olga an Angel's family, justice means Tommy and Kelly

487
00:31:52,920 --> 00:31:57,640
Speaker 1: going behind bars. In another statement, Olga talks about their

488
00:31:57,720 --> 00:32:01,680
Speaker 1: blows and their actions which caused her brother to suffer

489
00:32:01,680 --> 00:32:06,040
Speaker 1: the death he did. But for Kelly, justice means something

490
00:32:06,120 --> 00:32:10,760
Speaker 1: very different. Justice would been recognizing her as another victim

491
00:32:10,800 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: of Tommy's violence. For Kelly, justice would mean an acknowledgment

492
00:32:15,440 --> 00:32:18,440
Speaker 1: that she was scared for her life too. Justice would

493
00:32:18,440 --> 00:32:21,400
Speaker 1: mean leaving the courtroom and going back to her mother

494
00:32:22,160 --> 00:32:23,360
Speaker 1: and her brother Ronnie.

495
00:32:27,960 --> 00:32:29,400
Speaker 2: The trial draws to a close.

496
00:32:30,880 --> 00:32:34,480
Speaker 1: Now Kelly's fate is in the hands of twelve strangers.

497
00:32:35,760 --> 00:32:38,200
Speaker 2: The jury is ushered out to start their deliberation.

498
00:32:40,000 --> 00:32:43,800
Speaker 1: For Kelly, each minute that passes with no news feels

499
00:32:43,840 --> 00:32:47,560
Speaker 1: like an hour, and each hour feels like a year.

500
00:32:48,640 --> 00:32:52,520
Speaker 5: I got scared. I already didn't feel good about any

501
00:32:52,560 --> 00:32:53,040
Speaker 5: of the trial.

502
00:32:54,680 --> 00:32:58,520
Speaker 1: Scenes from her own personal courtroom drama start running through

503
00:32:58,600 --> 00:32:59,280
Speaker 1: Kelly's head.

504
00:33:03,040 --> 00:33:06,400
Speaker 5: Miss Horn, You're saying it's not admissible.

505
00:33:06,520 --> 00:33:12,200
Speaker 3: They got into an altercation with mister Vargas to rob him. Fine,

506
00:33:12,320 --> 00:33:14,800
Speaker 3: they drag him into the middle of the park. He's

507
00:33:14,880 --> 00:33:16,760
Speaker 3: not going to be found until morning.

508
00:33:16,920 --> 00:33:19,120
Speaker 5: Amanda Perez, he says, she's not here.

509
00:33:19,320 --> 00:33:22,000
Speaker 3: Did I pull that out of the air? No, I

510
00:33:22,120 --> 00:33:23,640
Speaker 3: pulled that out of the evidence.

511
00:33:27,440 --> 00:33:30,800
Speaker 1: And then the update everyone has been waiting for comes.

512
00:33:31,720 --> 00:33:33,480
Speaker 2: The jury has a verdict.

513
00:33:34,320 --> 00:33:40,320
Speaker 4: The heartbeat that you feel, I've never felt anything you

514
00:33:40,880 --> 00:33:45,480
Speaker 4: close to that in my life.

515
00:33:46,120 --> 00:33:48,640
Speaker 1: As the twelve members of the jury fall back into

516
00:33:48,640 --> 00:33:55,160
Speaker 1: the Queen's courtroom, a hushed silence falls. Kelly holds her

517
00:33:55,240 --> 00:33:58,520
Speaker 1: breath as Judge Lasac asks for their verdict.

518
00:33:59,440 --> 00:34:06,280
Speaker 6: They came back with the unanimous decision, and the verdict was.

519
00:34:08,200 --> 00:34:14,520
Speaker 5: Guilty.

520
00:34:15,320 --> 00:34:18,759
Speaker 6: I couldn't believe it because I was like, oh my god,

521
00:34:18,960 --> 00:34:20,640
Speaker 6: what trial were they watching?

522
00:34:21,800 --> 00:34:23,520
Speaker 5: Because it was not mine.

523
00:34:25,160 --> 00:34:29,400
Speaker 1: Kelly turns around and finds her brother, Ronnie's eyes. He's

524
00:34:29,480 --> 00:34:33,040
Speaker 1: begged her over and over to plead guilty before trial,

525
00:34:33,480 --> 00:34:36,000
Speaker 1: to take a deal in exchange for a shorter sentence.

526
00:34:37,760 --> 00:34:39,200
Speaker 5: He was in tears.

