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Speaker 1: Hey, girlfriends, it's Anna here to let you know what

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Speaker 1: to expect in this episode. Like with the last episode,

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Speaker 1: this one takes place inside prison. That'll be mentions of

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Speaker 1: murder as well as domestic and sexual abuse, plus some

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Speaker 1: distressing scenes. But you'll also hear how Kelly makes a

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Speaker 1: real difference for some of the women of Bedford Hills

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Speaker 1: in true Gailhouse lawyer style, and there's going to be

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Speaker 1: some bad language. Enjoy. Kelly Harnett's life changed forever on

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Speaker 1: July seventh, twenty ten, with the death of one man,

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Speaker 1: Reuben Angel Vargas, but his wouldn't be the last death

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Speaker 1: connected to her case.

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Speaker 2: The amount of people they have pairsd away within my case,

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Speaker 2: it's just it's very eerie. First, my trial attorney, who

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Speaker 2: was in his fifties, pairs to away.

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Speaker 1: David Epstein. He died in twenty seventeen.

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Speaker 2: My call Defennin's ex girlfriend who used to start fistfightsing

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Speaker 2: me every single day in Rikers passed away. There was

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Speaker 2: a man who was going to write an affid David

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Speaker 2: for me. He actually physically saw Tommy beating me up

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Speaker 2: all the time.

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Speaker 1: I called.

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Speaker 2: One night he passed away.

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Speaker 3: You can't make these things up. It's eerie, Yeah, it is. Arie.

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Speaker 1: It's twenty seventeen. Kelly's been in Bedford Hill's maximum security

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Speaker 1: prison for over two years. She has ten years left

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Speaker 1: of her sentence. It's a normal day. Kelly's in the

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Speaker 1: law library. She's going through the legal mail when she

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Speaker 1: sees something addressed to her. It's from a guy called Dan,

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Speaker 1: another house lawyer who Kelly refers to as the male

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Speaker 1: version of her. The two of them talk on the

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Speaker 1: phone sometimes abouts ideas, around formotions, test their legal arguments

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Speaker 1: on each other, that kind of thing. Kelly's curious about

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Speaker 1: what Dan sent her. She rips open the envelope.

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Speaker 2: Something pulled the ground from under me.

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Speaker 1: It's about her co defendant, an ex boyfriend, Tommy Donovan.

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Speaker 2: He died.

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Speaker 1: Tommy's died from an overdose in prison. He was thirty

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Speaker 1: eight years old. Kelly doesn't know how to feel. Part

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Speaker 1: of her is relieved the man who terrorized and abused

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Speaker 1: her is dead and can't hurt her anymore. But she's

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Speaker 1: also pretty fucking furious. Tommy killed someone in front of

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Speaker 1: her and then helped make sure she got dragged down

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Speaker 1: for it too, and now he's dead. Never able to

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Speaker 1: give evidence and take back what he said, while she

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Speaker 1: still has ten more years to rot behind bars.

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Speaker 2: He got the easy way out. I did all the suffering.

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Speaker 1: One good thing that Tommy did for Kelly, and there

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Speaker 1: aren't a lot of those to choose from, was when

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Speaker 1: he wrote that letter, the one he sent to Kelly's

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Speaker 1: trial lawyer David Epstein, that said he alone killed Angel

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Speaker 1: and that he had only incriminated Kelly out of anger

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Speaker 1: and jealousy. But now that Tommy's dead, that letter is

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Speaker 1: worth less than the paper it's written on, because now

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Speaker 1: that Tommy's dead, there's nobody else alive who is there

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Speaker 1: on the night of the murder who can attest to

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Speaker 1: Kelly's story in open court.

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Speaker 2: Why are people dying? Why are people dying?

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Speaker 1: I'm Anisonfield and from the teams at Novel and iHeart Podcasts.

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Speaker 1: This is the Girlfriend's Gelhouse Lawyer, Episode seven, Going Underground.

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Speaker 1: People are particular about their birthdays. Some of my friends

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Speaker 1: are determined to let theirs pass without so much as

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Speaker 1: a hint of fuss. And then I've got other friends

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Speaker 1: who claim the entire month for celebrations. I'll probably put

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Speaker 1: myself somewhere in the middle of those two. However, you

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Speaker 1: spend yours, I think it's fair to say, but it's

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Speaker 1: unlikely you'll be doing it behind bars. It's the twelfth

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Speaker 1: of August twenty nineteen, Kelly's birthday. This is the tenth

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Speaker 1: she's had while locked up. Kelly's thirty eight today, about

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Speaker 1: the same age Tommy Donovan was when he died two

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Speaker 1: years earlier. There's only so much you can do to

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Speaker 1: celebrate whilst you're in prison. It's not like you can

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Speaker 1: quickly nip out to Costco for a big cake, and

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Speaker 1: even if you could, the guards would probably end up

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Speaker 1: tearing it apart looking for rogue nail files. But Kelly's

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Speaker 1: Bedford family does try and make things special for her.

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Speaker 1: One year, one of Kelly's friends goes around the prison

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Speaker 1: and gets loads of women to write down some nice

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Speaker 1: things about Kelly. Then they put all the notes into

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Speaker 1: a hot pink, sparkly folder and give it to Kelly

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Speaker 1: as a present. They bake her a cake and throw

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Speaker 1: her a party. Kelly says it's the best birthday she's

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Speaker 1: ever had in or out of prison. Something special about

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Speaker 1: this birthday, her thirty eighth. For years, Kelly's been fighting

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Speaker 1: for her clients with one arm tied behind her back,

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Speaker 1: two arms. Sometimes getting verdicts overturned, cases reopened, and women

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Speaker 1: out of prison, even for an established lawyer on the

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Speaker 1: outside is extremely hard and very rare. For the women

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Speaker 1: of Bedford, the law just isn't always on their side.

