WEBVTT - #510 Jason Flom with Pedro Reynoso 0:00:03.080 --> 0:00:07.240 In July nineteen ninety one in North Philadelphia, two drug 0:00:07.280 --> 0:00:10.080 houses on the same street were futing and two young 0:00:10.160 --> 0:00:14.680 men were fatally shot. According to witnesses, the assailants were 0:00:14.720 --> 0:00:19.439 known as Chuito and Papadito, but arrest warrants were issued 0:00:19.480 --> 0:00:21.959 for two men who did not go by those names, 0:00:22.200 --> 0:00:28.160 Falo Garcia and Pedro Renoso. Moreover, Pedro Renoso had been 0:00:28.160 --> 0:00:31.520 in the Dominican Republic since ten days before the shooting, 0:00:32.600 --> 0:00:36.520 yet upon his return to the US nearly three years later, 0:00:36.600 --> 0:00:40.600 he was arrested, tried, and convicted with the help of 0:00:40.640 --> 0:00:44.159 two witnesses who were willing to testify that Pedro was 0:00:44.200 --> 0:00:50.120 Popadito and fellow Garcia was some guy named Marciano. So 0:00:50.600 --> 0:00:57.560 where's Chuito not serving life in prison? This is wramful Conviction. 0:01:04.560 --> 0:01:07.399 You're listening to Wrongful Conviction. You can listen to this 0:01:07.520 --> 0:01:10.160 and all the Lava for Good podcasts one week early 0:01:10.280 --> 0:01:13.560 and ad free by subscribing to Lava for Good Plus 0:01:13.920 --> 0:01:26.280 on Apple Podcasts. Welcome back to Wrongful Conviction, where we've 0:01:26.280 --> 0:01:31.959 got a Philadelphia story that literally makes me insane. This 0:01:32.000 --> 0:01:36.000 story involves a man named Pedro Renoso from the Dominican Republic, 0:01:36.040 --> 0:01:38.479 and it's a story that we began covering with now, 0:01:38.560 --> 0:01:42.280 this back before the pandemic, and in fact, some of 0:01:42.280 --> 0:01:45.200 this audio represents the last in person interviews we did 0:01:45.200 --> 0:01:49.160 in March twenty twenty. So joining us now is Pedro's attorney, 0:01:49.280 --> 0:01:51.320 Craig Cooley. Craig, welcome. 0:01:51.600 --> 0:01:54.720 I appreciate you've talked about Paedro's case. It's truth or 0:01:54.720 --> 0:01:58.280 shadury and fiction, and this is a case that exemplifies 0:01:58.320 --> 0:01:59.040 that point. 0:01:59.160 --> 0:02:03.880 It really does. This murder occurred in Philadelphia while Pedro 0:02:04.440 --> 0:02:09.760 was undeniably in the Dominican Republic. Again, all of this 0:02:10.840 --> 0:02:14.720 while police were actually aware of the real killer. But 0:02:14.840 --> 0:02:18.839 somehow Pedro, still all these years later, is calling in 0:02:18.880 --> 0:02:22.240 from a Pennsylvania correctional facility and at Pedro, thank you 0:02:22.280 --> 0:02:22.959 for calling in. 0:02:23.400 --> 0:02:24.720 Thank you, Ay, I appreciate you. 0:02:24.880 --> 0:02:25.040 Man. 0:02:25.280 --> 0:02:28.200 So Pedro chose to speak in Spanish for our interviews, 0:02:28.200 --> 0:02:31.079 so our workaround was to have his wife Evelyn translate 0:02:31.120 --> 0:02:34.960 and our producer Connor Hall recorded the translation in English. Unfortunately, 0:02:35.000 --> 0:02:38.520 the live translation process shortened what was already a tight 0:02:38.560 --> 0:02:41.440 time slot, so we focused on the heavier stuff with 0:02:41.520 --> 0:02:43.919 Pedro and had to lean on Craig a little bit 0:02:43.960 --> 0:02:46.000 to hear how Pedro's story began. 0:02:46.760 --> 0:02:49.079 I was born in the Dominican Republic in the late 0:02:49.160 --> 0:02:52.440 seventies early eighties. He came to the US with the 0:02:52.480 --> 0:02:57.680 intent of gaining citizenship, and by nineteen ninety one he 0:02:57.720 --> 0:03:01.560 had obtained a temporary visa. Based on my conversations with 0:03:01.680 --> 0:03:04.640 him and other family members, he was doing odd jobs 0:03:04.720 --> 0:03:08.000 and doing something at the quote unquote drug house on 0:03:08.120 --> 0:03:08.880 Darien Street. 