WEBVTT - #452 Lauren Bright Pacheco with Miguel Solorio 0:00:06.880 --> 0:00:10.560 Tens of thousands of people incarcerated in the US have 0:00:10.640 --> 0:00:14.440 been wrongfully convicted and are being held in captivity for crimes, 0:00:14.600 --> 0:00:18.760 even as they adamantly maintain their innocence. What's it like 0:00:18.960 --> 0:00:21.520 to be one of those imprisoned people, and what's it 0:00:21.640 --> 0:00:24.799 like to be their ally, the one outside committed to 0:00:24.840 --> 0:00:28.480 fighting for their freedom. I'm Lauren Bride Pacheco, and this 0:00:28.720 --> 0:00:39.760 is wrongful conviction. Miguel Salario was falsely accused of taking 0:00:39.800 --> 0:00:42.159 part in a drive by shooting when he was nineteen 0:00:42.240 --> 0:00:46.200 years old. On the evening of December seventh, nineteen ninety eight, 0:00:46.760 --> 0:00:50.600 eighty one year old Mary Bramlett was driving home in Woodyeer, California, 0:00:51.040 --> 0:00:53.880 when two men drove up in a car and opened fire, 0:00:54.560 --> 0:00:58.720 fatally shooting her for no apparent reason. A group of 0:00:58.760 --> 0:01:02.880 eyewitnesses had interacted with a vehicle matching the gunman's description 0:01:03.080 --> 0:01:06.360 earlier that same night, and they were interviewed by police. 0:01:07.160 --> 0:01:11.000 Miguel's Solario was identified by a couple of these eyewitnesses 0:01:11.240 --> 0:01:15.280 and ultimately sentenced to life in prison without parole, despite 0:01:15.319 --> 0:01:20.160 having an alibi and no physical evidence ever tied him 0:01:20.360 --> 0:01:24.479 to the crime. Today, I'm happy to welcome Miguel's solario 0:01:24.600 --> 0:01:28.840 to wrongful conviction, and we also have with us Sylvia Celario, 0:01:29.000 --> 0:01:32.280 Miguel's wife, who has been an important part of his 0:01:32.360 --> 0:01:35.640 case from the very beginning. Thank you too so much 0:01:35.720 --> 0:01:38.800 for joining me and for sharing your story with everyone. 0:01:39.600 --> 0:01:42.800 Just to go back and to start from the very beginning, Miguel, 0:01:43.120 --> 0:01:45.760 could you tell me a little bit about your childhood, 0:01:46.000 --> 0:01:48.760 where you grew up and what your family life was like. 0:01:50.400 --> 0:01:53.680 I was born in July seventh of nineteen seventy nine. 0:01:54.080 --> 0:01:56.960 I was born in Mexico and michal Kan. I have 0:01:57.200 --> 0:02:00.840 three older brothers and two older sisters. Mom. Mom came 0:02:00.920 --> 0:02:03.520 to the United States because they wanted a better life, 0:02:03.920 --> 0:02:06.280 and at that time she wasn't with my father no 0:02:06.360 --> 0:02:09.320 more so while I was six months she left me. 0:02:09.840 --> 0:02:12.440 My other sisters were taking care of me, so I 0:02:12.480 --> 0:02:15.040 was like kind of raced without my mother at that time. 0:02:15.600 --> 0:02:19.000 She came to West La Los Angeles, and then about 0:02:19.160 --> 0:02:21.480 nineteen eighty two, I ended up going to the United 0:02:21.480 --> 0:02:24.440 States for the American dream, you know, and my other 0:02:24.480 --> 0:02:27.560 brothers and sisters came along too, and happened to be 0:02:27.800 --> 0:02:30.120 raised there in Silver Lake by Eco Park in West 0:02:30.240 --> 0:02:34.119 La it was a crampy little house, like a one 0:02:34.200 --> 0:02:37.520 bedroom with like probably a little size of of closet. 0:02:37.560 --> 0:02:40.240 It was two bunk bits to my top brothers would 0:02:40.240 --> 0:02:42.440 be in the bottom. My two brothers will be in 0:02:42.480 --> 0:02:45.040 the bottom bunk, and I'll be with my other brother 0:02:45.120 --> 0:02:47.440 on the top bunk and my other sister on the floor. 0:02:47.520 --> 0:02:50.280 That's how cramped up it was. And I remember one 0:02:50.360 --> 0:02:53.320 time waking up like at twelve o'clock at night and 0:02:53.360 --> 0:02:54.959 I was so hungry. I was probably like seven or 0:02:55.000 --> 0:02:57.240 eight years old. I turned the lights from the kitchen. 