1
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[distant conversation]
2
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[door opens]
3
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[woman]
I feel like I need to tell my story
4
00:00:16,040 --> 00:00:18,280
because I don't feel like a killer.
5
00:00:22,080 --> 00:00:24,080
I just was a hurt little girl...
6
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that, um, had a lot of pain.
7
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I'm not a bad person.
I just made a mistake.
8
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It could have been different.
9
00:01:02,520 --> 00:01:04,440
I could have, um, walked away,
10
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'cause it's... it's not...
it's not right to take somebody's life.
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And if I could take it back, I would.
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I would, because...
13
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it was wrong.
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[man 1] This is a true story.
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I'll start it off like that.
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[man 2] I just wanted to rebel.
I wanted to cause chaos.
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I looked over at him.
We're gonna see who kills who.
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[woman] I made the choice.
19
00:01:41,840 --> 00:01:43,000
I took his life.
20
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[man 3] It's something
that I never intended to do,
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I wish I didn't do.
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00:01:52,640 --> 00:01:55,960
[man 4] I knew I was gonna get out
of that car and murder those two men.
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00:01:56,600 --> 00:02:00,840
[man 5] As he kneeled in front of me,
all I remember is pulling the trigger.
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[man 6] I'd killed them both.
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I'd stabbed them to death.
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My name is Cavona Flenoy.
27
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I've been incarcerated for ten years
for a shooting.
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[train horn blares]
29
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I was born in Kansas City, Kansas.
30
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[birds singing]
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I grew up, like, in the middle class
and, you know, I had everything I wanted.
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I didn't go without anything.
33
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You know, my mother was a minister.
34
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I used to help her at her church,
35
00:03:54,040 --> 00:03:58,120
and I helped her, um, sing
and clean our house.
36
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I just liked my big mama.
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I'm a big mama's child.
38
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It all got bad
when I went to middle school.
39
00:04:25,240 --> 00:04:29,240
I got into kind of a back-and-forth thing
with this little boy.
40
00:04:30,440 --> 00:04:31,720
He pushed me down...
41
00:04:32,600 --> 00:04:34,200
and he lifted up my shirt.
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He started, um, licking my breast.
43
00:04:43,600 --> 00:04:45,960
I had many forms of abuse.
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You know, I lost...
45
00:04:48,800 --> 00:04:51,280
I lost the best part of me.
I lost my virginity.
46
00:04:51,360 --> 00:04:55,960
I lost hope. I lost my self-esteem.
And I feel like they got away with it.
47
00:04:56,040 --> 00:04:57,040
They just got...
48
00:04:58,600 --> 00:05:01,920
on the wrist, easy. No justice for me.
49
00:05:09,440 --> 00:05:12,440
I was very lost and confused
50
00:05:12,520 --> 00:05:15,920
and I wanted to ask God
why it happened to me.
51
00:05:20,760 --> 00:05:24,800
That's when I started being a little girl
that was bitter and angry.
52
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They got me a counselor.
53
00:05:30,760 --> 00:05:33,080
So, when I start talking about it,
I get angry,
54
00:05:33,160 --> 00:05:37,360
because I'm just like, you know,
it's just bringing up the past issues.
55
00:05:41,680 --> 00:05:44,600
Then, when they put me on medication,
I stayed asleep.
56
00:05:44,680 --> 00:05:46,560
How is that dealing with my problems?
57
00:05:51,080 --> 00:05:55,600
I started using drugs and alcohol
to numb my mind,
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numb my heart.
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And I just feel like I'm living in hell.
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[birds chirping]
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I was 16, turning 17 years old,
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when I had my son.
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That was the most beautifulest thing,
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00:06:24,720 --> 00:06:27,480
because I felt like
my son was going to be the only man
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that probably wouldn't hurt me in life.
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00:06:29,600 --> 00:06:33,480
I had to say, "No more," to hurt or pain,
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because now I had to be
a protector for him.
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00:06:38,120 --> 00:06:41,720
So, if I couldn't protect myself,
how can I protect my son?
69
00:06:44,760 --> 00:06:48,240
And then I felt like,
"If I go and get a boyfriend myself,
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then I will have somebody to protect me."
71
00:06:52,640 --> 00:06:53,720
And...
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00:06:54,400 --> 00:06:56,960
that was no good either.
73
00:07:06,800 --> 00:07:09,040
When he started drinking and smoking
with me,
74
00:07:09,120 --> 00:07:10,880
his mind kind of got mad.
75
00:07:10,960 --> 00:07:13,080
He used to punch me
76
00:07:13,160 --> 00:07:15,400
and got very abusive with me.
77
00:07:20,360 --> 00:07:25,440
And he hit me so hard to black me out
that I had to get rushed to the hospital.
78
00:07:28,480 --> 00:07:30,040
And when I was in the hospital,
79
00:07:30,120 --> 00:07:33,240
the police asked
do they want to make a police report.
80
00:07:33,600 --> 00:07:37,320
I said no because
what was he just gonna get? Probation?
81
00:07:51,480 --> 00:07:55,080
After that, I was scared,
so I called my cousin.
82
00:07:56,800 --> 00:07:58,920
And I told him what was going on.
83
00:07:59,400 --> 00:08:02,760
And he said that there was a gun for sale
84
00:08:02,840 --> 00:08:07,120
and he said it was $100,
and I got the gun.
85
00:08:10,600 --> 00:08:13,480
I took my gun, like, everywhere with me.
86
00:08:14,640 --> 00:08:16,480
It was always in my purse.
87
00:08:26,600 --> 00:08:32,040
At this time, I was living
on 78th and State in Kansas City, Kansas,
88
00:08:32,120 --> 00:08:36,400
right up the street from the liquor store
where I met Hassan.
89
00:08:38,480 --> 00:08:41,720
I drove down to go and buy liquor.
