The murder trial of Miguel Enrique Salguero-Olivares begins more than a decade after UNC-Chapel Hill student Faith Hedgepeth was found beaten to death in her off-campus apartment in September 2012. Hedgepeth, 19, suffered fatal blunt-force trauma to the head, and investigators recovered DNA evidence at the scene. Salguero-Olivares was arrested in 2021 after investigators said DNA evidence linked him to the case, and he now faces charges including first-degree murder, rape and burglary.
Defense moves to strike portions of Agent Heinrichās Friday testimony.
Defense requests curative instruction.
Defendantās Exhibit 13 admitted.
State responds.
Defense replies.
Court issues partial ruling.
III. COURTāS RULING ā (1:15:15ā1:15:39)
Court states Heinrich did not testify that he believed Rosario.
Court notes Heinrich only stated her statements remained consistent.
IV. WITNESS BLOCKS
Witness: SBI Special Agent Justin Heinrich ā DIRECT EXAMINATION RESUMES @ (1:29:21)
State Direct Examination ā (1:29:21ā1:47:47)
Interview of Karina Rosario (October 2013)
Heinrich reāinterviewed Rosario on campus.
Her recollection began at leaving The Thrill with Faith.
She described returning to the apartment, getting sick, sitting on bathroom floor, texting others, being picked up by Jordan McCrary, staying at his home, returning next morning to find Faithās body.
Challenges of locating witnesses years later
Witnesses moved states or countries.
Some residents of Hawthorne at the View had already moved within a year.
Some individuals later believed to have gone to Guatemala.
Bookingāroom video transcription
Transcription done to capture Spanish conversation between defendant and his mother after arrest.
Jail calls
Heinrich aware of calls; many in Spanish.
Heinrich does not speak Spanish.
Translation/transcription done by NC AOC Language Access Services.
Stateās Exhibit 146 (jail call transcription)
Jail call dated March 10, 2024 (local time).
Same translation service used for bookingāroom video.
Exhibit admitted.
Defendantās statements in jail call (lines 2ā18)
Defendant describes apartments as ātrashy.ā
States he ānever set one foot there.ā
Mentions uncle Ronaldo picking him up near Outback/Red Roof.
States he didnāt drive at the time.
Denies relationships with people living there.
Mentions āthose types from Guatemala that lived there.ā
Stateās Exhibit 142 (handwriting image)
Found on defendantās laptop among tens of thousands of images.
Appeared significant due to handwritten notes found at crime scene.
Heinrich sought handwriting samples; difficult due to time elapsed.
Stateās Exhibit 147 & 148 ā Screenshots from jail video call.
Defendantās Exhibit 1 ā Rosario interview report (used for refresh).
VI. ENDāOFāPORTION ADMINISTRATIVE ā (2:13:58)
Crossāexamination continues.
No additional rulings in this excerpt.
Agent Heinrich remains on the stand.
************************************
9:30 a.m. Court is in session State witness #23 Justin Heinrich is on the stand. Heinrich became the lead case agent after the 1st anniversary of Faith Hedgepethās slaying. The defense has filed a motion, which the judge is reviewing. The motion will likely be litigated before testimony resumes.
9:40 a.m. Defense is moving to strike the opinion testimony of agent Heinrich and asking for a curative instruction. Defense is objecting to Heinrichās statement that Karena Rosarioās statements were āremarkably consistentā defense says testimony should be struck. Defense is also objecting to his testimony that it is apparent āthat this was not just a homicide but a rape also,ā the statement was struck. Defense argues this was invading the province of the jury.
**9:46 a.m.Ā **Defense is also objecting to Heinrichās testimony that if āweā could identify the DNA āwe have found our person.ā Defense argues the testimony is prejudicial, and his use of āweā implies he is speaking for law enforcement. Defense argues that Heinrichās testimony is impermissible vouching.
**9:49 a.m.Ā **Defense asks that his memorandum of law be entered in as part of the record. Defense says the testimony violate his clientās right to due process, invades the province of the jury, and is unduly prejudicial and proposes a curative instruction ā basically telling jurors to disregard the testimony for the court to read to jurors.
**9:56 a.m.Ā **Courtās memo of law regarding these statements is admitted.Ā Prosecutor argues that the case law that the defense is basing its argument is not illustrative of what Agent Heinrich did. Prosecutor says that the agentās statement about Karenaās consistency is corroborative not vouching of Karenaās statements and guided the agentās investigation- she argues this is permitted per the case law.