0:02:57.360 --> 0:03:00.519 You see all these cockroaches just storming in and everything. 0:03:00.560 --> 0:03:02.520 So I said, you know what, I don't want this 0:03:02.639 --> 0:03:05.360 kind of property. I want to achieve something and do 0:03:05.440 --> 0:03:07.880 good something with my life. Because I was like smart, 0:03:08.240 --> 0:03:11.440 quiet kid, you know, I want to don't want to 0:03:11.480 --> 0:03:13.119 live this kind of environment. I want to do good. 0:03:13.800 --> 0:03:17.760 You had older brothers when you moved from Mexico. What 0:03:17.880 --> 0:03:21.639 was the community like? And we're gangs a big part 0:03:21.760 --> 0:03:24.320 of the community, you know what. 0:03:24.400 --> 0:03:27.080 Growing up I was just associating with, like with the 0:03:27.120 --> 0:03:30.040 wrong crowd and everything. You know, I was abandoned, neglected, 0:03:30.160 --> 0:03:32.720 and they gave me like some kind of like affection 0:03:32.919 --> 0:03:34.880 like my parents couldn't give me because me, I like 0:03:34.960 --> 0:03:37.360 to party, have fun, drink and have a good time. 0:03:37.480 --> 0:03:39.560 And you know, especially when your youth, that's where you 0:03:39.560 --> 0:03:42.160 get to meet girls, have good time, work and everything. 0:03:42.200 --> 0:03:44.360 You know, that's not a crime to meet people, you know, 0:03:45.240 --> 0:03:45.800 So it was. 0:03:45.800 --> 0:03:49.920 More like a social outlet for you. Yes, but it's 0:03:49.960 --> 0:03:53.720 something that was used against you because the police then 0:03:54.360 --> 0:03:58.119 had you on their radar because of it. Yes, Now 0:03:58.960 --> 0:04:04.280 you know you mentioned that you were a smart kid, 0:04:04.480 --> 0:04:09.160 and you showed that promise academically too. How did you 0:04:09.160 --> 0:04:10.520 get the nickname clever? 0:04:11.480 --> 0:04:13.400 So it happens to be that out of all the 0:04:13.440 --> 0:04:15.560 crowd I was hanging around with, I was the only 0:04:15.600 --> 0:04:19.520 one that really was going to school, educating myself and 0:04:19.640 --> 0:04:22.520 trying to accomplish a dream, my vision I had trying 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:24.720 to do some succeed in life. So that's how the 0:04:24.800 --> 0:04:25.560 name came about. 0:04:26.560 --> 0:04:29.960 What were your dreams? What were your ambitions when you 0:04:30.040 --> 0:04:31.240 were a young teenager? 0:04:32.279 --> 0:04:35.240 So back in the nineties, I remember in the nineties 0:04:35.279 --> 0:04:39.400 of Microsoft, I loved computers for high school, and I said, 0:04:39.400 --> 0:04:42.360 you know what, after I graduate, I'm going to work 0:04:42.360 --> 0:04:45.320 in an office one day and climb the ladder. I 0:04:45.320 --> 0:04:47.960 want to dress on a sue ties dress is shoes 0:04:48.000 --> 0:04:50.040 and just claim the latter. That was my vision. So 0:04:50.760 --> 0:04:52.640 sure enough, I was the first one of my family 0:04:52.680 --> 0:04:54.360 to graduate high school. I was trying to set a 0:04:54.400 --> 0:04:57.680 good example class of ninety seven. And right after that 0:04:57.800 --> 0:04:59.640 I started going to college. You know, I was like, 0:04:59.680 --> 0:05:02.200 you know what, I'm on the major in business management. 0:05:02.240 --> 0:05:06.840 All right now. At this same time, a lovely young 0:05:06.920 --> 0:05:10.360 lady by the name of Sylvia had already entered your life. 0:05:10.400 --> 0:05:15.479 Tell me a little bit about first laying eyes on Sylvia. 0:05:15.560 --> 0:05:17.719 How did you guys meet and what did you think? 0:05:18.560 --> 0:05:21.560 One time we had like a little kickback and it 0:05:21.600 --> 0:05:23.919 was like twenty my friends and a lot of girls. 