1 00:00:00,104 --> 00:00:02,020 Elizabeth Carmichael was ahead of her time. 2 00:00:02,312 --> 00:00:04,854 ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: I can do anything a man can do. 3 00:00:04,938 --> 00:00:08,479 I will run the auto industry like a queen. 4 00:00:10,062 --> 00:00:13,270 SPEAKER: This three-wheeler flew in the face of tradition. 5 00:00:14,020 --> 00:00:16,270 People were flocking to make deposits. 6 00:00:16,521 --> 00:00:18,437 SPEAKER 2: She brought in thirty-grand a day. 7 00:00:18,813 --> 00:00:21,145 There was so much cloak and dagger going on. 8 00:00:21,354 --> 00:00:23,854 We didn't have the equipment to make a car. 9 00:00:23,938 --> 00:00:25,562 SPEAKER 3: People weren't getting their paychecks. 10 00:00:25,979 --> 00:00:29,229 She was getting nervous, and she hired bodyguards. 11 00:00:30,104 --> 00:00:32,062 You're not telling me this wasn't the mafia. 12 00:00:33,062 --> 00:00:33,771 SPEAKER 4: In the shop, 13 00:00:34,270 --> 00:00:37,270 there was a briefcase full of cash and a revolver. 14 00:00:37,562 --> 00:00:38,979 SPEAKER 5: Bad things were going to happen. 15 00:00:39,270 --> 00:00:41,729 We were driving when it came on the radio. 16 00:00:41,813 --> 00:00:43,437 We thought that Liz had been killed. 17 00:00:43,521 --> 00:00:44,646 (TIRES SCREECHING) 18 00:01:05,437 --> 00:01:08,604 ♪ (SYNTHESIZER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 19 00:01:09,312 --> 00:01:11,312 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 20 00:01:12,854 --> 00:01:16,312 G. ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: 21 00:01:31,396 --> 00:01:32,479 And, um... 22 00:02:00,354 --> 00:02:02,187 (TAPE CLICKS) 23 00:02:06,479 --> 00:02:08,062 ♪ (MUSIC ENDS) ♪ 24 00:02:08,479 --> 00:02:12,270 (RINGING) 25 00:02:13,813 --> 00:02:15,688 VERN VIHLENE: I got a call from Liz one day 26 00:02:15,771 --> 00:02:17,646 that they had chartered an airplane 27 00:02:17,729 --> 00:02:21,396 and they were going to take some of their prototype cars 28 00:02:21,479 --> 00:02:24,062 and do television commercials in Dallas. 29 00:02:24,145 --> 00:02:26,354 I was supposed to get an advance payment 30 00:02:26,437 --> 00:02:27,729 of three thousand dollars. 31 00:02:27,813 --> 00:02:29,145 But the day before the shoot, 32 00:02:29,229 --> 00:02:32,979 I still had not received my deposit. 33 00:02:33,062 --> 00:02:34,354 And I wasn't happy about it, 34 00:02:34,437 --> 00:02:36,813 so I just walked into her office. 35 00:02:36,896 --> 00:02:38,187 ♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 36 00:02:38,270 --> 00:02:40,020 VIHLENE: There was a bunch of gentlemen in there, 37 00:02:40,104 --> 00:02:41,521 and they were in some sort of a meeting, 38 00:02:41,604 --> 00:02:43,771 and Liz was behind her giant desk. 39 00:02:44,729 --> 00:02:47,020 I have no idea who these people were, 40 00:02:47,104 --> 00:02:48,938 but they were serious businessmen. 41 00:02:49,020 --> 00:02:51,521 They were dressed to the teeth, as was Liz. 42 00:02:51,604 --> 00:02:53,312 What they were discussing, what was going-- 43 00:02:53,396 --> 00:02:55,562 I have no idea, but I was very uncomfortable. 44 00:02:55,646 --> 00:02:58,104 I knew I should not have been in that room. 45 00:02:59,270 --> 00:03:02,229 And I put a copy of the invoice on her desk, and I said, 46 00:03:02,312 --> 00:03:04,854 "If we're going tomorrow, I gotta have this." 47 00:03:04,938 --> 00:03:07,604 And she opened her desk drawer and counted out... 48 00:03:08,396 --> 00:03:10,813 thirty 100-dollar bills for me. 49 00:03:10,896 --> 00:03:14,521 I left the room feeling a little bit apprehensive, 50 00:03:14,604 --> 00:03:17,312 but as far as I was concerned, we were heading to Dallas 51 00:03:17,396 --> 00:03:20,020 the next day to film a commercial. 52 00:03:20,104 --> 00:03:24,270 It was probably two hours later someone started shooting. 53 00:03:25,437 --> 00:03:26,979 (GUNSHOT) 54 00:03:28,104 --> 00:03:30,062 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 55 00:03:30,145 --> 00:03:31,896 RADIO ANCHOR: Late this afternoon, 56 00:03:31,979 --> 00:03:33,896 someone was shot to death in the showroom 57 00:03:33,979 --> 00:03:36,896 of the Twentieth Century Motor Car Company. 58 00:03:36,979 --> 00:03:38,646 CANDI MICHAEL: I remember pulling over 59 00:03:38,729 --> 00:03:41,896 and frantically talking, "What do we do? What do we do?" 60 00:03:41,979 --> 00:03:44,145 Vivian was scared to death. 61 00:03:46,938 --> 00:03:48,312 We thought it was Liz. 62 00:03:52,771 --> 00:03:54,938 When we got to Dallas, 63 00:03:55,729 --> 00:03:57,396 Liz was at home. 64 00:03:57,479 --> 00:04:02,062 -(GIRLS GIGGLING) -CANDI: Liz had already flown to Dallas. We didn't know this. 65 00:04:02,145 --> 00:04:05,104 We were all just happy Liz was there, and we didn't care. 66 00:04:05,187 --> 00:04:07,437 You know, "Mommy's all right. Life goes on." 67 00:04:07,521 --> 00:04:11,229 And that's when she said that it was between the bodyguards. 68 00:04:11,312 --> 00:04:13,938 There's been no official explanation as to what happened, 69 00:04:14,020 --> 00:04:15,688 but we have learned the victim was a man 70 00:04:15,771 --> 00:04:17,104 identified as Bill Miller. 71 00:04:17,187 --> 00:04:18,854 It's believed that Miller and another man 72 00:04:18,938 --> 00:04:20,938 got into a heated argument in a small office 73 00:04:21,020 --> 00:04:22,521 next to the showroom. 74 00:04:22,604 --> 00:04:25,062 One suspect has been jailed on suspicion of murder, 75 00:04:25,145 --> 00:04:28,104 47-year-old Jack Oliver of Huntington Beach. 76 00:04:28,187 --> 00:04:29,979 And it so happens that the murdered man, 77 00:04:30,062 --> 00:04:32,437 William Miller, first met Oliver at San Quentin. 78 00:04:32,521 --> 00:04:34,104 They were cellmates together. 79 00:04:34,187 --> 00:04:37,771 JACKIE POWELL: William Miller was my dad Jack's cellmate 80 00:04:37,854 --> 00:04:40,437 at San Quentin Prison. 81 00:04:40,521 --> 00:04:46,270 He and my dad were bodyguards for Liz Carmichael. 82 00:04:46,354 --> 00:04:50,270 There was an investigator from the Security Exchange 83 00:04:50,354 --> 00:04:53,562 coming to look through the books of the company. 84 00:04:54,312 --> 00:04:56,562 To quiet the investigation, 85 00:04:56,646 --> 00:04:59,062 Bill Miller had come up with a plan 86 00:04:59,145 --> 00:05:03,312 to assassinate this investigator. 87 00:05:03,396 --> 00:05:06,312 My dad said, "No, this isn't gonna work. 88 00:05:06,396 --> 00:05:08,771 This isn't what we should do." 89 00:05:08,854 --> 00:05:12,646 They wrestled over the gun, and according to my dad, 90 00:05:12,729 --> 00:05:16,646 the gun went off, and he shot Miller four times. 91 00:05:16,729 --> 00:05:18,562 (GUNSHOTS) 92 00:05:19,896 --> 00:05:21,854 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 93 00:05:28,062 --> 00:05:30,479 DICK CARLSON: Mrs. Carmichael can't be reached for comment today. 94 00:05:30,562 --> 00:05:31,979 According to a company spokesman, 95 00:05:32,062 --> 00:05:33,270 she is currently in Texas. 96 00:05:33,354 --> 00:05:35,854 She's trying to negotiate a deal for an assembly plant 97 00:05:35,938 --> 00:05:38,270 she says was abandoned by the Ford Motor Company. 98 00:05:38,354 --> 00:05:41,896 Carmichael had a perfect alibi. She'd left an hour before 99 00:05:41,979 --> 00:05:44,229 from Burbank Airport to fly out to Texas, 100 00:05:44,312 --> 00:05:46,604 where she was opening another facility. 101 00:05:46,688 --> 00:05:48,020 All of this, of course, makes one wonder 102 00:05:48,104 --> 00:05:51,062 why Mrs. Carmichael didn't take her bodyguard along with her, 103 00:05:51,145 --> 00:05:52,854 why she had one in the first place. 104 00:05:52,938 --> 00:05:55,312 Of course, it's a little late for that now. 105 00:05:55,396 --> 00:05:57,729 MARK MACCARLEY: Up until the homicide 106 00:05:57,813 --> 00:05:59,646 that took place in the Encino office, 107 00:05:59,729 --> 00:06:01,354 it was only after that, and very quickly, 108 00:06:01,437 --> 00:06:04,187 law enforcement agencies start taking a closer look 109 00:06:04,270 --> 00:06:07,604 and the press turned on her and said, "This is a scam." 110 00:06:10,437 --> 00:06:11,979 CARLSON: We decided once again this morning 111 00:06:12,062 --> 00:06:14,020 to pay a visit to the Dale headquarters in Encino 112 00:06:14,104 --> 00:06:16,479 to see if they were still selling options on their cars. 113 00:06:16,562 --> 00:06:18,437 They did yesterday. They weren't doing that, 114 00:06:18,521 --> 00:06:20,104 but they weren't doing anything else either. 115 00:06:20,187 --> 00:06:22,229 GERRY MCGUINNESS: Things started to fall apart. 116 00:06:22,312 --> 00:06:25,020 It happened rapidly. One thing after another. 117 00:06:25,104 --> 00:06:27,604 Boom, boom, boom. You couldn't turn on the TV 118 00:06:27,688 --> 00:06:29,604 without seeing a negative report. 119 00:06:29,688 --> 00:06:31,896 CARLSON: Lots of irritated Dale investors were in the lobby 120 00:06:31,979 --> 00:06:33,729 trying to get somebody to pay attention to them, 121 00:06:33,813 --> 00:06:35,396 mostly to get their money back. 122 00:06:35,479 --> 00:06:38,646 I was told that I would receive the money within 10 days, 123 00:06:38,729 --> 00:06:40,896 but I-- I'm a little dubious about it, 124 00:06:40,979 --> 00:06:43,437 and I came here to collect it, and they're closed. 125 00:06:43,521 --> 00:06:46,729 People had begun to show up at the showroom 126 00:06:46,813 --> 00:06:48,396 asking for their money back. 127 00:06:48,479 --> 00:06:50,688 INVESTOR: Let me get my money, that's all I want. 128 00:06:50,771 --> 00:06:52,729 Money, here. Twentieth Century. 129 00:06:52,813 --> 00:06:55,104 I called them last night at nine o'clock, and they-- 130 00:06:55,187 --> 00:06:56,688 they said, "Come on in," you know, 131 00:06:56,771 --> 00:06:58,145 "we'll do what we have to." 132 00:06:58,229 --> 00:07:00,354 And then I came in, and they wouldn't do anything. 133 00:07:00,437 --> 00:07:01,521 So we pounded on the windows, 134 00:07:01,604 --> 00:07:03,062 and they still wouldn't do anything. 135 00:07:06,854 --> 00:07:08,771 CARLSON: Now, we tried to get some reaction from the people 136 00:07:08,854 --> 00:07:10,437 out at Twentieth Century Motors in Encino, 137 00:07:10,521 --> 00:07:13,354 but all the company officers, including Mrs. Carmichael, 138 00:07:13,437 --> 00:07:15,604 are in Dallas, promoting the Dale in that city. 139 00:07:15,688 --> 00:07:18,521 So we can't very well present their side of the story at this time. 140 00:07:20,062 --> 00:07:23,521 ♪ ("TRAVELIN" BY JIMMY CARTER AND DALLAS COUNTY GREEN PLAYS) ♪ 141 00:07:26,145 --> 00:07:29,479 CANDI: I remember when we came to Dallas, 142 00:07:29,562 --> 00:07:32,688 there was a lot of media attention. 143 00:07:32,771 --> 00:07:35,521 I just remember there was a whole bunch of people 144 00:07:35,604 --> 00:07:38,187 with cameras at the airport, 145 00:07:38,270 --> 00:07:41,479 and the family was all together, all the kids and Liz, 146 00:07:41,562 --> 00:07:43,771 and we were waiting for the airplane to arrive 147 00:07:43,854 --> 00:07:46,604 that was bringing the Dale from Los Angeles. 