0:03:09.639 --> 0:03:12.560 Pedro worked at thirty forty two North Darien Street, which 0:03:12.760 --> 0:03:16.240 was owned by a heavy set Dominican guy named Desio, 0:03:16.600 --> 0:03:21.880 and he ran the spot with Rafael Bidal aka Tuito, 0:03:22.200 --> 0:03:25.440 and that house was involved in an ongoing dispute with 0:03:25.480 --> 0:03:28.160 the drug house across the street at thirty forty five 0:03:28.280 --> 0:03:32.440 North Darien, which was operated by a Puerto Rican family, Juanino, 0:03:32.880 --> 0:03:36.280 his wife Marisol Torres Cologne, whose brother, by the way, 0:03:36.360 --> 0:03:39.800 was one of the victims, Carlos Torres, followed by seventeen 0:03:39.880 --> 0:03:41.000 year old Charles Rivera. 0:03:41.680 --> 0:03:44.960 I knew Carlos Torres for about a week, but I 0:03:45.000 --> 0:03:47.000 have no idea who the other person was. 0:03:47.080 --> 0:03:50.520 I never knew the other person, but before this dispute 0:03:50.560 --> 0:03:54.400 came to that terrible end. Pedro's family back in the 0:03:54.440 --> 0:03:58.520 Dominican Republic requested that he and his newborn son, Juan Alexander, 0:03:58.680 --> 0:04:02.160 returned to the dr and they arrived on July thirteenth, 0:04:02.200 --> 0:04:05.760 nineteen ninety one, ten full days before the crime. 0:04:06.680 --> 0:04:09.800 I went to visit my mother, who was sick, very sick, 0:04:10.080 --> 0:04:13.000 and I stayed there until she died in nineteen ninety three. 0:04:13.200 --> 0:04:14.400 In nineteen ninety. 0:04:14.160 --> 0:04:16.480 Four, I had tried to come back, and that's when 0:04:16.760 --> 0:04:17.600 I ran into this. 0:04:18.320 --> 0:04:22.400 So this being the aftermath of the inter drug House dispute, 0:04:22.520 --> 0:04:25.560 and there's evidence in the homicide files or h files 0:04:25.640 --> 0:04:29.400 that Craig Coolly obtained since twenty nineteen that the police 0:04:29.880 --> 0:04:33.760 were well aware of this dispute, particularly from an interview 0:04:34.040 --> 0:04:35.800 with a man named Marcus James. 0:04:36.160 --> 0:04:39.520 James explained how he had gone to the Dominican drug 0:04:39.560 --> 0:04:42.840 House on July twentieth, nineteen ninety one, to purchase cocaine. 0:04:43.240 --> 0:04:47.240 While at the drug house, James encountered this heavyset Dominican 0:04:47.279 --> 0:04:51.160 who quote ran the drug operation end quote. James didn't 0:04:51.200 --> 0:04:53.960 know this Dominican's name, but said, quote you can't miss 0:04:54.000 --> 0:04:57.039 him end quote, because this Dominican weigh between two hundred 0:04:57.040 --> 0:04:59.440 and fifty and three hundred pounds. James Moever said, this 0:04:59.480 --> 0:05:03.640 Dominican asked him, James, if he'd seen Charles Rivier I e. 0:05:03.760 --> 0:05:07.680 The Puerto Rican because Rivier owed him ten thousand dollars. 0:05:08.320 --> 0:05:11.200 This witness is telling the cops like, this is what happened. 0:05:11.360 --> 0:05:15.680 There was a hit placed on Riviera because he supposedly 0:05:15.760 --> 0:05:18.080 ripped off ten grand and cast and drugs. JES file 0:05:18.160 --> 0:05:21.120 and the DA file both contained evidence that Carlos Torres 0:05:21.120 --> 0:05:23.719 and his brother in law Juan Andino, had also stolen 0:05:23.800 --> 0:05:27.080 drugs from the Dominican right on and married to Marisol. 0:05:27.440 --> 0:05:31.480 Both files also contained evidence that Charles Rivere, Carlos Torres, 0:05:31.600 --> 0:05:34.839 andjan Andeno had an ongoing dispute with the Dominicans and 0:05:34.880 --> 0:05:37.200 that they shot at the Dominicans, particularly Tweto, in the 0:05:37.240 --> 0:05:40.320 days leading up to this shooting. So there's this back 0:05:40.360 --> 0:05:40.919 and forth. 