(suspenseful music playing)
(phone ringing)
(operator speaking)
(man speaking)
(operator speaking)
(man speaking)
Guy georges: When we were leaving the club,
I hear a bunch of commotion behind me.
Being in south florida is really not safe, you know.
Any little thing can escalate into a big situation.
My gut feeling was telling me
That something was gonna happen.
And at that moment, I discharged my firearm.
(gunshot)
To think of having to spend the rest of my life in prison
Because I decided to protect myself
Is pretty tough.
I just have to continue to remind myself
That my actions were very much justified.
(somber music playing)
Andrew rier: My name is andrew rier.
I'm the attorney for guy georges.
Guy is charged with first-degree murder
For shooting a man in the parking lot
Of hollywood live night club,
After an argument.
If he's convicted,
He dies in prison.
January 3rd, 2021,
Guy is at a hollywood live night club.
He's there with his girlfriend.
He's there with his cousin.
Around 2:15, early Sunday morning,
He gets up to leave the club.
He's taking care of his cousin who's severely inebriated.
While he's assisting him out,
His cousin accidentally bumps into
The friend of anthony sutton,
The victim.
His friend's name is emily.
That led to emily being very upset
And screaming at guy.
And he yelled back.
At some point, anthony sutton goes at guy.
Guy leaves the club because he believes that
This incident is not over.
Something bad's about to happen.
Andrew: Guy runs at full speed to his car.
His car was blocked in because it was so crowded.
And there's only one entrance and exit.
He believes that anthony sutton is gonna come
And confront him.
Guy made the decision to grab his gun from the car.
Guy's worst fears were realized because he saw anthony sutton
Walk directly towards him.
Guy thought he was approaching in a threatening manner,
Guy produced his handgun,
Held it clearly in front, warned him.
Mr. Sutton continued to walk.
At that point, to guy,
Anthony sutton appeared to have a gun.
When guy sees him grab for the waistband,
He thinks a black object is removed.
Guy felt he had no choice.
It's either kill or be killed.
Guy, walking away, fired.
(gunshots)
The victim died at the hospital.
The prosecution alleges that guy exited hollywood live,
Provoked a confrontation,
Ambushes anthony sutton,
And shoots and kills him.
I don't believe the facts support that.
In the state of florida,
You are entitled to use lethal force
If you're in fear of imminent bodily harm.
We believe that's exactly what guy was facing that night.
The security guard literally heard anthony sutton say
"I'm gonna go to my trunk and get mine."
I think he was gonna get his gun.
Guy used lethal force,
Because if he didn't,
We believe he would have been dead.
Guy: To be accused of this crime is crazy.
I never thought I would have been
In a situation like this.
But coming back home here is kind of
Embarrassing, having to lean on my mother.
I'm on 24-hour house arrest.
I don't really too much so go outside or anything
'cause, um,
Primarily, the embarrassment
Of the ankle monitor, someone seeing it.
As far as my restriction in the area,
The furthest I'll go is, maybe, here.
You're free, but you're not free.
You know, you still feel like you have shackles on.
Going from being around him every single day to now
Not even being able to partake in his birthday.
It's pretty tough, you know.
Looking in the future,
I may not be here. So, thinking of
Missing out on
Doing certain things with my son, you know,
Is very hard, is very hard.
If everything does not go well,
I may end up being completely removed from his life.
(intense music playing)
Andrew: So, let's get right to it.
Why don't you, in your own words,
Just tell me what happened and I'm gonna listen.
So, um,
I was driving my girlfriend, geraldine, um, my cousin, um, ashley.
Ashley recommends to, "hey, let's go to, um, hollywood live."
Fast forward to when we're leaving the club.
Ashley, he accidentally bumps into a girl,
And as I pass her, she pushes me.
I just turn around, look at her,
And just keep going about my way.
Andrew: So, this doesn't end the situation?
-No. -What do you do?
I walk outside, and we're walking down the street.
And I hear a bunch of commotion behind me.
And, when I turn around,
I see three gentlemen,
Um, and one female, the same female that pushed me.
And she's pointing at me and gesturing at me, saying,
"there they go, right there."
I see sutton coming at me.
He's being held back by his friend.
