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Welcome back, folks, and we have a heck of his
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show coming your way today. Look at just a few
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of the topics. In Louisiana, a woman is sentenced to
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life in prison for engaging in an alleged rape during
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a threesome. She gets a new trial, she gets reduced charges.
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In just a few days ago, is found not guilty
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by a twelve person jerry. In Florida, a man is
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jailed after he picked the wrong guy to thright down
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to a local car wash with an axe. A woman
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in Tennessee takes doxing to a whole new level when
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she posts a man's unredacted arrest warren online. In Utah,
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we have a verdict in the Corey rich AND's murder case,
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and we have an update to the Georgia case involving
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your teacher killed during a high school prank. These stories
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and so much more coming your way today on Crime
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Wire Weekly.
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I'm Jim Chapman and I'm Kelly Jennys.
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We're gonna start off here at home. We're gonna start
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off in Livingston, Paris, Louisiana, right where we record out
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of right now, and I'm gonna tell you about a
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Livingston Paris jury who on Tuesday, March seventeenth, twenty twenty six,
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found Melanie Carton not guilty on all charges of simple
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rape and video voyeurism after deliberating for about three hours,
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and this was at the end of an eight day retrial.
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Tears of joy filled the courtroom as in a unanimous
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twelve person jury delivered the verdict. Curtain, who had faced
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up to twenty five years in prison if convicted, burned
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down emotionally alongside her mother, fiance, and youngest son. Quote.
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I am so thankful for the people that prayed for
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me and fought for me, and I'm looking forward to freedom,
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Curtin told reporters outside of the courthouse. When asked what
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she had to say to Livingston Parish, she added, quote,
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I'm never coming back and I can't blame her there.
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The case dates back to November of twenty fourteen, when
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a video recorded at the home of the then Livingston
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Parish Sheriff's Office Deputy Dennis Perkins, captured a sexual encounter
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involving Curtin, Perkins, and another woman. Prosecutors allege the woman
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was unconscious and unable to consent with Curtin assisting in
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that assault. The video was discovered some five years later
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during the sprawling investigation into Perkins and his wife, Cynthia Perkins. Now,
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I want to note, and it's important to say, these
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timelines did not cross. Melanie Curtin was related to none
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of these child sex cases. And that's very important because
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it has been conflated and mixed up and people think
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that those cases were they do not. Curtin was arrested
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in February of twenty twenty. Now, in her first trials,
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she was convicted of first degree rape sentenced to life
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in prison without parole. However, the Louisiana First Circuit Court
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of Appeal overturned that conviction in twenty twenty three. They
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ruled that the trial judge improperly restricted her defense and
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alloud prejudicial evidence, which violated her constitutional right to a
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fair trial. The retrial proceeded on reduced charges of simple
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rape and video voyeurism. Defense attorney Jena Whet argued successfully
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that evidence showed Curtin was another victim of perkins manipulative
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say that three times fast behavior. We are happy and
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thankful that the jury had finally recognized Melanie as one
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of Dennis Perkins's many victims and that she can finally
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put this saga behind her, Wheat said after the verdict,
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the defense called just one witness, though a very powerful witness,
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in roughly thirteen minutes of testimony describing Perkins's pattern of
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instructing his partners to pretend to be asleep during encounters.
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Cartin did not testify. The prosecution, led by the Louisiana
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AG's Office, maintained the eighteen minute video, which was played
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twice for jurors with the courtroom cleared. Incidentally, each time
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clearly showed non consensual acts. The victim testified she had
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no memory of the night and only learned the assault
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when shown the video. Years later, Assistant Attorney General Erica
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Moore expressed her disagreement with the verdict but respect for
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the jury's decision, noting this case was tried in the
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court of public opinion and the media before it got
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to court. Attorney General Liz Merrell issued a statement expressing
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profound disappointment. Quote after a retrial, years of lays, extensive
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core proceedings, and other factors, this is not the outcome
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we had hoped for. In our disappointment, is a grave understatement.
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The victim in this case endured horrific abuse at the
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hands of Dennis Perkins and courageously testified about that trauma.
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I'm so sorry the system failed her. Miro praised the
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victim's courage in the prosecutor's efforts while criticizing court rulings
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that said she weakened, that said weakened Louisiana rape shield law,
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and a media campaign she believes influenced the process. She
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emphasized that Dennis Perkins convicted of heinous sex crimes including miners,
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including involving miners, and sentenced to one hundred years, and
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Cynthia Perkins remained behind bars curtain, as I said, was
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never accused of involvement in any crimes related to children.
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Judge Brian Abels did preside over this trial, and the
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vertict marked more than a day long legal ord deal
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for Carton, who maintained her innocence throughout.
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Yeah, this one was a very, very It almost feels
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like a personal one because it was local. So many
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people around here, I know made opinions based on what
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the media, you know, put out there. That's all you
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would know. And that goes both ways too, you know.
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I feel like there was media coverage that was shedding
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every party in good light and in bad light. I
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felt like it was kind of all over the place.
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But the facts are that Jem and I dedicated our
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time to go sit through every single day of this trial.
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We took meticulous notes. I know I did. I saw
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you taking meticulous notes. And I have to tell you
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that the jury got this one right. This jury got
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it right.
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Yeah. There was not evidence beyond a reasonable doubt, not
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even closed by any stretch. In my opinion, there were
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a lot of holes in this case, a lot of
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unanswered questions. And in this country, you have to have
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evidence beyond a reasonable doubt to convict somebody.