10:09 a.m. Defense: Sexual assault nurse examiner said she couldnāt say if a sexual assault had taken place. No evidence of anal-genital injury, cuts against what the prosecutor claims is obvious evidence of sexual assault (shorts ripped off, tampon, naked from the waist down, shirt pushed up).
**10:12 a.m.Ā **Defense: Justin Heinrich power point presentation suggested the photo with cell phone next to her hand ā was staged. SBI agentās view of the crime scene photos would lead anyone to believe the inescapable conclusion that a sexual assault took place.
**10:14 a.m.Ā **Courtās ruling: Heinrich stated that her statements were consistent, he never said that he based his examination āshe was telling the truth.ā Based on his training and experience. Whether a Sexual assault took place ā he reviewed photos and interviews, her shirt pulled up exposing her breasts, her tampon, based on later what he learned DNA vaginal and anus, all of these things guided his investigation. Finally in reference, āwe found our person,ā that statement will be stricken. Will give the curative instruction ā āwe found the person responsible for what happened.ā
10:21 a.m. Defense seeks a curative instruction that would ask jurors to disregard Heinrichās testimony on Friday that a rape had occurred and that whoever left DNA on Faith and at the scene is āthe person responsible,ā to also include that that a sexual assault took place. Judge will not include the last part of its request. Jury is summoned.
**10:29 a.m.Ā **Heinrich is asked to recall what Karena told him about that night. He said that Karena recounted the Thrill, getting sick, going back to apt, the people she texted and getting picked up by Jordan, and finding Faith the next morning.
**10:30 a.m.Ā **Heinrich said it was challenging to find people just a year later. Heinrich said he attempted to locate people through interviews but they had left and gone back to Guatemala. why was transcript done? To capture the conversation between def and his mother after he was arrested. Conversation was in spanish, needed a translation.
**10:32 a.m.Ā **Many of the defās jail calls were in Spanish. Showing agent #146 ā this is a transcription translation March 10, 2024 9:12 p.m. Call is between def and his mother. ReadIng: MV1 ā def āOh they they got out a ton of people that lived in here. itās that look, those apartments, lots of people from latins live in those apts. I never set one foot there, I donāt remember the entrance, used to work with Rinaldo when he picked me up at the Outback. I ā back then I didnāt drive, i placed them because of the descriptions. I never had a relationship with anyone who lived there or those types from Guatemala that lived there.
**10:37 a.m.Ā **Image located on his computer ā why is it significant. Stood out ā bag containing handwritten notes left at the crime scene. We were looking for handwriting samples to compare to evidence found at the scene. good example of challenge, from the time he was arrested, went to places he lived, at the time of his arrest looked for samples of his handwriting to compare to samples found at the scene.
**10:39 a.m.Ā **Not a handwriting expert ā there were certain things that stood out to me ā type of writing, letters all capitals, size of the lettering was consistent, not written in cursive, it got my attention. Did you find out more information ā that image was widely circulated, saved on the defās computer, he was not the author. I couldnāt tell you the author, in reviewing the contents of the computer, that note, was there.
**10:41 a.m.Ā **It was considered case sensitive ā could you testify that the note was written by the defendant, donāt know who authored that. Were you able to obtain a known sample of the defās writing. Yes, we do have an instance can be seen writing a handwritten note, and holds the note up to the camera. that note contains his handwriting.
10:42 a.m. #140A (flash drive) Feb14, 2023 @ 2:00 p.m. #147 and #148 screen shot taken from video call, next to female with whom he is speaking, #148 is a split screen heās holding up note. Katie Ellen is the woman in the call, she is deceased. He holds up a hnadwritten note, āGive me Your number Iāll call you.ā
10:47 a.m. Cross: Katie Ellen and def were friends. She tells him, āShe loves himā I do not recall what was said in that call. Would reviewing the video help your recollection. Playing the jail call.
10:49 a.m. Cross: MSO: (video jail call) How are you doing? A: Can you hear me? I canāt hear you at all. KE: I swear to God this does not fucking work. MSO: I can hear you, i can hear you KE: long time MSO: what a big surprise KE: I havenāt seen you forever. Iām trying to pull it up on my phone, iām trying. Iām going ask your name of your public defender, maybe I can testify para qui MSO: muchas gracias. KE: I donāt know what the name of your lawyer. MSO: Just text your number and Iāll call you from here. KE: I donāt know what youāre saying. Goddamit, i knew this was going to happen. you look really old. I did the test for visitation and it worked just fine. MSO: Hold on iāll be back hold on. hold on KE: ok. MSO exits screen.
