WEBVTT - #512 Jason Flom with Charles "Brandon" Martin 0:00:02.640 --> 0:00:06.199 On October twenty seventh, two thousand and eight, a pregnant 0:00:06.200 --> 0:00:10.080 woman named Jody Lintrek answered a knot at her front 0:00:10.080 --> 0:00:16.120 door and survived a gunshot, but tragically, her pregnancy was terminated, 0:00:17.320 --> 0:00:20.360 and police found what they believed to be a makeshift 0:00:20.400 --> 0:00:23.760 silencer in her home. Then theorized that one of the 0:00:23.760 --> 0:00:28.120 potential bothers, a married man named Charles Brandon Martin, had 0:00:28.200 --> 0:00:33.080 constructed the alleged silencer and arranged the attack, despite a 0:00:33.280 --> 0:00:36.479 bunch of holes in this theory, including that this alleged 0:00:36.520 --> 0:00:40.120 silencer may have actually been a bomb. One alleged witness 0:00:40.159 --> 0:00:42.879 claimed that Brandon had searched the Internet for ways to 0:00:42.880 --> 0:00:46.879 construct a silencer before disposing of the computer, sending him 0:00:46.920 --> 0:00:58.280 away for life. This is wrongful conviction. You're listening to 0:00:58.280 --> 0:01:01.040 Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this and all the 0:01:01.120 --> 0:01:04.240 Lava for Good podcasts one week early n AD free 0:01:04.400 --> 0:01:08.440 by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus on Apple Podcasts. 0:01:15.880 --> 0:01:18.240 Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction, where we're going to go 0:01:18.280 --> 0:01:21.479 to Maryland, just outside of DC, where a pregnant woman 0:01:21.560 --> 0:01:25.440 survived a gunshot wound that ended her pregnancy and then 0:01:25.600 --> 0:01:29.760 a tangled web of Lover's law enforcement and various ulterior 0:01:29.840 --> 0:01:33.680 motives led to the prosecution of not one, but two 0:01:33.880 --> 0:01:38.760 innocent men, while other compelling suspects were ignored. And one 0:01:38.760 --> 0:01:41.440 of the two men caught up in that miserable web 0:01:41.560 --> 0:01:45.319 joins us from a Maryland correction facility, Charles Brandon Martin. 0:01:45.480 --> 0:01:48.440 But he just goes by Brandon. So Brandon, welcome to 0:01:48.440 --> 0:01:49.200 wrongful conviction. 0:01:49.680 --> 0:01:51.000 I appreciate you having me. 0:01:51.000 --> 0:01:54.640 And joining him to help tell this harrowing story. His attorney, 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:59.040 Elizabeth Franzoso, who goes by Beth, and we'll represent him 0:01:59.120 --> 0:02:02.160 along with Donna, at a new trial if the state 0:02:02.360 --> 0:02:06.680 ever stops delaying it. So Beth, welcome, Thank you for 0:02:06.680 --> 0:02:10.200 having us. And while this case is really more of 0:02:10.240 --> 0:02:13.520 a Maryland story, Brandon's story began in DC and it 0:02:13.600 --> 0:02:15.240 revolved heavily around basketball. 0:02:15.639 --> 0:02:17.920 I grew up in the DC area. I went to 0:02:17.960 --> 0:02:21.280 Domatha High School, finished up at Saint Stephen Saint Agnes's 0:02:21.360 --> 0:02:25.480 High School in Alexandria. Before college, I studied social science 0:02:25.480 --> 0:02:28.600 and aff apology and sociology the University of Pittsburgh. Funished 0:02:28.639 --> 0:02:32.120 at Johnstown and I started coaching and in basketball, and 0:02:32.160 --> 0:02:35.720 actually when I was in college, started coaching at the 0:02:35.800 --> 0:02:38.680 high school I had attended in the summers. Then I 0:02:38.680 --> 0:02:41.800 had got a job at Allegheny College in Pittsburgh. So 0:02:41.960 --> 0:02:44.839 I actually didn't move to Maryland until two thousand and 0:02:44.919 --> 0:02:47.920 four with my ex wife, who was my girlfriend at 0:02:47.919 --> 0:02:50.040 the times when I had the head coaching job at 0:02:50.040 --> 0:02:52.400 the college and Southern Maryland. Right after my first son 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:53.239 was born. 0:02:53.600 --> 0:02:55.880 The two young parents moved back to be closer to 0:02:55.919 --> 0:02:59.240 their support systems understandably, and then they got married and 0:02:59.280 --> 0:03:01.280 it wasn't long before where the second child was born, 0:03:01.320 --> 0:03:04.280 and it appears that Brandon enjoyed. 