148 00:07:48,854 --> 00:07:51,604 When they finally got it out, 149 00:07:51,688 --> 00:07:53,813 there was a big round of applause. 150 00:07:53,896 --> 00:07:55,979 (APPLAUSE) 151 00:07:56,062 --> 00:07:58,521 CANDI: It was just awesome. 152 00:07:58,604 --> 00:08:01,479 It was just really amazing, the whole thing. 153 00:08:01,562 --> 00:08:03,479 ♪ Begged me To take her with me... ♪ 154 00:08:03,562 --> 00:08:04,813 GERRY BANKS: Once she got to Dallas, 155 00:08:04,896 --> 00:08:07,521 Liz got a lot of television coverage, 156 00:08:07,604 --> 00:08:09,896 was shown on all the local stations. 157 00:08:10,771 --> 00:08:12,312 At the time this happened, I had been 158 00:08:12,396 --> 00:08:16,479 assistant district attorney for about three years. 159 00:08:16,562 --> 00:08:20,896 There was a vehicle that was supposedly the prototype 160 00:08:21,020 --> 00:08:22,562 that had been brought from California, 161 00:08:22,646 --> 00:08:25,938 and it was kept in a garage out in Addison. 162 00:08:28,646 --> 00:08:31,020 And we went out there and looked at it. 163 00:08:31,104 --> 00:08:32,354 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 164 00:08:32,437 --> 00:08:37,104 BANKS: And it was a large toy kit car at the very best. 165 00:08:37,896 --> 00:08:40,521 If Liz wasn't there on the scene 166 00:08:40,604 --> 00:08:41,854 and wasn't convincing you, 167 00:08:41,938 --> 00:08:44,062 and you started looking at this critically, 168 00:08:44,145 --> 00:08:45,729 it was a house of cards. 169 00:08:47,771 --> 00:08:49,521 Liz, you did this in California. 170 00:08:49,604 --> 00:08:51,354 If you think you're gonna screw millions of dollars 171 00:08:51,437 --> 00:08:53,562 out of people in Texas, not going to happen. 172 00:08:53,646 --> 00:08:54,896 We're gonna prosecute it. 173 00:08:54,979 --> 00:08:56,854 ANCHOR 1: This late development from Dallas, Texas. 174 00:08:56,938 --> 00:09:00,187 The district attorney of Dallas has issued criminal complaints 175 00:09:00,270 --> 00:09:01,479 against 10 officers 176 00:09:01,562 --> 00:09:04,062 of the Twentieth Century Motor Car Company of Encino, 177 00:09:04,145 --> 00:09:07,104 manufacturers of the controversial Dale automobile. 178 00:09:07,187 --> 00:09:09,938 They're accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft 179 00:09:10,020 --> 00:09:12,145 in the sale and promotion of the Dale. 180 00:09:12,229 --> 00:09:15,396 Among those charged is Mrs. G. Elizabeth Carmichael, 181 00:09:15,479 --> 00:09:17,229 president of Twentieth Century Motors. 182 00:09:17,312 --> 00:09:20,145 CANDI: It just suddenly came to a head. 183 00:09:20,229 --> 00:09:24,062 The house was full of all the people from the office, 184 00:09:24,145 --> 00:09:26,938 and they were discussing, 185 00:09:27,020 --> 00:09:29,354 "Do we stay and fight or do we leave?" 186 00:09:29,437 --> 00:09:32,896 And they took a vote. Liz did not decide. 187 00:09:32,979 --> 00:09:34,938 And I remember sitting on the stairs 188 00:09:35,020 --> 00:09:37,521 when the last salesman came in the room 189 00:09:37,604 --> 00:09:39,521 with a briefcase. 190 00:09:39,604 --> 00:09:43,562 And that last man had just closed out their account, 191 00:09:43,646 --> 00:09:45,938 and they divvied up the money, 192 00:09:46,020 --> 00:09:48,062 and everybody went their separate ways. 193 00:09:48,145 --> 00:09:51,688 It was Sam she worried about the most. 194 00:09:51,771 --> 00:09:54,938 And she was in tears when she told him, 195 00:09:55,020 --> 00:09:57,688 "Don't worry about it. Do what you've got to do." 196 00:09:58,562 --> 00:10:01,062 Liz thought of Sam as a father figure. 197 00:10:01,145 --> 00:10:04,187 Even as a child, I knew she loved Sam. 198 00:10:05,104 --> 00:10:08,145 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 199 00:10:09,145 --> 00:10:11,145 In probably less than 10 minutes, 200 00:10:11,229 --> 00:10:14,729 the whole family was in the car and we were on the road, 201 00:10:14,813 --> 00:10:16,104 and that was the end. 202 00:10:16,187 --> 00:10:20,020 ♪ ("SOONER OR LATER" BY HOT KNIVES PLAYING) ♪ 203 00:10:20,104 --> 00:10:23,604 BANKS: As we used to use a lot in file argument, 204 00:10:23,688 --> 00:10:25,896 "the guilty fleeth when no man pursueth." 205 00:10:26,020 --> 00:10:28,646 CARLSON: Meanwhile, downtown at police headquarters at Parker Center, 206 00:10:28,729 --> 00:10:31,479 five top executives at Twentieth Century Motor Cars 207 00:10:31,562 --> 00:10:34,354 were booked on fugitive warrants from Dallas, Texas. 208 00:10:34,437 --> 00:10:37,479 They're all accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft. 209 00:10:37,562 --> 00:10:40,479 I believe that, as any good criminal was, 210 00:10:40,562 --> 00:10:42,979 she was thinking several moves ahead. 211 00:10:43,062 --> 00:10:44,813 CARLSON: Investigators say that official records 212 00:10:44,896 --> 00:10:47,646 of her existence before March of 1973 213 00:10:47,729 --> 00:10:48,979 could not be found. 214 00:10:49,062 --> 00:10:50,604 Whatever the facts of her past, 215 00:10:50,688 --> 00:10:52,729 the mystery of Geraldine E. Carmichael, 216 00:10:52,813 --> 00:10:54,729 or who she is, is not going to be solved 217 00:10:54,813 --> 00:10:56,938 until it's discovered where she is. 218 00:10:57,020 --> 00:10:59,312 To have done it three or four times 219 00:10:59,396 --> 00:11:00,312 and gotten away with it, 220 00:11:00,396 --> 00:11:02,229 why wouldn't she think she could keep on? 221 00:11:02,312 --> 00:11:05,270 ♪ And time ♪ 222 00:11:05,938 --> 00:11:07,479 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 223 00:11:07,562 --> 00:11:10,562 (INSECTS CHIRPING) 224 00:11:10,646 --> 00:11:15,938 We went to a judge and obtained a probable cause arrest warrant 225 00:11:16,020 --> 00:11:18,688 and a probable cause search warrant. 226 00:11:18,771 --> 00:11:20,020 (BANGING) 227 00:11:20,104 --> 00:11:21,312 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 228 00:11:21,396 --> 00:11:24,354 BANKS: Place was abandoned. No one was there. 229 00:11:24,437 --> 00:11:27,854 Um, we found a lot of female undergarments, 230 00:11:27,938 --> 00:11:30,604 but a lot of things, and again, I don't know the names for 'em, 231 00:11:30,688 --> 00:11:34,979 that would suppress the male part 232 00:11:35,062 --> 00:11:38,062 so that, uh, she looked more like a female... 233 00:11:39,771 --> 00:11:43,604 and some literature on completely making the change 234 00:11:43,688 --> 00:11:46,104 to a female. 235 00:11:46,187 --> 00:11:50,312 I didn't realize that there's a possibility that she... 236 00:11:50,396 --> 00:11:52,270 uh, she might be of another gender. 237 00:11:52,354 --> 00:11:55,479 It made the case more interesting. (CHUCKLES) 238 00:11:57,646 --> 00:12:00,813 There were some personal papers of Liz Carmichael 239 00:12:00,896 --> 00:12:04,145 of her being from Indianapolis, and some information there 240 00:12:04,229 --> 00:12:08,854 that she had contacts at the local utility company. 241 00:12:08,938 --> 00:12:13,646 I flew to Indianapolis and went to the utility company. 242 00:12:15,479 --> 00:12:20,062 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 243 00:12:20,145 --> 00:12:22,813 CHARLES RICHARD BARRETT: I was over at my office at the phone company 244 00:12:22,896 --> 00:12:24,521 when Mary Jo, my secretary, 245 00:12:24,604 --> 00:12:28,896 she said, "Mr. Barrett, there's some strangers here." 246 00:12:28,979 --> 00:12:30,562 She says, "I don't know who they are. 247 00:12:30,646 --> 00:12:33,437 Charlie, are-- are you in trouble?" 248 00:12:33,521 --> 00:12:35,354 I said, "I think I know what's going on." 249 00:12:35,437 --> 00:12:37,396 I go in there and I shook everybody's hand, 250 00:12:37,479 --> 00:12:38,729 and they said, "Now, 251 00:12:38,813 --> 00:12:39,979 you probably know why we're here." 252 00:12:40,062 --> 00:12:42,104 And I said, "I don't know, but I got an idea." 253 00:12:42,187 --> 00:12:46,813 And he said, "Well, we think you know where she is." 254 00:12:49,521 --> 00:12:52,562 And I said, "Well, I ain't got a clue." 255 00:12:54,938 --> 00:12:57,104 And they said, "We've been talking to your neighbors. 256 00:12:57,187 --> 00:12:58,562 We've been talking to your wife. 257 00:12:58,646 --> 00:13:00,354 You're not being honest with us." 258 00:13:04,729 --> 00:13:06,020 And I thought, "You know, 259 00:13:06,104 --> 00:13:09,521 you're trying to build a case on me, and..." (STAMMERS) 260 00:13:09,604 --> 00:13:11,270 "I'll be truthful as I can." 261 00:13:11,354 --> 00:13:14,396 And that's what I told them, just like I'm talking today. 262 00:13:16,145 --> 00:13:17,187 They said, "Where is she?" 263 00:13:17,270 --> 00:13:19,354 And I said, "Well, she's at this address." 264 00:13:19,938 --> 00:13:21,020 So... 265 00:13:21,104 --> 00:13:22,729 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 266 00:13:22,813 --> 00:13:25,229 CLARENCE MEE: He said, "I've known her for a long time... 267 00:13:26,479 --> 00:13:29,604 and she dresses as a female." 268 00:13:29,688 --> 00:13:32,145 That's when we discovered that Liz Carmichael 269 00:13:32,229 --> 00:13:34,229 was actually Jerry Dean Michael. 270 00:13:35,312 --> 00:13:38,229 We contacted our Dallas office and asked them 271 00:13:38,312 --> 00:13:41,771 to run the name Jerry Dean Michael. 272 00:13:41,854 --> 00:13:43,479 And they got back on the phone and said, 273 00:13:43,562 --> 00:13:45,979 "Y'all get back to Dallas right away." 274 00:13:46,062 --> 00:13:47,854 (CAR ENGINE REVS) 275 00:13:50,688 --> 00:13:54,729 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 276 00:13:56,104 --> 00:13:58,688 CARLSON: After I gave the glass that the informant 277 00:13:58,771 --> 00:14:00,938 had given to me to the LAPD, 278 00:14:01,020 --> 00:14:03,688 I was on the set at ABC 279 00:14:03,771 --> 00:14:05,521 and the phone rang. 280 00:14:05,604 --> 00:14:07,354 (RINGING) 281 00:14:07,437 --> 00:14:09,688 It was a sergeant at the LAPD. 282 00:14:09,771 --> 00:14:12,688 And he said, "Dick, you're not gonna believe this. 283 00:14:12,771 --> 00:14:15,729 This glass belongs to a guy who's a fugitive 284 00:14:15,813 --> 00:14:19,270 from a counterfeiting arrest in 1961. 285 00:14:20,270 --> 00:14:22,646 And he's been on the lam all these years, 286 00:14:22,729 --> 00:14:25,604 and his name is Jerry Dean Michael." 287 00:14:26,229 --> 00:14:27,854 There was the proof. 288 00:14:27,938 --> 00:14:29,479 All along, we had this feeling, 289 00:14:29,562 --> 00:14:31,270 but you can't operate on feelings. 