0:05:23.960 --> 0:05:26.840 And I remember I'm always looking around and I see 0:05:26.880 --> 0:05:30.240 this pretty woman sitting on the couch. Plus she had 0:05:30.279 --> 0:05:32.320 long hair too at that time, like very long, and 0:05:32.360 --> 0:05:35.760 I love long hair. So I approached her, I introduced 0:05:35.800 --> 0:05:38.719 myself and we started talking and then she's like, hey, 0:05:38.720 --> 0:05:40.880 so what are you do in life? And I'm like, oh, 0:05:40.920 --> 0:05:43.159 I work in a warehouse fifty to fifty five hours 0:05:43.200 --> 0:05:45.919 a week and I also go to college. And she 0:05:46.080 --> 0:05:47.880 kind of doubted me. So I was like, you want 0:05:47.920 --> 0:05:49.360 to see my college ID. 0:05:49.640 --> 0:05:53.960 That's why I say, never told a book by a discover. Yeah, 0:05:54.160 --> 0:05:56.400 I didn't believe him, but then he pulled out his 0:05:56.560 --> 0:05:59.640 college ID, so you know, I saw he had something 0:05:59.680 --> 0:06:03.880 going for himself, and you know, we just started talking 0:06:04.040 --> 0:06:07.279 and exchanged phone numbers and got to know each other 0:06:07.320 --> 0:06:07.760 from there. 0:06:09.080 --> 0:06:12.360 What was it about the connection that you guys had 0:06:12.480 --> 0:06:17.080 that made this feel so different for you? Sylvia? 0:06:17.120 --> 0:06:23.000 His personality. He's got a great outgoing personality, always happy, smiling, 0:06:23.279 --> 0:06:27.080 so during the moments I would be feeling down, he 0:06:27.120 --> 0:06:29.920 would just be there to lift me up. So it 0:06:30.000 --> 0:06:32.520 was just like that connection that we had. 0:06:33.279 --> 0:06:36.280 What what was it about Sylvia? How was she different 0:06:36.360 --> 0:06:40.160 from other girls you'd known and you dated. 0:06:41.200 --> 0:06:43.679 I felt so much connection went there because I'm always 0:06:43.760 --> 0:06:45.880 kind of like a hermit right there. But with hers, 0:06:45.920 --> 0:06:48.840 She'll come and let's go to Santa Monica Beach, and 0:06:48.880 --> 0:06:50.200 I loved that. I was like, you know what, I 0:06:50.360 --> 0:06:53.120 like that going to the Griffith Park Observatory looking at 0:06:53.120 --> 0:06:56.360 the stars, just me and her bonding doing things together. 0:06:56.640 --> 0:06:59.000 So I was like, man, I like this relationship. 0:06:59.520 --> 0:07:02.120 You told me me that your dreams for the future 0:07:02.400 --> 0:07:08.120 up until that point were computers and climbing the corporate ladder. 0:07:08.400 --> 0:07:11.440 Now it sounds like Sylvia became part of that future too. 0:07:11.920 --> 0:07:15.520 Yes, and she was also going to college too, working, 0:07:15.640 --> 0:07:18.600 so we were always like, you know, trying to accomplish 0:07:18.640 --> 0:07:21.440 goals with one another, like she was doing something and 0:07:21.560 --> 0:07:23.320 she was doing something. But she ended up getting her 0:07:23.360 --> 0:07:27.360 AA degree, so she accomplished her dream. Unfortunately with me, 0:07:27.560 --> 0:07:30.480 like I was starting college and just with the blink 0:07:30.520 --> 0:07:34.360 of an eye, my life just got stolen. I was like, WHOA, unbelievable. 0:07:35.320 --> 0:07:39.600 So it wasn't nine months later that both of your 0:07:39.680 --> 0:07:44.560 worlds entirely changed after meeting at that party. 0:07:45.560 --> 0:07:48.800 Yes, both of our lives just changed, the whole one 0:07:48.840 --> 0:07:50.480 pint eighty and all that completely. 0:08:02.640 --> 0:08:06.640 Take me to the night that changed everything for both 0:08:06.680 --> 0:08:06.880 of you. 0:08:09.120 --> 0:08:11.240 So that day of December sixth and ninety eight, it 0:08:11.280 --> 0:08:13.840 was a Sunday, my day off from work in school. 