Original subtitles

What did you see when you walked inside?

An Asian man crying really loudly.

And the patient who was lying on his back.

I'm going to dump that shock. He's gone.

Hey, what happened this morning?

We had a fight.

We still don't know the actual cause of death.

It drives me nuts.

Did you see a laceration to the deceased's right chin area?

Yes, I did. I examined a silver component of the fruit juicer...

With what appears to be blood staining. Yes.

It was bigger and a bit heavier

than I expected it to be. It could be used as a weapon.

It's like a big jigsaw and we're sort of being fed pieces.

Yeah. You really don't know

if he's feeling guilty, if he's very sad.

You can be remorseful, but still be guilty.

Crying doesn't mean you're sad or you're sorry.

He tried to argue with me. He criticised me a lot.

And then... And then my head started spinning.

Carlo was criticising him a lot. What was that about?

What was he doing?

What happened then? I don't...I don't remember.

When a person is accused of a crime,

it's often the job of a jury to decide their fate.

But do juries always get it right?

To find out, for the first time in Australia,

we're following a jury through a criminal trial...

Sean Yang did unlawfully kill Carlo Levetto.

..with actors restaging a real case word-for-word.

Where in previous statements have you ever told anyone

that Mr Yang's crying was a temper tantrum?

But just as in a real court, the jurors are everyday people.

That was hard to watch, huh? Blimey.

We'll follow 12 jurors...

Everybody agrees there was a fight.

No. I took fight to be argument.

..as they work to decipher a baffling criminal trial.

How did he die? That's not our job to find out.

Our job is to listen to the evidence.

And you're saying "No, it can't be shown.

"It can't be shown." Well, who else was it, then?

Will the jury convict an innocent man?

Hang on. He's supposed to convince us, right?

Or will they free one who is guilty?

I'm very unlikely to change my mind. Ah!

The jurors reveal their strengths and their prejudices.

I totally recognise that I do have a bias.

"Thou shalt not kill" really rings home.

I only had one opinion of criminals. They're guilty.

They're all liars.

Will our 12 jurors arrive at the same verdict

as the original trial?

How say you?

Is the accused guilty or not guilty?

I swear by Almighty God..

That I will give...

A true verdict... According...

To the evidence.

The jurors are arriving for day three

of the manslaughter trial

in which Sean Yang has been accused of the unlawful killing

of his long-term partner, Carlo Levetto.

The case so far has been mystifying,

with no clear cause of death,

and the relationship itself

is raising questions among the jurors.

The only motive I could think of is

someone wanted to end the relationship,

and the other party found out

and didn't want them to end the relationship.

I'm not convinced, you know,

Mr Yang is a villain in this story, yet.

I'm not... I want to hear more about him.

Before we see more evidence,

I would like to know whether he had depression prior

or whether he developed it due to the relationship.

I don't even see how the two got together.

Complete opposites, like, just the size of them and the age.

They would have to have a lot of understanding

to get through and keep the relationship going.

Good morning.

Good morning. Hello.

Before the prosecution continues its case,

the jurors assemble in the deliberation room,

where cameras are normally strictly banned.

Did you sleep well?

When I got to sleep.

I didn't get to sleep till about 3:30 or something.

I was still awake. Really?

Good morning. What were you thinking about?

The whole case?

No, actually, it was the last thing on my mind.

I was just watching movies. You're like, "What case?" Watching the footy.

That's awesome that you can detach, though.

Oh, hell, yeah.

But you'd be good at that, I think.

Sometimes I'm too good at it,

and then I forget, and I can't bring it back.

How are you?

You look tired.

Well, that is unfortunate.

That's just my face, I must say, when I wake up...

Traditionally, we talk about a jury being a trial of your peers.

And that's really important that it's not some elite person

that's looking down on you telling you off.

The only thing I thought of was,

what do you call an Italian man that lost his car?

An Italian man lost his car?

Oh, my gosh, it's going to be a joke.

Well, I don't know. What do we call him?

Car-loss.

Car-loss.

I'm good at telling dad jokes. Absolutely.

It's the collective wisdom of 12 ordinary people

that are making this decision.

And that's why this institution has been around for centuries.

I honestly thought I was going to go home

and be exhausted and just sleep.

Your brain keeps ticking about it.

All I could come back to was, "He was so critical of me."

Something like, "He criticised me." Yeah.

Yeah. Then his head started spinning.

We need context on what exactly happened with the criticism.

Do you think it is conducive to attacking him?

Maybe he was...

That he used the blades, but he threw it at him.

Yeah.

Killing him.

Everybody is capable of losing your cool.

Yeah, I've been yelled at

and I have yelled at my significant other,

and I'm not proud of it.

Um, yeah. And there's dire consequences.

Hello. I'm a single dad.

It's definitely happened to the mother of my kids and I.

Like, yeah, we yelled a few times

and I said sorry and even wrote a song about it.

It's just a good thing to know,

is it something that he's felt belittled this entire relationship?

It can be just as effective as physical abuse, verbal abuse.

100%. Oh, my God! Yeah, yeah.