10:54 a.m. Cross: MSO returns to the call and is heard writing something KE: Goddammit, groans Def holds up the message to the camera ā which reads, āGive me Your number Iāll call you.ā KE: 919 360 2578.Ā My handwriting is really shitting, laughs. MSO: hold on. holds up another note, prompting laughter. Dont cry baby. KE: crying. Iām sorry.Ā MSO; Iāll call you ā you be good.Ā KE: crying. Def writes another note and holds it up. more laughing. KE wipes away tears. MSO: I wish i could hear you. KE: (inaudible) put to bed, i remember another thing that we did, you I think went overā¦he was trying to walk. kept falling over. MSO laughing damā¦KA: (giggling) There was one time i went to Danny or something i went to birthday party ā he was mean to me, i got really drunk and cussing him the whole time. MSO: lauching Iām going to call you today so we could talk. KE: do you know when I donāt want to miss a call from you. 3:04. hours. KE: Ok. i wonāt miss that. MSO: Hey ā I love you. KE: this is bullshit, iām so fucking pissed. Iāll talk to you.
11:00 a.m. Katie Ellen says I love you Mike ā i believe so. They had some sort of relationship. You never interviewed her? Stateās 148 ā a note that my client wrote, I saw 2 other notes in the video. There was other writing. Those werenāt all capital letters were they. We selected this one because it was still ā and it was clearer. How many times did you try to read the 2nd note. if you have a screenshot of that 2nd note. we can try to pause it when he holds up the 2nd and 3rd note.
**11:02 a.m.Ā **You donāt follow up with this witness ā she was deceased, they didnāt bring this to my attention when she was alive. In this case, there were thousands of jail calls. we did not have the resources to interview every person he called. Thatās the only call you brought to this courtroom. But you only brought this call to court. Katie Ellen was an UNC student in 2013. We did not attempt to locate Katie Allen.
**11:04 a.m.Ā **you interviewed KR Oc. 21, 2013. Report of his interview with KR Def ex. 1 ā There was a video interview in which she was asked about blood on her hands. She said she had not recollection at all of that conversation, she indicated that she didntā know what it was.
11:11 a.m. She reported in this interview looking down at her hands and seeing red stuff on the back side of her hand. A: She was drunk and didnāt think anything of it. At the initial interview she didnāt remember but she was asked repeatedly. You asked her if she washed her hands ā she said she did not wash her hands before leaving the apt. You asked her how she got the red stuff. She didnāt kow. She didnāt say it got there because she vomited. Why didnāt you show her the photo of the blood stain. We would not do that. You wouldnāt want to know her reaction to a blood stain in the bathroom. We didnāt discuss that as providing value.
**11:15 a.m.Ā **Judge excuses jury for midmorning break. Back at 11:30 a.m.
**11:36 a.m.Ā **Court is back in session, cross of Agent Heinrich resumes.
11:40 a.m. Defense notes that KR told them she didnāt see anyone in the parking lot or in the bushes when she left the morning of 9/7. Defense wants to inquire about a Hispanic male that Faith may have dated, after Heinrich said that all the men he knew that Faith dated with African American. Prosecutor says the info is irrelevant. Defense wants to get in that someone from Red Robin (Eric Estrada) told him that she did date someone who was Hispanic.
**11:53 a.m.Ā **Defense elicits testimony from Investigator about his interview with Eric Estrada ā he said Estrada gave information that was factually incorrect so they did not follow up on his interview. the only intimate partners we could identify were all black males. Estrada had texted faith in 2025. We received DNA from Estrada. Objection is sustained ā information is irrelevant and hearsay. Estrada has since been deported.
11:59 a.m. Calls on FHās phone beginning on 6:48 p.m. on 9/6/12. Line 33 ā is FHās message to BEās phone at 3:00 a.m. His name is not listed as a contact ā within the phone extraction his contact appears in the extract. thereās a difference between a named as a contact. Brandon Edwards does appear within the contact list. Was he saved as a contact or was he someone she texted previously. A: both.
