(dejvi speaking)
(georgia speaking)
(dejvi speaking)
Dejvi: We were like...
(georgia speaking)
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: Dejvi was acting in self-defense.
He absolutely thought there was no other way to stop his family
From getting shot or stabbed or hurt or injured or killed.
Georgia: The prosecution is trying to say that he should have backed away.
And I'm worried for him.
I never thought something like that was gonna happen to me,
But it did happen
And this is a nightmare that I can never wake up from.
(dramatic music playing)
My name is georgia nixon.
I'm a criminal defense attorney and I represent dejvi velia.
He's been accused of stabbing mr. Horne,
The alleged victim, three times with a screwdriver.
He was charged with assault with a deadly weapon,
With intent to kill,
Inflicting serious injury,
Which is basically attempted murder.
And the maximum sentence is 23 years in prison.
Back in April, 2019, dejvi was a senior in high school.
He was working at the gas station, which is owned by his family,
And he was there with his mother and his brother.
Mr. Horne came into the gas station
And a dispute started over money.
Dejvi's brother and mother went outside with mr. Horne.
When dejvi looks up, mr. Horne had knocked his brother unconscious.
Dejvi feels he has to intervene.
He runs outside to defend his brother.
Sees mr. Horne running to his vehicle.
Dejvi believes he's gonna get a weapon and shoot him or stab him.
So they get into a tussle.
And at some point,
Mr. Horne is stabbed three times with the screwdriver and his lung is punctured.
Fortunately, mr. Horne survived,
But he did receive some significant injuries.
The prosecution is trying to say that dejvi should have backed away
And should have left the matter alone.
Cases like this keep me up at night
Because I truly believe that he acted in the only way
He thought was possible to protect his family.
But the prosecution does not see it that way.
I feel like the jury may lean more towards the alleged victim.
Mr. Horne is from here.
He's a local boy.
Dejvi, being from albania, he is different.
The jury may not warm to him.
Dejvi's a good kid and I'm worried for him.
-How are you? -Woman: I'm good. How are you?
Good.
I work at my family store, which is a gas station.
My dad owns it and we all work here.
Albania, it is tough.
I left from there when I was 16.
My idea of america when I was in albania
Was like american dream.
Have a good day.
We came here for a better life.
At first when we moved here, we got the gas station.
Everything was going perfect.
We were having a great time with each other.
Store was busy, all that stuff.
Out of nowhere, one night working and everything changed.
The american dream turned into the american nightmare.
Now I'm looking at prison.
What I was trying to do was to protect myself and my family.
This case has destroyed my life
Because after the incident happened,
Every time somebody walks in,
I've got to pay attention to them.
Every time we come here,
We come here with that idea
That something might happen.
We have to be more cautious on everything that we do now.
Dejvi: I never thought something like that was gonna happen to me,
But it did happen,
And this is a nightmare that I can never wake up from.
-Dejvi: Hey. -Hey. You wanna come on back?
-Dejvi: Yeah. How are you? -Okay.
-Thanks for coming in. -Thank you.
This case is very serious.
You are charged with assault with a deadly weapon,
With intent to kill, inflicting serious injury.
And you're facing 23 years in prison.
I want you to go through the events of that night,
Starting with the two men coming into the gas station.
Georgia: So now you're left alone?
Can you remember what he said when he made the threat?
All right, so they're threatening you?
They're lying about the money and lying about the gas?
All right. What happened from there?
-You knew something was not good? -Yes, yes.
Okay.
(dejvi speaking)
So you were trying to prevent him
-From getting a weapon out of the car? -Yes.
So in your mind, he's killed your brother?
What happens next?
How did it make you feel?
Dejvi, I believe you did the right thing.
You were acting in self-defense.
But you have to take it seriously. You're facing prison.
As you know, mr. Horne has been charged
With simple assault for striking your brother.
I'll keep an eye on that,
Make sure you are apprised of when you need to come to court.
We'll meet again soon to discuss the next steps in your case.
Dejvi did what he did because he felt his family was in imminent danger.
I really wish that that was enough to convince a jury,
But mr. Horne was stabbed with a screwdriver,
And juries just want someone to pay for that.
Dejvi: After meeting with georgia, I'm a little worried
Because you never know what is gonna happen.
My life has been on hold for three years now.
It stopped me from going to college,
I couldn't travel to see my girlfriend.
She's albanian, just like me,
And we know each other for two years now.
To be in a long-distance relationship is really hard.
She knows about what happened
And she never looked at me different.
I've been trying to forget about it,
But that night is on my mind.
I don't forget any part of that night.
I hope I get my life together after this,
Because I'm not wrong for what I did.