And if that's what their relationship was...

People don't know sometimes that they're in an abusive...

They don't realise. Maybe he fell into a depression

because he was unaware that actually he was in an abusive relationship

if Carlo was always so critical of him.

(KNOCK ON DOOR)

Good morning, everybody.

I'm not worried about

the responsibility of judging someone.

People judge every day, so I think we're pretty hard-wired to do so.

Until now, the prosecution's case has focused

on evidence from first responders.

Today, the jury will hear from family, friends and neighbours,

starting with a witness who was only metres away when Carlo died.

Is your name Felicity Cooper? Yes.

Now, your home is a Victorian terrace. Two levels.

And it's a mirror home to the home that Carlo and Sean lived in.

Is that right? Yes.

Now, in relation to this particular property,

you've got a common wall between the two homes,

which is a double brick. Yes.

And you would hear them moving around the house

and conversation that was above normal conversational tone.

Is that right? Yes.

(SINGS IN ITALIAN)

(BABY CRIES)

(HUMS)

And your baby, how old would she have been then?

She was nine months, 10 months.

And did she have trouble sleeping? Yes.

Sean and Carlo were in the process of renovating their home.

And that caused some tension between you, did it not?

Yes.

Do you remember your husband told you

that he asked Sean if they would not renovate on a Sunday?

Yes. And Sean agreed.

But a few weeks later, Sean was on the roof,

hammering the iron roof right outside your daughter's window.

And your husband asked him to stop, but Sean became angry at him.

Is that right? Yes.

And you were having renovations done to your house as well, were you not?

Yes.

New floorboards downstairs and a new kitchen.

Was that going on at the same time

as the renovations occurring next door?

Yes. And then there was an argument,

because you parked your car in front of their house instead of yours?

Yes. Parking can be difficult in the street.

And at that stage, did Sean shout abuse?

Yes, I believe so.

And did he behave in an aggressive manner at that stage?

Yes, I believe so.

So I take you now to 12 March 2022, about 7:45am.

Did your husband, Angus, go out for a driving lesson?

Yes.

Did you stay at home with your daughter?

And were you on the street level of your home?

Yes.

And at about 8:15am, did you hear some noises coming from next door?

Yes. It sounded like a shelf falling

with pots and pans on it and lids rolling on the floor.

Lids or a lid. One lid or several.

And did you then think that you heard Carlo singing

as he sometimes sang opera from time to time around the house?

Is that...? Is that right?

I heard a sound.

I don't know what it was.

I thought it was Carlo singing because he sang quite regularly.

And then there was silence. Yes.

And about 10 minutes later, did you hear screaming and crying?

Yes.

Did you recognise that it was Sean making that noise?

Yes.

How would you describe it? A temper tantrum.

And could you hear Carlo at all during that time?

No.

And did this crying and wailing keep going on for about 15 minutes?

Yeah. About that. 10?

And then did an ambulance arrive? Yes.

(SIRENS WAIL)

And at about 2:00, police from Glebe detectives arrived.

And you accompanied them to Glebe Police Station.

And you provided a statement. Is that right?

Yes.

Thank you. No further questions. Thank you.

Through a double brick wall,

what does a temper tantrum actually sound like?

That's what I kept thinking.

It's easy enough to say you're hearing shouting.

You're hearing crying. But what is it...?

What does a temper tantrum sound like,

to be just sounds and not words?

Now the defence cross-examines the neighbour.

An opportunity to cast doubt on her evidence.

Ma'am, you claim to have a better memory as time goes on.

Not by me.

Where in previous statements have you ever told anyone

that Mr Yang's crying was a temper tantrum?

Is that a question? Yes.

I'm waiting. I don't know what the question is.

When have you ever told anybody

that this crying was like a temper tantrum?

I object to the nature of the question my friend is asking.

I appreciate... Mr Benedetti,

I appreciate your question.

But please, you do not raise your voice like that.

Well, the credit of this witness is in issue.

I'll speak in a more acceptable volume.

I do feel a lot of these aggressive behaviours,

They're just unnecessary.

And they're kind of archaic.

That defence lawyer is something else, isn't he?

He loses his cool.

Can you tell me what you heard from your side of the wall?

I could hear somebody crying

like a child having a temper tantrum crying.

Do you have a copy of your statement?

Yes.

It was made very soon after the events.

That afternoon. Yes.

And your memory would be best then as opposed to now?

Yes.

It reads:

"At about 8:15am, I heard crashing noises

"like a shelf falling with pots and pans on it.

"I heard it very clearly.

"I then thought I heard Carlo singing.

"This lasted for about 10 seconds.

"Then there was silence."

Is that correct?

Yes.

"About 10 minutes later I heard screaming and crying.

"It was Sean making all the noise.

"He was wailing like a baby, crying hysterically.

"I could not hear Carlo at all.

"The crying and wailing kept on going for about 15 minutes.

"Then an ambulance arrived."

And is that your best memory of the events back in 2022?

Yes.

Mm.

You didn't get on with your neighbours, did you?

I didn't get...

Well, actually, Sean didn't get on with my husband.

