1 00:00:00,400 --> 00:00:04,560 Speaker 1: Pat Screlley has been live streaming and tweeting about the trial. 2 00:00:04,640 --> 00:00:08,119 Speaker 1: But on Friday, he walked into a courtroom set up 3 00:00:08,119 --> 00:00:12,840 Speaker 1: for reporters and began to vent were you there? Yes, 4 00:00:12,920 --> 00:00:15,120 Speaker 1: I was there, And it was quite by surprise that 5 00:00:15,160 --> 00:00:17,200 Speaker 1: happened during the court break. And the only thing we 6 00:00:17,239 --> 00:00:20,800 Speaker 1: can surmises that maybe he got lonely because he realized 7 00:00:20,840 --> 00:00:23,280 Speaker 1: that no one was in the courtroom. We must be somewhere. 8 00:00:23,680 --> 00:00:26,599 Speaker 1: So he walked into this open courtroom where the reporters 9 00:00:26,600 --> 00:00:29,400 Speaker 1: are writing their stories during the lunch break, and he 10 00:00:29,440 --> 00:00:31,680 Speaker 1: started saying, why are you writing this? Why are you 11 00:00:31,720 --> 00:00:36,880 Speaker 1: writing that you know and criticizing the government's witnesses, and 12 00:00:37,600 --> 00:00:40,720 Speaker 1: how how did he leave the room? How and how 13 00:00:40,720 --> 00:00:43,440 Speaker 1: long did this conversation go on? The It was about 14 00:00:43,440 --> 00:00:46,239 Speaker 1: five minutes long, and most of us were so shocked 15 00:00:46,240 --> 00:00:49,279 Speaker 1: when it happened that we sort of everyone would kind 16 00:00:49,280 --> 00:00:51,360 Speaker 1: of take turns asking a question because it was so 17 00:00:51,479 --> 00:00:54,880 Speaker 1: shocking that or surprising that the defendant would come in 18 00:00:54,960 --> 00:00:59,200 Speaker 1: and start personally talking about each witness and assessing their 19 00:00:59,240 --> 00:01:03,920 Speaker 1: credibility and making comments about the government, just accrediting the 20 00:01:03,960 --> 00:01:08,000 Speaker 1: government and the prosecutor's style, and so it finally ended. 21 00:01:08,040 --> 00:01:09,760 Speaker 1: It was about five minutes long, and it finally ended 22 00:01:09,800 --> 00:01:12,319 Speaker 1: when we suddenly heard the door courtroom door open it 23 00:01:12,319 --> 00:01:15,640 Speaker 1: and was Benjamin Braffman, his defense lawyer, saying Martin, could 24 00:01:15,680 --> 00:01:18,399 Speaker 1: I see you for a minute, and then Screlli was 25 00:01:18,560 --> 00:01:22,000 Speaker 1: basically asked to take a taken away by his lawyer. Well, 26 00:01:22,000 --> 00:01:25,240 Speaker 1: Braffman did seem to be keeping him under control. As 27 00:01:25,240 --> 00:01:28,039 Speaker 1: for our social media for a little while, but so 28 00:01:28,319 --> 00:01:31,319 Speaker 1: that seemed to be the last straw for the prosecutors. 29 00:01:31,520 --> 00:01:34,720 Speaker 1: Tell us what they asked for and what happened. Well, 30 00:01:34,760 --> 00:01:40,039 Speaker 1: he's been um tweeting and retweeting comments criticizing the government's case, 31 00:01:40,240 --> 00:01:44,360 Speaker 1: the veracity of the witnesses under a new Twitter handle. 32 00:01:44,400 --> 00:01:46,480 Speaker 1: You guys might remember in January he was banned from 33 00:01:46,480 --> 00:01:50,639 Speaker 1: Twitter for harassing a female reporter and he reincarnated himself 34 00:01:50,680 --> 00:01:52,640 Speaker 1: under a new handle, and that's what he was using 35 00:01:52,680 --> 00:01:55,960 Speaker 1: to retweet comments about, Oh, this witness is a victim, 36 00:01:56,000 --> 00:01:59,040 Speaker 1: how could she be a victim? For example? So, um, 37 00:01:59,080 --> 00:02:02,160 Speaker 1: he's been doing that during the trial and making comments 38 00:02:02,280 --> 00:02:05,040 Speaker 1: about things that in court on his on his Twitter, 39 00:02:05,240 --> 00:02:07,880 Speaker 1: on his Twitter page, and in Facebook. So what did 40 00:02:07,880 --> 00:02:11,480 Speaker 1: the prosecutors asked to have done, they asked to gag him, 41 00:02:11,560 --> 00:02:14,560 Speaker 1: and they wanted him either to be gagged completely during 42 00:02:14,600 --> 00:02:17,280 Speaker 1: the trial to prevent it from me talking around the courthouse, 43 00:02:17,800 --> 00:02:20,520 Speaker 1: or to partially sequestered the jury, which is they only 44 