DIALLING
MARCELYN: 'This tragic, tragic accident
'has left this child permanently injured.
'Her life will never be normal.'
JERRY: 'She's not my biological daughter,
'but there is no way that I would wilfully hurt her.'
She got hurt.
I saved her.
That's the end of the story.
My name is Marcelyn Angwin and I'm a defence attorney forjerry Cole.
Jerry is charged with aggravated child abuse, a class A felony,
and prison time for that is up to 30 years.
Jerry and the mother of this toddler were engaged.
She has two small children from another relationship.
Jerry is not their father.
One at the time was eight weeks old
and the other child was two years and nine months old.
Jerry was babysitting the children that day
as the mother went back to work
for the first time after giving birth.
So he brought them to his grandmother's house,
and she has a swimming pool in the back.
He knew that his brother's two children would be there
so the kids would have other children to play with.
So, they were in there playing in the pool,
a storm came up, so he got everybody out of the pool.
He brings the children in, he locks the screen door,
and so all the children were in the house.
He goes into the kitchen to make a bottle for the infant.
And then he looks out the window.
And oh, my gosh, there's the toddler face=down in the swimming pool.
He runs out of the house, jumps in the pool,
doesn't even bother to even hit the steps,
and pulls the toddler out.
When he got her out, she was not breathing.
So he starts, uh, CPR and also rescue breathing.
He worked on her and he worked on her, and he never stopped.
He just knew he had to save the child
who calls him "Daddy".
911 comes,
they put her in the ambulance and take her to the hospital.
This tragic, tragic accident
has left this child permanently injured.
Her life will never be normal.
Accidents happen with parents and children all the time,
but the DA has pursued this charge
because of the injuries to the child.
Because they are so severe.
They're trying to take an accident and turn it into a crime.
When it's a child involved,
it's almost like the jury immediately thinks you're guilty.
And we're the ones that's gonna have tilt the scale
to innocent.
We have a lot of work to do.
JERRY: I miss them every clay.
Every time I saw that girl, she lit up like a Christmas tree.
"Daddy's here!"
Ancl I lit up. "Daddy's here!"
SIGHS
I miss that.
There is no way that I would wilfully hurt her.
She got hurt.
I saved her.
That's the end of the story.
To come out and say you hurt your own child
with a track record of doing nothing but helping everyone...
This is wrong.
Everything about this is wrong.
And everybody turns the!“ backs on me.
Says, "You're the monster."
Good morning, Jerry.
I wanna go over the allegations against you.
You're charged with aggravated child abuse.
The state will have to prove that you're negligent
in taking care of the child.
It is a class A felony, cos the child is under six.
So, the potential penalties of a class A felony
would be up to 30 years in prison.
So this is a very serious offence that you've been charged with.
So, first of all,
I want to talk about what happened that morning.
So you arrived at your grandmother's house,
everybody's swimming, and then what happens?
There comes a small little shower,
and that was my excuse to get out of pool.
You got all the children out of the pool?
I've got the flotation devices off.
Put them next to the pool. OK.
Corralled 'em all inside. I lock the screen door
so the toddler can't try to escape.
Who's got the infant at this point?
Um, my aunt, Dorris.
Dorris says the infant needs a bottle.
I go up to the sink, heat up the bottle,
looked out the back window,
and, uh, I saw a-a child's body in the pool.
I dropped everything. I ran out the front door.
i jump into the pool, grab her,
jump straight back out, and immediately start CPR.
How long was the child in the swimming pool?
I know it could have only been a few minutes,
but, hell, it could have happened
as soon as I locked it and turned around.
Hm-mm. I don't know.
At that point, you know...
She-She spits up a lot of water.
She spits up whatever snack or something,
it might have been an apple.
I'm pushing on her chest.
Was she breathing?
No.
Ambulances were showing up, lights were going off.
I'm still in work mode.
I said, "This is what happened.
"Anything that you need from me, you can take it, just help her."
Because the quicker that everybody's on the same page,
the more chance she has of surviving.
Then we get in the back of the ambulance.
I have to get in the front seat.
One of the paramedics was working on her, so... OK.