Ma'am, you didn't get on with them, did you?

No, Sean didn't get on with my husband.

Thank you.

No further questions.

Mr Crown?

No further questions, Your Honour.

Is anyone else terrified at the defence lawyer?

Oh, my goodness. What the hell is wrong with this guy?

He's discrediting the witness, doing his job.

He did exactly what he had to.

They need to change the job description.

Because this is ridiculous. He's trying to intimidate a person.

Well, it's partly theatre.

Is this theatre goes on in actual courts every day?

Yep. They do.

Absolutely. Absolutely they do.

I didn't find it offensive at all.

Maybe my career history of dealing with people

who bang their fists on tables and in meetings

is quite, quite normal of being so belligerent.

If he had an inkling that she was fabricating her story,

he's going to figure it out. And to get people under pressure...

That's not the only way to talk to people, that was just pathetic.

Yeah, in a court of law, I think that's...

I think that's what they usually do. Right?

Absolutely. Absolutely. They just go at 'em.

I think he was trying to put the pressure on her

to see if she would crack.

And I've always thought if people are innocent

and they're telling the truth, there's nothing to crack about.

The jurors use the privacy of the deliberation room

to talk through each new round of evidence.

So, on that evidence just now, in that first testimony, she says,

"Crying and wailing."

Now, she said, "a temper tantrum."

For me, that's really different.

What you're saying is this temper tantrum is replacing

what used to be crying

10 minutes after some singing occurs.

Yeah, when we first heard that he was crying,

that could be he discovered him on the floor

and he just started sobbing and crying uncontrollably

because his lover was dead.

Saying 10 minutes later,

"I heard him crying as a temper tantrum"

is very different.

That could be the start of an argument, a fight...

Usually, a temper tantrum is anger, right?

Yeah. A temper tantrum is almost exclusively

applied to a two-year-old. Mm.

I mean, he was described as flamboyant.

When the guy was describing the way he had tantrums with, you know,

flouncing off and arms flailing... Banging doors.

Like, walking out of the house and slamming doors and stuff.

That's tantrum behaviour to me, whether it's adult or not.

And if you were being derogatory you go,

"Are you having a temper tantrum?"

But I think she did use it in a derogatory term, Guy.

I think she's a little bit prejudiced.

I think she did say it as a derogatory thing.

She clearly didn't like Sean. Out of the two of them, it was Sean. I think it was stated.

But immediately after that, 10 minutes only,

the ambulance was already called, so the person was already dead.

He would be already discovered, the body.

I don't know. For me, the time doesn't add up still.

She's saying 8:15.

That's when she heard the first... Mm. 8:15.

But remember also that she said she doesn't...

She wasn't looking at the clock specifically. Yeah?

But her husband had a specific appointment,

and at 8:15, she heard the shelf falling and pots and pans crashing.

Then there was silence.

And 10 minutes later, there was screams, crying and wailing.

And that went on for about 10...

Singing for 10 seconds.

And then 10 minutes after that, the wailing.

Right. So if you just add that roughly,

and you're generous with the time, so it's 8:35.

The ambulance wasn't called till...

9:15. 9:15.

She said she didn't have, she wasn't looking at the clock.

If the shelf falling was Carlo falling,

there's a hell of a long time till he calls the ambulance.

Listen, if anyone's fallen,

you're not going to be singing 10 minutes later.

I know, but was there really singing?

I don't believe there was ever singing.

I think it was like a high-pitched scream or something.

Pots and pans. That's definitely the juicer.

On the concrete floor. Yeah.

It can't be pots and pans falling

because it was not scattered on the kitchen floor

in any of the pictures. No, exactly.

They obviously didn't get on. She wasn't too fond...

They were pissed off with the renovation, the noise. Yeah, absolutely.

Were they doing renovations at the same time?

That was the finishing thing.

That was, "but you were also doing renovations during weekdays."

So they were doing renovations simultaneously?

Simultaneously. Mm. OK.

They've had a little bit of arguments

regarding parking and noise.

OK. So maybe he's a bit flamboyant and maybe he...

But every neighbour has a bit of a kerfuffle

with your next door neighbour, you know? I did.

Are we happy to paint Sean as somebody

with a little bit of anger issues? That kind of snaps a bit quickly?

I'm not happy to paint him as that yet.

No, not yet. I don't want to say...

..but just he's susceptible to having these little outbursts.

You mean like a temper...? Temper tantrum.

Well, he's got a bad temper. I think that's what we...

It sounds like he's got a bad temper.

For me, they were trying to portray that

Sean's like a little angry ant

that just explodes at the drop of a hat.

Which might well be.

You can't go without fights.

It wouldn't be a relationship.

Sometimes, you just can't control it when you're pushed too far.

And the only way you can do it is lose your temper.

It could have been Carlo really aggravating Sean,

who might have had a bad night's sleep

or got woken up by the crying baby next door.

You cannot categorically say that he didn't kill him

or cause his death, which would be manslaughter.

It's day three of the trial.

Mr Crown, are you ready for your next witness?