0:08:13.960 --> 0:08:16.520 So remember we were talking and I was like, hey, 0:08:16.560 --> 0:08:18.760 what do you want to do today? She's like, watch 0:08:19.080 --> 0:08:21.440 a good movie. We'll watch you right there and Wado 0:08:21.480 --> 0:08:24.560 really send them was in uptown Waditer, So she decided 0:08:24.560 --> 0:08:27.560 to pick that movie cycle. So we end up going 0:08:27.920 --> 0:08:30.240 and for some reason, the movie was kind of boring. 0:08:30.280 --> 0:08:33.200 I'm not even enjoying it. She's like, well, you know what, 0:08:33.440 --> 0:08:36.200 let's leave. So we went out. We're leaving and she 0:08:36.280 --> 0:08:39.920 spoke to the manager. His name was John Murray, and 0:08:40.160 --> 0:08:42.560 she's like, hey, I would like to get a refund 0:08:42.640 --> 0:08:45.800 on this movie. Mister Murray goes, well, I cannot give 0:08:45.840 --> 0:08:48.120 you a refund. What we could do is I can 0:08:48.160 --> 0:08:50.480 give you two free passes. You could come watch any 0:08:50.520 --> 0:08:53.360 movies whenever you guys want. That's bargain. That's cool, all right. 0:08:53.760 --> 0:08:56.520 So he gave us two step tickets and we took off. 0:08:56.520 --> 0:08:59.240 And then Sylvia, why don't you pick it up from there? 0:09:00.080 --> 0:09:02.800 Yeah, so after the movies, we just we drove down 0:09:02.800 --> 0:09:06.120 with your boulevard and went to his sister, Sandra's house 0:09:06.600 --> 0:09:10.439 and peta Riverta. She had a little gathering there and 0:09:10.679 --> 0:09:13.000 that's where we remained the rest of the night. 0:09:13.880 --> 0:09:16.959 So you guys are hanging out there, and then at 0:09:17.000 --> 0:09:23.040 some point, Miguel, your brother Pedro leaves to go get beer. 0:09:23.120 --> 0:09:25.960 I think did he ever come back while you guys 0:09:26.000 --> 0:09:26.719 were there. 0:09:27.160 --> 0:09:30.560 Not that I recall, you know, because we were there 0:09:31.120 --> 0:09:35.280 probably like close to midnight, you know, And we end 0:09:35.360 --> 0:09:38.200 up leaving like wrong midnight or so, she dropped me 0:09:38.240 --> 0:09:41.079 off at my house and waitier and I told her, hey, 0:09:41.280 --> 0:09:43.040 when you get home, Paige me so I could know 0:09:43.120 --> 0:09:46.040 you got home safe. So she ended up paging me, 0:09:46.360 --> 0:09:48.559 and we spoke out into like one thirty word of 0:09:48.640 --> 0:09:50.480 both like you hang up, no, you hang up, you know, 0:09:50.520 --> 0:09:52.680 one of them kind of things at that time. So 0:09:52.840 --> 0:09:54.320 we're like, you know what, let's just hang up. At 0:09:54.360 --> 0:09:56.320 the same time, we end up hanging I go, really, 0:09:56.320 --> 0:09:58.320 I go. We got both hang up because we both 0:09:58.360 --> 0:09:59.880 have a busy schedule for tomorrow. 0:10:00.720 --> 0:10:03.679 So it was just an ordinary night for you two. 0:10:03.960 --> 0:10:07.280 But that same evening, an eighty one year old woman 0:10:07.360 --> 0:10:10.840 named Mary Bramlett was shot from another car while she 0:10:10.920 --> 0:10:13.800 was stopped at a red light and later died. Six 0:10:13.920 --> 0:10:16.920 people who were driving in a car nearby and had 0:10:17.000 --> 0:10:21.760 seen the shooter minutes before, were later called as witnesses 0:10:21.840 --> 0:10:25.679 by the police, and one of them, Angelica Martinez, thought 0:10:25.720 --> 0:10:28.960 that she had heard someone shout your nickname, Clever, and 0:10:29.120 --> 0:10:32.520 that she maybe recognized you based on a photo array 0:10:32.559 --> 0:10:36.400 she was shown by police, but she wasn't positive. And 0:10:36.440 --> 0:10:39.199 then what happened next Miguel So. 0:10:39.360 --> 0:10:42.480 On December ninth. Three days later, I believe like around 0:10:42.480 --> 0:10:44.480 six or seven in the morning, you know, I was 0:10:44.520 --> 0:10:46.480 Bredy getting ready to go to school and go get 0:10:46.480 --> 0:10:47.160 my day started. 