1 00:00:07,090 --> 00:00:09,092 [INTRO THEME MUSIC PLAYS] 2 00:00:11,720 --> 00:00:14,431 On After Eight this morning, cameras in the courtroom. 3 00:00:14,514 --> 00:00:18,393 The question of whether justice is served by the televising of trials. 4 00:00:18,810 --> 00:00:22,105 The issue of TV cameras in the courtroom is a hot one again. 5 00:00:22,188 --> 00:00:25,942 We have a debate over whether such coverage helps justice or harms it. 6 00:00:26,026 --> 00:00:30,238 Critics claim that such extensive coverage amounted to widespread voyeurism. 7 00:00:30,321 --> 00:00:31,698 We will present what we think 8 00:00:31,781 --> 00:00:34,951 is an extraordinary look into the American criminal justice system. 9 00:00:35,035 --> 00:00:38,621 [NEWSMAN 1] Cable television is providing live courtroom coverage of a rape case. 10 00:00:38,705 --> 00:00:42,250 There's been a very public rape trial going on in New Bedford, Massachusetts. 11 00:00:42,333 --> 00:00:44,687 [NEWSMAN 2] Shocking reports from New Bedford, Massachusetts 12 00:00:44,711 --> 00:00:46,629 of a young woman who was gang-raped 13 00:00:46,713 --> 00:00:49,674 on a barroom pool table while patrons cheered. 14 00:00:49,758 --> 00:00:50,884 Six men were charged. 15 00:00:50,967 --> 00:00:52,967 [NEWSWOMAN 1] Gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trials 16 00:00:53,011 --> 00:00:55,096 went into the homes of cable subscribers. 17 00:00:55,180 --> 00:00:57,807 This was a first in television and courtroom history. 18 00:00:57,891 --> 00:01:00,351 From that moment on, viewers became armchair experts, 19 00:01:00,435 --> 00:01:03,146 privy to the same information jurors were. 20 00:01:03,229 --> 00:01:05,315 Broadcast daily on cable television. 21 00:01:05,398 --> 00:01:07,238 [NEWSWOMAN 2] Daily broadcasts of the testimony 22 00:01:07,317 --> 00:01:09,360 both on radio and on television. 23 00:01:09,444 --> 00:01:11,154 [NEWSMAN 3] What is the news philosophy 24 00:01:11,237 --> 00:01:14,282 behind showing such trials at such length? 25 00:01:14,365 --> 00:01:16,868 We have the technology. 26 00:01:17,368 --> 00:01:19,120 THE QUESTION THEN IS: Why not? 27 00:01:21,206 --> 00:01:23,124 [TENSE MUSIC PLAYS] 28 00:01:23,208 --> 00:01:25,293 [TYPEWRITER CLACKING] 29 00:01:25,376 --> 00:01:26,461 [TYPEWRITER BELL DINGS] 30 00:01:28,838 --> 00:01:30,340 [DISTORTED SOUNDS] 31 00:02:15,385 --> 00:02:17,220 [SEAGULLS SQUAWKING] 32 00:02:30,817 --> 00:02:32,110 [AUDIO INTERFERENCE] 33 00:02:34,279 --> 00:02:35,655 [STATIC] 34 00:02:39,534 --> 00:02:40,702 [NEWSMAN] Big Dan's Tavern 35 00:02:40,785 --> 00:02:43,413 in a working-class Portuguese section of New Bedford. 36 00:02:43,788 --> 00:02:46,082 Police say there were 20 men in Big Dan's Sunday night 37 00:02:46,166 --> 00:02:48,585 when the only woman left inside went to leave. 38 00:02:50,336 --> 00:02:51,546 One man locked the door, 39 00:02:51,629 --> 00:02:54,048 another, according to police, threw the woman to the floor, 40 00:02:54,132 --> 00:02:55,842 tore off her pants, and raped her. 41 00:02:58,553 --> 00:03:01,222 As the men in the bar watched and some cheered, 42 00:03:01,848 --> 00:03:04,184 three other men joined the original attacker, 43 00:03:04,267 --> 00:03:06,686 carried the screaming woman to a pool table, 44 00:03:06,769 --> 00:03:09,105 and raped her over a period of two hours. 45 00:03:10,982 --> 00:03:13,276 No one helped her. No one called the police. 46 00:03:13,359 --> 00:03:14,819 No one left to get help. 47 00:03:17,906 --> 00:03:22,243 [MAN] I think we all like to think that violent crimes 48 00:03:22,785 --> 00:03:25,872 don't happen in your hometown. 49 00:03:26,289 --> 00:03:28,499 Well, the fact is, they do happen. 50 00:03:32,045 --> 00:03:35,006 [WOMAN] I hate this neighborhood. A lot of people are embarrassed by it. 51 00:03:35,089 --> 00:03:37,634 And I'll lose business like everybody else will lose business. 52 00:03:37,717 --> 00:03:40,303 They won't be out. They'll all be afraid to walk at night. 53 00:03:40,762 --> 00:03:43,431 No matter what she did or said to those men, 54 00:03:44,140 --> 00:03:47,560 those men had no right to do what they did to her. 55 00:03:47,644 --> 00:03:48,853 Well, I think it's a crime. 56 00:03:48,937 --> 00:03:50,063 They should hang them, 57 00:03:50,563 --> 00:03:51,731 the guys that did it. 58 00:03:52,899 --> 00:03:56,527 [PHILLIPS] There were so many questions swirling around the case. 59 00:03:57,487 --> 00:03:59,739 People just wanted to know more. 60 00:04:00,698 --> 00:04:01,950 According to witnesses, 61 00:04:02,492 --> 00:04:06,746 and according to what she told us, she cried for help, she asked for help. 62 00:04:07,413 --> 00:04:08,665 She begged for help. 63 00:04:08,748 --> 00:04:09,958 Nobody... Nobody helped her. 64 00:04:11,292 --> 00:04:15,213 [PHILLIPS] What was wrong with people? Why didn't they step in and stop it? 65 00:04:17,507 --> 00:04:19,342 When people heard about the cheering, 66 00:04:19,425 --> 00:04:20,927 it took on a life of its own. 67 00:04:21,010 --> 00:04:22,730 I mean, there's no other way to describe it. 68 00:04:23,137 --> 00:04:25,181 That made this a spectacle. 69 00:04:33,314 --> 00:04:35,483 It is difficult to be shocked too much 70 00:04:35,566 --> 00:04:37,652 by a story from New Bedford, Massachusetts, 71 00:04:37,735 --> 00:04:40,822 which has been in the news since it happened on March 6th. 72 00:04:40,905 --> 00:04:42,156 A woman was raped in a bar. 73 00:04:43,157 --> 00:04:45,410 That she was raped is horrible enough. 74 00:04:45,493 --> 00:04:49,789 The circumstances and what that says about the people involved are worse. 75 00:04:50,456 --> 00:04:53,918 The description of the crime was very difficult to listen to, 76 00:04:54,002 --> 00:04:55,920 and I'm sure it was difficult for people at home 77 00:04:56,004 --> 00:04:58,214 to even think about it. 78 00:04:58,298 --> 00:05:00,717 The national news: Three stories about crime 79 00:05:00,800 --> 00:05:02,302 and how it affects you. 80 00:05:02,385 --> 00:05:03,970 First, in New Bedford, Massachusetts... 81 00:05:04,053 --> 00:05:06,514 A reported gang rape in New Bedford, Massachusetts, 82 00:05:06,597 --> 00:05:08,641 shocked that community and the rest of the country. 83 00:05:09,183 --> 00:05:11,811 [FERNANDEZ MILLS] I was competing with reporters covering the case 84 00:05:11,894 --> 00:05:15,440 from NBC, CBS, ABC, and CNN. 85 00:05:16,274 --> 00:05:19,027 We tried to cover the story as it was happening. 86 00:05:19,110 --> 00:05:22,238 Authorities in Massachusetts today issued warrants for four men. 87 00:05:22,322 --> 00:05:25,116 [NEWSMAN] Police arrested Joseph Vieira of Connecticut 88 00:05:25,199 --> 00:05:26,993 and Daniel Silva of New Bedford. 89 00:05:27,076 --> 00:05:31,080 Two other men, Victor Raposo and John Cordeiro, were arrested later. 90 00:05:31,164 --> 00:05:33,458 [NEWSWOMAN 1] Indictments included charges against two men 91 00:05:33,541 --> 00:05:36,711 accused of being spectators to the March 6th rape. 92 00:05:36,794 --> 00:05:38,921 [NEWSWOMAN 2] At Our Lady of Mount Carmel Church, 93 00:05:39,005 --> 00:05:40,882 Monsignor Luiz Mendonca said 94 00:05:40,965 --> 00:05:43,343 the men who watched the rape should be punished. 95 00:05:43,426 --> 00:05:46,763 This was something really heinous, and no one did anything about it. 96 00:05:46,846 --> 00:05:48,639 I think they are just as responsible. 97 00:05:48,723 --> 00:05:51,434 [NEWSWOMAN 3] With all six defendants arraigned on the indictments, 98 00:05:51,517 --> 00:05:54,020 the case was continued until March 31st. 99 00:05:54,103 --> 00:05:57,523 It could be the end of the year before it finally comes to trial. 100 00:05:58,691 --> 00:06:01,235 [FERNANDEZ MILLS] This horrible local crime 101 00:06:01,778 --> 00:06:04,322 really did feel like a national story. 102 00:06:04,405 --> 00:06:06,491 Nancy Fernandez, NBC News... 103 00:06:06,574 --> 00:06:08,159 - CBS News... - ABC News 104 00:06:08,242 --> 00:06:09,911 in New Bedford, Massachusetts. 105 00:06:25,635 --> 00:06:29,639 [WOMAN] They kept running the stories on the front page, constantly. 106 00:06:34,143 --> 00:06:36,687 A lot of people kept saying, "What's going on in New Bedford?" 107 00:06:37,105 --> 00:06:39,607 [NEWSMAN] It has been no less than international attention 108 00:06:39,690 --> 00:06:43,069 that's been riveted on New Bedford these last three weeks. 109 00:06:43,152 --> 00:06:45,113 More of it than has come this way 110 00:06:45,196 --> 00:06:47,573 since the great whaling ships sailed off into history 111 00:06:47,657 --> 00:06:49,158 more than a century ago. 112 00:06:51,077 --> 00:06:54,205 [PHILLIPS] New Bedford, while it's a city of a hundred thousand, 113 00:06:54,664 --> 00:06:56,207 it's really a small town. 114 00:06:58,251 --> 00:07:00,878 It was dominated by fishing families. 115 00:07:02,422 --> 00:07:03,714 Hard-working people... 116 00:07:04,882 --> 00:07:07,844 who cared for their homes, cared for their families. 117 00:07:09,429 --> 00:07:11,556 It was a great place to settle down. 118 00:07:12,473 --> 00:07:15,601 [NEWSWOMAN] Herman Melville once wrote that New Bedford, Massachusetts, 119 00:07:15,685 --> 00:07:18,938 was the dearest place to live in all of New England. 