0:03:03.960 --> 0:03:07.240 Fatherhood with a job I had and everything I was 0:03:07.280 --> 0:03:09.440 able to make my schedule around the kids, and so 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.800 I was basically the primary caregiver for our kids as 0:03:12.919 --> 0:03:14.480 I was there. I mean, like I spent more hours 0:03:14.480 --> 0:03:16.640 for day with the kids than anybody from the second 0:03:16.680 --> 0:03:18.799 they woke up all the way through the night time. 0:03:18.960 --> 0:03:20.960 But that's the most important thing to me with those kids. 0:03:21.160 --> 0:03:22.799 I mean, that's the hardest part for me right now, 0:03:22.880 --> 0:03:24.120 is being away from the kids. 0:03:24.280 --> 0:03:27.000 As time went by, the marital arrangement changed and Brandon 0:03:27.080 --> 0:03:31.000 moved out, but they both remained committed to amicably co parenting. 0:03:31.320 --> 0:03:34.080 He and his wife had separated, pad more of just 0:03:34.120 --> 0:03:37.760 a co parenting roommate type thing. His wife was aware 0:03:37.800 --> 0:03:41.160 that he'd had relationships with other women. Go somewhere else 0:03:41.200 --> 0:03:43.520 in the evening, and he'd come home, go to the kids' 0:03:43.800 --> 0:03:46.680 sports games and participate with the kids. He was always 0:03:46.720 --> 0:03:48.160 a really active dad to. 0:03:48.080 --> 0:03:51.640 Try to keep everything the same for the kids since 0:03:51.640 --> 0:03:53.880 they were still young. I would get back to the 0:03:53.880 --> 0:03:56.200 house in the morning before they woke up so that 0:03:56.440 --> 0:03:59.240 they didn't notice anything different, which betwain me and my 0:03:59.360 --> 0:04:02.240 ex wife. He knew what the situation was. 0:04:02.440 --> 0:04:05.720 And while living within this new arrangement, Brandon had three 0:04:05.760 --> 0:04:09.280 more kids, including another son with his wife, but staying single. 0:04:09.720 --> 0:04:12.040 It was just a better fit for him setting a 0:04:12.160 --> 0:04:16.279 casual expectation with any of his intimate partners, which included 0:04:16.440 --> 0:04:19.440 three women at the time of this incident, Sherry Carter, 0:04:19.720 --> 0:04:23.640 Maggie McFadden, and the victim in this case, Jody Lynn Torrick. 0:04:24.080 --> 0:04:26.880 They tried to make it sound like I was in 0:04:26.920 --> 0:04:29.800 committed relationships with all these people. You know, with Jody, 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:32.800 we probably had only been around each other, probably eight times. 0:04:33.160 --> 0:04:35.599 She was actually dating someone else by the name of 0:04:35.640 --> 0:04:40.360 Emmanuel and they were actually more boyfriend girlfriend. Jody became pregnant, 0:04:40.360 --> 0:04:43.400 it was uncertain who the father was, and Brandon was 0:04:43.480 --> 0:04:47.599 very respectful of her making whatever decision that she wanted to, 0:04:47.720 --> 0:04:51.520 which could include either having an abortion or keeping the baby, 0:04:51.600 --> 0:04:53.599 and he agreed that if the baby was his, he 0:04:53.600 --> 0:04:56.800 would support the baby. I think Emmanuel was not thrilled 0:04:56.800 --> 0:04:59.080 that she was pregnant and didn't know who the father was, 0:04:59.279 --> 0:05:02.760 so the state tried to paint this out to Brandon 0:05:02.880 --> 0:05:05.920 being angry that she was pregnant and wanting to kill 0:05:05.960 --> 0:05:08.560 her so that way he wouldn't have to pay child support, 0:05:08.800 --> 0:05:11.760 but it simply wasn't true. Not to mention that there 0:05:11.800 --> 0:05:14.240 was a whole host of other people that did have 0:05:14.440 --> 0:05:15.800 some type of motive. 0:05:15.839 --> 0:05:18.719 And this appears to have included one of Brandon's other 0:05:18.880 --> 0:05:23.080 intimate partners, Maggie McFadden, who had allegedly threatened other women 0:05:23.160 --> 0:05:26.640 with gun violence, including Sharry Carter, Which brings us to 0:05:26.800 --> 0:05:29.920 October twenty seventh, two thousand and eight, when Jody Lyn 0:05:29.920 --> 0:05:32.599 Torrik was at home talking to a friend on the phone. 