0:10:47.559 --> 0:10:50.880 I remember that day clearly. There was probably about twenty 0:10:50.920 --> 0:10:54.600 cop cars surrounding his house. Looking out the window and 0:10:54.640 --> 0:10:57.520 I'm like, oh my god, why are these cop cars here? 0:10:57.679 --> 0:10:59.680 I mean, we had no clue. I had no clue 0:10:59.679 --> 0:11:00.480 what was going on. 0:11:01.080 --> 0:11:03.080 So they raid my house and I'm like, what's going on? 0:11:03.160 --> 0:11:05.559 Like swarmed in and they handcuffed me, and you're being 0:11:05.600 --> 0:11:09.920 on the rest we got to question. You're like, okay, I. 0:11:09.920 --> 0:11:12.240 Was even treated as a criminal. They put me in 0:11:12.280 --> 0:11:15.640 the cop car. I was only nineteen. You know, it 0:11:15.679 --> 0:11:18.640 can be intimidating. I've never been inside of a cop 0:11:18.679 --> 0:11:22.360 car before. Once they had searched the whole house, I 0:11:22.400 --> 0:11:25.880 remember one of the officers had told me what they 0:11:25.880 --> 0:11:29.079 were trying to charge Migual for, and I told him, like, 0:11:29.120 --> 0:11:32.480 that's impossible. He was with me the whole time. He 0:11:32.520 --> 0:11:36.160 couldn't have done this, you know. And from that Sunday 0:11:36.320 --> 0:11:38.880 it was an ordinary day that me and him had 0:11:38.880 --> 0:11:43.120 spent together. And three days later, like your whole life 0:11:43.280 --> 0:11:44.360 just changes. 0:11:45.000 --> 0:11:48.320 And so you guys get to the station and then 0:11:48.400 --> 0:11:50.160 what happens, you. 0:11:50.120 --> 0:11:53.320 Know, Like they took me and tied to Picco diveda 0:11:53.400 --> 0:11:56.280 shares and they questioned me. They read me my rights 0:11:56.280 --> 0:11:59.360 and everything, and they're like, what did you do? December sixth, 0:11:59.440 --> 0:12:02.040 nineteen ninety. They're like, oh, well, you want to turning 0:12:02.200 --> 0:12:04.160 go no, I'll cooperate. I'll tell you exactly what I'm 0:12:04.320 --> 0:12:07.120 what I did, and what same story that I was 0:12:07.160 --> 0:12:09.040 with her and everything, just like that I was with 0:12:09.080 --> 0:12:11.320 her and I was, you know, my whole day because 0:12:11.360 --> 0:12:14.200 my day off from work. They didn't really say too much, 0:12:14.320 --> 0:12:18.439 like hey, we're for investigating this and murdering. I'm like, huh, 0:12:18.520 --> 0:12:20.320 you know, like I have no knowledge where you guys 0:12:20.320 --> 0:12:21.840 tell me and you guys are excusing me of something 0:12:21.840 --> 0:12:24.719 I have no knowledge of. So they helped me for 0:12:24.800 --> 0:12:28.520 like seventy two hours, you know. And during those seventy 0:12:28.520 --> 0:12:31.880 two hours, the homicide detective mcadary's like, you know, where 0:12:31.920 --> 0:12:34.360 me go. I know you had nothing to do with it. 0:12:34.880 --> 0:12:37.439 Here's my card. Go do my investigation, go find out 0:12:37.480 --> 0:12:39.880 who did it. If not, I'm gonna come after you 0:12:40.080 --> 0:12:41.160 whether you did it or not. 0:12:41.679 --> 0:12:48.720 So Detective macldairy said you saw this for me or 0:12:48.880 --> 0:12:52.560 I'm charging you with the crime exactly now. Was that 0:12:52.640 --> 0:12:57.360 the first time you had ever met Detective mackldery. 0:12:57.800 --> 0:13:00.320 Yes, that was the only time I ever heard of 0:13:00.320 --> 0:13:01.320 that name Macldery. 0:13:01.400 --> 0:13:05.200 You know, had you ever had any run ins with 0:13:05.280 --> 0:13:06.360 the law before that. 0:13:07.520 --> 0:13:11.160 I had a dui before with a CHP officer, but 0:13:11.240 --> 0:13:13.920 I never been to in and out of prison. Don't 0:13:13.920 --> 0:13:17.160 got no criminal history or nothing like that. So all 0:13:17.200 --> 0:13:20.199 I've been really arrested was like for like a misdemeanor. 