WEBVTT - Trial by Ambush 0:00:15.840 --> 0:00:17.960 I was in a cell with two other guys that 0:00:18.000 --> 0:00:20.439 were in for murder. One death from the got the 0:00:20.520 --> 0:00:22.599 death penalty. I'm not sure what the other one got. 0:00:23.079 --> 0:00:24.480 And they were so. 0:00:27.240 --> 0:00:28.360 Cavalier about it. 0:00:29.000 --> 0:00:30.800 One of them made a joke, maybe we can get 0:00:30.840 --> 0:00:34.040 them to give us an electric couch, and they made 0:00:34.080 --> 0:00:34.560 that joke. 0:00:35.040 --> 0:00:36.839 That's the way it was in the jail. 0:00:37.360 --> 0:00:40.479 Just having to be part of that, you know, to 0:00:41.200 --> 0:00:43.519 like I'm one that would be sitting in the couch, 0:00:44.320 --> 0:00:47.600 you know, that's beyond my comprehension. 0:00:48.280 --> 0:00:51.280 I don't even belong in this story. 0:00:52.960 --> 0:00:56.840 It's June of nineteen eighty eight, sixteen months after Michelle 0:00:56.880 --> 0:00:59.920 Schofield was found stabbed to death in a drainage canal 0:01:00.280 --> 0:01:04.360 in Polk County, Florida. Her husband of just six months, 0:01:04.520 --> 0:01:07.760 Leo Schofield, is now sitting in the Polk County jail 0:01:08.080 --> 0:01:13.600 facing first degree murder charges. The prosecutor, John Aguero, is 0:01:13.600 --> 0:01:19.080 seeking the death penalty. Leo insists he's innocent. 0:01:28.440 --> 0:01:40.959 Do you my mans left to have my field soru 0:01:42.400 --> 0:02:09.480 sorreness in this vastity? See Rage to the. 0:02:41.040 --> 0:02:53.120 Bone Valley, Chapter three, Trial by Ambush. The very first 0:02:53.160 --> 0:02:55.520 thing that got me hooked on Leo's case was the 0:02:55.600 --> 0:02:59.480 trial transcript that Judge Scott Kupp sent to me. The 0:02:59.560 --> 0:03:02.959 trial lasted about two weeks in March of nineteen eighty nine, 0:03:03.440 --> 0:03:07.120 and unfortunately there was an audio or video recording in 0:03:07.120 --> 0:03:11.160 the courtroom, but the trial transcript documents every word of 0:03:11.200 --> 0:03:14.880 what was said. There's a lot that happened over those 0:03:14.880 --> 0:03:18.440 two weeks, so we're going to break it down. The 0:03:18.520 --> 0:03:22.919 first thing to focus on is Leo's defense. At twenty 0:03:22.919 --> 0:03:26.400 two years old and unable to make bail, Leo sits 0:03:26.440 --> 0:03:30.520 in the Polk County Jail awaiting trial. Since he's unable 0:03:30.560 --> 0:03:33.400 to afford an attorney, his case is assigned to the 0:03:33.440 --> 0:03:35.040 Office of the Public Defender. 0:03:36.080 --> 0:03:42.240 My name is Tony Maloney and my job is mostly 0:03:42.280 --> 0:03:43.960 related to homicide cases. 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:48.000 Tony Maloney was an investigator with the office, and she 0:03:48.160 --> 0:03:52.120 recalls that a young colleague, Holly Stutz, was sent down 0:03:52.160 --> 0:03:54.120 to the jail to interview Leo. 0:03:55.240 --> 0:03:58.760 And she took a lot of interest in Schofield's case. 0:04:00.040 --> 0:04:03.480 Leo starts from the beginning and Holly takes detailed notes 0:04:04.560 --> 0:04:07.720 to Holly. Leo is coming across like a young man 0:04:07.800 --> 0:04:11.640 who was desperately searching for his wife, and the more 0:04:11.680 --> 0:04:15.280 she learns about his timeline, the more she's convinced that 0:04:15.400 --> 0:04:19.440 Leo could not have murdered Michelle. So Holly goes back 0:04:19.480 --> 0:04:25.560 to the Public Defender's office and briefs Tony and the attorneys. 0:04:24.240 --> 0:04:28.640 And she called him her little rock and roller, and. 0:04:29.920 --> 0:04:30.480 She just. 0:04:31.920 --> 0:04:34.560 Believed in him. I mean, she really wanted to fight 0:04:34.680 --> 0:04:39.000 the fight. Anybody that I worked with closely on that case, 0:04:39.080 --> 0:04:45.080 we all really wanted to believe Leo, and he was 0:04:45.200 --> 0:04:47.800 so adam that he didn't do it. 0:04:49.080 --> 0:04:52.159 But as the Public Defender's office is working on his case, 0:04:53.000 --> 0:04:56.839 Leo is talking to his cellmates and they're giving him advice. 