120 00:07:19,355 --> 00:07:21,566 [NEWSMAN] New Bedford, once a major whaling city, 121 00:07:21,649 --> 00:07:23,943 is now the largest fishing port on the east coast. 122 00:07:24,026 --> 00:07:26,362 Fishermen are almost all of Portuguese descent. 123 00:07:26,446 --> 00:07:29,282 Portuguese Americans make up 60 percent of New Bedford. 124 00:07:29,782 --> 00:07:32,994 [PHILLIPS] It was a melting pot, a lot of different folks there, 125 00:07:33,077 --> 00:07:35,246 a lot of different ethnic backgrounds. 126 00:07:35,872 --> 00:07:37,999 But certainly, the Portuguese community, 127 00:07:38,458 --> 00:07:40,668 they've been coming here for a long time. 128 00:07:42,462 --> 00:07:44,338 [WOMAN] It's a beautiful city. 129 00:07:45,506 --> 00:07:47,467 It's a very proud community. 130 00:07:49,051 --> 00:07:52,555 The fact that we were getting so much media attention 131 00:07:52,638 --> 00:07:54,390 for something that's so negative, 132 00:07:54,849 --> 00:07:56,934 it was a very sad time, 133 00:07:57,018 --> 00:07:59,479 for not just the Portuguese community 134 00:07:59,562 --> 00:08:01,731 but also for the city of New Bedford. 135 00:08:08,070 --> 00:08:09,405 [MAN] There was, at the time, 136 00:08:09,489 --> 00:08:12,533 a tremendous amount of conversation 137 00:08:12,617 --> 00:08:14,494 about the victim. 138 00:08:18,873 --> 00:08:21,459 Everyone wanted to know who she was. 139 00:08:25,046 --> 00:08:28,090 One day I got a call out of the blue from her uncle John. 140 00:08:29,717 --> 00:08:32,553 I had represented him a few years earlier, 141 00:08:32,637 --> 00:08:34,639 and he said, "Well, that was my niece." 142 00:08:36,432 --> 00:08:39,602 "She's very concerned about her safety." 143 00:08:41,771 --> 00:08:43,397 She didn't know what to expect. 144 00:08:46,400 --> 00:08:48,986 And he said, "I just want you to talk with her." 145 00:08:52,031 --> 00:08:55,117 I remember driving down to New Bedford, 146 00:08:55,535 --> 00:08:57,370 uh, going to the part of town where she lived, 147 00:08:57,453 --> 00:08:59,789 which was sort of a working-class area. 148 00:09:02,250 --> 00:09:05,378 I remember walking up the stairs and meeting her for the first time. 149 00:09:05,461 --> 00:09:06,921 I didn't know what to expect. 150 00:09:08,047 --> 00:09:11,217 I could hear one of her children crying in a crib. 151 00:09:12,343 --> 00:09:16,055 She was just, uh, an ordinary 21-year-old woman. 152 00:09:18,140 --> 00:09:21,227 She told me that it was in the evening. 153 00:09:21,852 --> 00:09:23,104 She had run out of cigarettes 154 00:09:23,187 --> 00:09:26,107 when she remembered that there was a bar on the way home, 155 00:09:26,190 --> 00:09:29,277 and that she could stop at the bar and perhaps get cigarettes. 156 00:09:30,611 --> 00:09:33,864 She saw a waitress there that she happened to know. 157 00:09:35,157 --> 00:09:37,660 The waitress sat down at a table with her. 158 00:09:38,411 --> 00:09:41,706 At some point, the waitress left the bar, 159 00:09:41,789 --> 00:09:44,208 and she sat at the table to finish her drink. 160 00:09:46,669 --> 00:09:48,337 And when she got up to leave, 161 00:09:48,421 --> 00:09:50,298 somebody grabbed her from behind. 162 00:09:51,799 --> 00:09:53,801 That's when the event started. 163 00:09:56,220 --> 00:09:58,389 At some point, she was able to free herself. 164 00:09:59,682 --> 00:10:00,725 She ran out of the bar. 165 00:10:00,808 --> 00:10:03,894 She was wearing, I believe, a pink sweater and nothing else. 166 00:10:05,354 --> 00:10:07,523 She flagged down a motorist. 167 00:10:09,191 --> 00:10:11,736 Three guys stopped and helped her. 168 00:10:15,406 --> 00:10:16,782 It was just appalling. 169 00:10:19,160 --> 00:10:22,121 Obviously, she had been through a trauma that I can't even imagine. 170 00:10:23,164 --> 00:10:25,666 And I asked her, "Are you sure you want to do this? 171 00:10:26,042 --> 00:10:27,668 To see this through to the end?" 172 00:10:29,295 --> 00:10:30,755 And she said, "Yes, I do." 173 00:10:31,922 --> 00:10:35,217 She wanted the world to be a better place for her daughters. 174 00:10:37,928 --> 00:10:40,806 And I thought, "I'm probably not going to make any money from this." 175 00:10:41,766 --> 00:10:43,643 But I want to do it for my daughter." 176 00:10:56,322 --> 00:10:59,200 People ask to... ask for sex, 177 00:10:59,283 --> 00:11:02,244 but people do not ask to be raped. People don't understand what rape... 178 00:11:02,328 --> 00:11:05,831 [NEWSWOMAN] Liz Bennett is the head of the Rape Crisis Center in New Bedford. 179 00:11:05,915 --> 00:11:08,751 It's like saying that somebody asked to be robbed, or mugged, 180 00:11:08,834 --> 00:11:10,753 or, uh, murdered, you know. 181 00:11:10,836 --> 00:11:15,841 People don't ask to be defiled, degraded, humiliated. 182 00:11:16,550 --> 00:11:19,095 [WOMAN] It was a huge step for someone 183 00:11:19,679 --> 00:11:24,392 who had experienced trauma and violence to come forward 184 00:11:24,475 --> 00:11:27,228 and to share their experience and their story. 185 00:11:27,311 --> 00:11:28,854 You can never bring back 186 00:11:28,938 --> 00:11:31,273 that person who you were before you were raped. 187 00:11:32,108 --> 00:11:35,444 But there is a means through our court system 188 00:11:35,528 --> 00:11:38,280 to see some sort of justice. 189 00:11:39,824 --> 00:11:42,743 And I... You owe it to yourself to follow through on that. 190 00:11:43,285 --> 00:11:47,998 We wanted to keep the focus on support for victims, 191 00:11:48,082 --> 00:11:51,168 but there was a lot of stigma about all violence against women. 192 00:11:51,252 --> 00:11:53,921 Some men still think of rape in terms of sex. 193 00:11:54,004 --> 00:11:56,841 It is, in fact, a crime of violence, and one of the worst. 194 00:11:56,924 --> 00:11:58,634 What I thought was very important 195 00:11:58,718 --> 00:12:02,179 was actually that there was community conversation and dialogue. 196 00:12:02,263 --> 00:12:04,557 It was important to hear what people thought, 197 00:12:04,640 --> 00:12:06,016 even if it was painful, 198 00:12:06,100 --> 00:12:09,228 because we can't, you know, change opinions 199 00:12:09,311 --> 00:12:11,731 without knowing what people actually think. 200 00:12:12,231 --> 00:12:14,734 A man only rapes a woman if she wants it. 201 00:12:14,817 --> 00:12:17,236 Now, if she goes to a bar and comes on to the guys, 202 00:12:17,319 --> 00:12:18,654 what do you expect? 203 00:12:18,738 --> 00:12:20,781 I don't think they should have done what they did. 204 00:12:20,865 --> 00:12:23,909 But if she did ask for it, they should have just left her alone. 205 00:12:23,993 --> 00:12:27,621 There seems to be a general feeling 206 00:12:27,705 --> 00:12:30,624 that if a woman is in a bar alone at night, 207 00:12:31,208 --> 00:12:33,169 that it's... she's open game. 208 00:12:33,252 --> 00:12:37,423 We realized how much misinformation there was about rape. 209 00:12:37,506 --> 00:12:38,883 Rape is a... is a crime 210 00:12:38,966 --> 00:12:42,094 which is frequently charged by people that have not indeed been raped, 211 00:12:42,178 --> 00:12:45,389 but, uh, have consented, and then, for one reason or another, uh, 212 00:12:45,473 --> 00:12:46,932 become vindictive later. 213 00:12:47,016 --> 00:12:50,227 I-I knew that, um, 214 00:12:50,853 --> 00:12:52,271 it could happen to anyone. 215 00:12:54,440 --> 00:12:57,735 We didn't know who the victim was, 216 00:12:57,818 --> 00:13:01,238 but I knew it was a young woman 217 00:13:01,322 --> 00:13:05,367 who didn't intend to be assaulted. 218 00:13:06,202 --> 00:13:08,412 I said, "We really need to do something." 219 00:13:08,496 --> 00:13:12,875 Let's show some support for that woman." 220 00:13:20,549 --> 00:13:24,678 We organized a rally, a candlelight vigil, 221 00:13:25,054 --> 00:13:26,334 literally, within a couple days. 222 00:13:26,847 --> 00:13:30,142 It's not often that an individual rape case 223 00:13:30,226 --> 00:13:33,103 evokes widespread demonstrations of outrage, 224 00:13:33,187 --> 00:13:37,274 but one case in Massachusetts has unleashed a storm of protest. 225 00:13:37,358 --> 00:13:38,776 Steve Young tells us why. 226 00:13:40,277 --> 00:13:43,239 [YOUNG] Twenty-five hundred people turned out to protest the gang rape 227 00:13:43,322 --> 00:13:47,326 of a 21-year-old woman in a bar in the fishing town of New Bedford. 228 00:13:47,409 --> 00:13:49,286 Organized as a silent vigil, 229 00:13:49,370 --> 00:13:51,872 feelings of fury could not be contained. 230 00:13:52,331 --> 00:13:55,417 [CROWD CHANTING] No more rape! No more rape! 231 00:13:55,501 --> 00:13:56,502 No more rape! 232 00:13:56,585 --> 00:13:59,171 I think that this demonstration is beautiful. 233 00:13:59,255 --> 00:14:01,090 It shows that people really care. 234 00:14:01,173 --> 00:14:03,551 [WOMAN] Cases have gone unsolved, 235 00:14:03,968 --> 00:14:06,428 women are afraid to... to fight for their rights 236 00:14:07,012 --> 00:14:10,391 because of the fear of what people will say. 237 00:14:10,474 --> 00:14:14,687 We may speak different languages, we are different colors, 238 00:14:14,770 --> 00:14:16,814 and yet we are standing together, 239 00:14:16,897 --> 00:14:21,402 because we believe that rape shouldn't happen in New Bedford. 