0:05:32.760 --> 0:05:35.360 She was two months pregnant at the time, talking on 0:05:35.400 --> 0:05:37.720 the phone to her friend Blair around three o'clock in 0:05:37.800 --> 0:05:41.479 the afternoon and someone knocked on her front door saying 0:05:41.520 --> 0:05:44.039 they were a salesman, and then she ended the call. 0:05:44.440 --> 0:05:47.279 Blair tried to call her back a few times, Jody 0:05:47.320 --> 0:05:50.280 never picked up the phone, so she got worried and 0:05:50.360 --> 0:05:54.440 she called Jody's roommate, Jessica. Jody also worked for Jessica. 0:05:54.600 --> 0:05:58.880 Blair requested that Jessica leave work and check on Jody. 0:05:59.200 --> 0:06:03.440 So Jessica Jody lying there unconscious with a gunshot wound, 0:06:03.920 --> 0:06:06.600 and she calls nine to one one. The police come 0:06:06.640 --> 0:06:09.680 to the scene. At that point, Jody's lying in the doorway. 0:06:10.040 --> 0:06:14.440 She's still breathing, and she was hospitalized for quite some 0:06:14.600 --> 0:06:15.960 time for serious injuries. 0:06:16.279 --> 0:06:19.400 A three eighty caliber bullet and casing were collected from 0:06:19.400 --> 0:06:22.640 where she was found, and then across the living room 0:06:22.680 --> 0:06:26.039 from there, police found a curious looking gatorade bottle. The 0:06:26.160 --> 0:06:29.719 mouth was wrapped in layers of duct tape and medical 0:06:29.760 --> 0:06:33.880 tape which formed a rectangular opening, and then on the 0:06:33.960 --> 0:06:38.400 bottom there was a hole covered in ashen soot, and 0:06:38.720 --> 0:06:42.400 the lead detective from ann Arundel County, Richard Alman, thought 0:06:42.480 --> 0:06:44.560 that that was a makeshift silencer. 0:06:44.960 --> 0:06:48.520 There was no expert testimony whatsoever about gatorade bottles or 0:06:48.560 --> 0:06:53.080 other bottles being made into silencers. Detective Richard Alban testified 0:06:53.360 --> 0:06:56.240 it reminded him of a makeshift silencer he'd seen in 0:06:56.279 --> 0:06:57.960 a Stephen Sagal movie, but. 0:06:58.040 --> 0:07:01.200 Rather than ordering chemical analysis to prove that theory, it 0:07:01.520 --> 0:07:05.720 just became an accepted fact, and there were a few 0:07:05.760 --> 0:07:09.320 hairs stuck in the tape and the contraption was saved 0:07:09.320 --> 0:07:12.960 for DNA testing and hair microscopy. Meanwhile, they spoke with 0:07:13.040 --> 0:07:15.000 Jody's roommate, Jessica Higgs. 0:07:15.280 --> 0:07:20.080 During the interview, Jessica used the very crass racist language. 0:07:20.240 --> 0:07:22.480 She used the N word and stated she did not 0:07:22.680 --> 0:07:25.480 like black people, that she didn't like that Jody had 0:07:25.520 --> 0:07:28.120 black men in and out of the house, and that 0:07:28.520 --> 0:07:31.440 she didn't like or didn't trust Brandon because he's black. 0:07:31.760 --> 0:07:36.160 She basically came up with this unfounded, baseless theory that, oh, 0:07:36.200 --> 0:07:38.520 it must have been Brandon because he was in some 0:07:38.600 --> 0:07:41.000 way pissed off that she was pregnant and didn't want 0:07:41.040 --> 0:07:41.760 to have an abortion. 0:07:42.200 --> 0:07:45.960 The police theorized that this married man wanted Jody dead 0:07:46.040 --> 0:07:51.520 to hide his infidelity and potential extramarital child. So Anne 0:07:51.640 --> 0:07:55.600 Arundel County Police coordinated with Charles County to pay a 0:07:55.680 --> 0:07:57.400 visit to Brandon and his wife. 0:07:57.680 --> 0:07:59.640 Oh yeah, the next day they were accusing me when 0:07:59.640 --> 0:08:02.760 I was that holme with the kids and I see 0:08:02.760 --> 0:08:06.560 a truck parked in front of my driveway, like blocking 0:08:06.560 --> 0:08:10.280 my driveway, tended windows, and I actually ended up calling 0:08:10.280 --> 0:08:12.760 the police because I'm afraid. I'm at home with the 0:08:12.840 --> 0:08:14.480 kids and