(SIREN WAILING)
(DISPATCHER SPEAKING ON RADIO)
They were fighting and then I came out
and they were, like, screaming at each other.
GAS STATION WORKER: She was walking around, swinging the machete.
POLICE OFFICER: Put that down right now. Put it down. Drop it.
This cannot be happening. I literally did not even want to take this man home
'cause I was scared he was going to do something.
I feel like I just went into, like, a survival mode
and I just knew I had to protect myself.
ROBERT J. CAMPOS: Her intent is just to defend herself
from a man who's much bigger than her.
Worst case scenario I go to prison
for God knows how long.
CAMPOS: They've got the wrong person charged with the crime.
My name is Robert J. Campos,
and I'm a criminal defense attorney.
I have been practicing law for 36 years.
I represent Donjane Smith,
and she's currently charged with
two counts of aggravated assault.
The first count is an allegation
that she had a machete
and she caused injury to the alleged victim, James Runnels.
The second count is that
she put the alleged victim,
Mr. James Runnels,
in fear for his life.
Donjane meets up with the alleged victim.
He needs a ride home.
These two individuals have an argument.
From Donjane's perspective, he becomes verbally abusive,
she becomes frightened.
She drives to a convenience store
where there's gas pumps.
She believes that this is gonna be the safest place,
there's going to be witnesses, people, well-lit.
She calls 911.
She's on the phone and asking for immediate help.
She claims that at one point, his threats escalate.
Donjane goes into her car, grabs a machete
and then confronts the alleged victim.
She tells me that, instead of a gun,
she kept a machete in her car for protection
for when she drove home late at night.
Minutes go by as he taunts her
and stalks her, until the police get there.
And because Donjane is holding the blade, she gets arrested.
There's an allegation that my client
brought the machete down a few times on Mr. Runnels
and in one of those scenes nicked Mr. Runnels' finger.
His injury was minor, ridiculous,
he just required a Band-Aid.
The issue for the government is
that they believe that Donjane did not need to get a machete
and that she used excessive force.
Our defense will be self-defense,
that Donjane was protecting herself.
She's devastated to find herself in this situation.
From her perspective,
she's the victim.
OFFICER: All right, go ahead and step on in.
CAMPOS: The charges are serious.
Theoretically, a judge can give Donjane 30 years in prison.
I absolutely believe that Donjane is telling me the truth.
It's preposterous that she's facing the charges.
I don't know what a jury is gonna do.
And that's the scary part.
(PENSIVE MUSIC PLAYING)
DONJANE SMITH: I've been in Arizona for about seven years now,
and I live in uptown Phoenix.
I grew up in Fresno, California, which is a pretty rough city.
My city is very big in, like, gang violence.
I have four older brothers
and I have three younger brothers.
My dad raised me to be pretty tough.
I learned to protect myself really early for many reasons.
Just because I was the only girl,
the type of neighborhood I lived in,
and my brothers didn't cut me any slack.
After losing my mom at a really young age
and just being forced to be independent, so to speak,
it allowed me to not be so emotional
and to understand that it's just,
everything is a part of life,
whether it's death, whether it's struggle,
everything.
So when I do feel like I'm getting sad or anything,
I go outside, I go for walks, I exercise.
I don't think that crying really helps.
Before the incident happened,
I just started working at a gentlemen's club
working as a door girl,
which I still do now from time to time.
Then I moved up from, in the club,
I started managing and bartending.
Working at a gentlemen's club,
you get a lot of biased opinions.
I don't care what people think about me
because I'm very, very content in who I am.
I never expected me to be in the situation I'm in now.
Worst-case scenario is honestly what keeps me up at night sometimes.
But, worst-case scenario, I go to prison
for God knows how long.
And it makes me sad because what if they do take me from my son?
You know, I don't want that to happen,
but it's definitely a possibility.