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Speaker 1: But here's the thing. Laws change and a new one

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Speaker 1: has just come into effect. It's called the DVSJA, also

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Speaker 1: known as.

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Speaker 2: The Domestic Violence Survivor is Justice Act. So I had

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Speaker 2: been studying this bill for ten years since Ryker's Island.

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Speaker 1: The DVSJA, or an early version of it, was dreamt

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Speaker 1: up by the women of Bedford Penitentiary all the way

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Speaker 1: back in the eighties and now in twenty nineteen. It's

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Speaker 1: law is designed to be applied in resentencing motions. It's

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Speaker 1: meant to be used for the people who are already

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Speaker 1: in prison. In practice, it gets judges more opportunities to

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Speaker 1: consider how domestic abuse might have factored into someone's crime

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Speaker 1: in a way that wasn't considered at an earlier trial,

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Speaker 1: and then that judge can give out a new sentence.

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Speaker 2: In order to submit a DVSJA, you had to be

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Speaker 2: incarcerated for at least eight years you had to be

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Speaker 2: a victim of domestic violence, the domestic violence had to

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Speaker 2: have been a significant kinshiputing factor of the crime, and

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Speaker 2: the third prong is based on the history of the

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Speaker 2: character and the condition of the defendant that this sentence

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Speaker 2: imposed wasn't Julie Harsh.

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Speaker 1: Kelly was really lost when she first got removed from

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Speaker 1: her job in the law library in late twenty eighteen.

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Speaker 1: She saw it as a retaliation from the prison Service

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Speaker 1: for reporting the officer she'd been having that secret inappropriate

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Speaker 1: relationship with. Kelly does get her job back at one point,

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Speaker 1: but then she's told that she's going to be removed again,

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Speaker 1: this time because of a new rule saying that an

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Speaker 1: inmate can't be in the same job for more than

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Speaker 1: thirty six months and that you need to wait a

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Speaker 1: full calendar year before getting that job back again. Kelly's

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Speaker 1: furious about it, and she's not alone. Her fellow inmates

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Speaker 1: really don't want her to be removed either. They rally

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Speaker 1: behind her, sending letters of support to the prison.

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Speaker 2: I have some of the letters myself, and some of

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Speaker 2: them are heartbreaking.

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Speaker 1: I've seen some of these letters. There's so many, and

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Speaker 1: you do really get the sense of how much Kelly

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Speaker 1: means to the women she's been helping. One of them says,

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Speaker 1: I'd lost all hope in the judicial system until Kelly

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Speaker 1: Harnett arrived. Miss Harnette has given me hope towards the future.

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Speaker 1: I fully trust Miss Harnette with my life, and her

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Speaker 1: possible removal will, in all likelihood take any hope that

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Speaker 1: I have left. As Kelly runs out the clock on

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Speaker 1: her job, she's studying the new Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act.

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Speaker 1: Because this is a brand new law, there's no existing

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Speaker 1: template to follow when it comes to filing motions, so

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Speaker 1: Kelly makes one.

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Speaker 2: When I made this template, I started asking people if

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Speaker 2: they were victims of domestic violence. It was on my birthday,

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Speaker 2: on the very first day that it passed, there was

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Speaker 2: a girl that came into pick up meal.

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Speaker 1: We'll call this girl Jessica. On Kelly's birthday in August

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Speaker 1: twenty nineteen, which of course she's spending in the law

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Speaker 1: library while she still can. She bumps into Jessica.

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Speaker 2: She was like, hi, Kelly, And when she was walking out,

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Speaker 2: I said, wait, Kim, here, were you a victim of

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Speaker 2: domestic violence? And she was like yeah, And then I

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Speaker 2: said listen, this new lawg just pissed.

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Speaker 1: Kelly breaks down the workings of the DVSJA. Next, she

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Speaker 1: works up a motion for Jessica and it struckt her

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Speaker 1: on how to submit it.

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Speaker 2: Now, before you know it, the girl has a court date. Yeah,

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Speaker 2: she's screaming, I'm.

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Speaker 4: Going a court.

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Speaker 2: I was so happy because you never really saw people

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Speaker 2: go to court in Bedford. Like when someone went to court,

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Speaker 2: the whole place would know about it because it's such

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Speaker 2: big news. And she went to court. She came back

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Speaker 2: for like a day and she was gone.

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Speaker 1: She went home. When Kelly first came to Bedford, she

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Speaker 1: promised herself that she would be the first jailhouse lawyer

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Speaker 1: to get someone out of prison. And now, finally, after

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Speaker 1: years and years of graft, she's done it. But why

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Speaker 1: stop at just one? In addition to Jessica, Kelly says

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Speaker 1: that she helps at least two more women get out.

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Speaker 1: One will called Stacy and the other will call Mikayla.

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Speaker 1: Another of the many women that Kelly helps is an

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Speaker 1: old friend from Rikers, Tasha. It's not her real name,

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Speaker 1: but it's what we're calling her. You first met her

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Speaker 1: back in episode four. Like Kelly, Tasha had witnessed her

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Speaker 1: then boyfriend commit a murder, but she ended up in

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Speaker 1: prison for it as well. She came to Bedford from

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Speaker 1: Rikers in twenty eighteen without much hope for her future.

