Jason c: Think of your worst day
and take it times a million.
Danita: To think that somebody would accuse me of wanting to hurt my son,
and it just kills me.
Brandon: I should have took the deal,
mom, we agreed that at the immunity hearing
if it went well, I'd take the deal.
It looks like I can't take it now, just like...
Angel: Never gonna see my kids again,
(crying) I just wanna go, just let me go.
The end's coming, but not certain of what the end is.
Jason b: This is the most terrifying thing anybody could ever go through.
Jason c: It's never gonna end until
law enforcement decides to investigate the correct people.
I don't wanna grow old in prison.
He doesn't have the ability to forget this accident, no matter how long he lives
I really believe there's been a terrible mistake by the jury here.
This is someone who did the right thing and faced a very serious punishment for it.
Bryan: Prison is absolutely horrifying, if you're not scared,
you're either crazy or you wanna die.
It felt like witnessing death.
Jason c: When I'm creeping across the field, planting,
you know, you start to just think about things,
what's happened in the past, the criminal trial,
the people who are still walking around who shot my mom.
(Phone ringing)
(Operator speaking)
(Jason c speaking)
I listened to
Jason Carter's 911 call to the Marion county sheriff's office
and right away that set bells off.
(Police interviewer speaking)
Newscaster: Jason Carter's gone from the 911 caller who reported the woman's murder.
To the suspect criminally charged with murder.
Jason c: I'm being accused of murdering my mom.
By my dad, my sister and my brother.
We're scared.
Christine: Mm. I get that.
We have two kids that he has to go home to.
Alison: They found a box full of 90 disks
um, that were labelled blank but weren't blank or labelled as something that they weren't.
Absolutely UN-freaking believable.
(Police interviewer speaking)
(Charity speaking)
Holy moly.
Judge: Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth?
This was a case built against Jason Carter
instead of a case trying to solve
a crime and look at all the clues.
There are only two people who know what happened that day.
One of them's dead and the other one's sitting in that chair.
Find him guilty as charged.
Ladies and gentlemen, have you reached a verdict?
Foreperson: Yes, we have.
Judge: "We, the jury, find Jason Carter...
"Not guilty."
(Sighing)
(Gasps)
Let's go home. Yeah. Going home.
Jason: After the trial, my immediate family, my wife and our kids,
we're trying like hell to move on.
Um... but, man!
If it isn't an uphill battle!
I mean, after my mom was gone, everything changed. Everything changed.
Things are never gonna be the same.
And we're just having to move on
and go a different path in life.
Jason's family was a huge part of our lives.
And it's indescribable
that these people you love so very much,
you know, one's been taken from us.
But all the others are gone as well.
Shelly: We're always redefining our new normal and...
Life's busy. You try to provide for your family, but we do have
some added things that make things different
and a lot of that's to do with, you know, our legal battles.
Alison: I have never worked on a case like this before,
especially one where the more I worked with my client,
the more I became convinced of his innocence.
Alison: So typically, when you're acquitted of a crime,
it's a huge relief on every single front, right?
It's over, you're free, been declared innocent.
In Jason's case, it's a little bit different
because before his criminal trial,
before he was ever charged with murder,
there was a civil trial
brought by bill Carter, that's Jason's father.
Bill's motivation here is somewhat hard to understand.
What we know is this,
on the day that Shirley Carter was murdered,
bill Carter and the rest of his family were adamant
that Jason could not have done this.
And we also know because we have a recording,
that agent ludwick, who was in charge of this investigation,
meets with Jason's sister and does an interview with her.
In the course of this interview,
he strongly implies that Jason planted evidence at the crime scene.
That is when everything switched
so, bill Carter brings a civil wrongful death lawsuit.
Which is basically him suing Jason
to get money for the death of his wife.
Well finally law enforcement admits he didn't plant evidence,
we know that was there before.
But the judgment that bill Carter won against Jason was for $10 million.
Alison: Very recently, we did arguments
in front of the Iowa supreme court.
Essentially what we were arguing was that
all of this evidence that we got in the criminal case
that was brand new to us that we hadn't been able to use in the civil case,
that we should be getting a new trial
for the civil case where we can get to use that evidence.
We would think that would be fair.
$10 million judgement means that Jason
is constantly under bill Carter's thumb for the rest of his life.
I mean, that obviously affects Jason in a lot of ways,
he's got a son in college,
he's got a daughter in school right now. And will eventually go to college.
It's important that they be able to provide for their family.
But a $10 million judgement means that
Jason can never really relax.
Um, he's always got bill Carter breathing down his neck.
Jason: There is no way in hell
I will ever reconcile with my dad.
Never. Not a chance.