I'm thinking if somebody about to try to 0:08:14.680 --> 0:08:16.240 rob me or something that they said they were going 0:08:16.320 --> 0:08:18.560 to send someone over, which clearly they didn't because they 0:08:18.640 --> 0:08:22.560 knew who it was. And so the original interaction with 0:08:22.640 --> 0:08:25.559 them was when I found out that she had actually 0:08:25.640 --> 0:08:26.160 been shot. 0:08:38.120 --> 0:08:42.080 This episode of Wrongful Conviction is proudly sponsored by Erase PTSD. 0:08:42.240 --> 0:08:46.320 Now every day, countless individuals face the invisible wounds of 0:08:46.400 --> 0:08:50.200 trauma and PTSD. Your support empowers us to provide life 0:08:50.280 --> 0:08:54.760 changing treatments like the Stella Ganglon Block SGB, which inhibits 0:08:54.800 --> 0:08:58.240 nerve impulses and helps to restore hope, reclaim lives, and 0:08:58.320 --> 0:09:02.720 save lives after incarcerat. Together, we can ensure that those 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.160 wrongfully convicted receive the care they need to heal and 0:09:06.200 --> 0:09:09.640 reintegrate into society. Join us in this mission to erase 0:09:09.679 --> 0:09:14.959 PTSD and uplift our communities. Visit ERASEPTSD now dot org. 0:09:15.160 --> 0:09:19.760 That's erase PTSD now dot org for more information and 0:09:19.840 --> 0:09:29.880 ways to get involved. Without knowing the time of the shooting, 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:32.839 Brandon told them where he was the day before, at 0:09:32.880 --> 0:09:37.040 Maggie McFadden's house speaking with her brother Frank Bradley about 0:09:37.080 --> 0:09:41.280 rehab from about one thirty to four thirty PM, thereby 0:09:41.320 --> 0:09:44.040 making him unavailable for him to have shot Jody. 0:09:45.080 --> 0:09:48.040 And then in the meantime, the police were actually speaking 0:09:48.040 --> 0:09:50.400 to my wife at the time, and they made her 0:09:50.880 --> 0:09:54.120 meet them at like a mattress warehouse or something like 0:09:54.160 --> 0:09:56.360 that on the way home from her job. So they 0:09:56.400 --> 0:09:59.240 had her basically alone talking to her. And so I'm 0:09:59.280 --> 0:10:01.280 trying to call her and can't reach her. They wouldn't 0:10:01.320 --> 0:10:03.439 let her pick the phone up when I'm calling now. 0:10:03.559 --> 0:10:06.600 Unaware of the marital arrangement that upended their theory, they 0:10:06.640 --> 0:10:08.520 may have hoped to upset her with the news of 0:10:08.520 --> 0:10:12.000 an extra marital affair and child, perhaps gaining the state's witness, 0:10:12.040 --> 0:10:14.920 but to no avail. They were told about Brandon's other 0:10:14.920 --> 0:10:18.200 intimate partners, which brought them to Sherry Carter, as well 0:10:18.240 --> 0:10:22.120 as Maggie McFadden and her brothers Frank, Dennis and Michael Bradley, 0:10:22.280 --> 0:10:26.319 all of whom corroborated Brandon's alibi. But instead of rethinking 0:10:26.360 --> 0:10:28.840 their theory in the face of this new evidence, they 0:10:28.880 --> 0:10:32.840 persisted with Brandon while trying to again aggravate his wife. 0:10:33.000 --> 0:10:35.400 When they had originally asked about searching the house and 0:10:35.440 --> 0:10:37.319 searching the car and all that stuff, we didn't have 0:10:37.360 --> 0:10:40.120 any issue with that. That was fine. But instead of 0:10:40.600 --> 0:10:43.280 going on the schedule that we had agreed upon, they 0:10:43.320 --> 0:10:44.960 waited until they knew I was going to be gone 0:10:44.960 --> 0:10:46.839 from the work, and they came over the house when 0:10:46.880 --> 0:10:49.120 she was there with the kids, and so just trying 0:10:49.160 --> 0:10:52.640 to upset her, messing the house up, slashing bags open 0:10:52.720 --> 0:10:54.640 that could have just been unzipped, and just making a 0:10:54.679 --> 0:10:56.320 mess of the place, doing the best they could to 0:10:56.360 --> 0:10:58.520 try to upset her in any way, hoping that I 0:10:58.600 --> 0:11:00.679 had done something and she was going to fell on me, 0:11:00.760 --> 0:11:01.720 but