0:04:58.000 --> 0:04:59.960 One of those cellmates that I had was this guy 0:05:00.120 --> 0:05:01.159 named Squeegee. 0:05:01.600 --> 0:05:05.359 Who apparently got his nickname from killing a guy with 0:05:05.400 --> 0:05:05.960 a squeegee. 0:05:06.680 --> 0:05:09.240 Squeeze had said, you can't go to trial and I'm 0:05:09.279 --> 0:05:12.360 out of charge with a public defender, you cannot do that. 0:05:13.400 --> 0:05:16.400 Squeegee tells him that public defenders are known in the 0:05:16.440 --> 0:05:21.080 system as public pretenders. Leo can't trust his life to 0:05:21.160 --> 0:05:25.760 these attorneys as an investigator for the Public Defender's office. 0:05:26.320 --> 0:05:28.680 These are things Tony Maloney has heard before. 0:05:29.680 --> 0:05:31.640 Oh in the jail, they'd say no, you've got to 0:05:31.640 --> 0:05:34.400 have a real lawyer. That was how they would say 0:05:34.440 --> 0:05:38.760 it to me, and then they got my speech. Let 0:05:38.839 --> 0:05:42.440 me explain to you how we work cases. No leaf 0:05:42.480 --> 0:05:46.080 will be left unturned. You will have two lawyers on 0:05:46.120 --> 0:05:50.760 your case and they have a lot of education and experience. 0:05:51.240 --> 0:05:56.240 You will have at least one investigator, more than likely 0:05:56.279 --> 0:06:00.839 you'll have two, and more. You will have specialists to 0:06:00.960 --> 0:06:04.760 help us evaluate your case. And I said, you know, 0:06:04.800 --> 0:06:07.080 you're not going to get any finer defense than you're 0:06:07.120 --> 0:06:10.400 going to get right here. And Leo probably got that 0:06:10.480 --> 0:06:13.000 speech for more than one of us. 0:06:14.200 --> 0:06:17.640 But other inmates like Squeegee are getting into Leo's head. 0:06:18.360 --> 0:06:21.600 The public Pretender's office will not save you. They tell 0:06:21.680 --> 0:06:25.240 him you need a superstar attorney. 0:06:26.040 --> 0:06:29.039 All I'm looking for. Somebody needs to come and save me. 0:06:29.560 --> 0:06:31.120 You know, I don't know how you're going to do 0:06:31.160 --> 0:06:32.760 it or what needs to be done. I don't know 0:06:32.839 --> 0:06:35.760 anything about the system, how it works, on any of 0:06:35.760 --> 0:06:38.120 that stuff. I just know that I need some out. 0:06:39.640 --> 0:06:42.560 One name that keeps coming up is Jack Edmund, the 0:06:42.600 --> 0:06:46.960 most famous private defense attorney in Polk County. He's expensive, 0:06:47.400 --> 0:06:49.839 but you gotta get Jack Edmund. They're telling Leo. 0:06:51.360 --> 0:06:53.600 I was starstruck with Edmund. 0:06:54.680 --> 0:06:57.880 So Leo arranges a meeting with Edmund and one day 0:06:58.240 --> 0:07:01.320 he's brought to an attorney's room. He assumes he'll be 0:07:01.320 --> 0:07:06.000 meeting Edmund, but instead the guy sitting there introduces himself 0:07:06.040 --> 0:07:09.240 as Bob Knipper, Jack Edmund's investigator. 0:07:10.200 --> 0:07:13.120 And he said, uh, he said, sign, my name is 0:07:13.160 --> 0:07:15.920 Bob Knipper. I work for Jack Edmund. If you want 0:07:15.960 --> 0:07:18.480 the best, you gotta pay top dollar. My fee is 0:07:18.560 --> 0:07:22.120 ten thousand dollars off the top. Without proper representation, your 0:07:22.120 --> 0:07:23.320 life will land in Rayford. 0:07:25.120 --> 0:07:28.880 Rayford is the Florida State Prison. It's where Old Sparky, 0:07:29.160 --> 0:07:34.200 Florida's Electric Chair sits. By the late nineteen eighties, Florida 0:07:34.240 --> 0:07:37.800 had not yet switched to lethal injection, and Florida's electric 0:07:37.880 --> 0:07:41.400 Chair was the nation's so called busiest instrument of death. 