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Speaker 5: So I just have been I've seen her one day

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Speaker 5: in a walk week and I've seen I was like,

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Speaker 5: oh my.

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Speaker 1: God, Kelly Tasha had just received some bad news about

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Speaker 1: her case.

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Speaker 4: He said, I can appeal it. She said, yes, you can.

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Speaker 4: She told me what to do, she wrote it down.

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Speaker 4: I did it.

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Speaker 5: I submitted it and it was accepted. And these people

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Speaker 5: told me I could doing a pill. That letter got

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Speaker 5: me the legal aid lawyer.

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Speaker 4: Now I'm excited. I got a lawyer. My first time

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Speaker 4: sitting with him.

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Speaker 5: He's going very impressed on you know your pill people

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Speaker 5: broke you stay in low library alert and said, nope,

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Speaker 5: somebody did it for me.

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Speaker 1: Kelly has an inmate client waiting list as long as

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Speaker 1: her arm. She's getting through each of them as quick

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Speaker 1: as she can. But she's not prepared to do a

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Speaker 1: rush job. Firstly because Kelly is nothing if not a perfectionist,

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Speaker 1: but also because she knows how high the stakes are.

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Speaker 1: One of the next thing makes Kelly helps is a

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Speaker 1: woman called Lulu.

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Speaker 2: We started out Lulu and I very slowly because I

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Speaker 2: had so many other people that I was assisting. However,

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Speaker 2: what made me put like bump her up on the

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Speaker 2: list was her perseverance. Lulu came to the law library

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Speaker 2: more often than anyone that I knew, and she stayed

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Speaker 2: for what they called the whole module, because some people

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Speaker 2: go and within an hour they say movement, and everybody

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Speaker 2: gets up and they can leave if they want. But

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Speaker 2: she would stay for the entire module. We were in

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Speaker 2: the process of actually reaching out to her attorney.

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Speaker 1: But just as Kelly is starting to make progress, and

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Speaker 1: as Lulu must allow herself to imagine the light at

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Speaker 1: the end of the tunnel, there's a dark shadow growing

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Speaker 1: outside the walls of Bedford Hills. This shadow will morph

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Speaker 1: and swell, and neither Lulu, Kelly, or even the justice

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Speaker 1: system itself will be powerful enough to stop it.

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Speaker 2: I didn't even get to finish the latter, and there was.

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Speaker 1: It before we go any further. There's some things I

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Speaker 1: want to tell you about Lulu. Her real name is Darlene,

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Speaker 1: but she's Lulu to her friends. She was born in Buffalo,

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Speaker 1: New York, in nineteen fifty eight and she was one

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Speaker 1: of thirteen children. Her story is like a really tragic case.

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Speaker 4: It really is.

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Speaker 1: Lulu was a victim of childhood sexual abuse and then

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Speaker 1: when she was around just eight years old, her mother

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Speaker 1: was murdered.

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Speaker 2: I started getting acquainted first with her story. It was

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Speaker 2: complete heartbreaking. She kind of had to play the mother

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Speaker 2: role for many of her siblings. She had suffered throughout

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Speaker 2: her childhood just to eat a regular meal, and when

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Speaker 2: she got older, unfortunately, she had gotten into drugs. However,

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Speaker 2: the person that she was in a relationship with was abusing.

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Speaker 1: Her and.

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Speaker 2: She felt that she was trapped in this abusive relationship.

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Speaker 1: According to Lulu, one night, a group of men turned

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Speaker 1: up at the house she shared with her partner. They

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Speaker 1: were after money owed for drugs. Lulu said they knocked

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Speaker 1: her out and when she came to, she saw her

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Speaker 1: partner had been stabbed. Lulu ended up being arrested and

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Speaker 1: charged for his death, and apparently, just like Kelly, had

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Speaker 1: given police statements while extremely intoxicated. Terrified at the prospect

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Speaker 1: of serving twenty five years, Lulu took a plea deal.

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Speaker 1: Back in twenty twelve, she pled guilty to first agree

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Speaker 1: manslaughter and was sentenced to twelve years in prison.

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Speaker 2: When I heard that she took a plea bargain, I

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Speaker 2: realized she did not have effective representation of counsel because

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Speaker 2: this was a clear defense.

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Speaker 1: Kelly believes that Lulu should have had the chance to

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Speaker 1: speak in court about what she'd been through.

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Speaker 2: I believe that if they heard lu story that they

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Speaker 2: would have found her not guilty.

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Speaker 1: She should not be here.

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Speaker 2: This is not right.

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Speaker 1: By the time Kelly starts working on her case, Lulu's

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Speaker 1: being locked up for over seven years. Kelly's heartbroken by

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Speaker 1: Lulu's story and impressed with her dedication despite all her challenges.

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Speaker 2: Lulu she was struggling as far as her education. I

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Speaker 2: don't think she went very far in school because she

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Speaker 2: had so many things that she had to do at

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Speaker 2: home for her family.

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Speaker 1: After bumping Lulu up her list, Kellyan was to file

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Speaker 1: something called a four forty ten. It's a motion that

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Speaker 1: challenges the fairness or legality of a conviction, and if successful,

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Speaker 1: it can overturn a court judgment. But first they need

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Speaker 1: to check in with Lulu's original lawyer. Kelly wants to

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Speaker 1: ask him to sign an affi david, which is another

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Speaker 1: word for a written statement. The aim is to find

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Speaker 1: out if and why he advised Lulu to plead out.