there was nothing to do. 0:11:02.200 --> 0:11:04.840 In addition to information, they may have been looking for 0:11:04.880 --> 0:11:08.280 a three eighty caliber pistol or some other incriminating evidence, 0:11:08.320 --> 0:11:11.080 but all they turned up was a text exchange between 0:11:11.120 --> 0:11:11.960 Brandon and Jody. 0:11:12.600 --> 0:11:14.640 If you look at the text messages, it just says 0:11:14.679 --> 0:11:17.480 what time do you work, to which she responded, I'm off. 0:11:18.520 --> 0:11:21.560 Brandon said hello at five eleven, which was two hours 0:11:21.600 --> 0:11:24.480 after the shooting. He sent another message, I got some 0:11:24.559 --> 0:11:27.120 stuff with the kids to about seven o'clock, so any 0:11:27.120 --> 0:11:30.280 time later, how much did you need, suggesting that they 0:11:30.440 --> 0:11:33.920 had talked over the phone or something, So why they 0:11:34.120 --> 0:11:37.720 suggested that was in some way nefarious or him trying 0:11:37.760 --> 0:11:41.040 to ascertain if she was home alone. In fact, it 0:11:41.240 --> 0:11:44.240 suggests one that they were just having a normal conversation 0:11:44.320 --> 0:11:47.960 about him providing her something that she needed and scheduling it. 0:11:48.320 --> 0:11:51.520 And the fact that he was completely clueless as to 0:11:51.559 --> 0:11:54.200 the fact that she'd been shot because he's texting her 0:11:54.240 --> 0:11:55.080 two hours after. 0:11:55.520 --> 0:12:00.480 Yet inexplicably, this was later present at as evidence of guilt. Meanwhile, 0:12:00.559 --> 0:12:03.800 a month out from the shooting, Jody regained consciousness, but 0:12:03.880 --> 0:12:06.520 she had no memory of the shooting and she couldn't 0:12:06.520 --> 0:12:07.680 identify the shooter. 0:12:08.200 --> 0:12:10.800 She could remember I think what happened up to the 0:12:10.880 --> 0:12:13.440 day of the shooting in her life generally, and she 0:12:14.080 --> 0:12:16.800 gained her memory for future events, but did not remember 0:12:17.200 --> 0:12:19.000 anything about being shot. 0:12:19.280 --> 0:12:23.520 Well, they interviewed Jody when she first got home. He 0:12:23.640 --> 0:12:26.080 let them know that I've never asked her to get 0:12:26.120 --> 0:12:28.200 a horse. I think she said, he never told me 0:12:28.240 --> 0:12:30.480 to do anything associated with it. Then they come the 0:12:30.480 --> 0:12:33.079 trial still saying that was going on when she actually 0:12:33.160 --> 0:12:34.400 told them that before. 0:12:35.240 --> 0:12:38.360 So they chose to ignore the victim and Brandon's wife 0:12:38.440 --> 0:12:41.320 about the motive or lack thereof, as well as his 0:12:41.440 --> 0:12:45.240 corroborated alibi, and they obtained a warrant to collect strands 0:12:45.240 --> 0:12:48.520 of Brandon's hair for comparison to the gatorade bottle. Again, 0:12:48.840 --> 0:12:51.920 no testing was done to determine if this crazy Stephen 0:12:51.960 --> 0:12:54.920 Sigall movie silence er theory held any water. I mean, 0:12:55.240 --> 0:12:58.280 my first thought was that this contraption was found outside 0:12:58.320 --> 0:13:02.320 of the immediate crime scene. Sounds like a let's face, 0:13:02.360 --> 0:13:03.800 it sounds like a homemade bomb. 0:13:04.200 --> 0:13:06.480 I think he might be pretty spot on there. 0:13:06.720 --> 0:13:09.800 And that also, I guess what would explain why there 0:13:09.840 --> 0:13:11.760 may have been some burnt residue in it. That's what 0:13:11.960 --> 0:13:14.719 happens to marijuana when you smoke it. Also, whither it 0:13:14.800 --> 0:13:16.679 would have been a little bit of a tape around it, 0:13:16.800 --> 0:13:20.720 and there was a multiple DNA profile not rolling out 0:13:21.120 --> 0:13:24.320 either Jody or Brandon, and I think the fact that 0:13:24.480 --> 0:13:27.640 Jody's and Brandon's and who knows who else is might 0:13:27.640 --> 0:13:29.800 have been on it because it was a mixed profile, 0:13:30.080 --> 0:13:33.280 would be consistent with that being what this gatorade bottle 0:13:33.360 --> 0:13:36.280 was used for. And so essentially that there's nothing