That man has tried his damnedest
to tear my family to shreds.
He's done everything possible to try and ruin us.
I don't even want to know when he passes away. I have no...
It's just, you know, oh...
Jason: We meet each other on the road sometimes,
sometimes see each other across the field, I'm sure.
Um...
No, I don't want nothing to do with him ever again.
I'm sure my mom's probably looking down on me right now today going,
"(bleep) Damn it, Jay."
And sorry, mom, but...
Um, he's went way too far, you know.
You can't undo what you've brought upon...
Myself, my wife and my kids. Can't undo that.
Shelley: It's just so surreal,
you know, my father in law wants to take everything that we have, and...
Which I... I just can't even wrap my head around.
I mean that's not the man I knew.
Bill even has his name on our mortgage and we just found that out.
And so now we're fighting to get that removed.
We're six years in and we're still fighting
yeah.
Automated voice: Hello. You have a prepaid call
from an inmate at hardeman county correctional center...
(Bryan speaking)
Bryan: I wish I would have done something different.
It just spiraled out of control.
Female newscaster: Churchill police say a home surveillance system,
recorded Lawson shooting his wife.
Investigators said that video also
showed the pair in an argument before the shooting.
Bryan: When she went into these fits of violence.
Anything was possible.
She was very dangerous.
I'd been with her almost 10 years, at this point.
And she...
Abused, abused and abused on me.
And... and I took it,
because there was no controlling her.
Bryan: Up to this point, she's been nothing but tell me, how she's gonna kill me,
so,
for my own son's safety I retrieved a pistol from behind the couch.
Bryan: I didn't arm myself at the beginning.
I armed myself,
when she convinced me, she was aiming to do him harm.
Points at me,
"everybody's gonna die".
Larry: Is that what she says? Bryan: Yes, yes.
Right now.
I wasn't gonna risk his life. He's too precious.
I couldn't take that chance.
(Multiple gunshots)
(Feedback)
Bryan: There's nothing in this world that compares
to having to take a life.
Nothing.
We were approached by the da's office about trying to make a deal.
Instead of considering you a standard offender,
they're gonna consider you a mitigated offender.
That just means, you serve 20% of your sentence.
Meaning 15 years,
20%, so you'd serve,
roughly 3 years.
And then, you're eligible for parole.
Okay. It doesn't mean you're automatically released,
- it means you get your parole hearing. Okay. - Bryan: Okay.
The end's coming, but not certain on what the end is.
Bryan: Chandra's family wanted to see me serve some time.
Reason to do the things they asked,
because they have control of Braydon.
Right now, he's between my mother Evelyn,
and chandra's mother.
If I take the plea,
I know they'll still let Braydon,
be a part of her life.
Judge: All rise.
State of Tennessee versus Bryan Steven Lawson.
Your honor, account 1 will be amended,
to voluntary manslaughter.
Is this your signature on this waive of rights to plead guilty?
- Bryan: It is, your honor. - You understand that by pleading guilty,
this is the only trial,
the only hearing you'll ever have on these charges, there'll be no opportunity
for you after today,
to present evidence of your innocence, or to plead not guilty.
I do.
I find you guilty, of involuntary manslaughter.
Sentence you to serve 15 years, which means, you're now a convicted felon.
You'll be in custody. You'll go over here, with the sheriff.
Evelyn: Bryan as a child,
was very quiet.
No problems, no trouble.
In fact,
most people can't believe that he would... Even his cousins would say,
"he done what"?
It's just hard.
All the way around.
Nicky: He kind of stayed in the background.
I was always the loud one that wanted to be up, front and center.
And, he didn't like a lot of conflict.
He... he didn't like a lot of screaming. He never did.
He... he always was the one who was...
Trying to make everything better,
and, um, always be the peacemaker.
I would have never in a million years
thought my brother could ever...
Do anything...
Like what happened.
(Bryan speaking)
(Cell phone chiming)
(Automated voice speaking)
Bryan will call, often. And... and ask my mom to send money.
Sometimes... sometimes multiple times a day.
Sometimes, multiple times in a week.
It does concern me when he calls like that and needs money.
And he feels like he can't wait and it's like,
"I want it now". And that always,
makes me wonder, what's going on, and... and if he's safe.
Automated voice: This call will be recorded
and subject to monitoring at any time.
You may begin speaking now.
How are you doing?
(Bryan speaking)
Mom's at home.
(Bryan speaking)
Did she tell you to send some cash out?
Well, I know, but she's not told me anything about sending you any money.
(Bryan speaking)
Can... can you speak freely right now? Or...
- It's not a good... - (Bryan speaking)
- Okay. - (Bryan continues speaking)
Okay.