0:05:41.320 --> 0:05:45.560 In fact, both Juan Andino and Marisol Torres Cologne told 0:05:45.560 --> 0:05:48.040 the police about run ins that they'd had with Twito 0:05:48.160 --> 0:05:51.160 earlier on the day of the shooting, and Dino said 0:05:51.200 --> 0:05:53.640 he was hiding in an abandoned house for the cops 0:05:53.680 --> 0:05:56.520 and Chuito forced him to turn himself in with a 0:05:56.640 --> 0:06:00.599 three fifty seven magnum and then Chuito came to thirty 0:06:00.680 --> 0:06:04.080 forty five North area looking for Carlos Torres and his 0:06:04.160 --> 0:06:07.000 sister Marisol. Didn't get a chance to warn him before 0:06:07.080 --> 0:06:10.920 he and Charles Rivera were killed just around the corner 0:06:11.040 --> 0:06:14.360 at around one fifteen pm on July twenty third of 0:06:14.440 --> 0:06:16.839 nineteen ninety one. And we're going to give you the 0:06:16.880 --> 0:06:19.440 details of the shooting from the point of view of 0:06:19.480 --> 0:06:23.360 both the state's star trial witnesses, all right, Sarah Robinson 0:06:23.400 --> 0:06:27.600 and Sam Wilkerson, as testified to either in post conviction 0:06:27.720 --> 0:06:31.240 hearings or in front of the Philadelphia Conviction Integrity Units. 0:06:31.240 --> 0:06:34.840 So let's start with Wilkerson, who saw this from the 0:06:34.880 --> 0:06:36.240 angle of the victims. 0:06:36.720 --> 0:06:40.320 Wilkerson said Carlos Torres stopped his Toyota on the corner 0:06:40.400 --> 0:06:43.839 where Wilkerson and others were standing. Charles Riviera was in 0:06:43.920 --> 0:06:48.640 the front passenger seat. Tours complained about the Dominicans, particularly Tweeto, 0:06:49.120 --> 0:06:52.760 because Tweto had routed out Torres's brother in law Juan 0:06:53.000 --> 0:06:56.080 and Dino earlier that morning, which allowed the police department 0:06:56.120 --> 0:06:58.479 to confiscate many of Jan's guns. 0:06:58.880 --> 0:07:02.719 Now, Robinson and who was across from Wilkerson, Torres, and Rivera, 0:07:03.160 --> 0:07:05.600 saw Tweto come onto the scene. 0:07:05.320 --> 0:07:07.680 Robinson said. At the time of double murder, Robinson was 0:07:07.720 --> 0:07:10.440 selling fake bags of marijuana on the corner of Ninth 0:07:10.480 --> 0:07:12.600 Street and Clearfield Street. While in the corner, a car 0:07:12.600 --> 0:07:15.360 pulled up alongside her with two brown skinned men in 0:07:15.400 --> 0:07:17.440 the front seat. She approached the car and offered to 0:07:17.480 --> 0:07:20.800 sell them fake marijuana, but when she saw Tweedo driving, 0:07:20.960 --> 0:07:23.760 she backed up and said, quote, oh it's you, end 0:07:23.800 --> 0:07:26.800 quote and didn't try selling Tweeto anything. She recognized the 0:07:26.960 --> 0:07:31.240 other car occupant as one of the Dominican drug dealers 0:07:31.320 --> 0:07:34.480 from the Darren Street house, but didn't know his name. 0:07:34.840 --> 0:07:37.120 She was certain though it wasn't Pedro Renoso. 0:07:37.400 --> 0:07:41.040 The witnesses described the assailants as clean shaven, while Pedro 0:07:41.120 --> 0:07:42.920 had a thick mustache at the time. 0:07:43.240 --> 0:07:48.120 Robinson then saw Tweedo's car pulled up alongside Carlos Torres' car, 0:07:48.280 --> 0:07:51.000 which wasn't far from where she was standing. She saw 0:07:51.040 --> 0:07:55.040 Tweedo open fire into Carlos Torres' car, killing Charles Rivieria, 0:07:55.320 --> 0:07:58.360 who was the front passenger seat an Torros, Sam Wilkerson 0:07:58.760 --> 0:08:01.680 and Sarah robinsonknewhim Tweeto. I don't know if they knew 0:08:01.720 --> 0:08:05.400 his real his actual name, but you know, the Dominicans 0:08:05.400 --> 0:08:08.920 who lived in that area from our investigation knew his 0:08:09.000 --> 0:08:12.760 first name, Rafael Vido. Everybody refers to him as Tweeto, though. 0:08:12.880 --> 0:08:15.920 And Marisol Cologne was still hoping at this point to 0:08:15.960 --> 0:08:19.160 warn her brother about Tweto. When her children came running 0:08:19.200 --> 0:08:22.400 down the street screaming that something had happened to their uncle. 