Yes. Thank you, Your Honour.

Having raised the notion of Sean's anger issues,

the prosecution continues to call witnesses

who were close to the couple.

Is your name Fabrizia Gentile?

Yes.

And your husband is Faustino Gentile, right?

Yes.

As of March 2022, your family ran a business called

Pasticceria Caruso in Haberfield. Correct?

Yes.

The prosecution begins with a cafe owner

who, with her husband, became friends

with regular customers Carlo and Sean.

Now, during the course of the operation of that business,

did you meet Carlo Levetto?

Yes.

And Sean Yang?

Yes.

And as a result of meeting them regularly,

and also because Carlo, like you, was of Italian heritage,

you became friendly with them, is that right?

Well, our relationship developed over time.

We got to know each other a little bit better all the time.

But we were not what you would say...

..the best of friends, you know?

And Sean Yang used to take you to the wholesale food markets

most Fridays, and sometimes on Saturday, to shop

for food and vegetables, correct?

Yes. That's right, yes.

And you developed a friendship with Sean Yang

because of that, correct?

That's right.

If I drive, maybe we can go on Thursday night.

No, no, no, no, no, no. I drive.

Let's go.

Ma'am, on occasions, did you ever witness him

and Mr Yang, the accused,

having arguments about Mr Yang's driving?

Yes.

CARLO: No, no, no, no. You are not driving.

He says he's driving too fast.

Have you been in the car?

Yes.

He's not a very good driver, is he? No.

No.

Now, any other arguments that you can recall

they had had in your presence?

They were arguing about the neighbours.

Sean was saying that Carlo gives the right to other people,

the neighbours, but not to him.

A neighbour had complained, and Mr Yang had said

that Carlo wasn't sticking up for him enough.

That's exactly right.

KATHY: Carlo is criticising him.

That can just have an undercurrent

of...of tension that goes along with it.

So, there's a couple of markers there

that could lead to ongoing...

..not so much friction, but a little bit of anxiety,

a little bit of tension.

Now, you have been married for many years.

Yes.

Do you have any arguments with your wife?

(CHUCKLES) I think that's why we're still married, huh?

I don't think there's a marriage without arguments.

Well, yes, I'm married, too.

And have you had any...?

It is common, in your own experience,

to have arguments with your wife about various things.

Do you agree with that? Exactly.

Did he ever tell you that he had any physical problems with Sean?

Carlo, you said you'd help me.

I will.

Don't worry about it. I do it.

And get your feet off the coffee table.

They used to argue, yes.

Screaming? Yes, plenty, but never physical.

So, I want to take you now to 12 March 2022.

You were baking some Italian biscuits that you were going

to take over to give Sean and Carlo at their house, is that correct?

That's right.

At about 9am, did you call Sean and Carlo's home landline?

Yes.

And did you hear Sean crying over the phone?

Oh, yes.

I assumed that there was something wrong.

She said to go and have a look and see what it is.

When I knock on the door, it just opened.

And could you hear anything when you got there?

Yes.

I could hear Sean...

..screaming.

(SCREAMS)

Carlo, Sean, it's Faustino.

Hello!

(SCREAMS)

So, um, I went in.

And where was he?

He was at the bottom of the stairs.

Sean was hysterical.

I said, "What happened? What happened?"

I couldn't communicate with Sean,

so I ran upstairs to call 000 for help.

And the answer came that a call had been placed previously,

and an ambulance should be there.

(SIRENS WAIL)

They went to assist Carlo, and I grabbed Sean

and dragged him away.

Then they called the police.

And when the police came, did they take control of Sean?

Yes. They said, "Stay here, don't move."

And they kept him there.

Now, when you arrived at the home at Petersham, did you notice

whether there were any signs of a struggle or a fight

in the house?

No, I didn't notice anything like that at all.

Did you see anything knocked over or damaged in the house downstairs?

No, I did not.

How would you describe Sean's behaviour when you saw him?

In the past, you have used an English expression

that he was "off his rocker."

Do you remember saying that in the past?

Yes, that could be true.

I found him sitting down with the body, screaming.

"Carlo! Carlo! Come back! Don't leave me!

"Carlo! Carlo! Carlo! Come back! Wake up! Carlo!"

Look, I don't know what words you would describe a person

who is off his mind screaming and doesn't even know you're there.

I don't know how to describe that.

I might say he was out of himself completely.

Thank you.

JUDGE: Any further questions, Mr Crown?

MR CROWN: Yes, Your Honour.

NARRATOR: The prosecution now prepares to reveal

an unsettling insight to the couple's relationship.

Now, I want to take you to a time about a month before 12 March 2022.

When Carlo came into your shop by himself and not with Sean,

did he sometimes tell you about problems he was having with Sean?

Yes, he did.

And that was to do with their relationship?

Yes.

A disaster!

Do you remember whether he wanted to continue that relationship?

Yes.

What he said was, he said to me that the relationship

was deteriorating and he wanted to end it.

And did he indicate that was because Sean

was becoming aggressive, and he was frightened of him,

or something to that effect?

Yes.