240 00:14:21,485 --> 00:14:22,778 [CHEERING AND APPLAUSE] 241 00:14:22,862 --> 00:14:23,946 [CROWD] No more rape! 242 00:14:24,029 --> 00:14:26,866 [WHEELER] Our diversity is our strength. 243 00:14:26,949 --> 00:14:29,827 Our unity is our power. 244 00:14:30,995 --> 00:14:32,997 When I stood up to speak, 245 00:14:33,080 --> 00:14:35,875 I looked out at the sea of faces, 246 00:14:35,958 --> 00:14:38,919 and there were people as far as I could see. 247 00:14:39,712 --> 00:14:42,298 I realized we had done something big. 248 00:14:43,132 --> 00:14:45,843 This is a lot bigger than the city of New Bedford. 249 00:14:46,635 --> 00:14:47,635 It was overwhelming. 250 00:14:47,678 --> 00:14:49,555 [CROWD CHANTING] No more rape! 251 00:14:50,014 --> 00:14:51,557 No more rape! 252 00:14:51,640 --> 00:14:55,853 [YOUNG] The marchers say until the rapists and those who watched are prosecuted, 253 00:14:55,936 --> 00:14:58,606 they will not be satisfied that justice has been done. 254 00:14:59,481 --> 00:15:02,109 Steve Young, CBS News, New Bedford. 255 00:15:12,661 --> 00:15:14,872 [NEWSWOMAN] Four men, all Portuguese nationals, 256 00:15:14,955 --> 00:15:17,124 were in court this week charged with the rape. 257 00:15:17,207 --> 00:15:20,294 [NEWSMAN 1] Also in court today were two men who saw the alleged rape. 258 00:15:20,377 --> 00:15:23,672 They, too, were being charged: Charged as accessories. 259 00:15:24,089 --> 00:15:27,176 [NEWSMAN 2] The six defendants, Portuguese immigrants, plead innocent. 260 00:15:27,635 --> 00:15:29,595 [HUGHES] The media kept talking about the fact 261 00:15:29,678 --> 00:15:31,805 that these were Portuguese immigrants. 262 00:15:32,681 --> 00:15:35,559 Why keep mentioning the fact that they're Portuguese? 263 00:15:35,643 --> 00:15:37,770 Because it had nothing to do with us. 264 00:15:38,228 --> 00:15:40,290 [REPORTER] Since the rape, more than the city's image 265 00:15:40,314 --> 00:15:41,315 has been tarnished. 266 00:15:41,398 --> 00:15:44,610 Half of the population is of Portuguese descent, 267 00:15:44,693 --> 00:15:48,072 and increasing ethnic tension has embittered many residents. 268 00:15:48,781 --> 00:15:51,784 [NEWSWOMAN] The incident has unleashed a tidal wave of prejudice 269 00:15:51,867 --> 00:15:53,911 against the Portuguese people here. 270 00:15:53,994 --> 00:15:57,873 [HUGHES] When it came out that there were people cheering during the rape, 271 00:15:57,957 --> 00:16:00,084 it really got us upset. 272 00:16:00,834 --> 00:16:02,628 That is absolutely horrible. 273 00:16:02,711 --> 00:16:06,006 That is not who our Portuguese community is. 274 00:16:06,090 --> 00:16:09,343 And so, that just basically put salt in the wound 275 00:16:09,426 --> 00:16:10,636 that was already pretty bad. 276 00:16:12,179 --> 00:16:15,557 [NEWSMAN] This is WBSM New Bedford at 1420 on your radio dial, 277 00:16:15,641 --> 00:16:17,768 the voice of the people. I'm Rob Michaels. 278 00:16:18,227 --> 00:16:22,982 [PHILLIPS] People started to call the radio station almost immediately 279 00:16:23,732 --> 00:16:25,359 to air their opinions. 280 00:16:26,944 --> 00:16:29,113 It got to be pretty angry for a while. 281 00:16:29,738 --> 00:16:31,490 [MICHAELS] It's the Open Line talk show. 282 00:16:31,907 --> 00:16:33,325 Let's take some more phone calls. 283 00:16:33,409 --> 00:16:35,786 [CALLER 1] They contribute nothing to this country. 284 00:16:35,869 --> 00:16:40,040 They don't understand our ways, nor do they want to understand 285 00:16:40,124 --> 00:16:42,668 that this country is not like Portugal. 286 00:16:42,751 --> 00:16:45,963 [CALLER 2] They buy a broken-down house, and they fix it up beautifully. 287 00:16:46,046 --> 00:16:48,007 They do do all these nice things, 288 00:16:48,674 --> 00:16:53,804 but they don't try to learn the law of the land. 289 00:16:53,887 --> 00:16:57,224 They don't try to become involved in the community. 290 00:16:57,307 --> 00:17:00,561 [HUGHES] We were looked at as not being civilized. 291 00:17:02,521 --> 00:17:04,982 Our morals were being attacked. 292 00:17:05,065 --> 00:17:07,693 The whole community is being dragged through the mud. 293 00:17:08,068 --> 00:17:10,487 [MAN] All of a sudden, they see the Portuguese name, 294 00:17:10,571 --> 00:17:13,866 it's on Time magazine, on all the networks. 295 00:17:13,949 --> 00:17:17,953 Why the ethnic aspects of the crime? 296 00:17:18,037 --> 00:17:20,581 Why say it was four Portuguese immigrants? 297 00:17:20,664 --> 00:17:22,416 Why don't say just four men? 298 00:17:22,499 --> 00:17:25,461 [CALLER 3] However, people are turning out like animals out there, 299 00:17:25,544 --> 00:17:28,088 and we're gonna land up with the same racial problem 300 00:17:28,172 --> 00:17:31,175 like we had with the blacks back in the '60s. 301 00:17:31,925 --> 00:17:34,470 There were people on radio talk shows 302 00:17:34,553 --> 00:17:37,347 and in letters to the editor of the local newspaper 303 00:17:37,973 --> 00:17:41,894 calling for all of us to be put on a boat and shipped out of here. 304 00:17:42,352 --> 00:17:44,438 As more and more information came out, 305 00:17:44,521 --> 00:17:46,440 it became larger and larger. 306 00:17:46,523 --> 00:17:48,734 [CALLER 4] This is leaving a bad taste in my mouth, 307 00:17:48,817 --> 00:17:51,111 and I'll never forget it as long as I live, 308 00:17:51,195 --> 00:17:53,155 what they did to the Portuguese people. 309 00:17:53,947 --> 00:17:55,657 They ought to be ashamed of themselves. 310 00:17:55,741 --> 00:17:56,617 [MICHAELS] Who's they? 311 00:17:56,700 --> 00:17:59,203 Oh, the people who called your program. Don't deny it. 312 00:17:59,286 --> 00:18:02,331 Remember, the Portuguese people are never gonna forget this, 313 00:18:02,748 --> 00:18:04,166 as long as we live. 314 00:18:15,094 --> 00:18:19,389 [DONAHUE] On March 6th of 1983, a woman walked into Big Dan's Tavern, 315 00:18:19,473 --> 00:18:23,435 and what happened after that is, as in all these cases, 316 00:18:23,519 --> 00:18:25,437 in some dispute right now. 317 00:18:25,521 --> 00:18:29,233 At first, we had great sympathy for the, uh... 318 00:18:29,316 --> 00:18:30,943 for victim in this case. 319 00:18:31,401 --> 00:18:34,488 She was violated. If she could be standing there asking for it, 320 00:18:34,571 --> 00:18:37,991 unless they left the public bar that they were in, 321 00:18:38,075 --> 00:18:39,075 she was violated. 322 00:18:39,118 --> 00:18:42,704 She was violated not only by one man, but she was violated by six men. 323 00:18:43,205 --> 00:18:46,416 [VEARY] And then there developed a public backlash, 324 00:18:46,500 --> 00:18:50,963 and, uh, you saw this particular swing of the pendulum. 325 00:18:51,046 --> 00:18:54,174 Some people have asked, "Did she ask for it?" 326 00:18:54,258 --> 00:18:55,843 What was she wearing? 327 00:18:55,926 --> 00:18:57,427 Why was she alone? 328 00:18:57,511 --> 00:18:59,304 "Did she know anybody in the bar?" 329 00:18:59,388 --> 00:19:00,514 Does that matter? 330 00:19:00,597 --> 00:19:05,310 [VEARY] You started to hear things about the poor victim in this case, 331 00:19:05,394 --> 00:19:07,980 public questions about her history, 332 00:19:08,063 --> 00:19:10,607 her reasons for being in that bar. 333 00:19:10,691 --> 00:19:11,817 What seemed to me 334 00:19:11,900 --> 00:19:16,280 to be totally baseless, uh, accusations about her. 335 00:19:16,363 --> 00:19:18,157 When's rape? You know, you gotta... 336 00:19:18,240 --> 00:19:19,616 Maybe she went in... 337 00:19:20,868 --> 00:19:23,453 and wanted to lay a couple guys, and it got out of hand. 338 00:19:23,537 --> 00:19:26,290 - [AUDIENCE CLAMORING] - I don't know. You know, it happens. 339 00:19:26,373 --> 00:19:29,168 [VEARY] That became the public conversation, 340 00:19:29,251 --> 00:19:32,796 and controversy, of course, uh, breeds controversy. 341 00:19:32,880 --> 00:19:34,590 This is the sort of thing that causes rape, 342 00:19:34,673 --> 00:19:37,569 - when people like you can stand up... - What is rape? Do you know the story? 343 00:19:37,593 --> 00:19:39,320 - I don't know the... - Yes, I know the story. 344 00:19:39,344 --> 00:19:40,888 Well, then you should read the paper. 345 00:19:40,971 --> 00:19:42,306 I seen girls do this. 346 00:19:42,389 --> 00:19:44,850 Yeah, but don't get crazy now. We're here to learn. 347 00:19:45,267 --> 00:19:50,272 Uh, that's where we stood, uh, when, uh, I first entered this case. 348 00:19:58,113 --> 00:20:00,991 The idea of coming forward in any criminal case 349 00:20:01,700 --> 00:20:05,162 as a witness or a victim is a very difficult task. 350 00:20:06,205 --> 00:20:09,333 And that was not lost upon me. 351 00:20:13,629 --> 00:20:17,049 I first met the victim in her living room. 352 00:20:17,716 --> 00:20:19,259 I remember that house. 353 00:20:19,343 --> 00:20:23,639 I remember it being so very close to Big Dan's Tavern. 354 00:20:25,265 --> 00:20:26,975 We sat down in the living room... 355 00:20:28,185 --> 00:20:29,185 and talked. 356 00:20:30,354 --> 00:20:34,775 Bob Kane, another prosecutor, was there at the time. 357 00:20:34,858 --> 00:20:37,653 She felt, like anyone in New Bedford felt, 358 00:20:37,736 --> 00:20:41,240 the extreme intensity of the emotions surrounding this case. 359 00:20:42,574 --> 00:20:44,409 She was living in the community, 360 00:20:44,493 --> 00:20:46,578 and she was living there with her family. 