0:13:19.880 --> 0:13:23.160 And then two days later they have to release you 0:13:23.320 --> 0:13:26.640 because there's not sufficient evidence to keep you. 0:13:27.120 --> 0:13:29.640 They raised in my house, they didn't find nothing, no weapons, 0:13:29.679 --> 0:13:32.360 no nothing, they have nothing. They released me on a 0:13:32.400 --> 0:13:35.920 Friday night. So after I got released, I told Siviy, 0:13:35.920 --> 0:13:37.920 you know what, we have to go back to the theaters, 0:13:37.960 --> 0:13:40.440 go retreat the Survelliance tape. So we go show the 0:13:40.480 --> 0:13:43.160 credibility of what we're saying is the truth. So we 0:13:43.200 --> 0:13:45.480 went back on Sunday and we went and we talked 0:13:45.480 --> 0:13:48.079 to mister John Murray. I told him the situation, I'm 0:13:48.080 --> 0:13:50.520 being falsely accused. I need to first, I told you, 0:13:50.600 --> 0:13:52.960 I need the Surveillians tape. He goes, you still got 0:13:52.960 --> 0:13:54.880 your stuff ticket He goes, Yeah, he goes, I got 0:13:54.880 --> 0:13:57.400 some good news and some bad news. The bad news 0:13:57.480 --> 0:14:01.040 is that the surveillians tape rewinds every only two hours 0:14:01.280 --> 0:14:04.240 and then records over the same take. But if you want, 0:14:04.440 --> 0:14:07.120 I remember you guys, he goes, here's my home phone 0:14:07.160 --> 0:14:09.840 number and my office if you guys need me to 0:14:09.880 --> 0:14:11.600 have your attorney contact me and everything. 0:14:12.120 --> 0:14:15.760 Because you guys both knew that you not only had 0:14:15.800 --> 0:14:20.680 an alibi, you were one another's alibis. Were you sure 0:14:20.720 --> 0:14:23.200 that this would just blow over, Miguel. 0:14:23.920 --> 0:14:27.600 You know what, like I never I never knew that 0:14:27.680 --> 0:14:30.160 this would actually happen, you know, I was, like you 0:14:30.240 --> 0:14:33.240 believe in the justice system and everything. Like I was 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:35.600 just still I'm still shot disappointed. 0:14:35.640 --> 0:14:42.520 Actually, so, Sylvia, you also had interaction with the same detective. 0:14:43.240 --> 0:14:47.560 Can you tell me about being questioned by Detective macaeldairy 0:14:47.760 --> 0:14:50.680 and how you felt about those interactions? 0:14:51.200 --> 0:14:54.960 As time passed by mcaelderry and another detective came to 0:14:55.080 --> 0:14:57.920 my job in Baldwin Park where I was working at 0:14:57.920 --> 0:15:02.400 at the time, and started questioning me. They even threatened 0:15:02.400 --> 0:15:04.680 me if I wasn't saying the truth, they were going 0:15:04.760 --> 0:15:07.600 to throw me in behind bars. I was looking at 0:15:07.640 --> 0:15:12.320 jail time, so, you know, a lot of intimidation trying 0:15:12.320 --> 0:15:14.040 to take me to jail because they thought I was 0:15:14.080 --> 0:15:15.000 covering up for him. 0:15:15.160 --> 0:15:16.720 Did they ever try to get you to turn on 0:15:16.800 --> 0:15:17.320 the goun. 0:15:17.520 --> 0:15:20.000 They tried to get me to turn on him. They 0:15:20.040 --> 0:15:23.640 would ask me questions as far as he was ever 0:15:23.760 --> 0:15:27.280 mean to me, or you know, he's a dangerous person. 0:15:27.400 --> 0:15:30.240 You need to stay away from him, and like none 0:15:30.240 --> 0:15:32.120 of that is even true. 0:15:32.440 --> 0:15:36.360 And then it's kind of like you were thrown into 0:15:36.400 --> 0:15:41.280 the court of public opinion even before you even saw 0:15:41.320 --> 0:15:44.200 the inside of a courtroom, because the day you were arrested, 0:15:44.720 --> 0:15:47.640 your photo was plastered on the front page of the 0:15:47.680 --> 0:15:48.400 local paper. 