0:08:23.120 --> 0:08:26.320 She ran to Clearfield the ninth, saw that Rivera was 0:08:26.360 --> 0:08:29.160 already dead, and tried to push her brother back into 0:08:29.200 --> 0:08:32.200 the car to drive him to the hospital. Instead, the 0:08:32.280 --> 0:08:36.040 police took both men to Temple University Hospital, where they 0:08:36.040 --> 0:08:39.760 were pronounced dead. And according to a twenty eleven Alfi 0:08:39.880 --> 0:08:44.439 David and a twenty eighteenth Philadelphia Inquirer interview, when Marisol 0:08:44.480 --> 0:08:47.320 returned from the hospital to thirty forty five North Areyan, 0:08:47.880 --> 0:08:49.600 Tweito was there waiting for her. 0:08:50.440 --> 0:08:53.480 At some point she had this confrontation with Tweeto, and 0:08:53.559 --> 0:08:56.360 it was at this point when Tweto confessed, I think 0:08:56.400 --> 0:08:59.720 it's the best word to use to being the guy 0:09:00.040 --> 0:09:03.320 committed to the double murdered. And she's adamant that she 0:09:03.559 --> 0:09:07.080 told the detectives like, it's Tweeto and he told me 0:09:07.600 --> 0:09:09.560 and now on certain terms, that I did you a 0:09:09.600 --> 0:09:11.480 favor by killing your brother, and. 0:09:11.559 --> 0:09:15.320 Marisau replied, quote, you better kill me too, because I'm 0:09:15.320 --> 0:09:18.199 going to make sure that you're locked up end quote 0:09:18.240 --> 0:09:21.880 to which he replied whatever as he left. So it 0:09:21.920 --> 0:09:25.600 appears that Yuito knew somehow that he'd get away with this. 0:09:25.840 --> 0:09:30.160 Perhaps he had a special relationship with the police. I mean, 0:09:30.200 --> 0:09:33.560 after all, he was named in the initial homicide summary 0:09:33.679 --> 0:09:37.000 along with a man named Papadito. But as the police 0:09:37.040 --> 0:09:40.000 began compiling a list of names associated with the Dominican 0:09:40.040 --> 0:09:44.719 drug house, which included Pedro and his co defended fellow Garcia, 0:09:45.200 --> 0:09:48.840 they obtained arrest warrants, none of which were for Rafael Vidal, 0:09:49.240 --> 0:09:53.079 as documented in this homicide summary that was buried until 0:09:53.080 --> 0:09:53.880 twenty nineteen. 0:09:54.559 --> 0:09:57.880 So there's a paragraph that basically says on July twenty third, 0:09:57.960 --> 0:10:01.640 nine ninety one, they describe what hap and the next 0:10:02.040 --> 0:10:05.800 sentence it says, quote as a result of investigation two 0:10:05.880 --> 0:10:08.960 males who identified as Tweeto and Popadito, where a person's 0:10:09.000 --> 0:10:12.480 responsible for the murders of the two males, and it says, 0:10:12.600 --> 0:10:17.120 warrants of arrests were issued and Falo Garcia was arrested 0:10:17.200 --> 0:10:20.800 on July twenty seventh, ninety one. Okay, now, the third 0:10:20.880 --> 0:10:24.880 sentence says, a male identified as Popadito is presently listed 0:10:24.880 --> 0:10:27.920 as a fusitives but Falo everybody knew Falo Garcia wasn't 0:10:27.920 --> 0:10:31.360 tweet him. And more importantly, if you want to divert 0:10:31.400 --> 0:10:33.760 attention away from tweet him, and you're going through that 0:10:33.840 --> 0:10:36.640 list and you're like, okay, where's Pedro and somebody says, oh, 0:10:36.679 --> 0:10:39.520 he left the country, I mean there it is. 0:10:50.320 --> 0:10:54.240 This episode of Wrongful Conviction is proudly sponsored by Erase PTSD. 0:10:54.440 --> 0:10:58.520 Now every day, countless individuals face the invisible wounds of 0:10:58.559 --> 0:11:02.400 trauma and PTSD. 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Pedro Renoso left the US on 0:11:38.559 --> 0:11:43.120 July thirteenth, nineteen ninety one, ten days before the crime, 0:11:44.040 --> 0:11:47.920 and Pedro believes that Tuito may have even stoked interest 0:11:47.960 --> 0:11:49.200 in him. 0:11:49.880 --> 0:11:53.200 It could have been that Tchuito I knew him. We 0:11:53.240 --> 0:11:56.000 didn't have a good relationship at the time, since I 0:11:56.160 --> 0:11:58.680 was in Santa Domingo. They did it as a cover 0:11:58.800 --> 0:12:01.920 up and distorted the end investigation of the case. That's 0:12:01.920 --> 0:12:02.480 what I think. 0:12:04.040 --> 0:12:07.480 Initially, the name Tuto was assigned to fellow Garcia, and 0:12:07.559 --> 0:12:11.679 Pedro was identified as Papadito by Sarah Robinson, who explained 0:12:11.720 --> 0:12:14.960 herself in twenty twenty one to the Philadelphia CiU. 0:12:15.920 --> 0:12:18.959 Roberson said she had a pre existing relationship with these detectives. 