Yeah, sorry, I don't want to cry.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
Hi, Donjane, I wanted to meet with you today,
just go over a little background,
what the allegations are against you,
the charges that you're facing, and just some of the facts
with respect to what happened with you on your case.
So, the government is charging that on that day with a machete,
you placed the victim, James Runnels,
in fear for his life,
and with a machete you intentionally, knowingly
or recklessly caused him some injury.
CAMPOS: It sounded from the police reports
that you had given James a ride home?
Yeah, I picked him up from work
because I believe his car was in the shop.
And one of his previous girlfriends at the time,
she starts calling him, letting him know
that she knew where he was and what he was doing,
and was assuming that he was with me.
So she was like, blowing his phone up
and making him upset. It wasn't really us arguing.
She upset him from calling him so much,
and then he kind of took it out on me.
Like, yelling, cussing and start hitting the inside of my car.
Did you start to become afraid for your safety?
Yeah, I've never seen that side of him.
I figured if I go somewhere public, maybe he'll calm down.
So, the first place I saw before the freeway
was that gas station that I stopped at.
Okay. So what happened? How did this thing escalate?
He just starts, like, pretty much cussing me out and going crazy.
I just was using the car to keep distance between us.
After he got close by me,
like, there was nothing in between us,
he starts threatening to pretty much break my jaw like he did somebody else.
And, once I start walking away, he starts coming after me again.
Okay. Why did you grab a machete?
I honestly felt like I was out of options,
and I was trying to figure out
how else I can defend myself before it got worse,
because he did start threatening me.
Did you have any real intent to hurt James?
I just was trying to create another barrier between us
that he would take a little more serious, so to speak.
And the sentence for each charge
is anywhere from five to 15 years in prison.
So, worst-case scenario, if you go to trial and you lose,
a judge can sentence you
all the way up to 30 years in prison.
Unfortunately, under Arizona law,
the judge does not have the discretion
to give you probation or no jail.
So, if a jury came back and said you were guilty,
it's mandatory prison.
Do you understand that?
Mmm-hmm.
So that's why it's so important that
when we go to trial, that we win,
otherwise the judge does not have discretion to be lenient.
This case never should have gone this far.
You have a woman whose intent was not to commit a crime,
not to injure somebody, but to defend herself.
In the worst-case scenario, I have to go away from my son.
That's something that I can't even imagine.
It is stressful and overwhelming.
CAMPOS: Unfortunately, it's a very serious case.
The charges are very severe.
If we lose this case, my client's going to prison.
Sarah, I'm now going to show you
the surveillance camera video.
We only have one angle,
-but it captures most of the incident. -Okay.
CAMPOS: She just pulls in. She gets out of the car.
So now she's on the phone with 911?
Yeah. Unfortunately, we don't have the 911 phone calls,
they didn't preserve them.
The audio is really poor.
-We can't hear what he's saying. -No.
Because, I'd like to know what he...
-The tone. -Yeah, exactly, the tone and what he's saying to her.
CAMPOS: Here he comes around the car now
and spits on her.
She's done nothing to him.
Comes around
just to spit in her face.
HERNANDEZ: She wasn't even speaking to him.
-CAMPOS: Oh, second spit. -Yeah. Yeah.
-CAMPOS: You see there? -Right in the face.
CAMPOS: That's the second spit.
CAMPOS: So now she goes for the machete.
(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
CAMPOS: Apparently, he tells the police
that she actually swung it three times
and in doing so, cut him.
The fact that some of these critical moments happened
just outside of the angle of this camera is hurtful, too.
(SHOUTING INDISTINCTLY)
And she's trying to get a good distance away from him.
Get away from me! Get away from me!
While screaming "Get away from me."
-CAMPOS: Spits on her a third time. -Mmm.
If he's in fear and she is menacing him
with a machete, why doesn't he leave?
That's where the state has a major flaw in their case,
because they have to prove to a jury beyond a reasonable doubt
she put him in fear of imminent harm.
-He's never afraid of her. -He's antagonizing her.