361 00:20:48,121 --> 00:20:49,164 She had to be fearful. 362 00:20:50,832 --> 00:20:54,836 We talked about the need for her to testify for this case 363 00:20:54,920 --> 00:20:56,421 to successfully prosecute 364 00:20:56,505 --> 00:20:59,758 the men who had committed these outrageous acts upon her. 365 00:21:00,175 --> 00:21:03,720 And, over time, she came to see the wisdom of that point of view. 366 00:21:04,721 --> 00:21:06,974 [VEARY] Along with District Attorney Ronald Pina, 367 00:21:07,057 --> 00:21:09,351 we tried to prepare her the best we could. 368 00:21:09,434 --> 00:21:11,770 That's the real work of a prosecutor. 369 00:21:13,480 --> 00:21:17,567 My goal was get her to be able to tell her story, 370 00:21:18,193 --> 00:21:19,528 and if we do that, 371 00:21:20,904 --> 00:21:22,114 we can get through this. 372 00:21:29,371 --> 00:21:31,498 [MAN] I had never before 373 00:21:31,581 --> 00:21:33,959 been exposed, as a judge, 374 00:21:34,042 --> 00:21:38,547 to any case that had such, uh, media interest. 375 00:21:39,464 --> 00:21:42,384 [NEWSWOMAN] It is in this late 1800s second-floor courtroom 376 00:21:42,467 --> 00:21:44,177 that the drama will unfold. 377 00:21:44,261 --> 00:21:46,346 There is not much room for spectators here. 378 00:21:46,430 --> 00:21:49,224 Most people will learn the details of the highly emotional case 379 00:21:49,641 --> 00:21:52,769 from the throng of media expected to descend on the courthouse. 380 00:21:57,899 --> 00:22:02,863 The media came to me and asked to film the trial. 381 00:22:03,655 --> 00:22:07,159 And the idea fascinated me. 382 00:22:07,242 --> 00:22:10,704 What you are seeing when you see a jury trial 383 00:22:10,787 --> 00:22:14,666 is the most vital aspect of direct democracy in America today. 384 00:22:15,125 --> 00:22:17,627 [CHARNAS] Judge Young was entertaining the idea 385 00:22:17,711 --> 00:22:19,463 of having cameras in the courtroom. 386 00:22:20,172 --> 00:22:22,758 There had never been a nationally televised rape trial 387 00:22:22,841 --> 00:22:24,134 in the United States before. 388 00:22:25,302 --> 00:22:27,512 CNN hadn't been around that long. 389 00:22:27,596 --> 00:22:29,639 The whole experience was brand-new. 390 00:22:30,140 --> 00:22:31,600 We're really happy to be here 391 00:22:31,683 --> 00:22:35,062 at the start of something very special in television journalism. 392 00:22:35,145 --> 00:22:38,273 And we're happy that you're here with us to watch the news channel 393 00:22:38,357 --> 00:22:39,941 as the news goes on. 394 00:22:40,734 --> 00:22:45,989 I tried to foresee the various issues that would come up. 395 00:22:47,616 --> 00:22:53,622 I sat down with the media beforehand to go over the protocol. 396 00:22:55,165 --> 00:22:58,251 I required that if they were going to film, 397 00:22:58,335 --> 00:23:00,629 there be a single camera. 398 00:23:02,047 --> 00:23:05,509 And they would film every day, 399 00:23:06,051 --> 00:23:07,761 every piece of evidence, 400 00:23:07,844 --> 00:23:09,596 start to finish. 401 00:23:13,016 --> 00:23:15,435 I'm all for transparency. 402 00:23:16,853 --> 00:23:19,689 I realized that cameras in the courtroom 403 00:23:20,148 --> 00:23:22,859 had a true public benefit. 404 00:23:23,860 --> 00:23:25,946 So that was the choice I made. 405 00:23:26,029 --> 00:23:27,364 Been a very public rape trial. 406 00:23:27,447 --> 00:23:28,698 Widely discussed trial... 407 00:23:28,782 --> 00:23:30,992 the most unusual and provocative rape trial... 408 00:23:31,076 --> 00:23:33,221 - Live courtroom coverage... - We'll have live coverage. 409 00:23:33,245 --> 00:23:36,498 An extraordinary look into the American criminal justice system. 410 00:23:59,020 --> 00:24:00,564 I'll see you later, Harry, thank you. 411 00:24:00,647 --> 00:24:02,287 - Good morning. - [REPORTER] Good morning. 412 00:24:04,317 --> 00:24:06,037 Could you tell us what it is, what it means? 413 00:24:06,069 --> 00:24:08,822 It's really for them to speak to, okay? Sorry. 414 00:24:10,365 --> 00:24:12,510 I'm not gonna predict. Let's just see what a jury does. 415 00:24:12,534 --> 00:24:13,952 You never know what a jury does. 416 00:24:22,794 --> 00:24:26,047 [NEWSWOMAN] At 11:17 a.m., February 23rd, 417 00:24:26,131 --> 00:24:29,843 gavel-to-gavel coverage of the trials went into the homes of cable subscribers 418 00:24:29,926 --> 00:24:31,928 in New Bedford, Fall River, and Dartmouth. 419 00:24:32,387 --> 00:24:36,349 Here, at the heart of the courthouse, is where Judge William Young will preside 420 00:24:36,433 --> 00:24:39,060 and where juries will decide what happened that night 421 00:24:39,144 --> 00:24:41,855 at Big Dan's almost a year ago. 422 00:24:42,314 --> 00:24:43,732 - [YOUNG] Order! - [POUNDS GAVEL] 423 00:24:43,815 --> 00:24:44,858 [BAILIFF] All rise. 424 00:24:47,194 --> 00:24:49,779 The court is now in session. Please be seated. 425 00:24:52,199 --> 00:24:54,743 [YOUNG] Trials are about real events 426 00:24:55,452 --> 00:24:56,870 and real people. 427 00:24:58,288 --> 00:25:03,168 The whole idea is to uncover the truth as to what happened. 428 00:25:04,211 --> 00:25:07,506 [YOUNG] At this time, in this courtroom, 429 00:25:07,589 --> 00:25:13,011 you 16 men and women are the judges of the facts. 430 00:25:14,054 --> 00:25:17,224 Let me take a moment now to confer with counsel. Counsel? 431 00:25:18,391 --> 00:25:19,711 [VEARY] It was an intense moment, 432 00:25:19,768 --> 00:25:23,855 and the intensity was not lost upon anybody present in the courtroom. 433 00:25:24,940 --> 00:25:27,067 And we all know that this case has something to do 434 00:25:27,150 --> 00:25:32,113 with what happened at Big Dan's Tavern in New Bedford on March the 6th, 1983. 435 00:25:32,197 --> 00:25:34,491 You weren't there. I wasn't there. 436 00:25:34,574 --> 00:25:35,992 I'm a prosecutor. 437 00:25:36,576 --> 00:25:39,412 This is an opportunity that the court has allowed me 438 00:25:39,496 --> 00:25:41,623 to give you something of an outline. 439 00:25:42,207 --> 00:25:45,460 [VEARY] I wanted to prepare the jury for testimony 440 00:25:45,544 --> 00:25:49,089 from numerous witnesses, the defendants, 441 00:25:49,172 --> 00:25:52,509 and, most importantly, the victim in this case. 442 00:25:53,051 --> 00:25:54,469 She'll tell you she went in. 443 00:25:55,554 --> 00:25:57,681 Asked for some change for some cigarettes. 444 00:25:58,515 --> 00:25:59,515 Got them. 445 00:26:00,559 --> 00:26:03,270 She'll also tell you she bought herself a drink. 446 00:26:03,853 --> 00:26:08,942 What she is going to tell you is that on her way out, leaving Big Dan's, 447 00:26:09,734 --> 00:26:10,777 she was grabbed... 448 00:26:11,778 --> 00:26:15,365 by these two men, Daniel Silva and Joseph Vieira. 449 00:26:17,033 --> 00:26:20,537 Each took a side of that woman and dragged her. 450 00:26:22,330 --> 00:26:23,915 Dragged her along the floor, 451 00:26:25,333 --> 00:26:26,418 back to the pool table. 452 00:26:27,377 --> 00:26:30,589 They were followed by Victor Raposo and John Cordeiro, 453 00:26:30,672 --> 00:26:34,134 with Virgilio and Jose Medeiros not far behind. 454 00:26:34,843 --> 00:26:37,387 And that they threw her onto the pool table. 455 00:26:38,430 --> 00:26:40,515 All this time, she was crying, 456 00:26:40,599 --> 00:26:43,184 she was screaming, she was pushing. 457 00:26:47,856 --> 00:26:48,856 And it went on. 458 00:26:49,899 --> 00:26:52,902 [VEARY] The prosecutor has to prove the case. 459 00:26:53,987 --> 00:26:55,780 A defendant in our system 460 00:26:56,281 --> 00:26:58,992 doesn't have to prove anything. 461 00:26:59,451 --> 00:27:01,328 That's always a challenge. 462 00:27:01,745 --> 00:27:03,580 Women have a responsibility, 463 00:27:04,539 --> 00:27:06,041 by their words, 464 00:27:07,083 --> 00:27:08,543 and by their behavior, 465 00:27:09,085 --> 00:27:10,420 to say no. 466 00:27:11,212 --> 00:27:14,090 [VEARY] There's more than one way to tell a story. 467 00:27:15,091 --> 00:27:19,054 So I was prepared for an effort by the defense 468 00:27:19,137 --> 00:27:22,390 to undermine the credibility of the victim. 469 00:27:22,474 --> 00:27:25,268 Whatever she and Daniel Silva were doing, 470 00:27:25,352 --> 00:27:27,520 they were doing because they wanted to do it. 471 00:27:28,313 --> 00:27:30,273 He thought, in his mind and his heart, 472 00:27:31,149 --> 00:27:34,653 there was a consensual act between two adults. 473 00:27:35,445 --> 00:27:38,156 [MAN] You may very well say sex is a private activity, 474 00:27:38,239 --> 00:27:39,658 and it very well is. 475 00:27:39,741 --> 00:27:42,661 But just because John Cordeiro commits it 476 00:27:42,744 --> 00:27:45,121 in Big Dan's in front of several people 477 00:27:45,205 --> 00:27:47,999 does not make him guilty of aggravated rape. 478 00:27:49,793 --> 00:27:52,504 I suggest we've all had the experience of going to a party 479 00:27:52,587 --> 00:27:54,673 and having someone come up to us and say, 480 00:27:54,756 --> 00:27:56,132 "It's a full moon out. 481 00:27:57,258 --> 00:27:59,135 I think I'm gonna act a little crazy tonight." 482 00:28:00,720 --> 00:28:03,056 [VEARY] We knew this was going to be difficult. 