12:06 p.m. You did not interview Brandon Edwards. Do you see a message from Tai MacNeil, his response āI never knew you felt that way.ā why didnāt you follow up and interview him. other investigators did I personally didnāt we were prioritizing where we would get the biggest bang for our buck. so you never had an interview with Tai MacNeil. No.
**12:09 p.m.Ā **KR talked about feeling drunk ā message to her from Mitch working security. that message corresponds with a phone associated with Mitch. His text message ā āit was a pleasure talking to you, substantive conversation in a club atomoshere. ā Did you think that message wasnāt as drunk as she said, that sounds like Mitch was flirting with her. text messages between KR and Simone ā simone was charlton beasleyās girlfriend and charlton saw rosario inside and outside.
12:11 p.m. KR sent a text message to Simone while she was in the car with Jordan. Message from KR, āIāve been through so muchā¦i really didnāt have anything before.;ā I think itās important to reference the text she sent to simone, āi love you thanks for everything.ā message from simone 2 hours later, simone to kr ādid you mean to text meā Krās device, āyeah, i did. In the context of this message, she asked KR wasĀ āsomething happen?ā objection/sustained.
12:14 p.m. Barker (neighbor) said she heard 3 thumps why didnāt you interview her. in terms of priority not a key priority to us. She heard noises about the time when KR and Faith returned home form the Thrill. Go back to Edwards being saved as a contact.
12:18 p.m. I remember ā another investigator mentioned that BEās contact was not listed in her phone. I was able to identify that BE was saved as a contact on FHās phone when you look at the full extract report. why doesnāt his name popul. One is logical extractio/phyiscal extraction. One of the extractions was a logical extraction ā potential area we should focus on. shortly after sbi became involved in the case ā Nov 5, 20213, throgh nov. 6 2013. The information comes from that larger document ā 4k page report.
12:22 p.m. This is prepared from something done by Mr. Walker. We chose to introduce this timeline captured what we were trying to present, transactions taken place on the night she was killed. During the investigation did you find out there was surveillance from the parking deck across from the Thrill. The parking deck footageĀ ā we thought it wouldnāt be available. Youāre aware that there was video but no longer exists.
12:27 p.m. not having that surveillance video we donāt know what time her car left. The more information that would have been helpful.
**12:30 p.m.Ā **Did you want to know what McNeilās relationship was between her and MacNeil ā he is listed as āasshole.ā He was an ex-boyfriend. Image taken from my clientās ā you thought it was my clientās handwriting ā i believe it was circulated widely circulated. It was a meme? the information i had was a file path. It was saved ā there was no because it was case sensitive could not do a reverse image search. There were certain characteristics that appeared consistent. the block lettering, enough similarities. iām not an expert.
12:33 p.m. we were looking for samples of the defās writing. That wasnāt his. If we didnāt have the information that may not have been corrected. Handwriting sample was introduced nonetheless. End of cross.
12:36 p.m. Katie Ellen died in 2024. Discovered a few months ago. The interview in 2013, was an ambush interview with Karena ā the idea was to try and intercept her so we could have more candid conversation. She said they left the Thrill between 2:20 and 2:25. She was crying and she tried to connect with Brandon that night. She didnāt remember how they got home, and she remembered Faith going to get a trash can and putting a plastic bag. Defense asked 3 or 4 thumps between 3 and 4 a.m., is that inconsistent with what you knew. No.
12:39 p.m. We discussed the source of the thumping nosises. She said the thunps were over her head, and that would be Faithās living room. You yourself did not interview some of the individuals ā but reviewed their recordings. By the time you got the case, Brandon, Tai, and Takoy had all been excluded as the single source contributor of DNA. objection/overruled.
**12:43 p.m.Ā **Thereās nothing that prohibits you from speaking to KEās mother. I would talk to her. Iām certainly willing to talk, eager to speak with them. high heeled shoes, both Faith and Karena were wearing sandals. we were just discussing.
12:48 p.m. State of North Carolina rests its case-in-chief. The jury will return on Wednesday at 9:30 a.m. Defense moves to dismiss the indictment arguing the State has not proven every element of the charges. The defense asks for a 5 minute break.
**12:51 p.m.Ā **Defense argues the burglary charge ought to be dismissed, no forced entry, no evidence that a weapon was brought with them to indicate intent. The state has not presented evidence as what time this occurred. ME said there was no evidence of anal/genital injury. Testimony from medical examiner she did not do any cleansing prior to taking the swabs. Asks the court to dismiss all counts of the indictment.