0:07:42.560 --> 0:07:45.840 Old Sparky claimed the lives of twenty men that decade, 0:07:46.080 --> 0:07:50.360 including serial killer Ted Bundy, who was executed only weeks 0:07:50.400 --> 0:07:55.160 before Leo's trial would begin. Leo tells Bob Nipper about 0:07:55.160 --> 0:07:58.240 the car accident he was in. How just a few 0:07:58.280 --> 0:08:01.280 months after Michelle's murder, he was a passenger in a 0:08:01.280 --> 0:08:04.680 car that flipped over and he broke his neck. He 0:08:04.800 --> 0:08:09.200 was getting fifty thousand dollars in an insurance settlement, Nipper 0:08:09.200 --> 0:08:13.080 tells Jack Edmund, who agrees to represent Leo. If Leo 0:08:13.200 --> 0:08:13.960 signs over the. 0:08:13.920 --> 0:08:18.360 Settlement and the case goes away, Leo. 0:08:18.200 --> 0:08:21.840 Drops Tony Maloney and the Public Defender's Office to go 0:08:21.880 --> 0:08:26.200 with the celebrated defense attorney Jack Edmund, with a quote 0:08:26.280 --> 0:08:30.679 unquote real lawyer like Edmund looking into his case, Leo's 0:08:30.720 --> 0:08:32.760 hoping this will all be cleared up quickly. 0:08:32.800 --> 0:08:37.360 Now that's how I ended up dismissing the Public Defense Office, 0:08:37.400 --> 0:08:41.240 which was the biggest mistake that I made at that time. 0:08:43.440 --> 0:08:47.120 Months pass and Leo doesn't hear anything from his private attorney, 0:08:47.240 --> 0:08:50.360 Jack Edmund. He's learning that when you're charged with a 0:08:50.400 --> 0:08:59.280 capital crime, nothing happens fast. Then one night, Leo says 0:08:59.400 --> 0:09:01.680 the guards at his cell to take him down for 0:09:01.720 --> 0:09:06.320 an attorney visit. He's led into a little room with 0:09:06.400 --> 0:09:09.880 a table in a few chairs. He assumes he's there 0:09:09.960 --> 0:09:13.720 to finally meet his defense attorney, Jack Edmund, but it's 0:09:13.760 --> 0:09:18.760 not Edmund. It's the prosecutor, John Aguero, who walks into 0:09:18.800 --> 0:09:20.880 the room. 0:09:21.200 --> 0:09:23.920 So when he comes in. I remember him from the plane. 0:09:24.360 --> 0:09:28.559 He wore an Alexic chair tie tack and I'll never 0:09:28.600 --> 0:09:31.240 forget that because I commented when I saw it, I said, 0:09:31.400 --> 0:09:36.600 you don't think that's kind of morbid And he said, no, no, 0:09:37.360 --> 0:09:40.080 just like that, playing his day. 0:09:40.280 --> 0:09:42.920 John Aguero sits down at the table and Leo doesn't 0:09:42.920 --> 0:09:43.800 know what to expect. 0:09:45.480 --> 0:09:46.760 He said, I want to I want to talk to 0:09:46.760 --> 0:09:47.520 you about your father. 0:09:48.480 --> 0:09:49.160 I said, okay. 0:09:49.320 --> 0:09:52.040 He said, I believe your father is guilty in your 0:09:52.120 --> 0:09:54.400 cover and form. 0:09:54.520 --> 0:09:58.120 Leo has heard this line before. He's already gone through 0:09:58.120 --> 0:10:01.200 the interrogation about his father with the detective's Weeks and Putnam, 0:10:01.800 --> 0:10:04.920 and he's under the impression that Aguero or anyone who 0:10:04.920 --> 0:10:08.040 shows up in a suit and tie has authority over him, 0:10:08.640 --> 0:10:10.839 so he's supposed to answer their questions. 0:10:12.360 --> 0:10:15.040 I never hinted at I need a lawyer. I mean, 0:10:15.559 --> 0:10:18.240 it never even crossed my mind to say I need 0:10:18.280 --> 0:10:18.960 my lawyer here. 0:10:20.200 --> 0:10:23.760 So now Leo's alone in a room with his prosecutor, 0:10:24.600 --> 0:10:26.920 the man trying to send him to the electric chair. 0:10:29.720 --> 0:10:33.360 I was being polite. I was being trusting, you know, 0:10:33.600 --> 0:10:35.959 I mean I trusted in the process. You know, I 0:10:36.040 --> 0:10:37.880 knew this was going to be made right. All I 0:10:37.880 --> 0:10:40.880 had to do was was convince him that I was 0:10:41.240 --> 0:10:42.000 telling the truth. 0:10:42.040 --> 0:10:42.440 That was it. 