527
00:34:39,520 --> 00:34:45,399
Speaker 9: Oh my god, I'll never forget. I'll never forget that, say,

528
00:34:46,160 --> 00:34:52,520
Speaker 9: not seeing Ronnie in tears.

529
00:34:53,239 --> 00:34:57,520
Speaker 1: Kelly turns her gaze to the prosecutor, Sean Clark.

530
00:35:00,080 --> 00:35:04,080
Speaker 5: It was a stare down. I was like, you, you

531
00:35:04,239 --> 00:35:05,000
Speaker 5: son of a bitch.

532
00:35:06,360 --> 00:35:12,200
Speaker 6: You are never ever going to forget this moment.

533
00:35:13,880 --> 00:35:15,480
Speaker 5: I'm taking you down.

534
00:35:19,120 --> 00:35:21,560
Speaker 1: It would have been so easy for Kelly to give

535
00:35:21,680 --> 00:35:26,160
Speaker 1: up and accept defeat in this moment. But next time

536
00:35:26,360 --> 00:35:30,160
Speaker 1: on The Girlfriend's Gailhouse Lawyer, Kelly goes to war with

537
00:35:30,280 --> 00:35:35,360
Speaker 1: Sean Clark, Judge Laisac and everyone else she sees standing

538
00:35:35,400 --> 00:35:38,200
Speaker 1: in her way.

539
00:35:38,320 --> 00:35:39,240
Speaker 4: I was found guilty.

540
00:35:39,440 --> 00:35:42,480
Speaker 5: I said, what do you want me to do? She goes, ah, guilty, Shmelty.

541
00:35:42,840 --> 00:35:45,680
Speaker 4: I want to take your butt Todella Library and figure

542
00:35:45,719 --> 00:35:49,319
Speaker 4: something out. And this was the beginning of a seventeen

543
00:35:49,400 --> 00:35:50,880
Speaker 4: month war of attrition.

544
00:35:51,600 --> 00:35:54,440
Speaker 2: You're a very unique person, Kelly.

545
00:35:55,440 --> 00:35:55,839
Speaker 4: Thank you.

546
00:35:56,719 --> 00:35:59,239
Speaker 2: I take that as a compliment. It's a compliment. It

547
00:35:59,280 --> 00:36:00,640
Speaker 2: is a compliment for sure.

548
00:36:11,760 --> 00:36:16,200
Speaker 1: The Girlfriend's Gelhouse Lawyer is produced by Novel for iHeart Podcasts.

549
00:36:16,600 --> 00:36:20,680
Speaker 1: For more from Novel, visit novel dot Audio. The show

550
00:36:20,800 --> 00:36:24,040
Speaker 1: is hosted by me Annasinfield and is written and produced

551
00:36:24,080 --> 00:36:27,840
Speaker 1: by me and Lee Meyer, with additional production from Jako

552
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:32,240
Speaker 1: Taivich and Michael Jinno. Our assistant producer is Madeline Park.

553
00:36:32,640 --> 00:36:37,200
Speaker 1: The editors are Georgia Moody and me Annasinfield. Production management

554
00:36:37,400 --> 00:36:40,719
Speaker 1: from Shari Houston, Joe Savage and Charlotte Wolfe.

555
00:36:41,120 --> 00:36:43,560
Speaker 2: Our fact checker is Daniel Suleiman.

556
00:36:44,080 --> 00:36:48,319
Speaker 1: Sound design, mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson and Nicholas Alexander.

557
00:36:48,840 --> 00:36:53,319
Speaker 1: Music supervision by me alis Infield, Lee Meyer and Nicholas Alexander.

558
00:36:53,760 --> 00:36:59,200
Speaker 1: Original music composed by Nicholas Alexander, Daniel Kempson and Louisa Gerstein.

559
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,240
Speaker 1: Orry development by Nell Gray Andrews and Willard Foxton. Creative

560
00:37:04,280 --> 00:37:08,400
Speaker 1: director of Novel, Max O'Brien and Craig Strachan are executive

561
00:37:08,400 --> 00:37:12,080
Speaker 1: producers for Novel, and Katrina Norvell and Niki Eator are

562
00:37:12,120 --> 00:37:14,560
Speaker 1: the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts.

563
00:37:14,760 --> 00:37:16,960
Speaker 2: And the marketing lead is Alison Cantor.

564
00:37:17,360 --> 00:37:20,279
Speaker 1: Thanks also to Carry Lieberman and the whole team at

565
00:37:20,480 --> 00:37:21,040
Speaker 1: WME