0:12:19.200 --> 0:12:21.640 They often provided her with money and other rewards, such 0:12:21.640 --> 0:12:25.280 as drugs confiscated from others. They dropped these items from 0:12:25.360 --> 0:12:27.360 their car and leave them for her to pick up. 0:12:27.440 --> 0:12:30.720 In return for these rewards, Robinson signed whatever statements they 0:12:30.760 --> 0:12:33.240 asked her to sign in different cases. She said this 0:12:33.320 --> 0:12:35.760 is what she did in Pedro's case. At the time 0:12:35.840 --> 0:12:38.280 back in nineteen ninety one, she felt no remorse for 0:12:38.320 --> 0:12:40.800 false identifying Pedro because she didn't like him very much 0:12:40.800 --> 0:12:42.880 and she was more concerned with her own well being. 0:12:43.120 --> 0:12:45.840 Robertson said to these detectives she didn't know their real names. 0:12:45.920 --> 0:12:49.120 She recognized them as either Tom and Jerry or Sarge. 0:12:49.800 --> 0:12:54.440 Sarge. Our listeners may recall from our coverage of Manford 0:12:54.520 --> 0:12:58.840 Younger's case that Sarge is actually Detective Martin Devlin's nickname 0:12:59.800 --> 0:13:03.160 and his partner, Chuck Bentham, had retired from Philly to 0:13:03.200 --> 0:13:05.960 work for Camden County by the time of Manford Younger's 0:13:05.960 --> 0:13:09.200 two thousand and seven case, But back in nineteen ninety one, 0:13:09.720 --> 0:13:13.080 Chuck Bentham was the guy signing most of the Philadelphia 0:13:13.080 --> 0:13:17.840 police reports in Pedro's case, so their presence might explain 0:13:18.040 --> 0:13:22.120 how the initial homicide summary naming Tuito was buried while 0:13:22.160 --> 0:13:27.439 the suspects nicknames morphed. Initially, Falo was Tuito and Papadito 0:13:27.559 --> 0:13:30.480 was a fugitive, but that's not what it says on 0:13:30.640 --> 0:13:31.800 Palo's arrest report. 0:13:32.440 --> 0:13:37.839 If you go through yhfoul, they identify Falo as Papadido 0:13:38.000 --> 0:13:41.439 on his arrest report, and then there's a second document 0:13:41.480 --> 0:13:45.120 in the hvoule. It's the municipal court hearing list. Again 0:13:45.240 --> 0:13:48.360 it lists his name and there's an alias section it 0:13:48.400 --> 0:13:52.400 says Papadido. And again those documents, from our understanding, were 0:13:52.440 --> 0:13:57.120 not provided to Trow Council. And then Falo Garcia's attorney, 0:13:57.440 --> 0:14:04.000 Trow Council brought a photograph of Pedro to the police department. 0:14:04.200 --> 0:14:08.520 And then once they had this photograph like this is Papadido. 0:14:08.200 --> 0:14:12.160 Which perhaps they were trying to clear flow from this case, 0:14:12.240 --> 0:14:17.360 but instead Chuwito was dropped from suspicion altogether. Pedro was 0:14:17.400 --> 0:14:20.880 once again assigned the role of the fugitive Papadito, and 0:14:20.920 --> 0:14:26.480 fellow Garcia was dubbed the previously unmentioned Marciano, and Bentham 0:14:26.560 --> 0:14:31.800 and Devlin had their regular informant, Sarah Robinson, support this 0:14:31.920 --> 0:14:32.920 twisted narrative. 0:14:33.320 --> 0:14:38.840 Sarah Robinson. She says that she saw AKA Pedro at 0:14:38.840 --> 0:14:41.680 the drug house on the morning of July twenty sixth, 0:14:41.760 --> 0:14:44.480 nineteen ninety one, and she says that once they're at 0:14:44.480 --> 0:14:46.520 the drug house, they stay there all day, right, so 0:14:46.680 --> 0:14:49.480 like around nine o'clock. So if you take her word 0:14:49.520 --> 0:14:52.600 of what she's saying in her statement. Pedro was in 0:14:52.680 --> 0:14:56.040 Philly on July twenty sixth, nineteen ninety one, all day, 0:14:56.240 --> 0:14:58.480 and that's significant because what happens the next. 0:14:58.320 --> 0:15:02.080 Day, on September twenty seven. Pedro's son was baptized in 0:15:02.160 --> 0:15:06.680 the Dominican Republic, which posed a great deal of issues 0:15:06.720 --> 0:15:10.760 for that narrative, like alibi witnesses including a priest, as 0:15:10.800 --> 0:15:14.240 well as photographs of the event. Now, Pedro also had 0:15:14.280 --> 0:15:18.320 purchased property in the Dominican Republic around the twentieth leaving 0:15:18.440 --> 0:15:21.640 a very narrow window in which he could have possibly 0:15:21.920 --> 0:15:28.640 snuck back into the US and snuck back out completely undetected. Nevertheless, 0:15:28.720 --> 0:15:31.680 the state was locked in with Sarah Robinson's statement, which 0:15:31.680 --> 0:15:35.320 we'd later found out really bothered Sam Wilkerson. 0:15:36.080 --> 0:15:38.520 Wilkerson explained how two detectives had detained him and took 0:15:38.600 --> 0:15:41.880 him to homicide on July thirtieth because he confronted Sarah 0:15:41.960 --> 0:15:45.480 Robinson on the street as he spoke with two detectives 0:15:45.720 --> 0:15:49.000 about the fact she'd falsely identified Papaddo as the gunman 0:15:49.400 --> 0:15:51.880 once a homicide. The detectives not only threatened to charge 0:15:51.920 --> 0:15:55.040 him with obstructing justice, but they also handcuffed him to 0:15:55.040 --> 0:15:57.760 a chair, beat him through eminem's at him and didn't 0:15:57.760 --> 0:16:00.520 give him water. Now the eminem in fact, he threw 0:16:00.560 --> 0:16:02.120 in the M and m's like, that's a fact that 0:16:02.560 --> 0:16:05.080 this actually happened, because I would Why would I make 0:16:05.080 --> 0:16:07.760 that up. When Wilkerson woke up the next morning, July 0:16:07.880 --> 0:16:10.200 thirty first, he was still handcuffed to the chair. Read 0:16:10.200 --> 0:16:12.560 the ham written statement. It contained the narrative that ultimately 0:16:12.560 --> 0:16:16.080 appeared in the July thirty first, nineteen ninety one homicide statement. 0:16:16.400 --> 0:16:19.440 So now Robinson and Wilkerson were singing the same tune, 0:16:19.520 --> 0:16:21.600 and fellow Garcia was taken to trial. 0:16:22.440 --> 0:16:25.960 He had a different trial in nineteen ninety two. He's convicted. 0:16:26.000 --> 0:16:26.960 Falo was convicted. 0:16:27.160 --> 0:16:29.320 Oh, he was convicted too, So he's another innocent man 0:16:29.360 --> 0:16:33.920 in prisonment. Correct. Meanwhile, Pedro was unaware of how perilous 0:16:33.920 --> 0:16:36.560 his eventual return to the US might be, as he 0:16:36.600 --> 0:16:39.000 took care of his ailing mother and met a new 0:16:39.000 --> 0:16:39.680 woman in. 0:16:39.680 --> 0:16:42.560 The DR while I was in Santo Domingo. She ended 0:16:42.640 --> 0:16:44.280 up pregnant and I had a daughter with her in 0:16:44.320 --> 0:16:47.360 Santo Domingo for me, And there's a big deal to 0:16:47.440 --> 0:16:50.479 leave my small son and daughter over there without knowing. 0:16:50.520 --> 0:16:53.400 What was waiting for me here. So after his mother 0:16:53.480 --> 0:16:55.800 passed in late nineteen ninety three, he tied up some 0:16:55.840 --> 0:16:58.840 loose ends and planned a return flight to the US. 0:16:59.200 --> 0:17:01.720 But staying outside of the US from nineteen ninety one 0:17:01.720 --> 0:17:04.879 to ninety four violated the terms of his temporary visa 0:17:04.960 --> 0:17:07.040 because he was only supposed to have left for two 0:17:07.119 --> 0:17:09.639 or three weeks at the time, not two or three years. 0:17:09.800 --> 0:17:12.360 So March ninety four he goes to the airport and 0:17:12.400 --> 0:17:15.600 he has an initial ticket, but the American Airlines folks 0:17:15.640 --> 0:17:18.679 are like, no, you don't have the appropriate documents, like 0:17:18.680 --> 0:17:20.919 you've been here for three years, so they wouldn't let 0:17:21.000 --> 0:17:24.560 him board. So, according to Pedro, there were people in 0:17:24.600 --> 0:17:28.640 the DR who knew the immigration policy of the US, 0:17:28.680 --> 0:17:31.600 and they knew there were many Dominicans who had this 0:17:32.040 --> 0:17:35.719 temporary visa. So there are people at the airport in 0:17:35.760 --> 0:17:40.160 the DR that