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Speaker 2: I did not want the four forty to be denied,

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Speaker 2: but if I could get an effort David from him,

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Speaker 2: that's a piece of evidence.

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Speaker 1: But it all comes too late, because it's now March

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty and the entire world is shutting down as

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Speaker 1: a global pandemic is on the rampage. On the sixteenth

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Speaker 1: of March, Bedford Hills locks down from COVID nineteen. The

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Speaker 1: inmates are kept in their cells for twenty three hours

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Speaker 1: a day. The work Kelly and Lulu are doing comes

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Speaker 1: to an abrupt stop. On March twentieth, Lulu sends a

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Speaker 1: message to her sister. She thanks her for sending a

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Speaker 1: care package and asks her to make sure her kids

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Speaker 1: are continuously washing their hands and face. COVID nineteen tears

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Speaker 1: through Bedford Hills. As infection rates surge all around her,

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Speaker 1: Lulu starts to panic. Lulu has chronic kidney disease and

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Speaker 1: an underlying heart condition. She's recently had open heart surgery.

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Speaker 1: On March twenty eighth, Lulu sends another message to her sister,

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Speaker 1: begging her to do all she can to raise the

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Speaker 1: alarm with the higher ups in the prison. She says,

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Speaker 1: I cannot afford to get this virus. It may kill me.

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Speaker 1: Please help. Lulu tests positive for COVID in early April

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Speaker 1: twenty twenty. Fellow inmates say she's been lying in her

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Speaker 1: cell for days, barely able to move. On April seventh,

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Speaker 1: she's taken to the Bedford Infirmary and then to the hospital,

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Speaker 1: where she's placed on a ventilator. One of Lulu's friends

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Speaker 1: says her family requests a video call, but that the

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Speaker 1: on duty officer guarding Lulu in the hospital refuses. Her

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Speaker 1: family eventually convinced the doctor to hold the phone to

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Speaker 1: her ear so they can say goodbye. Lulu dies alone

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Speaker 1: in hospital on April twenty eighth, twenty twenty, sixty one

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Speaker 1: years old. She's the first incarcerated woman in the state

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Speaker 1: of New York to die from COVID nineteen and if

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Speaker 1: you ask Kelly, she shouldn't have even been there in

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Speaker 1: the first place. Do you remember the first time you

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Speaker 1: learned that she had died.

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Speaker 2: I don't remember the date, but we cried like babies

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Speaker 2: the usual circumstances when somebody passes away. We have like

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Speaker 2: a memorial for them in the church, but because of COVID,

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Speaker 2: we couldn't even have that. I'm not gonna say I

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Speaker 2: was her best friend, but I mean that hit home

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Speaker 2: because I felt guilty. I felt like the way.

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Speaker 1: She died in a hospital, she couldn't even talk to

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Speaker 1: her family. That it just breaks my heart. If I

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Speaker 1: got routes, I don't know.

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Speaker 2: What all those times that she came there, like, why

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Speaker 2: didn't I take her first?

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Speaker 1: Maybe she could have been all before COVID, and maybe

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Speaker 1: she would have still been alive. You'd think that seeing

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Speaker 1: Lulu pass away from COVID would have made Kelly a

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Speaker 1: hundred times more hyper vigilant about staying safe, but if anything,

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Speaker 1: it's the opposite. Due to the lockdown, the law library

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Speaker 1: is closed. They've also taken away access to the computer

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Speaker 1: tablets that the inmates can use to work on their cases.

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Speaker 1: The only place where you can still use these tablets

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Speaker 1: is in the infirmary. I can only imagine that after

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Speaker 1: seeing so many people die, not just those connected to

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Speaker 1: her own case but beyond, Kelly just becomes even more

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Speaker 1: desperate to secure her freedom before her own time runs out,

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Speaker 1: no matter the cost. So she does something extremely reckless.

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Speaker 2: I said, I have to catch COVID. I was telling

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Speaker 2: people to cough in my face. I was purposely telling people,

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Speaker 2: like after they're drinking something, I said, can you just

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Speaker 2: leave me a little sip of the drink out of

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Speaker 2: your cup? And finally, I actually really didn't feel well.

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Speaker 1: She takes a test just to be sure.

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Speaker 2: Of course it was positive.

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Speaker 1: Now that she successfully infected herself, Kelly has her ticket

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Speaker 1: to the infirmary, but before that, she heads back to

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Speaker 1: herself to pick up the stuff she wants to take

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Speaker 1: in with her.

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Speaker 2: I had two enormous garbage bags worth of paperwork. Right away,

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Speaker 2: they stopped me and they want to know where the

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Speaker 2: hell I think I'm going with two bags of paperwork,

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Speaker 2: And I said, I'm going to the infirmary because I

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Speaker 2: tested positive. And they're trying to say I'm not allowed

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Speaker 2: to bring the paperwork, which is a lie, because I

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Speaker 2: clearly I have the directive memorize you are allowed to

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Speaker 2: bring paperwork. I threw the paperwork down and I just

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Speaker 2: laid across. I put one arm on one big and

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Speaker 2: one arm on the other. I said, I'm not going

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Speaker 2: into my cell. I'm pulling my mask off. You stay

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Speaker 2: the hell away from me. Anybody comes near me and

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Speaker 2: I'm going to go off all over all of you,

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Speaker 2: all of you. And it was so scared.

