Original subtitles

G'day, Shaun.

Do you understand you're under arrest?

He's not dead. I did not kill or murder him.

No. Mate, Carlo's dead.

Can you tell me what happened?

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.

Shaun 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?

- Is that a question? - Yes!

But just as in a real court,

the jurors are everyday people.

- That was hard to watch, huh? - Blimey!

But there are moments when I do feel sorry for the accused.

I don't know the guy! I have no sympathy.

Very few of us have witnessed the inner workings

of a jury trial. Until now.

Everybody agrees there was a fight?

No, we don't agree there was a fight.

I took "fight" to be "argument."

Argument.

We'll follow 12 jurors

as they work to decipher a baffling criminal trial.

One, two... Down!

They must deliberate on the evidence...

In his anger, he tried, and grabbed him around the throat

just to finish him off.

And agree unanimously on a verdict.

And you're saying, "No, it can't be Shaun, it can't be Shaun!"

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.

Ohhh!

The jurors reveal their strengths,

and their prejudices.

I totally recognise that I do have a bias.

I only had one opinion of criminals and they're guilty.

They're all liars.

I think it's such a big responsibility.

It's essentially deciding the fate of someone's life.

Will our 12 jurors arrive at the same verdict as the original trial?

And if it doesn't, I wonder what that means for the real Shaun?

As they face a decision that will shock to the core.

How say you?

Is the accused guilty or not guilty?

I solemnly and sincerely...

Declare and affirm...

- That I will give... - A true verdict...

According to the evidence.

A recent study has revealed only 30% of Australians

have faith in the country's justice system.

So, we're putting it to the test

by re-enacting a real manslaughter case.

All rise.

Using actors in the courtroom...

And 12 everyday Australians listening to every word.

It's a rare insight for us to observe a group of citizens

with a real case, with real transcripts,

go through that deliberation process.

- It is a great opportunity to see how the process works.

One thing that I've learnt over my life experience

is not to speculate about what the jury might be going to do.

There's just no way of reading a jury.

I'm a massive Judge Judy fan to be, to be completely honest.

I've been called up to jury duty

a couple of times where I haven't been able to do it

because of my studies.

And this was the time. I thought, well, why not?

I probably a little bit more biased towards not guilty.

Because nobody has been actually improved by being in prison, right?

And jump, go, go, go, go, go, go!

I'm a bit of an activist.

So, if there's wrongs in the world,

I will happily go on social media and people will defriend me.

Come, Digs! Come! C'mon!

But I don't care.

It is a big responsibility.

I'm either going to come out at the end of it and go,

"Yeah, you know what? This system is the best system."

Or, "This is terrible, I'm not going to commit a crime."

The restaged trial will take place over eight days

in this former courthouse in Sydney.

Depending on the case, it can be terribly emotional.

Hence the need to say to the jury, "Put aside sympathy,

"put aside prejudice, be objective, be judicial in your function."

Nice! Oh, this is so lovely!

Oh, wow.

It's so bright and light!

So, this is where we're gonna hang out for the next week or so... ?

Better not drink too much,

'cause I'll be wanting a piss break every half-an-hour.

The older you get, the harder it is to hold it in!

True. True. Have you had your prostate checked?

Nah, oh, yeah.

I've always wanted to be a juror.

It is something where you can make a small impact

of perhaps righting a wrong.

The jurors' first task is to choose a foreperson,

whose job it will be to communicate with the judge,

and ultimately deliver the verdict.

So, does anybody want to be foreperson?

It looks like we have an enthusiastic contender.

Yes!

I'm, I'm voting for that.

OK, great 'cause I didn't want this to be a bribe.

But I brought everyone an emotional support potato.

I hope I don't come across too strong

and that I may offend somebody just by being a forceful person.

You know, a big personality.

Sometimes my mouth goes faster than my brain.

- So, are you the foreman? - I think so.

- Oh, OK. - Did you want to be foreperson?

- No! - OK.

Has anyone done jury service before?

- No. - No.

Never.

I love all your tattoos, they're amazing.

My mother's not happy with it.

My son wanted me to get a tattoo.

- Oh, really? - Yeah.

- And why didn't you? - I don't like pain!

Yeah!

I'm very thin. And I'm covered in tattoos.

And usually, especially to older generations,

that can kind of influence somebody

to assume that I'm somebody that I'm not.

- Guy, what was your number? - Three.

- You're three. - Who's one?

I'm one.

When they gave you your number, were you just like, "Yes?"

Well, that's what my name means, so it feels right.

Oh, does it?

- It feels correct! - Oh, there you go.

- What is your name? - Tahi.

- What's that, Hawaiian? - In what language?

- Maori. - Maori.

- Right. - How cute!

Are you ethnically Maori, a little bit, no?

- My dad. Yeah. - Uh huh.

It's interesting to put the fate of someone in the hands of people

that, don't really know what they're doing.

So, we do need to pick a foreperson.

- Yes. - And have we done that?

- Yep. - No. Oh, have we?

