Jason Newlin — Direct/Cross/Redirect

MR. DECOSTE: Defense calls Jason Newland.

MR. DECOSTE: I'm thinking that Ms. Cappleman — because I don't think he's waiting outside.

MR. DECOSTE: If you could explain what being an investigator for the State Attorney's Office here in Tallahassee means.

MR. DECOSTE: You're, you're law enforcement, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: You have a badge?

MR. DECOSTE: Carry a gun?

MR. DECOSTE: But you work closely with Ms. Cappleman, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And you work closely with her, you work directly with her in cases?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, y'all are a team?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, you'd agree with me that part of your work is doing investigation, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Correct. But one of the other tasks that you do, that you receive from other law enforcement their reports, their evidence, and you organize it, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: So in this case, you know, TPD's involved, they're producing reports from their investigation, they're providing it over to you, to the State Attorney's Office, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And the reason why they're doing that is because you have an obligation, your office, to give it over to the defense, that's correct, and that includes all... all of them, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Yes. Luis Rivera was entitled to that discovery, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And your understanding of the rules that apply to discovery, that you have to give it in a timely fashion?

MR. DECOSTE: So if somebody is arrested, you know, within weeks items have to start being given over. It's not something that, you know, a report is drafted and years later it's given over.

MR. DECOSTE: Same thing applied in this case to the reports that were authored by the FBI, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: You've also reviewed these reports because at the same time you're investigating things, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you would agree with me that these reports were detailed?

MR. DECOSTE: In July of 2016, right after Luis Rivera is arrested, Investigator Isom does a 30-plus-page report that's very detailed?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you believe that you've reviewed that report?

MR. DECOSTE: Would it refresh your recollection to take a look at the report?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay.

MR. DECOSTE: So I'm going to ask the question again, Your Honor, if I could retrieve.

MR. DECOSTE: In... late July of 2016, did Investigator Isom author a 31-page report?

MR. DECOSTE: And was that report detailed?

MR. DECOSTE: Those 31 pages, you would agree with me that it's basically single-spaced narrative.

MR. DECOSTE: Of his report, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: So you've got some biographical information page one and two, and of course there's breaks in between paragraphs, but it's a lot of words in the remaining 20-plus pages, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And it lays out the government's theory as to what happened in this case, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. It basically talks about the theory that Katherine Magbanua was somehow in the middle, right?

MR. DECOSTE: In this report and other reports, you'll agree with me that it had loose information, not the detail that Sergeant Corbitt... actually, let me withdraw that question. I'll ask a different one. You, as an investigator for their office, you're allowed to sit in during the trial, right?

MR. DECOSTE: The rule of sequestration doesn't apply to you. You're the only witness that that doesn't apply to.

MR. DECOSTE: So you've seen some of the testimony in the case.

MR. DECOSTE: So Sergeant Corbitt from the Technical Operations Unit, he gives very detailed testimony about cell phone communications, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But in these initial reports, it was not as detailed about the cell phone communication. Just talked about contact in between people.

MR. DECOSTE: So this is — let me break that down for you. You've got TPD, you've got Investigator Isom, you've got Agent Sanford. They're communicating and getting information from Sergeant Corbitt, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And there's some rudimentary cell phone data that they put into their own reports about the communications on significant days, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Correct.

MR. DECOSTE: But it lacked all the detail that Sergeant Corbitt gives us in his testimony.

MR. DECOSTE: And again, those items are going over to Rivera.

MR. DECOSTE: They should be, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Yeah, I don't... Let's go through this and I'll make a little bit more sense. You receive these items, these reports, from Investigator Isom, from Agent Sanford. You organize them, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And then you are involved in the process of providing them over to the defense shortly after arrest, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And that's what we were talking about, that there's a rule, the rule of discovery, that you have to do that, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Rivera's arrested May of 2016?

MR. DECOSTE: Early June?

MR. DECOSTE: You would agree with me that there's no reason to believe that discovery wasn't timely provided in the month of June and July?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. And Rivera then, months later, he implicates Katherine Magbanua in September of 2016?

MR. DECOSTE: You would agree that this would allow him the time to review, either himself or with his attorneys, digest and formulate his own theory?

MR. DECOSTE: Let's talk about the media in this case. You'd agree with me that it was extensive?