All I could do was just look back through the slot and... hope.
That day, everything in your life just changed.
No more house, no more kids, no more life.
How did you get through that? I...
I mean, that's gotta be devastating.
I didn't.
And, uh... it broke me.
SOBS SOFTLY
JERRY SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY
I see it every clay.
I can't unsee it.
I'm sorry.
DOOR CLOSES
I've been told by the State
that the mother is very adamant about prosecuting Jerry.
A lot of times it is based on how the victim feels about the case.
So, it's gonna be very emotional for him
to have to relive all of this and then be questioned on the stand.
And how is gonna be able to handle it
when the prosecution really puts the pressure on him?
They're trying to make him the villain.
He needs to be ready. He needs to be prepared to fight.
It's his life that's on the line.
MARCELYN: Jerry Cole, my client, is charged with aggravated child abuse.
And prison time for that is up to 30 years.
I am on the way to Jerry's grandmother's house.
We're gonna try to re-enact
what happened on the day of the tragic incident
to see how this child could have gotten out of the house
and into the pool.
Going into trial, we don't want any surprises.
We want to know everything there is to know.
So, Jerry, who all exactly was here that day?
Dorris was in the house holding the baby.
That's my aunt. And Trish is my, uh, sister-in-law.
Mm-hm. She was here with her two children.
A ten-year old and a six-year-old.
So had you and the toddler swam in this pool before?
Several times. Mm... OK.
We all got out of the pool and went back into the house.
Did the toddler wanna get out of the pool?
No. None of them did.
So you came in. You locked the door. Then what happens?
Well, the older two, I told them,
"Hey, we're staying in here. It's raining.
Uh, we're gonna make some food."
The younger one, well, she tries to fight to get out, anyway,
because she still wants to go to the pool.
"OK, well, now you can't get out." No problem.
I put it there specifically so that the toddler couldn't get out.
So this is the only door you were concerned with, because...
It's the only way in and out.
Where was Dorris sitting?
She would have been sitting at the far corner.
So, what did Dorris ask you to do?
She asked if I can make the baby a bottle
before she wakes up so she doesn't start crying. OK.
So you would have taken the bottle,
put the formula in it.
So the toddler's in there with the other two girls,
you think.
Ancl then there is a bathing suit in the pool over here.
And she's face-down.
As soon as I saw her, I ran out that way.
I run...
The only way that you can get out of the house is through the front door.
So when you came out of the kitchen,
was this door locked or unlocked?
It would have been unlocked.
I didn't break the lock or anything, there was no resistance,
so I just moved it.
As soon as I come out here
I see the six-year-old and the ten-year-old
just playing with the toys there.
So I immediately know that it's not one of them,
it's the toddler, and I run that way.
So, two little girls on the front porch,
one was ten.
Would she had been tall enough to reach the latch?
Yes. OK.
The six-year-old probably not? OK. No.
The question is, who could have been able to unlock the screen door?
And obviously, the two girls playing on the front porch,
the ten-year-old would have been tall enough
to have been able to have done that.
If Jerry's telling us the truth, it wasn't his fault.
You know, it was an accident, and accidents happen.
But the state wanna blame somebody,
therefore, Jerry is the person to blame.
His mother is so happy
to have him around, you know what I mean?
I rarely seen her that happy.
Ancl they talk a lot, her and him, now.
They're two great people together.
This is the picture that they take
before you get into the military or right when you join up.
Yeah, but when you went overseas, it was awful.
There was not a clay
that we did not get into an active firefight with the enemy.
Watch my friends get blown up.
It was hell.
One of the hurdles is getting through the gross smells
and the blood and just trying to get in the mindset of,
"|f I don't do this, they're going to die."
You have to do it.
Ancl this is just the three of my closer friends that died over there.
When we got back we decided we would get some tattoos.
Yeah.
I tried to work on the ambulance for a few more months,
but after everything happened, it just...
It broke me to the point
where I didn't think I could help other people.
I'm worried that...
the justice system is, you know,
gonna put him in prison for something that was an accident,
you know, that he really didn't have control over.
He did the best he could, you know,
with his medical background and everything.