I was just protecting my family.
But I think the worst sometimes.
I just try to keep the prison out of my mind
Because it's not a place that I want to be
And I know it's gonna destroy all my future.
I don't like crying, but it's...
Just stop, please.
Georgia: I represent dejvi velia.
He's charged with assault with a deadly weapon, with intent to kill,
Which is basically attempted murder,
And the maximum sentence is 23 years in prison.
I am headed the short distance
From my office to the scene of the incident
To talk to dejvi today.
I hope to get him more comfortable with his testimony.
I need to know that I know everything that there is to know.
Georgia: Hey, how's it going? Dejvi: Good, how are you?
So, from here, where was your brother and your mom?
They were right over there.
And I was in the middle of the store
And he just punched him and he fell right there.
You came running out of the store towards the vehicle?
Yes.
The guy turned back on me
And we started fighting together.
So when you and he are wrestling here,
Where is the screwdriver?
The screwdriver was in my pocket.
Okay. So nothing really happened here except pushing and shoving.
You end up on the ground with the guy.
-Yes. -Do you even remember pulling out the screwdriver?
I don't.
I know how it ended now.
Mr. Horne was stabbed with the screwdriver.
But tell me why you go towards the car.
I just, I didn't think. I was just...
I just jumped to close the door
So he couldn't reach for the gun,
Because I saw my brother on the ground and all I thought was he got shot.
So, if your brother got shot, 'cause that's what you know at this juncture,
-Yes. Yeah. -...'cause he's still not up,
Then you think he still has the weapon.
-Yes. -(clears throat)
Now what they might ask you, the prosecution,
If you thought he had the weapon,
What would he be reaching for in the car?
If he had the gun already, what would he be reaching for in the car?
I don't know.
Well, probably, he was reaching for another gun.
Maybe he was trying to hide it, or I don't know.
He said he thought mr. Horne was reaching for a gun,
But he also thought that mr. Horne
Had already shot his brother.
I just pointed that out to him
And he sort of gave me a reaction
That was almost like a deer in the headlights.
He was stunned and he had to sort of backtrack.
It's difficult when anybody changes their story.
Going over the testimony today with him step-by-step
Just heightens my concern
Of how he'll do in front of the jury.
(arjan speaking)
(indistinct chatter)
(arjan speaking)
Georgia: This is my parents' restaurant,
The pavilion, in greensboro, north carolina.
(speaking greek)
(in english) my mom and dad moved here
From greece to north carolina,
And then eventually, they had four kids.
They made sure all four of us had a job.
I've done everything you can possibly do in the restaurant,
Which is probably the reason I went to law school.
Dejvi's parents came here in search of the american dream just like my parents did.
My family worked really hard to get where they were
And I feel like the velia family has done the same,
And I just hope that race doesn't become a factor in this case.
I do believe it might.
Generally, we worry about a black defendant with a white jury.
Now I've got to worry about an immigrant from albania and what stigma that carries.
Honestly, I don't know what it's like not to be an immigrant in north carolina,
So it makes me feel really close to dejvi.
He's just here trying to earn a living,
Trying to get an education, trying to better himself,
And he finds himself staring down 20 years.
We went out to the scene,
And dejvi was making a few statements
That could be perceived as being contradictory.
I need him to look at the cctv footage
And really pin down exactly what he was thinking.
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: Okay.
Now mr. Horne's back.
Dejvi: Yes. Georgia: Now it's two of them.
And your mom comes out to be with you while engjell's in the back?
Yes, yes. Yeah.
Can you explain what's happening there?
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: They still won't leave.
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: Tell me what happened right there.
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: The prosecution's theory is that you grabbed it
Before any of your family members were threatened.
But the fact that you put it in your pocket,
To me, suggests that you just took it for protection.
Georgia: All right, so your brother tells you to go in.
Dejvi: Yes. Georgia: So it happens very quickly.
You're barely back to the door, but you do make it back in.
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: Wow.
All right, now, it looks like he's running from you,
And you're chasing him right there.
Are you trying to make sure he doesn't get away
'cause he's just hurt your brother?
(dejvi speaks)
Georgia: That bothers me.
I am a little concerned that the d.A. Is gonna say
You could have disengaged.
They may think it looks as if you pursued him.
That's a problem.
It looks like he's running from you
And you're chasing him right there.
The d.A. Is gonna say you could have disengaged.
But if he had a gun,
He'd just be in a better position to shoot you.
Dejvi: Yeah.
Georgia: He's trying to get in the car to get away. Dejvi: Yeah.
Georgia: Right. He opens the door again.
Georgia: And he gets back out?