MR. DECOSTE: There was a 20/20 special in September of 2016?

MR. DECOSTE: You know it's something along those lines because you appeared in it, right?

MR. DECOSTE: No, no, no, not the year 2020, the show 20/20.

MR. DECOSTE: Was there another one? Which one did you... did you get interviewed on?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, so you get interviewed by Dateline. You'd agree with me that all of these shows, it's also discussing the government's theory?

MR. DECOSTE: Yes. Cappleman even did an interview talking about it, right?

MR. DECOSTE: You've... been to the jails, right?

MR. DECOSTE: They have telephones there?

MR. DECOSTE: They have television?

MR. DECOSTE: They have email?

MR. DECOSTE: What we're getting at is Luis Rivera wouldn't be cut off to the outside world.

MR. DECOSTE: We're talking about that's when he's cooperating, he's transferred to Jefferson County for safety, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, but before that he was in Leon County?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, and you also know, because you guys requested often, that you can get an inmate's phone calls, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you've gotten them before from Jefferson County?

MR. DECOSTE: So he would have access to people in the outside world to discuss whatever is going on in the media, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you don't know whether they have television there or not, or do they?

MR. DECOSTE: You don't know, but most jails do have TV, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Leon County, where he was for a period of time, they have TV, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Let's talk about Luis Rivera and the interviews. You were present for these interviews, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, but all right, so there are meetings, and we're not saying that you're in the room, we agree on that, but you're present in the building, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, the purpose is to... let's back up here, let's back up even more. You understand that there were meetings with Luis Rivera before you ever met with him, right? May 27, 2016, June 3, 2016 — those are interviews done by Pat and Craig, and you said it perfectly, we're gonna talk about the difference in between interviews and proffers. Okay, so let's talk about the interviews first. Present for the first time on May 27, 2016, when there was a meeting with Luis Rivera, you weren't there, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But your understanding is that Agent Patrick Sanford and former Investigator Craig Isom were there?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, so they go into a jail. They go into Coleman down in South Florida, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And the purpose of this interview, it's to investigate, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And that's different than a proffer, and we'll get to that in a minute.

MR. DECOSTE: So they're going in there to find out information, to investigate it?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, so May 27, 2016, you're not present. Sanford and Isom — you'd agree with me that it's recorded?

MR. DECOSTE: In that, Luis Rivera denied any involvement?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, so in one of them, either the May 27, 2016... And, Your Honor, I asked you for the government to not make speaking objections.

MR. DECOSTE: May 27th — I'm sorry, May 27, 2016 — it's recorded though, right?

MR. DECOSTE: June 3, 2016, you're not present for that one either?

MR. DECOSTE: It's recorded, should have been?

MR. DECOSTE: He didn't confess to being a murderer?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, proffer is different, right? What is the purpose of a proffer?

MR. DECOSTE: It's a little bit more than that, right? You're evaluating the information that's being given, right, to figure out if you're gonna make a deal?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, so let's back up a little bit. In these proffers, you're going to have law enforcement present, right? Yes, it could be yourself, it could be Ms. Cappleman.

MR. DECOSTE: But you're also going to have whoever it is you're speaking to, their attorneys. We're... going to have the inmate, the inmate's attorneys are going to be there as well, too, for a proffer, correct? So it's different when you do the interview, it's investigation, the attorneys can be there, but in this situation they weren't. For the proffer you've got all the people involved talking, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, when a proffer happens, it's with the hopes of getting to a point of coming to a deal, right? That's sort of the whole point of the proffer — we want to see, does this guy or girl have information that we can use? And then we'll figure out if we want to give a deal. But it's moving towards coming to a cooperation, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: In this case it was, right? The deal already made?

MR. DECOSTE: No, no, no — when you met with him for these proffers, it was with the hopes of coming to a deal.

MR. DECOSTE: That's trying to work out a deal, right?

MR. DECOSTE: So August 8, 2016, you were present for this proffer with Luis Rivera, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And we agree on that. Okay, we agree. So, and I just want to get who was there. You were there?

MR. DECOSTE: One of the Collinses was there?

MR. DECOSTE: And for the jury, the Collinses — the father and son team — represented Luis Rivera.

