All language subtitles for Episode 05 Deadly Driver or Tragic Accident

A loved one of theirs
was lost.

They feel somebody needs
to pay for that.

Worst case scenario,

I end up going to prison.

This whole thing
is a bad nightmare.

You just expect
to wake up from it.

Then you realize
you are awake.

My client,
Mr. Mccombs,

is accused of crossing over
the double yellow line

and causing
a head-on collision.

I'm just taking a look
at a few photos to see

exactly how violent
this car accident was.

Roland and Perry greaves
were the men in this car.

Jason was travelling
east on 71

and the greaves
were travelling west.

Jason is accused
of going over the line

and having
a head-on collision.

You can see some
of the skid marks right here

where it looks like
the greaves came across

into Jason's Lane,

trying to avoid
this accident.

The greaves spun around,
best we can tell,

and stayed, actually,
in the road.

Jason's vehicle
then comes to stop

in the bar ditch,

catches fire,

and some innocent
bystanders came by

and pulled Jason
out of his vehicle.

Roland and Perry,
father and son.

Roland was killed
at the scene.

He was about 80 years old.

And then,
Perry is still alive today,

but he's hurt very bad,
I believe.

This was a car accident,
not a crime.

I don't want this
to be the precedent

that someone gets
in a car accident,
someone gets hurt,

and therefore,
some otherwise innocent person

gets charged with a felony
such as manslaughter,

It terrifies me that
these are the kind of events

that cause people
to get charged

and have to go
to jury trials

and literally fight
for their lives.

I'm the sole supporter,
I'm the sole provider.

After the accident, I,

lost my job
as, executive director

for the health care company
I worked at.

A few people where I worked
knew about the accident and...

I don't know what they knew,
but they knew enough.

So...

Things just...
You know, I can't...

I can't prove it
and I don't dwell on it.

You know, obviously,
I've got a family to support.

I needed to do some work,
I needed to make money,

so I, started working
for a roofing company

as a general contractor.

I'm working, yeah,
really hard right now

to build things up.

And my wife,
if things do take a turn,

I've got her.

Kind of knowledgeable enough
where she can take over

some of my stuff
that I have going on.

She can step right in

and that way,
at least that money
that I have built up,

she can have
some sort of an income.

It is what it is.

I just pray and pray
and pray and pray and hope that

that's not
what it comes down to.

Together, Jason and I
have six kids.

Jason's a very
hands-on father.

He's the kindest person
that you'll ever meet.

He's very funny,
very laid back

and goofy,

he listens.

Which you don't come across
very often anymore.

So right now,

I'm on my way
to go to my attorney's office.

He wants to go over

some of the charges
that have been
brought against me

in my indictment.

The other family,
all they know is that
there was an accident,

a loved one of theirs
was lost.

And so,
for whatever reason,

they feel somebody needs
to pay for that.

Be it accident or not.

I mean, an accident's
an accident.

And as much
as you would want

some type of closure from it,

somebody to blame,

it's not always that easy.

I don't know how
I would react
on the other side.

We're not in their position,
we're not in that spot.

We don't understand
what they're going though.

Okay, Jason, I think
a good place to start

for now is to go
over the indictment.

Okay?
Okay.

What they have
to prove against you

is that you recklessly

caused the death
of an individual.

Specifically Roland greaves.
Okay?

Basically,
what they're saying

is you were inattentive

and thereby
caused the accident.

All righty?

There's four ways
that they can
prove this allegation.

Way number one

is they prove
that you failed

to drive in a single Lane
of traffic. Okay?

Or that you drove a car
into the Lane of traffic

operated by

a motor vehicle
transporting Roland greaves.

Okay?

Or that you failed
to keep a proper lookout.

Or that you failed to maintain
control of your motor vehicle.

And one of those four actions
caused an accident

which,
took Roland's life. Okay?

It is not illegal,
meaning criminal,

in the state of Texas
to have a car accident.

Okay?

It is illegal
to do so recklessly.

All right?
What do my outcomes
look like?

What is... what does
the end of this look like?

Sure. Well,
there's only one
of a few ways

that a jury trial
can end.

Way number one
is that we get a not guilty,

and everybody goes home

and this is
a bad memory.

Way number two
is that we get a guilty.

And if we get a guilty,

then we go to
phase number two
of the jury trial

which is punishment.

Let's talk about this

'cause this is
the scariest one.

Each one of the counts
against you, Jason,

has a punishment range
from probation

between two
and ten years

or two to 20 years
in prison.

If the jury
were to come back

and put you
in prison,

then they would
pick a number.