290 00:14:31,354 --> 00:14:33,270 And so we decided we weren't gonna tell 291 00:14:33,354 --> 00:14:35,688 the management about this discovery 292 00:14:35,771 --> 00:14:37,688 because we were afraid that they would stop us. 293 00:14:37,771 --> 00:14:39,229 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 294 00:14:39,312 --> 00:14:41,562 ANCHOR 2: Dick Carlson tonight has some answers to those 295 00:14:41,646 --> 00:14:44,020 very intriguing questions about the mystery woman 296 00:14:44,104 --> 00:14:46,270 who vanished completely after promoting 297 00:14:46,354 --> 00:14:48,896 a three-wheel car that really never was. 298 00:14:48,979 --> 00:14:51,562 CARLSON: Introduced the story as another Dale car story, 299 00:14:51,646 --> 00:14:54,270 and then I ran a picture of Mrs. Carmichael, 300 00:14:55,020 --> 00:14:56,229 then I did a slow dissolve 301 00:14:56,312 --> 00:14:59,062 into the crew-cut Jerry Dean Michael. 302 00:14:59,145 --> 00:15:01,104 CARLSON: (IN STUDIO) Mrs. Carmichael's fingerprints 303 00:15:01,187 --> 00:15:03,270 match those of a notorious con man. 304 00:15:03,354 --> 00:15:07,229 Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael in reality is a 47-year-old guy 305 00:15:07,312 --> 00:15:09,145 by the name of Jerry Dean Michael. 306 00:15:09,229 --> 00:15:10,479 ♪ (MUSIC STOPS) ♪ 307 00:15:10,979 --> 00:15:12,604 (BIRDS SINGING) 308 00:15:12,688 --> 00:15:14,396 ♪ (QUIET MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 309 00:15:14,479 --> 00:15:18,604 CANDI: Several months after the exodus from Dallas, 310 00:15:18,688 --> 00:15:22,104 we wound up in Florida on the run from the law. 311 00:15:22,187 --> 00:15:24,437 And we were all sitting on the couch, 312 00:15:24,521 --> 00:15:26,938 and Brian was in and out of the house. 313 00:15:27,020 --> 00:15:29,145 -(DOOR OPENS) -CANDI: And he'd come in and said, 314 00:15:29,229 --> 00:15:33,979 "There's a strange delivery van acting weird two doors down." 315 00:15:36,437 --> 00:15:39,521 Wendi and I went outside and I saw the delivery van, 316 00:15:39,604 --> 00:15:42,270 and then I saw the mail truck. 317 00:15:42,354 --> 00:15:46,688 And I came in and I said, "The mailman's here again." 318 00:15:46,771 --> 00:15:49,771 Liz and Vivian just looked at each other, 319 00:15:49,854 --> 00:15:54,020 and then all of a sudden, Liz jumped up and was gone. 320 00:15:54,104 --> 00:15:55,813 (FOOTSTEPS RUNNING) 321 00:15:55,896 --> 00:15:59,688 And within seconds, the police started swarming in the house. 322 00:15:59,771 --> 00:16:01,354 -(SIREN WAILING) -OFFICER 1: Police! Quick! 323 00:16:01,437 --> 00:16:03,229 Get down! Get down! Everybody down! 324 00:16:03,312 --> 00:16:05,396 CANDI: I was trying to catch Michael. 325 00:16:05,479 --> 00:16:07,396 Michael was running around in the kitchen, 326 00:16:07,479 --> 00:16:09,646 and I'd just picked him up coming around a corner, 327 00:16:09,729 --> 00:16:11,979 -and a cop had his gun... -OFFICER 2: Freeze! You're under arrest. 328 00:16:12,062 --> 00:16:13,396 CANDI: ...pointing right at me. 329 00:16:13,479 --> 00:16:14,479 (METAL CLICKING) 330 00:16:14,562 --> 00:16:18,354 Why would you be bringing guns drawn like that 331 00:16:18,437 --> 00:16:20,979 in a house full of little kids... 332 00:16:21,062 --> 00:16:24,270 against people that have never been accused of violence? 333 00:16:24,354 --> 00:16:27,729 Jerry Dean Michael had never been accused of a violent crime, 334 00:16:27,813 --> 00:16:31,813 had never been accused of carrying a weapon. Never. 335 00:16:31,896 --> 00:16:33,979 Liz, same thing. 336 00:16:34,062 --> 00:16:37,062 And we're just sitting there in shock. 337 00:16:37,145 --> 00:16:39,646 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 338 00:16:39,729 --> 00:16:41,145 CANDI: The whole family was sad. 339 00:16:41,229 --> 00:16:44,437 We figured we'd never see Liz again. 340 00:16:44,521 --> 00:16:47,229 None of us could figure out how she did it. 341 00:16:47,312 --> 00:16:50,562 She ran out the house just wearing her bodysuit. 342 00:16:51,938 --> 00:16:55,396 Day goes by, and we're all sitting around 343 00:16:55,479 --> 00:16:58,437 quietly discussing what's going to happen. 344 00:16:59,479 --> 00:17:02,604 And then Liz creeps out from behind a curtain. 345 00:17:04,104 --> 00:17:06,270 She came back to say goodbye to us. 346 00:17:07,437 --> 00:17:08,521 We were trying to whisper, 347 00:17:08,604 --> 00:17:10,813 and everybody's saying their goodbyes. 348 00:17:12,604 --> 00:17:15,354 -OFFICER 3: Hold it there. -CANDI: Then the cops busted through the house again. 349 00:17:15,437 --> 00:17:16,646 OFFICER 3: You're under arrest. 350 00:17:16,729 --> 00:17:17,896 CANDI: And that's how they got her, 351 00:17:17,979 --> 00:17:20,145 'cause she came back to say goodbye to her kids. 352 00:17:21,396 --> 00:17:24,187 Not exactly happily ever after, 353 00:17:24,270 --> 00:17:28,437 but it started a whole new episode of our lives. 354 00:17:29,312 --> 00:17:31,145 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 355 00:17:32,813 --> 00:17:35,187 (ENGINE REVS) 356 00:17:35,270 --> 00:17:37,604 CARLSON: Elizabeth Carmichael was officially unmasked 357 00:17:37,688 --> 00:17:39,938 over the weekend when she, or rather he, 358 00:17:40,020 --> 00:17:42,854 was caught by the FBI in Miami, Florida. 359 00:17:42,938 --> 00:17:44,979 Carmichael is in actuality a man, 360 00:17:45,062 --> 00:17:46,229 and he spent the weekend 361 00:17:46,312 --> 00:17:49,646 in the men's lockup in the Dade County Florida Jail. 362 00:17:49,729 --> 00:17:52,729 I saw that and I thought, "My gosh. 363 00:17:52,813 --> 00:17:55,104 Look what they're doing to Liz." 364 00:17:55,187 --> 00:17:56,604 It angered me. 365 00:17:56,688 --> 00:17:58,354 CARLSON: Looking harried, bedraggled, 366 00:17:58,437 --> 00:18:00,145 and wearing the pink pantsuit he had on 367 00:18:00,229 --> 00:18:01,562 when arrested late Friday, 368 00:18:01,646 --> 00:18:04,312 Carmichael was handcuffed and taken off to arraignment. 369 00:18:04,979 --> 00:18:06,854 I know Liz. 370 00:18:06,938 --> 00:18:11,104 (CHUCKLES) That had to be just terrible. 371 00:18:11,187 --> 00:18:13,270 (INDISTINCT CLAMOR) 372 00:18:13,354 --> 00:18:16,145 I was notified at home that they had arrested her 373 00:18:16,229 --> 00:18:18,104 that evening in Miami. 374 00:18:18,187 --> 00:18:22,521 I, along with Gerry Banks, flew out of Dallas that night... 375 00:18:24,312 --> 00:18:27,187 and interviewed her the next morning. 376 00:18:29,854 --> 00:18:32,521 BANKS: We knew there was about six million dollars 377 00:18:32,604 --> 00:18:36,270 that we could account for that had come in from California to Texas. 378 00:18:36,354 --> 00:18:38,229 (CHUCKLES) So I said, "Well, Liz, what happened 379 00:18:38,312 --> 00:18:40,396 to that 10 million dollars?" 380 00:18:40,479 --> 00:18:41,938 I deliberately inflated it. 381 00:18:42,020 --> 00:18:44,771 And she immediately said, "It was only three." 382 00:18:44,854 --> 00:18:47,229 The way she said it and the way she looked at you, you know, 383 00:18:47,312 --> 00:18:49,729 and just-- With the smile. (LAUGHS) 384 00:18:49,813 --> 00:18:52,270 And we-- and we both just started laughing. 385 00:18:52,354 --> 00:18:54,646 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 386 00:18:54,729 --> 00:18:58,646 BANKS: She told me that she had gone to Mexico 387 00:18:58,729 --> 00:19:02,104 and had started the surgery to become a female. 388 00:19:02,187 --> 00:19:05,229 As part of this, she had had her testicles removed. 389 00:19:05,312 --> 00:19:06,854 I think you gotta be pretty brave 390 00:19:06,938 --> 00:19:08,771 to do something like that. 391 00:19:08,854 --> 00:19:12,521 That, you know, certainly life-altering, 392 00:19:12,604 --> 00:19:14,479 body-altering change, I-- I-- 393 00:19:14,562 --> 00:19:16,479 I don't think a weak-hearted, faint-hearted person 394 00:19:16,562 --> 00:19:18,020 would do something like that. 395 00:19:18,104 --> 00:19:20,729 Trans people would do what they could do 396 00:19:20,813 --> 00:19:23,854 outside the-- the medical establishment. 397 00:19:23,938 --> 00:19:25,854 Maybe they could get hormones on the street 398 00:19:25,938 --> 00:19:26,979 or on the black market, 399 00:19:27,062 --> 00:19:29,437 or maybe they would inject silicone. 400 00:19:29,521 --> 00:19:31,104 The doctors would say, "We don't want 401 00:19:31,187 --> 00:19:32,562 to essentially sterilize you." 402 00:19:32,646 --> 00:19:37,688 And that would be an argument against surgical transition. 403 00:19:37,771 --> 00:19:41,354 People would go to Mexico for the first step of the procedure 404 00:19:41,437 --> 00:19:43,312 to simply be castrated, 405 00:19:43,396 --> 00:19:46,270 and then they would look for a plastic surgeon in the US 406 00:19:46,354 --> 00:19:47,688 who would operate on them 407 00:19:47,771 --> 00:19:51,020 once they had already, um, had their testicles removed. 408 00:19:51,104 --> 00:19:54,145 That was so common that the slang term for it 409 00:19:54,229 --> 00:19:56,104 was the Tijuana Two-Step. 410 00:19:56,604 --> 00:19:58,396 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 411 00:19:58,479 --> 00:20:00,688 (CAR APPROACHING) 412 00:20:00,771 --> 00:20:03,688 ♪ (PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 413 00:20:03,771 --> 00:20:06,312 CANDI: The first time we went down there, 414 00:20:07,020 --> 00:20:08,813 we went down with Jerry, 415 00:20:08,896 --> 00:20:13,938 even though at home, Jerry was dressing as Liz, 416 00:20:14,020 --> 00:20:16,813 but out in public, it was still "Jerry." 417 00:20:16,896 --> 00:20:20,104 And I remember him wearing black dress pants, 418 00:20:20,187 --> 00:20:23,187 a white button-down shirt, and a black blazer. 419 00:20:24,979 --> 00:20:28,562 And this was for the breast implants. 420 00:20:28,646 --> 00:20:32,145 Even though Liz already had some breasts, 421 00:20:32,229 --> 00:20:33,896 hormones only get you so far. 422 00:20:33,979 --> 00:20:35,437 If you wanna look like Dolly Parton... 423 00:20:35,521 --> 00:20:37,521 (CHUCKLING) you need some inserts. 424 00:20:39,187 --> 00:20:41,229 Wendi and I sat in the waiting room, 425 00:20:41,312 --> 00:20:44,187 and Jerry went into the doctor's office. 426 00:20:44,771 --> 00:20:46,145 We were coloring, 427 00:20:46,229 --> 00:20:48,771 we played board games while we were waiting, 428 00:20:48,854 --> 00:20:49,979 and then... 429 00:20:50,896 --> 00:20:54,104 she came out, wear-- dressed as a woman, 430 00:20:54,187 --> 00:20:57,062 and we went on. 431 00:20:57,145 --> 00:21:00,020 She never went back to wearing men's clothes again. 432 00:21:00,104 --> 00:21:01,145 Never. 433 00:21:02,562 --> 00:21:07,229 BANKS: She told me she wanted to be known as a trailblazer. 434 00:21:07,312 --> 00:21:09,771 Making the change from male to female, 435 00:21:09,854 --> 00:21:12,688 and yes, it can be done. 436 00:21:12,771 --> 00:21:15,312 I said, "All this stealing, all this money you got, 437 00:21:15,396 --> 00:21:16,521 would detract from that." 438 00:21:16,604 --> 00:21:19,437 And her answer was, "No, I don't think it will." 439 00:21:19,521 --> 00:21:21,104 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 440 00:21:21,187 --> 00:21:23,604 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 441 00:21:23,688 --> 00:21:25,104 CARLSON: I flew to Miami, 442 00:21:25,187 --> 00:21:27,938 and I went to the sheriff who ran the jail. 443 00:21:28,020 --> 00:21:30,145 And I asked him, "Where did you put this guy? 444 00:21:30,229 --> 00:21:31,396 Is he a male or a female? 