483 00:28:03,139 --> 00:28:04,349 But now I was in it. 484 00:28:05,058 --> 00:28:06,518 Bob Kane was in it. 485 00:28:06,601 --> 00:28:07,894 We had work to be done. 486 00:28:11,898 --> 00:28:14,025 It was incredible 487 00:28:14,651 --> 00:28:15,902 to see the amount of media 488 00:28:16,444 --> 00:28:18,655 near the Fall River courthouse. 489 00:28:20,323 --> 00:28:21,323 I mean, it was... 490 00:28:21,866 --> 00:28:23,159 It was a little bit nuts. 491 00:28:29,290 --> 00:28:31,710 Every day the trial's on, you're writing a story. 492 00:28:32,419 --> 00:28:33,878 [MAN] There is a lag time 493 00:28:33,962 --> 00:28:36,172 prior to the absorption in the bloodstream, 494 00:28:36,256 --> 00:28:38,633 so that there will be an increase, 495 00:28:38,717 --> 00:28:41,928 uh, perhaps 15 to 20 minutes following that last drink... 496 00:28:42,011 --> 00:28:43,763 [WOMAN] She did not appear drunk. 497 00:28:43,847 --> 00:28:45,890 - [WAXLER] Did she slur her words? - [WOMAN] No. 498 00:28:45,974 --> 00:28:48,685 - [WAXLER] Did you see her walk? - Yes. She could ambulate well 499 00:28:48,768 --> 00:28:50,328 without having any difficulties at all. 500 00:28:50,395 --> 00:28:52,115 [WAXLER] Did she speak to you for some time? 501 00:28:52,147 --> 00:28:53,147 Yes. 502 00:28:54,983 --> 00:28:57,318 [PHILLIPS] It takes a lot for people to tune in. 503 00:28:58,653 --> 00:29:00,447 But in this case, 504 00:29:00,905 --> 00:29:03,658 people wanted to know. They wanted to hear it. 505 00:29:03,742 --> 00:29:06,286 They wanted to get all the information about it. 506 00:29:06,369 --> 00:29:12,333 She also had a bluish, bruised print of four fingers 507 00:29:12,417 --> 00:29:14,836 on the inner part of her left thigh. 508 00:29:15,336 --> 00:29:17,297 [MAN] ...that he was sorry for what he did, 509 00:29:17,964 --> 00:29:20,276 and he was drunk at the time, but that was no excuse for... 510 00:29:20,300 --> 00:29:22,218 [WOMAN] She was somewhat hysterical. 511 00:29:22,302 --> 00:29:23,970 In a state of shock. 512 00:29:25,221 --> 00:29:26,347 I was under the impression 513 00:29:26,431 --> 00:29:29,184 that she couldn't believe that this had happened to her. 514 00:29:29,601 --> 00:29:33,438 He stood up, he unbuckled his pants, and he lowered them to his knees. 515 00:29:33,521 --> 00:29:36,274 [VEARY] And at that point, sir, did you make any observation 516 00:29:36,357 --> 00:29:37,776 of Daniel Silva? 517 00:29:37,859 --> 00:29:39,986 - [SILVIA] Yes, I did. - [VEARY] What did you observe? 518 00:29:40,069 --> 00:29:42,822 I really enjoyed it. I was stuck right to the TV. 519 00:29:42,906 --> 00:29:44,991 - [VEARY] Did you look at that face? - Yes, I did. 520 00:29:45,074 --> 00:29:47,202 [VEARY] And what did you see on that face? 521 00:29:48,119 --> 00:29:49,119 Fear. 522 00:29:51,539 --> 00:29:53,875 I've never seen anybody that scared in my life before. 523 00:29:55,585 --> 00:29:57,295 [MAN] It's like a soap opera, you know? 524 00:29:58,797 --> 00:30:01,132 Well, they'll probably make a movie out of this, right? 525 00:30:02,050 --> 00:30:05,136 [NEWSMAN] Defendant John Cordeiro takes the witness stand. 526 00:30:05,220 --> 00:30:07,514 I went by, and I asked, "Are you going to give a blowjob?" 527 00:30:07,597 --> 00:30:09,950 She starts laughing. I says, "Ain't gonna bite it, are you?" 528 00:30:09,974 --> 00:30:13,520 She just looked at me and laughed, right, so I took it out. I put it, like... 529 00:30:13,603 --> 00:30:15,230 It went down to the side of her mouth. 530 00:30:15,313 --> 00:30:17,649 I brought it back. She opened her mouth and took it. 531 00:30:18,942 --> 00:30:20,193 I love General Hospital, 532 00:30:20,276 --> 00:30:22,445 but I haven't seen it since the case began. 533 00:30:28,368 --> 00:30:30,870 [PHILLIPS] Every day, during the trial, 534 00:30:30,954 --> 00:30:34,541 people would talk about what they saw yesterday on television 535 00:30:34,624 --> 00:30:36,417 and what they heard on the radio. 536 00:30:38,586 --> 00:30:41,422 And then they would voice their opinion about this case. 537 00:30:41,506 --> 00:30:44,592 [NEWSWOMAN] In restaurants and bars, strong opinions are being voiced 538 00:30:44,676 --> 00:30:46,594 about what is right and wrong. 539 00:30:47,178 --> 00:30:49,222 And about what rape is. 540 00:30:50,014 --> 00:30:51,474 [MAN] I don't call that rape. 541 00:30:52,016 --> 00:30:54,176 [FEMALE REPORTER] But it was right for them to do that? 542 00:30:54,561 --> 00:30:56,229 To a certain extent, yes. 543 00:30:56,312 --> 00:30:57,312 [REPORTER] Why? 544 00:30:57,689 --> 00:30:59,023 Because she asked for it. 545 00:30:59,691 --> 00:31:01,109 Whether she asked for it or not, 546 00:31:01,192 --> 00:31:03,570 that's not the point of the trial, I think. 547 00:31:03,653 --> 00:31:07,532 In my own opinion, I think they're guilty of committing that... that rape. 548 00:31:07,615 --> 00:31:10,201 I think that if these gentlemen were tried by their peers 549 00:31:10,285 --> 00:31:11,911 and found... judged guilty, 550 00:31:11,995 --> 00:31:15,206 I think they should serve their time like any other citizen or whatever. 551 00:31:15,290 --> 00:31:17,834 Maybe the girl is put... She go to jail too. 552 00:31:17,917 --> 00:31:20,503 There's enough evidence there to say that she's the guilty one. 553 00:31:20,587 --> 00:31:22,005 She should be put away too. 554 00:31:22,463 --> 00:31:24,883 [PHILLIPS] It went back and forth like that... 555 00:31:25,550 --> 00:31:26,593 for weeks. 556 00:31:26,676 --> 00:31:28,636 Which, it's very unfair, what they did. 557 00:31:28,720 --> 00:31:29,804 It blew up. 558 00:31:31,806 --> 00:31:34,684 It was a soap opera, nationwide. 559 00:31:38,021 --> 00:31:40,148 It was something that people followed. 560 00:31:42,025 --> 00:31:43,905 [NEWSWOMAN] Here, the victim will take the stand 561 00:31:43,943 --> 00:31:46,321 to tell her version of what happened that night. 562 00:31:46,404 --> 00:31:50,950 Prosecutors say it is extremely difficult to get a jury to bring in a guilty verdict 563 00:31:51,034 --> 00:31:53,494 unless they hear from the alleged victim. 564 00:31:58,917 --> 00:32:01,336 [VEARY] She knew the day of reckoning was coming. 565 00:32:03,129 --> 00:32:07,383 This was going to have a profound impact 566 00:32:07,467 --> 00:32:10,428 upon her life and that of her family. 567 00:32:11,971 --> 00:32:15,016 This was the first time people were going to see her, 568 00:32:15,099 --> 00:32:17,560 and we wanted to protect against that. 569 00:32:18,019 --> 00:32:19,604 [NEWSMAN] To protect her identity, 570 00:32:19,687 --> 00:32:21,522 Judge William Young instructed that the woman 571 00:32:21,606 --> 00:32:24,609 not be photographed by television or other cameras. 572 00:32:25,443 --> 00:32:28,863 [VEARY] They couldn't take photographs of her in the courthouse. 573 00:32:28,947 --> 00:32:30,740 But in terms of the parking lot and whatnot, 574 00:32:30,823 --> 00:32:32,700 that might be a different thing. 575 00:32:33,409 --> 00:32:35,787 We gave her this big, floppy hat. 576 00:32:36,788 --> 00:32:40,500 It was a way of protecting her identity 577 00:32:40,583 --> 00:32:43,753 right up to the very time when she entered the courthouse. 578 00:32:50,468 --> 00:32:53,262 This was no longer preparation for trial. 579 00:32:53,930 --> 00:32:57,558 No longer these talks establishing a rapport. 580 00:32:58,810 --> 00:32:59,978 This was the moment. 581 00:33:05,233 --> 00:33:06,734 [BAILIFF] Raise your right hand. 582 00:33:07,860 --> 00:33:08,987 Do you solemnly swear 583 00:33:09,070 --> 00:33:12,156 that the evidence that you shall give to the court and to the jury, 584 00:33:12,240 --> 00:33:14,617 in the matters now depending between the Commonwealth 585 00:33:14,701 --> 00:33:16,786 and the defendants at the bar, so help you God? 586 00:33:17,787 --> 00:33:18,787 [WOMAN] I do. 587 00:33:20,707 --> 00:33:23,376 [VEARY] It was important for the jury to understand. 588 00:33:23,459 --> 00:33:26,379 We're not getting some sort of performance here. 589 00:33:26,462 --> 00:33:28,256 We're getting the real deal. 590 00:33:28,339 --> 00:33:30,174 We're getting a genuine young lady 591 00:33:30,258 --> 00:33:34,053 who is trying, against the odds, to give her story. 592 00:33:36,055 --> 00:33:37,348 [REPORTER] Was she... 593 00:33:37,432 --> 00:33:39,851 - [WAXLER] How old are you? - [WOMAN] Twenty-two. 594 00:33:39,934 --> 00:33:41,054 [WAXLER] When were you born? 595 00:33:42,103 --> 00:33:44,313 [WOMAN] Uh, March 28th, 1961. 596 00:33:44,856 --> 00:33:47,191 - [WAXLER] Where were you born? - [WOMAN] New Bedford. 597 00:33:47,275 --> 00:33:49,777 - [WAXLER] Where were you raised? - [WOMAN] New Bedford. 598 00:33:49,861 --> 00:33:51,341 [WAXLER] What schools did you attend? 599 00:33:51,779 --> 00:33:54,198 [WOMAN] Ashley, Normandin, New Bedford High. 600 00:33:54,282 --> 00:33:58,077 [VEARY] She had the will to focus upon the job at hand. 601 00:33:59,370 --> 00:34:00,770 [BAILIFF] Please tell us your name. 602 00:34:02,540 --> 00:34:03,791 [ARAUJO] Cheryl Araujo. 