I just hope everybody understands how good of a person he really is.
Hey, there.
Everything going OK? Everything's going great.
The main issue, I think, that the state has againstjerry
is that there is an inconsistency in the story.
OK.
I actually have his interview on video
and I was gonna show you a little bit of that. Oh, good. OK.
OK? Yeah. Here we go.
All right.
That's story number one. OK.
Now we're gonna listen to the second story.
OK. And when did the second story take place?
Same interview. Same time, OK.
See, that's the issue.
What he's saying is he did not see her run past the window...
OK. ..climb up the steps and fall in.
That's what he said on the first interview.
All right. So you see the difference in the two stories?
Yeah, yeah.
So that is going to be, I think, the state's case.
That he told an inconsistent story.
They're not gonna say it that nice, they're gonna say he lied.
Jerry's gonna have to explain to me
why, when he was first questioned initially,
he didn't tell the exact truth of what happened.
|-|I, Jerry.
'Why would he do that?'
My experience is that juries don't like inconsistencies.
OK.
What we're going over today is the state's case.
They're going to say that you lied because you did something wrong.
So my question to you is, why did you say that you saw her
climb up the ladder, and jump into the pool?
I came up with the story
because something tragic like this happens,
they're gonna start pointing fingers.
It's cos I didn't have eyes on her.
Could you see that that might be a problem for us with the jury?
Yeah.
I had to believe it was true.
I had to believe it myself.
I figured if I said it enough it would be true,
and, you know, she couldn't be hurt.
So in your mind, that's what you wanted to have been the truth,
even though you know that that was not the truth?
I had to believe it.
Well, these are gonna be the inconsistencies
that the DA is gonna pounce on.
And so we're gonna make sure the jury understands
that you corrected what you said,
and then you told them exactly what happened.
The prosecution will try to make Jerry out to be a person
that the jury should not believe.
So he needs to go home and he needs to relive this over in his head,
of what he's gonna say,
to tell the jury exactly why he said what he said.
Jerry's story has to appear true in court for the jury to believe him.
If not, they'll find him guilty.
Hey, Jerry.
Hey. How you doing?
How are you doing? Come on in.
It really sucks knowing that there will be somebody out there,
they could look at me and say,
"Yeah, I believe you would absolutely hurt your kid."
That makes me really mad.
I hear a lot of anger in there.
Oh, definitely. Definitely.
There's no way that it should have happened,
there is no way that it could've happened,
I made sure that it couldn't, and then it still did.
Like, the worst-case scenario that you can think of,
when trying to play in the swimming pool,
is that you look back and then that your kid
is face-down in the swimming pool. That is nightmare.
It's OK.
Sometimes if we express those feelings and get 'em out,
it helps us.
They, you know, want to put me in prison for 30 years,
but there's still a fight going on, and I'm not gonna take the fall
for something that happened on God's watch.
JOHN: Dorris is one of the few people that was there.
Maybe she can tell me exactly what she thinks happened
as far as the defendant's actions, or the little girl's actions,
or how maybe the little girl could have gotten out of the house.
Hello. Hello.
Are you Dorris? Yes, sir.
I understand, uh,
when the accident happened, you were here.
Yes, sir.
I was keeping the little baby.
And so Trish's two girls was here,
so they all wanted to go swimming.
And they stayed out there for, I don't know,
maybe an hour of swimming and playing.
And so they came in. He latched the door.
OK.
The baby's crying. I said, "While
You know, told Trish I'll go fix a bottle.
And Jerry said, "Well, I'll go ahead and do it."
And that's when the little girls wanted to come play on the porch.
Did you see the little girls come out here? Trish's two girls?
Yeah, I seen Trish's two girls come out.
OK.
Did they have to unlock the door to come out?
Yes, yes. Did you, did you see...
The oldest one, the oldest one.
You saw the older of the two... Yeah.
...unlock the door? Yes.
Did Jerry stop and unlock that door? No.
I just saw a blur,
and next thing I knew, I heard the door...
slam like that. DOOR SLAMS
OK.
It was a freak accident,
but I should've got up and double checked.