So it's... It's concerning to me that,
why he needs that much money or,
you know, what he's...
He's having to do.
And, who's putting pressure on him to get that money.
I can't imagine that he's spending that much money on food and commissary.
Evelyn: Since Bryan has been in prison,
it's been a daily struggle
not knowing what's happening there.
What he's going through.
Nicky: All the... the torment and the horrible things
that he's had to go through in prison,
I don't think my brother ever deserved to be put in that position.
Somebody had pulled a knife on him.
Basically, told him that if he didn't do certain things,
and get a certain amount of money,
get my mom to send a certain amount of money, by a certain time,
that he would go out of there in a body bag.
I feel like I'm a good person.
So I don't feel like I've done anything, like, to be punished for.
(Operator speaking)
(Angel speaking)
(Operator speaking)
(Angel speaking)
Newscaster: His home was ransacked
and bonner had duct tape over his mouth and nose,
which caused him to suffocate.
Andrea: Angel was 13 years old at the time
and I think that's obviously what stuck out, she was a child.
My question is if you're looking at this picture
can you swear under oath that this is not anything that you witnessed?
I can, like I've never seen that place before.
I saw cookie about once or twice a week.
I was thinking that tape might have come from here
'cause I used to pick stuff up like that.
Andrea: He told me angel often spent time in the garage,
so it's plausible angel had touched duct tape at their workshop.
There were only two options.
She was going to jail for the rest of her life or she was going home.
That is a piece of duct tape from exhibit 14a,
where I developed an identifiable print.
Man: And who was that a match to?
Woman: That was a match to angel bumpass.
Man: And you said that both these prints
were on the adhesive side of the tape? Is that correct?
Woman: Yes, that's correct.
Garth: I was able to hear a little bit of a moan in the room
when the jury heard that it was the sticky side of the duct tape.
I think it kind of registered in their heads, that hey,
she might have had to be there for her print to be on the sticky side.
She didn't get her fingerprint on the tape by playing with it.
She was helping her buddy valery Barnes commit a robbery.
Convict both these individuals of these crimes,
first degree murder and especially aggravated robbery.
This has been the worst year of my life,
I have to sit in court with people who I've never met,
about victims that I've never met, like, how?
Andrea: The only potential evidence that you've heard
against angel bumpass is in this case,
are two fingerprints on a piece of duct tape.
A mobile object that could've come from anywhere,
and could've gone anywhere.
If this duct tape ends up somewhere
and is used in the perpetuation of a crime,
am I considered to have been at that crime scene?
I did not believe the state had enough evidence against angel,
there were just so many questions.
(Man speaking)
(Woman speaking)
It felt like witnessing death.
I just wanna go, I'm never gonna see my kids again,
I just wanna go. Just let me go. (Crying)
(Man speaking)
I don't wanna grow old in prison
cause I've never done anything, so that's what's scary.
Dana, would you make sure to gather that bumpass file?
Yes, sir.
My name is William Dennis massey.
And I practice law in Memphis, Tennessee.
I'm gonna ask the judge to dismiss this case
based upon insufficient evidence presented at trial.
That's our goal.
We want to send angel home to her children.
Jason: If you didn't do it you shouldn't have to worry about it,
and uh, I just felt you know, at times, it's just so hard,
'cause you've got so many different people in different positions,
that are basically gunning for you.
They've pointed the finger at you,
they feel you've done this
and they're gonna stop at nothing to make sure that you pay for this crime.
Once the finger's pointed at you, god help ya,
'cause they don't let up, one iota.
It's very frustrating, you know things should be made right,
it's just you've gotta figure out how.
I truly believe, that if the evidence we had at the time of the criminal case
had been available to us at the civil case, we would have won.
You know, I interviewed all the jurors from Jason's criminal case.
I probably spent about ten hours on the phone with them
it's something you can do on the conclusion of a trial.
And what I learned turned out to be extremely powerful.
We keep up on the case, there's a few jurors that I speak to pretty regularly
and when we come across any type of information
like when he took it to the supreme court, we did watch that stuff,
and you become invested more than you ever think you would.
- So how you guys been? - Both: Good.
Yeah? It's been like, what, a year since we saw each other?
- Yeah. - Yeah. Before covid.
Tami: It was kind of a hard trial to set through.
It was, like so emotional, and we became pretty close through that.
If the jurors at the civil trial heard exactly what we heard in the murder trial
and if the evidence was all given to the defense team like it should have been,
I think the verdict at the civil trial
- would've been a completely different verdict. - Right.
- I totally agree. Yeah. - Yep.
My name is Mark ludwick.
It's spelled l-u-d-w-i-c-k.