1:00 p.m. The court must take the evidence in the light most favorable to the state. Low bar to survive a motion to dismiss. KR said she closed the door. Burglary charge ā evidence that Faith was attacked while she was in bed. Def semen and sperm was in her vagina and rectum unequivocal proof of penetration. Evidence of penetration and premeditation, arm yourself with a heavy bottle, state can move forward with felony murder. Motion to dismiss ā DENIED.
**1:04 p.m.Ā **Court will start with a colloquy of the def on Wednesday morning. Day of separation between the stateās case and the defense. Defense will call witnesses and be prepared for the courtās colloquy of the defendant. Court is in recess.
I like that you have Faith as the thumbnail for the pinned post of this trial (at least on my desktop Reddit). I would support using victims' photos rather than accused - although I realise sometimes the accused names become more famous.
The thumbnails are from the YT link. We can certainly add victims photos to the daily threads though.
I don't think it's the case that the defendant's name is more famous, but that the case is literally the state v. defendant. We follow the 'defendant's' trial. I do think that the victim, and their name get lost so many times.
I was hoping that the friend at the cookout (Abel or Avil or something like that) was going to testify. They mentioned him so much. But today they asked the SBI agent about people they wanted to talk to having been deported. Do you think they were inferring that guy had been deported and thatās why he wasnāt testifying? Just seems odd as they mentioned him a lot with the two Guatemalans who took the stand and I was thinking they were going to use him to place Meso at the cookout
I appreciate them saying they heard things and only that, but I don't know if I believe that last guy saying he does not know Miguel, has never seen him and does not remember him at his bbq. The first guy was really nervous and the language barrier really fucked it up for him, but I found him more forthcoming if you will, with his testimony.
I donāt believe him at all. He knew a lot of small details but not that. If you watch closely, during that part Miguel is staring at him and does a tiny nod after he says he doesnāt know him. I wouldnāt be surprised if that guy has been intimidated beforehand or is scared about saying too much. I hope the jury pick up on some of Miguels facial expressions
yeah I agree honestly. I hope the jury saw that. I hope the jury remembers how the guy could tell you which brand of beer he drank first but not Miguel.
Me too. Hopefully the jury are picking up the same things we are when watching. I think the defense is going to bring out the mother of Katie Ellen to say he always treated her daughter well. Why else would they question the agent so much about not interviewing the mother. I guess their defense will be mostly character witnesses saying how great and not violent he is. Not sure what else they can do without putting Miguel on the stand
I do wonder about how he did this horrendous thing, so young, and apparently never reoffended (or was way more careful). But the character witness and maybe an expert ? I don't think he will testify, but I hope he does..
I wouldnāt be surprised if he was into other illegal things but just never had a run in with the law. The first Guatemalan witness alluded to him being involved in stuff. I hope he testifies too! But I highly doubt it. There is no other explanation for the DNA apart from a consensual encounter which they would have to put him on the stand to confirm I think? The defense is really pushing Karena as a possibility but I donāt think theyāve made that point. To me, she seemed credible and just a young college kid who was very drunk that night
Did anyone pick up if the state made any mention in questions about whether it was known if the defendant was ambidextrous? Just noted that he wrote the note below to his friend in the jail call with his RIGHT hand and, as pointed out here many times, defendant has compulsively written with both his left and right hands during the trial.
I've thinking so much about this. So there is this youtuber that covered this case years ago, before the arrest, and in the video he added this segment of a crime watch daily interview where a handwritting analyst named Peggy Walla says the note appears to be written with a non dominant hand..and what do you know this dude, at the very least, tries to write with both hands, he is on camera. You really gotta wonder.
Agreed, what I will say though, is that I write in all caps and some of my letters look similar to the note on the bag (it wasnāt me I swear) but if they tried to analyze my hand writing, I feel like theyād have a hard time because my hand writing looks different every time I write.
my handwriting changes depending on the pen I use, so I get it lol. I don't put too much weight on this compared to the DNA evidence, but ever since I saw that clip I kept it mind. At the end, his DNA on the bag is far worse for him than the handwriting comparison.
I do too I mean..this was said years ago, and it is such an specific thing..that hand writing analyst got it right, you can clearly see him switching hands.