JUROR: Looks like he wanted to end the relationship.

That's what he was telling his Italian friend.

HARRISH: To now hear that he confided in Mr Cafe and...

And it is very easy to play into this narrative

of he wanted to break up,

Sean was becoming increasingly violent,

therefore, Sean did cause his death.

Yeah, yeah.

I'm piecing it together as an attack, yeah.

Maybe he said something to trigger an anger burst.

Like, my story has changed.

Like, my theory has changed after today.

In the deliberation room, the jury wonders

if the relationship was unstable.

I mean, Mr Cafe reiterated the kind of calm relationship.

He didn't see any physical... violence.

No, that's what I'm saying.

But he did say about Carlo coming and saying that he was scared and...

He was getting increasingly...

He said he was increasingly scared,

and he was just wanted to finish the relationship.

There was a word that he said.

He said he was becoming increasingly vio...

Aggressive? Was it aggressive? Violent?

Violent.

I think he was like, "You know what? You're criticising me all morning. My driving is shit.

"You're always picking on me."

I think he's got the juice. I think he's making juice.

I think Carlo has come up to him and made a remark.

He's like, "Fuck this shit." And, bang!

Whack! Yeah.

I think the accused, Yang, has had a mental health episode.

Maybe a psychotic episode, I don't know.

Did he mean to murder him? No.

Did...did he grieve when he realised what he'd done and show remorse? No, yeah, absolutely.

Yes. Yeah.

It's like a spur of the moment with anger.

Yeah. Like, a blind-rage thing, right?

Everyone has a temper, I guess. It's how you control it.

I do have experience in control personality with...with a person.

It's very challenging to be with someone

who has mental illness.

You can only push someone so far. It's like a volcano.

And when it erupts, it will erupt. Yeah.

Yes. Absolutely.

And that's the reason why it erupted.

If you just mention a word, that word may trigger that person

and changes them into more violent behaviour.

They may just snap into an outrage.

It's really terrifying.

COURT OFFICIAL: Good afternoon.

Just wanted to let you know

that's the end of our court day for today.

Thank you so much for all of your hard work today, guys.

My boyfriend, he did push me a couple of times.

He said I'm just making up the story - it's not true.

He pushed me to the edge,

and I don't have that patience anymore.

My mental stress got worse,

so I left.

Person like Sean, I put myself in his shoes.

What did happen during that commotion?

(BOTH ARGUE INDISTINCTLY)

Did he really do it?

Maybe. Maybe not.

I need more evidence to make the final decision.

Day four of The Crown versus Sean Yang.

Yesterday's witnesses have given the jury plenty to reflect on.

HARRISH: What is this relationship?

Apparently, Carlo was saying that he wanted to break up with Sean,

and Sean is becoming increasingly violent.

Is that something that you share with someone who's just someone

that you know from a local outlet?

Is it even the truth?

Italians can be very...

(LAUGHS)

..fiery.

(BOTH ARGUE INDISTINCTLY)

Chinese, they can be loud.

Maybe one feels they're not being listened to,

and therefore this was just the final straw.

Could be, but...

(LAUGHS)

Hello, hello. Good morning.

Good morning. Good morning.

How is everybody? Morning.

The jurors' discussion once again turns to speculation,

something the judge has warned them not to do.

I tend to believe the whole parking

and, "Never stands up for me," and...

Yep, and that was enough for him to...

And that was enough.

..to bash Carlo?

It's not enough to bash, but, like...

Enough for what?

Just to solicit a...

There's a motive behind.

OK, maybe he had...maybe Carlo had an affair and maybe he...

But doesn't...?

Does it...?

I feel like that's all speculation.

It's becoming more compounded, I think, the theories and the ideas

being thrown around from people

that probably wouldn't have expected either.

But they always say you never know what goes on behind closed doors.

But this doesn't even sound like the case of that.

I kind of see my role to make sure that a person is not going to prison

for something which he doesn't

deserve to go to prison for, you know?

Yes, there were occasional sort of, you know, raised voices.

They didn't agree on everything.

Anybody can have a heated argument with their partner and not die.

I think that's where they've made the distinction

between murder and manslaughter.

Those sequence of events resulted in his death,

and it was caused by Sean.

They think they're on a bloody whodunit mission, and...

But we're not.

Everybody's trying to sort of work out who did it.

That's not our job here. No, no, no.

(OVERTALKING)

All we're trying to do is judge about Sean.

That's not the case.

There's been no evidence to suggest that Sean has done anything.

That's right.

We're just there to listen to the facts,

and our opinion on those facts, that's it.

You know, it's pretty clear-cut for me,

but some people just don't get it.

I think what we're trying to establish is...

They had an argument.

..is how did he die, rather than who did it?

That's not our job to find out. OK, what's our job then?

Our job is to listen to the evidence.

They're going to tell us how he died.

For me, there isn't anything that stands out to say,

"Absolutely."

No. No, not so far.

Not so far. Absolutely.

(KNOCK AT DOOR)

Good morning, members of the jury.

This morning, the prosecution's line-up of witnesses continues,

starting with the only member of Carlo's family to give evidence -

his brother from Italy.