Like, ludwick, he was just really their demise.
- Yeah. - I mean, that's the truth.
There are multiple reports
alleging that Joe sedlark, John followill and Joel followill
were involved in a homicide.
Yes, I believe we were told that.
Are you aware of any alibi evidence for either of those three individuals?
Regarding on June 19th...
For the morning of June 19th, 2015.
No, I do not know where Joe sedlark was,
I do not know where John followill was,
I do not know where Joel followill was.
- Why didn't you look into those people? - Why don't you?
I don't get why you don't.
He sealed the deal, for everyone, I think.
- Yeah. Oh, yeah. - Everybody.
Where's the case at now?
- Is it a closed case? - It is.
Have they reopened it and tried to find who the real killer is? I don't know.
I don't think the guy should've ever been on trial.
I am extremely frustrated that the case is apparently considered closed
after Jason was acquitted.
I think it's clear the jury spoke.
They have not found the person that's responsible for Shirley Carter's murder.
There should be an investigation
and it's flabbergasting to me that there hasn't been one.
Brandon: I got scared and I punched him, just one punch.
(Conversing)
It was my birthday and we was all outside just talking,
and I see Mr. Turner push New York through the screen door
and New York ended up falling on his head on the steps.
(Indistinct chatter)
I wanted to help him up, and Mr. Turner is jumping in front of my face
and was screaming and you know I got scared and I was just, threw a punch.
He hit the ground.
And you felt you were about to be attacked?
Yes, the punch was to just like back him off, honestly.
(Speaking)
It was a very serious case, it was a very stressful case.
I fully believed he was completely innocent.
I do everything I can to get the best result for my clients,
but in this case, it kept me up at night,
because if it went wrong, it was gonna be horribly wrong.
I wanted to help that night, but I didn't know helping was gonna cause this.
Now I'm thinking about prison every single day.
Wanda: Brandon has never been in trouble before.
I tried to hide my tears and told him,
"oh, it's gonna be all right."
But I don't know what's gonna happen, and not knowing is torture.
They're offering you a plea, to assault and battery in the second degree,
which is classified as a misdemeanor.
If you choose to accept this plea,
you can go home today a free man.
Wow, the one is, I feel I can still go up and move on with my life.
Brandon I know you're worried about what might happen with the jail time
but I never want you to admit to something you did not do.
It's always a very fluid process and you can always call their bluff,
but sometimes that's a mistake,
sometimes they withdraw the offer
and then your client is wishing they'd took it.
I should've took the deal. (Crying)
I wanna go home, mom.
Mom, I wanna go home. I'm sorry for everything.
No. Listen, listen to me.
I'm never ever gonna see you again.
You'll see me.
Steve: Jury's can be unpredictable and Brandon's future's in their hand
and he faces a very severe penalty if we lose.
This is what it's like to be accused of a serious crime.
Good morning.
The defense argued that Brandon decided to punch Mr. Turner because it was self-defense.
It's clearly not a fair fight, it was just an assault.
You heard the viciousness in that man's voice.
I'm gonna (bleep) This (bleep) Up.
Did he sound like a meek little old man?
Brandon's meek, he's scared of Mr. Turner.
He was open and honest, he said exactly what happened,
I don't think there was any reason to doubt anything he told them.
You didn't try anymore verbal things like,
"back the hell off, old man" you just popped?
Yes, sir.
Man: All rise.
Judge: Madam, you and your fellows, you've all reached a unanimous decision
woman: Yes, judge.
We the jury find the defendant, Brandon joyner...
not guilty.
Thank you so much.
That's the scariest thing you wanna encounter in your life, I promise you.
Steve: I have spoken with Brandon, he was going to school and working.
You know, he's going on with his life
and he just wants to move forward and put this behind him.
I feel completely confident that Brandon is not going to get into any trouble again.
This is someone who did the right thing,
and faced a very serious punishment for it,
and I feel confident that he's gonna go on with his productive life,
without any more interactions with the criminal justice system.
Woman: This call will be recorded and subject to monitoring at any time.
- How are things going? - (Bryan speaking)
Have they said anything to you about parole?
Do you feel hopeful about getting out?
Just keep up the hope.
And remember, there's a final day sometime
and hopefully it's very soon. Okay?
- (Bryan speaking) - I love you, too.
My name is Gwen ethridge and chandra is my daughter.
She was the love of my life.
Still was when she died.
And I think of her everyday and I miss her everyday.
Bryan took away a piece of me.
He took away a mother.
He took away somebody that was loved by a huge family.
I don't think Bryan should be released from prison right now.
I think he should spend at least five or six years, at least.