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.760 That's what you're supposed to do. That's how I was raised. 0:10:46.040 --> 0:10:49.200 Leo says that Aguero doesn't bring a tape recorder. He 0:10:49.240 --> 0:10:51.640 doesn't have someone there to take notes or anyone to 0:10:51.679 --> 0:10:55.120 witness the conversation. It's just Leo and Aguero. 0:10:56.240 --> 0:10:59.360 You would never talk to a potential witness or a 0:10:59.360 --> 0:11:02.880 suspect without recording it. You just don't do it unless 0:11:03.280 --> 0:11:06.400 you don't want to be recorded. And that's exactly what happened. 0:11:07.640 --> 0:11:12.400 Aguero looks Leo in the eye. Listen, He says, I 0:11:12.480 --> 0:11:16.200 know you didn't kill Michelle. Your father did it, and 0:11:16.240 --> 0:11:19.560 if you agree to testify against him, I'll draw up 0:11:19.559 --> 0:11:22.080 some paperwork and you can walk out of here. 0:11:23.000 --> 0:11:25.920 You know, I think he really thought that dad did it. 0:11:26.400 --> 0:11:28.439 I think that a guirro believed that dad did it. 0:11:29.000 --> 0:11:31.240 I don't think he ever really believed that I did it. 0:11:32.240 --> 0:11:35.960 Aguero doesn't have any physical evidence against Leo's father or 0:11:36.040 --> 0:11:38.959 any eyewitness testimony that connects him to Michelle on the 0:11:39.080 --> 0:11:42.880 night she disappeared. He just knows about this weird premonition 0:11:43.559 --> 0:11:46.800 that Leo Senior told a police officer and others that 0:11:46.880 --> 0:11:49.600 a vision from God had led him to Michelle's body. 0:11:50.880 --> 0:11:57.160 To Aguero, this is beyond suspicious, but Leo refuses the deal. 0:11:58.120 --> 0:12:01.440 He insists that he's telling Aguero the truth. He didn't 0:12:01.480 --> 0:12:03.559 kill Michelle, and neither did his father. 0:12:05.960 --> 0:12:08.960 You want me to testify to something that would be 0:12:09.000 --> 0:12:13.560 a lie. I don't have that information. What happened is 0:12:13.600 --> 0:12:16.640 exactly what I've been saying. What I've just told you again, 0:12:16.679 --> 0:12:19.680 and what I told them multiple times over and over 0:12:19.720 --> 0:12:23.480 and over again, that never will change. That's what happened. 0:12:23.880 --> 0:12:26.960 And he got really frustrated with me telling him that, 0:12:27.360 --> 0:12:30.760 and he slammed his hand on the table and he said, 0:12:30.840 --> 0:12:34.079 I'm going to put you in the electric chair. And 0:12:34.120 --> 0:12:36.000 I said, that's what you're going to have to do, 0:12:37.240 --> 0:12:44.520 but I'm not going to say something that's not true. 0:12:46.559 --> 0:12:49.000 When Leo first told us about this meeting with Aguero, 0:12:49.200 --> 0:12:51.120 he was so matter of fact about the visit. I 0:12:51.120 --> 0:12:53.920 didn't even question it. But when I mentioned it to 0:12:53.960 --> 0:12:57.160 other attorneys, I got the same reaction again and again. 0:12:58.200 --> 0:13:01.440 Eyebrows were raised. Twice. I was asked to turn off 0:13:01.480 --> 0:13:06.120 the tape recorder. These attorneys were appalled. They told me 0:13:06.160 --> 0:13:09.440 that prosecutors are never supposed to negotiate plea deals or 0:13:09.480 --> 0:13:13.439 offers of immunity without defense council present. It could violate 0:13:13.440 --> 0:13:16.480 the sixth Amendment, which guarantees the right to counsel in 0:13:16.559 --> 0:13:18.280 all criminal proceedings. 0:13:18.720 --> 0:13:21.720 That man came and saw me, he offered me an immunity, 0:13:21.720 --> 0:13:23.280 and they'll testify against my father. 