Sir, is your name Giorgio Levetto?

Yes.

And you are the younger brother

of your late brother Carlo Levetto, are you not?

Yes.

By the way, you come from Turin, do you not?

Yes.

Si? Mm-hm.

And you heard, through your sister, that Carlo was living

with a Chinese man named Sean?

Yes.

Now, Carlo, as far as you were concerned,

was quite a healthy man for his age.

Yes.

(WHISTLES)

And you found out that Carlo had died about a month after he died

through the Italian police?

Yes.

And you then came to Australia to bury your brother?

Yes.

Thank you very much, Mr Levetto.

I have no further questions.

The defence now questions just how close the brothers were.

Sir, in 2022,

had you ever been to Australia?

It was the first time, in 2022.

And did Carlo go back to Turin regularly?

Yes.

Was it once a year? Twice a year?

No. Every three to four years.

So, over the previous 10 years, you didn't see him very often?

No.

As far as Sean Yang is concerned,

did he ever come to Turin with Carlo?

(CHUCKLES) No.

In any event, your brother, so far as you were concerned,

was an honourable, decent man.

Yes.

But you didn't know a lot about his personal life.

Yes, I knew about Carlo,

whatever he let us know about.

Yes, but whatever he LET you know about.

Yes, through my sister.

Did he ever tell you that he was homosexual?

No.

Thank you. That's all.

No further questions from the defence.

The brother is interesting.

So, like, flown in all the way from Italy...

Yeah. Just to prove what?

I couldn't figure out...

..just to say that.

Just to say hello in Italian accent. And what did it prove.

I know. It's quite an irrelevant.

An irrelevant witness.

He didn't really ask him any questions.

He didn't ask him to give any evidence.

It was very strange. Bizarre.

VAN: It was confusing to me.

Like, he...he says he's close.

But then, if you're so close, you should know that he was gay.

That's just really weird, 'cause how could he not know?

I think it's interesting that Carlo

hadn't come out officially yet, though, even to his family,

that they just assumed...

He just suspected that he was.

Yeah.

But he actually never came out as homosexual.

I do sometimes feel a little bit tired kind of coming out,

because coming out never ends, right?

It's like every time you meet a new person, you're coming out,

you're coming out, you're coming out, you're coming out, coming out,

coming out, coming out, coming...

You know, they were mentioning some...some town where they're from.

Maybe it is a little town where things

are a little bit conservative.

Turin is not so little.

But, I mean, he was obviously out here.

Yeah, but it's a very Catholic country. Just not to his family.

I think his brother actually said, "I suspected it." He never got told.

He just suspected. Yeah, that's right.

Yeah, he did say that. He just suspected it.

I'm originally from Russia.

In Russia, as we know,

even now, it's strongly not advised to be gay.

It's not safe.

I can see that the defence was very clear in trying to prove

that he wasn't close to his family.

Yeah.

The mental-health outcome for queer community is not great.

There is a lot of family issues going on.

There is...

Sometimes, you know, families don't accept people.

That's what we call relational trauma.

I don't think it's possible to avoid projecting your past

in perception of Sean and Carlo.

I constantly push myself against my own bias

because my bias is towards Sean not being guilty.

But he might have done something which is against the law.

And this death occurred, which was unlikely to happen,

but it did, right?

And so, with all of this,

if it does come to this, like, black and white,

and he is definitely responsible, um, I will just have to suck it up

and...and do it because this is where we're stuck.

This is how it is at the moment, right?

It wasn't likely to be, but it happened.

So, it's just very unlucky.

And that's just tough shit to be shown.

Yeah? That's what?

(CHUCKLES) Tough shit to be shown.

Does the Crown wish to call their next witness?

Yes, Your Honour. The Crown calls Clifford Reid.

As day four of the trial continues,

the prosecution calls Sean's friend and ex-partner.

Do you swear by Almighty God that the evidence you shall give

will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth.

I do.

So, your name is Clifford Reid, is it not?

Yes.

And you've known Sean Yang for about 14 years, have you not?

Yes.

And you know, he came over to Australia from China in the 1990s

and you became friends?

Yes.

And you were together for about nine years.

Would that be right?

That's about it, yes.

And you formed an opinion of Sean.

You say he's very caring

and a very stubborn person, is that right?

Yeah. That's right.

And then, about four years before 2022, Sean met Carlo Levetto.

That is correct.

But you kept in touch with Sean, and you became great friends

with both Carlo as well as Sean.

Is that correct? That is correct.

(INDISTINCT JOKING AND CHATTER)

What about the relationship that you observed

between Mr Yang and Carlo?

Was it a loving one?

Yes, I would say that it was a loving relationship.

A caring relationship.

(INDISTINCT CHATTER AND JOKING)

And was there any animosity between you and Carlo

that Sean Yang had, in effect, chosen him above you?

No.

No. There was actually no animosity at all.

In fact, on occasions, Carlo would speak to you

about his relationship with Sean Yang?

(CHUCKLES) Yes.