Somewhere between
two and 20 years.

It's always scary...

...having potential
prison sentence out there.

That's terrifying.

There's nothing
I can do or say

that can take
that anxiety from you

or your wife.
Okay?

Going forward,

we need to start
preparing for the worst

and hoping for the best.

It... it's the stuff
you don't want to hear.

There's no putting it aside
when you hear it like that.

I'm...

I punish myself enough
for what happened

because it was an accident.

It happened.
I can't change that.

Now it feel like

I'm being

judged and ruled

for something
that was just what it was.

It was an accident.
And there's...

It...

Whatever a jury
does to him,

I don't know if it'll be
more than what

his conscience
has already done.

This weighs on him
every single day.

Um, just praying
for the, family.

I can't even fathom
what they've gone through.

It's so tragic
and devastating.

With our house
of friggin' sports team,

it takes a lot of food.
-Yeah.

A lot of times,
goofing off with my family,

I do my best
to shield them from this.

This is not something
that I wanna put them though.

Hey.

I got a monster
on my back.

If I didn't have my family,

I couldn't say
where I'd be right now.

What's at stake is our...

Our family
being pulled apart.

And it's very difficult
to process.

Though I just try
not to let myself go there.

To be accused
feels unfair.

First thing
that comes to my mind

when I think of a criminal

is a thief, murderers.

I think of people
that are intentionally
hurting someone

or taking something
from someone,

and something that my father
worked years for

to protect people from.

He served 28 years
on the San Antonio
police department

before he retired.

Having a spell?
Yeah.

I'm sorry, guys, i'm...

You okay?

I wish Wayne was able
'cause he's done,

over the years,
hundreds and hundreds

of, reports
on car accidents

before he got sick.

He went to the crash site,
did all the measurements there,

found all the skid marks,
everything.

And he came to me and said,

"I don't think
they can prove either way."

He said, "I don't think
we'll ever know.

"If the other person went over
or if Jason went over."

So...

It's just a terrific accident

that both families will never
completely recover from.

He was a handful.

We had to give you
a run for your money.

Hell, yep. Yeah.

You know, I chased criminals,
it didn't bother me.

Boy, but chasing him...

He's been
my best friend my whole life.

You know, I don't want to
think about life without him.

Yeah.

This whole ordeal...

...has just stressed him
so much.

Part of me
thinks that it's this
that caused the cancer.

Hey, Ashley, Jason.
Good to see y'all.

Thanks for coming in.

How are you?
-Good.

Y'all come on back.
Follow me.

I want to,
spend some time

going over all the evidence
that they have against you

which supports
their allegations

so that we can better
defend against it.

All right?

One of the scariest items
that's out there, Jason,

is this one right here.

Because it says that
you have morphine
in your blood.

Anytime a juror hears

that someone
has something

as powerful
as morphine

in his blood
or her blood,

that's something
you don't want

to have to defend against
if you can help it.

I had taken it
the day before
for my back.

No,
I understand that.

But that is not
a defense.

It is illegal

to drive a motor vehicle

with morphine
in one's blood

if that means that
you have lost the normal use

of your mental
or physical faculties.

Do you have
the prescription
for the morphine,

that you took
the day before?

It was probably...

I'm sure the bottle
was in my car.

All right.
That's just something

we're gonna have
to deal with. Okay?

Now, the next big subject,
of course,
is the text messages.

You understand that
there's an allegation

that you were on the phone
for text messaging

whenever this accident
took place?

The prosecution are
going to take the position

that you were
using your phone

whenever the accident
happened.

Do you know
or remember anything

that can help me
understand the accident?

No. I don't
remember anything.

Okay.

Who's the first person
you remember speaking to

after the accident?

I vaguely remember
a trooper coming
to the hospital.

All right.
This is a police surmise

of who went to the hospital

and interviewed you,
I believe.

And you said that
you'd been
on the phone earlier.

Do you remember
five, ten minutes
before the accident?

Just before getting on 71
I had received a text.

It was a text
from work.

So I pulled over,

sent a quick reply
and then continued on.

The chief officer
on this case

jumps to his conclusion

that says that you must have
been on your phone

and texting and drifting

into the opposite Lane.

According to their expert,

the accident occurred
in this Lane.

That means that

you crossed over
the mid line

and had the accident
with them.

That's a bad fact
if that's true, for US. Right?

A bad accident
took place,

they think they may know
possibly, could be
how it happened. Okay?

And maybe possibly
you could have
been on your cellphone.

Possibly.

That's a long way from
beyond a reasonable doubt.