445 00:21:31,479 --> 00:21:33,688 He-- he's been saying that he's a female, 446 00:21:33,771 --> 00:21:37,646 but does he have, uh, male equipment or female?" 447 00:21:37,729 --> 00:21:39,020 He said, "Oh no. He's-- he's equipped 448 00:21:39,104 --> 00:21:40,813 just like you and I are. He's a male. 449 00:21:40,896 --> 00:21:43,229 So," he said, "I put him in a cell by himself." 450 00:21:45,896 --> 00:21:47,813 The feds brought him back on a plane. 451 00:21:47,896 --> 00:21:49,312 I rode on the plane with him. 452 00:21:49,396 --> 00:21:51,396 He really disliked me, I have to say. 453 00:21:54,396 --> 00:21:57,062 Pete Noyes and I were always bothered 454 00:21:57,145 --> 00:21:59,854 by the fact that she looked so much like a man. 455 00:22:00,979 --> 00:22:02,104 That was my first thought, 456 00:22:02,187 --> 00:22:04,479 but I couldn't impart that to the rest of the crew 457 00:22:04,562 --> 00:22:06,354 'cause I couldn't say that in front of her. 458 00:22:07,562 --> 00:22:09,437 DENNIS SMITH: There was something off 459 00:22:09,521 --> 00:22:12,604 from the moment he met her. 460 00:22:12,688 --> 00:22:17,938 Dick's alarm went off when he shook her hand. 461 00:22:18,020 --> 00:22:20,938 And he went back to Pete and told Pete, 462 00:22:21,020 --> 00:22:23,938 "I think this woman needs looking into." 463 00:22:40,270 --> 00:22:41,354 CARLSON: People have been asking 464 00:22:41,437 --> 00:22:43,396 why we wanna know so much about the Dale, and... 465 00:22:43,479 --> 00:22:44,938 Well, they have been asking. In fact, you know, 466 00:22:45,020 --> 00:22:46,854 a lot of people have asked me if we have an obsession 467 00:22:46,938 --> 00:22:48,729 -here on Eyewitness News Wants To Know. -COHOST: Do we? 468 00:22:48,813 --> 00:22:51,187 No, we really don't, but, uh, we're convinced 469 00:22:51,270 --> 00:22:53,813 there are an awful lot of questions about the Dale that ought to be answered. 470 00:22:53,896 --> 00:22:55,813 And new ones, in fact, pop up every day. 471 00:22:55,896 --> 00:22:57,521 Till we get the answers, we're gonna continue 472 00:22:57,604 --> 00:22:59,187 to ask the questions. 473 00:22:59,270 --> 00:23:02,562 SANDY STONE: Whenever a trans story surfaced, 474 00:23:02,646 --> 00:23:04,896 the media would take it and run with it 475 00:23:04,979 --> 00:23:07,896 in the simplest possible terms, 476 00:23:07,979 --> 00:23:12,521 which was a man masquerading as a woman. 477 00:23:12,604 --> 00:23:16,729 So when someone like Liz appears in the media, 478 00:23:16,813 --> 00:23:20,938 then you already have that way of framing it. 479 00:23:21,020 --> 00:23:22,604 And it sells much more 480 00:23:22,688 --> 00:23:25,020 than trying to tell the truth would be. 481 00:23:26,479 --> 00:23:31,813 Liz had to combat the narrative in the media 482 00:23:31,896 --> 00:23:33,729 that she was not a woman. 483 00:23:33,813 --> 00:23:37,604 How do you combat the media's narrative 484 00:23:37,688 --> 00:23:39,813 that you are not a woman? 485 00:23:40,979 --> 00:23:43,187 And the answer is... 486 00:23:45,020 --> 00:23:46,354 you don't. 487 00:23:46,437 --> 00:23:47,771 The secret life of Jerry Michael 488 00:23:47,854 --> 00:23:50,604 sounds a little like a second-rate grade B movie. 489 00:23:50,688 --> 00:23:52,938 In 1961, he jumped bail in Los Angeles. 490 00:23:53,020 --> 00:23:55,521 He'd been arrested on a counterfeiting charge at the time. 491 00:23:55,604 --> 00:23:57,270 He's been arrested about seven times, in fact. 492 00:23:57,354 --> 00:24:00,062 And for the last 14 years, he has been a federal fugitive, 493 00:24:00,145 --> 00:24:01,521 moving from house to house... 494 00:24:01,604 --> 00:24:03,896 It was all some version of what now gets called 495 00:24:03,979 --> 00:24:08,479 the "evil deceivers and make-believers" trope or stereotype, 496 00:24:08,562 --> 00:24:11,354 that we're pretending to be something that we're not, 497 00:24:11,437 --> 00:24:12,979 and that it's a deceitful act. 498 00:24:13,062 --> 00:24:15,938 CARLSON: In the mid-1950s, Michael was a gunrunner. 499 00:24:16,020 --> 00:24:18,729 He was supplying the pre-Castro Cuban government 500 00:24:18,813 --> 00:24:20,145 of Fulgencio Batista with arms. 501 00:24:20,229 --> 00:24:22,521 Now I ask you, would you buy a used Dale from this fella? 502 00:24:22,604 --> 00:24:25,979 CARLSON: (IN PRESENT) Elizabeth Carmichael was a supreme egomaniac. 503 00:24:26,062 --> 00:24:27,813 The fact she posed as a woman, 504 00:24:27,896 --> 00:24:31,312 it was a-- a manner of disguising herself as a fugitive, 505 00:24:31,396 --> 00:24:34,354 but also was a way for her to garner publicity. 506 00:24:34,437 --> 00:24:35,688 It was very effective. 507 00:24:35,771 --> 00:24:37,521 You may recall my introduction to Jerry, 508 00:24:37,604 --> 00:24:38,896 or Geraldine if you prefer, 509 00:24:38,979 --> 00:24:41,479 earlier this year when we began our investigation. 510 00:24:41,562 --> 00:24:43,479 Carmichael made a lot of fantastic claims, 511 00:24:43,562 --> 00:24:45,187 then he vanished. 512 00:24:45,270 --> 00:24:48,104 SUSAN STRYKER: There was a lot of using the language of "also known as," 513 00:24:48,187 --> 00:24:49,479 which suggests it kind of like 514 00:24:49,562 --> 00:24:52,145 it's a criminal pseudonym of some kind. 515 00:24:52,229 --> 00:24:53,604 There was a lot of misgendering. 516 00:24:53,688 --> 00:24:56,562 They would say, "A man who was pretending to be a woman," 517 00:24:56,646 --> 00:25:00,270 or "Liz Carmichael, really Jerry." 518 00:25:00,354 --> 00:25:03,437 To be non-consensually outed, 519 00:25:03,521 --> 00:25:06,020 it has to be considered as very, um-- 520 00:25:06,104 --> 00:25:07,229 as a violation. 521 00:25:07,312 --> 00:25:09,229 Something was disclosed about them 522 00:25:09,312 --> 00:25:11,396 without their consent that is gonna have 523 00:25:11,479 --> 00:25:14,896 really powerful negative consequences for them. 524 00:25:14,979 --> 00:25:16,562 CARLSON: To teach the children 525 00:25:16,646 --> 00:25:19,688 that their father was to be called their mother, 526 00:25:19,771 --> 00:25:22,604 that their real mother was to be called their aunt, 527 00:25:22,688 --> 00:25:24,145 and to train them in that, 528 00:25:24,229 --> 00:25:27,020 I can't imagine that any shrink wouldn't say 529 00:25:27,104 --> 00:25:30,396 that this is, like, kind of a bad idea to be doing this. 530 00:25:32,187 --> 00:25:34,854 CANDI: (CHUCKLES) She really was a great mom. 531 00:25:34,938 --> 00:25:36,938 Liz and Jerry... 532 00:25:37,729 --> 00:25:40,062 loved being parents. 533 00:25:41,229 --> 00:25:45,437 BARRETT: When people say my sister and Liz 534 00:25:45,521 --> 00:25:49,229 were leading their children into a terrible thing and so forth, 535 00:25:49,312 --> 00:25:51,312 I really have a problem with that. 536 00:25:51,396 --> 00:25:55,312 Those children were loved very much by both parents. 537 00:25:56,312 --> 00:25:57,312 CARLSON: She used them, 538 00:25:57,396 --> 00:26:00,729 just like she used her real wife, Vivian, 539 00:26:00,813 --> 00:26:04,521 pretending to be the aunt, living in some, uh, 540 00:26:04,604 --> 00:26:06,270 sister-to-sister relationship. 541 00:26:06,354 --> 00:26:07,938 If you didn't think that was kind of sick, 542 00:26:08,020 --> 00:26:09,396 you wouldn't think-- you wouldn't think-- 543 00:26:09,479 --> 00:26:11,521 you would think Jeffrey Dahmer was a normal person, 544 00:26:11,604 --> 00:26:14,187 is what I think, you know. 545 00:26:14,270 --> 00:26:20,187 Jerry chose to become Liz and transition to that end. 546 00:26:20,270 --> 00:26:23,479 And in the process, she kept the children informed 547 00:26:23,562 --> 00:26:26,145 all the time, and they had conversations. 548 00:26:26,229 --> 00:26:28,270 I think she did a good job. 549 00:26:28,354 --> 00:26:31,145 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 550 00:26:32,396 --> 00:26:34,521 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 551 00:26:35,854 --> 00:26:39,813 When they took Liz into custody, 552 00:26:39,896 --> 00:26:42,437 they wind up flying her back to LA, 553 00:26:42,521 --> 00:26:44,187 and we've got no money. 554 00:26:51,813 --> 00:26:54,521 And Vivian was trying to figure out 555 00:26:54,604 --> 00:26:56,270 how do we get back to LA? 556 00:26:56,354 --> 00:26:57,479 (INDISTINCT CLAMOR) 557 00:26:57,562 --> 00:27:00,062 CANDI: Reporters were constantly hounding Vivian, 558 00:27:00,145 --> 00:27:02,604 and a reporter offered her 500 dollars 559 00:27:02,688 --> 00:27:05,938 if they'd let him come in and do an interview, 560 00:27:06,020 --> 00:27:07,104 so she did. 561 00:27:08,437 --> 00:27:11,396 And that's how we got back to Los Angeles. 562 00:27:12,854 --> 00:27:16,562 Five hundred dollars was enough money to drive back to LA. 563 00:27:16,646 --> 00:27:19,020 (CRICKETS CHIRPING) 564 00:27:23,312 --> 00:27:24,979 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 565 00:27:25,062 --> 00:27:28,562 In 1974, I joined the Public Defender's office. 566 00:27:28,646 --> 00:27:31,312 I was familiar with the Carmichael case, 567 00:27:31,396 --> 00:27:33,312 and I was very familiar with the jail 568 00:27:33,396 --> 00:27:35,354 wherein she was being housed. 569 00:27:36,562 --> 00:27:39,270 She was taken to the Men's Central Jail, 570 00:27:39,354 --> 00:27:42,020 which is the central location for prisoners 571 00:27:42,104 --> 00:27:43,312 who come to Los Angeles. 572 00:27:43,396 --> 00:27:47,312 In the 1970s, there were really no spoken guidelines 573 00:27:47,396 --> 00:27:48,854 or written guidelines with the way 574 00:27:48,979 --> 00:27:51,938 that transgender people were treated in the jails. 575 00:27:53,479 --> 00:27:54,521 In this particular instance, 576 00:27:54,604 --> 00:27:56,688 thrown into the general population 577 00:27:56,771 --> 00:27:59,771 dressed and grooming themselves totally as a woman 578 00:27:59,854 --> 00:28:02,229 was an invitation to disaster. 579 00:28:03,437 --> 00:28:05,854 -(TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING) -VIVIAN MICHAEL: Dear Sis, 580 00:28:05,938 --> 00:28:09,729 it looked as though March was going to better for all of us, 581 00:28:09,813 --> 00:28:11,187 but disaster struck. 582 00:28:11,270 --> 00:28:13,938 (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) 583 00:28:15,062 --> 00:28:18,396 On Sunday, Liz was being escorted to pill call. 584 00:28:18,479 --> 00:28:20,771 That's where prisoners receive medication. 585 00:28:21,813 --> 00:28:23,771 At all times when she's out of her cell, 586 00:28:23,854 --> 00:28:26,312 -she's accompanied by a deputy. -(JEERING AND WHISTLING) 587 00:28:26,396 --> 00:28:28,187 VIVIAN: She wears a blue band on her wrist, 588 00:28:28,270 --> 00:28:29,854 which is visible at all times, 589 00:28:29,979 --> 00:28:31,771 and the guards and prisoners alike 590 00:28:31,854 --> 00:28:33,312 all know what it means: 591 00:28:33,396 --> 00:28:36,729 "A woman in a men's jail. Keep away." 592 00:28:36,813 --> 00:28:39,729 Sunday, around noon, the deputy came for her, 593 00:28:39,813 --> 00:28:40,979 and they went the normal route 594 00:28:41,062 --> 00:28:43,062 from the 13th floor to the 14th floor. 