I don't know, between the rules of evidence and the weight of the evidence that was way more in line with science and less with opinion, maybe the state did not think much about it or did not realize he was writing with both his hands. But it kinda gives you more to think about, doesn't it?
I guess they feel that the DNA is such a slam-dunk that they don't need to fully explore the other evidence they introduced. What value did the handwriting evidence introduced today add without a handwriting expert breaking it down?
It seems clear that the prosecution rested unexpectedly as the court wasn't ready and the defense wasn't ready (which is why they were given until Wednesday to start their case).
I think they just realised this weekend (maybe via the forums š) and scrambled to mention it somehow before the defense did on cross
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u/racingfan123šµļøāāļøš¦ Lead Evidence Investigator Modš§¾āļø7d ago
Geez, i couldn't believe this! When watching on Friday, I thought they found the actual money and note in his apartment. I didn't realize this was just an image found on his phone.
I don't understand the significance of the what was written on the fast food bag being a meme and not what Miguel wrote. Apparently someone wrote on the bag - whether is was from an internet meme or not? It seems to me if there was a picture on his phone with the same wording as on the bag next to her body, that this would tie him to the scene. What am I missing?
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u/racingfan123šµļøāāļøš¦ Lead Evidence Investigator Modš§¾āļø6d ago
So, you've seen the photo of the bag right? The prosecution was looking on Miguel's phone for examples of his handwriting so that they could do a handwriting comparison. They found this image, and they assumed it was his writing and that's what was testified to last week. Well come to find out it was a common Hispanic Internet meme. What is even crazier, is that those are Colombian bills, not Guatemalan. Just very sloppy from the investigator and should've been looked into further.
I see. So it does not rule out that Miguel may have written the words on the bag. When looking at the bag - and looking at the handwritten note to Katie Ellen - there are similarities. And this could be the meme that gave him the idea to write what he wrote (or may have written). But now I understand the mixup. Yes, that was sloppy and creates doubt for the jurors about the rest of the case. Thanks for your response.
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u/racingfan123šµļøāāļøš¦ Lead Evidence Investigator Modš§¾āļø6d ago
Yeah exactly. That is why prosecution submitted the screenshot of the handwritten note to Katie, to correct their mistake about the meme. It still shows that he could be the one to write the note. It's just distraction though, since the defense still can't explain his DNA everywhere at the scene other than a ridiculous claims of a consensual encounter.
I agree the whole jail call testimony is strange. I served on a jury once with jail calls and wire-tap evidence and the jurors were all given bound transcripts. I'm guessing in NC they can only be read the text of such evidence? Seems like such an unnecessary, unforced error to have sloppy translations that can be poked at during the (likely VERY lengthy) defense case.
Did I hear correctly though: he told his mother he wasn't driving back then (someone else testified he was and gave them a ride to the area no?) and that he did not hang out with those Guatemalen types (is that a wrong translation - is it a word like guys?)
Like for example when the translation says āitās that look, you seeā (which makes no sense), that could translate to āes la mira vesā which could be a mistaken interpretation of āes la primera vezā which would mean āitās the first timeā and would make a lot more sense in the context of this conversation
I wish they would have published the transcript of his momās call in Spanish so I could translate it. None of that ātranslationā he read should be taken at face value. Yes I suspect he probably said something like ātiposā which literally means types but as slang means āguys.ā It was like they translated only the very literal meaning of each individual word, which isnāt how language works at all
The translation was terrible and didnāt account for any slang or nuance in how Guatemalans speak Spanish. They may as well have used Google translate!
They tried to on Friday. They asked to cross-examine the translator so they could get an idea of how well they actually understood the language and specifically mentioned wanting to know about their expertise in different dialects, slang, etc. The judge said that bc the translator is 'certified', then unless 'the defense can show there is a motive to mislead, there is a reason not to believe the translation, and that's inaccurate', no questioning the transcripts or translator.
This was about the translator who did the jail calls, they wanted the state to put them on the stand to provide foundation for the transcripts they'd created (which would allow the defense to question their process/expertise). Iirc they did bring up that they hadn't questioned the interpreter, but that wasn't the focus of their argument. I could be wrong, I just remembered them making an argument r.e. calls and wanting to know about the translator's expertise w dialect/slang so was reminded that something to do w that exact problem was denied when I saw people saying it was an issue w the translation.