0:15:49.680 --> 0:15:53.480 Yes, when I got released afterwards, my whole face was 0:15:53.520 --> 0:15:56.840 shown in the newspaper with your daily news on the 0:15:57.000 --> 0:16:00.400 media of the news, and I was so humiliated. Pull 0:16:00.440 --> 0:16:02.960 yourself from my shoes. Your face is being human aid 0:16:03.080 --> 0:16:05.320 telling the world that you come into a crime, that 0:16:05.440 --> 0:16:08.520 you killed this individual, and your whole faate muction's right there. 0:16:08.720 --> 0:16:12.160 How humiliating could that be? You know, it's like the 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:14.400 worst feeling of person could feel. 0:16:14.160 --> 0:16:17.920 You know, But after your photo had been made public, 0:16:18.480 --> 0:16:20.840 two of the people who had been in that second 0:16:20.880 --> 0:16:24.080 car were again shown your picture in a photo array, 0:16:24.600 --> 0:16:27.400 this time on a group of people who were gathered 0:16:27.440 --> 0:16:31.400 near a van in the Quiet Village Gangs area. You 0:16:31.680 --> 0:16:34.760 were in that group, Miguel, but about fifteen feet away 0:16:34.760 --> 0:16:38.560 from the van. The police claimed that they found a 0:16:38.640 --> 0:16:42.280 three point fifty seven revolver underneath the van, and they 0:16:42.400 --> 0:16:46.840 connected it to the Mary Bramlet shooting and then to 0:16:47.000 --> 0:16:50.080 you through an informant who said it was your gun 0:16:50.160 --> 0:16:53.920 even though it was not. And then a month later 0:16:54.520 --> 0:16:55.800 you were arrested again. 0:16:56.680 --> 0:17:00.280 Like I mentioned maclberry, since I was in cooperative man, 0:17:00.600 --> 0:17:03.440 I had no knowledge, Soul. I didn't do his dirty job. 0:17:04.000 --> 0:17:06.960 He's like, you know what I told Migil, whether he 0:17:07.000 --> 0:17:08.960 was gifts or now all going to come after he 0:17:09.080 --> 0:17:11.760 kept this word, they found that three fifty seven. I'm 0:17:11.840 --> 0:17:15.399 not knowing that's the weaponr what it was. And again 0:17:15.480 --> 0:17:17.919 here comes again storming in my house, marsh on fifth, 0:17:18.200 --> 0:17:21.080 and they arrest me. I was like again like like, 0:17:21.119 --> 0:17:23.359 what's going on here? And this nightmare is turning it 0:17:23.400 --> 0:17:24.159 all over again. 0:17:24.720 --> 0:17:27.240 So, Sylvia, how did you find out that he was 0:17:27.359 --> 0:17:28.919 arrested for the second time? 0:17:29.760 --> 0:17:32.320 My sister in law at the time. She called me 0:17:32.359 --> 0:17:35.800 and she said, hey, you know, they arrested Miguel second time. 0:17:35.840 --> 0:17:38.840 I'm like what I was like, Oh my goodness, Like 0:17:38.920 --> 0:17:43.720 this nightmare it's about to begin, you know. And it 0:17:43.760 --> 0:17:44.760 was a horrible feeling. 0:17:45.680 --> 0:17:48.680 Miguel, you're charged with first degree murder for the shooting 0:17:48.800 --> 0:17:51.840 of Bramlett and six counts of assault with a firearm 0:17:52.240 --> 0:17:54.800 for all of the passengers that were also in the 0:17:55.119 --> 0:17:55.840 other vehicle. 0:17:57.119 --> 0:17:59.480 I remember in August of ninety nine, I went to 0:17:59.600 --> 0:18:03.440 court and I remember the Diegos honored we're going to 0:18:03.520 --> 0:18:06.480 drop the death penalty on Miguel and we're going to 0:18:06.560 --> 0:18:10.200 give him life without the possibility of parole. And I 0:18:10.240 --> 0:18:13.119 was just shocked, like, oh, these people are trying to 0:18:13.200 --> 0:18:14.760 kill me. If they were trying to give me the 0:18:14.800 --> 0:18:18.120 death penalty, like are you serious? 