Well, in fact, you had planned to go on holidays.

That's right. We were going to China.

So, you knew that about 18 months before March 2022,

he was attacked in Sydney by an unknown person.

And his left eye was very seriously pierced.

Is that right? That's correct.

Now, from that time, did Sean become more and more frustrated

that he was basically getting older?

Is that right?

He was upset about that, yes.

And you'd also say that Sean is not a very diplomatic person?

No. He is a very pig-headed person.

And you'd say Carlo was more of a peacemaker?

Very diplomatic,

easy to get on with,

if that's how you'd describe a peacemaker.

So, I want to take you back to 11 March 2022,

the day before these events occurred.

Can you describe the conversations you had with Carlo and Sean?

Yes.

Uh...

Carlo rang me.

He said that he and Sean had an argument.

It was about some guy laying some tiles.

(CHUCKLES)

He said that Sean would probably call me later on that day,

and that he'd stormed out of the house.

On 12 March, which was the day after...

..at 10:00 that morning,

did you ring Sean's mobile,

and the phone rang out to message bank?

Is that right?

Yes.

And did you leave a message, such as, "I'll ring back later"?

OK. (SNIFFS)

And about 11:30...

..did you receive a phone call from Glebe Police?

And did the officer say that Carlo had passed away...

..and Sean is at Glebe Police Station, hysterical?

Right. Yes.

And you drove down to Glebe Police Station?

Yes.

And you were taken to an interview room,

and you saw Sean?

That is correct. (SNIFFS)

Hey. (SEAN SOBS)

Hey.

Carlo's not dead.

He's not dead! (SOBS)

Hey, hey, hey. Sean?

He is.

He is, Sean.

OK.

Come on, come on.

Come on. Come on. Sit.

That's it, that's it.

I'm here, I'm here.

What happened?

And he was crying hysterically?

Correct.

Mr Reid, you take your time.

And did you say, "The police need to know what happened"?

Correct?

Correct.

And when you asked this from Sean,

you weren't acting on any instructions as to what to do

from the police -

you were just asking questions off your own bat.

Yes.

SEAN: We, um...

..we had a fight, and, um...

..I was making...I was making carrot juice with...

..with the juicer, and, um...

He just...he just kept at me.

And what happened then?

And then did Sean start crying and sobbing even more?

He did say something more about the juicer,

but you couldn't make out the exact words that he said, correct?

Correct.

(SOBS) I was holding Carlo.

(WHISPERS) I was holding Carlo.

And then he... (SOBS)

It's alright. It's OK.

(SOBS) Sh.

Come on, come on. Big, deep breaths.

Deep breaths, Sean.

(SOBS) OK. It's OK.

It's OK.

(BREATHES RAPIDLY)

It's OK. That's it. That's it.

OK. OK.

You continued to calm Sean down.

And when he calmed down, you left him.

Correct.

Thank you. No further questions.

HARRISH: I think Clifford, having lived with Sean,

adds a lot of depth.

It's helpful to understand who Sean is as a person

and who Carlo was as a person.

Have you got any knowledge yourself of whether Sean Yang bruises easily?

Uh...uh, yes.

Yes, he has scleroderma.

He has medication.

His skin breaks out in all blotches and things like that.

If he was working with his hands and one of his tools,

if he dropped it, and things like that, he could bruise.

He was often bruised.

Thank you, Mr Reid.

No further questions, Your Honour.

Mr Crown?

Thank you, Your Honour. No further questions.

Thank you, Mr Reed.

Returning to the deliberation room, the jurors need to make sense

of the conflicting testimonies they've heard today.

JUROR: Ay, ay, ay! That was hard to watch, huh?

I'll tell you what, though.

That's...that's how you do a break-up.

That was so amicable, that relationship

between the three of them.

Sean and Clifford had this relationship

that had run its course.

There was no animosity.

They moved on.

They could maintain a good friendship, and...

You OK, Mon? Oh, I'm so tired!

That just drained me.

The emotion that Sean and Clifford both showed was...was raw,

and it was quite, um...

Yeah, it was quite heartbreaking.

Yeah.

As soon as he walked in the door, we saw Sean just lose it.

Mm-hm. That was bad.

It's hard. Like, imagine actually being a witness.

It would be traumatic at times. Absolutely.

It was interesting to hear everybody else blubbering

and carrying on.

But, um, yeah, no, I had no emotions.

And did you notice that Sean was way more animated today than yesterday?

Mm-hm. Absolutely.

And when he saw Clifford...

Mm-hm. He was very emotional when he saw Clifford.

..he was just sort of exuding so much.

These days, the men are not men anymore.

They're all bloody soft cocks.

I think the witnesses now are people that are close to him,

not professionals or police officers.

Exactly. And it's upsetting him. Absolutely.

And he's just very emotional.

He's almost dropped, like, a guard he had up.

I've been called cold because I don't show emotions

and shit, but, um...

..but, yeah, that's just the way I was brought up.

Keep emotions out of it.

Yeah.

Oh, no, there's carrots in here.

Oh!

It's a raw carrot.