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Yeah, And I can tell you that I never followed
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the first trial and I did follow the second one
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because I was you know this curiosity. You want to know,
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you're curious about it. And what I can tell you
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is that I had preconceived notions before going into this
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trial to take notes. And my jaw literally dropped at
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certain points that the testimony, the testimony on the prosecution side,
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I think almost sealed the deal from me that it
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was not guilty more than anything. Yeah, their their witnesses
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were just not helpful to their own case.
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Yeah.
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I don't know how you saw it, but that's how
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I saw it.
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Well, let's apparently how the jury saw it. Yeah, for sure,
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because it was unanimous. It wasn't a hung jury. It
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wasn't you know, what is it six five one way
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and seven the other. I mean, this was a unanimous
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not guilty verdict, which I think speaks volumes to proven
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the case.
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Yeah, And I can tell you.
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And they're difficult cases, these these consent cases. They're difficult cases.
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There's not fine lines there on a lot of cases
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that involved consent.
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Yeah.
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And so I felt like the verdict that was reached
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was the same verdict I had in my head based
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off of the evidence that I heard in court.
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Yeah, period, period. And I know I'll add this and
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this is a personal opinion. I'm sure that people don't
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share it, but I never feared the government before this trial,
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and I can tell you it instilled a little bit
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of further reaching fear in me that things could go
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this far with not a lot of proof.
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Yeah. And you know what Kelly's referencing here For those
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that may be unfamiliar, I mentioned it in the in
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the article, but she was in prison for life, and
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it was it was several questionable rulings that created this
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new trial under reduced charges because the first case was
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thrown out. But I can only imagine having to resign
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your brain to you know, I'm in jail for a lot.
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I mean, she didn't foresee this appeal coming in her
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having another shot at proving her innocence in this case,
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which is really an oxymoron in itself, because you shouldn't
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have to prove your innocence you innocents. Just the opposite,
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And it's to avoid things like this from occurring. Now,
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what occurs in the public spectrum. Look, this is a
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social media world. You are not going to be able
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to control people's opinions on social media, and we've seen
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that many cases throughout the country. And the majority of
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the people on this jury, from what I understand, did
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not have familiarity with this particular case. As a matter
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of fact, one juror was interviewed afterwards and said they
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had no familiarity with Melanie Carton at all.
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Well, and there's something else here too that I think
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is interesting to a concept that we as people could
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at least consider is that when the appellate court originally
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ruled that, look this, basically, the deck was stacked against
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Melanie Curtain because of some rulings of evidence that was
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allowed and was not allowed, and they felt like it
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was an error. The way that that was done, they
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must have been correct, because what are the chances of
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someone going from life in prison to the new trial
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with these new rules in place of what can be
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allowed and not allowed, and then a twelve person jury
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unanimously say this person is not guilty. That must lend
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itself to that the decision made by the appellate court
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must have been the correct decision for them to flip
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flop that hard for a jury to flip flop that hard.
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Yes, and while we believe she's not guilty, and that
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jury believed that she is not guilty, it's important to
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note that they not guilty of verty can acquittal her
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the same thing. And what that means in a llegal
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definition is that this case was not proved beyond a
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reasonable doubt. There's only three people in this particular case
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that know the absolute well four because I'm a believer
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and I believe God knows the absolute truth. But aside
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from all that, it's the accused, the accuser, and Dennis Perkins,
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who is not talking, so you know, those are really
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the only definitive people that know. But based off of
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the evidence shown in trial, I wasn't I wasn't convinced.
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Nor was I so what I would hope for, And
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you know, every case is a learning lesson, and when
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you are specifically going every day to court, it's very different,
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I think than just seeing the headlines every day and
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something else. I learned that I think I already knew.
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But there are certain media outlets that posted the polar
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opposite of what was said in court. And some of
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them were spot on and were one correct, but there
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were some media outlets. When I tell you the absolute
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antithesis of what was said in court, my jaw dropped.
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And so this is where the due diligence of the
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public should come in. You should. I know, we don't
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all have time to go to trials, right and listen
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to them and all that, But before you get behind
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a keyboard and you start professing your beliefs on something
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when you have no foundation other than a headline, it
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taught me a lesson. Yeah, better take a step back
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you better watch what you say because you can be
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proven dead wrong based on evidence presented to you, right,
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you know.
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And one more thing on my end before we stopped
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talking about this look. I was there personally as a
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citizen of Livingston Parish, a concerned citizen of Livingston Parish
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who wanted to know what occurred based off of the
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facts that I saw in the trial and the looks
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that I was given and people I was with, I
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didn't care too much for you know, this is let
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me tell you something I fully believe is we are
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in open court, in the people's house, and everybody should
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encourage the public to participate in the court system, even
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if it's from the standpoint of a spectator learning more
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about the court system, which is what I was there for.
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I wanted to know what occurred in this case in
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my parish, Okay, and I had a lot of people
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from outside of this parish that were looking at me
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as if I didn't belong there, as if I was
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an enemy. I felt like I had formed an opinion
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either way, and these people were looking at me as
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if I was there to be critical of every step
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of the process. I didn't have an opinion one way
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or the other one. I shut up. So I didn't
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care for that. And so if any of those people
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are listening, don't make people feel uncomfortable for going to
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court and participating in the system.
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Yeah. And I'm going to add to it though and
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tell you this. I felt genuinely like I was public
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enemy number one for even questioning the prosecution's case, which
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that's not why I was there either. I wasn't there
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to question their case. I was there to get the
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facts of the case. And I agree, I felt like
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there were some intimidation factors that were being employed there.
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I don't think it was right, and I didn't appreciate
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it because I didn't do that to anyone else. I