MR. DECOSTE: They were his defense team. And of course, Luis Rivera is there.

MR. DECOSTE: And Luis Rivera is in a room, and his attorney will leave that room, give you what he's saying.

MR. DECOSTE: Then you'd say something and he'd go back. So basically, one of the Collinses was going back and forth like a tennis match with information.

MR. DECOSTE: Now, you remember some of the details of the information that you were provided, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And one of the pieces of information that you received was about the gun, right?

MR. DECOSTE: That it was thrown near a body of water and a bridge located on Interstate 10, between Tallahassee and the Interstate 75 corridor.

MR. DECOSTE: You also remember how the information was given to Mr. Rivera that giving Garcia wouldn't get him any deal?

MR. DECOSTE: You would agree with me that there was no mention of Katie that day?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you remember?

MR. DECOSTE: What am I going to ask you? Did I recall?

MR. DECOSTE: You don't recall whether he ever said Katie's name that day?

MR. DECOSTE: You would agree with me that, if he were to have implicated somebody else — the person who literally has been at the center of your theory since the beginning — that you would have remembered that?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. No report?

MR. DECOSTE: So, to back up here to Garcia for a moment — you would agree with me that the evidence against Garcia was strong?

MR. DECOSTE: You already had Garcia in custody?

MR. DECOSTE: The evidence against him was equally strong, if not stronger, than the evidence against Rivera?

MR. DECOSTE: Safe to say you did not need Rivera to flip against Garcia.

MR. DECOSTE: But you wanted to further your case to get Rivera to cooperate against Ms. Magbanua, right?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, so we're going to come back to what you wanted. But you would agree with me that no deal was struck that day?

MR. DECOSTE: If Luis Rivera had said Katherine Magbanua was involved on August 8th, on that day, you would have gone and arrested her.

MR. DECOSTE: No deal was struck. Rivera returned to his cell, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: With his thoughts?

MR. DECOSTE: And his discovery?

MR. DECOSTE: But you have no reason to believe that he didn't have it?

MR. DECOSTE: These reports that lay out the narrative — are they on CD or printed?

MR. DECOSTE: September 30th, 2016 — that is when the next proffer happens, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, the reason why it happens on September 30th is because on September 29th, 2016, your office and Luis Rivera's team came to an agreement, right?

MR. DECOSTE: September 29, 2016 — you had another meeting in the same fashion, with Ms. Cappleman, one of the Collinses, Mr. Rivera, where the attorneys are going back and forth?

MR. DECOSTE: There's no recording of it? There's no report?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, with respect to these two meetings — Luis Rivera, he never said anything about the involvement of Anthony Ortiz, a.k.a. King Anthony?

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator Newland, Rivera never said that Anthony Ortiz made a third trip with Sigfredo Garcia, right? At some point in the last six years, he said — I believe Garcia made a prior trip to Tallahassee with Heber, because he knew where he was going. He drove around Tallahassee like he'd been here before. And you know that in the past six years he made that statement — he made it in deposition, when he slipped up, because you've reviewed that deposition?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. And around the September 29th, September 30th, 2016 timeframe, he does what y'all had hoped, and he names Katie, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay. But in September 29th, September 30th, he names Katie, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And he gets his deal.

MR. DECOSTE: And Katie was arrested — in fact, the following day, October 1st, 2016?

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator Newland, what evidence do you have that Rivera didn't untruthfully name Katie to get a deal?

MR. DECOSTE: What evidence do you have that he is not lying?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you think that somebody becomes a boss of the Latin Kings by being stupid?

MR. DECOSTE: And what do you think is needed to get a deal in a criminal murder case — street smarts, or the aptitude to score perfect on the SATs?

MR. DECOSTE: The meeting on September 30th, 2016 — that could have been recorded, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Should have been recorded?

MR. DECOSTE: Our determination of the evolution of Luis Rivera's statements is limited by your memory and the memory of other law enforcement, right?

MR. DECOSTE: That it's limited because we're only going based on people's memory.

MR. DECOSTE: And we wouldn't have that problem with memories if we had a recording, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But Rivera's testimony potentially could have a problem because we could show the conflicts in his different statements.

MR. DECOSTE: And this is exactly — this is precisely why you don't record these initial meetings, right? So that we can't show the conflicts between the initial rehearsal statements and the eventual showcase — the final state?