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Speaker 1: It was scared to death.

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Speaker 2: This went on for eight hours. So because of the

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Speaker 2: fact that it went on for eight hours, somebody finally

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Speaker 2: said just let her take it, so thank god. So

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Speaker 2: I took the paperwork eight hours later, and god, it

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Speaker 2: was so heavy, and I realized I was like, I was.

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Speaker 6: Like Jesus, I couldn't breathe. I couldn't breathe. Now, the

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Speaker 6: infirmary is quite a walk away, so you always know

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Speaker 6: who has COVID when they're being escorted.

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Speaker 1: Especially with their property.

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Speaker 2: So I have half the yard run up to me. Esquire, Esquire,

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Speaker 2: oh no, esqt library, all the library.

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Speaker 4: But I couldn't even look at them.

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Speaker 2: I was watching the cracks in the grounds and like

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Speaker 2: I was starting to get tunnel vision because it was

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Speaker 2: so heavy and I couldn't breathe. And I remember looking

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Speaker 2: at the cracks in the grounds and saying, I think

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Speaker 2: I'm gonna die here. And I said, if I die here,

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Speaker 2: you know what. I died fighting.

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Speaker 1: Obviously, Kelly did not die from COVID nineteen, she makes

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Speaker 1: a full recovery and as for the work she's doing,

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Speaker 1: paying off her friend, Tasha is being resentenced.

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Speaker 4: I was, oh my god.

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Speaker 5: I was happy and scared and nervous. I think I

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Speaker 5: was maybe the third person in Bedford to get resentencing.

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Speaker 1: This resentencing means that Tasha is getting out. She's one

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Speaker 1: of at least four people Kelly says she's helped regain

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Speaker 1: their freedom. The night before Tasha's resentencing in July twenty

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Speaker 1: twenty one, her and Kelly are hanging out in one

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Speaker 1: of the yards.

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Speaker 2: She said, Kelly, if it wasn't for you, I wouldn't

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Speaker 2: be walking out of these doors tomorrow. I said, oh,

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Speaker 2: you probably would at some point she said no, no,

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Speaker 2: I'm telling you I'd be doing I don't know, twenty

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Speaker 2: years or whatever.

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Speaker 5: They got old Kelly the most everything with my every being,

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Speaker 5: because if it wasn't for her, I probably would never

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Speaker 5: have gone back to the lower Library.

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Speaker 4: To try to find, you know, fight my way out.

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Speaker 5: A lord is say they're supposed to have your faith

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Speaker 5: in God, but I had nothing but faith in her.

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Speaker 1: The next morning, Kelly watches from her cell as her

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Speaker 1: friendly Spadford.

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Speaker 2: Behind standing on my window. I looked up and I

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00:26:26,200 --> 00:26:30,760
Speaker 2: saw her going up the hill. I watched and I

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00:26:30,840 --> 00:26:38,000
Speaker 2: started to cry. I was happy for her, but I

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Speaker 2: was like, I wish that was me. I wish that

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Speaker 2: was me, And I guess God heard that.

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Speaker 1: Kelly Hannett was officially removed from her job in the

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Speaker 1: Bedford Hills Law Library in April twenty twenty. She's still

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00:27:15,040 --> 00:27:17,200
Speaker 1: allowed to go in there, but she's not allowed to

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Speaker 1: give legal help with cases anymore.

400
00:27:19,800 --> 00:27:22,720
Speaker 2: The law library was like driven into the ground after

401
00:27:22,760 --> 00:27:23,200
Speaker 2: I left.

402
00:27:24,080 --> 00:27:27,280
Speaker 1: After losing the battle to keep working in the law library,

403
00:27:27,960 --> 00:27:34,159
Speaker 1: Kelly finally admits defeat. She stops taking clients and hangs

404
00:27:34,240 --> 00:27:39,640
Speaker 1: up her jailhouse lawyer boots for good. Now I'm only

405
00:27:39,680 --> 00:27:44,320
Speaker 1: taking the piss. The law is the true love of

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00:27:44,480 --> 00:27:47,359
Speaker 1: Kelly Harnett's life, and she's not going to give it

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00:27:47,440 --> 00:27:53,359
Speaker 1: up for anyone. And so, dear listener, I'm excited to

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00:27:53,400 --> 00:27:57,560
Speaker 1: welcome you to Kelly Hannett's underground law library.

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00:27:59,480 --> 00:28:03,320
Speaker 2: I just helping people on the unit. I started helping

410
00:28:03,359 --> 00:28:09,199
Speaker 2: people in the yards. I helped people, no joke, in snowstorms,

411
00:28:09,760 --> 00:28:10,600
Speaker 2: and I'm not even.

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00:28:10,520 --> 00:28:14,960
Speaker 1: Kidding it was it got bared one rainy day Kelly's

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00:28:15,000 --> 00:28:18,400
Speaker 1: in the prison yard doing some secrets prison rule breaking

414
00:28:18,480 --> 00:28:20,679
Speaker 1: door work for one of her inmate clients.

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00:28:21,040 --> 00:28:25,280
Speaker 2: They sold ponchos in the commissary. We had girls holding

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Speaker 2: two ponchos over us because the girl whose federal habeist

417
00:28:30,280 --> 00:28:33,720
Speaker 2: I didn't finish, she had like two days left, so

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00:28:33,840 --> 00:28:41,120
Speaker 2: they held it over us so that we could finish it.