Being in south florida is really not safe, you know.
Any little thing can escalate into a big situation.
So, at that point,
I'm running to the car, I see that it's being blocked in.
We're just like sitting ducks at this point.
Andrew: So you're waiting for something to happen?
My gut feeling was telling me
That something was gonna happen.
I was hoping that I was wrong.
So I take it upon myself to grab my firearm
From the glove compartment.
Why do you walk
To the front of the parking lot?
To go ahead and protect myself.
I hid behind the white car, and I'm peeking up,
And I just see sutton,
And at that point, I'm like, "I'm doomed, I'm done for."
I come from behind the car,
And I said, "hey, what are you trying to do? What are you trying to do?"
I'm thinking to myself that he's going to shoot me.
He doesn't raise his hands to you,
-To show he's unarmed? -No.
I had my gun pointed at him the entire time,
And I'm just watching his hip, his waistband.
That's the only thing I'm looking at.
I see a black object in his right hand
And at that moment, I discharged my firearm.
Let's get right to the case.
They didn't find a gun on mr. Sutton.
They're gonna allege that you were lying in wait.
And according, at least, to the lead detective's report,
You ambushed the victim.
The biggest pitfall we have is,
How do you do when you're cross-examined?
I know it's emotional, guy.
It's very, very tough, you know.
Having to speak about it makes me relive
The entire situation.
Andrew: I believe in my client.
He had every reason to conclude
That anthony sutton had a gun.
But, here are some basic facts we have to deal with.
Number one, guy really did shoot the gun.
Number two, the police found no gun on the victim.
Which means, now they're gonna think
That not only did he shoot to kill,
But that he shot an unarmed man.
And then, number three,
When you do murder trials,
And the jury sees pictures from an autopsy,
They wanna blame someone.
And no matter what I do as the lawyer,
Those facts are very hard to overcome.
(intense music playing)
(knock on door)
What's up, jj?
Jonathan: Hey, how are you doing, andy?
Andrew: Surviving.
What are your thoughts?
Jonathan: This is a diagram of the body.
Right, it indicates
How many times mr. Sutton was shot
And where he sustained the injuries.
So, we have three gunshot wounds.
The first is just above the right knee,
The second, to the left upper thigh,
And the third,
To the middle of the abdomen or stomach area.
Perhaps, one starts
To the belly, and works its way down,
Or one starts to the leg and works its way up.
You've been handling homicide cases for a decade,
What are your thoughts on this?
Jonathan: It's much easier to argue to the court
Where there was only one gunshot fired.
This was his warning shot,
He didn't intend to do any harm.
But in this particular case, where mr. Georges is
Charged with first-degree premeditated murder,
The state's gonna argue,
"not one, not two, three shots.
"he pulled that trigger and fired at mr. Sutton.
"he wanted to kill him. This was premeditated.
"he intended to kill him.
"and that's what he tried to do that night."
Andrew: That's gonna be a problem for guy.
Jonathan: We'll definitely want to talk to mr. Georges about
Whether he recollects where his first shot aimed,
Because he does have target practice,
He's got a concealed permit, he has been to the range.
I want to talk to him about
Where he believes or if he recalls the first shot
That he fired was on mr. Sutton.
That's really important.
Right now, we're going to the scene
Of where the shooting happened,
And unfortunately, where mr. Sutton died,
And the events that led to guy being arrested and charged.
(intense music playing)
There are two people on the planet
That experienced this incident first-hand.
Guy georges and mr. Sutton.
Unfortunately, mr. Sutton is no longer with us.
That leaves mr. Georges.
Mr. Georges is the only person alive
Who can describe exactly how this happened in real time.
I will point out to you that those cameras
From cao bakery are right there.
Capture a lot of the episode.
Gentlemen, thanks for meeting me here.
Jonathan.
-You ready? -Ready.
Mattie. Guy, great to have you here.
Let's start from the beginning.
-You're leaving hollywood live. -Guy: Yes.
Mr. Sutton and his party are coming in.
-Coming in, yes. -What happens next?
I'm holding ashley.
Pretty much, he bumps into her,
I'm like, "hey, sorry, excuse me, sorry."
-Andrew: He bumps into emily? -Yes.