about 0:13:36.280 --> 0:13:39.480 the DNA that would suggest that he did anything nefarious 0:13:39.600 --> 0:13:43.199 with this gatorade bottle. But yet, because Detective Albin had 0:13:43.400 --> 0:13:46.560 seen this interesting Steven Siagall movie, he decided to make 0:13:46.600 --> 0:13:50.000 that the theory of the state's case that it was a silencer, so. 0:13:50.040 --> 0:13:52.959 With Jessica Biggs theory which had been debunked by Jody 0:13:53.000 --> 0:13:57.520 and Brandon's wife, followed by an innocuous text exchange, and 0:13:57.559 --> 0:14:01.040 then Brandon's hair found on what was probably a bond. 0:14:01.440 --> 0:14:06.559 Considering Jody wasn't excluded either. I mean, how many shooting 0:14:06.640 --> 0:14:13.319 victims handle the silencer that's used on them. Nevertheless, they 0:14:13.360 --> 0:14:14.160 arrested Brandon. 0:14:15.000 --> 0:14:17.280 It was a surprise. I was actually on my way 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:19.440 taking the kids to practice when we were heading to 0:14:19.480 --> 0:14:21.960 the car, getting the kids in the car, and they 0:14:22.080 --> 0:14:23.760 just pulled up with all the police and all this 0:14:23.760 --> 0:14:24.600 stuff in arrestment. 0:14:24.840 --> 0:14:27.480 He was arrested on March thirtieth, two thousand and nine, 0:14:27.600 --> 0:14:30.920 then bonded out, which started a fight over pretrialed detention 0:14:31.080 --> 0:14:33.720 that tied up his lawyers and had Brandon in and 0:14:33.760 --> 0:14:36.160 out of jail while they worked to build support for 0:14:36.200 --> 0:14:38.960 the silencer theory, starting with Sherry Carter. 0:14:39.360 --> 0:14:41.680 Brandon had a computer because he was a coach at 0:14:41.680 --> 0:14:44.240 the College of Southern Maryland, so he had his work 0:14:44.320 --> 0:14:48.960 laptop at home, and she got upset with him and 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:51.920 made up a story that he was searching all these 0:14:51.960 --> 0:14:56.479 things on the computer about making silencers out of bottles, 0:14:56.680 --> 0:14:59.800 and then she testified the computer had been destroyed in 0:14:59.840 --> 0:15:03.400 the police testimony was such that they did not have 0:15:03.440 --> 0:15:04.480 the computer. 0:15:04.440 --> 0:15:07.400 But we later found out that they definitely fucking did, 0:15:07.480 --> 0:15:10.720 and that a forensic search of this particular computer and 0:15:10.840 --> 0:15:14.840 others belonging to Brandon had disproved Cherry's story. And in 0:15:14.960 --> 0:15:18.600 light of that tidbit, do we believe that other potentially 0:15:18.600 --> 0:15:22.600 exculpatory evidence was just simply somehow lost. 0:15:23.200 --> 0:15:26.480 They lost street camera footage that would have showed if 0:15:26.600 --> 0:15:29.440 Brandon had driven towards Jodie's house that day, or for 0:15:29.480 --> 0:15:33.080 that matter, specifically who drove toward the house that day. 0:15:33.520 --> 0:15:36.360 They lost part of a recording of a police interview 0:15:36.720 --> 0:15:42.119 in which Maggie's brother Michael Bradley basically endorsed brandon saalibi, 0:15:42.520 --> 0:15:46.160 which directly conflicted with Michael Bradley's trial testimony. 0:15:46.480 --> 0:15:51.440 During his initial interview, Michael Bradley corroborated Brandon's alibi statement 0:15:51.600 --> 0:15:54.240 that he was at their house on the afternoon of 0:15:54.240 --> 0:15:56.720 the shooting, but in November two thousand and nine, in 0:15:56.800 --> 0:16:02.240 exchange for immunity and other Favorschael Bradley changed that story, 0:16:02.400 --> 0:16:05.320 adding in a new name, Jerry Burks. 0:16:05.800 --> 0:16:09.880 Bradley testified that it was him, Frank, Jerry Burks, Brandon. 0:16:10.280 --> 0:16:14.120 They were smoking marijuana in the house. He was intoxicated. 0:16:14.520 --> 0:16:18.000 That he saw Frank take medical tape to the kitchen. 0:16:18.360 --> 0:16:21.840 He saw Brandon and Frank go up to Maggie McFadden's room, 0:16:22.280 --> 0:16:25.280 Frank coming down and retrieving a gatorade bottle, and then 0:16:25.320 --> 0:16:27.880 Brandon and Jerry Burks left the house. 