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00:28:38,760 --> 00:28:43,360
Speaker 1: While I was boring. I mean, if I was an

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00:28:43,440 --> 00:28:46,080
Speaker 1: officer and I saw that, I would have thought much

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00:28:46,160 --> 00:28:48,000
Speaker 1: worse things were happening underneath.

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Speaker 5: Oh that yeah.

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00:28:49,120 --> 00:28:51,120
Speaker 2: Well they checked it out though, and they said, oh,

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00:28:51,160 --> 00:28:56,360
Speaker 2: that's just Harnett, that's little library. Then they started searching

425
00:28:56,400 --> 00:29:01,640
Speaker 2: my cell, ripping it apart, looking for other people's law papers.

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00:29:01,720 --> 00:29:05,200
Speaker 2: But I was never stupid enough to keep anyone's legal papers.

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00:29:05,480 --> 00:29:07,479
Speaker 2: Every time I finished helping them, I get them right

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Speaker 2: back to them and say go ahead, I'll meet you

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00:29:09,120 --> 00:29:09,840
Speaker 2: on another day.

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00:29:12,400 --> 00:29:16,080
Speaker 1: Kelly's jail house lawyer reputation is so secure that even

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00:29:16,160 --> 00:29:19,080
Speaker 1: when she's not in the law library anymore, people know

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00:29:19,160 --> 00:29:21,880
Speaker 1: she's the person to come to. And now with the

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00:29:21,960 --> 00:29:25,239
Speaker 1: vital tool of the Domestic Violence Survivors Justice Act in

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00:29:25,280 --> 00:29:31,320
Speaker 1: her back pocket, it seems like she's unstoppable. One day,

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00:29:31,560 --> 00:29:34,440
Speaker 1: Kelly heads into a place called the day Room. It's

436
00:29:34,440 --> 00:29:37,520
Speaker 1: on the on a floor where Kelly stays. It's a

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00:29:37,560 --> 00:29:39,720
Speaker 1: section of the prison you get access to if you

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00:29:39,800 --> 00:29:43,840
Speaker 1: have consistent good behavior or if you keep your clandesign

439
00:29:43,960 --> 00:29:48,320
Speaker 1: Law Library operation under wraps. And in there she finds

440
00:29:48,400 --> 00:29:51,280
Speaker 1: someone we're calling Tina, who's playing cards with some of

441
00:29:51,280 --> 00:29:54,080
Speaker 1: the other women on the floor. Tina has been in

442
00:29:54,080 --> 00:29:57,920
Speaker 1: prison since twenty sixteen. She suffered a lifetime of abuse

443
00:29:57,960 --> 00:30:02,880
Speaker 1: from family members, previous partner, and others. One terrible night,

444
00:30:03,040 --> 00:30:06,680
Speaker 1: following a drug relapse, she violently attacked her then boyfriend.

445
00:30:07,400 --> 00:30:11,680
Speaker 1: She was found guilty of attempted murder. Kelly and Tina

446
00:30:11,800 --> 00:30:14,640
Speaker 1: get to talking about what Kelly's been up to in

447
00:30:14,920 --> 00:30:16,560
Speaker 1: and out of the law library.

448
00:30:17,280 --> 00:30:20,320
Speaker 7: She started telling me, you know how many people she's

449
00:30:20,400 --> 00:30:24,280
Speaker 7: helped along the way in how many you know appeals

450
00:30:24,320 --> 00:30:27,320
Speaker 7: she has put in for individuals.

451
00:30:26,480 --> 00:30:30,920
Speaker 1: And I'm just listening to her. Tina is a little

452
00:30:30,920 --> 00:30:33,280
Speaker 1: different from most of the other women Kelly deals with.

453
00:30:34,200 --> 00:30:37,720
Speaker 1: She doesn't need Kelly's help. She already has a lawyer

454
00:30:37,760 --> 00:30:38,720
Speaker 1: fighting her corner.

455
00:30:39,360 --> 00:30:41,920
Speaker 7: I'm not thinking of her helping me. I'm thinking of

456
00:30:41,960 --> 00:30:45,320
Speaker 7: me helping her, and I'm like, okay, I'm gonna reach

457
00:30:45,360 --> 00:30:48,440
Speaker 7: out to the lawyer that's helping me, is you know,

458
00:30:48,560 --> 00:30:51,000
Speaker 7: see what she can do or if she's willing to

459
00:30:51,040 --> 00:30:52,320
Speaker 7: take on this case.

460
00:30:53,200 --> 00:30:55,440
Speaker 1: The lawyer's name is Kate Mogolescu.

461
00:30:56,560 --> 00:30:59,400
Speaker 7: Kate was more than willing, and she was like, yeah, sure,

462
00:30:59,480 --> 00:31:00,680
Speaker 7: i'll you know, I'll look it up.

463
00:31:00,720 --> 00:31:01,840
Speaker 4: I'll see what I can do.

464
00:31:02,400 --> 00:31:07,360
Speaker 7: And eventually she did that and she took on Kelly's case.

465
00:31:11,720 --> 00:31:16,240
Speaker 2: I had a phone call with Kate mogula school and

466
00:31:16,720 --> 00:31:20,120
Speaker 2: Kate asked me, Kelly, would you like to write your

467
00:31:20,120 --> 00:31:23,840
Speaker 2: own motion? And I thought that was so cool and

468
00:31:24,440 --> 00:31:27,280
Speaker 2: I would love to write my own motion and I

469
00:31:27,320 --> 00:31:33,239
Speaker 2: said yes, absolutely. It wasn't until after she asked me

470
00:31:33,280 --> 00:31:36,640
Speaker 2: that that I realized, wait a minute, I can't just

471
00:31:36,800 --> 00:31:41,560
Speaker 2: jump on this like every single other statute and motion

472
00:31:41,760 --> 00:31:45,560
Speaker 2: and case. This is very different. This is where emotions

473
00:31:45,640 --> 00:31:48,080
Speaker 2: meet the law.