- I mean I just... - Unless someone else wants to?

- Yes! - That's what they wanted us to do.

Yeah, absolutely. I-I thought, I thought it was done,

but that's... if anybody else wants to be a foreperson?

I think I'm really good at being in charge. Just taking over.

- So, you've put yourself up? - Yes.

Does anyone else want to be juror...

I was just gonna say, before I wasn't thinking I was gonna do this, right?

But then I was thinking about what my career has been and the experience

of sort of putting together groups of people from different cultures

and countries, as a creative director.

And making sure that everyone's point of view is heard

and keeping the team working.

I've just had that kind of experience. So...

Yep.

I just, ah, that's my pitch.

I occasionally tell people I'm a member of Mensa,

which surprises a few people.

I have an IQ that's in the top point-five percentile.

I did the test for Australia Mensa

and surprised myself and got in.

So, it's something I tell some people.

Now I've told way too many people.

Shall we do a secret ballot

and I'll just give everyone a little bit of paper and if...?

- Sure! - That'll do.

That's a great suggestion.

Alright.

So, it's Mish and Guy.

It's M-I-S-H.

- What's your history? - Yeah.

Yeah, I'm an ex-prison officer.

- Oh, really? - Oh, wow! OK.

Yeah.

When I was a prison officer,

I wasn't really interested in why they got caught

or why they were in jail.

To me, they were just guilty and liars.

Ah, why did you get out of it then?

- I didn't like it. - Yeah?

Yeah. I didn't care about the threats for myself.

You had a family, of course.

But when they start threatening my family and all that, it was like,

- no, time to get out. - Yeah.

Fuckin' hell! Are you joking?

No, serious. Yeah.

- So, do we have a result? - We're a hung jury!

Oh, stop it, that's hilarious! No so, I'm happy to give it to Guy.

I have no problem giving it to Guy.

Well, congratulations, Guy.

No, it's...

Curses to Guy!

It was in the bag for me!

Hello. Jury, thank you for being here today.

We're ready to proceed into court.

So, if you could please jump into your numbers

and bring your notebooks with you, if you wish.

Alright, please follow me.

The trial will run for eight days.

And the jurors have no idea which case they're about to judge.

I'm very curious about that.

Oh, I can't wait to find out. It's like a box of chocolates, isn't it?

Because I don't know what the case is going to be like.

Well, I've never been in a court before today.

It immediately becomes so formal and serious, it's like, "Oh, gosh,

"no we're really doing this."

The jury, Your Honour.

Good morning, jury.

All names, dates, locations and images have been changed

to protect identities from the original trial.

Serving on a jury may be a completely new experience

for some, if not all of you.

It is therefore appropriate for me

to explain a number of matters to you.

The accused person is presumed innocent

unless and until the Prosecution proves he is guilty.

And that onus requires the Prosecution to satisfy you

beyond reasonable doubt that the charge has been proved.

Mr North.

I present an indictment.

On 12 March, 2022, Shaun Yang did unlawfully kill Carlo Levetto.

The defendant pleads not guilty.

The ultimate question for these jurors,

is whether the defendant, Shaun Yang,

is guilty of the manslaughter of his partner Carlo Levetto.

Now, this trial will concentrate

on this death being caused by the accused.

What the Prosecution have to prove in a manslaughter case,

is that the accused voluntarily did a dangerous and unlawful act,

and any reasonable person in the shoes of the defendant,

would have known that what they were doing was likely

to have caused serious injury or death to the victim.

The Prosecution does not have to prove

the precise cause of death,

but it has to prove that it was the accused that caused this death.

That is what this trial will concentrate on.

The deceased, Carlo Levetto, was about 65

and Shaun, the accused, was about 20 years younger.

He'd been in a homosexual, domestic relationship with the accused

for about four years.

They'd been having a few arguments and fights

leading up to 12 March, 2022

and on that day the Crown will allege they had a fight.

I am sick and tired...

We weren't there, we cannot say what the argument was about.

There are no witnesses who heard the actual content of the argument.

As a result of that fight,

the deceased sustained injuries to his chin, to his neck,

to his chest and to the back and side of this head,

and as a result of those injuries,

he died at the premises in Petersham.

The evidence that will be called

will go towards those events and facts.

Thank you, Mr Crown.

It's interesting where we're seated,

and you can kind of just see the defendant right across.

It's an intense atmosphere, I think.

It was nerve-racking to start off with, that's for sure.

So, once all the information started flowing in,

now I'm kind of addicted.

Shaun Yang's defence barrister

sets out the case for his client's innocence.

Members of the jury.

A great deal of what is going to happen in this case

will not be in dispute.

There has not been any issue that the deceased man has passed away

or that he was in a relationship with the accused.

The medical evidence, though, is of fundamental importance.

The forensic pathologists will not be able to tell you

what blow killed the deceased.

They will not be able to tell you what happened.

They will not be able to tell you, from the injuries that you will see,

from the photographs taken of the deceased, after his death,

obviously, killed him,

because none of those injuries, were life threatening.