MR. DECOSTE: Your Honor, this would be a good time to break, if you want to take a morning break, and we can talk to Trooper Damon.

MR. DECOSTE: Oh, no, no — it's a good time to break. I'm roughly halfway through.

MR. DECOSTE: He is a former friend of Charles Adelson. It is Miss Kawass' witness so she can answer the questions better than me.

MS. KAWASS: With cross, depending with the state cross I don't think it will take more than an hour. And I'm being generous, Judge. I don't think my direct is going to be more than an hour.

MS. KAWASS: Yes, Judge.

MS. KAWASS: Yes, Judge.

MS. KAWASS: That's what I was going to request, Your Honor — if I could just have that.

MR. DECOSTE: Thank you.

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator, you would agree with me that the goal was to get Katherine Magbanua to cooperate against Charles Adelson?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Now, I have law enforcement questions for you that I've asked a lot of law enforcement — the jury's heard it, you've probably heard it. You'd agree with me that your job in law enforcement is to objectively investigate? Objectively?

MR. DECOSTE: And to present the evidence, both the good and the bad?

MR. DECOSTE: Subjectively investigating a case would be a bad thing, right?

MR. DECOSTE: It could lead to a lopsided case, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Could lead to wrongful convictions.

MR. DECOSTE: So let's go through some of the work now, in fairness to the jury, to explain it. Your investigation was less than that of law enforcement — other law enforcement, TPD and FBI — right?

MR. DECOSTE: Perfect segue to the next.

MR. DECOSTE: You did some investigation about a gun, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you'd agree with me that a murder weapon is great for a murder case — a great piece of evidence.

MR. DECOSTE: On August 26th of 2016, you went down to the Osceola River, right?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. And you were supported by one of your investigators, Tully Sparkman?

MR. DECOSTE: And analyst Thomas Balboni, right?

MR. DECOSTE: You already knew from your work on the case the type of gun that was used to kill Professor Markel, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you know guns, right? You have training in guns.

MR. DECOSTE: And when you were out there at our Silver River, you did find a gun, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But you knew right away that it was a different make and model.

MR. DECOSTE: But you still investigated it, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: You took pictures?

MR. DECOSTE: You guys went down into the river.

MR. DECOSTE: Do you guys have like waders on or boots?

MR. DECOSTE: You got in there. You did your work, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you impounded the gun, which means that you just can't take it — you have to bring it to the Madison County Sheriff's Office, right?

MR. DECOSTE: A gun that the thought is, this doesn't belong, but we're going to objectively investigate this gun, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you then checked it out from Madison County, and you brought it over to the Florida Department of Law Enforcement.

MR. DECOSTE: And you brought it there for testing, right?

MR. DECOSTE: For ballistics, DNA, fingerprints?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, you knew about this — or you went there, not knew about it, because it was a different gun. You went to Osceola River because of what Luis Rivera told you from the meeting, right?

MR. DECOSTE: You remember that he had given details.

MR. DECOSTE: It was rather specific — near a body of water, Interstate 10 between Tallahassee and Interstate 75, right? He was pretty detailed in that.

MR. DECOSTE: You were — so you remember, in fairness, given by his attorney, you remember that deal being given, correct? But you can't remember whether Katie was mentioned or not.

MR. DECOSTE: You say — and I don't mean this to be attacking — but can you say that you did the same level of objective investigation for evidence that would hurt law enforcement's theory, evidence that would hurt our theory?

MR. DECOSTE: So let's go through it. If you receive information that somebody wants to talk — your involvement in this case — you would send it to FBI or TPD, right?

MR. DECOSTE: December 15, 2016, you received a letter from a woman, Jennifer Mosley, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you remember the letter?

MR. DECOSTE: Would it refresh your recollection to take a look at the letter?

MR. DECOSTE: Your Honor, if I may approach?

MR. DECOSTE: First, I'm going to show you what's been pre-marked as Defense 31A through O.

MR. DECOSTE: You know what those are, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Those are photographs of the gun under the bridge at El Salvador, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you know that those are pictures because you were there when they were taken?

MR. DECOSTE: And those photos are in the same or substantially same condition they were in the last time you saw them?