I think he should have remorse for what he's done.
And I think getting out too quick, he won't have that.
Woman: Churchill police say a home surveillance system
recorded Lawson shooting his wife,
investigators said that video also showed
the pair in an argument before the shooting.
The couple's small child was standing besides chandra Lawson when she was shot.
Man: Ready? Here you go.
What Braydon saw, what he went through.
(Sighs)
I don't know what to think.
Right after it happened
we put him in counselling and stuff.
Braydon kept telling me when he was little,
he'd say the gun went, pow, pow, pow,
then mommy fell
and mommy had juice all over her.
Chandra: (In video) What you do Braydon?
Look at the camera,
say cheese.
Gwen: Just don't think it would be good for Braydon
to see him right now when he's little,
because I'm afraid it will bring back
too many bad memories and stuff
that he won't understand or won't know how to deal with.
Hey, buddy, good to see you.
Good to see you.
I was thinking it's no good to hold hate towards somebody.
You're right. You're right.
What good does it do to me to sit in a room and just feel anger towards you?
And nothing good comes from anger, you can see that.
I do believe that Bryan is a murderer.
If he thought logically and had a real problem
there was nothing stopping him from getting up and leaving the apartment.
And he had time to get up, lean over the couch and grab the gun.
In that same amount of time, he could have easily walked out the door and left.
He said that it was for the safety of Braydon,
but I lived there and I know mom wouldn't hurt a hair on the child,
she loved him just as much as she loved me. It was her child.
When mom and Bryan first got married,
she came to me and asked if it was okay that she married him.
You know, I said, "okay, I want you to be happy, mom."
But I guess that's a decision I kinda regret now.
Gwen: I want people to know that chandra was a good mother.
She loved her kids.
Anything they wanted, she tried her best to see, that they got it.
I don't think any length of time will do justice.
Because there's nothing that's gonna bring her back.
I haven't seen him since February the 1st, 2019.
I miss him...
quite a bit.
And just want the day to finally come and see him in person
rather than only talk with him on the phone.
Oh, I cry sometimes.
Never was a crier out in public, but I've done a lot of crying through all of this.
(Bryan speaking)
So, I've got a crazy cousin. That takes care of my dad.
She drives a black Toyota or Nissan,
anyway, she got in front of me in the semi and then started hitting her brakes,
coming back closer and closer so that I could see her license plate.
She got a personalized license plates that says, "u r guilty."
And, when is this ever gonna end?
It's never gonna end until the law enforcement
decides to investigate the correct people.
That's when it will start to end.
But until then, it ain't never going to end.
My mom will sit there and be a cold case. Forever.
So, we know what the Iowa supreme court did back in march when it made its ruling.
With that, we did ask them to reconsider their order.
But the supreme court is the supreme court,
and that's the end of the line for the issues that we have in front of them.
But not necessarily the end of the road entirely.
Have you guys heard anything in the news
about the establishment of a cold case division?
- No. - No.
Okay, so...
Recently the Iowa senate passed this legislation
that would establish a cold case division.
What we would essentially do is put together our case for them.
Now we get to put evidence in the hands of law enforcement
that's really looking for an answer.
That's the thing. I mean, this information came from law enforcement.
It's hard to trust anyone.
Yeah, but we can put it together for somebody new.
I know. Look, I get it. I feel the same way.
- But they have resources, right? - What other choice do we have?
And I know that we've had bad experiences with bad law enforcement officers,
- but there are good ones out there. - Mm-hmm.
And I really think somebody who wants to be in a cold case division,
those are people who will want to bring peace to families who want
to find justice for people, and they won't have had
anything to do with the case so far.
I think it was disheartening for all of us to find out
that it was a closed investigation.
We're trying to reopen it.
- Seriously? - Yeah.
That is amazing.
- That's exciting. - That's great.
Alison: We're going to do what law enforcement failed to do during
their investigation.
Because whoever killed Shirley Carter did it brutally.
If we dig back through this step by step, there is a story that we can put
together that's based on evidence, that's based on witness testimony.
That shows what we believe could have happened to Shirley Carter.
From the very start, Mark ludwick and my father-in-law
made this case a trial in the eyes of the public,
and right away there were so many people who were so quick to judge,
it just made going to town sometimes almost unbearable.
Shelly: Mark ludwick put us through hell,
based on absolutely nothing but a feeling.
I mean, this will never be made right.
Shirley was taken from us. Her legacy, her family has been destroyed
and the people that did this walk out there today.
Someone do your job. And give our family a little peace.
So these are all people whose names have come up over and over again
in different reports as people had information about who was involved in
the murder of Shirley Carter.