None of them.

You will hear evidence of what happens

when a person falls down the stairs and hits their head.

You will see the premises where the staircase is.

You will hear that the staircase

does not comply with appropriate standards of building.

You will hear about DNA.

And you will hear about blood.

When you listen to the scientists, and the doctors,

please listen very, very carefully

as to what they are actually saying they have recovered or found.

Thank you.

Thank you, Mr Benedetti.

Well, jury, now is a good time for a short break. Thank you.

If the jury find Shaun guilty of manslaughter,

he faces up to 25 years in prison.

If found not guilty, he walks free.

I was surprised of the seriousness of the crime.

I wasn't expecting it to be as brutal as it is.

So, we've got three folders. All of them are identical

if anyone wants to...

It's all fascinating, that's for sure.

I'm wracking my brain like, ooh.

In keeping with a real trial,

jurors can discuss the case when they're together

and no-one else is present.

I'm amazed at Shaun, though.

Like, he's just sitting there.

Like, if that was me and people were saying stuff about me,

I know you can't talk, but I'd be like going like...

He just keeps one face!

I felt like he was emotionless.

But culturally, Chinese can be very poker-faced.

I wanna know where they met.

Like if that, maybe no one else agrees with me,

I think that's important.

I feel like some of the jurors are kind of jumping to conclusions

based on, both his sexuality and his ethnicity.

Like, I want to know if it was a dating app, actually.

How would your chain of thought change if it was, on a dating app,

instead of meeting in a bar?

Because that would vibe me into what Carlos was looking for in a man

and the type he wanted to date.

And why does he want a younger man?

It could be multiple reasons why he wants a younger man.

I just find that interesting, the age gap.

20 years is lot, it's a big age difference.

Different culture, different nationalities.

It'll take a lot of understanding and commitment

to keep a relationship like that happy.

Lots of stuff coming in which it seems like,

is it actually relevant, or we just- why are we talking about this?

As soon as, as they said the guy's in a "homosexual relationship,"

it was like, ah, not guilty.

Like, from that moment on,

I was just on a mission to defend one of my own kind, right?

And yet, we still don't know the actual cause of death.

It drives me nuts.

Hello, everybody. We're ready to start moving to the court.

If I can get you to line up for me, please?

I think it's good that it's such a mixed bag of people.

Because I think if you put like all university-educated, quote,

unquote, "woke" people in there, it might have a different outcome.

When you've got 12 people

who are obviously coming from very different backgrounds.

Completely random.

That in itself is really scary.

You know, I mean, if I was going to appear in a court

and I was going to be judged by 12 people,

if I got those 12 bigots that voted in a certain way

in certain elections around the world, or decisions, you know,

I'd be terrified.

In a New South Wales courtroom,

a manslaughter trial is being restaged with actors,

using the transcripts and testimonies from a real case.

A new jury of 12 ordinary Australians

must decide if Shaun Yang is guilty of manslaughter.

Ladies and gentlemen, the Crown will now call his first witness.

The Crown calls Greg Bennett.

Having the power to convict somebody is,

it's a huge responsibility.

Someone's life is hanging in the balance.

Detective, would you state your name, rank, and station, thanks?

Ah, Detective Leading Senior Constable Greg Bennett

from the Parramatta Crime Scene section.

And in relation to this case, you were the Crime Scene Examiner

and Officer in Charge, were you not?

Yes, I was.

Now, in relation to the deceased,

he was located at the base of the internal stairs,

covered in a sheet.

Those stairs were located at the end of the kitchen

and effectively in the dining room?

Yes.

The deceased was lying on his back,

with his head facing the west and his feet to the east. Correct?

Yes.

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

Yes, I did.

So, the next group of photographs, five-to-nine, they show,

do they not, these various views

of the deceased's location and also some of the blood staining?

Yes.

I can't work Shaun out. He has that one expression.

I mean, even when they were showing his partner's body and that,

he never once turned around to have a look.

Any normal person would want to look.

I don't know, he's very self-controlled.

In the kitchen of the premises, I saw a disassembled fruit juicer

and some items that appeared to have been washed up.

I then looked in the small compost bin

and saw what appeared to be carrot pulp.

Also on the bench, some leftover carrot juice in a jug and a glass.

On the other side, I saw a small-handled scrubbing brush

and two yellow sponges, one of which was in the sink.

On the floor, I saw what appeared to be fragments

of a beam above the dining table.

I saw an area on the beam

where a portion of the structure had cracked and broken.

There was orange-coloured staining near the damage

that appeared to be carrot pulp.

And then that's a close view of that damage,

which also shows some of the carrot pulp stain, correct?

Yes.

I examined a silver-coloured metal object on the floor

near the deceased's feet.

I saw that this appeared to be a component of the fruit juicer.

This item had a large amount of blood smear.

There was nothing on the floor underneath the item.

OK. Can we please bring our Exhibit C,

the metal bowl of the juicer found at the crime scene,

which has already been tendered?