90
00:08:45,760 --> 00:08:49,160
And the man that was at the counter
91
00:08:49,240 --> 00:08:52,560
told me that he know this wasn't my ID.
92
00:08:54,800 --> 00:08:57,880
And that, you know, I can have the liquor
if I go on a date
93
00:08:57,960 --> 00:09:00,160
with Hassan
because he's looking for a friend.
94
00:09:03,040 --> 00:09:05,280
So I agreed to go on a date.
95
00:09:22,880 --> 00:09:26,400
The day of the date,
I dropped my son off at my mother's house.
96
00:09:26,960 --> 00:09:30,520
And my mother didn't want me
to go anywhere.
97
00:09:30,600 --> 00:09:32,320
She was telling me that, you know,
98
00:09:32,400 --> 00:09:35,600
she feel like something bad
is about to happen, you know.
99
00:09:35,680 --> 00:09:38,040
I'm like, "Mama, it's okay.
Everything will be fine."
100
00:09:44,280 --> 00:09:46,520
Hassan picked me up in front of my house.
101
00:09:47,120 --> 00:09:51,680
So I went out and he said
that he was taking me to Golden Corral.
102
00:09:52,960 --> 00:09:54,400
Then we got on the highway.
103
00:09:55,320 --> 00:09:58,720
As we was going, I'm like,
"We're driving a long time."
104
00:09:58,800 --> 00:10:02,400
And he said,
"Yes, I feel like that I wants
105
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to go to the house and take a shower."
106
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So, thinking, you know, me...
you know, having a job myself,
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I get from working,
I would want to take a shower too,
108
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so I had very much understanding.
109
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So when I went to the house,
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he asked me did I want some Hennessy
and I said yes.
111
00:10:52,840 --> 00:10:53,840
And then...
112
00:10:54,400 --> 00:10:57,760
he gave me something
that I didn't even know what it was
113
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and he said that it was PCP.
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And so I tried it.
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When he got out the shower,
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he was butt naked with a condom on.
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And he told me that I owed him.
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You know,
for the liquor and everything else
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00:11:29,000 --> 00:11:33,440
and he told me that I had to suck his dick
or fuck him
120
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or I wasn't going anywhere.
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I told him, "Please, no.
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Just please let me go home.
123
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Let me go back home to my son."
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And he said, "No, you're staying.
You're staying with me."
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And this man is like 6'7",
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200 pounds.
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In my mind, I felt like there's...
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there's no way
I can get away from this man.
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[sighs]
130
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[groans]
131
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And so...
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he laid down and...
133
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when he laid down, I...
134
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tried to go the other way. He said no.
135
00:12:38,720 --> 00:12:43,040
So, at the first instant,
I grabbed the gun out of my purse.
136
00:12:44,960 --> 00:12:48,640
And I closed my eyes and I shot.
137
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[gunshot]
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After I shot, he ran towards me.
139
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And when he ran towards me,
I'm like, you know,
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me as a kid looking at the movies,
141
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like, when you shoot, you know,
they cannot move anywhere.
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And, no, he came running after me
and told me to give him the gun.
143
00:13:06,760 --> 00:13:08,440
I shut the door and I tried to...
144
00:13:08,520 --> 00:13:12,560
He tried to bring the door this way.
145
00:13:12,640 --> 00:13:16,440
So I'm shooting through the door
and I'm like, "Please stop."
146
00:13:17,600 --> 00:13:21,600
So then, after that, I ran,
grabbed his car keys
147
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and he's still chasing me out.
148
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And I got in his car.
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And I didn't know where I was going,
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so I just kept on going straight.
151
00:13:40,440 --> 00:13:44,320
And I went to my cousin's house
and I told him,
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00:13:44,400 --> 00:13:46,960
I said, "I'm scared and...
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00:13:48,360 --> 00:13:52,360
I did something bad and I don't know...
I don't know what I should do."
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And I wasn't going to call the police,
155
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because I'm like, "Well, um,
what would they do to help me?"
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00:14:47,920 --> 00:14:51,120
[woman] I don't believe
that my daughter wanted to hurt this man.
157
00:14:53,160 --> 00:14:56,080
He tried to make her do
some things sexually
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00:14:56,160 --> 00:14:57,760
that she didn't want to do.
159
00:15:01,920 --> 00:15:07,000
My name is Stacey Lewis
and I'm Cavona Flenoy's mother.
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She was very unique, even as a baby.
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00:15:17,480 --> 00:15:19,840
You know,
she had these big, bright bubble eyes
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and stuff like that,
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but her main thing was dancing.
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Cavona was a dancer.
She could dance you under the table.
165
00:15:35,880 --> 00:15:40,320
Cavona told the lawyer
that she wanted to claim self-defense.
166
00:15:41,640 --> 00:15:45,440
Self-defense is like a five to seven,
a seven to ten.
167
00:15:48,320 --> 00:15:54,080
But the lawyer advised Cavona
to plead guilty to a second-degree murder,
168
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because she said
she was gonna lose in trial.
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00:16:00,120 --> 00:16:02,520
They gave her no other choice...
170
00:16:03,560 --> 00:16:04,880
but second degree.
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I knew she was gonna go to prison.
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But the lawyer had told me
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that it was up to the judge
on how much time that she got.
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I thought the most that my daughter
would have did was ten.
175
00:16:52,440 --> 00:16:55,160
And then I thought
she would do the rest on probation.
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00:17:13,120 --> 00:17:16,720
I was very shocked
when my daughter got 25 years.
177
00:17:21,320 --> 00:17:25,960
Only thing that they cared about
is this girl came into Platte County
178
00:17:26,040 --> 00:17:28,320
and she was black, of color.
179
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She killed someone in their county.
180
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And they wanted to prosecute her.
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They wanted to send her away.
182
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And they painted that picture.
