5.Jason Newlin — Direct/Cross/Redirect

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

MR. DECOSTE: Your Honor, permission to treat him as an adverse witness?

MR. DECOSTE: while I get organized, if you could introduce yourself to the jury, please?

MR. DECOSTE: And 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 on cases?

MR. DECOSTE: Y'all are a team?

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

MR. DECOSTE: 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?

MR. DECOSTE: And that includes all defendants, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Are entitled to what's called discovery?

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

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

MR. DECOSTE: So if somebody's arrested, you know, within weeks items have to start being given over. It's not something that you -- 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, correct?

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: Investigator, take a look at this and let me know if it helps refresh your memory.

MR. DECOSTE: So I'm going to ask the question again.

MR. DECOSTE: 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: Fair enough. So you've got some biographical information, page 1 and 2.

MR. DECOSTE: And, of course, there's breaks in between paragraphs, but it's a lot of words in the remaining twenty-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 is somehow in the middle, 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 cellphone communications, right?

MR. DECOSTE: But in these initial reports, it was not as detailed about the cell phone communications. You just talked about contact in between people?

MR. DECOSTE: So let me break it 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 cellphone data that they put into their own reports about the communications --

MR. DECOSTE: -- on significant days, correct?

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

MR. DECOSTE: And, again, those items are going over to Rivera? They should be, right? Police reports.

MR. DECOSTE: we don't have one.

MR. DECOSTE: Let's go through this and it will make a little more sense. You receive these items, these reports from Investigator Isom, from Agent Sanford. You organize them, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And then you -- 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?

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 media in this case. You would 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 get interviewed on?

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

MR. DECOSTE: Ms. 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 e-mail?

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 request it 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 it is that's going on in the media, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you don't know whether they have television over 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 were in the room, we agree on that. But you're present in the building, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you said it perfectly. we're going to talk about the difference 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 is to investigate, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And that's different than a proffer, and we'll get to that in a minute. So they're going in there to find out information to investigate it, right?

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

MR. DECOSTE: And that Luis Rivera denied any involvement?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay. So in one of them, either the May 27th, 2016 --

MR. DECOSTE: And Your Honor, I'd ask, too, for the government to not make speaking objections.

MR. DECOSTE: Sorry, Your Honor.

MR. DECOSTE: May 27, 2016, it's recorded though, right?

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

MR. DECOSTE: Again, it's Sanford and Isom?

MR. DECOSTE: It's recorded?

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

MR. DECOSTE: In either of those?

MR. DECOSTE: Now a proffer is different, right?

MR. DECOSTE: 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 going to 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?

MR. DECOSTE: It could be yourself, it could be Ms. Cappleman?

MR. DECOSTE: But you're also going to have whoever it is that you're speaking to, their attorneys?

MR. DECOSTE: The inmate's attorneys are going to be there as well, too, for a proffer?

MR. DECOSTE: 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 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?

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: All right. So August 8th, 2016, you were present for this -- for a proffer with Luis Rivera --

MR. DECOSTE: Correct?

MR. DECOSTE: And we agree on that?

MR. DECOSTE: we agree. So -- and I just want to get who was there. You were there?

MR. DECOSTE: Ms. Cappleman was 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: And of course Luis Rivera is there?

MR. DECOSTE: And Luis Rivera is in a room, and his attorney would leave that room, give you what he's saying. 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: One brief moment, Your Honor?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you remember?

MR. DECOSTE: what am I going to ask you?

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?

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?

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 come to an agreement, right?

MR. DECOSTE: September 29th, 2016 you had another meeting of the same fashion with Ms. Cappleman, one of the Collinses, Mr. Rivera, where the attorney's going back and forth, right?

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, AKA King Anthony?

MR. DECOSTE: All right.

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator Newlin, Rivera never said that Anthony Ortiz made a third trip with Sigfredo Garcia, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And do 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 29, September 30th, 2016 time frame he does what y'all had hoped and he names Katie, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Okay. But in September 29, September 30th, he named 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 Newlin, what evidence do you have that Rivera didn't untruthfully name Katie to get a deal?

MR. DECOSTE: That this guy isn't lying and made things up based on the reports that were provided over to him? what evidence do you have that he is not lying?

MR. DECOSTE: Do you think that somebody becomes the 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: All right. Now, 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 memory of other law enforcement, right?

MR. DECOSTE: And you would agree with me --

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

MR. DECOSTE: 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 exactly is precisely why you don't record these initial meetings, right?

MR. DECOSTE: So that we can't show the conflicts between the initial rehearsal statements and the eventual showcase, the final statement?

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

MR. DECOSTE: Oh. No. No. It's a good time to break. I'm roughly halfway through.

MR. DECOSTE: He is a friend, or former friend, of Charles Adelson. It's Ms. Kawass' witness. She can answer the questions better than me.

MS. KAWASS: Yes, Judge. He was listed by the State I think in 2021. And we took his depo, and we've now adopted him as our witness.

MS. KAWASS: With cross -- and depending -- with the State cross I don't think it would take more than an hour. And I'm being generous, Judge. I mean, I don't think my direct is going to be more than a half 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 lunch time --

MR. DECOSTE: Thank you.

MR. DECOSTE: Thank you, Your Honor.

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator, you would agree with me that the -- 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 would agree with me that -- that your job as law enforcement is to objectively investigate?

MR. DECOSTE: Correct. 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: It could lead to wrongful convictions?

MR. DECOSTE: All right. 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: That's a perfect segue into the next topic. You did some investigation about a gun, right?

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

MR. DECOSTE: On August 26th of 2016, you went down to the Aucilla 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: Now, you already knew from your work in the case the type 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 Aucilla 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. Did 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 Aucilla River because of what Luis Rivera told you from the meeting, right?

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

MR. DECOSTE: You were -- so you remember -- in fairness, given by his attorney, you remember that detail being given?

MR. DECOSTE: But you can't remember whether Katie was mentioned or not?

MR. DECOSTE: Can 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?

MR. DECOSTE: Correct.

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 receive a letter from a woman, Jennifer Mosely, 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 may I approach?

MR. DECOSTE: Investigator, I'm going to do two things here. First, I'm going to show you what's been premarked as Defense 31A through O. You know what those are, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Those are photographs of the gun under the bridge at Aucilla Rivera, 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 the same, condition they were in the last time you saw them?

MR. DECOSTE: Defense offers what's been premarked as Defense 31A through oO.

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Take a look at that and let me know if it refreshes your recollection?

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

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

MR. DECOSTE: Lots of -- and, in fairness, Ms. Mosely, she was an inmate, right?

MR. DECOSTE: Now, understanding on a case like this that you get a lot of communications, at that point in time that you receive that letter -- that letter is 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: And has new information? Or confirmation of facts, quote, unquote.

MR. DECOSTE: All right. Nobody every met with Ms. Mosely, correct?

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

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

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