0:13:24.679 --> 0:13:27.040 The attorneys I spoke to told me that this was 0:13:27.080 --> 0:13:30.320 completely unethical and that Aguero could have been subject to 0:13:30.400 --> 0:13:35.320 disciplinary action, but some lawyers said they weren't surprised that 0:13:35.400 --> 0:13:38.040 state attorneys were getting away with these kind of things 0:13:38.520 --> 0:13:43.600 in rural counties like Polk. Kelsey and I file record 0:13:43.640 --> 0:13:47.320 requests to try to corroborate Leo's claim that Aguero visited 0:13:47.360 --> 0:13:50.120 him in the jail, but we were told those records 0:13:50.160 --> 0:13:54.240 no longer exist, so we only have Leo's word that 0:13:54.320 --> 0:13:58.240 this meeting with Aguero took place. But we would soon 0:13:58.360 --> 0:14:01.800 learn that this wasn't the only time Aguero was accused 0:14:01.840 --> 0:14:06.520 of doing something like this. Ideally, we would have asked 0:14:06.520 --> 0:14:10.479 Aguero about this directly, but he died in twenty seventeen. 0:14:11.800 --> 0:14:14.480 We reached out to the state attorney's office to see 0:14:14.480 --> 0:14:17.040 if others who worked with John Aguero would talk to us, 0:14:17.760 --> 0:14:29.120 but they declined our requests for interviews. Leo's been in 0:14:29.160 --> 0:14:32.720 the Polk County jail for nine months now. Jack Edmond 0:14:32.760 --> 0:14:35.600 has been his lawyer for nearly six months, but Leo 0:14:35.720 --> 0:14:40.800 still hasn't met him until finally, the night before his trial, 0:14:41.440 --> 0:14:44.360 Leo is taken down to an attorney's room and he 0:14:44.440 --> 0:14:47.720 lays eyes on his defense lawyer for the very first time. 0:14:49.240 --> 0:14:55.080 He had cowboy hat, ripped jeans, button up short, Patrick 0:14:55.120 --> 0:14:59.240 Cameron hanfilters, and a yellow lego pad was empty. He 0:14:59.240 --> 0:15:07.720 didn't have a note. 0:15:08.160 --> 0:15:11.840 Edmund shakes Leo's hand. He's sixty three years old, and 0:15:11.880 --> 0:15:15.320 he's the first to admit his own legal shortcomings. He 0:15:15.360 --> 0:15:18.680 once told a local reporter when I need research, I 0:15:18.720 --> 0:15:23.320 call someone who's gifted and bright, and I'm neither. Edmund's 0:15:23.320 --> 0:15:27.680 style was to conduct what he called trial by ambush, 0:15:27.720 --> 0:15:31.040 reacting to the States case and exposing its weaknesses in 0:15:31.120 --> 0:15:32.080 cross examination. 0:15:33.200 --> 0:15:37.880 He was the one you wanted if you were guilty, guilty, guilty, 0:15:38.720 --> 0:15:43.360 and somebody had to mesmerize jury. 0:15:43.400 --> 0:15:46.440 This is Grady Juddon, the current Sheriff of Paul County. 0:15:47.200 --> 0:15:49.200 He was good friends with Jack Edmund. 0:15:49.760 --> 0:15:53.600 If you were guilty and had to win on the 0:15:53.600 --> 0:15:57.800 emotion of the jury, you always wanted Jack Edmund because 0:15:58.000 --> 0:16:01.040 I have seen him walk so many guilt people out 0:16:01.040 --> 0:16:05.720 of the courtroom. Because of his charisma, his personality, his intellect, 0:16:06.480 --> 0:16:09.200 and his absolute mastery of the courtroom. 0:16:09.400 --> 0:16:10.240 There's none better. 0:16:11.040 --> 0:16:16.480 But if you needed to win a case on the law, 0:16:17.080 --> 0:16:19.640 the fine print of the law, you didn't want Jack Edmond. 0:16:20.800 --> 0:16:24.040 Edmund didn't do any pre trial interviews with witnesses or 0:16:24.120 --> 0:16:28.120 hire any experts to analyze the evidence, and during his 0:16:28.200 --> 0:16:31.200 meeting with Leo, they didn't go over the state's evidence either. 0:16:32.280 --> 0:16:35.640 To Leo, Edmund didn't seem very familiar with his case. 0:16:37.040 --> 0:16:40.560 But Edmund says that Assistant state Attorney John Aguero has 0:16:40.640 --> 0:16:45.960 offered Leo a deal. This one has nothing to do 0:16:46.040 --> 0:16:49.880 with his father. Aguero will reduce the first degree murder 0:16:49.960 --> 0:16:53.920 charge to second degree murder if Leo agrees to plead guilty. 