0:16:28.280 --> 0:16:31.760 Bradley said they left around two pm, and then the 0:16:31.800 --> 0:16:35.400 pair allegedly returned and asked Frank to discard of a bag. 0:16:36.040 --> 0:16:38.960 But where did this Jerry Burke's guy come from? 0:16:39.240 --> 0:16:44.240 He was a friend of Maggie's brother, and I believe 0:16:44.240 --> 0:16:47.880 a friend of Maggie, and just my feeling of it 0:16:47.920 --> 0:16:50.320 is that he sort of was in the same situation 0:16:50.360 --> 0:16:52.400 as me where they're a legend he did something that 0:16:52.440 --> 0:16:53.560 he probably didn't actually do. 0:16:53.800 --> 0:16:55.680 I think that they were hoping in some way that 0:16:55.920 --> 0:16:58.040 Jerry would turn on Brandon, but he didn't. 0:16:58.280 --> 0:17:00.880 And we'll get into Michael Bradley's reason for throwing Jerry 0:17:00.880 --> 0:17:03.760 Burks under the bus in a bit. But they used 0:17:03.800 --> 0:17:07.240 his statement and Sherry Carter's lies to bring Jerry Burkes 0:17:07.280 --> 0:17:11.520 into the fold. But Burkes called their bluff refusing to 0:17:11.560 --> 0:17:15.280 give a statement about how Brandon allegedly hired him to 0:17:15.320 --> 0:17:18.159 shoot Jody using this alleged silencer. 0:17:18.400 --> 0:17:21.320 He maintained his innocence, He was tried by a jury, 0:17:21.359 --> 0:17:23.720 he was acquitted, And it really does seem that after 0:17:23.840 --> 0:17:26.920 Jerry was found not guilty, they really ramped up the 0:17:27.080 --> 0:17:31.800 prosecution of Brandon. The judge didn't even allow the fact 0:17:32.080 --> 0:17:35.399 that Jerry was acquitted to be heard by the jury 0:17:35.400 --> 0:17:36.399 in Brandon's case. 0:17:36.800 --> 0:17:39.239 By this time, Brandon had been re arrested on a 0:17:39.240 --> 0:17:43.520 false assault allegation, and even that same judge didn't find 0:17:43.600 --> 0:17:44.600 the charge credible. 0:17:44.720 --> 0:17:47.199 They had a witness basically lie and say that I 0:17:47.240 --> 0:17:49.919 had assaulted them. Now it came up doing a hearing 0:17:50.160 --> 0:17:53.200 that it was a false statement, and the judge explained 0:17:53.200 --> 0:17:55.800 that even though I don't believe that it occurred, I'm 0:17:55.800 --> 0:17:58.360 going to hold you because trials two weeks away. Then 0:17:58.359 --> 0:18:01.200 the trial gets postponed or a good deal of time, 0:18:01.640 --> 0:18:03.520 and they still kept me in there. 0:18:03.880 --> 0:18:08.439 Trial was postponed until April twenty ten. Meanwhile, the media 0:18:08.600 --> 0:18:11.040 was regurgitating whatever the state fed them. 0:18:11.440 --> 0:18:15.160 They asked the possible jurors, who has read or seen 0:18:15.200 --> 0:18:18.080 anything about this case on TV or in the newspapers 0:18:18.119 --> 0:18:20.960 because they're trying to root out bias, and every single 0:18:20.960 --> 0:18:23.880 person stands up, you know the right Then you're like okay. 0:18:24.440 --> 0:18:27.159 And the issue with that is that the way the 0:18:27.280 --> 0:18:30.560 media is used by the police and the state is 0:18:30.600 --> 0:18:32.879 that they'll go to the media and they'll say that 0:18:32.960 --> 0:18:35.280 this person was the rested goodness and this and so 0:18:35.400 --> 0:18:37.400 on the news in the newspaper, they'll put your face 0:18:37.440 --> 0:18:41.080 in there and said you allegedly did this, and no 0:18:41.080 --> 0:18:44.280 one's listening to the allegedly, and no one is thinking 0:18:44.320 --> 0:18:46.560 about the fact that it might not be true, and 0:18:46.600 --> 0:18:49.440 so everybody stands up, and the next part of the 0:18:50.040 --> 0:18:53.120 guavier is asking them if they can still be fair 0:18:53.119 --> 0:18:55.280 and impartial, so everybody puts back down. 0:18:55.600 --> 0:18:59.080 Trial began on April twenty seven, twenty ten, with the victim, 0:18:59.320 --> 0:19:00.480 Jody Lynn Torok. 