would make money by fabricating passport stamps, 0:17:40.240 --> 0:17:43.359 and so Pedro, according to what he's told us, is 0:17:43.440 --> 0:17:47.080 he met this person at the airport and Pedro tells 0:17:47.119 --> 0:17:49.720 him like, yes, you know, I've been here since July thirteenth, 0:17:49.800 --> 0:17:53.040 nineteen ninety one. Now it's March twenty third or twenty fourth, 0:17:53.080 --> 0:17:56.880 nineteen ninety four. And the fabricator, I call him the fabricator, 0:17:57.640 --> 0:18:01.119 my pleadings. The fabricator knows the Paula goes back to 0:18:01.240 --> 0:18:05.280 the July thirteenth, nineteen ninety one date, says, you have 0:18:05.320 --> 0:18:07.520 to have an exit date two or three weeks after 0:18:07.600 --> 0:18:10.080 that you have to be leaving the DR and back 0:18:10.160 --> 0:18:13.720 into the US. So they pick, of all dates, July 0:18:13.800 --> 0:18:15.359 twenty seventh, nineteen ninety one. 0:18:15.520 --> 0:18:19.600 Again, that's the exact date of his son's baptism, which 0:18:19.720 --> 0:18:23.560 was critical to his alibi, not exactly a day that 0:18:23.680 --> 0:18:26.240 you'd expect him to be traveling internationally. 0:18:26.760 --> 0:18:31.560 The fabricator fabricates an exit stamp dated July twenty seventh, 0:18:31.640 --> 0:18:35.400 nineteen ninety one. So the fabricator says, it's March twenty third, 0:18:35.440 --> 0:18:39.160 twenty fourth, nineteen ninety four. Let's make a fabricated entry 0:18:39.200 --> 0:18:41.879 stamp into the DR for March tenth, because today's the 0:18:41.880 --> 0:18:44.520 twenty third, twenty fourth, it's only two weeks you're going 0:18:44.560 --> 0:18:46.600 back to the US. It looks like you were owning 0:18:46.680 --> 0:18:51.120 in the DR for two weeks. So those fabricated stamps 0:18:51.440 --> 0:18:53.640 had a purpose, and the purpose was not to get 0:18:53.640 --> 0:18:58.520 away with murder, but to convince the US immigration folks 0:18:58.880 --> 0:19:01.880 that he was in fact in the US from July 0:19:02.000 --> 0:19:04.840 twenty seventh, nineteen ninety one until like March tenth of 0:19:04.920 --> 0:19:08.320 nineteen ninety four, so he a can get back into 0:19:08.359 --> 0:19:12.879 the States and b maintained this status he has in 0:19:12.920 --> 0:19:13.720 the US. 0:19:14.119 --> 0:19:17.280 When he arrived at Newark Airport, he was immediately arrested 0:19:17.359 --> 0:19:18.760 and he had to hire an attorney. 0:19:19.320 --> 0:19:21.200 We got a lawyer, and he left me at the 0:19:21.240 --> 0:19:24.119 county jail for nearly two and a half years, telling 0:19:24.160 --> 0:19:26.720 me that the case would never go to trial, but 0:19:27.080 --> 0:19:29.120 that he would pick up the case because he could 0:19:29.119 --> 0:19:32.320 get enough evidence before the trial to say this never happened. 0:19:33.000 --> 0:19:36.080 Pedro's attorney may have been confident in light of the 0:19:36.119 --> 0:19:40.440 passport stamps. Despite the two fabrications of which the attorney 0:19:40.480 --> 0:19:45.680 was unaware, the stamps still exonerated Pedro. Plus the September 0:19:45.720 --> 0:19:48.800 twenty seventh exit stamp from the Dominican Republic was really 0:19:48.840 --> 0:19:52.600 problematic for Sarah Robinson's statement that she'd allegedly seen Pedro 0:19:53.119 --> 0:19:57.080 in Philadelphia on July twenty sixth, nineteen ninety one. So 0:19:57.520 --> 0:20:02.000 the District Attorney's office had to get really creative about 0:20:02.080 --> 0:20:07.600 Pedro's possible James bond Esk travel itinerary to skirt Us customs. 0:20:07.920 --> 0:20:11.159 Based on the Diaos quote, Pedro took a ferry boat narrative. 0:20:11.480 --> 0:20:14.320 After Pedro left the Darren Street drug house at nine 0:20:14.440 --> 0:20:17.000 thirty pm on July twenty sixth, nineteen one, he did 0:20:17.000 --> 0:20:22.160 the following. One traveled to either Philadelphia's airport or Newark's airport. 0:20:22.480 --> 0:20:26.040 Two took a flight to presumably San Juan, Puerto Rico. 0:20:26.440 --> 0:20:26.880 Three. 