00:02:20,600 --> 00:02:24,160 Speaker 1: do in mafia or in terrorism cases when the safety 45 00:02:24,160 --> 00:02:27,320 Speaker 1: of the juries under in questions. So what they do 46 00:02:27,440 --> 00:02:29,839 Speaker 1: is they'll have a marshal escort them to in front 47 00:02:29,840 --> 00:02:32,440 Speaker 1: of courthouse and keep them away from other people. The 48 00:02:32,520 --> 00:02:35,040 Speaker 1: judge said she would refuse to do that because that 49 00:02:35,080 --> 00:02:37,560 Speaker 1: would be punishing the jury and they're already in the 50 00:02:37,560 --> 00:02:40,160 Speaker 1: courtroom for ten hours a day listening to testimonies. So 51 00:02:40,240 --> 00:02:43,000 Speaker 1: she decided they needed to have their time outside in 52 00:02:43,040 --> 00:02:45,919 Speaker 1: the in the free outdoors, in the fresh air. Pat. 53 00:02:45,960 --> 00:02:49,240 Speaker 1: In your story today, you mentioned that prosecutors revealed that 54 00:02:49,320 --> 00:02:51,960 Speaker 1: Screlly's lawyers offered to have him plead guilty talk. Can 55 00:02:51,960 --> 00:02:54,000 Speaker 1: you tell us a little more about that. Yeah. One 56 00:02:54,040 --> 00:02:56,760 Speaker 1: of my colleagues asked, when Screlly came into the press 57 00:02:56,880 --> 00:03:00,120 Speaker 1: room on Friday, So, Martin, why did you go to trial? Oh? 58 00:03:00,160 --> 00:03:02,560 Speaker 1: Did the government after ever offer you a plea deal? 59 00:03:02,600 --> 00:03:05,120 Speaker 1: And he didn't quite answer it. He kept insisting I 60 00:03:05,160 --> 00:03:07,240 Speaker 1: wanted my day in court. I wanted my day in court, 61 00:03:07,520 --> 00:03:11,239 Speaker 1: and the prosecutor UM today raised that as another example 62 00:03:11,320 --> 00:03:15,440 Speaker 1: of inaccuracies the Screlly statements. She said that Um there 63 00:03:15,440 --> 00:03:19,799 Speaker 1: had been repeated multiple requests by initiated by the defense, 64 00:03:20,520 --> 00:03:23,920 Speaker 1: by Screlli's legal team to a plea deal as recently 65 00:03:24,120 --> 00:03:27,400 Speaker 1: as UM June nineteenth, which was a week before the 66 00:03:27,400 --> 00:03:30,280 Speaker 1: trial started, So she wanted to put the you know, 67 00:03:30,360 --> 00:03:33,480 Speaker 1: the truth to the matter that the defense had repeatedly 68 00:03:33,520 --> 00:03:37,800 Speaker 1: asked the government for a plea deal. Pat Screlly's own lawyer, 69 00:03:37,880 --> 00:03:41,600 Speaker 1: Benjamin Breathman, in his opening statement, said that his client 70 00:03:41,760 --> 00:03:45,360 Speaker 1: might be just nuts and called has called him strange 71 00:03:45,600 --> 00:03:49,520 Speaker 1: but brilliant. Today he said, well, he's relatively young though 72 00:03:49,600 --> 00:03:53,760 Speaker 1: he's thirty four. Is Breathman building a defense around Screlly's 73 00:03:53,880 --> 00:03:57,400 Speaker 1: odd and erratic behavior. In some way, it does seem 74 00:03:57,440 --> 00:04:01,400 Speaker 1: to be the case because his lawyer is explained, as 75 00:04:01,440 --> 00:04:03,440 Speaker 1: he was trying to explain to the judge, the judge said, 76 00:04:03,600 --> 00:04:07,160 Speaker 1: you have four lawyers with this, why wasn't someone watching Martin? 77 00:04:07,600 --> 00:04:09,760 Speaker 1: So now a defense lawyer is going to be assigned 78 00:04:09,800 --> 00:04:12,680 Speaker 1: to watch him at all times, and UM, it does 79 00:04:12,680 --> 00:04:16,799 Speaker 1: seem that that's the defenses argument that he may be strange, 80 00:04:17,040 --> 00:04:21,280 Speaker 1: he may be odd, but he's not guilty. And how 81 00:04:21,360 --> 00:04:24,360 Speaker 1: much longer do you and the jurors have to sit 82 00:04:24,440 --> 00:04:27,200 Speaker 1: through this trial? Well, this is supposed to be up 83 00:04:27,200 --> 00:04:29,359 Speaker 1: to a five week trial, so we were only in 84 00:04:29,520 --> 00:04:33,680 Speaker 1: day um, technically day four of today's the fourth day 85 00:04:33,680 --> 00:04:35,760 Speaker 1: and we're only on the fourth witness. So more to 86 00:04:35,960 --> 00:04:37,919 Speaker 1: more to, you know, stay tuned. And oh and also 87 00:04:38,080 --> 00:04:42,080 Speaker 1: scrawley um newest Twitter handle, just got the suspended