-Who's sutton's friend. -Yes.
There's screaming, yelling, you know,
Profanity here and there and all that.
And I turn around and I say,
"hey, check your bitch. We ain't got nothing going on.
"we don't want no problems."
Andrew: Mr. Sutton was being held back, wasn't he?
Yes.
Andrew: What was sutton gonna do?
Guy: He was gonna hit me.
They're pretty much starting to start a fight.
Andrew: And you never touched sutton?
Guy: No.
Matthew: Was your plan to get in your car and drive away?
Guy: Yes.
I noticed that my car was blocked.
I was scared.
And where, once you saw mr. Sutton, did you go to protect yourself?
Guy: Right here, where that vehicle is.
Matthew: Between the two cars? Guy: Yes.
Between the first two cars, yes.
I was trying to hide, you know,
Because, obviously, I was startled and scared.
And I was just hoping that he would not know or see where I was at.
Matthew: When he does see you, and he's about five feet away,
You come out from behind the car.
Yes.
At the time you are walking back,
Are you putting your gun behind your back?
-Guy: No, he sees... -Can he see it?
-Yes. -How do you know?
Because, he...
Show me with your hand the way the gun was held out.
It was pointed directly at him.
Andrew: And he keeps walking?
Guy: Mm-hmm.
Andrew: Doesn't stop? Guy: No.
I pretty much screamed out at him,
"what are you trying to do? What are you trying to do?"
Andrew: What does he do?
He was reaching for his waistband.
Andrew: And when he grabs from his waistband...
-I fire. -How many times?
Three times.
Guy: Had he gone down on the first shot,
I wouldn't have fired the second two.
After the third shot,
-The body drops to the ground. -Yes.
Why between the first shot
And the third shot, it went higher?
Because the recoil when you're shooting,
You end up shooting higher than you actually anticipate.
-Andrew: Did you shoot to kill? -No.
-Why? -Because I'm not a killer.
(intense music playing)
Matthew: So, what we have here now, andy, is
The video surveillance from that night.
Andrew: We're gonna review the surveillance video.
We have to watch and see if the pictures match the story.
Cctv can acquit or convict you.
Let's do it.
This is the bakery lot
That we see up in the foreground.
-Andrew: Across the street from hollywood live. -Exactly.
It's zoomed in four times.
Andrew: That figure, that's guy?
Matthew: Exactly.
And guy, at this point,
Goes to hide
Behind the white car to protect himself.
Because he can see mr. Sutton
Walking towards him.
He's approaching him aggressively.
Andrew: He's walking with a purpose.
Guy is walking away from sutton.
This is not described in any police report.
Matthew: And it helps guy out.
Wow. That, uh...
That tells quite a story
And it, uh, doesn't really need any words around it, does it?
Matthew: I'll play it back
And we'll see from the left-hand side of the screen,
Mr. Sutton, walking.
Andrew: A second ago, if you go back a second,
It looks sutton's hand is behind his back.
There.
So, we can just barely see it from this angle.
But his hand does look like it's behind his back,
Which is exactly what guy described for us.
I look at that picture and I think, "not guilty."
We have an angle from a little bit further back.
Hopefully, it's easier to see.
He certainly seems to have something
In his back pocket weighing his pants down.
You know, it may not be
A photo of the gun, but it's darn close.
This is actually mr. Sutton's friends in this car.
His friends drag his body.
And then,
Curiously, out of nowhere, one of his buddies
Takes off, runs off camera for exactly 40 seconds.
We can't say with absolute certainty that there was a gun.
But what's important in a case like this is opportunity.
We know the motive,
To protect his friend's reputation,
But now we have the opportunity,
The opportunity to stash that weapon.
So, I think this is exactly what we need
To show everybody
That guy was justifiably afraid of mr. Sutton
Due to the fact that he had a gun
Or sure acted like he had one.
Andrew: What you've done
Is fill in
All the missing pieces of the puzzle.
Do I wish that we saw anthony sutton had a gun on him?
It's not there.
Do I wish that we were able to see
His friend carry away a gun? Yes,
I do.
Do I think that we are blessed
To have as much video that we have?
Hell, yeah. Hell, yeah.