So who's the first person that approached law enforcement with
variations of this fact pattern?
And I think that was (bleep), wasn't it?
- Yeah. - I have his audio.
(Joe speaking)
At the point when he said,
- "shot her twice..." - That's what I was
just about to say.
- That wasn't in the news. - That wasn't public information.
- That wasn't public at all. - No.
Alison: There's nowhere
that he could have got that information
except for,
somebody who was there
or being there himself.
And when there's all this discussion
about rumors and things,
that's come up a couple of times,
but this is the earliest time.
- That it came up. - Right.
Alison: Right let's see if there's anything else here.
Shelly: We're just so very thankful
I mean, to be honest, we're overwhelmed,
but in such a good way
that someone's actually investigating.
Jason: A lot of attorneys,
yeah, after I was acquitted would have said,
you know, "good luck."
But, man, I tell you what,
they have stuck behind us
through and through.
You know, how do you tell somebody,
you can never tell them thank you enough.
Christine: Okay, do you think anyone
brings this together more than (bleep)?
No, uh,
I remember the day that I read her report.
I remember the day that we listened to her audio.
It was one of the only times
in this case where I felt like,
we were getting close to figuring out
what had actually happened to Shirley.
(Sheriff kious speaking)
(Charity speaking)
Reed kious: Joe said, he did it?
(Charity speaking)
- (Reed kious speaking) - (Charity speaking)
(Continues speaking)
- Katie... - Yes, sir.
If you would please dial the warden secretary and, uh,
see if you can set up an appointment
in person, meeting with angel's office this week.
- Yes, sir. I'll get on it. - Thank you.
I didn't try the case, but I came in later for the appeal.
Worked at a number of convictions that were overturned before,
in Tennessee as well as in Mississippi.
When I looked at this case,
the first thing I said was that does not add up.
It made me want to look further into this case
to see how in the world an eighth grader
was charged with such a heinous crime.
It seemed like there were a lot of, um,
a lot of tenuous connections of angel
to this crime scene and to the people involved.
Our goal is to get a new trial at the state level,
from this court,
so I want to able to present the best case to this judge
that I can
to get angel bumpass a new trial.
Or have the case dismissed.
So when you're on appeal, what you're appealing are errors
of law.
For example, the detective that was the lead detective on the case
went out to interview Shirley and he said
she had called Franklin bonner
the day of his death or I assume, before his death,
and arranged to come over to his home and had gone there.
Of course, there's no statement about angel being involved at all,
according to the detective.
And the connections made in the state's argument
because angel lived with Shirley.
To me, that was a tenuous connection, it wasn't a strong connection at all.
What the case should be is, did the state
prove this case beyond a reasonable doubt?
That's something we have to look at, and that's an issue
that we will raise on this motion for new trial.
Uh, unfortunately, the motion for a new trial ran into covid.
What's holding up the filing of this motion at this time
is being able to sit down face to face
and go over each one of these issues
with angel bumpass.
And I've not yet been able to get the warden's okay
to come up and conduct a visit with her.
Hopefully that will be done asap.
She's ready to get her motion for the new trial heard
and I certainly am too. I know the judges and the state as well.
Our goal in this case is a dismissal.
That's our goal.
We want to send angel home to her children.
She has missed those children terribly.
So we should probably go over timeline.
Alison: We know,
Jason arrived at the Carter home,
we think.
The earliest possible time
would have been like 11:02, 11:03...
-So the question is, -Christine: Mm-hm.
What happened between 9.00 am and 11:00 am
when Jason arrived on the scene?
Scott: The house coming up
would be Billy Carter's house.
This is where the murder happened.
Jason's one of the harder cases to work.
It's easy to defend a criminal
or a guilty person
because you just want to make sure
they get a good, fair trial.
But when you know someone's innocent,
that puts a lot more pressure on you.
Scott: During the course of trial
uh, we got dumped on
all this new evidence.
So we were going through
and through the course of it,
there's always this mysterious vehicle
that was cited by neighbors
and people in this area.
But we didn't have any defining
evidence who that was
or what that vehicle was?
Scott: Johnson gave me some really good information.
I don't know what follow up was ever done on that.
(Prosecutor speaking)
(Both speaking)
David Johnson is in many ways
- our most unbiased witness. - Yep.
He's just not connected to anyone in any way.
He's just a guy who saw what he saw.
- And has a good memory. - Yeah.
Christine: Okay, let's pull the reports.
Alison: So, David Johnson saw two vehicles
um,
sometime between ten and ten thirty
in the morning that day.
The blue car waiting
just down the road from the Carter home.
And then also a red dodge pickup truck
um, driving at a high rate of speed
with tinted windows.