0:16:55.600 --> 0:16:58.440 That comes with a twelve year sentence. But given that 0:16:58.520 --> 0:17:02.000 Leo has no criminal record and with credit for time served, 0:17:02.560 --> 0:17:05.199 Leo could actually be out of prison in just a 0:17:05.240 --> 0:17:09.680 few years. To Edmund, this plea deal is a sign 0:17:09.760 --> 0:17:12.280 that the state isn't confident in the strength of its 0:17:12.359 --> 0:17:16.680 case against Leo. But before Leo can even think it over, 0:17:17.400 --> 0:17:20.240 Edmund tells him he already took the liberty of turning 0:17:20.280 --> 0:17:25.000 down Aguero's deal. Leo didn't know it at the time, 0:17:25.440 --> 0:17:29.879 but this isn't supposed to happen either. Leo says he 0:17:29.920 --> 0:17:33.320 would never plead guilty to anything anyway, but even so, 0:17:33.960 --> 0:17:36.200 he did think it was strange that his lawyer didn't 0:17:36.200 --> 0:17:40.000 consult with him first. It would be the first in 0:17:40.080 --> 0:17:46.760 a string of very strange decisions by Jack Edmund. 0:17:53.160 --> 0:17:56.000 Hi, I'm Jason Flamm, CEO and founder of Lava for 0:17:56.080 --> 0:17:59.480 Good podcasts, home to Bone Valley, Wrongful Conviction, The War 0:17:59.520 --> 0:18:03.040 on Drug and many other great podcasts. Today we're asking you, 0:18:03.200 --> 0:18:06.160 our listeners, to take part in a survey. Your feedback 0:18:06.240 --> 0:18:09.080 is going to help inform how we make podcasts in 0:18:09.119 --> 0:18:12.040 the future. Your complete and candid answers will help us 0:18:12.040 --> 0:18:15.720 continue to bring you more insightful and inspiring stories about 0:18:15.760 --> 0:18:18.879 important topics that impact us all. So please go to 0:18:18.960 --> 0:18:22.479 Lava for Good dot com slash survey and participate today. 0:18:22.920 --> 0:18:24.200 Thank you for your support. 0:18:27.800 --> 0:18:31.680 Bone Valley is sponsored by Stand Together. Stand Together is 0:18:31.720 --> 0:18:35.760 a philanthropic community that partners with America's boldest change makers 0:18:35.800 --> 0:18:38.840 to tackle the root causes of our country's biggest problems, 0:18:39.240 --> 0:18:42.520 including the failed war on drugs that has criminalized addiction, 0:18:43.160 --> 0:18:49.359 fueled over incarceration, and shattered communities. By thirty five, Kelly 0:18:49.440 --> 0:18:52.880 Lingard was an executive with a fortune twenty it company. 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:55.920 If you had asked her thoughts on addiction, she would 0:18:55.960 --> 0:18:59.959 have said that addiction was about making bad choices and irresponsibility. 0:19:00.800 --> 0:19:03.359 But after hearing the story of a woman in recovery, 0:19:03.800 --> 0:19:08.119 Kelly's perspective shifted. She began to understand that addiction was 0:19:08.119 --> 0:19:12.280 a problem of pain, not irresponsibility, as she discovered how 0:19:12.280 --> 0:19:15.199 difficult it is for people to maintain their sobriety in 0:19:15.200 --> 0:19:18.960 the long run. After watching too many women get sober 0:19:19.200 --> 0:19:20.840 only to relapse and die. 0:19:20.640 --> 0:19:24.800 Within days or weeks of completing a recovery program, Kelly 0:19:24.880 --> 0:19:27.520 knew she could use her business skills to make a difference. 0:19:28.359 --> 0:19:31.879 She left her career and started Unshattered with the mission 0:19:31.920 --> 0:19:37.199 of ending the addiction relapse cycle. Unshattered employs women in recovery, 0:19:37.359 --> 0:19:41.800 training them to make premium handbags from upcycled materials and 0:19:41.880 --> 0:19:45.600 providing them with a compassionate community that helps them continue 0:19:45.680 --> 0:19:49.600 their journey beyond sobriety to move toward healing and growth. 0:19:50.440 --> 0:19:54.000 It demonstrates a smarter way of treating addiction that moves 0:19:54.040 --> 0:19:58.520 away from criminalization and keeps people out of the system. 0:19:59.280 --> 0:20:02.320 Kelly Lingo as one of the many entrepreneurs partnering with 0:20:02.440 --> 0:20:07.760 Stand Together to drive solutions in education, healthcare, poverty, and 0:20:07.800 --> 0:20:08.760 criminal justice. 