595 00:28:43,145 --> 00:28:44,562 ♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 596 00:28:44,646 --> 00:28:45,771 VIVIAN: Liz suddenly realized 597 00:28:45,854 --> 00:28:48,187 she didn't have the deputy escorting her. 598 00:28:48,270 --> 00:28:51,145 He had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. 599 00:28:52,145 --> 00:28:53,562 The first blow she received 600 00:28:53,646 --> 00:28:55,437 was in the center of her forehead, 601 00:28:55,521 --> 00:28:58,396 and laid her wide open, tearing a vein. 602 00:28:58,479 --> 00:29:00,312 She said the blood went everywhere, 603 00:29:00,396 --> 00:29:01,562 and she was blinded by it 604 00:29:01,646 --> 00:29:03,938 and couldn't see to defend herself. 605 00:29:04,020 --> 00:29:06,854 He just pounded her face over and over. 606 00:29:06,938 --> 00:29:08,312 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 607 00:29:08,396 --> 00:29:11,562 STRYKER: She was beaten. She was beaten really severely. 608 00:29:11,646 --> 00:29:13,688 In the US, we say you're not supposed to have 609 00:29:13,771 --> 00:29:15,479 cruel and unusual punishments, 610 00:29:15,562 --> 00:29:19,604 but I think incarcerating trans people in prisons 611 00:29:19,688 --> 00:29:22,062 that are not the one that they should be in, 612 00:29:22,145 --> 00:29:24,729 it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. 613 00:29:24,813 --> 00:29:27,396 It would've happened to me, it would've happened to her, 614 00:29:27,479 --> 00:29:29,604 it would've happened to any number of different people. 615 00:29:29,688 --> 00:29:32,270 What Liz went through was not uncommon. 616 00:29:32,354 --> 00:29:33,896 The only reason hers was reported 617 00:29:33,979 --> 00:29:36,229 was because she was a high-profile defendant 618 00:29:36,312 --> 00:29:38,145 that the press was interested in. 619 00:29:38,229 --> 00:29:41,437 And that was part of the problem that existed then, 620 00:29:41,521 --> 00:29:42,896 still exists today. 621 00:29:45,521 --> 00:29:47,813 VIVIAN: When Liz had been brought into the courtroom, 622 00:29:47,896 --> 00:29:49,354 the judge looked at her. 623 00:29:49,437 --> 00:29:51,896 both her eyes were bulging and black, 624 00:29:51,979 --> 00:29:53,396 and did a double take. 625 00:29:54,187 --> 00:29:55,479 The prosecutor winced, 626 00:29:55,562 --> 00:29:57,646 and everybody in the courtroom gasped. 627 00:29:57,729 --> 00:29:59,270 -(JURORS WHISPERING) -JURY MEMBER: Oh, my God. 628 00:29:59,354 --> 00:30:00,688 VIVIAN: The reporter, Walt Woron, 629 00:30:00,771 --> 00:30:03,604 he has been following this case since the beginning 630 00:30:03,688 --> 00:30:06,187 and is kinda partial to Liz and me. 631 00:30:06,270 --> 00:30:09,604 I almost thought I could see tears forming in his eyes. 632 00:30:10,688 --> 00:30:12,270 I know they were in mine. 633 00:30:12,354 --> 00:30:13,854 (WATER SPLASHING) 634 00:30:13,938 --> 00:30:15,688 VIVIAN: I'm tired, I'm worried, 635 00:30:15,771 --> 00:30:18,854 but Liz says, "Pray and keep your chin up." 636 00:30:18,938 --> 00:30:20,354 And I'm trying. 637 00:30:21,521 --> 00:30:24,562 I've noticed that when I do, things go right 638 00:30:24,646 --> 00:30:26,896 even though they look bad to anyone else. 639 00:30:26,979 --> 00:30:28,729 (TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING) 640 00:30:28,813 --> 00:30:30,562 VIVIAN: You'll have to forgive her for not writing, 641 00:30:30,646 --> 00:30:33,896 but she has no time for anything but working on this case. 642 00:30:35,229 --> 00:30:38,354 She is determined to win, and out of all the lawsuits 643 00:30:38,437 --> 00:30:41,896 pay back anyone and everyone who lost money in the company. 644 00:30:44,562 --> 00:30:46,104 Give my love to all. 645 00:30:47,479 --> 00:30:49,688 Love, Vivian. 646 00:30:49,771 --> 00:30:52,521 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 647 00:30:52,604 --> 00:30:55,396 WALT WORON: The courtroom was relatively small, 648 00:30:55,479 --> 00:30:58,646 with molded wooden benches to accommodate 649 00:30:58,729 --> 00:31:01,521 but 70 witnesses and spectators. 650 00:31:01,604 --> 00:31:05,646 The dark-haired, handsome figure at the right of a long table 651 00:31:05,729 --> 00:31:07,479 unwound from his chair. 652 00:31:07,562 --> 00:31:08,729 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 653 00:31:08,813 --> 00:31:12,062 WORON: He began to read from a several-page indictment. 654 00:31:12,938 --> 00:31:14,813 "G. Elizabeth Carmichael, 655 00:31:14,896 --> 00:31:18,396 Edward J. Comstock, Samuel Schlisman, 656 00:31:18,479 --> 00:31:21,854 Andrew Farrell, Jay Gardner, 657 00:31:21,938 --> 00:31:25,062 you are charged with conspiracy to commit grand theft, 658 00:31:25,145 --> 00:31:28,854 with the sale or offer to sell a security without a permit, 659 00:31:28,938 --> 00:31:30,896 with sale or offer to sell a security 660 00:31:30,979 --> 00:31:34,062 by means of false statements or omissions." 661 00:31:34,145 --> 00:31:37,646 The defendants could be seen uneasily shifting in their seats 662 00:31:37,729 --> 00:31:39,354 from time to time, 663 00:31:39,437 --> 00:31:41,020 looking at the jurors. 664 00:31:42,062 --> 00:31:44,688 Walt Woron, Automotive News. 665 00:31:59,562 --> 00:32:01,562 KIT GRANAT: 666 00:32:17,979 --> 00:32:20,187 RON ABRAMS: Liz was the only defendant 667 00:32:20,270 --> 00:32:22,521 that requested a jury trial. 668 00:32:23,604 --> 00:32:26,854 The rest of us would like a court trial 669 00:32:26,938 --> 00:32:28,604 because it would've been shorter 670 00:32:28,688 --> 00:32:31,396 and the judge would've been able to separate out 671 00:32:31,479 --> 00:32:33,562 the defendant's culpability. 672 00:32:35,020 --> 00:32:37,270 My client, Sam Schlisman, 673 00:32:37,354 --> 00:32:39,938 I thought I could get a deal for him 674 00:32:40,020 --> 00:32:42,604 because Sam was really not 675 00:32:42,688 --> 00:32:44,938 the main character in the company. 676 00:32:45,020 --> 00:32:46,646 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 677 00:32:46,729 --> 00:32:47,688 (TAPE SCRATCHES) 678 00:32:47,771 --> 00:32:51,270 MACCARLEY: I will say that I was impressed 679 00:32:51,354 --> 00:32:53,145 by my client, Jay Gardner. 680 00:32:53,229 --> 00:32:55,229 He absolutely believed 681 00:32:55,312 --> 00:32:59,771 in what Elizabeth Carmichael was talking about and developing. 682 00:33:02,145 --> 00:33:04,938 Bob Youngdahl, career prosecutor. 683 00:33:05,020 --> 00:33:08,270 The best description is very competent and methodical. 684 00:33:08,354 --> 00:33:12,145 He was machine-like in terms of his presentation 685 00:33:12,229 --> 00:33:13,979 to the court and jury. 686 00:33:14,062 --> 00:33:18,312 Liz felt that Bob Youngdahl was nothing but a foot soldier 687 00:33:18,396 --> 00:33:20,229 for the big government, 688 00:33:20,312 --> 00:33:23,771 the big government that was out to knock her down 689 00:33:23,854 --> 00:33:25,854 and crush any entrepreneur 690 00:33:25,938 --> 00:33:28,145 who dared challenge the big three. 691 00:33:28,229 --> 00:33:30,187 ANCHOR 3: Liz Carmichael says she doesn't want 692 00:33:30,270 --> 00:33:32,354 her court-appointed attorneys to handle her case 693 00:33:32,437 --> 00:33:35,354 because, as she puts it, they were picked by her enemies. 694 00:33:35,437 --> 00:33:37,104 To have my attorneys appointed 695 00:33:37,187 --> 00:33:39,312 by those people who are prosecuting me, 696 00:33:39,396 --> 00:33:42,688 uh, to me, is not the best way to go. 697 00:33:42,771 --> 00:33:45,437 So I would prefer to have an attorney of my own choice, 698 00:33:45,521 --> 00:33:46,813 even if he were less competent, 699 00:33:46,896 --> 00:33:48,979 than have an attorney of somebody else's choice, 700 00:33:49,062 --> 00:33:51,396 taking the chance that I'm... 701 00:33:51,479 --> 00:33:53,813 not getting the best counsel possible. 702 00:33:53,896 --> 00:33:56,688 WORON: Though she has no formal law training, 703 00:33:56,771 --> 00:33:59,646 she says she has spent the last 14 months in jail 704 00:33:59,729 --> 00:34:03,020 studying law so as to be able to defend herself 705 00:34:03,104 --> 00:34:04,604 when the time came. 706 00:34:04,688 --> 00:34:06,062 She took it upon herself 707 00:34:06,145 --> 00:34:09,521 to defend herself in front of the jury. 708 00:34:09,604 --> 00:34:12,354 She was never gonna end up having some lawyer 709 00:34:12,437 --> 00:34:14,145 represent her and speaking for her. 710 00:34:14,229 --> 00:34:15,270 She had to speak for herself. 711 00:34:15,354 --> 00:34:17,562 She'd been like that her whole life. 712 00:34:17,646 --> 00:34:19,104 ABRAMS: If she had an attorney, 713 00:34:19,187 --> 00:34:21,437 she wouldn't have drawn attention to the fact 714 00:34:21,521 --> 00:34:24,979 that she's six foot two and weighs over 200 pounds. 715 00:34:25,062 --> 00:34:29,396 That taints the jury's perception of this lady. 716 00:34:29,479 --> 00:34:30,979 REPORTER 1: There were some deceptions 717 00:34:31,062 --> 00:34:32,396 involved here though, weren't there? 718 00:34:32,479 --> 00:34:34,688 They claim there were. In my opinion, there were not. 719 00:34:34,771 --> 00:34:36,729 REPORTER 1: Why, for example, did you decide 720 00:34:36,813 --> 00:34:39,354 to pose as a woman in this transaction? 721 00:34:39,437 --> 00:34:40,896 Well, it wasn't in this transaction. 722 00:34:40,979 --> 00:34:42,729 I'm a transsexual. Had nothing to do 723 00:34:42,813 --> 00:34:44,521 with Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation. 724 00:34:44,604 --> 00:34:46,771 I've been living as a woman for eight years. 725 00:34:46,854 --> 00:34:49,646 My children regard me as their mother. 726 00:34:49,729 --> 00:34:53,646 Uh, totally legitimate, so far as fraud is concerned. 727 00:34:53,729 --> 00:34:54,938 This was, uh-- 728 00:34:55,020 --> 00:34:57,938 I happen to, uh, have a medical problem, 729 00:34:58,020 --> 00:34:59,771 uh, which is not totally unique. 730 00:34:59,854 --> 00:35:01,688 I'm sure you've heard of Christine Jorgensen, 731 00:35:01,771 --> 00:35:03,270 very similar. 732 00:35:03,354 --> 00:35:06,437 STRYKER: Christine Jorgensen was the first person to become, 733 00:35:06,521 --> 00:35:09,688 I would say, globally famous for being trans 734 00:35:09,771 --> 00:35:12,729 when news of her sex reassignment surgery 735 00:35:12,813 --> 00:35:14,938 uh, was trumpeted on the, you know, headlines 736 00:35:15,020 --> 00:35:16,521 of newspapers around the world. 737 00:35:16,604 --> 00:35:17,729 Thank you very much. 738 00:35:17,813 --> 00:35:19,771 STRYKER: Trans women who followed in her footsteps, 739 00:35:19,854 --> 00:35:22,437 like her, were able to assimilate 740 00:35:22,521 --> 00:35:24,729 and go unnoticed in society. 