It's a strange feeling to have something passed to you,

that might have resulted in someone's death.

It was bigger and a bit heavier than I expected it to be,

and I think, it could be used as a weapon. Yeah.

The back of the deceased's hand shows injuries, does it not?

Yes, it does.

So, those injuries appear to be to the knuckle area?

Towards the knuckle, yes.

So, have a look at photograph 31.

That's a view, is it not, of injuries on the deceased's chest.

- Is that right? - Yes.

Those injuries, as you saw them, are you able to describe them?

I described them at the time as "scratches and surface bruising."

And the blood staining consisted of fine splatters of blood

on the rug on either side of the victim's head

and northern side of the rug, a smudge on the wall

and a smudge on the handrail of the stairs.

- Correct? - Yes.

And 43 shows the staining with the scales more visible?

Yes.

Thank you, Mr Bennett, I have no further questions.

The court breaks after more than two hours

of detailed prosecution evidence.

I'm like, maybe this is a dumb question, but I was like,

are they trying to say that the juicer caused injury to kill him?

I don't know.

Or are they saying that they're not...

The juicer is just this element that I can't get my head around.

But, you know, I once had a machine go rogue on me.

It was a Mixmaster, and all of a sudden,

the machine started to, like, smoke, and the bowl started, like,

wobbling and swinging and stuff.

There's definitely a group of people that are speculators.

So, when I saw the bowl there, I'm like, "Yeah, it could, like,

"kill, I s'pose."

Borderline conspiracy theorists.

Are we thinking aliens? No?

There's a set of people that are very deliberate in not being that.

There was a combination of injuries.

There isn't one thing that kills him. So, it's the causation.

'Cause I think that's why I think it's manslaughter,

rather than murder.

I haven't got a picture as to what happened

and I don't know whether we ever will.

Unless he takes the stand, but then he won't remember, he's too...

I'd love to, I don't think we're going to,

but I would love to hear the accused speak.

Mish and Mon have got some strong views and they're very curious

about what might have happened.

That's a lot of blood, but that's not a fatal amount of blood.

So, is it possible that the accused picked up part of the juicer

and kind of attacked him with it. Is that possible?

Or, he could have fallen onto the blade.

Yeah, he could have.

'Cause of like a heart attack. Bang!

Hits him in there and it's, and then it's flipped up?

- Ahhh, that's a good theory. - And then it's flipped up.

But then why is he so far away?

Like, he's at the bottom of the stairs.

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

The blood on the handrail seems really odd.

And we're starting to get some of the edges, but not all of them yet.

If he'd fallen down, wouldn't it be...

For me, it looked like a thumb print and he's grabbed the rail

on the way down.

But, juicing, hit, heart attack.

- Juicer, hit. - Fall.

- Yes. - That's it.

I think he struggled to get Shaun's attention maybe,

to go, to walk up the stairs and then he's actually fallen...

Ohh. Yep.

There are a lot of dominating voices jumping to conclusions.

The machine went rogue, ricocheted, hit him in the chin.

He goes to go upstairs, has a heart attack,

falls back down the stairs. Boom!

The more I hear these conclusions that have no, yeah, basis,

the more I get frustrated.

Yeah, I think we've, I think we've nailed it.

Yep. We've solved this.

Not guilty. Let's get outta here.

Some pretty wild theories buzzing around in there.

You should be crime writers, you lot.

Good afternoon, everybody. Day one of court session

is completely finished for the day. Once you leave this jury room,

there is to be no discussing the court case with anybody.

We wish you safe travels home, we will see you tomorrow.

See you tomorrow, guys.

See ya. Thanks for the potato.

That's my pleasure!

A few in there I think are off with the fairies.

I think they're having problems grasping the idea

that we're just to deal with the facts.

You know, all these what-ifs and maybes and...

Oh, it drives me crazy.

How other people would describe me? Um, probably a cranky old fart.

When I was growing up,

my punishment was the belt across a bare arse.

Yeah, for me, that punishment works.

It sort of teaches you respect or teaches you from right and wrong.

I tried to go for the police force,

but you had to be six-foot-tall back in the day,

so I was about two inches too small.

So, I joined up in the prisons.

And being a prison officer, I've seen it all.

I can't tell you how many people I found hanging in their cell.

Some of them I've managed to save, but some didn't.

Lots of riots and fights. I've had, you know,

criminals put biros straight through the eyes of other crims.

Their ears have been cut off.

One bloke up in Long Bay cut his own...his old fella off.

I was stabbed meself in the riots up there. I hated it.

Worst time of my life.

I don't know why I spent 14 years there, to be honest.

I wasn't a very nice person, especially to criminals.

I sort of never took the time

to individually find out what they're about.

Just didn't care, to be honest.

I was just there to lock 'em up.

Yeah, it wasn't too bad.

You sort of...you start to get to know all the rest of the jurors and,

yeah, who's who in the zoo, sort of thing.

Since I left the prisons, I've tried to turn myself around

and not judge everybody as a whole,

but try to judge everybody individually.