603 00:34:06,711 --> 00:34:08,504 [BAILIFF] Might you spell your last name? 604 00:34:08,588 --> 00:34:10,590 [ARAUJO]A-R-A-U-J-O. 605 00:34:13,176 --> 00:34:15,178 [PHILLIPS] We tried hard not to show the victim, 606 00:34:15,970 --> 00:34:18,556 but nobody thought about her name. 607 00:34:18,639 --> 00:34:20,639 [NEWSMAN 1] When the woman involved took the stand, 608 00:34:20,683 --> 00:34:22,443 cameramen were not allowed to photograph her, 609 00:34:22,477 --> 00:34:24,395 and while the woman's face was not shown, 610 00:34:24,479 --> 00:34:26,397 her name and address were heard by the audience. 611 00:34:26,481 --> 00:34:28,667 [NEWSMAN 2] The name of the woman who says she was raped 612 00:34:28,691 --> 00:34:31,360 was published and broadcast on some stations. 613 00:34:31,444 --> 00:34:33,029 [PHILLIPS] It went on the air. 614 00:34:33,404 --> 00:34:34,404 All of it. 615 00:34:35,281 --> 00:34:36,115 All of it. 616 00:34:36,199 --> 00:34:38,993 The live news coverage in a sense has backfired 617 00:34:39,077 --> 00:34:42,080 because, as the flow of testimony unraveled, 618 00:34:42,163 --> 00:34:44,999 the name of the rape victim became a matter of public record. 619 00:34:48,669 --> 00:34:52,173 [CHARNAS] After her name was printed, there was an increase in fear on her part. 620 00:34:52,715 --> 00:34:57,011 There was a tremendous amount of animosity towards Cheryl in the community 621 00:34:57,678 --> 00:34:59,847 because now she had been named, 622 00:34:59,931 --> 00:35:02,850 and it was not too difficult to figure out where she lived. 623 00:35:02,934 --> 00:35:05,812 She had two little girls. She was very concerned about it. 624 00:35:05,895 --> 00:35:09,774 [ARAUJO] ...I was told. Michael asked me to put the kids to bed before I went. 625 00:35:10,817 --> 00:35:13,653 [WAXLER] And what did you do in putting the kids to bed? 626 00:35:13,736 --> 00:35:17,782 [ARAUJO] I had to put their pajamas on and wash them. Brush their teeth. 627 00:35:17,865 --> 00:35:20,409 Put the nightlight on. Give the little one her medicine. 628 00:35:20,493 --> 00:35:24,163 - [WAXLER] What kind of medicine is that? - [ARAUJO] Medicine for her lungs. 629 00:35:31,504 --> 00:35:35,341 [YOUNG] The fact that her name was immediately disclosed, 630 00:35:35,842 --> 00:35:38,678 honestly, must be laid at my door. 631 00:35:39,804 --> 00:35:43,516 The media's position had uniformly been 632 00:35:43,599 --> 00:35:49,522 that the name of the alleged victim, 633 00:35:49,605 --> 00:35:53,025 uh, would not be disclosed. 634 00:35:53,568 --> 00:35:59,073 And that was so universal that, I confess, 635 00:35:59,157 --> 00:36:04,162 I assumed that that would follow in a televised trial. 636 00:36:04,662 --> 00:36:05,955 Uh, it did not. 637 00:36:06,038 --> 00:36:07,999 It... it was my mistake, 638 00:36:08,749 --> 00:36:11,210 and I regret it extraordinarily. 639 00:36:15,381 --> 00:36:18,259 A young Massachusetts mother today resumes testifying 640 00:36:18,342 --> 00:36:21,220 in her highly publicized rape case in Fall River. 641 00:36:21,304 --> 00:36:23,264 [NEWSWOMAN] The woman could face cross-examination 642 00:36:23,347 --> 00:36:25,808 by as many as six defense lawyers. 643 00:36:29,353 --> 00:36:30,521 [REPORTER] How are you? 644 00:36:31,397 --> 00:36:32,982 [SPEAKS INDISTINCTLY] 645 00:36:33,065 --> 00:36:34,065 [LAUGHS] 646 00:36:34,817 --> 00:36:37,486 We, of course, maintain that no rape was ever committed. 647 00:36:37,570 --> 00:36:39,170 [REPORTER] By any of the the defendants? 648 00:36:39,197 --> 00:36:41,157 I don't speak for anyone else. Just for my client. 649 00:36:45,161 --> 00:36:48,789 [VEARY] She didn't really understand anything about cross-examination. 650 00:36:50,499 --> 00:36:53,461 The defense attorney does not have to prove anything. 651 00:36:53,544 --> 00:36:55,796 The defense attorney is interested 652 00:36:55,880 --> 00:36:59,133 in disproving some of the evidence that may be offered. 653 00:36:59,217 --> 00:37:02,017 Isn't it fair to say thatwhenever you don't want something to come up, 654 00:37:02,053 --> 00:37:05,223 you just say, "I don't remember"? Isn't that true? 655 00:37:05,306 --> 00:37:06,724 [ARAUJO] That is not true. 656 00:37:06,807 --> 00:37:09,393 [WAXLER] So now, you said to me, "I don't remember," didn't you? 657 00:37:09,477 --> 00:37:11,413 - [ARAUJO] Yes, I did. - That was a lie, wasn't it? 658 00:37:11,437 --> 00:37:12,855 [ARAUJO] It was not a lie. 659 00:37:12,939 --> 00:37:18,069 [ROBBIN] In court, she was vilified in every public way possible. 660 00:37:18,486 --> 00:37:21,030 [HARRINGTON] Had you been taking any drugs or medication, uh, 661 00:37:21,113 --> 00:37:23,199 prior to going to Big Dan's that night? 662 00:37:23,282 --> 00:37:25,202 - [ARAUJO] Afterwards? - [HARRINGTON] No, before. 663 00:37:25,243 --> 00:37:27,245 - [ARAUJO] Before? No. - [HARRINGTON] Marijuana? 664 00:37:27,703 --> 00:37:29,789 - [ARAUJO] No. - Did you have marijuana in the house? 665 00:37:29,872 --> 00:37:31,433 - [ARAUJO] In my house? - Did you have it? 666 00:37:31,457 --> 00:37:32,457 [ARAUJO] No. 667 00:37:33,709 --> 00:37:36,087 [HARRINGTON] Were you using any drugs before you went there? 668 00:37:36,170 --> 00:37:37,004 [PINA] Objection. 669 00:37:37,088 --> 00:37:40,049 [ROBBIN] There was so much victim-blaming right from the beginning. 670 00:37:40,132 --> 00:37:41,759 Why was she there? 671 00:37:41,842 --> 00:37:43,344 What was she doing there? 672 00:37:43,427 --> 00:37:46,389 Why would she end up in a place like that? 673 00:37:46,472 --> 00:37:49,076 [WAXLER] You wouldn't have gone into the place if it was boisterous 674 00:37:49,100 --> 00:37:52,270 and out of control and the men were acting rowdy, would you? 675 00:37:52,353 --> 00:37:53,354 [ARAUJO] No, I would not. 676 00:37:53,437 --> 00:37:56,166 You would've turned around on your heels and walked out, wouldn't you? 677 00:37:56,190 --> 00:37:57,191 [ARAUJO] I guess. 678 00:37:57,275 --> 00:37:59,652 How could she gauge how many people there were? 679 00:37:59,735 --> 00:38:03,072 [LINDAHL] Did six men line up, waiting for their turn? 680 00:38:03,614 --> 00:38:06,284 [ARAUJO] I... I don't really believe I've said that. 681 00:38:06,367 --> 00:38:08,995 What did her ears and her brain witness? 682 00:38:09,412 --> 00:38:12,832 [ARAUJO] I could hear people laughing and cheering. Yelling. 683 00:38:13,833 --> 00:38:19,046 The toll on her soul and psyche had to have been enormous. 684 00:38:19,130 --> 00:38:23,592 When you say "to your recollection," do you have a selective memory? 685 00:38:23,676 --> 00:38:25,094 [PINA] Objection, Your Honor. 686 00:38:27,680 --> 00:38:30,975 The testimony has been graphic and the defense tactics have been rough. 687 00:38:31,058 --> 00:38:34,729 Sometimes it does seem that the alleged victim is on trial. 688 00:38:34,812 --> 00:38:36,492 [NEWSWOMAN] Feminists monitoring the trial 689 00:38:36,522 --> 00:38:38,357 have been critical of the cross-examination. 690 00:38:38,441 --> 00:38:42,028 A rape victim really is placed on trial in a rape trial. 691 00:38:42,111 --> 00:38:43,696 They have to prove their innocence 692 00:38:43,779 --> 00:38:47,450 before they even begin to prove the guilt of the defendants. 693 00:38:48,617 --> 00:38:50,828 It hit me in the pit of my stomach. 694 00:38:52,204 --> 00:38:54,749 I know she's a woman who is hurting. 695 00:38:54,832 --> 00:39:00,129 It was very unsettling to hear the way she was talked to, 696 00:39:00,796 --> 00:39:03,924 and she had to speak about 697 00:39:04,008 --> 00:39:07,053 probably the most horrendous experience of her life. 698 00:39:07,136 --> 00:39:08,721 It made me angry. 699 00:39:08,804 --> 00:39:11,891 [REPORTER] Are you trying to find something that might undermine 700 00:39:11,974 --> 00:39:14,435 or question the alleged victim's credibility? 701 00:39:15,936 --> 00:39:17,271 I think that's fair to say. 702 00:39:17,772 --> 00:39:19,273 They can ask what they want. 703 00:39:19,357 --> 00:39:22,234 They can cross-examine, attack the victim's character continually. 704 00:39:22,318 --> 00:39:25,154 I have no control, or no district attorney has control over that. 705 00:39:25,237 --> 00:39:28,074 I think that what we're seeing in this case, in this trial, 706 00:39:28,157 --> 00:39:32,578 is what I, as a rape crisis advocate, see in any rape trial. 707 00:39:32,661 --> 00:39:35,164 We're seeing the victim basically being put on trial. 708 00:39:35,247 --> 00:39:38,125 It's a typical thing that happens in any rape trial. 709 00:39:38,209 --> 00:39:41,921 [ROBBIN] In a trial that is so highly publicized and so visible, 710 00:39:42,421 --> 00:39:45,925 what happens in that trial sends a very powerful message 711 00:39:46,008 --> 00:39:51,222 for other victims who may be considering pressing charges, 712 00:39:51,305 --> 00:39:52,932 bringing their case forward. 713 00:39:53,015 --> 00:39:55,810 I think it's had probably a very harmful effect 714 00:39:55,893 --> 00:39:58,270 in the fact that the case has been televised, 715 00:39:58,354 --> 00:40:03,651 and the fact that this woman's name has been used in the papers, 716 00:40:03,734 --> 00:40:06,070 in... in some of the papers, and on television. 717 00:40:06,153 --> 00:40:08,280 Stories were made up about Cheryl. 718 00:40:08,364 --> 00:40:12,535 You know, lots of... myths and stereotypes about who she was, 719 00:40:12,618 --> 00:40:14,703 and I'm certain that had a chilling effect. 