741 00:35:24,813 --> 00:35:28,312 But those who were unable to navigate the medical system, 742 00:35:28,396 --> 00:35:31,896 those who had only partial surgeries, like Liz, 743 00:35:31,979 --> 00:35:34,646 were much more likely to be characterized 744 00:35:34,729 --> 00:35:37,729 not as women but as men masquerading as women. 745 00:35:37,813 --> 00:35:39,145 REPORTER 1: And you had a sexual operation? 746 00:35:39,229 --> 00:35:41,813 I had the first one. I still have another one to go. 747 00:35:41,896 --> 00:35:43,979 STRYKER: Just because she had not had 748 00:35:44,062 --> 00:35:46,896 the second step of that process, 749 00:35:46,979 --> 00:35:50,145 the conversion of a penis into a vagina, 750 00:35:50,229 --> 00:35:53,062 that she was considered to still be a man. 751 00:35:53,145 --> 00:35:55,771 But she'd been on hormones, she had breasts, 752 00:35:55,854 --> 00:35:57,396 she didn't have testicles. 753 00:35:57,479 --> 00:35:59,813 But the press would say, like, "Oh, you're still a man 754 00:35:59,896 --> 00:36:03,145 because you have this sort of non-functioning penis." 755 00:36:03,229 --> 00:36:05,729 PATRICK COLEMAN: She prefers to be known as Liz Carmichael. 756 00:36:05,813 --> 00:36:08,104 She has requested me, which I have done on her behalf, 757 00:36:08,187 --> 00:36:10,479 is try to see if she could wear women's clothing 758 00:36:10,562 --> 00:36:12,437 in the courtroom itself properly. 759 00:36:12,521 --> 00:36:13,854 She's been a woman the last eight years. 760 00:36:13,938 --> 00:36:16,270 That's the way she wants it. Doesn't wanna change. 761 00:36:21,771 --> 00:36:24,562 STRYKER: In 1976, there was actually a hearing 762 00:36:24,646 --> 00:36:26,854 about Liz's gender identity. 763 00:36:26,938 --> 00:36:30,062 You know, could she be considered a woman? 764 00:36:30,145 --> 00:36:34,354 Based on her self-statements, the hormones, 765 00:36:34,437 --> 00:36:35,771 the-- the castration, 766 00:36:35,854 --> 00:36:39,020 she was taken seriously as a transsexual, 767 00:36:39,104 --> 00:36:41,854 therefore she could be presented as a woman. 768 00:36:41,938 --> 00:36:44,854 The judge asked Liz, 769 00:36:44,938 --> 00:36:47,062 "What name are you known by?" 770 00:36:47,145 --> 00:36:51,938 And she says, "I am Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael. 771 00:36:52,979 --> 00:36:54,229 I'm world-famous." 772 00:36:54,312 --> 00:36:56,521 ♪ (INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 773 00:36:56,604 --> 00:36:58,187 And it was official at that point. 774 00:36:58,270 --> 00:37:00,562 She was Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael 775 00:37:00,646 --> 00:37:02,062 in the eyes of the law. 776 00:37:02,145 --> 00:37:04,229 CARLSON: Judge Malcolm Lucas ruled that Michael could wear 777 00:37:04,312 --> 00:37:06,646 -women's clothes for the trial. -♪ ("A NEW DAY" BY THE NOTATIONS PLAYING) ♪ 778 00:37:06,729 --> 00:37:08,938 CARLSON: So he carried a blue pantsuit and a pink blouse with him. 779 00:37:09,020 --> 00:37:10,688 Michael's wife and four small children 780 00:37:10,771 --> 00:37:11,813 waited inside the courtroom 781 00:37:11,896 --> 00:37:13,979 for the person they call "Mommy Liz." 782 00:37:14,062 --> 00:37:17,396 MACCARLEY: That was the beginning of the trial of Liz Carmichael, 783 00:37:17,479 --> 00:37:20,604 which continued for almost nine months, 784 00:37:20,688 --> 00:37:22,145 one of the longer cases 785 00:37:22,229 --> 00:37:24,896 in the Los Angeles Supreme Court history. 786 00:37:24,979 --> 00:37:26,479 Would it be appropriate for me to say 787 00:37:26,562 --> 00:37:28,562 Channel Two is my favorite channel? 788 00:37:28,646 --> 00:37:33,270 Liz sought out the media as much as she possibly could. 789 00:37:33,354 --> 00:37:36,938 She felt that the more she explained herself 790 00:37:37,020 --> 00:37:40,562 and her case, the better it was for her. 791 00:37:40,646 --> 00:37:42,813 MACCARLEY: Every time we stepped out of the courtroom, 792 00:37:42,896 --> 00:37:45,437 there were representatives from the major networks, 793 00:37:45,521 --> 00:37:46,938 CBS, NBC, ABC, 794 00:37:47,020 --> 00:37:48,896 that were covering this every single day. 795 00:37:48,979 --> 00:37:51,187 REPORTER 2: What's your reaction to what happened today? 796 00:37:51,270 --> 00:37:53,020 -Very frustrated. -MACCARLEY: She knew 797 00:37:53,104 --> 00:37:54,938 that every word that she put out 798 00:37:55,020 --> 00:37:58,062 would be recorded or taken down by a member of the press, 799 00:37:58,145 --> 00:37:59,562 as well as the jury. 800 00:37:59,646 --> 00:38:01,729 ♪ Thank you for a new day... ♪ 801 00:38:01,813 --> 00:38:04,604 ABRAMS: She was a true believer, in the sense that... 802 00:38:04,688 --> 00:38:07,854 if she said it, it must be true. 803 00:38:07,938 --> 00:38:10,270 REPORTER 3: Ms. Carmichael, the obvious question. 804 00:38:10,354 --> 00:38:11,688 Where is the money? 805 00:38:12,145 --> 00:38:13,187 What money? 806 00:38:13,270 --> 00:38:15,354 MACCARLEY: If she had really wanted 807 00:38:15,437 --> 00:38:17,646 to engage in a big fraud, 808 00:38:17,729 --> 00:38:21,104 all she would have had to do is collect all these deposits 809 00:38:21,187 --> 00:38:22,646 and not even spend the money 810 00:38:22,729 --> 00:38:24,813 for all those employees that she hired. 811 00:38:24,896 --> 00:38:28,521 This is good evidence. It says she didn't take that money 812 00:38:28,604 --> 00:38:31,854 and run off with all this cash, never to be seen again. 813 00:38:31,938 --> 00:38:33,646 ♪ It won't be bad... ♪ 814 00:38:33,729 --> 00:38:36,479 WORON: Liz Carmichael is exhibiting more optimism 815 00:38:36,562 --> 00:38:38,604 than at any time during the trial. 816 00:38:39,729 --> 00:38:41,479 The longer the trial has gone on, 817 00:38:41,562 --> 00:38:44,312 the more assured she has become. 818 00:38:44,396 --> 00:38:47,938 MCGUINNESS: I was called up. She said to me the one question, 819 00:38:48,020 --> 00:38:51,062 "Tomorrow, if I wanted you to come back and work for me, 820 00:38:51,145 --> 00:38:52,479 would you do it?" 821 00:38:52,562 --> 00:38:53,521 "Well, of course! 822 00:38:53,604 --> 00:38:56,229 But I would like a little more money." 823 00:38:56,312 --> 00:38:58,646 (LAUGHS) 824 00:38:58,729 --> 00:39:00,521 -(SOBBING) -MCGUINNESS: Other guys had gone up after me 825 00:39:00,604 --> 00:39:02,688 and bawled like babies, just going, 826 00:39:02,771 --> 00:39:05,104 "Liz, I'll follow you to the end of the world!" 827 00:39:05,187 --> 00:39:08,896 That's how powerful she was. 828 00:39:08,979 --> 00:39:11,729 MACCARLEY: This is a woman who knew how to inspire. 829 00:39:11,813 --> 00:39:12,979 ♪ Someday... ♪ 830 00:39:13,062 --> 00:39:15,604 MACCARLEY: You listened, even for five or ten minutes, 831 00:39:15,688 --> 00:39:17,062 to Liz Carmichael, 832 00:39:17,145 --> 00:39:19,145 and even I could have become a believer. 833 00:39:19,229 --> 00:39:21,688 The prosecution put on over a hundred witnesses. 834 00:39:21,771 --> 00:39:24,354 Every one testified that we were building the car. 835 00:39:24,437 --> 00:39:26,729 Uh, prosecution would like to have you believe 836 00:39:26,813 --> 00:39:28,020 that we never intended to. 837 00:39:28,104 --> 00:39:29,979 Their own witnesses testified that we were building it. 838 00:39:30,062 --> 00:39:32,104 There'd have been a quarter million Dales on the road today 839 00:39:32,187 --> 00:39:33,521 if they'd have left us alone. 840 00:39:33,604 --> 00:39:37,562 MACCARLEY: The jury did want to inspect the vehicle, 841 00:39:37,646 --> 00:39:40,896 and so we went down to a facility 842 00:39:40,979 --> 00:39:42,312 to look at the car. 843 00:39:42,813 --> 00:39:45,229 (WAVES SLOSHING) 844 00:39:45,312 --> 00:39:47,521 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 845 00:39:47,604 --> 00:39:49,187 ABRAMS: The car looked terrible. 846 00:39:49,270 --> 00:39:51,854 It was kind of off-balance, it was dirty, 847 00:39:51,938 --> 00:39:53,729 it was in a dingy garage. 848 00:39:53,813 --> 00:39:57,521 The prosecution had this car for a long time. 849 00:39:57,604 --> 00:40:00,771 The district attorney made sure it didn't look 850 00:40:00,854 --> 00:40:03,145 like a presentable vehicle. 851 00:40:05,521 --> 00:40:08,104 MACCARLEY: The one that we saw was the mock-up. 852 00:40:08,187 --> 00:40:10,270 No engine in that vehicle. 853 00:40:10,354 --> 00:40:14,270 Now, of course, this was Bob Youngdahl's decision. 854 00:40:14,354 --> 00:40:17,062 He wanted the jury to see that the car 855 00:40:17,145 --> 00:40:20,437 that was touted as the greatest vehicle since the Model T 856 00:40:20,521 --> 00:40:22,437 had nothing inside of it. 857 00:40:22,521 --> 00:40:26,646 It was purely a piece of, uh, prefabricated fiberglass. 858 00:40:26,729 --> 00:40:28,688 Somebody, I think, opened the front hood. 859 00:40:28,771 --> 00:40:31,771 There was nothing inside. That's extremely damaging. 860 00:40:31,854 --> 00:40:34,187 If you want, I'd call that one of the low points 861 00:40:34,270 --> 00:40:36,479 in the trial for Liz Carmichael. 862 00:40:36,562 --> 00:40:38,354 (JURORS MUTTERING) 863 00:40:59,979 --> 00:41:03,270 MACCARLEY: Youngdahl went back and said, "You saw what you saw 864 00:41:03,354 --> 00:41:04,646 in that maintenance yard. 865 00:41:04,729 --> 00:41:07,229 And did you see something that could actually 866 00:41:07,312 --> 00:41:10,396 even get itself outside of the maintenance yard?" 867 00:41:11,145 --> 00:41:12,187 No. 868 00:41:12,813 --> 00:41:14,187 (SEAGULLS CALLING) 869 00:41:14,270 --> 00:41:16,646 CARLSON: I was notified that they were gonna put her on trial 870 00:41:16,729 --> 00:41:18,187 and they wanted me to testify. 871 00:41:20,604 --> 00:41:23,729 And I was picked up by Bob Youngdahl, the prosecutor. 872 00:41:23,813 --> 00:41:26,104 On the way out in the car, Youngdahl said 873 00:41:26,187 --> 00:41:29,062 that the Los Angeles Police Department 874 00:41:29,145 --> 00:41:31,562 had arrested a minor criminal. 875 00:41:31,646 --> 00:41:33,854 In the course of interrogating him, 876 00:41:33,938 --> 00:41:37,437 he offered up some information that would perhaps 877 00:41:37,521 --> 00:41:39,521 get him out of the charge that he was facing. 878 00:41:41,771 --> 00:41:44,813 He had been hired to murder Youngdahl 879 00:41:44,896 --> 00:41:46,938 and Pete Noyes and me. 880 00:41:47,896 --> 00:41:49,521 Ten thousand dollars each, 881 00:41:49,604 --> 00:41:51,854 and another 15 for doing the deed. 882 00:41:51,938 --> 00:41:54,688 G. Elizabeth Carmichael had offered them 883 00:41:54,771 --> 00:41:57,020 the money to do this. 884 00:41:57,104 --> 00:41:59,813 MIA YAMAMOTO: Jailhouse snitches invariably 885 00:41:59,896 --> 00:42:01,521 are trying to get out of the crimes 886 00:42:01,604 --> 00:42:04,771 for which they are legitimately culpable. 887 00:42:04,854 --> 00:42:08,813 The very use of the jailhouse snitch, 888 00:42:08,896 --> 00:42:12,187 in many ways, shows how desperate the prosecution is, 889 00:42:12,270 --> 00:42:14,854 and it undermines their credibility. 