Getting Off

Nick and Jessa talk about the single most asked question criminal defense attorneys are asked: "How do you defend those people?"

Jessa and Nick flee to Mexico....oh, wait, that was Ethan Couch and his mother.

Nick and Jessa talk about a patron-suggested case, the State of Texas vs Ethan Couch, otherwise known as the "affluenza teen" -- they cover how argued sentencings work and the evidence presented at the Couch sentencing.

Jessa and Nick finish their conversation about the listener-shared materials and discuss the recent op ed in the New York Times about prosecuting DV cases without complaining witnesses.

Jessa and Nick deviate from planned episodes to talk about two listeners and the courageous things that they have done and shared with us.  This is an episode that was not "scheduled", but was required.  We did some things right, but we did some things wrong, and y'all taught us about it.  Here are the stories.

Jessa and Nick explain how something becomes a viable defense in the first place, and the due process requirements involved with creating new affirmative defenses.

Jessa and Nick continue their conversation about "trans panic" and "gay panic" defenses.

Nick and Jessa talk about a controversial defense theory.

It's half deep-dive, half policy episode as a conclusion to Andrea Yates.

Nick and Jessa discuss the second trial of Andrea Yates, and what the dueling experts agreed about, disagreed about, and how we can try and make sense of that.

Nick and Jessa talk about the first trial of Andrea Yates and the difficulties with dueling experts.  Also, discussion of Law & Order episodes makes a special appearance.

Nick and Jessa discuss the events leading up to the tragic homicide of Andrea and Rusty Yates' five children.

Jessa and Nick talk about mental health courts, the reasonable woman standard, and all the grey areas that exist in the criminal justice system when it is tasked with dealing with grey matter.  Plus, we introduce our next case, voted on by listeners -- Andrea Yates. This episode is proudly sponsored by Care/Of and HelloFresh.

Here it is.  Jessa and Nick start off by sharing their (divergent) views on how they each would've voted based on the trial record in Melgar, but more importantly, they talk about why this particular high profile case is so important to talk about in considering larger issues of criminal justice reform.  More importantly yet, they talk about what you can do about it.  And, unlike their usual sparse notations, here are some links that give the option of donating time or money to support criminal justice reform.  Please consider spending some time with one of these organizations. We hope that we've given new listeners something to think about, and now, we'll be back to the usual.  Our next episode will be an introduction to the most recent Listener's Choice vote: Andrea Yates. https://www.namaste.org/blog/exceptional-nonprofits-in-criminal-justice-reform http://gideonat50.org/in-your-state/ https://neaedjustice.org/social-justice-issues/ending-the-school-to-prison-pipeline/ https://www.innocenceproject

Jessa and Nick talk about the conclusion of the Melgar trial, including closing arguments.  They promise that Sunday's episode will tie the room together on why they've covered this case.

What's up with Shawn Carrizal?  What does the defense expert say about the crime scene?  Come check it out!

Nick and Jessa talk about the defense's main expert, Billy Belk, as well as other defense testimony. This episode is sponsored by Robinhood.

The defense continues their case in the matter of Texas v. Sandra Melgar, and we learn about some SODDIs!

We finish up the state's case and start the defense case, and spend a bit of time talking about a motion for directed verdict. This episode is sponsored by wix.com.

"Bombshell"! (OK, that might be a slight exaggeration.) That said-- if you have followed this case at all, we think we've hit on something that people haven't been talking about yet.  Jessa and Nick talk ME and Blood Spatter.