720 00:40:14,787 --> 00:40:16,872 It's estimated only one in ten rape victims 721 00:40:16,956 --> 00:40:20,543 reports the crime to police, and even fewer take their cases to court. 722 00:40:21,001 --> 00:40:25,256 That ratio was improving in Massachusetts, but that was before this trial. 723 00:40:25,339 --> 00:40:29,176 Victims have to determine a lot of circumstances 724 00:40:29,260 --> 00:40:31,637 when they know that they're gonna come forward. 725 00:40:31,720 --> 00:40:35,182 Certainly knowing that you're gonna be on trial yourself, 726 00:40:35,266 --> 00:40:39,186 everything you've done in the past is gonna be up there. 727 00:40:39,270 --> 00:40:41,480 This... This trial exemplified that. 728 00:40:42,148 --> 00:40:43,566 [NEWSMAN] In the past two weeks, 729 00:40:43,649 --> 00:40:46,068 counselors here have received calls from three rape victims 730 00:40:46,152 --> 00:40:48,863 who are now afraid to take their cases to court. 731 00:40:48,946 --> 00:40:51,532 And the same is being reported all over the state. 732 00:40:51,615 --> 00:40:55,661 It's having a devastating, negative impact on victims. 733 00:40:56,162 --> 00:40:58,080 They do not want to come forth now. 734 00:40:58,164 --> 00:41:01,000 They're... they're hesitant to come forth and prosecute. 735 00:41:01,500 --> 00:41:04,879 If there's a chance that their name could be in the newspaper, 736 00:41:04,962 --> 00:41:06,714 they're not gonna take that chance. 737 00:41:21,937 --> 00:41:24,040 [NEWSMAN] The defendants, charged with aggravated rape 738 00:41:24,064 --> 00:41:25,816 at Big Dan's bar one year ago, 739 00:41:25,900 --> 00:41:30,070 watched as each of their lawyers presented closing arguments to the jury. 740 00:41:30,154 --> 00:41:32,615 [LINDAHL] Ladies and gentlemen, I ask you, 741 00:41:32,698 --> 00:41:34,074 not by sympathy, 742 00:41:34,158 --> 00:41:36,744 but by your God-given common sense, 743 00:41:37,745 --> 00:41:40,164 to return a verdict of not guilty. 744 00:41:40,247 --> 00:41:43,375 Cheryl Araujo knows, as you know now, 745 00:41:44,585 --> 00:41:46,921 that the true story is a gray area. 746 00:41:47,004 --> 00:41:48,464 A gray area indeed. 747 00:41:49,215 --> 00:41:50,591 This is real life. 748 00:41:50,674 --> 00:41:54,303 This isn't television, despite the fact that we may be on television. 749 00:41:54,386 --> 00:41:56,514 This is not a movie script. 750 00:41:56,597 --> 00:41:58,057 You must determine 751 00:41:58,599 --> 00:42:00,476 whether each one, individually, 752 00:42:01,519 --> 00:42:03,312 intended that that rape happen, 753 00:42:03,979 --> 00:42:05,731 wanted it to happen, 754 00:42:05,814 --> 00:42:07,358 desired that it happen. 755 00:42:09,235 --> 00:42:11,237 [NEWSMAN] Judge William Young instructed the jury 756 00:42:11,320 --> 00:42:14,281 and told them to begin deliberations tomorrow morning. 757 00:42:14,365 --> 00:42:16,158 With that, and under careful guard, 758 00:42:16,242 --> 00:42:18,202 they were sent back to their hotel, 759 00:42:18,285 --> 00:42:21,622 spectators kept at a distance, the windows of their bus covered. 760 00:42:32,591 --> 00:42:33,968 [DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS] 761 00:42:43,227 --> 00:42:44,061 [BAILIFF] Order! 762 00:42:44,144 --> 00:42:45,144 [POUNDS GAVEL] 763 00:42:48,774 --> 00:42:51,402 [VEARY] Jurors began their deliberations on Saturday, 764 00:42:51,485 --> 00:42:54,780 then we were all in the courthouse awaiting word from them. 765 00:42:54,863 --> 00:42:57,575 [CLERK] Mr. Foreman, has the jury agreed upon verdicts? 766 00:42:58,325 --> 00:43:01,203 [VEARY] The clerk asked them if they've reached a verdict, 767 00:43:01,287 --> 00:43:03,330 and if they've done so unanimously, 768 00:43:03,414 --> 00:43:05,499 and the foreperson says... 769 00:43:05,583 --> 00:43:06,500 [FOREMAN] Yes, we have. 770 00:43:06,584 --> 00:43:08,961 [CLERK] Please return the papers to the officer. 771 00:43:10,296 --> 00:43:13,507 [VEARY] Cheryl was miles away from the courthouse 772 00:43:13,591 --> 00:43:15,593 at the time that the verdict was read. 773 00:43:16,468 --> 00:43:18,887 [MAN] The verdicts are in order. They may be received. 774 00:43:22,766 --> 00:43:26,895 In the case of the Commonwealth versus Virgilio Medeiros, 775 00:43:26,979 --> 00:43:28,522 how do you find the defendant? 776 00:43:29,732 --> 00:43:30,816 [FOREMAN] Not guilty. 777 00:43:34,028 --> 00:43:37,197 [CLERK] In the case of the Commonwealth versus Jose Medeiros? 778 00:43:37,948 --> 00:43:38,948 [FOREMAN] Not guilty. 779 00:43:42,828 --> 00:43:45,456 [PHILLIPS] The two people who were accused of cheering 780 00:43:45,914 --> 00:43:46,914 were acquitted. 781 00:43:48,667 --> 00:43:52,379 [VEARY] I believe Cheryl, that she felt that people were cheering. 782 00:43:53,380 --> 00:43:56,216 I don't see much difference between cheering 783 00:43:56,300 --> 00:44:02,139 and watching this horrendous assault and not doing anything to stop it. 784 00:44:03,432 --> 00:44:05,684 Docket 12,266, 785 00:44:05,768 --> 00:44:09,313 Commonwealth of Massachusetts versus Daniel C. Silva. 786 00:44:10,356 --> 00:44:12,941 How do you find the defendant? Guilty or not guilty? 787 00:44:13,859 --> 00:44:15,699 - [FOREWOMAN] Guilty. - [CLERK] Guilty of what? 788 00:44:15,736 --> 00:44:17,988 - [FOREWOMAN] Aggravated rape. - [CROWD GASPING] 789 00:44:19,156 --> 00:44:21,950 [VEARY] When the foreperson said, "Guilty," 790 00:44:22,034 --> 00:44:23,952 I heard a, uh... 791 00:44:24,036 --> 00:44:28,165 a series of gasps in the first row of the audience. 792 00:44:28,957 --> 00:44:31,543 [FOREMAN] We find the defendant, John Cordeiro, 793 00:44:31,627 --> 00:44:33,587 guilty. Aggravated rape. 794 00:44:33,671 --> 00:44:34,755 [CROWD GASPING] 795 00:44:34,838 --> 00:44:38,676 [CLERK] In the case of the Commonwealth versus Victor Raposo? 796 00:44:38,759 --> 00:44:41,053 - [FOREMAN] Guilty. - [CLERK] Guilty of what? 797 00:44:41,136 --> 00:44:42,680 - [FOREMAN] Aggravated rape. - [CRYING] 798 00:44:42,763 --> 00:44:46,225 [CLERK] The Commonwealth versus Joseph Vieira? 799 00:44:46,308 --> 00:44:48,602 [FOREWOMAN] Guilty. Aggravated rape. 800 00:44:49,895 --> 00:44:51,772 [PHILLIPS] When the verdict came down, 801 00:44:51,855 --> 00:44:54,817 I think many people felt that justice had been served. 802 00:44:56,777 --> 00:44:58,529 The people who committed a crime... 803 00:44:59,613 --> 00:45:00,614 were convicted. 804 00:45:04,952 --> 00:45:08,288 [REPORTER] Get ready to roll. There's a relative coming out crying. 805 00:45:09,289 --> 00:45:11,250 [KANE] When the verdicts were returned, 806 00:45:11,333 --> 00:45:14,670 we had not made sufficient preparations for security. 807 00:45:14,753 --> 00:45:17,756 You like that, hey? You like that? You like... 808 00:45:17,840 --> 00:45:19,633 You like that, you assholes? 809 00:45:19,717 --> 00:45:21,301 [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] 810 00:45:23,095 --> 00:45:27,099 [KANE] There was a large, angry crowd 811 00:45:27,182 --> 00:45:30,185 that had developed outside of the courthouse. 812 00:45:31,186 --> 00:45:34,523 And I was escorted out of the courthouse by one trooper. 813 00:45:34,606 --> 00:45:35,983 [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] 814 00:45:37,985 --> 00:45:39,987 And he said to me, "We're getting out of here." 815 00:45:40,070 --> 00:45:41,864 [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] 816 00:45:42,781 --> 00:45:44,450 [SIREN WAILING] 817 00:45:47,119 --> 00:45:49,204 [WOMAN SCREAMING] Dad! Dad! 818 00:45:49,288 --> 00:45:50,956 Hey! Don't touch my father! 819 00:45:51,373 --> 00:45:54,501 [NEWSMAN] The anger spilled over into the parking lot outside the courthouse, 820 00:45:54,585 --> 00:45:57,671 where police quickly subdued those threatening the news media. 821 00:45:57,755 --> 00:46:00,340 Stupid cameras again! There's no more! 822 00:46:00,424 --> 00:46:01,884 [INDISTINCT SHOUTING] 823 00:46:04,720 --> 00:46:07,280 [FERNANDEZ MILLS] At least two men were taken away by the police. 824 00:46:07,306 --> 00:46:10,768 One was the elderly father of convicted rapist Joseph Vieira. 825 00:46:16,732 --> 00:46:18,025 The jury had been sequestered 826 00:46:18,108 --> 00:46:20,194 for more than three weeks during this trial. 827 00:46:20,277 --> 00:46:22,613 They were jeered as they left the courthouse. 828 00:46:22,696 --> 00:46:25,824 Aggravated rape carries a maximum sentence of life in prison. 829 00:46:26,492 --> 00:46:29,411 Attorneys for the convicted men say they plan to appeal. 830 00:46:30,412 --> 00:46:31,914 I think it's really a time 831 00:46:32,456 --> 00:46:35,125 for the Portuguese community to unite itself 832 00:46:35,209 --> 00:46:38,295 and to start saying, "We're not gonna take this anymore." 833 00:46:41,924 --> 00:46:42,925 [CROWD CHEERING] 834 00:46:43,008 --> 00:46:46,136 [NEWSMAN] The Portuguese-American community of Fall River, Massachusetts 835 00:46:46,220 --> 00:46:47,095 will not give up. 836 00:46:47,179 --> 00:46:48,972 It will not accept the guilty verdicts 837 00:46:49,056 --> 00:46:51,600 returned against four Portuguese immigrants. 838 00:46:52,309 --> 00:46:55,497 [FERNANDEZ MILLS] Three thousand people gathered in front of New Bedford City Hall 839 00:46:55,521 --> 00:46:58,232 to protest the guilty verdicts in the Big Dan's rape case. 840 00:46:58,315 --> 00:47:00,734 I remember asking for a second camera 841 00:47:00,818 --> 00:47:04,279 because I had heard that it was going to be big. 842 00:47:04,363 --> 00:47:07,908 Many said they were angry that the six men were ever brought to trial. 