890 00:42:14,938 --> 00:42:17,312 They went and saw the judge 891 00:42:17,396 --> 00:42:19,604 to tell the judge that the defendant, 892 00:42:19,688 --> 00:42:21,896 who was also her own attorney, 893 00:42:21,979 --> 00:42:24,312 has been charged with a plot 894 00:42:24,396 --> 00:42:26,771 to murder some of the witnesses. 895 00:42:26,854 --> 00:42:29,145 The judge said, "I can't listen to all of this 896 00:42:29,229 --> 00:42:31,521 unless you bring in the defense attorney, 897 00:42:31,604 --> 00:42:33,396 who is Mrs. Carmichael." 898 00:42:33,479 --> 00:42:36,521 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 899 00:42:36,604 --> 00:42:38,896 ABRAMS: Because she was representing herself, 900 00:42:38,979 --> 00:42:41,396 Liz had the ability 901 00:42:41,479 --> 00:42:44,813 to cross-examine every witness. 902 00:42:45,729 --> 00:42:48,729 That means that everybody that testified 903 00:42:48,813 --> 00:42:50,813 could be questioned by Liz. 904 00:42:51,854 --> 00:42:53,979 YAMAMOTO: This individual, he found out 905 00:42:54,062 --> 00:42:56,229 that he was going to be cross-examined 906 00:42:56,312 --> 00:42:58,229 by Liz Carmichael, 907 00:42:58,312 --> 00:43:00,562 and decided to take the fifth. 908 00:43:00,646 --> 00:43:02,646 None of that testimony ever came out. 909 00:43:02,729 --> 00:43:05,104 And that actually showed a fairly sophisticated 910 00:43:05,187 --> 00:43:07,604 understanding of the criminal justice system 911 00:43:07,688 --> 00:43:09,479 by Liz Carmichael. 912 00:43:09,562 --> 00:43:12,604 When something that inflammatory would come in, 913 00:43:12,688 --> 00:43:14,729 it would completely taint the entire proceedings. 914 00:43:14,813 --> 00:43:17,354 It would have called, at least, for a mistrial. 915 00:43:17,437 --> 00:43:18,604 If there had been a verdict, 916 00:43:18,688 --> 00:43:20,437 that verdict would have been overturned. 917 00:43:20,521 --> 00:43:23,604 It was so tainted, they dropped the entire effort. 918 00:43:23,688 --> 00:43:26,104 And that was the end of the investigation. 919 00:43:26,187 --> 00:43:28,771 Mrs. Carmichael was a thoroughly bad person 920 00:43:28,854 --> 00:43:31,020 from my point of view, and the irony 921 00:43:31,104 --> 00:43:33,979 of having to be interrogated by her on the stand 922 00:43:34,062 --> 00:43:36,104 is infuriating. 923 00:43:36,187 --> 00:43:38,604 I sat on that stand for at least a day, maybe two days, 924 00:43:38,688 --> 00:43:42,604 and I would say something that was completely prejudiced, 925 00:43:42,688 --> 00:43:44,396 because I was completely prejudiced. 926 00:43:45,521 --> 00:43:48,145 I would periodically, uh, refer to her as "sir" 927 00:43:48,229 --> 00:43:51,187 or some other male designation, 928 00:43:51,270 --> 00:43:52,771 and the judge would interrupt me and say, 929 00:43:52,854 --> 00:43:55,104 "Mr. Carlson, I've told you, uh, twice now 930 00:43:55,187 --> 00:43:59,604 to stop calling Mrs. Carmichael, uh, by male pronouns. 931 00:43:59,688 --> 00:44:02,771 Please refer to her as 'ma'am' or 'Mrs.' or something." 932 00:44:02,854 --> 00:44:04,521 And I would say, "Right. Yeah. Sure, Your Honor. 933 00:44:04,604 --> 00:44:05,938 Okay. Of course. I certainly will." 934 00:44:06,020 --> 00:44:07,479 And then I wouldn't do it, 935 00:44:07,562 --> 00:44:09,854 uh, because I thought it was ludicrous and I didn't think I had to. 936 00:44:11,396 --> 00:44:14,813 ABRAMS: Liz being transgender probably was 937 00:44:14,896 --> 00:44:19,479 the single most important motivating issue 938 00:44:19,562 --> 00:44:23,771 in why they went after her so diligently. 939 00:44:24,604 --> 00:44:26,145 It tainted the entire trial. 940 00:44:26,229 --> 00:44:28,562 I think all the jurors were kind of... 941 00:44:29,354 --> 00:44:31,312 aghast at what was going on. 942 00:44:31,396 --> 00:44:33,896 It was really a circus. 943 00:44:36,187 --> 00:44:39,646 STRYKER: Technically, Liz Carmichael was on trial 944 00:44:39,729 --> 00:44:41,187 to determine whether or not 945 00:44:41,270 --> 00:44:44,312 she had committed a fraud in promoting the Dale, 946 00:44:44,396 --> 00:44:45,813 but it's pretty clear that 947 00:44:45,896 --> 00:44:48,688 she was on trial as a trans person. 948 00:44:48,771 --> 00:44:51,521 When they couldn't decide if the car was real or not, 949 00:44:51,604 --> 00:44:54,229 they started focusing on Liz. 950 00:44:54,312 --> 00:44:57,104 If she was a fraud, then the car was a fraud. 951 00:44:57,437 --> 00:45:00,896 GRANAT: 952 00:45:09,229 --> 00:45:13,187 WILLIAMS: 953 00:45:23,646 --> 00:45:26,521 GRANAT: 954 00:45:50,145 --> 00:45:52,270 YAMAMOTO: Because she was a transgender woman, 955 00:45:52,354 --> 00:45:55,729 that immediately put a barrier between her 956 00:45:55,813 --> 00:45:58,646 and virtually every other person on that jury, 957 00:45:58,729 --> 00:46:00,604 and allowed the people on that jury 958 00:46:00,688 --> 00:46:03,854 to base their view of her and her testimony 959 00:46:03,938 --> 00:46:06,396 and her argument in a way that was colored 960 00:46:06,479 --> 00:46:08,562 by their view of transgender people. 961 00:46:08,646 --> 00:46:10,771 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 962 00:46:10,854 --> 00:46:12,479 REPORTER 4: I think most people are interested 963 00:46:12,562 --> 00:46:14,354 in your personal life and your-- 964 00:46:14,437 --> 00:46:16,646 your sex change, to be perfectly candid. 965 00:46:18,062 --> 00:46:21,104 Well, whatever claim to fame I have 966 00:46:21,187 --> 00:46:24,646 is as a producer of automobiles, not as a sex change artist. 967 00:46:24,729 --> 00:46:26,437 REPORTER 4: Can you give us a little personal insight 968 00:46:26,521 --> 00:46:29,270 on what this ordeal has been about with you? 969 00:46:29,354 --> 00:46:31,854 I think it's a combination of industrial, 970 00:46:31,938 --> 00:46:34,354 political, uh, pressure being brought to bear 971 00:46:34,437 --> 00:46:37,479 against individuals who don't want me to build a car. 972 00:46:37,562 --> 00:46:40,938 MACCARLEY: She saw this as an opportunity 973 00:46:41,020 --> 00:46:43,229 to address not only the jury, 974 00:46:43,312 --> 00:46:47,104 but she saw this as a way of justifying what she did. 975 00:46:47,187 --> 00:46:49,312 Well, I'm not the Lone Ranger in this. 976 00:46:49,396 --> 00:46:50,979 This has happened to others before. 977 00:46:51,062 --> 00:46:52,270 I expected it. 978 00:46:52,354 --> 00:46:54,854 It's anybody who's attempted to start in the United States 979 00:46:54,938 --> 00:46:56,479 to produce a car in mass production 980 00:46:56,562 --> 00:47:00,688 has been either forced out, put in jail, harassed... 981 00:47:00,771 --> 00:47:04,020 I came to the belief that she thought 982 00:47:04,104 --> 00:47:07,020 that she would be the next Henry Ford. 983 00:47:07,104 --> 00:47:10,104 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 984 00:47:10,187 --> 00:47:12,688 ANCHOR 4: Testimony in the trial of Elizabeth Carmichael 985 00:47:12,771 --> 00:47:14,813 has concluded after seven months 986 00:47:14,896 --> 00:47:17,187 in one of the lengthiest cases to be tried 987 00:47:17,270 --> 00:47:19,354 in the new Criminal Courts Building. 988 00:47:19,437 --> 00:47:21,979 After closing arguments, a verdict is expected 989 00:47:22,062 --> 00:47:23,479 early next year. 990 00:47:24,771 --> 00:47:26,646 MACCARLEY: There are very few attorneys 991 00:47:26,729 --> 00:47:30,938 who have ever gone through a nine-month jury trial. 992 00:47:31,020 --> 00:47:34,437 Liz Carmichael, for the most part, represented herself. 993 00:47:34,521 --> 00:47:36,604 Almost every single argument, 994 00:47:36,688 --> 00:47:38,145 anything that was really important, 995 00:47:38,229 --> 00:47:39,771 Liz was right in there, 996 00:47:39,854 --> 00:47:42,729 and she was making that argument. 997 00:47:42,813 --> 00:47:45,854 Her defense was, "This was absolutely credible. 998 00:47:45,938 --> 00:47:49,521 I was taking on General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, 999 00:47:49,604 --> 00:47:52,688 because I was doing something that would be good for America." 1000 00:47:52,771 --> 00:47:56,020 It was the state interfering with her right 1001 00:47:56,104 --> 00:47:59,020 to be an extraordinary entrepreneur and a woman. 1002 00:47:59,104 --> 00:48:01,479 -♪ (MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY) ♪ -Pretty powerful message. 1003 00:48:03,145 --> 00:48:04,354 (TAPE CLICKS) 1004 00:48:04,437 --> 00:48:05,729 CARMICHAEL: Most people who believe in free enterprise, 1005 00:48:05,813 --> 00:48:07,938 number one, think that they're totally alone. 1006 00:48:08,020 --> 00:48:10,062 I did. 1007 00:48:10,145 --> 00:48:14,229 I believed that I was a freak in my philosophical beliefs 1008 00:48:14,312 --> 00:48:16,020 up until just a few months ago. 1009 00:48:17,479 --> 00:48:20,229 The majority of the American public 1010 00:48:20,312 --> 00:48:22,813 wants free enterprise. 1011 00:48:22,896 --> 00:48:25,229 I think that they want total freedom. 1012 00:48:25,312 --> 00:48:27,104 But they've been brainwashed into believing 1013 00:48:27,187 --> 00:48:28,437 that it's not possible. 1014 00:48:28,521 --> 00:48:30,813 And there's been nobody with enough stature 1015 00:48:30,896 --> 00:48:35,354 willing to stand up and say, "Hey, it is possible." 1016 00:48:35,437 --> 00:48:37,646 Free enterprise has never had an opportunity. 1017 00:48:37,729 --> 00:48:38,813 (TAPE CLICKS) 1018 00:48:41,479 --> 00:48:44,896 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1019 00:48:49,104 --> 00:48:51,646 (PENCIL SCRIBBLING) 1020 00:48:52,437 --> 00:48:55,020 WILLIAMS: 1021 00:49:14,646 --> 00:49:16,854 YAMAMOTO: Mary Thayer was probably 1022 00:49:16,938 --> 00:49:19,062 the most interesting juror on the case 1023 00:49:19,145 --> 00:49:24,270 because she was convinced that Carmichael was innocent 1024 00:49:24,354 --> 00:49:27,312 and was going to hold out for that verdict to the end. 1025 00:49:27,396 --> 00:49:30,437 The jury foreman said, "We've taken many votes, 1026 00:49:30,521 --> 00:49:32,145 and no matter what, 1027 00:49:32,229 --> 00:49:34,729 we're not gonna be able to come to any conclusion." 1028 00:49:34,813 --> 00:49:37,062 And that's when we found out 1029 00:49:37,145 --> 00:49:39,479 what the jury count was: eleven to one. 1030 00:49:39,562 --> 00:49:41,145 -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(CAMERAS CLICKING) 1031 00:49:41,229 --> 00:49:42,396 REPORTER 5: Ms. Carmichael. 1032 00:49:47,062 --> 00:49:48,145 No, I'm disappointed. 1033 00:49:48,229 --> 00:49:50,062 I expected a "not guilty on all counts" 1034 00:49:50,145 --> 00:49:51,604 within the first three or four days. 1035 00:49:51,688 --> 00:49:54,270 REPORTER 6: Are you saying, then, that this is not in your... 1036 00:49:55,229 --> 00:49:58,437 WILLIAMS: 1037 00:50:15,938 --> 00:50:18,604 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1038 00:50:30,020 --> 00:50:31,938 ♪ (MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY) ♪ 1039 00:50:35,104 --> 00:50:39,187 -(COUGHING) -Mary Thayer, it was determined, got sick 1040 00:50:39,270 --> 00:50:42,145 and was sent to the hospital. 