(melancholy music playing)
Guy: I'm a kid who was raised in church,
Go to school and go home.
The three l's, coming from a haitian background,
L'ecole, l'eglise, l'akay.
L'ecole is school,
L'eglise is church,
L'akay is home.
This situation is very tough on our family.
Having to see my mother,
You know, lose weight,
Because she's not eating, you know,
Is very tough.
Guirlaine: When I heard what happened,
I almost fainted.
I don't know if there was
Anything worse that could happen
In this family.
He has remorse.
One day, he said,
"mommy, I think in my family,
"I will not be regarded the same way."
I said, "no, I will continue to love you no matter what."
I'm really grateful for you
Being here with me
To help me get through this situation.
I'm glad...
I was able to do what I had to do.
No matter what life will bring,
We go through it together.
Because you are my son and I love you.
(sniffling)
(suspenseful music playing)
(man speaking)
(operator speaking)
(man speaking)
Andrew: John? Jonathan: Yeah.
Andrew: Need you.
Now. I'm listening to the 911 call. You ready?
-Jonathan: I'm ready. -Come on.
What do we like to say we look for in these cases?
We're always looking for the needle in the haystack.
We know that anthony sutton wasn't alone that night.
Let's pull it up.
(operator speaking)
(man 1 speaking)
(operator speaking)
(man 1 speaking)
(man 2 speaking)
(operator speaking)
(man 1 speaking)
(man 2 speaking)
Wow! That's incredible.
There is no question in my mind
That that call helps our argument.
His buddy blaming sutton for what happened to sutton.
"I warned you.
"I told you.
"you shouldn't have gone there.
"you shouldn't have done it."
That's incredible.
The state is gonna have a hard time
Explaining what sutton's friends
Were trying to prevent him from doing and explaining that call.
Andrew: They're talking to sutton.
"I told you to stop.
"I told you to stop."
The most important thing we learned tonight,
I think mr. Sutton was the aggressor.
(intense music playing)
(phone ringing)
Andrew: We can seek dismissal of a homicide case
Based on a right to carry a firearm
And based on a right to use lethal force as a self-defense
If you fear imminent bodily harm.
If you win a stand your ground motion,
You do not go to trial.
The case is dismissed.
Guy will be 100 percent a free man.
(intense music continues)
It's a big deal, and, uh, if it works,
We're literally throwing out an indictment on first-degree murder.
But there's no question in my mind that to prevail,
Mr. Georges needs to testify.
So there's a lot riding on this.
Guy, how you doing man?
-Great, great, great. -We're almost there.
It's really important that you answer honestly.
Okay.
We need to hear the truth.
Matthew: You know, the prosecutor in this case,
She's gonna know how to tactically
Attempt to get you angry.
I'm gonna throw questions at you.
And it's very important that you
Maintain your demeanor throughout the courtroom.
All right.
Mr. Georges, you shot and killed an unarmed man.
I believe he had a firearm.
I'd seen the black object in his right hand
And he was gesturing and grabbing his waistband throughout the entire time
When he was walking across the street
Up until when I fired.
-Matthew: But the police never found a gun. -No.
He was not unarmed.
He was very much so armed.
He walked confidently, with a purpose, over to me.
I shouted at him.
I screamed at him.
Hoping and praying that, you know,
The sight of seeing my firearm would get him to back off.
But even then, that didn't stop him.
Matthew: You don't know why he was walking to the parking lot.
He wasn't walking over to give me a hug.
Matthew: So you're just guessing that he was coming for you?
Guy: I knew he was coming for me.
Matthew: How did you know?
Guy: Because of his demeanor.
He tried to punch me in front of the club
Because I called his girlfriend a bitch.
Matthew: You'll admit you were very rude that night?
Guy: Yes, I was rude to her.
Matthew: And you shot mr. Sutton.
Guy: Had mr. Sutton presented himself
Any other way other than a threat,
Then I would not have shot.
I gave him multiple opportunity
To back away and get away from me.
Matthew: Now, you say you gave him multiple opportunities,
But isn't it true from the point in time
Where you stood up until you shot him,
Only a few seconds go by?
I'm seeing him grabbing a black object
At his waistband.
I know at this point of time, my life is over with.