Dejvi: Yes. Georgia: You have any idea what you're picking up there?
(dejvi speaking)
Georgia: It looks like when he first comes towards you, you use it.
Georgia: And then he tries to run you over again. Dejvi: Yeah.
Mr. Horne had the ability to get into the vehicle twice.
He did not take the opportunity to leave the scene.
We have no idea what his intentions are.
The car is a deadly weapon, and it's coming right at you
At a high rate of speed.
It's clearly justified use of force.
I really like having the footage.
There are certain things
That are good for us,
But there are certain things
That the prosecutor
Will use against us.
At this juncture, my guess is
That they're gonna say that horne tried to get away twice.
And I think it's clear from the video,
Dejvi is going after mr. Horne.
But mr. Horne has no intention of leaving, he's reaching for a weapon.
(indistinct chatter)
Dejvi: We're driving to work right now.
We're a little bit late, like always,
Because of my brother.
Because he was still asleep and I had to wake him up.
Engjell: He looks out for me, I look out for him.
You know, we do mostly everything together.
But when it comes to talk about his girlfriend.
Then we don't talk about that 'cause that's all off-limits.
Engjell: In high point, there's a lot of shootings.
There's a lot of drugs. There's a lot of guns.
There's a lot of everything.
Like, shootings every day.
Dejvi: Especially on this store over here, there's a lot of shootings.
Engjell: The danger is there every day.
I mean, whenever we open the door in the morning
Until we close the door at night, the danger is there.
The night shift is not for our parents.
So that's why it's me and my brother during the night over there
Because during the day is lot of nice people.
Their attitude changes like this at night. It just...
Boom. Just like that.
Dejvi: I don't really feel safe here because everybody has a gun.
You never know when it's coming, and from where.
Georgia: Hey.
-Hey. -How's the afternoon been going?
Georgia: I just got back from the courthouse
With dejvi's brother engjell.
Mr. Horne was convicted of punching out engjell
And he got probation.
So when he testifies,
I will use that conviction as well as others on his record
To impeach him as a credible witness.
When the judge sentenced mr. Horne to probation,
Engjell got a little bit emotional.
He stormed out of the courtroom
And he actually had to apologize to judge davis.
Rebecca: Oh, my goodness.
What happened in court that he had to go back and apologize for?
When he saw the video, he just kind of lost it and got angry.
The judge indicated to me that he was gonna hold engjell in contempt.
If he does that in dejvi's trial,
He may be the reason that dejvi gets convicted.
It was unacceptable.
If you can get engjell in so we can go over his testimony
And his emotions and keeping them in check,
That would be of great help to me.
Rebecca: Perfect. I'll get on it.
-Thank you so much. -You're welcome.
Georgia: It's so important that mr. Horne got a conviction today,
Because if anybody is to be convicted out of this incident, it's mr. Horne.
He's the one who came in looking for trouble,
He's the one who found the trouble,
And I have no doubt in my mind
That he was gonna cause way more trouble than what was caused
If dejvi had not stopped him.
I was on the fence
About whether to call engjell as a witness.
He is very upset about the incident,
Even though it has been three years.
But I have no choice now.
We're gonna have to get his emotions in check.
Okay. (sighs)
So the district attorney's office has notified me that
They are gonna put you under subpoena
Because they want to introduce the video from your gas station.
I know when you see the video, it's gonna upset you again.
It's fine if you get a little bit emotional,
But you know what I'm talking about.
At mr. Horne's hearing, you got really upset.
Mmm-hmm.
He was lying the whole time in that case.
He said that I was threatening him.
He he said that I was trying to hit him.
He was scared for his life.
None of it is true.
I just need you to make sure
You try to keep your composure as best as possible.
It's very bad when you're in your own store
And you're scared for your life every single day. It is--
That's what I need for you and dejvi to convey to the jury.
And sometimes, you want to be the tough guy.
Well, see, when you come there
And you ask for trouble, trouble you're gonna get it.
I understand that.
I'm a little worried about the jury, though.
I... I mean, I am.
Saying something like,
"if they come in looking for trouble, they're gonna get it,"
Is a little problematic.
Don't try to be a macho man.
Tell the truth. Tell how you felt.
Okay. I agree with that.
My biggest concern about engjell is that
He's still very emotional about what happened.
I think he feels a little bit that he let his brother down
And I don't want him to make up for that on the stand.
I want him to stick to the facts and how he felt.
Dejvi: I've been dating my girlfriend for two-and-a-half years now,
And this situation with the trial has been,
It's been with us that whole time.
She helps me a lot, and she's more positive than I am.
So she's been there for me.
How's your day going?