183
00:17:39,840 --> 00:17:43,880
"If you come in Platte County,
this is what you're gonna get."
184
00:17:45,880 --> 00:17:49,080
Going to trial would have been
a better option for her,
185
00:17:49,160 --> 00:17:51,800
'cause all the evidence
and the truth would come out.
186
00:18:17,280 --> 00:18:22,200
[woman] Cavona's plea to second degree
was a mistake.
187
00:18:24,600 --> 00:18:27,080
The fact that she pled
to second degree
188
00:18:27,600 --> 00:18:30,280
said that she was guilty of things
that were not true.
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00:18:33,560 --> 00:18:37,120
She didn't have that intention
to kill him.
190
00:18:37,200 --> 00:18:39,160
She was trying to defend herself.
191
00:18:41,240 --> 00:18:45,160
So that could have been presented
to a jury
192
00:18:45,240 --> 00:18:48,440
and I think would have led
to a really different outcome for her.
193
00:18:55,040 --> 00:18:56,720
My name is Marilyn Hutchinson.
194
00:18:56,800 --> 00:18:59,080
I am a psychologist in Kansas City,
195
00:18:59,160 --> 00:19:03,920
and I was hired by Cavona Flenoy's
defense attorney to evaluate her.
196
00:19:09,520 --> 00:19:14,600
Most of the cases that I do have
some sort of inherent tragedy in them.
197
00:19:15,360 --> 00:19:17,560
People who were abused in childhood,
198
00:19:17,640 --> 00:19:21,520
people who had long suffered
in domestic violence situations.
199
00:19:22,160 --> 00:19:25,840
Um, this particular case
was also true to that.
200
00:19:33,600 --> 00:19:36,680
I met Cavona on August 5th, 2010.
201
00:19:37,400 --> 00:19:41,320
Prior to that,
I read a number of the investigations
202
00:19:41,400 --> 00:19:44,560
and interrogations and police reports.
203
00:19:48,320 --> 00:19:51,840
In the DVD that was made
of her police interrogation,
204
00:19:51,920 --> 00:19:55,040
one of the things I was struck by
when I listened to her
205
00:19:55,120 --> 00:19:59,840
is she had multiple instances
of sexual assaults,
206
00:19:59,920 --> 00:20:01,400
beginning at a young age.
207
00:20:02,960 --> 00:20:05,040
[Cavona] I got raped my whole life.
208
00:20:05,440 --> 00:20:08,720
[sobbing] I... I didn't...
I didn't trust nobody.
209
00:20:08,800 --> 00:20:10,440
-I understand.
-And the people...
210
00:20:10,520 --> 00:20:13,160
The people that raped me so many times...
211
00:20:13,240 --> 00:20:14,520
[sobbing]
212
00:20:14,600 --> 00:20:16,680
...none of them got in trouble.
213
00:20:16,760 --> 00:20:19,480
-None of them got in trouble!
-It's okay.
214
00:20:19,560 --> 00:20:20,720
None of them.
215
00:20:21,360 --> 00:20:23,160
How did that happen?
216
00:20:23,560 --> 00:20:26,040
[Cavona cries loudly]
217
00:20:27,600 --> 00:20:31,120
[officer] How many times
have you been raped? Your relatives?
218
00:20:31,600 --> 00:20:33,480
Your relatives? Your family friends?
219
00:20:33,560 --> 00:20:36,240
Everybody, people that live
around my neighborhood.
220
00:20:36,320 --> 00:20:38,320
When I went into sixth grade...
221
00:20:38,400 --> 00:20:39,640
[bleep]
222
00:20:39,720 --> 00:20:42,960
He raped me in his house.
It got investigated, got dropped.
223
00:20:43,320 --> 00:20:48,920
Then, the next week, his friend got me
in the woods by my house and raped me.
224
00:20:49,000 --> 00:20:52,720
[sobbing] Then his other friend,
the next week, came and raped me.
225
00:20:54,280 --> 00:20:56,520
And all three of them, they did it.
226
00:20:56,600 --> 00:20:58,640
So... So messed up!
227
00:20:58,720 --> 00:21:01,400
[Marilyn]
I found Cavona to be an anxious...
228
00:21:01,960 --> 00:21:02,960
depressed...
229
00:21:03,480 --> 00:21:06,920
slightly suicidal woman
who was really scared.
230
00:21:07,400 --> 00:21:11,560
She had multiple instances
of sexual assaults,
231
00:21:11,640 --> 00:21:12,920
beginning at a young age.
232
00:21:16,960 --> 00:21:19,840
The first time she was raped,
she was 12 years old.
233
00:21:21,880 --> 00:21:25,680
She reported them and nothing happened.
234
00:21:28,400 --> 00:21:30,480
She clearly would have learned...
235
00:21:31,640 --> 00:21:33,400
"I'm not a person who matters.
236
00:21:35,400 --> 00:21:37,520
People can do to me what they want.
237
00:21:38,520 --> 00:21:41,320
People who are in authority
aren't really gonna help.
238
00:21:42,200 --> 00:21:43,480
And I'm on my own."
239
00:21:44,760 --> 00:21:47,360
After I completed my interview with her,
240
00:21:47,440 --> 00:21:51,120
I reached my diagnosis
that PTSD was very evidenced.
241
00:21:51,200 --> 00:21:53,200
That's post-traumatic stress disorder.
242
00:21:58,320 --> 00:22:00,360
In post-traumatic stress disorder,
243
00:22:00,440 --> 00:22:03,280
there's an immediate freeze,
fight or flight
244
00:22:03,360 --> 00:22:06,760
that is completely outside
of conscious control
245
00:22:06,840 --> 00:22:08,840
and it's just an impulse in the moment.
246
00:22:11,000 --> 00:22:15,120
What it predisposes you to
is to be extremely reactive
247
00:22:15,200 --> 00:22:21,080
in any situation that is similar to that
that caused the trauma to begin with.