Now I'd like to sit down

and actually see what's going on inside their head,

why they've done what they've done. So, yeah.

They have quiet parts inside the courtroom,

like you could hear a pin drop.

So many times, I just felt like fartin' you know, just to,

break up the seriousness of it

and vibrate along the bench.

I'm intrigued to find out

how this whole process works from start to finish.

It's going to be fascinating. I can't wait.

Hopefully, all the juicy stuff comes tomorrow.

It's day two of the manslaughter trial.

Overnight, the jurors have been reflecting

on what they've seen and heard.

Last night, I couldn't sleep for thinking about it.

I thought I would crash. I was emotionally exhausted

by the end of the day.

But I just laid there rethinking things,

and, and there are certain things

that I want to get to the bottom of today.

Thank you.

- Thank you. - You're welcome.

Yeah, we get first choice at the food. Gotta be happy about that.

Yeah, let's just lock, can we lock the door from inside?

I think we're a great bunch. We're all very different.

Craig is a ex-prison officer.

Harrish is a finance guy, works for a start-up company.

Mon is a funeral home director.

- Morning, guys. - Guy is in advertising.

- Morning. - Morning.

Audrey is a problem solver. That's all she told me.

She's was quite coy.

- Day two. - Yes.

What do you want to know?

Well, I don't know what there is to know.

Tahi is a music graduate.

Van, I don't exactly know his title,

but I know that he's in entertainment.

Kathy worked in a firm, I don't exactly know what industry.

Do you need to do some yoga?

Never did yoga.

- We can do it together, Rose. - Yeah.

I feel like Rose is me, but just a few years older.

How's your digestion going?

Good.

And Anya. I'm not sure about Anya.

I'm a sexologist and sex therapist and relationship therapist.

If anybody on the jury need any advice on sex,

or intimacy of any kind,

I will be totally there for it.

What do you do, Michael?

I'm a yoga...I'm a yoga guy.

You're so confident!

- My hips are good. - That's all we need to know.

They're loose.

Do you have, like, arthritis, a condition, or something?

- I've got arthritis, yeah. - Oh.

That's why I stretch. It starts in my hips.

It's actually ankylosing spondylitis.

- My son's got it. - Oh, really?

And my husband had it.

- Oh, really? - Oh, really?

Your husband had it?

- There's not many people that... - So, he doesn't have it anymore?

- He died. - Oh, I'm sorry!

Oh, I'm sorry.

It doesn't matter where you grew up, or what you look like,

we've all banded together.

'Cause you're so young, I didn't, didn't think of that.

Keep digging, just put the shovel down already,

put the shovel down.

The fact that we've kind of gelled so quickly, is, is a good thing.

Oh, oh, oh, oh, oh, sorry! I'm not paying attention.

I'm very excited to see some evidence.

I will hold detail in my head.

I will be that elephant that's 100 years old.

I need more evidence to see if it's an accident or actual crime.

The jury, Your Honour.

Good morning, jury.

The Crown will now call their second witness.

The Crown calls Alistair Lewis.

The prosecution calls the first responders

who witnessed Shaun's behaviour when Carlo hovered between life and death.

So, on Saturday March, you commenced your shift at. 8:00a.m?

Yes.

About. 9:00a.m. You received a call for a job in Petersham, correct?

Yes.

A man had called the ambulance and hung-up crying, is that right?

Ah, that's-that's correct.

As you got out of your car,

did you see a man standing outside the house,

you didn't know his name,

he was a European man aged in his late fifties or sixties?

Ah, that's correct.

What did you see when you walked inside?

I saw a man sitting at the bottom of the stairs,

an Asian man aged in his early-to- mid-forties.

He was, he was a small man.

And can you tell us what the Asian man was doing when you entered?

Ah, he had a pillow on his lap.

There was another man,

who I assumed was the patient.

Do you think the Asian man registered that you were there

to treat the patient?

Um, he was crying, really loudly.

Wailing, screaming.

And he was making so much noise

that it was quite hard for my colleague and I to hear each other.

So, he definitely couldn't hear us.

And what did you observe regarding the patient?

He, he was an older man. He looked European.

He was also cold to the touch and pale in perfusion.

Alex turned the defibrillator machine on

and we started a cardiac arrest response.

And I understand it's around that moment that the police arrived?

Yes.

Police!

Did you see two ambulance officers around an older male

that you now know to be Carlo Levetto?

Yes, I did.

Hey, mate, mate make him stay back there.

- Hey! - Stay back there!

By this time, Yang was hysterical and crying, correct?

Correct.

Right, and did you then look for anything that might reveal

the names of both men?

Ah, yes I searched the premises

for anything that could identify the deceased, Levetto.

I went to the bathroom

and I collected a prescription in the name of Carlo Levetto.

The prescription was for blood pressure

and that the other two were for sleep disorders.

Alex checked the heart monitor again and said, "It's asystole,"

which means that there's no activity in the heart.