0:20:27.119 --> 0:20:29.879 Once in San Juan, Pedro left the airport and traveled 0:20:29.920 --> 0:20:33.440 to a boat. Four Pedro then took said boat from 0:20:33.480 --> 0:20:38.040 San Juan to somewhere along the DR's eastern coast, maybe Samana. 0:20:38.160 --> 0:20:40.920 And five. Once in Samanna, Pedro drove to Pimento, the 0:20:41.040 --> 0:20:43.600 town and the DR where his family lives, where he 0:20:43.720 --> 0:20:46.760 arrived in time for his son's late morning early afternoon 0:20:46.800 --> 0:20:50.480 baptism on July twenty seventh, nineteen ninety one. And I 0:20:50.520 --> 0:20:55.600 believe the travel time between Samanna and Pimento is two hours. 0:20:55.320 --> 0:21:01.880 So I suppose it's not impossible but certainly unlikely. I mean, 0:21:02.040 --> 0:21:05.720 he'd need bake and believable ID to get on the 0:21:05.720 --> 0:21:11.560 flight to San Juan. Then flawlessly make every connection, and 0:21:11.840 --> 0:21:15.440 he also had to have made the trip both ways undetected. 0:21:16.000 --> 0:21:19.720 So it appears his attorney thought the passport was enough 0:21:19.720 --> 0:21:23.919 to overcome this ridiculous theory since he didn't bother the 0:21:23.960 --> 0:21:26.800 subpoena any of the many alibi witnesses. 0:21:27.920 --> 0:21:30.159 We told them everything. We told them about all the 0:21:30.160 --> 0:21:34.159 witnesses in Santo Domingo. He never subpoened anyone because he 0:21:34.200 --> 0:21:37.240 said it wasn't necessary, because he said the case would 0:21:37.280 --> 0:21:40.720 be closed before getting to trial. But he never called 0:21:40.720 --> 0:21:44.320 any of the witnesses, never subpoened. They came because they 0:21:44.320 --> 0:21:45.359 were part of the family. 0:21:46.200 --> 0:21:49.320 Nevertheless, his family showed up to the July nineteen ninety 0:21:49.359 --> 0:21:52.840 six trial to testify with photographs from the baptism and 0:21:52.880 --> 0:21:53.359 a priest. 0:21:53.960 --> 0:21:57.359 Since my family brought them, the DA asked who subpoenaed you, 0:21:57.800 --> 0:22:00.879 and since they came to favor me, used that against 0:22:00.880 --> 0:22:03.560 me because no one subpoenaed them to court. 0:22:03.880 --> 0:22:05.879 Plus the exit stamp on the same date of the 0:22:05.920 --> 0:22:09.360 baptism didn't do Pedro any favors. Not that Sarah Robinson 0:22:09.359 --> 0:22:11.560 and Sam Wilkerson were that convincing either. 0:22:12.440 --> 0:22:16.680 Sarah Robinson accused me and she had already accused someone else, 0:22:17.200 --> 0:22:21.280 and Samuel Wilkinson, the second witness, couldn't identify me in court. 0:22:21.600 --> 0:22:23.639 The judge had to send him inside, and when he 0:22:23.680 --> 0:22:27.560 came back he accused me, but only after the prosecutor 0:22:27.600 --> 0:22:28.320 pointed at me. 0:22:28.680 --> 0:22:32.440 So Wilkerson needed guidance, while Sarah Robinson had the baggage 0:22:32.440 --> 0:22:36.399 of placing Pedro in Philadelphia on September twenty sixth, which 0:22:36.440 --> 0:22:39.000 then in turn made the state have to sell this 0:22:39.200 --> 0:22:42.919 undetected mission impossible journey from the Dominican Republic to Philly 0:22:43.119 --> 0:22:48.359 and back, all set against Pedro's passport, which placed him 0:22:48.400 --> 0:22:50.040 in the dr during the crime. 0:22:50.200 --> 0:22:53.640 So Pedro used the passport as a defense. But then 0:22:54.080 --> 0:22:57.880 the DA's office had somebody from the ISS, a document 0:22:57.880 --> 0:23:03.320 examiner review the stamps, and she was adamant that, in 0:23:03.359 --> 0:23:06.600 her opinion, the July twenty seventh stamp was fabricated, and 0:23:06.680 --> 0:23:10.879 I think she also believed that the entry stamp on 0:23:11.000 --> 0:23:15.879 March tenth, ninety four was fabricated, having that testimony suggesting 0:23:15.920 --> 0:23:19.040 that why would you fabricate them? This is where Pedro 0:23:19.119 --> 0:23:22.560 douggs hole though, had he been up front with Luis Avino, 0:23:22.840 --> 0:23:25.399