0:20:09.640 --> 0:20:12.240 To learn more about addiction and the War on Drugs, 0:20:12.640 --> 0:20:16.080 listen to The War on Drugs podcast on Apple Podcasts 0:20:16.480 --> 0:20:24.720 or wherever you get your podcasts. 0:20:26.200 --> 0:20:31.560 The trial begins on March eighth, nineteen eighty nine. It's 0:20:31.600 --> 0:20:34.480 the morning after Leo met Jack Edmund for the first time, 0:20:34.960 --> 0:20:37.280 and he walks into court with his defense attorney at 0:20:37.280 --> 0:20:38.560 his side. 0:20:38.720 --> 0:20:40.680 He was a known quantity. Everybody in the court house 0:20:40.680 --> 0:20:41.040 is newing. 0:20:42.040 --> 0:20:45.320 This is Judge Charles Davis, the trial judge in Leo's case. 0:20:46.400 --> 0:20:49.119 I mean he mussed I had at least a twenty 0:20:49.200 --> 0:20:54.360 nine inch waist, I mean real small pencil like fellow 0:20:55.280 --> 0:20:59.520 Jack Edmund Quirk. Every morning, every morning that you're in 0:20:59.600 --> 0:21:02.840 traw He walks into the courtroom and he comes up 0:21:02.880 --> 0:21:05.760 to the bench and on the bench he places two 0:21:05.920 --> 0:21:08.960 rolls of life savers. He walks over to the clerk 0:21:09.040 --> 0:21:12.560 stand and he places two rolls of life savers. He 0:21:12.600 --> 0:21:15.560 walks over to the stenographer's stan and he places two 0:21:15.640 --> 0:21:17.760 rolls of life savers. Then he goes to the state 0:21:17.800 --> 0:21:22.239 attorney's table and he places one roll of lifesare But 0:21:22.680 --> 0:21:24.800 my kids loved it when I tried cases with Jack Edmund, 0:21:24.800 --> 0:21:26.800 because I came home with pockets full of life savers. 0:21:26.840 --> 0:21:29.800 I mean, that was his mo. 0:21:32.320 --> 0:21:37.280 Jack was very flamboyant and he had a delightful Southern accent, 0:21:37.600 --> 0:21:38.520 just a drawl. 0:21:41.840 --> 0:21:45.240 This is Susie Shottlecatti. She's been reporting on the Polk 0:21:45.240 --> 0:21:48.080 County courts for the Lakeland Ledgers since nineteen eighty four. 0:21:48.920 --> 0:21:51.280 The Leo Schofield case was one of the first trials 0:21:51.359 --> 0:21:53.960 she covered, gavel to gavel, as she says. 0:21:54.680 --> 0:21:59.439 Jack actually took acting lessons to perform for a jury, 0:22:00.119 --> 0:22:04.760 and he looked like Colonel Sanders. He always wore boots, 0:22:04.880 --> 0:22:07.880 and he always wore a western suit. You know, it 0:22:07.920 --> 0:22:10.199 was a suit, but it had the western cut in 0:22:10.240 --> 0:22:10.600 the back. 0:22:11.680 --> 0:22:14.280 That's for Leo. He was looking a little rough around 0:22:14.280 --> 0:22:16.359 the edges when he entered the courtroom. 0:22:16.920 --> 0:22:18.960 I was into rock and roll. I was a musician. 0:22:19.080 --> 0:22:21.199 I was in a band. I was pretty successful with 0:22:21.280 --> 0:22:24.960 doing that. If I could do this again so that 0:22:25.040 --> 0:22:28.520 the jury knows who I am, I'd go in there 0:22:28.960 --> 0:22:30.320 just like I was every day. 0:22:30.520 --> 0:22:32.639 I never wore a suit in my life. 0:22:34.160 --> 0:22:37.240 I hadn't cut my hair, and I don't remember the 0:22:37.320 --> 0:22:39.879 last time I cut my hair before I went to jail. 0:22:41.440 --> 0:22:43.440 But it wasn't like I looked like I crawled out 0:22:43.440 --> 0:22:47.280 of a dumpster, you know. It was who I was now. 0:22:47.280 --> 0:22:49.120 They cut my hair off, and it was cut off 0:22:49.119 --> 0:22:53.280 into jail, which you can imagine is not like super 0:22:53.320 --> 0:22:54.200 cuts or anything. 0:22:54.480 --> 0:22:56.120 And then I had two suits. 