Ah, so, I set up a bag-mask ventilator

and put in a Guedel's Airway,

which is a tube to stop the tongue falling back

and to keep the airway clear.

Oh, hey mate. Can you come over and take over compressions for me?

Yep, what do you want me to do?

And you're trained to perform these, are you not, by the police?

Yes.

Did you notice any specific injuries on Mr Levetto?

Ah, yes, I noticed that Levetto had a laceration on his chin.

Does that show the laceration you're referring to?

Ah, yes. Yes, it does.

Five, four, three, two, one. OK, great.

So, we're going to dump that shock.

He's gone.

At this stage, Yang was going berserk.

I mean, that is to say, that he was struggling with the other officer.

- Steve. - Hey, hey. Hey stay here.

The man became increasingly difficult to control

and we took him outside to try and calm him down.

He was really agitated.

He tried to break free of Constable Reynolds's grip.

I got my handcuffs out and handcuffed him,

so he couldn't hurt himself or anyone else.

And then we escorted him to the police car.

And I understand your colleague tried to talk to him

about what had happened?

You do not need to say or do anything if you do not wish to do so.

However, anything you do or say may be recorded

and that recording may be used in court, do you understand that?

It, it's too late. I need my medication.

OK, what's your medication for?

Depression.

OK. Hey what happened this morning?

We, we had a fight.

OK Shaun, what was the fight about?

I need my medication. I need my...

And that's all he said.

Thank you, I have no further questions.

It's very confronting to see some of the evidence.

And to actually be living it minute-by-minute

can be quite unsettling in a way.

The defence barrister now has an opportunity

to cross-examine the prosecution witness.

He's working to challenge the value and veracity of the evidence.

Did you see if any of the police did any of the compressions

to try and resuscitate the deceased?

Ah, yes. So, there was one police officer

who assisted us with the resuscitations.

In terms of compressions, one hand over the wrist,

the compressions are quite hard at times, aren't they?

Yes.

And you're well aware that at least on some occasions,

it breaks the person's ribs?

Yes.

And it causes bruising?

I suppose so, yes.

The only injury you noticed was the injury to the chin.

It was on the right-hand side, basically?

Yes.

And did you notice a part of the juicer

that was in close proximity to where the deceased lay?

I noticed a pot. But I wasn't sure what that, what it was.

Mr Yang is on the floor and he's thrashing about

and your colleague it trying to cover him.

Yes.

It was your word, you actually used the word "berserk."

I -yeah, yes, yes I did.

And two police officers eventually handcuff him.

But it wasn't an instantaneous action, was it?

He wasn't voluntarily being cuffed?

Ah, no, there was a, a scuffle for a short period

of time, I believe, yes.

Thank you, Officer Reynolds. No further questions from the Defence.

Mr Crown, any further questions?

No, Your Honour.

How is everyone feeling?

- Hungry. - I've got a bloody headache.

Yeah? Me too.

And there's a lot of information.

Oh, yeah.

Yeah, soak it all in.

It's like a tennis match. I'm like, Prosecutor, witness,

Prosecutor, witness, Prosecutor, witness.

And then Shaun. What, what's Shaun's reaction?

Like, argh, I can't get anything out of him.

No.

Yeah, you really don't know if he's feeling guilty or if he's very sad.

Yeah.

I like hearing the group.

You know, the collective differences and the collective speculation.

No one knows what he was like when it happened.

Right.

So, the "berserk" relates to when the police and the ambulance arrived.

Right.

And I agree with some, I don't agree with others. It's all fascinating.

Have you ever had a big, major accident

where adrenaline has shot your whole body?

You don't know what to do.

You're literally like a mind blank. I think that's what happened here.

He was just so shocked, he was just, he was gone, he...

I'm someone that believes we should take mental health into account, though,

and not everyone will agree with that and I understand that.

Because, do you know how some people are like,

"Oh, not the mental health card, get out of jail card?"

Like, I hear that a lot from my own parents.

If mental health was used as an issue,

I would really need a strong case

to convince me

that that was an excuse to be given a pardon

for some crime that's been committed.

Well, it's fast becoming more of an excuse for people to get off.

It's never the case.

Yeah, and that's what I hear a lot, even my parents are like, "Oh, bloody hell!"

- And I'm like... - Yeah.

It's been refreshing and nice to hear people

being so passionate about it.

And also taking into consideration

everyone's views without necessarily going down their throat

or being aggressive about it.

Yet...

Just go and grab a seat for me, alright?

Yeah, sit down, just there.

As the second day of the trial continues,

the prosecution turns to Shaun's behaviour

in the hours after his arrest.

Inspector, will you give the court

your full name and rank please?

Matthew Sheehan, Inspector of Police.

And as at March,

you held the position with Custody Management, is that correct?

Yes, that's correct, sir.

And what does that entail?

Well, basically, I'm responsible for the prisoner's rights,

to explain all their rights and to make sure that anything

that needs to happen for the prisoner, happens.

You know, I basically look after him. I'm his carer.