Pretty good. I'm just waiting for the trial.
I hope everything goes well.
-You don't have to worry. -Hmm.
I'm pretty positive about the whole thing, so.
Going through what I've been through with the incident,
I think having her is the best thing that I've ever had.
That's why I decided to ask her to marry me.
I mean, I feel great. I mean, I got a "yes."
(chuckles)
From the person that I love, so.
I can't wait to come and see you.
Drikeda: Everything will be over and then...
We'll get married.
We'll be pretty happy.
(chuckles)
Dejvi: Now that I have her, I have a lot more to lose.
She's part of my family too now.
I want to beat this for her,
Myself and our future together here.
We will go through this stronger.
Prior to today, I didn't have any any medical records.
All I know is that mr. Horne
Elected to check himself out against medical advice.
We'll see how bad it is.
Rebecca, can you come in here?
Here are the pictures. They're not the best, but...
That's...
Georgia: Puncture wound on the chest.
Rebecca: Right.
It's hard to see, but I think that's a laceration right there.
Rebecca: I see it.
Georgia: I'm afraid that's probably where his lung collapsed...
Rebecca: Okay. Georgia: ...And they've got the bandage packed on it.
And then we've got the medical records here.
They do determine that it was life-threatening injuries.
"patient arrives as a level-one trauma."
I do know that a level-one trauma is the worst to be in.
Which, that's a little bit of a surprise to me
Because everything I read before these medical records came in
Indicated that he checked himself out.
So overall, would this result be good or bad for us, you think?
Yeah, the prosecution is gonna say
Because he punctured a lung, he intended to kill,
But I don't think he ever intended to puncture the lung.
I think the pictures look bad.
The prosecution's gonna blow up the picture and use it to say,
"look how bad his injuries were."
So, you know, a couple of weeks ago
I was feeling a little more confident.
I love having these at the last minute.
I'm worried about the pictures.
It makes him look sympathetic.
He's this young kid sitting in the hospital.
The prosecution has always been adamant that dejvi intended to kill him,
And they're gonna use the injury to back that up.
But dejvi is the most gentle soul I've ever seen.
He's young, and he's shy.
He didn't intend to kill anybody.
Georgia: We are two weeks away from the trial
And it's coming down to the wire.
I need to assess whether dejvi can take the stand,
Whether he needs to take the stand,
And whether it's in his best interests to take the stand.
All right, so, I think it's extremely important
That if we decide we're gonna have to put you on the stand,
You've got to be very confident.
Georgia: Okay.
I'm a little scared
Of the prosecutor cross-examining you.
They're gonna try to trip you up.
The d.A. Is not gonna be nice to you.
So if they come at you hard with,
"you knew you were gonna grab a screwdriver.
"you grabbed a weapon to go after him, to hurt mr. Horne."
What's your response to that?
This is what I'm worried about.
I really need you to be very clear in your story.
All right? You just gotta kind of get that through your head.
-You gotta be strong about that. -Yeah.
A lot of it's gonna depend on you.
(dejvi speaking)
Uh... It's up to you. You have to do your best.
I'm worried, and I feel like jurors don't really understand self-defense.
And I have to find a way for them to understand that you had no choice.
Did you try to kill mr. Horne?
No.
Did you even try to hurt mr. Horne?
I need you to explain to the jury, you weren't just guessing that he had a gun.
He told you he was gonna kill you.
So, everything they said, you believed.
And then you go out and look
And your brother's laying on the ground, and you think he's dead.
And you see him reaching for something
And you know that you're gonna be next.
I know you want this over with.
I know you do. I want it over with too.
(dejvi speaking)
Wow.
I hope you make that ticket.
-All right, I will see you. -Thank you so much.
I'll talk to you later.
Dejvi is certain that we're gonna get a not guilty.
He's so certain he booked a ticket
To visit his fiancee in albania the week after the trial.
I wish I could be as certain.
I'm a little worried about how it went.
I'm just not sure he's going to be able
To convey just how chaotic it was that evening.
I think after today I'm even more apprehensive about putting him on the stand.
It's just getting real. It's getting down to the wire.
It's a lot on my shoulders.
The d.A. And I started talking about scheduling for the trial,
And he made a plea offer.
If you get convicted of what you're charged with, you will do prison time.
So he's offering a definite probationary sentence,
Non-prison term.
Generally 36 months.
I'm shocked.
Me too.
But there's a couple of problems with taking the plea.
You would be a convicted felon.
You can't vote, you cannot bear firearms,
And I don't think you could work in the store,
Because you sell alcohol.
And I cannot travel, go to europe to see my fiancee?
You would have to get permission for every time you travel until you were off probation.