248
00:22:25,920 --> 00:22:29,360
And he said that, you know,
I had to suck his dick or fuck him
249
00:22:29,440 --> 00:22:30,880
or I wasn't going nowhere.
250
00:22:30,960 --> 00:22:36,160
I had the whole flashbacks
of when I was 12 and when I was 13.
251
00:22:38,120 --> 00:22:40,720
All that came to my mind at this time,
252
00:22:41,200 --> 00:22:43,960
and, um, I couldn't take no more.
253
00:22:51,800 --> 00:22:55,920
[Marilyn] Cavona's history
of sexual assaults certainly surpasses
254
00:22:56,280 --> 00:23:00,400
any... normal human experience.
255
00:23:03,400 --> 00:23:05,120
I know that Cavona killed a man.
256
00:23:05,840 --> 00:23:09,600
I believe wholeheartedly
that she did that in self-defense.
257
00:23:10,200 --> 00:23:14,440
I believe that the law provides for people
to defend themselves
258
00:23:14,520 --> 00:23:17,040
when they are going to be seriously hurt
or harmed.
259
00:23:17,640 --> 00:23:21,440
And, as such,
I believe that she was treated unfairly
260
00:23:21,520 --> 00:23:22,840
and that it was not just.
261
00:23:56,280 --> 00:23:58,280
[distant siren]
262
00:24:08,040 --> 00:24:10,040
[police siren]
263
00:24:10,840 --> 00:24:13,320
[woman]
Once Cavona pled guilty to murder...
264
00:24:13,920 --> 00:24:16,360
it was going to be extremely difficult
265
00:24:16,440 --> 00:24:19,520
to convince a judge
to vacate that guilty plea.
266
00:24:26,120 --> 00:24:27,160
I'm Kate Webber.
267
00:24:27,800 --> 00:24:29,760
I've been an attorney for many years
268
00:24:30,200 --> 00:24:34,120
and I represented Ms. Flenoy
on the appeal of the denial
269
00:24:34,200 --> 00:24:36,680
of her post-conviction motion
in state court.
270
00:24:38,320 --> 00:24:41,840
I filed a brief with the Court of Appeals,
271
00:24:42,400 --> 00:24:45,920
arguing that, basically,
the Motion Court was wrong
272
00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:48,760
and the court should have allowed her
to withdraw her plea.
273
00:24:53,200 --> 00:24:56,440
The way the system is now,
it's a guilty plea mill.
274
00:24:59,800 --> 00:25:04,360
Only about 3% of people
charged with crimes actually go to trial.
275
00:25:04,960 --> 00:25:07,960
And that's because there is
unbelievable pressure
276
00:25:08,040 --> 00:25:10,200
from start to finish to plead guilty.
277
00:25:12,440 --> 00:25:16,520
If the 97% of people who plead guilty
actually demanded a trial,
278
00:25:17,080 --> 00:25:18,760
the system would grind to a halt.
279
00:25:19,360 --> 00:25:22,440
I mean... [chuckles]
...we don't have the resources for that.
280
00:25:29,280 --> 00:25:32,480
I think what stands out
about this case is...
281
00:25:33,920 --> 00:25:34,920
[sighs]
282
00:25:36,320 --> 00:25:38,640
...that the plea was so coerced.
283
00:25:40,800 --> 00:25:44,560
In Platte County, a plea offer there
is sort of a carrot and a stick.
284
00:25:45,880 --> 00:25:49,600
"Here's the good thing we'll do.
We'll recommend second-degree murder.
285
00:25:51,280 --> 00:25:53,760
But if you don't accept this offer
by this date,
286
00:25:53,840 --> 00:25:56,720
we will recharge this case
as first-degree murder."
287
00:25:57,080 --> 00:25:58,600
And, in my experience,
288
00:25:58,680 --> 00:26:01,200
they almost always follow through
with that threat.
289
00:26:01,760 --> 00:26:04,160
So, I mean, in my opinion,
290
00:26:04,240 --> 00:26:08,000
that's unconstitutionally coercing
a guilty plea.
291
00:26:08,640 --> 00:26:14,040
Um, you don't punish somebody
for exercising their constitutional right
292
00:26:14,520 --> 00:26:17,800
to make the state prove them guilty
beyond a reasonable doubt.
293
00:26:17,880 --> 00:26:19,520
And I think that's what it does.
294
00:26:23,600 --> 00:26:26,240
What choice did Ms. Flenoy have
at that point?
295
00:26:26,720 --> 00:26:30,360
"Roll the dice and maybe never see
my two-year-old son again
296
00:26:30,440 --> 00:26:32,560
outside the walls of a prison...
297
00:26:33,080 --> 00:26:35,600
or just go ahead and take this sentence
298
00:26:35,680 --> 00:26:39,920
and hope that the judge sees through it
and gives me some decent time."
299
00:26:40,000 --> 00:26:41,520
What kind of choice is that?
300
00:26:49,720 --> 00:26:51,320
It's just very unfortunate
301
00:26:51,400 --> 00:26:55,560
that this happened to occur
in Platte County, in my opinion,
302
00:26:55,640 --> 00:26:58,480
because I think a young white woman
303
00:26:58,560 --> 00:27:01,160
with the same circumstances
and background,
304
00:27:01,240 --> 00:27:03,760
there probably would have been
a different outcome.
305
00:27:07,960 --> 00:27:12,400
I think that plays a factor. After all,
the prosecutor is an elected official.
306
00:27:12,880 --> 00:27:15,080
He's elected by the people around him
307
00:27:15,160 --> 00:27:17,320
and the people around him
are largely white.
308
00:27:19,600 --> 00:27:22,720
The larger cities tend to understand...
309
00:27:23,440 --> 00:27:27,520
the realities
of what Ms. Flenoy's life was like.