Hi, Shaun. I'm Police Inspector Mathew Sheehan.

I'm a Custody Management Officer.

It's a doughnut.

On the morning that you saw him, you had some concerns

for his wellbeing, did you not?

Yeah. I've had hundreds of prisoners in my care before,

and he was acting differently to what I would expect.

Can you indicate, for a start, whether he was distressed?

I wouldn't say distressed. It was more his demeanour,

he was very nervous.

Which is unusual, very unusual,

actually, for a prisoner to be nervous with me.

I tell them I'm not involved in the investigation.

And, and I also tell them that I'm not involved

in the decision or charges, or if there is any charges.

So, I put them at ease from the start.

It didn't click quite right in my mind.

I'll come back and check on you in a minute.

So, that's when I decided to contact the Mental Health Crisis Team.

And did you also contact an ambulance, as well,

to come and assess him?

Yes. I...

Yeah, contact the ambulance team is always the first port of call.

So, what you were concerned about was to check

whether he was likely to self-harm is that right?

Yeah, when you boil it down to it. Yeah.

Thank you, Mr Sheehan. No further questions.

You formed, based on your experiences as a police officer,

the opinion that Mr Yang was not just down in the dumps,

but you thought, serious enough to call an ambulance

and get the Mental Health Team into action

and you arranged for them to assess him.

Yes. I thought it was serious enough to call them.

You also arranged for him to have some food at his request,

by the look of things.

Yes.

You had a bit of a chuckle, to use the word,

that he wanted some bananas because he liked bananas.

And you went and got him some bananas?

Yes. Bananas is a very unusual request.

I mean, you know, like in years in the police,

I don't think a prisoner has ever asked for bananas before

and, I did find that funny.

Normally, it's McDonald's, isn't it?

Ooh, yeah. If we're going for a cheapie,

McDonald's is always an option

if we're trying to save the government some money.

You brought the bananas back and you monitored him

in the normal situation.

It was basically your last contact with him?

Yeah. Yeah, I think that's how it went, yeah.

Your Honour, I have no more questions.

Mr Crown, do you have any questions for this witness?

No, Your Honour.

Well, thank you very much for attending, Mr Sheehan.

You're now free to leave the court.

Well, this type of detective,

actually what gives police the bad name, right?

Shaun was charged with something heavy, his partner died,

and he's like, "And yet, me, I didn't calm him down.

"So, something must be wrong with him."

Mr Crown, do you have another witness?

Yes, Your Honour. The Crown calls Detective Sergeant Harry Adams.

The prosecution's next witness is the police detective

in charge of investigating Carlo's death.

Detective, would you state your name and rank please?

Detective Sergeant Harry Adams.

You ascertain that the accused made a triple- call on 12 March, 2022

at about 12 or 13-past-nine, is that right?

That's correct.

The conversation of Mr Yang is a little, hard to understand,

but the transcript is, as far as you're concerned,

an accurate statement of what was said, is that right?

Yes, it is.

Ambulance Emergency, what suburb?

OK. I'm having a little bit of trouble understanding you.

Can you please tell me what suburb you're in?

We can help you, if you calm down.

I-I-I had a fight with my friend and my friend is dead.

Is your friend with you, sir? Is your friend with you?

Yeah.

OK. Can you tell me the address? Can you give me an address?

Give me the address so I can send you some help.

Petersham.

Did you say, Petersham?

I'm having trouble hearing you, can you please repeat the address?

I felt scared for him.

People think in the jury that he's emotionless,

but I just see the opposite.

And I don't know why. Yeah, it's kind of weird to explain that,

I-I-I do, I feel sorry for him.

Now, did you attend the custody area of the Glebe Police Station,

where the accused was seated inside the interview room?

That's right, yes.

And he was with his nominated support person, Mr Clifford Reid?

He was.

Do you understand you're under arrest?

He's not dead. I did not kill or murder him.

No, mate, Carlo's dead. Can you tell me what happened?

I-I don't remember.

We have breakfast. Carlo argue with me.

He criticise me a lot.

And-and-and then,

and then my head started spinning.

But I don't know, I don't know what happened.

Look, I don't know. I think he should have some legal advice

because of the seriousness of the situation.

He advised Shaun not to participate in any interview

until he was able to obtain further legal advice?

That's correct.

So, before you proceed, Mr Crown, as you've just heard,

the accused declined to answer any questions put to him

by Detective Adams.

All people in this country

have the right to refuse to answer questions put to them

by police officers.

Thank you, Mr Crown.

Thank you, Your Honour, I've finished.

Do you have any questions for this witness, Mr Benedetti?

No, Your Honour.

Mr Adams, you're free to leave.

- Yeah. - Should we move all this to?

That's a good idea.

Go all around, rather than two groups.

Yeah, that's definitely a good idea.

Are we allowed to move furniture? Too late, she's gone.

I was glad to hear the tape recording.

What about you, what did you think of the tape recording?

I couldn't-it was not clear.

- He was, he was wailing. - Wasn't clear?