MR. DECOSTE: Defense offers what's been pre-marked, Defense 31A through O.

MR. DECOSTE: Take a look at that.

MR. DECOSTE: It doesn't refresh your recollection?

MR. DECOSTE: You remember receiving the letter, though, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Lots of — in fairness, Ms. Mosley, she was an inmate, right?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Now, understanding on a case like this that you get a lot of communications, at the point in time that you received that letter — that letter was received December 2016, right?

MR. DECOSTE: That's after Luis Rivera is cooperating and is your witness, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And it states that she has new information or confirmation of facts on Rivera, right?

MR. DECOSTE: It just said she rode in the van with him — and has new information or confirmation of facts, quote-unquote.

MR. DECOSTE: Nobody ever met with Ms. Mosley, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: If somebody were to impeach Luis Rivera's testimony and show that there's contradictions, that would be bad for law enforcement's theory, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Somebody discredits Rivera.

MR. DECOSTE: Your Honor, if I could approach.

MR. DECOSTE: Let's now talk about Facebook, Instagram and owls. You smirk? You know what I'm going to ask. What am I going to ask?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, thank you. So at one point, Luis Rivera tells you this tall tale that he posts a photo of an owl on Instagram, right? Instagram or Facebook — which one is it, do you know?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, that he posts a picture of an owl.

MR. DECOSTE: Not a lion?

MR. DECOSTE: Were you in the courtroom when he said that it was a lion?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, understanding — I'm going to trust that everybody in the courtroom knows this.

MR. DECOSTE: Is there a difference between an owl and a lion?

MR. DECOSTE: Big difference, right?

MR. DECOSTE: He previously said it was an owl, now he says it's a lion. But there was something — whatever animal it is from the wild kingdom — was posted on Instagram, and that apparently, allegedly, Ms. Magbanua called and told the Latin King boss, "You take that down," right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, he tells you this after his cooperation?

MR. DECOSTE: Because, of course, it's not him confessing before and saying, "Hey, all this stuff happened," right? So he peppers in this detail of, "Hey, this other thing happened where I posted on Instagram." Did anybody ever get the records from Facebook or Instagram?

MR. DECOSTE: So your understanding is that Facebook owns Instagram, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, you were able to get social media accounts for Sigfredo Garcia and Katherine Magbanua, right?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Now, you're saying that there was an attempt to get from Instagram — were there any warrants that were signed?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay. Were any subpoenas sent to Facebook?

MR. DECOSTE: Right, you'd have to give that to us.

MR. DECOSTE: Is the fact that I don't have that consistent with the fact that none were ever sent to Facebook or Instagram?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, you'd agree with me that, you know, if he is telling the truth and there is a response showing that this post was taken down — you don't — let me sidetrack for a second. You don't know the policy of what they retain on posts that are taken down, right?

MR. DECOSTE: That's not what we're talking about. Luis Rivera says that he took the post down, right?

MR. DECOSTE: You don't know whether Instagram maintains data of posts that are taken down, right?

MR. DECOSTE: All right, so it would have literally had to have been done before July 25th of 2014, but nothing was ever sent to try to collect it.

MR. DECOSTE: But we don't know until an attempt is made, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Let's talk about now your meetings with Luis Rivera. And I want to preface this — I'm not trying to insinuate that you told him what to say, okay?

MR. DECOSTE: I'm not trying to say that. What I'm saying is, he's a very smart guy, all right? Rivera's —

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Now, we talked about that and I don't want to go things that were asked and answered, but again — you're understanding this man. When he's still before he's even a teenager, he's a gang member, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Before he can even have a license, he is the boss. Over 15, 16 years old, he's the boss of Miami for the Latin Kings.

MR. DECOSTE: I guess you would say so. Now, we'll get into the topic that we're talking about — your meetings with him. You'd agree with me that there's many times that he was transported from the jail over to your office here, and that you sat down and met with him to review his testimony. And again, I'm not saying that you told him what to say, but you reviewed the discovery and his testimony to help him testify again, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And over the years, that's happened many times prior to appearances.

MR. DECOSTE: So in October 2019, multiple times he's transported — he would spend the day reviewing items and preparing to testify, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Let's go to the next name, and we're still on the topic of objectively versus subjectively investigating. Juan Marcos Vega. Okay, September 2016, you receive a letter from Imran Hussain, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And you also have a phone interview with Mr. Hussain.