Much of our case
and much of our defense

is going to be built around

this is simply a car accident
and nothing more.

And so, we're all
gonna go out
to the crash site

where all this took place.

I know it's gonna
be painful, Jason,

but we absolutely
need it

to prepare for trial.

Okay.

As a defense attorney,
you wanna go out,

you wanna see the scene,
walk the scene.

And I want to see
those gouges in the road.

You wanna go out there
and you wanna see

what Jason saw

and you wanna see
what Roland
and what Perry saw

just before the accident.

That cannot be overstated.

I think that these officers
may take for granted

that we are
just going to assume

that their version
of how this accident took place

is gonna be the one
that we go with.

We are questioning
every portion of this accident

and the version
of how this accident happened.

Is this the spot?

This is the spot.
There's the area...
Yeah.

Their vehicle,
the greaves' vehicle,

would have been
pointed right there.

There's the fence post
right there.

So...

I'm gonna go
take a look at it
right away.

This gouge right here,

it's part of where
the greaves' car landed

and then Jason's car
landed right over there

up against that embankment.

I think these two
are door handles.

And then there's
stray pieces of trim...

...from Jason's car all over.

That must have been
one hell of a fire.

It is a struggle
to be here.

For like, it's something that

I'll live with
for the rest of my life.

Just knowing that it happened

is enough
to have to live with.

And for anybody
on either side.

Come here.
Come here.

The jury is gonna
wanna have an explanation

as to why
this accident took place.

By getting here, I get
a good understanding and idea

of the layout,

of the breaks in the road.

For example,

if you look at this vehicle
coming up over here,

you can't see the vehicle
right now

until it comes up
over this curve right here.

This is a blind hill.

Meaning the drivers
who were coming this way,
the greaves,

could not see
up over that hill.

To no fault of their own.

But no one coming over that hill
can see

until, at 70 miles an hour,

they meet with these folks
who were coming off that turn,

also at 70 miles an hour.

You can see
coming this direction,

which is where
Jason was coming,

just how sharp that curve is.

That is something
I'm gonna have
to convey to the jury

that, "hey, this turn
that Jason was coming out of

"is a dangerous turn."

Which can be an explanation

to how Jason ended up
in this oncoming Lane.

This scene supports
and gives US a defense

as to why this accident
would take place the way it did.

Jason and the greaves
were effectively

headed at each other
at 140 miles an hour

that's not a lot of time
to respond.

And that's not a bad defense.

If we can explain it
to the jury in a simple way,

the layout of this road,

we'll have a fighting shot
for Jason.

What I'm looking at
is the toxicology report.

The results
of his blood tests

indicated that
there was morphine
in his blood.

But it was less than
0.01 milligrams per liter.

Which is almost
next to nothing.

Less than
0.01 milligrams per liter

is not adequate

to believe that
a person lost
the normal use

of his or her mental
or physical faculties.

But it's something that
we absolutely
wanna defend against.

We do not want to leave
any stone unturned.

If I were in Jason's shoes,

and I had six kids
and a wife,

then I would do anything
and everything I could

to avoid the uncertainly
of a jury trial.

With a plea bargain,

you know exactly
how your case is gonna end.

With a jury trial,
you have absolutely no idea

if you're gonna be
a convicted felon

or if you're gonna go to prison
for the next 20 years.

The best hope would be
to get there
and something comes up

and it just goes away.

You know, where they put
a deal on the table

that just really
can't be passed up.

Um, expect the worst,
hope for the best.

Hey, Austin.

How you doing?
How you holding up?

Hi.
Hey, mom. Doing okay?

We just have to wait to see
what the outcome's gonna be.

It's a lose-lose situation
for both families.

It won't make them
feel better.

And it definitely hurts US.

You know,
as a mother,

no matter
how old your children are,

you still hurt
when they hurt.

Let's get this
over with.

Well, the only offer

that the prosecution
is making

was prison time.

We didn't really negotiate
the numbers

because Jason and I
weren't receptive

to any type of prison time.

Even if it was
something minimal.

And the greaves family
will only agree
to prison time.

That's my understanding.

And it's just not something
we can agree to.

And so, our only other option
is to go to a jury trial,

which is where we're headed.

The police
accused Jason
of crossing the line.

And the reason they say
he crossed the line

is because he was
using his cellphone.

Law enforcement
and the district
attorney's office

have subpoenaed
Jason's phone records

to try to get an idea
if it is something

that they,
meaning law enforcement,

can prove, um,

that being whether or not
Jason used his cellphone

when the accident took place.