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

It could be he was guilty and thought by crying over the phone,

he, he wouldn't be accused.

He is on trial for manslaughter.

I don't think it's so black and white.

I think you can be remorseful but still be guilty.

Do you guys think the police have treated him, like overall,

the overall evidence, everything we've heard,

do you think the police have treated him fairly?

- No. - Basically, in a good way, or not?

No.

It wouldn't surprise me if, with the police officers

in their brains, racist, racist elements came into their mind.

And he was treated that way.

He wasn't just Asian, but he was also a homosexual man.

- Mm. - Mm, oh I...

The police do not have a good history, as we know,

with the Mardi Gras' origins.

Yeah, I heard, I heard, that's, that's in the back of my head.

And that's why I kind of feel like

it's this real sort of derogatory tone.

When I, when I thought of the banana, do you know what I thought,

he was-he didn't say it directly, but this is what came into my mind?

I thought it too. Don't say, I know it,

I know exactly what you're thinking, cos I thought it.

Like he, he was like calling him "a monkey."

- Yes. - Like, that's how I viewed that.

That's precisely how I, I read- that's why he was laughing.

You know, you think you are meant to trust the police.

In this case, I'm not sure if I do trust the police.

Just knowing the history of the police and the gay community,

it didn't feel good.

Everybody agrees there was "a fight." Yeah?

Well, that, that's what he says, right?

- I don't, I don't know. - He says that there was...

No, we don't agree there was a fight, no. No, there was no fight.

Guy, I don't know whether there was a fight.

No he, he said... He says, it says "The detective-"

Yeah, but I took "fight" to be "argument."

Argument. Yeah, that's the same with me.

So, that when he's in the police station,

the last sentence he says there is very interesting.

Police says, "No, Carlo's dead, can you tell me what happened?"

And he says, "I don't remember, we had breakfast,

"Carlo argue with me, he criticises me a lot.

"Then my head started spinning, but I don't know what happened."

Mm.

So, he's almost had, like, a mental blank,

where he doesn't remember what's happened?

Like, a blind rage, or something like that?

You know how people have those moments?

Yeah.

Yeah-yeah, like that whole thing of seeing red,

it's happened to me before

where you get extremely, extremely built ah- riled-up.

Um, you either say something or you do something.

It's usually immediately after,

you understand that you've messed up.

And it's that clar- moment of clarity where, you're like,

what have I actually just done?

I had a moment where that backfired on me.

And ever since that moment, I've just, I've never been that person.

I've, I've kind of kept that all in check.

But just because it works for me doesn't mean it works for everybody.

But didn't he say, "I didn't murder him?

He also clearly says, "I didn't kill or murder him."

Yeah.

"Kill or murder," which is interesting language as well.

They're both the same thing, no?

No, they're not. They're not the same thing.

You can accidentally kill, but you can't accidentally murder.

We were talking about things going wrong with the blender or whatever.

Yeah, yeah.

I mean, there was something that precipitated the altercation.

I really want to know how they actually were with each other.

Was this just a little blip?

Tiff or-?

Yeah, and if he was aggressive, what, what kind of episodes have they had?

He says it in there, that Carlo was criticising him a lot that morning.

I mean, why-what, what was that about?

- What was he doing? - Why, why was he being criticised?

- y was he being criticised? - was Carlo just critical?

See I'm not, not convinced that this isn't domestic violence yet.

Clearly, the bloke's emotionally distraught.

You know, I mean if, either way, if he's completely innocent

- and he's found his lover dead... - Exactly.

- He is innocent. That's the thing. - ..of course, he's gonna lose it.

- Yeah, that's right, yeah. - He is innocent.

- He's sitting there an innocent man. - Oh, yeah right now, yeah.

Was it an accident or was it manslaughter?

We have no idea about their character.

We just know a traumatic event caused Shaun to absolutely flip out.

- Bye, guys! - See you tomorrow.

I've certainly changed my opinion from yesterday

where I was thinking that it was a matter

of circumstance and accident.

Was he pushed to a point?

I'm focusing on that,

"he's always critical of me."

That is an abusive relationship by nature and it can wear somebody down.

I know from myself, I had an abusive boyfriend when I was 17

and he got an absolute hard on from trying to belittle me.

You know, "You are worthless, you are nothing."

Then they control you and they abuse you,

and-and the relationship is just so imbalanced, it's not even funny.

So, how far did Carlo take that?

Next time...

I want to prove that somebody killed somebody.

The first, and only, witness to the death.

Have you ever told anyone that Mr Yang's crying was a temper tantrum?

- Is that a question? - Yes!

But can the testimony be trusted?

For me, the maths, the time doesn't add up.

Half-an-hour is missing.

And crucial revelations.

We had a fight and he just kept at me!

It might not be an attack, it might be self-defence.

Somebody's got to be responsible for Carlo's death.

Two people, one died, the other one's still alive.

The relationship was deteriorating and he wanted to end it.

It might get a bit heated later on. Stay tuned to this station.