You know, I feel responsible for that part.
When Dorris first told me that she actually saw
Jerry Cole latch the door, I was just really, really pleased
because I think it's very, very important in showing that
Jerry was being truthful.
Hey, Jerry, it's Marcelyn.
I'm good. I'm good. We have got an offer from the district attorney.
All right, thanks, Jerry.
Come on in, Jerry. Have a seat.
Sit right here and I'll sit over here.
All right, Jerry. So we have gotten an offer
from the state on your case.
As you know, you're charged with aggravated child abuse,
a class A felony, up to 30 years in prison.
Well, the offer is a good offer.
It's coming in as a class A misdemeanour,
endangefing the welfare of a child.
The maximum jail time is 12 months in the county jail.
But they're going to suspend that sentence
and put you on 24 months supervised probation.
One of the elements the state would have to prove
is wilful maltreatment of the child.
I don't think they can prove that element.
If you pled to that offer,
what you would be saying, well, basically,
that you were negligent in watching the child.
You would have to... swear
that you were guilty of this offence,
and on your record you would have a misdemeanour.
But the case will be over with.
Or you could go to trial and you could lose.
It's a gamble either way you go
cos you never know what 12 people are gonna do in a jury box.
Are you interested in taking the, uh... the plea deal?
No.
Absolutely not.
OK.
Not gonna happen.
I understand the risks.
Good. Whatever it takes.
So now what we do is prepare to fight their issues,
to convince the jury.
We're going all the way with this.
SIGHS
But the other thing is you have to be prepared to see the child.
Right.
When they bring the child in in a wheelchair,
I don't know what that's gonna do to the jury's emotions.
I don't know what it's gonna do to mine, either. I know.
And also, your ex-fiancee.
I'm sure they'll all be there.
You're gonna have to get prepared for the trial.
There's no way in hell that I would hurt my kid.
I'm not gonna stand up there and swear that I did it.
Especially if it's not true.
That's not gonna happen.
Jerry is not willing to take any offer, regardless of what it is.
You know, I think that says a lot about Jerry's character
and how confident he is in the judicial system
to find him innocent.
But I'm gonna tell you, you never know what a jury's gonna do.
With the child being involved, of course, it increased the risk
because of sympathy from the jury.
And them ruling on their feelings versus on the facts.
So there's always a gamble,
and Jerry's willing to take that gamble.
JERRY: Mike laid up in bed for about two weeks with his stomach,
and my mom got fed up with him. Like, not even concerned, just mad.
"All right, you feel that bad, we're going to the doctor."
Ancl I'm pretty sure that really broke her heart
because it turns out he had stomach cancer.
We don't know what kind or how far,
because before they could even get that far,
he caught COVID in the hospital.
So I guess we're just... We're waiting on answers.
They say they're not gonna do anything about his cancer
until the COVID clears up.
BARBARA SNIFFLES
Are you holding up?
I'm trying, yeah.
It's hard.
Yeah, I know.
I went in to talk to Marcelyn the other clay.
Yeah. I told you she had a plea.
You wanna hear it? Yeah.
No jail time.
But I would still have to say I'm guilty.
I would still have to raise up my hand,
look 'em all in the eye and say, "Yes, I did this."
Baby, if it comes back to that,
it means I lose you forever or not.
I don't want that.
No which way is good.
You know, I'm just, I'm scared.
I'm scared I'm gonna lose Michael.
And then I'm scared I'm gonna lose you, too.
I don't want to lose either one of y'all.
You know, hope for the best, but pray for the worst.
VOICE BREAKING: I know, cos I can't lose both of you.
I can't lose either one of you.
Come here.
BARBARA:
Hi. Hey, there. How are you?
I'm good, how are you? Good.
I spoke to the mother of the toddler and...
Hm. I was able to ask her, what do you think should happen
0 Jerry, because of this. Yeah.
just point blank, do you think he should serve
prison time for this? Mm-hm.
Ancl she would not give a real strong answer.
She just stammered around a little bit
and said, "|'m just gonna leave it in God's hands."
OK.
It sounds like she has understood that it's... it was an accident.