474
00:31:50,520 --> 00:31:56,480
Speaker 1: Kelly writes and writes, pouring her heart into each page.

475
00:31:57,160 --> 00:32:01,280
Speaker 1: She's constructing what's called the narrative, sharing the abuses and

476
00:32:01,280 --> 00:32:04,960
Speaker 1: trauma she suffered throughout her life, making the court see

477
00:32:05,040 --> 00:32:09,000
Speaker 1: how all built up to the one final catastrophic event

478
00:32:09,600 --> 00:32:15,360
Speaker 1: that put her behind bars. Once she's done, she hands

479
00:32:15,360 --> 00:32:18,560
Speaker 1: it over to Kate, who tweaks it and submits it,

480
00:32:19,680 --> 00:32:26,440
Speaker 1: and then they wait a few months. After their submission,

481
00:32:27,000 --> 00:32:28,160
Speaker 1: a response comes through.

482
00:32:29,520 --> 00:32:32,760
Speaker 2: Keith said to me, they're allowing you to replee. She

483
00:32:32,840 --> 00:32:34,680
Speaker 2: said fifteen years, but I was at thirteen.

484
00:32:34,760 --> 00:32:35,520
Speaker 1: I said no.

485
00:32:36,160 --> 00:32:38,400
Speaker 2: I said, it's time serves or nothing.

486
00:32:40,400 --> 00:32:43,680
Speaker 1: Kelly's lost too many years already, so she tells Kate

487
00:32:43,720 --> 00:32:45,840
Speaker 1: to go back and fight.

488
00:32:46,840 --> 00:32:47,719
Speaker 2: I just felt it.

489
00:32:47,720 --> 00:32:51,480
Speaker 1: One day, Kelly practically leaps out of her cell and

490
00:32:51,520 --> 00:32:53,440
Speaker 1: starts booking it to the law library.

491
00:32:53,720 --> 00:32:55,680
Speaker 2: I ran so that I could be the first one

492
00:32:55,680 --> 00:32:58,600
Speaker 2: in the kiask. I jumped on, I put my numbers in.

493
00:32:59,080 --> 00:33:00,520
Speaker 1: She has a message.

494
00:33:01,920 --> 00:33:07,040
Speaker 2: And I was from Kate. She said, Kelly, they gave

495
00:33:07,040 --> 00:33:19,520
Speaker 2: you time served. You got it, Congratulations And I just

496
00:33:19,560 --> 00:33:20,520
Speaker 2: started screaming.

497
00:33:20,600 --> 00:33:21,040
Speaker 1: I was like.

498
00:33:29,920 --> 00:33:33,240
Speaker 2: And my best friends knew what was going on, so

499
00:33:33,280 --> 00:33:34,360
Speaker 2: they were like, you got it.

500
00:33:34,440 --> 00:33:38,720
Speaker 4: I was like, I got it. I'm going home.

501
00:33:41,160 --> 00:33:43,160
Speaker 2: People started pounding on their doors.

502
00:33:43,240 --> 00:33:46,240
Speaker 4: Let me out, Let me out, so.

503
00:33:46,480 --> 00:33:51,920
Speaker 2: That everybody came out from inside. They all just stood

504
00:33:51,920 --> 00:34:09,200
Speaker 2: there and clacked for me. We ran into the phone

505
00:34:09,280 --> 00:34:13,640
Speaker 2: room and I said, here's the phone call for years

506
00:34:13,640 --> 00:34:16,080
Speaker 2: I've been going over this phone call in my head.

507
00:34:17,239 --> 00:34:19,799
Speaker 1: The phone called her brother, Ronnie and their mother.

508
00:34:21,160 --> 00:34:23,480
Speaker 2: I get to call them up and scream on coming on.

509
00:34:29,920 --> 00:34:32,840
Speaker 1: Kelly dials the number, her fingers shaking.

510
00:34:35,280 --> 00:34:39,959
Speaker 2: I said Hi, Ronnie, and he's like hi, and I said, right,

511
00:34:40,360 --> 00:34:48,160
Speaker 2: I'm coming on. He said, oh my god, Kelly, thank god.

512
00:34:48,800 --> 00:34:51,440
Speaker 2: But I'm like, why is he sounding like you? Normally

513
00:34:51,480 --> 00:34:53,719
Speaker 2: Ronnie would be screaming, but he's whispering.

514
00:34:55,680 --> 00:34:57,360
Speaker 4: So I said till I.

515
00:34:59,080 --> 00:35:01,160
Speaker 2: And he said, no, Oh, I can't Kelly.

516
00:35:01,200 --> 00:35:01,800
Speaker 4: She's sleeping.

517
00:35:02,400 --> 00:35:06,040
Speaker 2: And I said, Ronnie, I'm coming home from prison.

518
00:35:06,400 --> 00:35:07,480
Speaker 1: Wake her up.