0:22:56.680 --> 0:22:59.720 One of them was my father's and the other one 0:22:59.880 --> 0:23:02.440 was I believe it was David Collins, who was still 0:23:02.440 --> 0:23:03.200 a friend of mine. 0:23:03.400 --> 0:23:06.119 And one was a DOC blue and one was a 0:23:06.200 --> 0:23:06.960 light blue. 0:23:07.760 --> 0:23:10.960 Neither one of them fit. I'd wear one one day, 0:23:11.359 --> 0:23:13.600 one the next. And then I wore the light blue 0:23:13.680 --> 0:23:16.679 jacket with the DOC blue pants, and like blue pants 0:23:16.680 --> 0:23:18.840 of the DC blue jacket, just kept switching it for 0:23:19.520 --> 0:23:20.439 the entire trial. 0:23:21.960 --> 0:23:24.639 As Leo takes his seat at the defendant's table, he 0:23:24.760 --> 0:23:27.639 catches a glimpse of the prosecutor, John Aguero on the 0:23:27.680 --> 0:23:31.520 other side of the courtroom. Since Leo turned down both 0:23:31.600 --> 0:23:35.600 of Aguero's offers, the young prosecutor is laser focused on 0:23:35.680 --> 0:23:39.480 sending the heavy metal kid from Massachusetts to the electric chair. 0:23:41.080 --> 0:23:44.080 At the time of Leo's trial, Aguero is thirty six 0:23:44.160 --> 0:23:48.199 years old, he's recently been promoted the chief homicide prosecutor, 0:23:48.520 --> 0:23:51.480 and he's already put one man on death row. So 0:23:51.520 --> 0:23:55.639 Aguero is supremely confident and he commands everyone's attention in 0:23:55.680 --> 0:24:01.960 the courtroom. Now, jury selection begins, but there's already a problem. 0:24:02.560 --> 0:24:05.439 Another high profile death penalty case is happening at the 0:24:05.480 --> 0:24:09.680 same time in the same courthouse. Both cases are pulling 0:24:09.720 --> 0:24:12.359 potential jurors from the same pool of people that showed 0:24:12.400 --> 0:24:16.200 up for jury duty. But one by one, potential jurors 0:24:16.240 --> 0:24:19.040 are being excused because they can't afford to take weeks 0:24:19.040 --> 0:24:21.480 out of their lives to sit on a long trial, 0:24:22.119 --> 0:24:27.200 so the pool of available jurors is dwindling. Twelve jurors 0:24:27.240 --> 0:24:31.280 are eventually selected for the Leo Schofield trial, but no alternates. 0:24:32.240 --> 0:24:34.520 That means that if anyone on the jury gets sick, 0:24:34.760 --> 0:24:37.720 or has a family emergency, there won't be anyone to 0:24:37.760 --> 0:24:42.000 replace them. Leo's lawyer, Jack Edmond, could have stopped the 0:24:42.000 --> 0:24:46.280 trial right there until they could seat alternate jurors, but Aguero, 0:24:46.760 --> 0:24:52.440 the prosecutor, wants to proceed. Edmond also agrees to proceed 0:24:52.760 --> 0:24:56.960 with no alternate jurors, which is odd because this is 0:24:57.000 --> 0:25:00.600 a death penalty case. It only takes one vote of 0:25:00.720 --> 0:25:03.960 not guilty to cause a mistrial, so you want as 0:25:03.960 --> 0:25:08.840 many jurors as possible. But Leo trusts his famous lawyer. 0:25:12.760 --> 0:25:15.560 You know, I don't have any idea what that means 0:25:15.600 --> 0:25:19.320 for me. I'm wanting to help a guirl. I'm wanting 0:25:19.320 --> 0:25:22.000 to show him what a nice guy I am. You 0:25:22.040 --> 0:25:24.960 know what I mean, Because I'm thinking somewhere along the 0:25:25.000 --> 0:25:29.200 line in this nightmare of a dream i'm having, that 0:25:29.359 --> 0:25:31.359 we're all going to wake up and see that this 0:25:31.480 --> 0:25:34.040 isn't right, and even Aguerol will see that it isn't right. 0:25:34.080 --> 0:25:36.520 Because justice plays out always. 0:25:42.760 --> 0:25:45.600 John Aguero walks toward the jury to deliver the state's 0:25:45.680 --> 0:25:50.520 opening argument. What kind of person is Leo Schofield? 0:25:50.560 --> 0:25:51.160 He asks? 0:25:52.080 --> 0:25:54.760 Is he a docile, mild mannered young man? As he 0:25:54.800 --> 0:25:57.800 sits there looking at you today, you're going to find 0:25:57.800 --> 0:26:01.520 out that's the farthest thing from the true truth. Leo 0:26:01.600 --> 0:26:04.120 Schofield is a very violent young man. 0:26:10.040 --> 0:26:14.119 Oh John was thunderous, and he was very demonstrative. He 0:26:14.720 --> 0:26:17.440