Yes, he was honest
that he had used his cellphone

prior to the accident,

but the prosecution must prove
that he was reckless

Hey, Jason.
Hey, Austin.

Good to see you.
Thanks for making the trip.

How are you, man?

Good. Sit with me.

Here is what
I wanna do today. Okay?

I wanna help
build a timeline

just before the accident.

Because the few minutes
before the accident,

the entire case
live and dies right there.

We have got to
attack this position

taken by the police

that you were
on a cellphone

when the accident
took place.

So, let's see

what the at&t records
show from your phone.

This is the last phone call
you made before the accident.

About 37 minutes

before the accident
took place.

You with me?

Well, this was a two minute
and ten second phone call

and clearly,
you were not on the phone

whenever the accident
took place

as far as talking.

Right. Now, let's go
into text messages

just before the accident.

So we're looking
at something
just before 3:18.

Nothing, nothing, nothing,
nothing, nothing.

Where is the text message
you sent to your employee

two minutes before
the accident happened?

Know what I mean?
Yeah.

Everything...
The whole accident... I...

I wish I had a clearer
recollection of everything.

Okay.

If you were in the middle
of a text message,

and had a car accident,

well then,
it stands to reason that

that text message
will be half sent.

That's correct.
Okay.

And so,
if the police thought

that you were texting
whenever this happened,

why didn't they
get your cellphone?

That is their oversight.

Yes.
Yes?

Not your mistake.

Understand?

Where's the phone right now
that you had that day?

That phone was...

I'd given it to my...
'Cause I got a new phone.

And so I gave that phone
to my son.

I mean, it was
completely erased

and made new for him.
Okay.

Now this is important.

How did the phone
survive that fire?

Do you know?

It was probably
I had... maybe...

Weren't like that
if I had it in my pocket.

Good.

Do you remember that?

That's the only way
it could have

made it out
of the vehicle.

Okay. If the phone's
in my pocket,

then chances are

it was in my pocket
the entire time I was driving.

You with me?

'Cause it that phone
was in your pocket

whenever you were
pulled out of that car,

the likelihood of you
being on it

while you were driving,

text message,
that thing goes down.

Winning and losing
hinges on

whether or not
Jason was using his cellphone.

The only evidence that

Jason had anything
to do with his phone

was Jason's statement

that, "I was on the phone

"a few minutes
before the accident."

Now we have to get the jury
to buy into this idea

that Jason
made this statement

about being on the phone

while he was under
this extremely
traumatic situation,

and that was just
some memory

that was floating around
in his head

that came out
when being questioned
by law enforcement.

So, if the prosecution
can't prove what happened,

okay, our position is

they didn't overcome
their burden of proof,

so Jason's not guilty.

We received pictures
of Perry greaves
in the hospital.

This member of his family

took these and provided them
to the prosecution

to give the district attorney
an idea of how Perry's doing.

You can't help
but feel for this man.

He appears to be
in a vegetative state.

I can see why they want
Jason to go to prison.

I mean, regardless
of guilt or innocence.

I mean, look what
they did to this guy.

He's not getting any better.

I cannot imagine
the prosecution

hearing from
the victim's family

that they would be okay

or consent to probation
for Jason.

Specially given
these new pictures.

There are going to be
people out there who say,

"those pictures are terrible.

"We gotta hold somebody
criminally responsible."

All right, Jason,
will you have this woman
to be your wife?

To live together
in holy covenant
of marriage?

Will you love her,
comfort her,

honor and keep her
in sickness and in health...

If we weren't
meant to work out,

this would tear US apart.

I can only see
what I'm going through

through my perspective.

I can't imagine
how hard it is

to go through it
from her perspective as well.

Knowing and feeling
and seeing it

through her eyes
and her feelings.

Um...

I'm not going anywhere.

Like, we're in this together
for the long haul.

I don't know
where I would be

right now without her,
honestly.

I don't know where.

...together
in holy covenant of marriage?

Will you love him,
comfort him,

honor and keep him
in sickness and in health

and be faithful to him
for as long as
you both shall live?

If so, say, "I will."
I will.

All right.

This case is about emotion.

What's important
is the legal aspect

versus the human aspect
in a case like this.

You have got to address
that emotion

that is going to be
in the jury box
from the beginning.

Couple of things I wanna
talk about with you. Okay?

The prosecution
is going to

read the indictment.

Then the judge will turn
and look at you, okay,

and look at you and say,

"Mr. Mccombs,
how do you plead?"

Right?

That is a very, very
important time.

So, you say, you know,
very simple, and say,

"not guilty, your honor."
Okay?