Mr. Georges, isn't it true that you were actually hiding behind that car
So you could jump out and ambush him,
Firing before he was ready to defend himself?
No. If I wanted to kill him, I could have shot him from behind the vehicle.
I have no further questions, mr. Georges.
Andrew: I realize this isn't easy,
But I think you did great.
You kept your composure.
You were very even-keeled.
Do what you did today in court, and we'll do the rest.
-Guy: Okay. -Good job.
Andrew: The hearing is gonna commence at 10:30 tomorrow morning.
I'm in charge, so any mistakes that are made are made by me.
It's not easy.
(intense music playing)
She's the girl that sort of launched this entire incident.
And I'm terrified.
I have no earthly idea what this woman's gonna say.
That is harrowing, considering that my client
Is facing life in prison on first-degree murder.
Guy: Last night, I barely slept.
Just been thinking and anticipating everything
That's supposed to unfold.
Andrew: The standard for a stand your ground is,
What did you believe would happen
That you needed to use lethal force?
And if you believed bodily damage was imminent,
Whether the victim was armed or not,
You're allowed to defend yourself.
Judge: We're here in the matter of the state of florida v. Guy georges,
Case number 21 007194c of today.
Okay, let's, uh, proceed.
Matthew: Mr. Georges was reasonably in fear of great bodily harm or death
And had no other alternative but to use deadly force
When mr. Sutton approached him.
And therefore we believe that this court should find that mr. Georges
Was justifiably acting in self-defense.
Taylor: It's the state's argument that mr. Georges was the initial aggressor
In that altercation, that this was not self-defense,
That he in fact, jumped out and ambushed mr. Sutton.
(suspenseful music playing)
Taylor: Miss heichelbech, you saw guy georges outside the club, what happened?
We were in the club, in the line
And he backed in front of me and I pushed him off of me.
And he got angry with me.
To tony, he said, "check your bitch.
"check your hoe," something like that.
And I got offended.
And I said, "who are you calling a hoe?"
And then he comes after me to try to attack me.
Tony was in front of me...
Really far in front of me.
Taylor: Did he have a firearm with him?
No. Not that I know of.
What did you observe happen?
It seemed as if tony wanted something to pop off.
(intense music playing)
Andrew: You cannot rule out the scenario, can you,
That tony sutton had a gun? Correct?
I'm not sure if tony had a gun.
I never saw a gun on him that evening.
You had seen tony previously with a gun, correct?
Emily: Years ago.
Andrew: All right. So you had seen him with a gun before?
Yes.
Andrew: By the time you get back to the car, miss heichelbech,
He was going into the parking lot
To confront somebody, correct?
Correct. More than likely.
And the reason you thought that is because he said,
"something's gonna pop off," correct?
Yes.
Andrew: Nothing further.
Judge: The witness can step down. You're excused.
Uh, we're gonna take our lunch break at this time.
I don't think any of the three of us were ever in our wildest dreams
Thought that emily heichelbech would go as well as it did.
From a defense standpoint,
Her testimony was a ten out of ten.
Taylor: The state will call detective ryan rillo.
(suspenseful music playing)
During the seven months that you were investigating this case,
Did you look into whether or not self-defense was applicable here?
-Yes. -Taylor: And what did you determine?
There was no witness testimony that they saw the victim with a firearm.
And there was no physical evidence either in the car that we recovered
Or on the victim that had anything to do with a firearm or firearm paraphernalia.
Taylor: No further questions at this time, your honor.
I walked outside, uh,
And all I heard was a bunch of yelling and screaming
From the deceased.
"I ain't about this. Look, I'm gonna go get mine.
"he finna go get his, we finna do this."
Matthew: When you hear mr. Sutton screaming and yelling,
"I'm gonna go get mine,"
Did you have any belief that he was going to get a gun at that point?
Yes. I did believe that.
Yes, ma'am.
(taylor speaking)
I would presume so, yes.
(dramatic music plays)
Andrew: Can you tell this honorable court
Who ashley henriquez is?
Guy: He's my cousin.
Andrew: Why were you helping him out?
Because he was drunk
And he couldn't control himself.
And then he stumbles and bumps into emily.
She literally just pushed me.