310
00:27:28,240 --> 00:27:30,600
And Platte County doesn't.
311
00:27:38,800 --> 00:27:40,800
[rumble of traffic]
312
00:27:49,560 --> 00:27:51,960
[man]
The citizens of Platte County have decided
313
00:27:52,040 --> 00:27:54,280
that they believed
in strict law enforcement.
314
00:27:58,240 --> 00:28:03,040
We likely have higher sentences for murder
than many other counties.
315
00:28:05,880 --> 00:28:08,280
It's not uncommon
for us to have defendants who say,
316
00:28:08,360 --> 00:28:10,960
"If I had known I was committing
this crime in Platte County,
317
00:28:11,040 --> 00:28:12,440
I never would have done it."
318
00:28:14,520 --> 00:28:18,480
That, to me, is exactly what I want
would-be criminals to think.
319
00:28:21,280 --> 00:28:24,880
I'm Eric Zahnd. I'm the Platte County,
Missouri, prosecuting attorney.
320
00:28:25,760 --> 00:28:28,400
I've been a prosecutor since 2003.
321
00:28:29,480 --> 00:28:32,760
I prosecuted the case
against Cavona Flenoy.
322
00:28:35,000 --> 00:28:39,600
Cavona Flenoy looked
like an innocent little girl.
323
00:28:40,280 --> 00:28:46,000
Uh, her actions demonstrated her
to be a very dangerous
324
00:28:46,400 --> 00:28:49,040
and violent, murderous person.
325
00:28:49,600 --> 00:28:52,280
I believe that...
that we could have proven,
326
00:28:52,360 --> 00:28:55,360
um, a... a first-degree murder case
327
00:28:55,440 --> 00:28:59,080
and Ms. Flenoy would have spent
the rest of her life in prison
328
00:28:59,160 --> 00:29:00,880
without any possibility of parole.
329
00:29:05,760 --> 00:29:10,080
At the same time,
because of... of Ms. Flenoy's young age,
330
00:29:10,640 --> 00:29:13,400
uh, because of, um,
some of the other things
331
00:29:13,480 --> 00:29:16,080
that she had gone through as a child,
we believed...
332
00:29:17,000 --> 00:29:21,720
that we could obtain justice with a...
with a second-degree murder charge.
333
00:29:21,800 --> 00:29:25,080
So we allowed her to plead guilty
to that second-degree murder
334
00:29:25,160 --> 00:29:27,920
where we asked for life in prison.
335
00:29:28,000 --> 00:29:30,880
Now, that means
that she'll still be eligible for parole
336
00:29:31,280 --> 00:29:32,800
by the time she's about 40
337
00:29:32,880 --> 00:29:36,160
and will certainly be released
by the time she's 45.
338
00:29:36,240 --> 00:29:40,280
So she'll have a chance to...
to re-enter, um, society,
339
00:29:40,360 --> 00:29:43,200
to, um, I assume,
340
00:29:43,280 --> 00:29:46,600
to reconnect with her... with her son,
who was quite young.
341
00:29:49,440 --> 00:29:51,800
I do think
that Ms. Flenoy had a choice to make.
342
00:29:51,880 --> 00:29:54,760
Whether she wanted to plead guilty
to second-degree murder
343
00:29:55,160 --> 00:29:57,600
or whether she wanted
to take that case to trial
344
00:29:57,680 --> 00:30:02,080
and risk facing life in prison
without the possibility of parole.
345
00:30:05,200 --> 00:30:07,600
I think it was
a fairly generous plea agreement,
346
00:30:07,680 --> 00:30:09,040
given the facts of this case.
347
00:30:38,560 --> 00:30:39,560
[man] Ms. Flenoy...
348
00:30:40,640 --> 00:30:44,040
went to that apartment with Mr. Abbas
for one reason only.
349
00:30:44,520 --> 00:30:45,560
To take his money.
350
00:30:46,960 --> 00:30:49,040
And she shot him three times.
351
00:30:49,120 --> 00:30:52,440
Once in the chest, once in the face
and once in the side.
352
00:30:56,240 --> 00:30:58,680
It shows no intent of self-defense.
353
00:31:01,040 --> 00:31:03,240
My name is
Detective Sergeant Dennis Jones.
354
00:31:03,680 --> 00:31:06,600
I was one of the detectives for the...
355
00:31:07,520 --> 00:31:10,320
Hassan Abbas homicide here in Riverside.
356
00:31:13,800 --> 00:31:15,880
The city of Riverside is not that large,
357
00:31:15,960 --> 00:31:19,360
so when a homicide does occur,
it's a little bit of a shock.
358
00:31:19,840 --> 00:31:22,040
It upsets them
that something like that can happen here,
359
00:31:22,120 --> 00:31:24,280
because it's not supposed to happen
in your community.
360
00:31:24,360 --> 00:31:26,400
Uh, especially one of this size.
361
00:31:34,320 --> 00:31:37,680
We are at the complex
where Mr. Abbas lived.
362
00:31:38,520 --> 00:31:41,400
This is his building here,
his door to his apartment.
363
00:31:47,680 --> 00:31:51,640
We got the call from the roommate, saying
that he found Mr. Abbas on the floor.
364
00:31:51,720 --> 00:31:53,120
Uh, obviously been shot.
365
00:31:53,600 --> 00:31:55,600
On the, uh, officers' arrival,
366
00:31:55,680 --> 00:31:57,640
they found him near the front door.
367
00:31:58,400 --> 00:32:01,720
You could obviously see the, uh,
the victim, Mr. Abbas...
368
00:32:02,560 --> 00:32:06,240
uh, was not shot in the doorway.
He had moved throughout the apartment.
369
00:32:09,000 --> 00:32:11,480
This is the...
the floor plan of the apartment.
370
00:32:12,520 --> 00:32:14,360
This was his bedroom here.