1041 00:50:42,229 --> 00:50:45,354 WILLIAMS: 1042 00:50:46,813 --> 00:50:49,604 (COUGHING) 1043 00:50:51,771 --> 00:50:53,479 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1044 00:51:03,145 --> 00:51:05,354 I had a terrible headache that day. 1045 00:51:05,437 --> 00:51:07,562 We had come to a complete deadlock. 1046 00:51:07,646 --> 00:51:09,688 And I kept going through the-- 1047 00:51:09,771 --> 00:51:12,229 the books and the records and everything else, 1048 00:51:12,312 --> 00:51:14,396 and the headache kept getting worse and worse. 1049 00:51:14,479 --> 00:51:15,979 REPORTER 7: Knowing it was at a crucial point, 1050 00:51:16,062 --> 00:51:18,354 why did you agree to go to the hospital? 1051 00:51:19,521 --> 00:51:21,562 I thought I was under court order. 1052 00:51:21,646 --> 00:51:24,187 ANCHOR 5: Juror Mary Thayer was present for the trial, 1053 00:51:24,270 --> 00:51:27,396 but the final jury vote occurred while she was hospitalized 1054 00:51:27,479 --> 00:51:28,813 for a short time. 1055 00:51:28,896 --> 00:51:31,145 She was taken off the case despite her wish 1056 00:51:31,229 --> 00:51:33,896 to remain on the jury and cast her vote. 1057 00:51:33,979 --> 00:51:35,437 Thayer was pressured off the case 1058 00:51:35,521 --> 00:51:37,312 by court officials and other jurors, 1059 00:51:37,396 --> 00:51:40,771 asserts Liz Carmichael and her counsel. 1060 00:51:40,854 --> 00:51:43,270 MACCARLEY: Liz questioned whether or not 1061 00:51:43,354 --> 00:51:44,938 this juror was truly ill. 1062 00:51:45,020 --> 00:51:48,771 She thought that something untoward was taking place. 1063 00:51:48,854 --> 00:51:52,020 If you have a situation where juries come back eleven-one, 1064 00:51:52,104 --> 00:51:53,479 then that juror falls ill, 1065 00:51:53,562 --> 00:51:57,187 what the prosecution is gonna do is get the judge to replace 1066 00:51:57,270 --> 00:51:58,771 the sick juror with somebody else, 1067 00:51:58,854 --> 00:52:02,270 and then in about five minutes, we'll have a twelve-zip. 1068 00:52:02,354 --> 00:52:05,646 ABRAMS: Some of the defense attorneys found information 1069 00:52:05,729 --> 00:52:09,813 that perhaps some of the bailiffs 1070 00:52:09,896 --> 00:52:13,437 and some doctors stated things to the judge 1071 00:52:13,521 --> 00:52:16,562 about Thayer's condition that were not true. 1072 00:52:16,646 --> 00:52:18,312 Everybody in the court was misled 1073 00:52:18,396 --> 00:52:20,646 as to what her actual condition was. 1074 00:52:20,729 --> 00:52:23,979 We all thought she was, uh, dying or desperately ill. 1075 00:52:24,062 --> 00:52:25,479 And it turns out that 1076 00:52:25,562 --> 00:52:27,562 the doctor's note that we relied on 1077 00:52:27,646 --> 00:52:28,979 was not written by a doctor. 1078 00:52:29,062 --> 00:52:30,521 Half of it was written by a nurse, 1079 00:52:30,604 --> 00:52:32,437 and the other half was probably written 1080 00:52:32,521 --> 00:52:34,104 by the bailiff and the court. 1081 00:52:34,187 --> 00:52:37,396 The bailiff admits that she may have altered 1082 00:52:37,479 --> 00:52:40,270 the medical slip excusing Mrs. Thayer. 1083 00:52:40,354 --> 00:52:43,938 And if she did, of course, this is tantamount to forgery. 1084 00:52:44,020 --> 00:52:45,854 She claims that, if she did-- 1085 00:52:45,938 --> 00:52:47,854 "If" she did. She just said she may have. 1086 00:52:47,938 --> 00:52:50,854 She isn't sure. Draw your own conclusions from that. 1087 00:52:50,938 --> 00:52:53,813 But she said that if she did alter the medical slip, 1088 00:52:53,896 --> 00:52:55,854 it was because she heard the doctor say 1089 00:52:55,938 --> 00:52:58,771 that she would possibly be out longer than three days. 1090 00:52:58,854 --> 00:53:00,437 I wasn't there. You weren't there. 1091 00:53:00,521 --> 00:53:04,270 What hard testimony do you have except Mrs. Thayer, apparently, 1092 00:53:04,354 --> 00:53:06,521 who has indicated that that's her position? 1093 00:53:06,604 --> 00:53:10,771 But, uh, is there any evidence to support that position? 1094 00:53:11,729 --> 00:53:13,479 ABRAMS: During the jury deliberation, 1095 00:53:13,562 --> 00:53:15,354 we actually had hope 1096 00:53:15,437 --> 00:53:18,437 that maybe it'll be a hung jury. 1097 00:53:19,688 --> 00:53:21,521 Because you hang the jury, 1098 00:53:21,604 --> 00:53:23,938 you can probably get a plea bargain. 1099 00:53:24,020 --> 00:53:25,437 (PAPER RUSTLING) 1100 00:53:26,604 --> 00:53:30,729 After juror Mary Thayer was excused 1101 00:53:30,813 --> 00:53:34,479 and the jury received an alternate juror, 1102 00:53:34,562 --> 00:53:37,479 they came back four days later with "guilty." 1103 00:53:38,979 --> 00:53:41,437 WORON: The jury found the five defendants guilty 1104 00:53:41,521 --> 00:53:46,062 of 137 charges out of 155. 1105 00:53:46,145 --> 00:53:48,562 G. Elizabeth Carmichael has been found guilty 1106 00:53:48,646 --> 00:53:51,979 of grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft, 1107 00:53:52,062 --> 00:53:54,604 and of selling securities fraudulently 1108 00:53:54,688 --> 00:53:55,938 and without a permit. 1109 00:53:56,020 --> 00:53:58,396 -I've got nothing to say. -WORON: All were judged guilty 1110 00:53:58,479 --> 00:54:01,562 of the conspiracy and securities violations. 1111 00:54:01,646 --> 00:54:04,896 Each defendant faces a possible one to ten years 1112 00:54:04,979 --> 00:54:08,354 for each guilty verdict, applied consecutively. 1113 00:54:08,437 --> 00:54:10,979 Walt Woron, Automotive News. 1114 00:54:13,145 --> 00:54:16,604 Uh, I would have liked a heavier sentence, 1115 00:54:16,688 --> 00:54:18,646 but until, throughout the state, 1116 00:54:18,729 --> 00:54:20,938 we have all the courts giving heavier sentences 1117 00:54:21,020 --> 00:54:23,104 for serious white-collar crimes, 1118 00:54:23,187 --> 00:54:24,938 until that actually occurs, uh, 1119 00:54:25,020 --> 00:54:27,437 you'd have to say this was a very fair sentence. 1120 00:54:27,521 --> 00:54:29,896 All through the trial, she thought 1121 00:54:29,979 --> 00:54:32,896 it would be "not guilty" and the car company would go on. 1122 00:54:32,979 --> 00:54:35,312 REPORTER 8: What do you think it'll do to you emotionally, 1123 00:54:35,396 --> 00:54:37,604 to be housed in either a man's or a woman's prison? 1124 00:54:37,688 --> 00:54:39,938 I'm a strong person. It won't do anything to me. 1125 00:54:40,020 --> 00:54:41,312 REPORTER 9: Which would you prefer? 1126 00:54:41,396 --> 00:54:43,229 -Women's prison. - REPORTER 9: Why? 1127 00:54:43,312 --> 00:54:44,771 'Cause I'm a woman. 1128 00:54:44,854 --> 00:54:46,771 REPORTER 9: What would happen if they sent you to a man's prison? 1129 00:54:46,854 --> 00:54:48,896 I'd be in solitary confinement. 1130 00:54:48,979 --> 00:54:51,062 Nobody knew how they were gonna do it, 1131 00:54:51,145 --> 00:54:55,229 but she really thought that they would never convict her. 1132 00:54:57,562 --> 00:54:58,979 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 1133 00:54:59,062 --> 00:55:00,979 (TYPEWRITER CLACKING) 1134 00:55:01,062 --> 00:55:04,854 ♪ ("FLAT BED RHYTHM" BY AL HAZAN PLAYING) ♪ 1135 00:55:05,813 --> 00:55:08,437 WORON: December 4th, 1980. 1136 00:55:08,521 --> 00:55:11,938 Remember transexual G. Elizabeth Carmichael? 1137 00:55:12,020 --> 00:55:14,479 Scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles court 1138 00:55:14,562 --> 00:55:16,896 on December 3rd for final sentencing, 1139 00:55:16,979 --> 00:55:18,729 she apparently skipped town. 1140 00:55:20,062 --> 00:55:23,062 A bench warrant has been issued for her arrest. 1141 00:55:23,145 --> 00:55:26,521 ♪ Well, I got a rhythm Seated in my head ♪ 1142 00:55:26,604 --> 00:55:27,979 ♪ Same kind of rhythm That you get ♪ 1143 00:55:28,062 --> 00:55:30,437 ♪ When you're riding On a Santa Fe flatbed ♪ 1144 00:55:30,521 --> 00:55:34,104 ♪ Got a little tingle It's a tingle down in my toes ♪ 1145 00:55:34,187 --> 00:55:35,896 ♪ Same kind of tingle That makes me tickle ♪ 1146 00:55:35,979 --> 00:55:37,896 ♪ When you wanna Picka the Van Gough ♪ 1147 00:55:37,979 --> 00:55:39,729 ♪ Well the only thing bad About riding the track ♪ 1148 00:55:39,813 --> 00:55:41,604 ♪ If you miss that handle Gonna break your back ♪ 1149 00:55:41,688 --> 00:55:43,521 ♪ But I'll cheat death And I'll take a crack ♪ 1150 00:55:43,604 --> 00:55:45,854 ♪ At riding on the railroad Free forever now ♪ 1151 00:55:45,938 --> 00:55:47,229 ♪ Got a rhythm Gonna give you some ♪ 1152 00:55:47,312 --> 00:55:49,187 ♪ It's a free riding river Over railroad bum ♪ 1153 00:55:49,270 --> 00:55:51,020 ♪ Take your freedom And gimme some ♪ 1154 00:55:51,104 --> 00:55:52,854 ♪ I'll take the freedom Of a railroad bum ♪ 1155 00:55:52,938 --> 00:55:56,688 ♪ Oh I've been stagnant In this town too long ♪ 1156 00:55:56,771 --> 00:55:58,479 ♪ Every time I think I'm gonna be happy ♪ 1157 00:55:58,562 --> 00:56:00,479 ♪ Everything starts Going wrong ♪ 1158 00:56:00,562 --> 00:56:04,104 ♪ Had a little lady that I thought could love me too ♪ 1159 00:56:04,187 --> 00:56:06,020 ♪ When it came to men I guess she had ♪ 1160 00:56:06,104 --> 00:56:07,646 ♪ That flatbed rhythm too ♪ 1161 00:56:07,729 --> 00:56:09,729 ♪ Well the only thing bad About riding the track ♪ 1162 00:56:09,813 --> 00:56:11,688 ♪ If you miss that handle Gonna break your back ♪ 1163 00:56:11,771 --> 00:56:13,562 ♪ But I'll cheat death And I'll take a crack ♪ 1164 00:56:13,646 --> 00:56:15,729 ♪ At riding on the railroad Free forever now ♪ 1165 00:56:15,813 --> 00:56:17,354 ♪ Got a rhythm Gonna give you some ♪ 1166 00:56:17,437 --> 00:56:19,229 ♪ It's a free riding river Over railroad bum ♪ 1167 00:56:19,312 --> 00:56:21,104 ♪ Take your freedom And gimme some ♪ 1168 00:56:21,187 --> 00:56:23,354 ♪ I'll take the freedom Of a railroad bum ♪ 1169 00:56:30,104 --> 00:56:32,145 ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ 1170 00:56:39,813 --> 00:56:43,437 ♪ (JAZZY MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 1171 00:56:44,062 --> 00:56:46,854 SPEAKER: Her number one goal. Family must always be together. 1172 00:56:47,104 --> 00:56:48,062 ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: I decided to give 1173 00:56:48,145 --> 00:56:50,187 the flower sowing idea a try. 1174 00:56:51,020 --> 00:56:52,145 SPEAKER 2: Liz broke laws. 1175 00:56:52,354 --> 00:56:55,854 However... I think the way things went down was wrong. 1176 00:56:57,187 --> 00:56:58,979 SPEAKER 3: Everything's completely off the book. 1177 00:56:59,187 --> 00:57:01,521 CARMICHAEL: They work there out of their own free will. 1178 00:57:01,604 --> 00:57:04,938 SPEAKER 3: Liz is trying to justify what is done. 1179 00:57:05,229 --> 00:57:07,104 I had the story of the year. 1180 00:57:07,187 --> 00:57:10,062 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) 1181 00:57:10,521 --> 00:57:14,187 CARMICHAEL: The world will know my name before I am through.