We did hear a report
from someone else talking about a truck.
(Krista speaking)
(Ludwick speaking)
(Krista speaking)
I certainly didn't know that Christine (bleep) Had a red (bleep) Pickup truck.
It's definitely something that I would want to investigate.
I mean, it could lead to something else,
especially if her truck has tinted windows.
Okay.
Hello. Hey, would you be willing to get a vehicle history for me?
- So let's see what we can find. - (Keyboard clacking)
I've jumped on quartz online.
So now we have the plate number,
ticket was issued to (Bleep), back in 2015.
And the vehicle description was a red dodge ram.
We found the vehicle was owned by (bleep).
We know that (bleep) Had access to the vehicle even though
she wasn't the owner.
Because she got picked up with the traffic violation.
As a matter of fact she was driving without a license.
We're gonna jump up on Google maps
and just see what the map shows.
Down the street view.
Just have a look at this area.
(Phone ringing)
- Allison: Hi, Scott. - Scott: Can you hear me?
We can hear ya.
- So what do you know? - (Scott speaking)
Okay.
Christine: Oh!
Scott says that this is from 2013
outside (bleep) House.
It's a red dodge ram, and it has tinted windows.
(Speaking)
So she was driving a red dodge ram
around the time of the murder,
but now we have an image of what we think...
I think is reasonable to say that
that probably is the red dodge ram
because we know that's (bleep).
We know it's in front of his apartment.
- Christine: Yeah. - Allison: And physically,
it seems to match the descriptions that we've seen
Whoever murdered Shirley
could possibly and even likely
have gotten some DNA from Shirley on onto them.
If they then got into this truck,
like maybe even just a little bit of blood or hair or whatever.
Christine: Yeah.
I mean, the chances of it still being there at this point, I don't know,
but I mean, blood lasts a long time.
If they... If they could find that,
it would be interesting to have the truck forensically examined,
I guess, is what I'm saying.
Jason: This whole things a bad nightmare,
you just expect to wake up from it, then you realize you are awake.
(Speaking)
Roland and Perry was a father and son.
Roland was killed at the scene, he was about 80 years old,
and then Perry's still alive today, but he's hurt very bad.
My client is accused of crossing over the double yellow line
and causing a head on collision, and the reason they say he crossed the line
is because he was using his cellphone
Jason: To be accused feels unfair.
Worst case scenario, I end up going to prison
the charges against Jason mccombs were of course very serious,
they would have likely ended his life because he would have
gone to prison for many decades.
Austin: If there jury were to come back and put you in prison,
then would pick a number, somewhere between 2 and 20 years.
The hardest person to represent is a person who did nothing wrong,
because there is no plea bargaining, no negotiating,
the only thing is to go to a jury trial and try to get a not guilty.
I can't thank you enough man.
I feel like mount Everest has just been taken off my back.
I haven't felt this way, since all this trial stuff started, since the arrest.
Nobody won in that jury trial. The only thing that happened
was a man did not go to prison for something he didn't do.
Putting your life, your outcome through 12 strangers hands,
is the most terrifying thing anybody could ever go through.
By god's grace I never have to go through that again
I don't think there's ever gonna be anything that's gonna remove
any of the guilt that Jason feels,
it's gonna be with him, he's gonna feel that guilt.
It's part of who he is,
and it'll probably be with him till the day he dies.
(Speaking)
- Mom? - Yes.
- Hey, how are you? - I'm all right.
Evelyn: I felt like he'd go in there and serve his time, get out,
and it would be okay but that's not the way it's been.
I know you're ready to get him home, for sure.
One problem after another.
One hill to climb, daily.
It just gets frustrating after a while.
I use the help of the lord to have hope,
to get me through the day and start another day.
All right.
We can support him that way by just encouraging him...
I know it's hard for you, mama.
I know, it is. It's not easy. Not easy.
(Bryan speaking)
This event has affected my life
and my mother's life quite a bit.
(Nicky crying) Just let me cry up here. (Sniffles)
When you would, you know, walk into the grocery store,
you see people pointing and people whispering
and you hear conversations that get back to you
about what things have been said behind your back
and what things have been said about your brother,
I mean, and about your family.
- Bye, mama. - Bye-bye.
- Love you. - Love you too.
There's always going to be that reminder here that, you know,
my brother was convicted of what he was
and it's just, it's going to be nice to start over
in a place where nobody knows me and get a fresh start.
I'm sad leaving mom, um,
mom's not getting any younger,
but I feel like it's something I have to do for myself.
She's going to be far away
and I just have to have hope and move on that things will be better.
Braydon, we're going to Nana's house.
I'm ready to go to Nana's house.