843 00:47:07,991 --> 00:47:09,785 What those guys got was a bum deal. 844 00:47:09,868 --> 00:47:13,330 The whole Portuguese community has been put in trial, 845 00:47:13,413 --> 00:47:14,581 and it is unjust. 846 00:47:15,207 --> 00:47:17,125 [CHARNAS] The day after in New Bedford, 847 00:47:17,209 --> 00:47:19,795 people marched in support of the defendants, 848 00:47:20,838 --> 00:47:24,383 Ten thousand people marched in support of the defendants in Fall River. 849 00:47:24,466 --> 00:47:27,135 [NEWSWOMAN] Thousands of members of the Portuguese community 850 00:47:27,219 --> 00:47:29,137 gathered in front of Fall River City Hall. 851 00:47:29,847 --> 00:47:32,349 [NEWSMAN] At the head of the line of march, Jose Medeiros 852 00:47:32,432 --> 00:47:35,352 and Virgilio Medeiros, the two men found not guilty. 853 00:47:35,978 --> 00:47:39,439 [MELO] What we're doing here today is just the beginning. 854 00:47:39,523 --> 00:47:40,816 We are opposed to rape, 855 00:47:40,899 --> 00:47:43,944 but we cannot let immigrants be the scapegoats. 856 00:47:44,027 --> 00:47:45,487 [CROWD CHEERING] 857 00:47:45,571 --> 00:47:47,781 [FERNANDEZ MILLS] It was very surprising to see 858 00:47:47,865 --> 00:47:51,118 the enormity of the protests 859 00:47:51,201 --> 00:47:55,038 and the emotions of the Portuguese community. 860 00:47:55,122 --> 00:47:57,249 [CHANTING IN PORTUGUESE] 861 00:47:57,332 --> 00:48:00,043 The people who were supporting these defendants 862 00:48:00,127 --> 00:48:02,296 were vehement and angry. 863 00:48:02,754 --> 00:48:04,715 It wasn't murder. It was [INDISTINCT]. 864 00:48:04,798 --> 00:48:06,300 She wanted it. 865 00:48:06,383 --> 00:48:07,383 She wanted it. 866 00:48:07,843 --> 00:48:10,345 [WOMAN] She isn't worth what those boys are gonna go through. 867 00:48:10,429 --> 00:48:12,639 She isn't even worth walking on this earth. 868 00:48:12,723 --> 00:48:14,975 This isn't right what they did to these boys for her, 869 00:48:15,058 --> 00:48:16,810 because she's no good! 870 00:48:17,311 --> 00:48:19,021 [CROWD CHANTING IN PORTUGUESE] 871 00:48:34,661 --> 00:48:38,790 [VEARY] We knew that the implications of this trial upon Cheryl 872 00:48:38,874 --> 00:48:40,959 were going to be profound. 873 00:48:42,794 --> 00:48:48,008 But I'm not sure that you really know the impact of events as they unfold. 874 00:48:51,511 --> 00:48:57,309 [PHILLIPS] I don't think she ever felt relieved or comfortable after the verdict. 875 00:48:59,728 --> 00:49:03,440 She was tormented during this whole episode for sure. 876 00:49:06,401 --> 00:49:08,612 In the community, she would always be... 877 00:49:09,613 --> 00:49:11,156 the Big Dan's rape victim. 878 00:49:15,661 --> 00:49:17,537 [CHARNAS] This was the place where she grew up. 879 00:49:17,621 --> 00:49:20,415 This is where her friends were. This was her support system. 880 00:49:20,499 --> 00:49:22,209 This was everything she ever knew. 881 00:49:24,044 --> 00:49:27,547 But she feared there was a danger to herself and to her two daughters. 882 00:49:28,632 --> 00:49:29,716 She had to leave. 883 00:49:34,012 --> 00:49:36,598 These men had been sentenced to a period of years... 884 00:49:39,476 --> 00:49:42,229 but Cheryl had been sentenced to a lifetime in exile. 885 00:49:50,529 --> 00:49:52,864 [PHILLIPS] Big Dan's changed all the rules. 886 00:49:55,200 --> 00:49:57,119 There were implications that... 887 00:49:58,120 --> 00:50:00,580 we didn't think about nearly enough. 888 00:50:04,292 --> 00:50:07,129 It should have been something that... 889 00:50:08,130 --> 00:50:09,881 we all studied a little bit, 890 00:50:10,549 --> 00:50:11,550 and we didn't. 891 00:50:12,759 --> 00:50:13,802 We let it happen. 892 00:50:14,720 --> 00:50:17,180 [PINA] People have been battered and battered and battered. 893 00:50:17,764 --> 00:50:21,309 And it's been a grueling experience for them, for me. Um... 894 00:50:22,019 --> 00:50:23,979 It's been ugly. It's been really ugly. 895 00:50:37,200 --> 00:50:40,370 The case raised a number of questions about how far journalists, 896 00:50:40,454 --> 00:50:44,207 especially on television, should go in covering rape trials. 897 00:50:44,833 --> 00:50:45,834 As Ann Compton reports, 898 00:50:45,917 --> 00:50:48,545 a Senate subcommittee considered those questions today. 899 00:50:49,504 --> 00:50:51,882 [MAN] The extensive radio and television coverage 900 00:50:51,965 --> 00:50:54,092 has been both praised and condemned. 901 00:50:54,509 --> 00:50:57,054 Those who praise it say it gave many their first look 902 00:50:57,137 --> 00:50:59,806 at what really happens in such a trial. 903 00:50:59,890 --> 00:51:04,102 Critics contend the coverage was sensational exploitation 904 00:51:04,186 --> 00:51:06,855 of the agony of the complaining witness. 905 00:51:20,577 --> 00:51:22,746 The rape trial gained national attention 906 00:51:22,829 --> 00:51:25,999 in the press and in live television broadcasts 907 00:51:26,083 --> 00:51:29,711 that brought to the surface not only the dark side of humanity, 908 00:51:29,795 --> 00:51:33,715 but also the time-honored dark side of rape trial proceedings. 909 00:51:34,299 --> 00:51:37,677 And you people come from the press. What was your own feeling about that? 910 00:51:37,761 --> 00:51:40,263 Well, I must admit that I was a little bit... 911 00:51:40,931 --> 00:51:43,767 curious about the motives of Cable News Network, 912 00:51:43,850 --> 00:51:45,769 given that they were coming out of a period 913 00:51:45,852 --> 00:51:47,854 when their ratings were below projections. 914 00:51:47,938 --> 00:51:51,108 And when they started airing the trial, the ratings went up, 915 00:51:51,191 --> 00:51:53,777 and they kept airing more and more of the trial. 916 00:51:53,860 --> 00:51:56,238 I felt there was a lot of exploitation going on. 917 00:51:56,321 --> 00:51:59,157 What about this... this idea that it's... it's a circus, 918 00:51:59,241 --> 00:52:02,160 that having television cameras in there are gonna cause a circus? 919 00:52:02,244 --> 00:52:03,620 Have there been any circuses? 920 00:52:03,703 --> 00:52:06,206 I don't think that the circus is in the courtroom. 921 00:52:06,289 --> 00:52:09,459 The circus is the transporting of the courtroom 922 00:52:09,543 --> 00:52:12,462 to serve the purposes of entertainment and of ratings. 923 00:52:12,921 --> 00:52:14,965 Ms. Marks in, uh, Harrisburg. 924 00:52:15,048 --> 00:52:18,593 What is your objection to this kind of coverage? 925 00:52:18,677 --> 00:52:21,638 I think that the people who watched that New Bedford case 926 00:52:21,721 --> 00:52:25,475 really became voyeurs into the personal nightmare of that woman. 927 00:52:25,559 --> 00:52:28,478 I saw a man who was interviewed on the national news 928 00:52:28,562 --> 00:52:30,897 who said that he used to watch the soaps every day, 929 00:52:30,981 --> 00:52:34,818 and during that time of the trial, he just ended up watching that trial, 930 00:52:34,901 --> 00:52:36,820 and that's where he got his "thrills." 931 00:52:36,903 --> 00:52:40,657 And I ask, at whose expense is he getting those thrills? 932 00:53:01,178 --> 00:53:04,389 [CHARNAS] Arrangements were made for Cheryl to move to Florida. 933 00:53:07,642 --> 00:53:09,519 I did speak to her from time to time. 934 00:53:11,897 --> 00:53:14,482 She had gone to secretarial school. 935 00:53:16,067 --> 00:53:19,487 She was struggling to get her life together. 936 00:53:24,618 --> 00:53:26,119 Out of the blue, 937 00:53:26,203 --> 00:53:28,997 I got a phone call from her boyfriend. 938 00:53:33,460 --> 00:53:38,548 He told me that she was driving a car and it hit a telephone pole. 939 00:53:41,259 --> 00:53:43,261 She had been drunk. 940 00:53:46,097 --> 00:53:48,308 And he told me that she had died. 941 00:53:52,562 --> 00:53:54,439 I will never understand 942 00:53:54,522 --> 00:53:58,068 how she must have deteriorated to get to that point. 943 00:54:00,237 --> 00:54:01,738 And that always will haunt me. 944 00:54:06,868 --> 00:54:08,119 [KANE] I was devastated. 945 00:54:10,538 --> 00:54:12,415 Why did she have to die? 946 00:54:15,669 --> 00:54:20,507 This is truly a tragedy for Cheryl Araujo in a profound sense. 947 00:54:24,844 --> 00:54:27,347 [VEARY] Sad endings don't make a person's life. 948 00:54:28,640 --> 00:54:29,683 Nevertheless, 949 00:54:30,725 --> 00:54:35,063 one thing does lead to another, uh, but Cheryl's life, 950 00:54:36,147 --> 00:54:39,943 you know, is so much more important than the way she left it. 951 00:54:47,450 --> 00:54:50,120 [PHILLIPS] There's no other way to describe this story. 952 00:54:52,247 --> 00:54:54,916 A sad chapter 953 00:54:55,000 --> 00:54:59,004 that got even sadder after the trial was over. 954 00:55:03,216 --> 00:55:05,093 This was about Cheryl Araujo. 955 00:55:08,221 --> 00:55:10,390 Wasn't easy, but she stood up. 956 00:55:12,309 --> 00:55:14,436 And, uh, in the end... 957 00:55:15,729 --> 00:55:17,147 she was forgotten. 958 00:55:22,277 --> 00:55:24,154 [REFLECTIVE INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC PLAYS]