0:19:00.760 --> 0:19:05.000 She testified that she did not remember anything as far 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.359 as what happened on that day, that she and Brandon 0:19:08.440 --> 0:19:11.400 had a sexual relationship, and that she was pregnant, and 0:19:11.600 --> 0:19:14.879 she also had a relationship with another man named Emmanuel, 0:19:14.960 --> 0:19:18.520 and that she was uncertain who the father was, and 0:19:18.560 --> 0:19:22.199 that she and Brandon had some discussions about abortion, and 0:19:22.240 --> 0:19:25.679 she told him that she wished to keep her baby, 0:19:25.920 --> 0:19:28.600 and there was no testimony that he in any way 0:19:29.080 --> 0:19:31.840 was threatening to her or anything of the like. 0:19:32.000 --> 0:19:34.400 But the state doesn't have to prove motive. And they 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:37.879 also presented the innocuous text thread with a straight bass 0:19:38.080 --> 0:19:42.000 and said that it was evidence of guilt. And then 0:19:42.320 --> 0:19:44.800 they moved on to the alleged silencer, you know, the 0:19:44.840 --> 0:19:48.400 bong silencer theory, and they put on medical experts that 0:19:48.600 --> 0:19:52.400 tied Brandon's DNA to this gatorade bottle. The first one 0:19:52.440 --> 0:19:55.480 testified that one hair was human, the other was from 0:19:55.480 --> 0:20:00.679 a cat, and then an expert in mitochondrial DNA, doctor 0:20:00.760 --> 0:20:02.159 Terry Milton, took the stand. 0:20:02.560 --> 0:20:06.719 Doctor Terry Melton testified, what mitochondrial DNA could show that 0:20:06.760 --> 0:20:09.880 someone is from the same maternal lineage, but it can 0:20:09.920 --> 0:20:12.920 never say for sure that this hair absolutely for sure 0:20:12.960 --> 0:20:16.520 came from this person. Doctor Melton testified she could rule 0:20:16.560 --> 0:20:20.160 out ninety nine point ninety four percent of North Americans, 0:20:20.400 --> 0:20:24.119 but during cross examination she acknowledged that left roughly one 0:20:24.200 --> 0:20:27.040 hundred and eighty thousand Americans and thirty thousand people in 0:20:27.080 --> 0:20:30.080 Maryland with that same mitochondrial DNA profile. 0:20:30.680 --> 0:20:35.440 So in plain English, it's a big fat nothing burner. 0:20:35.760 --> 0:20:39.440 And they called Sarah Chenoweth, the forensic chemist who testified 0:20:39.800 --> 0:20:43.480 about DNA and said it included DNA from at least 0:20:43.480 --> 0:20:46.760 three individuals, which also would be consistent with it being 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:50.000 a bong, and says at least one male and one female. 0:20:50.200 --> 0:20:53.680 She did roll out three other people submitted for comparison, 0:20:54.160 --> 0:20:57.600 didn't roll out Brandon, didn't rule out Jody. Plus, we're 0:20:57.600 --> 0:21:00.879 not suggesting that his DNA necessarily he wasn't on the 0:21:00.920 --> 0:21:03.240 bottle that they all used as a bong. But even 0:21:03.240 --> 0:21:07.199 if there was a hair that could have possibly been Brandon's, well, 0:21:07.520 --> 0:21:10.560 when people pass around a bong, their hair might get 0:21:10.600 --> 0:21:13.000 on it. So I don't think that's really neither here 0:21:13.040 --> 0:21:15.480 nor there. So that was it. There was no expert 0:21:15.560 --> 0:21:19.680 testimony about silencers, how they're constructed. They could have tested 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:21.679 it trying to figure what was that little bit of 0:21:21.960 --> 0:21:24.800 ash in the bottom was at marijuana or was it gunshot? 0:21:24.840 --> 0:21:26.960 Resident they didn't bother to do it because they didn't 0:21:26.960 --> 0:21:28.160 seem to think it was important. 0:21:28.359 --> 0:21:31.840 The state hired three biological evidence experts to testify about 0:21:31.880 --> 0:21:34.679 a contraption that they hadn't even proved was involved with 0:21:34.760 --> 0:21:39.560 the shooting. Instead, they relied on Sherry Carter and Michael Bradley, 0:21:39.800 --> 0:21:42.800 the latter of whom Michael told his news story about 0:21:42.880 --> 0:21:46.960 Jerry Burks, but he kind of fell apart on cross examination. 0:21:47.320 --> 0:21:50.359