371
00:32:14,760 --> 00:32:18,200
And that was where the first shot
was fired, while he was in the bed.
372
00:32:18,760 --> 00:32:20,000
He was able to get up...
373
00:32:20,640 --> 00:32:23,800
and she fired again
and hit him in the chest and in the face.
374
00:32:24,200 --> 00:32:26,400
Uh, he came around this way.
375
00:32:26,480 --> 00:32:29,400
She fired again, missed and hit the wall.
376
00:32:29,480 --> 00:32:33,320
She went out the bedroom door
to the, uh...
377
00:32:34,120 --> 00:32:35,800
front room, he followed her
378
00:32:36,240 --> 00:32:38,440
and collapsed right there
by the front door.
379
00:32:39,280 --> 00:32:42,280
His car keys were missing.
His wallet was missing.
380
00:32:42,840 --> 00:32:45,560
The roommate was able
to give us some good information
381
00:32:45,640 --> 00:32:49,160
on a female that had visited
and that's, um, how this opened up.
382
00:33:01,040 --> 00:33:05,960
We were able to, uh, identify Ms. Flenoy
pretty... pretty quickly
383
00:33:06,040 --> 00:33:07,800
with information from the roommate.
384
00:33:08,440 --> 00:33:12,840
And we were able to, uh, get her name
from the clerk at the liquor store.
385
00:33:13,320 --> 00:33:15,080
So we knew who we were looking for.
386
00:33:15,480 --> 00:33:18,920
Uh, she had his car, so we knew
what kind of vehicle to look for.
387
00:33:26,120 --> 00:33:29,600
When she was arrested, she was transported
to the police station here
388
00:33:29,680 --> 00:33:31,480
and interviewed by two detectives.
389
00:33:32,080 --> 00:33:35,280
Walk me through this weekend,
tell me how it got out of control.
390
00:33:35,760 --> 00:33:39,400
[Dennis] At first, she tried
to make it seem like it was self-defense.
391
00:33:39,480 --> 00:33:43,200
He was, uh, going to rape her,
that was the story, and that she felt...
392
00:33:43,960 --> 00:33:45,960
uh, that she needed to protect herself.
393
00:33:46,040 --> 00:33:47,360
[indistinct speech]
394
00:33:47,440 --> 00:33:50,800
[sobbing] If he wouldn't have did that,
I would have never did that.
395
00:33:50,880 --> 00:33:52,680
I swear to God.
396
00:33:53,520 --> 00:33:55,560
I was just so scared.
397
00:33:56,520 --> 00:33:59,080
[Dennis] But during the investigation,
we found out
398
00:33:59,160 --> 00:34:01,600
that she planned out this whole event.
399
00:34:02,240 --> 00:34:03,720
So she wasn't a victim.
400
00:34:04,800 --> 00:34:08,720
We found out that she goes back
to his apartment more than once.
401
00:34:09,480 --> 00:34:11,680
On...
Were you over there Sunday afternoon?
402
00:34:12,160 --> 00:34:16,080
No, I wasn't over there Sunday.
I was just over there Friday and Tuesday.
403
00:34:16,160 --> 00:34:18,120
Did you spend the night, Friday night?
404
00:34:18,640 --> 00:34:21,720
-Yeah. He took me home Saturday morning.
-Okay.
405
00:34:22,520 --> 00:34:26,400
So she spent the night with him
Friday night, and he takes her home.
406
00:34:26,720 --> 00:34:29,040
That Saturday afternoon,
she purchases a gun.
407
00:34:29,600 --> 00:34:31,160
How long have you had that gun?
408
00:34:31,240 --> 00:34:33,000
I just got it on Saturday.
409
00:34:33,760 --> 00:34:35,360
We discovered that she knew
410
00:34:35,440 --> 00:34:40,840
that he had just recently received
$2,400 in tax return money.
411
00:34:40,920 --> 00:34:42,280
That was the real motive.
412
00:34:42,600 --> 00:34:46,760
It was some type of robbery
or some way of getting some type of cash
413
00:34:46,840 --> 00:34:50,520
or some type of, um, monetary value
from Mr. Abbas.
414
00:34:50,600 --> 00:34:53,600
That's the reason she was there,
the reason she bought a gun.
415
00:34:56,360 --> 00:35:00,160
This is not someone
who is in fear for her safety.
416
00:35:00,240 --> 00:35:02,800
This is a woman
who knew what she was doing,
417
00:35:02,880 --> 00:35:04,320
just didn't plan it out very well.
418
00:35:13,440 --> 00:35:15,440
[birds singing]
419
00:35:34,000 --> 00:35:38,000
[Eric] We may never know the full extent
of what happened in that apartment.
420
00:35:39,640 --> 00:35:41,840
But the evidence points to the fact
421
00:35:41,920 --> 00:35:45,400
that Ms. Flenoy may have wanted
to rob Mr. Abbas
422
00:35:45,480 --> 00:35:47,240
and he died in that encounter.
423
00:35:49,720 --> 00:35:53,840
In my opinion, she didn't give
a full account of that, uh, murder
424
00:35:53,920 --> 00:35:57,200
until she was left alone
in the interview room
425
00:35:57,600 --> 00:35:59,840
with a couple of pieces of notebook paper.
426
00:36:01,040 --> 00:36:02,960
And among the things she wrote
427
00:36:03,320 --> 00:36:06,720
was, "I push him down
like I was about to fuck him.
428
00:36:07,520 --> 00:36:10,160
I got the gun
and I just pulled the trigger."
429
00:36:13,200 --> 00:36:17,880
That, to me, is the most forthright
admission from Ms. Flenoy
430
00:36:18,280 --> 00:36:20,360
as to what really happened in this case
431
00:36:20,440 --> 00:36:23,800
and, frankly, that amounts,
in the State of Missouri,
432
00:36:23,880 --> 00:36:25,240
to first-degree murder.