MR. DECOSTE: Now, Mr. Hussain, unlike Ms. Mosley, gives you some very precise details, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: So we did basically what Luis Rivera did.

MR. DECOSTE: Luis Rivera doesn't confirm many things that aren't known. Again, we don't say that Luis Rivera wasn't here for the murder, but with respect to Ms. Magbanua, Luis Rivera says things that are written all over the reports, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And your thought is that his story fits the facts, not that he's fitting his story to the facts.

MR. DECOSTE: But you have no evidence to say that that's not happening.

MR. DECOSTE: Let's stay on Juan Marcos Vega. So Mr. Hussain — whether he got the information online or not — he's got information. You do a phone interview with him, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, this one you find relevant enough to actually travel to South Florida to interview Juan Marcos Vega.

MR. DECOSTE: So September 22nd, 2016, you have a recorded interview with Juan Marcos Vega, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And you'd agree with me that when you walk in there, one of the first things you say to him is, "We believe someone has linked you to a case you know absolutely nothing about."

MR. DECOSTE: You'd agree with me that that was the wrong approach.

MR. DECOSTE: Because you're not finding out if this is legitimate information or not, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And when Imran Hussain described who he described, he said Vega, and then he described him as shorter, round.

MR. DECOSTE: So you do know that Juan Marcos Vega was a co-defendant in Luis Rivera's 23-defendant RICO indictment, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And he was a probationer in the Latin Kings.

MR. DECOSTE: Now, you didn't ask Imran Hussain clarifying questions of what he considered to be tall or short, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay, and sometimes descriptions are off by an inch or two, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Three inches apart.

MR. DECOSTE: Did you show, on the phone, a lineup?

MR. DECOSTE: So you never actually met with him in person?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. So you immediately walk in and you make the decision —

MR. DECOSTE: "This isn't the guy," right?

MR. DECOSTE: But you're telling me you knew it wasn't the guy. And right when you walk in on the recorded interview, you say, "We believe somebody has linked you to a case you know absolutely nothing about," despite clearly knowing Luis Rivera.

MR. DECOSTE: That's what the convicted criminal told you, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Doesn't mean it's the truth, right?

MR. DECOSTE: You sat down once with Ms. Magbanua, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: You and Ms. Cappleman went over to Leon County Jail, and we said, "Ask her anything you want," right?

MR. DECOSTE: No immunity, to ask any questions, correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And she told you she was not involved.

MR. DECOSTE: But you don't take her word for it.

MR. DECOSTE: So, staying on the topic with Juan Marcos Vega — in bringing in Osceola River — when you went to Osceola River, you knew it wasn't the gun, but you still took 20 photos, impounded, went to FDLE for testing, brought another personnel, got down in the mud, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Did you ever let Agent Sanford or former investigator Isom know about this possible information from Juan Marcos Vega?

MR. DECOSTE: So is your testimony that they told you to go down there and do it, and that there was a discussion about him?

MR. DECOSTE: What Imran Hussain tells you is, this guy's got information — information about Professor Markel's murder, right?

MR. DECOSTE: So it's your opinion he was talking about Luis Rivera, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But there is the connection between Juan Marcos Vega and Luis Rivera by way of the Latin Kings, right? By way of a single indictment.

MR. DECOSTE: But they're in the same gang affiliation, Latin Kings crew. Okay, so there's the indictment and there's the gang affiliation.

MR. DECOSTE: One brief moment.

MR. DECOSTE: Nothing further, Your Honor. Thank you.

MR. DECOSTE: Objection.

MR. DECOSTE: Speculation. Move to strike.

MR. DECOSTE: Briefly, Your Honor. For the investigator: September 20th, 2019 — was that the meeting?

MR. DECOSTE: The meeting with Ms. Magbanua that Ms. Cappleman termed a joke.

MR. DECOSTE: All right. So let's walk through this briefly.

MR. DECOSTE: Friday afternoon, Ms. Cappleman contacts you and says, "They're giving us an opportunity to speak to Ms. Magbanua," right?

MR. DECOSTE: There's no requirement of that, right?