They're trying to trigger us. (CHUCKLING)

The whole loss of sight in the left eye, like...

Yeah.

That was a new piece of information that was really interesting to receive.

Yeah. Absolutely.

And the context of that, was that a random stranger, allegedly?

He was attacked on the street. Yeah, and pierced his eye. Yeah.

So, that could...we could like...

That could be a racist attack.

That could be someone targeting him because he's Asian. It could be...

It could be absolutely anything. Absolutely.

Sorry, Guy, do you reckon we should write down, on the board over there,

just the facts?

Yes.

Just keep everybody on track on the facts.

I'd support that.

Yeah, let me just...

Oh, when you're finished, buddy, not...

Yeah, I don't mean right now.

The judge. Yeah.

Shall we put up some facts that we know about?

Yeah. The facts?

The facts. So, what are the facts?

We've got a dead body.

This is true. Carlo is dead.

We know there was a fight.

(BOTH ARGUE INDISTINCTLY)

No, there was no fight. Argument. Not fight, argument.

I think he actually worded it "fight".

So, I'm going to put, "Argument stroke fight."

Sean is saying that Carlo kept coming at me.

Mm-hm. "He kept coming at me." While he was juicing.

This was when he was making the juice, yeah? Carlo.

Sean was making the juice. Yep.

And copping criticism every...every step of the way.

The thing about his skin condition.

We know he's on multiple medications.

Yeah.

Sean bruises easy. Absolutely.

The other fact is Carlo has got a cut on his right side of his face.

That's a fact.

Whether or not that killed him or not, we don't know,

but we know that is the fact.

We know that Sean was handcuffed, yeah.

Yes. By two policemen.

Had to restrain him. Restrain him, yeah.

Restrained him.

Mrs Gentile said that Sean was saying

Carlo just doesn't stick up for him.

He sticks up for other people, but never for him.

If he's criticising him all the time...

Yeah, exactly. And then doesn't stick up for him.

..and then never standing up for him when someone else criticises him,

that could get quite draining.

Yeah. His ex did say that he was very hard-headed.

Yes, that he was very stubborn. Yeah, "pig-headed".

"Pig-headed". "Pig-headed", yeah.

"Pig-headed" was the word. Yeah.

Yeah.

We are definitely storytellers, and people want to make versions

or complete the story

so, then, they potentially have to do less thinking.

I'm getting the vibe the relationship wasn't all rainbows

and puppy dogs and butterflies as the outside thought.

I don't think that it was at all.

So, why were they going on holiday together?

Maybe they fixed it.

They weren't going just together, were they? They weren't going alone.

They were going with Clifford. They've invited someone else.

Everything that we've been presented can fit into any version of the story.

Nothing, so far, cannot be twisted in that way because everything

is being presented as inconclusive.

Do you think Carlo was ever concerned or threatened or worried?

Because you've got to remember, as well, Sean was dating Clifford

for a lot longer than he was dating Carlo.

They stayed really close.

I'm starting to...

It's just...

Wow, I've got so many crazy theories.

(KNOCK AT DOOR)

Good afternoon, members of the jury.

That's the end of our court day for today.

Thank you so much.

Mate, it's always...

I'm done.

I think you and me are always bringing the tea back and forth.

(LAUGHS) Yeah.

You want to keep me back? Alright.

You want to keep me back? Alright. Here's is what I'm going to do.

I'm going to break your set. (LAUGHS)

Bye, guys. See you.

See you tomorrow. See you.

KATHY: I've changed my mind almost every day.

At times, I've been very clear on what my decision might be.

And then, within half a day, I've got that element of ambiguity,

and it's really, really hard.

GUY: Sean has admitted he had a fight, verbal or not,

"He came at me."

There's blood everywhere, and Carlo is dead.

So, I was thinking, well, that has to be precipitated by Sean.

So, therefore, then, that must mean he's guilty of manslaughter.

VAN: The only two people that know is Carlo and Sean,

and Carlo is not here to tell us so...

Oh, OK, God knows.

So, God, please tell me what happened that day.

I don't know.

This is a hazard for me. It's terrifying.

This is terri...this is scary.

NARRATOR: A visit to the crime scene...

The deceased was laying with his feet here and his head here.

..divides the jurors.

One, two...

See you later. Down.

That's a strange place to fall dead.

Didn't add any clarity whatsoever to what happened.

MONIQUE: I'm not convinced that he killed him.

A forensic expert reveals a startling revelation.

The major profile is Carlo Levetto,

and the other DNA profile was unknown, is that right?

Yes.

There was no DNA under Sean's fingernails, right? None.

All of a sudden, the finger is not pointing at Sean anymore.

And in a surprise twist...

Ay, ay, ay!

..the judge requests a snap decision.

Should we take a vote?

He's saying the Crown has convinced him.

No, no, he isn't. No, that's not what he's saying.

No, no, no, that's not what he was saying at all.

CRAIG: I'm seriously starting to get the shits

with half the people in there - I'm losing it.

What's going to happen? We don't know! Stay tuned.

Captions by Red Bee Media (c) SBS Australia 2024