Andrew: What happens next?
Mr. Sutton was being restrained by his friend
And I start running to the car.
I was concerned mr. Sutton
Was going to come back and, um, you know, attack us.
So, I go to the glove compartment
And I grab my firearm.
I see mr. Sutton across the street.
-Andrew: Did that scare you? -Yes, of course.
I'm hoping that he doesn't even see me behind the car.
Andrew: When do you emerge from the white car?
When he's about, like, six feet from the car.
Andrew: Come down, sir.
Can you scream out exactly
What you did that night a year ago?
Hey! What are you trying to do? What are you trying to do?
Andrew: When you said that, at any point,
-Does mr. Sutton raise his hands? -No.
-Does mr. Sutton say, "hey, I'm unarmed"? -No.
-Does mr. Sutton say, "my bad, I want to talk to you"? -No.
Does he say anything?
Guy: Had he said that, I would have lowered the firearm.
Andrew: Let me ask you this.
Was he acting like someone with a gun?
Yes, most definitely.
Can you describe what he's doing with his hands?
He was reaching at his waistband,
And at that point, I see a black object.
-Is that why you fired? -Guy: Yes.
Andrew: Did you fire center mass or at his head?
-Guy: No. -Why?
I wasn't trying to kill him.
We've no further questions, judge.
Judge: Okay, we're back on the matter of
The state of florida v. Guy georges.
And we are here for the continuation
Of the stand your ground motion.
(taylor speaking)
Guy: He walked over with a purpose,
Very much so confident.
He had his hand, um, touching his waistband
Throughout the entire time when he emerged from the bushes.
He was fidgeting with his pants the entire way
Up until I come out from behind the white cadillac.
(taylor speaking)
Guy: I'm pulling up my pants to fix my pants.
(taylor speaking)
Not necessarily speaking, no.
Yes.
(dramatic music plays)
(taylor speaking)
Andrew: The defense rests, your honor.
(taylor speaking)
Taylor: As tony's walking, what were you all doing?
David: We were waiting in the car
And it happened so fast.
And then, I see tony.
Next thing you know, bullets and tony was hit and he fell.
(sobbing)
I heard the shots and I seen my brother fall. (sniffling)
What did you do then?
David: We both jumped out of the car
And we picked him up to move him out of the street.
Taylor: Did you remove anything from tony?
Did you remove a firearm?
David: No way. Tony didn't have no firearm.
Tony's not a gangster,
He's nothing like that.
Taylor: No further questions, your honor.
(suspenseful music playing)
Judge: The witness is excused.
You can step down.
Thank you, everybody.
We are adjourned.
(somber music playing)
Andrew: Closings are important.
This is our last chance to get it right.
If we lose, and we lose the trial, guy dies in jail.
If we win, this case is dismissed.
Guy: As much as I don't try to think of
Having to spend the rest of my life in prison,
It's kind of sort of creeping up in the back of my mind
That the possibility is there.
We're all hoping for the charges being dismissed
And, you know, being able to continue my life.
(intense music playing)
(suspenseful music playing)
Hi, guy.
Hi, guirlaine.
Guy: Hey, how's it going?
Okay.
I want to discuss moving on because it's been three months,
-You know what I mean? -Guy: Okay.
We got a 21-page order
From judge garcia-wood that the first-degree murder charges against you...
Have been dismissed.
Guirlaine: Yes. Andrew: It's over.
(guirlaine speaking)
Thank you!
You don't know what you have done for me.
You don't know.
Thank you. Thank you guys, thank you.
I'm grateful that, like, you guys
Have allowed me to be able to,
-Um, tell my side of the story. -Of course.
And here's the news that you've been waiting for.
We're gonna get that bracelet off your leg.
Thank you. (laughing) about time.
It makes me feel great.
And I actually wanna go and see my son.
(guy laughs)
Andrew: Whoo-hoo!
Thank you. Thank you so much.
(hopeful music playing)
I look back at it and it's just, uh...
It's just a nightmare.
It's unfortunate that all of this happened,
And someone had to lose their life.
Um... But ultimately,
I also look at it like I would have been
The one to have lost my life had I not, you know,
Taken the measures that I took that night.
I'm glad that it's all over.