0:18:18.200 --> 0:18:24.119 And so you knew going into that trial that you 0:18:24.240 --> 0:18:30.320 were up against the system in a horrible way. What 0:18:30.400 --> 0:18:33.040 was that like that period for both of you as 0:18:33.040 --> 0:18:38.760 he's awaiting trial, because you've been taken away from life 0:18:38.880 --> 0:18:40.880 as you know it, and you've been taken away from 0:18:40.920 --> 0:18:46.800 each other. Sylvia, how did you try to support Miguel 0:18:46.920 --> 0:18:47.800 during that time? 0:18:48.480 --> 0:18:53.240 It was hard because for me about the justice system 0:18:53.600 --> 0:18:56.800 took someone that meant so much to me. They took 0:18:56.840 --> 0:19:00.840 him away, and that feeling is it was like an 0:19:00.920 --> 0:19:05.119 agony feeling, a feeling of agony that of anguish you 0:19:05.200 --> 0:19:08.960 just you can't control. So I have to learn how 0:19:08.960 --> 0:19:12.240 to accept. Okay, they took him away, and after adapting 0:19:12.560 --> 0:19:18.120 accepting what had happened, I learned to cope with it 0:19:18.240 --> 0:19:21.720 and be you know, his basically his advocate. 0:19:22.440 --> 0:19:26.320 What point did you make that decision? Did you realize 0:19:26.400 --> 0:19:31.520 that you were going to be there for him no 0:19:31.560 --> 0:19:32.040 matter what. 0:19:34.520 --> 0:19:38.240 Since day one, since the time of the incident that happened. 0:19:38.840 --> 0:19:43.880 Miguel, would you have just assumed that after nine months, 0:19:44.440 --> 0:19:49.280 this young woman with a bright future and ambitions would 0:19:49.320 --> 0:19:53.040 stick to you and stick by you the way she has. 0:19:53.600 --> 0:19:56.360 I remember that as I mentioned about the that penalty, 0:19:56.560 --> 0:19:58.000 I give her a car and I explained to her 0:19:58.040 --> 0:20:02.560 what happened. And she's a Miguel, You're completely innocent. I 0:20:02.600 --> 0:20:04.680 know for fact, I was with you that night. We're 0:20:04.680 --> 0:20:07.639 gonna fight, and from that moment on we were determined to, 0:20:08.240 --> 0:20:11.399 you know, do whatever it takes to fight and get justice. 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:13.960 Be your voice, be heard, to find no matter. 0:20:13.760 --> 0:20:18.800 What right, and then Miguel. The trial began in February 0:20:18.800 --> 0:20:21.520 of two thousand. Two of the witnesses from the second 0:20:21.600 --> 0:20:26.080 car were called to testify. Martin Leva identified Miguel, but 0:20:26.480 --> 0:20:30.280 Angelica Martinez admitted on the stand that she wasn't sure 0:20:30.440 --> 0:20:33.360 it was you. She said, it kind of looked like you. 0:20:33.840 --> 0:20:37.480 And that's interesting because, as it would turn out, it 0:20:37.520 --> 0:20:40.280 was your brother Pedro, who was in the car that night, 0:20:40.440 --> 0:20:43.040 in a car that was registered to your father. 0:20:44.240 --> 0:20:47.120 So the interesting part about Angelica, right on the first 0:20:47.160 --> 0:20:50.560 sixpect they showed to the witnesses, did not select me. 0:20:50.720 --> 0:20:51.960 They selected somewhere else. 0:20:52.040 --> 0:20:55.600 And so in six pack, you mean the photos of 0:20:55.760 --> 0:20:58.399 suspects that they show the witnesses a. 0:20:58.480 --> 0:21:01.879 Lineup, you have like a six different individuals. On the 0:21:01.920 --> 0:21:05.760 first one, I didn't even get picked out. The second time, 0:21:06.320 --> 0:21:09.879 Angelica selects my picture right after I came out in 0:21:09.920 --> 0:21:13.760 the media, and everything contaminates the mind of a witness, and. 0:21:14.040 --> 0:21:19.000 They actually the defense brought your brother Pedro into the 0:21:19.040 --> 0:21:26.480 courtroom and on the stand, Angelica couldn't identify you as 0:21:26.520 --> 0:21:32.120 the driver. Exactly what was it like sitting in that 0:21:32.240 --> 0:21:37.960 courtroom and having that unfold because it becomes increasingly obvious 0:21:38.000 --> 0:21:41.720 that it's not just a case of mistaken identity. You've 0:21:41.720 --> 0:21:43.119 been mistaken for your brother. 0:21:44.040 --> 0:21:47.240 Yeah, just like the whole situation, like being involved, being 0:21:47.760 --> 0:21:51.200 in the newspaper, and just being costly excused by these 0:21:51.240 --> 0:21:53.960