433
00:36:25,760 --> 00:36:27,560
Premeditated murder.
434
00:36:27,960 --> 00:36:31,240
She, in the words of the Missouri law,
deliberated.
435
00:36:31,560 --> 00:36:35,040
She coolly reflected upon the matter
for some period of time,
436
00:36:35,440 --> 00:36:36,720
no matter how brief,
437
00:36:37,280 --> 00:36:40,640
and decided
that she was going to shoot Mr. Abbas,
438
00:36:41,040 --> 00:36:43,240
ultimately resulting in... in his death.
439
00:36:49,600 --> 00:36:54,600
Hassan Abbas paid
for Cavona Flenoy's crimes with his life.
440
00:36:56,680 --> 00:37:01,280
I believe that a long prison term
was absolutely justified.
441
00:37:18,080 --> 00:37:20,360
[car horns beeping]
442
00:37:25,640 --> 00:37:28,120
[Kate] I don't see how the world is safer
443
00:37:28,200 --> 00:37:31,920
because Cavona Flenoy is in prison
for 25 years.
444
00:37:35,560 --> 00:37:36,560
She took a life,
445
00:37:36,640 --> 00:37:37,960
but she is not a killer.
446
00:37:41,040 --> 00:37:45,400
If the state's theory was this was...
this was a planned robbery,
447
00:37:45,480 --> 00:37:48,280
this was a planned murder,
this was deliberation,
448
00:37:48,360 --> 00:37:52,040
she planned to kill somebody
to take his car or his credit cards
449
00:37:52,120 --> 00:37:55,040
or... or, you know, any other property,
450
00:37:55,120 --> 00:38:00,480
it doesn't fit with the dozens of cases
that I've seen where that's happened.
451
00:38:02,640 --> 00:38:04,480
[horns beep]
452
00:38:05,160 --> 00:38:08,800
She did take his car,
because he had driven her over there.
453
00:38:08,880 --> 00:38:10,000
She had no way to get home.
454
00:38:10,720 --> 00:38:14,080
She tried to use the gas card
because the car was on empty.
455
00:38:15,160 --> 00:38:20,160
I mean, these are the actions of somebody
who felt threatened, panicked
456
00:38:20,240 --> 00:38:23,040
and then really panicked
when she realized what happened.
457
00:38:24,200 --> 00:38:27,320
You don't leave your shoes
at a crime scene.
458
00:38:27,720 --> 00:38:31,280
You don't run out. That's the action
of someone who's panicking.
459
00:38:33,280 --> 00:38:35,280
[indistinct conversation]
460
00:38:37,600 --> 00:38:41,760
The police utilized
all the familiar tactics to...
461
00:38:42,680 --> 00:38:44,800
encourage her to talk to them,
462
00:38:45,480 --> 00:38:48,560
which she had no obligation to do
whatsoever.
463
00:38:49,560 --> 00:38:54,120
Now, the state
that Cavona Flenoy must have been in
464
00:38:54,200 --> 00:38:56,320
at that point, emotionally,
465
00:38:56,400 --> 00:38:58,240
I can't begin to imagine.
466
00:38:58,320 --> 00:39:01,400
But they interrupt that interrogation
467
00:39:01,880 --> 00:39:06,160
and they leave her
with a pad of paper and a pen.
468
00:39:06,960 --> 00:39:09,320
Write a letter to yourself, God,
to your mother.
469
00:39:09,400 --> 00:39:11,520
Whatever you want to do.
That's totally up to you.
470
00:39:11,600 --> 00:39:14,520
Doodle, draw.
Whatever helps you to relax. Okay?
471
00:39:15,200 --> 00:39:16,880
[Kate] This is a common tactic
472
00:39:16,960 --> 00:39:19,600
for getting people
to make incriminating statements
473
00:39:19,680 --> 00:39:24,040
or statements that could be twisted
into incriminating statements.
474
00:39:27,440 --> 00:39:31,160
One little line of that
could be interpreted...
475
00:39:32,120 --> 00:39:34,280
as incriminating.
476
00:39:35,320 --> 00:39:37,600
But I think
it's a very ambiguous statement.
477
00:39:38,320 --> 00:39:41,640
And there were many, many other statements
in that doodling
478
00:39:41,720 --> 00:39:47,040
that directly contradict the inference
that the state was trying to portray.
479
00:39:48,760 --> 00:39:51,320
For example,
those notes included a comment
480
00:39:51,400 --> 00:39:54,880
that there was just no way
she was going to have sex with this guy.
481
00:39:58,360 --> 00:40:00,640
But Mr. Zahnd didn't bring that part out.
482
00:40:01,280 --> 00:40:05,400
He brought out the one thing that she said
that could be...
483
00:40:06,360 --> 00:40:08,240
twisted to look incriminating.
484
00:40:11,080 --> 00:40:16,360
And once they have that,
then they own that interrogation.
485
00:40:16,920 --> 00:40:18,600
Because they can go from there.
486
00:40:19,200 --> 00:40:20,480
And that's what happened.
487
00:40:32,560 --> 00:40:34,440
[birds singing]
488
00:40:40,440 --> 00:40:42,360
[Cavona] I feel like this is a dream
489
00:40:42,440 --> 00:40:44,400
and, one day, I'm gonna wake up.
490
00:40:47,120 --> 00:40:50,000
At that time,
I was going through my own thing,
491
00:40:50,080 --> 00:40:52,640
my own mental illness.
492
00:40:54,080 --> 00:40:55,800
I just feel like, um,
493
00:40:55,880 --> 00:40:57,320
why am I here?
494
00:40:58,320 --> 00:41:00,800
'Cause sometimes
I don't feel like it's fair.
495
00:41:16,680 --> 00:41:19,320
My plea offer, um...