But there's a wrong way
to do it
and there's a right way.

And it's not,
"not guilty, your honor."

Okay? It's not,
"not guilty, your honor."

That's not it.
Okay?

Frankly, we don't care
what the judge thinks.

You talk to that jury.
Okay?

That's why we talk to,
is the jury.

It's, "not guilty,
your honor,"

like it's true.

I'm saying,
"not guilty, your honor,"
but I'm looking at the jury?

You look at that jury.

We will say it one time,
we get one shot at it.

Okay? And it's very,
very important.

I know.
It's important. Okay?

That make sense?

All right. You, Jason,
have the option to testify.

You cannot be compelled
to testify

and I can't stop you.
Okay?

And I can't tell you to.
That's your option.

That's one of the few things

that you are the Alpha
and the omega of. Okay?

Ultimately, I don't think
we're gonna put you
on the witness stand

unless you absolutely
want to.

What do you think?

I don't know.

Honestly, I don't know.

Well, it's one of those...

You can always make
a game time decision.

All right? My suggestion
is that you don't.

All right?
That's my advice.

I don't...
If you were me
what would you do?

I would not testify.

Not in this
particular case.

You don't think it will
come across badly to the jury

if I'm not up there?
No.

You know, the fifth amendment,
the election not to testify.

You cannot be compelled

to provide evidence
against yourself,

meaning, called as witness
against yourself.

It's unconstitutional.
Okay?

Your election
not to testify

will not
cut either way.

Logan, Dillon,
come downstairs and eat.

Food's ready.

Dear father,
we just want to thank you

for the time
you've given US

this weekend
with our families.

We ask that
you take this food

and bless it to our bodies
as we bless our bodies
to your service.

In your name we pray.
Amen.

Amen.

For me,
the worst case scenario

is that I end up
going to prison

for something that
was an accident.

And...

And I miss my kids.

My dad's sick.

I don't know
how much longer he has.

And to think about that...

...is so scary.

I know Jason
is terrified.

I'm sure I would
feel the same way

if I was faced
with something like this.

I can't tell you exactly
what the jury's gonna do.

I think anybody who tells you

that they know
what a jury's gonna do

hasn't tried
winning jury trials.

We made some good points

with some of the officers
who testified.

We also talked about
the cellphone records.

And we're happy to bring out

that, there's
really no proof

that Jason was on his phone.

It's a scary day.

Mrs. Greaves, who is the wife
of Perry, the survivor,

she did a very good job
and she was very emotional.

I think that's why
the state put
Mrs. Greaves on last.

It was a smart move,
which we had to respond to.

We had to put
some time between

when her testimony ended

and the jury
began to deliberate.

And so, going back and forth,

I just made
the game time decision

that the jury, I think,

probably wanted
to hear from Jason.

And he got up there
and he told the truth

and he did awesome.

He was emotional

and made me little emotional

and one of the jurors,
one of them...

One of the male jurors
was actually crying with Jason.

I think it was a wise decision.
Although, you never know.

It's very scary for Jason.

This may be the last time

he spends a night
in his own bed,

in the house
with his own family.

This may be the last time
he ever sees his dad.

'Cause if he goes to prison,
then there's a very good chance

that he won't ever
shake his dad's hand again.

I couldn't fathom
being denied my family.

I couldn't imagine.
I couldn't imagine that.

I couldn't.

I don't want to imagine that.

We just did
closing arguments.

Um, I got to talk
for about 15 minutes.

Frankly, I could've
spoken for much more.

I asked for more
from the judge,

but it wasn't given to me.

Um, now we wait.

For the defense,
you want the jury to be out
as long as possible.

It means that
they're discussing the issues.

It means that
they're discussing
beyond a reasonable doubt

and looking at the evidence.

Um, if they come back quickly,

usually, less than an hour,
an hour and a half,

it usually doesn't
bode well for the defense.

So we want them out
as long as possible.

I can't thank you
enough, man.

You're beautiful.

We got a not guilty
on all counts.

And so we are ecstatic.

I'm proud of you.

Now we can shift
our focus off of me to you.

I... I'm just happy
that you're...

I know.
I don't care about me.

Well, we all do.
So...

Well...

You're my baby.
My baby.

I... I feel like

mount Everest has just been
taken off my back.

I haven't felt this way in...

Since all this

trial stuff started
since the arrest.

Putting your life
or your outcome

into 12 people...
Twelve strangers' hands

is the most terrifying thing

anybody can ever go through.

By god's grace, I'll never
have to go through that again,

can I get my husband?