She's not hateful or hostile towards Jerry
because of this, she's just... Well, that's good.
...hateful and hostile towards the incident.
OK.
So that's good. That's good.
This way we can do whatever it takes to try to get the case dismissed.
Because she, I think she understands that...
Well, hopefully, she understands the man that she was gonna marry
would not do this intentionally.
I've been told that the mother is very adamant about prosecuting.
Well, after the investigator went to speak with her,
that doesn't seem to be the case, and I want the state to see that.
If the mother says, "Look, let's just end it now
"so I don't have to come to trial and testify.",
that would help to get the motion to dismiss.
So we're gonna go ahead and give the prosecutor a copy of the interview.
Cos if it helps to get this case dismissed,
I think it's well worth it.
BARBARA SOBNNG
Um, Mike passed away in the hospital.
Cancer, uh, caught him, and...
they said his body wasn't strong enough to survive the chemo
and the radiation, so...
it was basically a death sentence, anyway.
But they were talking more of, you know, weeks,
maybe a couple of months.
Ancl it was the very next clay at ten o'clock that night.
Saturday. Passed away in his sleep.
JERRY WHISPERING
My mom, uh, this broke her.
I mean, it... it came on quick.
Ancl she just didn't have time to process anything.
Losing Michael, and then turn around and losing you too, I just...
That's just something that I...
I don't think I'd be able to handle it,
I just don't think, at all.
CELL PHONE RINGING
Hello.
All right. | will. All right.
Bye. Yeah, bye-bye.
Hey, Jerry. Come on in. Have a seat.
OK. So, we have just got another offer from the state.
We have just got another offer.
And the offer is...
giving false information to a police officer.
It's a class A misdemeanour.
12 months, suspended sentence, no time served.
They have acknowledged that you didn't do anything to this child.
So, I think this is something you really need to consider.
Four years and here it is.
One week before and now they're saying,
"Well, OK, OK. Well, you didn't hurt her, but you did lie."
SIGHS
It's frustrating and relieving at the same time, I guess, but...
I just wanted you to understand that we spoke with your ex-fiancee.
Yeah.
And she had to agree to this.
And that's why you got the offer.
I'm really happy that...
you know, she doesn't believe that I did this, because...
Um...
That's really what hurt the most.
So, I know you may want to think about it,
but I don't wanna stand next to you when the judge gives you 30 years
if the jury finds you guilty.
I do think it's probably as good of a deal as you're gonna get,
but I'm not gonna jump into anything
till I've had a minute to think about it.
Yeah.
I shouldn't have to plead to anything.
I, honestly, just want it outright dismissed.
So, Pllsleep on it, but either way it goes,
I'm gonna have to do something.
It would be very unwise forjerry not to accept this offer
and to take the chance of going to trial.
And getting a 30-year sentence.
But Jerry did turn down the first misdemeanour offer.
So the ultimate decision is his.
MARCELYN: Jerry has been offered a fantastic misdemeanour deal,
but I can only advise as a defense attorney, it's all up to him.
It's definitely a gamble. Jerry is gonna have to be the one
to make the decision whether to roll the dice or not.
You OK? Mm-hm. You?
Yeah.
I took the plea deal for a misdemeanour of lying to the cops.
They gave me 12 months unsupervised probation.
A little bit of court costs and that's it.
I really don't know how much more I can thank you.
Ancl I know you did everything.
You're so sweet.
You're welcome. You're welcome. BARBARA SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY
Any time.
'I think he did the right thing,'
and I think that he's glad to have it over with,
and I think it ended well.
It probably hasn't fully hit me yet, but...
I don't think it's hit me, either.
You know, it's crazy.
We've been fighting this for four years,
I go in there, and in five minutes, it's over.
Well...
It's a good thing.
Yeah.
SIGHS
You ready to go home? Mm-hm.
Me too. Let's go.
Yeah.
Horrible things can happen in minutes
that have life-altering consequences for lots of people,
and especially the child.
And we wish the child the best.
I know she's not my biological daughter, but she's safe.
She's alive. She's got her mother. She's got her little sister.
So...
I guess I just gotta go figure out what to do with myself.