519
00:35:08,160 --> 00:35:14,840
Speaker 2: And he was like, Kelly, she can't talk. And I said,

520
00:35:15,120 --> 00:35:17,080
Speaker 2: what do you mean she can't talk. I just spoke

521
00:35:17,120 --> 00:35:19,640
Speaker 2: to her Ronnie the day before last. He said, I know,

522
00:35:19,920 --> 00:35:22,600
Speaker 2: I don't know what's wrong with her. She cannot speak.

523
00:35:23,320 --> 00:35:25,080
Speaker 2: I don't know what to do with her. Every time

524
00:35:25,160 --> 00:35:28,160
Speaker 2: I tell her I'm gonna call nine one one, she

525
00:35:28,200 --> 00:35:30,920
Speaker 2: shakes it. No, no, no, So I don't know what

526
00:35:31,080 --> 00:35:36,320
Speaker 2: to do. So I told Ronnie put me on speaker

527
00:35:37,120 --> 00:35:42,480
Speaker 2: and wake her up, and he did that, and I said.

528
00:35:42,760 --> 00:35:45,240
Speaker 4: Mom, I'm coming home. I'm coming home.

529
00:35:47,400 --> 00:35:49,440
Speaker 1: Kelly's mom doesn't reply.

530
00:35:51,440 --> 00:35:53,920
Speaker 2: I said, Ronnie, is she reacting? What is she doing?

531
00:35:54,320 --> 00:35:59,360
Speaker 2: He said, she gave a thumbs up and like that

532
00:35:59,440 --> 00:36:05,320
Speaker 2: broke my hell. I said, oh my god, my mother's dying.

533
00:36:15,880 --> 00:36:19,520
Speaker 1: After serving twelve years helping at least four other women

534
00:36:19,600 --> 00:36:25,359
Speaker 1: get out of prison, Kelly Harnett has finally finally won

535
00:36:25,440 --> 00:36:29,040
Speaker 1: her own freedom. The day she'll get to walk out

536
00:36:29,080 --> 00:36:35,799
Speaker 1: of Bedford Prison is just around the corner. But it

537
00:36:35,880 --> 00:36:38,320
Speaker 1: might have come too late for her mother, Kathleen.

538
00:36:39,400 --> 00:36:44,880
Speaker 2: I needed to get out. It was a race against time, now.

539
00:36:50,000 --> 00:36:53,960
Speaker 1: Next time. On the final episode of The Girlfriend's Gel

540
00:36:54,000 --> 00:36:54,960
Speaker 1: House Lawyer.

541
00:36:56,960 --> 00:37:00,000
Speaker 2: And when it came out of the yeats, I remember

542
00:37:00,040 --> 00:37:04,520
Speaker 2: a screaming and going and putting my arms in the air.

543
00:37:05,520 --> 00:37:08,360
Speaker 2: When I looked at her eyes, I said, that's my mother.

544
00:37:08,760 --> 00:37:11,840
Speaker 2: I couldn't believe for our scene and Sam stated, I

545
00:37:11,840 --> 00:37:13,800
Speaker 2: don't know where I stand with anything.

546
00:37:14,560 --> 00:37:15,840
Speaker 4: Will they put me in prison?

547
00:37:15,880 --> 00:37:20,200
Speaker 2: They put everybody in prison. Really, it's over, It's over?

548
00:37:20,400 --> 00:37:37,680
Speaker 1: Is it over? The Girlfriend's Jailhouse Lawyer is produced by

549
00:37:37,760 --> 00:37:41,800
Speaker 1: Novel for iHeart Podcasts. For more from Novel, visit novel

550
00:37:41,920 --> 00:37:46,319
Speaker 1: dot Audio. The show is hosted by me Anasinfield and

551
00:37:46,440 --> 00:37:49,560
Speaker 1: is written and produced by me and Lee Meyer, with

552
00:37:49,640 --> 00:37:54,160
Speaker 1: additional production from Jako Taivich and Michael Jinno. Our assistant

553
00:37:54,160 --> 00:37:58,080
Speaker 1: producer is Madeline pa. The editors are Georgia Moody and

554
00:37:58,120 --> 00:38:03,160
Speaker 1: me Annasinfield. Production management from Sarie Houston, Joe Savage and

555
00:38:03,280 --> 00:38:08,200
Speaker 1: Charlotte Wolfe. Our fact checker is Daniel Suleiman. Sound design,

556
00:38:08,360 --> 00:38:12,600
Speaker 1: mixing and scoring by Daniel Kempson and Nicholas Alexander. Music

557
00:38:12,640 --> 00:38:16,799
Speaker 1: supervision by me alis Infield, Lee Meyer and Nicholas Alexander.

558
00:38:17,239 --> 00:38:22,680
Speaker 1: Original music composed by Nicholas Alexander, Daniel Kempson and Louisa Gerstein.

559
00:38:23,280 --> 00:38:27,720
Speaker 1: Story development by Nell Gray Andrews and Willard Foxton. Creative

560
00:38:27,760 --> 00:38:31,880
Speaker 1: director of Novel, Max O'Brien and Craig Strachan are executive

561
00:38:31,880 --> 00:38:35,560
Speaker 1: producers for Novel, and Katrina Norvell and Nicki Eatoor are

562
00:38:35,600 --> 00:38:39,200
Speaker 1: the executive producers for iHeart Podcasts, and the marketing lead

563
00:38:39,360 --> 00:38:42,799
Speaker 1: is Alison Cantor. Thanks also to Carrie Lieberman and the

564
00:38:42,840 --> 00:38:44,560
Speaker 1: whole team at WME