I don't know. I don't know what to say now.
Are you thinking about taking it?
-Do you not wanna take it? -Engjell: No!
Georgia: No, no. You're not the one who does the prison time.
We're not taking nothing.
Georgia: You stop for a minute.
I don't want the prison time.
Georgia: I know you don't.
I'm hoping to win, but I may not.
This is offering you a guarantee.
Well...
This is the land of opportunities, I guess.
We come here, we work hard,
And this is what we get.
We get this? No.
We're not taking it.
Again...
I know it's him, but...
No.
This is straight (bleep).
Georgia: You don't have to tell me now.
Take the night to think about it,
And we'll deal with it in the morning.
All right, I will see you tomorrow.
Thank you. (sighs)
Georgia: I think dejvi is considering the possibility of the plea,
But engjell's not gonna let him take it.
He's got dejvi's life in his hands,
Which is a bad situation for dejvi,
But it's dejvi's decision.
They're a tight-knit family
And the family will have a lot of input
On whether or not he takes the plea.
I'm not saying I think dejvi wants to take it,
But if he doesn't take the plea...
It's an incredible gamble.
I'm sorry, I'm still just processing it.
Dejvi: I was offered a plea agreement to get probation.
After thinking about it overnight, I'm not gonna take the plea
Because I'm not a felon.
I'm taking the risk.
And if it doesn't pay off, I'm ready for it.
I've been waiting for three-and-a-half years,
So it's finally time.
Georgia: It's very difficult to be offered no prison time and turn it down.
That has just ramped up my anxiety on this case.
Georgia: Engjell's testimony was a big worry for me.
It really helped that the state called him
Because I could ask him the leading questions.
So he ended up doing a lot better than I expected.
Georgia: Mr. Horne's testimony is a little problematic for me.
He made the velias seem to be very aggressive
And that he was just, just there.
Mr. Horne worrying you a little bit?
I mean, he's worrying me, but at the same time, he's lying for everything.
I just have to prove he's lying.
Yeah, I know you have to prove that.
But to me, whenever I hear him talking I'm like, "no."
-Because you know what happened that night. -Yeah.
I have to make sure the jury knows.
You're gonna have to testify tomorrow, um,
About threats he was making, and why you did what you did.
Dejvi is very soft-spoken
And still quite emotional about all this.
Look, he just turned down a plea deal
That would have given him probation,
And now we're in it all the way.
And he doesn't know whether he's gonna go to prison
Or go get to see his fiancee Monday.
So I'm really worried about dejvi,
But I think he has to take the stand.
Dejvi: Today is finally my time to testify.
And I'm gonna do my best because it's my life in the line, so.
The other guy is only lying so that's kind of a problem,
Because I don't know if they're gonna believe him or me.
Georgia: I think it went okay.
The charging officer admitted that he had only been on the job for a couple of months,
And did zero follow up.
But I do have concerns.
Dejvi's gotta do a great job because everything rests on his testimony.
It's all up to him.
-All right, you ready? -Yeah.
All right, let's go.
Georgia: Dejvi did a phenomenal job testifying today.
He was straight to the point.
He sounded credible to me.
He did an amazing job.
I did get a lot of emotions
Because I had to talk about
What me and my brother had to go through that night.
And we've been going through that
For three-and-a-half years now.
So...
I had to get emotional. Um...
I just...
I'm just waiting for tomorrow. I hope everything goes well.
I may end up in jail for, like, 20 years or something,
Or be free again.
If I did end up in jail,
It's gonna be the end of my life, I guess.
I hope I've done everything that I can possibly do
To help him walk out of the courtroom with me.
I... I made it.
He never do anything wrong. He just protect his family.
(voice breaking) and that's it, nothing.
(crying)
God was with me today.
(arjan sobbing)
Oh, my god.
Georgia: I love the fact that I was able to get you a not guilty.
I would love to say I was confident the whole time,
But I didn't sleep a wink last night.
(speaking albanian)
(in english) three-and-a-half years has been hell for me,
Hell, since that day.
Finally gonna live my life again.
What did I tell you?
You told me not to worry about it.
I told you not to worry about anything,
Everything is gonna be fine.
You are a free man.
I'm a free man.
Drikeda: (on phone) dejvi?
I have a great news for you.
I'm gonna make that trip on the 6th,
I'm coming to you, to see you.
And they found me not guilty, so finally, finally, finally.
Drikeda: I'm so happy.
I love you so much.
-And I cannot wait to see you in a week. -I love you, too.
-Bye. -Bye.
Not going away, I'm gonna be with her in a week,
And we're gonna have fun for the rest of our life.