496
00:41:20,200 --> 00:41:21,080
[Cavona chuckles]
497
00:41:21,160 --> 00:41:23,040
...it wasn't for real a plea offer.
498
00:41:23,120 --> 00:41:25,320
They mainly told me, um...
499
00:41:25,960 --> 00:41:28,040
if I don't take the second-degree murder,
500
00:41:28,120 --> 00:41:30,840
um, they're gonna make sure
I never see my son again
501
00:41:30,920 --> 00:41:34,160
and I will live in the penitentiary
for the rest of my life.
502
00:41:38,440 --> 00:41:42,480
If I have my time again,
um, I will take it to trial
503
00:41:42,560 --> 00:41:43,680
and I will...
504
00:41:45,120 --> 00:41:48,920
explain, get to explain everything.
505
00:41:51,400 --> 00:41:53,720
[interviewer] How many times
did you go to that apartment?
506
00:41:53,800 --> 00:41:54,800
One time.
507
00:41:55,360 --> 00:41:56,960
And that was the day that...
508
00:41:57,520 --> 00:41:58,680
that happened.
509
00:42:02,960 --> 00:42:05,520
[Dennis] She planned out this whole event.
510
00:42:06,080 --> 00:42:07,520
So she wasn't a victim.
511
00:42:08,240 --> 00:42:10,960
She goes back to his apartment
more than once.
512
00:42:12,400 --> 00:42:16,320
She spent the night with him
Friday night, and he takes her home.
513
00:42:16,400 --> 00:42:18,720
That Saturday afternoon,
she purchases a gun
514
00:42:18,800 --> 00:42:20,000
and she shoots him.
515
00:42:27,280 --> 00:42:28,720
Some stuff...
516
00:42:30,000 --> 00:42:32,080
Like, um, I don't know.
517
00:42:32,160 --> 00:42:37,240
Like, in that time,
I was on drugs and alcohol.
518
00:42:37,320 --> 00:42:40,200
Like, I don't remember everything.
519
00:42:40,960 --> 00:42:42,200
You know? So...
520
00:42:45,640 --> 00:42:46,640
[scoffs]
521
00:42:49,160 --> 00:42:52,160
It's... it's not like, you know,
I'm one of the persons
522
00:42:52,240 --> 00:42:56,640
that got up in the morning and said,
"Today, I'm gonna shoot somebody."
523
00:42:57,200 --> 00:42:58,240
No.
524
00:42:58,320 --> 00:43:00,000
No, I, um...
525
00:43:00,760 --> 00:43:03,320
I didn't even remember I had the gun...
526
00:43:04,280 --> 00:43:07,400
in my purse until I was in the room.
527
00:43:07,960 --> 00:43:10,400
Like, it was in my purse, um...
528
00:43:11,880 --> 00:43:15,160
a week and a half
before I even met Hassan.
529
00:43:19,120 --> 00:43:22,360
[Eric] In my opinion, she didn't give
a full account of that murder
530
00:43:22,760 --> 00:43:25,880
until she was left alone
in the interview room
531
00:43:26,360 --> 00:43:28,600
with a couple of pieces of notebook paper.
532
00:43:30,400 --> 00:43:33,120
And among the things, um, she wrote
533
00:43:33,480 --> 00:43:36,680
was, "I push him down
like I was about to fuck him.
534
00:43:36,760 --> 00:43:39,200
I got the gun
and I just pulled the trigger."
535
00:43:41,920 --> 00:43:42,920
I mean, at...
536
00:43:44,320 --> 00:43:47,120
that time of, um, the video, um...
537
00:43:52,680 --> 00:43:53,680
um...
538
00:43:55,120 --> 00:43:56,880
I don't know, I guess I was just...
539
00:43:57,640 --> 00:43:59,840
writing stuff down of, you know...
540
00:44:01,160 --> 00:44:05,760
a lot of stuff that, um, happened
that I didn't say, but...
541
00:44:06,360 --> 00:44:08,480
it's like I say,
it came out the wrong way.
542
00:44:09,720 --> 00:44:13,000
You know, like,
"Push him down so I could fuck him." Um...
543
00:44:13,760 --> 00:44:16,240
I literally was trying to have in my mind
544
00:44:16,880 --> 00:44:21,400
what is the faster way
that can keep him down and I'm up,
545
00:44:21,480 --> 00:44:22,560
that I can run.
546
00:44:24,000 --> 00:44:26,920
But, um, through my mind, um...
547
00:44:27,920 --> 00:44:29,920
I... I felt like, after that...
548
00:44:30,720 --> 00:44:32,480
I don't have no chance.
549
00:44:33,920 --> 00:44:36,560
I felt like the only option was to shoot.
550
00:44:37,400 --> 00:44:39,400
[distant conversation]
551
00:44:43,840 --> 00:44:46,280
That person that was there that night
was not me.
552
00:44:46,680 --> 00:44:49,920
It was, uh, that scared little girl
at the age of 12
553
00:44:50,000 --> 00:44:53,160
that was going through
all of them emotions,
554
00:44:53,640 --> 00:44:59,360
um, that really didn't get healed
and really didn't forgive...
555
00:45:00,360 --> 00:45:02,920
all them times that I was hurt, um...
556
00:45:04,280 --> 00:45:06,520
Now I have 25 years.
557
00:45:07,840 --> 00:45:10,040
Like, is this really my life?
558
00:45:10,840 --> 00:45:11,920
Is it really?
559
00:45:14,080 --> 00:45:15,880
Is this really what I deserve?
560
00:45:15,960 --> 00:45:17,960
[distant conversation]
561
00:45:20,560 --> 00:45:21,960
I wish I could take it back.
562
00:45:24,000 --> 00:45:26,640
[sobbing] I wish I could take it back,
but I can't.
563
00:45:26,720 --> 00:45:27,720
[sniffs]
564
00:45:32,280 --> 00:45:33,440
[sighs]