She loves Braydon just as much as I love Braydon,
and he loves her too. That's his Nana.
Give me a big hug. (Laughs)
Don't mind my hug. (Kisses)
(Sighs)
- I need a flat piece. - A flat piece.
I'm sure there's a lot of people don't understand
why we get along...
You know, I don't even care.
- I don't care what they think. - It don't matter.
Avenger.
I think we do it for Braydon
and that we want him to have the best life
and we just... Why not?
That's the way you treat everybody.
Kind, loving, respectful.
- Gwen: That's the way I want him to grow up too. - Evelyn: Yeah.
I don't want him to grow up with bitterness and anger and hatred
and, you know, all of it.
- So I don't want him to grow up like that. - No.
That's not a good life and there's too much of that now.
I can't imagine a life without him.
- I miss him when he's over here. - Oh, yeah.
You wonder what he's doing, where he's going.
But I don't worry about his safety or anything when he's over here.
I know he's taken care of.
I just do the best with him.
When Bryan is released from prison
and Braydon gets old enough,
that he starts asking and wants to see him,
I'm not gonna stop him from seeing him
because I... I don't think that would be good.
(Bryan speaking)
Me and that accusation don't go in the same sentence.
It destroys me as a mother, it destroys me as a human being.
(Speaking)
To think that somebody would accuse me of wanting to hurt my son,
and oh my god this kills me.
We have to take such an aggressive plan to defeat this.
I don't see the evidence to convict her, I do not.
We tore up the doctors, not a single doctor got on the stand
and said she said he was in pain, and that's a lie.
They have not brought forth any credible evidence
to convict danita.
She should be found not guilty so fast.
And that's what haunts me.
(Speaking)
We will do that.
No cuddles at night? No story time?
No life at all.
For what? For something I didn't even do.
Nate: We received the cell tower data
through discovery from the state,
and what they did is they amassed a data dump
from all the cell phone towers in the area.
So they just collect the numbers and the date and time
that the phone calls were placed back and forth.
The data dump that we received was for the day in question.
So June, 19th of 2015.
So we had, Tory from our team
pull phone numbers from the financial affidavits for these individuals,
and the search hits right here.
So you follow that over, six, nineteen, date of the murder,
9:36 a. M.
So this phone number called phone associated with (bleep).
It bounced off the closest tower to (indistinct)
Actually, this tower right here,
So at 9:36 in the morning, morning of the murder,
phone pinged off of that tower.
And this is hard evidence, right?
As opposed to, you know, rumors, hearsay, whatever.
We know for a fact that they received calls or made calls
- within that time frame right near the Carter home. - Yeah.
I don't know what alli's got, as far as...
I don't know what she's got. Or gonna tell us.
All right, so Christine and I have been talking through your case,
looking at it from a totally different angle,
from the way that we looked at it three years ago.
We have individuals who have knowledge
before anything was publicized.
We have multiple reports of this red pickup.
They thought it was a dodge.
- Yes. - Mm-hmm.
- Driving at high rates of speed in the area. - Yes.
Do you remember (bleep) Name?
Yes.
She's part of that crowd.
So apparently, (bleep) Drives a red dodge pickup truck.
We have a cell tower reports placing people who are
reported to be involved in the area.
We're starting to put things together and say, ok, these are the pieces
that we've got corroboration for, some of which we have hard evidence for.
And a lot of the stuff I feel like is still tip of the iceberg.
I mean, this is stuff that we've managed to find in the last two weeks
-but, you know, probably the sickest part is -(Jason scoffs)
Had they just done their job, the people that had done this,
- that have done this... - Would be in jail.
- Would be in jail for the rest of their life. - And for years now.
- Do you have anything uplifting? - (Laughs)
I think actually the uplifting part of this is that
everybody keeps saying this is hearsay, this is rumors,
this is, you know not reliable, well fine.
We do have some things that do tie these people to the scene of the crime.
We've already established a few more connections that we didn't make before
and I think we're going to keep doing that.
The reality is,
if we could get all the way over
-to we can prove who fired those shots, -mm-hmm.
That's gonna come back and help us with everything else along the way.
Um,
I couldn't thank you guys enough.
The Iowa supreme court ruling makes it difficult but all hope is not lost.
We're going to keep fighting until Jason tells us not to
and I don't know that that day is ever going to come.
Jason is angry about what happened to him, um, he's tired, too,
but mostly he seems to be driven by
not wanting to see this happen to anybody else ever again.
Um, and I think he's pretty courageous
to keep fighting like this.
I'm really humbled by what they're doing for us.
It'd be hard to... Hard to...
(Sniffles)
(Choking up) I miss... I miss my mom.