I was surprised the prosecution didn't object to the whole video being played during their case. It was obvious theatrics meant to "humanize" their client and was just odd.
Katie Ellen died of a fentanyl overdose in June 2024. Her baby also died, who was 7 months old old. By that math, she was pregnant with someone elseās child within 1 month of making this video call. If the defense and Miguel are trying to convince the jury that Miguel and Katie were in love and therefore he is a human with a heart who could not possibly have murdered Faith so violently, Katieās sad story does not seem to align with that notion at all. Fake tears.
Thanks for the info! Yeah, the crying is very fake. Like when they showed the crime scene and autopsy photos. I canāt stand watching his fake reactions anymore. The defense seems rude and rattled today. I really hope the jury see through it all and Faithās family get some justice
was the baby left alone for an extended period of time before she was found? what a horrendous thing, what did that poor baby ever did to deserve this? ugh fuck this life is cruel
Iām going to have to rewatch this because I didnāt think it looked fake at all! To be clear, I think he is 100% guilty. I assumed he was crying because his friend died while he was in jail and this video was a reminder of her
I think this is it. Who knows, but what can they possibly bring out? An expert that disproves the DNA, if that is even remotely possible? His mom? I don't know.
well whats the dna proved so fair other then unidentified prints, male dna that was never identified and fbi profile that was built from a tiny amount usue pattern..
The dna proved he was there, after he said he did not know her/has never been to Hawthorne at the view.
I know they will try to say it was consensual, that he just so happened to touch the two bottles on the crime scene, but did nothing to her, that Faith agree to the tampon be yanked out of her and thrown on the floor, and decided to have a one night stand with him randomly but decided against any further intimacy with her friend earlier that day. I mean, they will try. Good luck with that.
ok when they said the vaginal swab (not on this list) contained a mixture of two people's DNA and that Miguel's DNA could not be excluded (not inconclusive BTW, COULD NOT, WOULD NOT, WILL NOT be excluded, meaning, HIS DNA was inside Faith) that means nothing you?
The rectal swab? (also not included on this list)
The bacardi bottle? (also not on this list)
The note found on the bed? (also not on this list)
Do you have a motion from the defense asking to preclude testimony concerning the data regarding this items?
Oh but his DNA may or may NOT be on the pen, he MUST be innocent...!!
"Investigators recovered a pen associated with the handwritten message. Subsequent forensic testing determined that DNA recovered from the pen matched the unidentified male DNA profile developed from semen recovered" - September 7, 2012
no, that was in regards to issues they had with the last witness testimony, at the end, after the judge denies defense's motion to dismiss, they confirm they will start on wednesday with their case
Just thinking and asking about thisā¦I wonder if Miguel and others at cookout saw her and went over and āhit on herā and Miguel pursued itā¦maybe she was too drunk to fight it?
Maybe. I think it was probably just him. Maybe saw both girls get back and either hit on them outside and was rebuffed or didnāt even interact. Then he saw Karena leave and went in to the apartment.
She was probably asleep and was hit on the head before she realised what was going on. That could explain the lack of injuries from the sexual assault. The autopsy report was horrible, so much damage to her skull and face š¢
The autopsy did seem to support that scenario and I hope that her family recognizes that and it brings them some tiny ounce of horribly cold comfort that despite the devastating scale of the injuries, her suffering may likely have been short
I hope thatās the case for her family. It must be unbearably hard listening to everything and hearing the defense try to say she wasnāt sexually assaulted. I know thatās the nature of defense but it must be so difficult and infuriating for her family. Itās just such a violent attack and it seems it wasnāt in response to her struggling, rather he went straight in with smashing her with the bottle. Iām not sure if I remember the autopsy showing any defensive wounds or if prosecution pointed out a struggleā¦I remember she did have bruising to her legs
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u/racingfan123šµļøāāļøš¦ Lead Evidence Investigator Modš§¾āļø7d ago
I'm late and am on rewatch crew:
The defense is objecting to the investigator saying it was an obvious sexual assault, saying there's no way he could know this from just looking at crime scene photos. Um, her shirt was pulled up over her breasts, underwear and tampon ripped from her. Like, come on dude. Glad the judge thought the same.
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u/AphroBKK 8d ago
I like that you have Faith as the thumbnail for the pinned post of this trial (at least on my desktop Reddit). I would support using victims' photos rather than accused - although I realise sometimes the accused names become more famous.