(SMITH SPEAKING INDISTINCTLY)
All right. Sarah, I think on our list of things to do,
I'm gonna want Bryan Neumeister, our expert,
to see if he can enhance the audio
so that we can actually hear the tone and the threats
that James Runnels makes to Donjane.
Okay. Perfect.
I met James just about a year after I moved here to Phoenix.
James as a person, he was very sweet, really nice.
Some stuff would come up that I feel like
he would be a bit insecure about.
It was always I'm doing something
or I'm somewhere I shouldn't be.
And I'm not really used to that kind of control.
He does try and intimidate me.
But for the most part,
it was just more like verbal disagreements.
Not really anything too confrontational.
A situation like this, I honestly never see
myself going through with anybody.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
CAMPOS: I'm starting to take a look at these body cameras
to try to see what portions will be useful at trial.
I need to know for sure exactly what my client said.
No mistaking her statements.
Did she say something that is going to hurt us?
(SMITH SPEAKING)
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
CAMPOS: There's nothing there
that Donjane said that hurts our case.
And she's not reacting like a guilty person.
She's reacting as a typical innocent civilian
who believes they did not commit a crime.
-OFFICER: Watch your foot. -God!
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
But when you look at the total video,
that's hogwash.
He approaches her,
she's holding the machete close to her.
He swipes at it. He nicks his finger.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
CAMPOS: The body cameras are consistent
that Mr. Runnels was never in fear,
didn't sustain a serious injury,
and he's very nonchalant about the whole thing.
I mean, none of that really convicts my client.
(OFFICER SPEAKING)
The case comes down to my client's testimony
versus what Mr. Runnels is gonna say.
Her story has been consistent throughout the entire time.
He's just not believable.
(TENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
Original surveillance film,
all you could hear were the revving of the car,
all this traffic noise.
He's cut all of that background noise out,
and now you can hear what they're saying a lot clearer.
He spits on her again.
(SMITH SPEAKING)
There's one spot there where she says, "I'll cut you."
But in context, that doesn't hurt her.
It's not a threat to harm.
It's a warning "I'll defend myself."
James, you hit the knife, right at 3:47.
Makes it very clear
she didn't cut him, he cut himself.
Could not hear that on the original.
"You're going to jail you dumb hoe."
You can also hear her calling the police,
asking when they're going to show up.
Overall, I think the audio helps us.
We got some more audio with James making some threats
and using some, you know, some very vulgar language.
So, it helps show his anger,
and that's something that we did not get
from the original video.
Trying to show or let the jury
hear James's actual words, his threat, the tone,
I think goes a long way
to helping the jury understand why Donjane felt threatened.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
ASHLEY AARON: Hey. CAMPOS: Hey.
I've received some phone calls from James Runnels.
He has some pretty shocking information.
We've got them saved in the file.
Can you... Can you pull it up?
Several issues I'm gonna want you to help me research.
(ON RECORDING) Hello, Robert Campos speaking.
CAMPOS: And James, you're saying you know something about Donjane's case?
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
CAMPOS: You would agree that she just felt that she needed to defend herself?
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
CAMPOS: Donjane said that she didn't try to hurt you.
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
He's adamant that he was the one who injured himself.
He states that Donjane did not cause his injury.
I've been doing this 35 years, and it's absolutely rare,
virtually unheard of
to have a victim contact the defense attorney
and admit that he committed the crime
and that our client is innocent.
This is great information for us.
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
CAMPOS: The prosecutor told you not to talke to me?
(RUNNELS SPEAKING)
Under Arizona law, she absolutely
cannot tell a witness,
even a victim, not to contact the other side.
AARON: Yeah. Big ethical violations.
Yes. So, what's shocking here is that he directly communicated
with the prosecutor that he was the aggressor,
he's at fault, and that Donjane is innocent,
and that the prosecutor has not disclosed this.
That is shocking.
I want you to take a close look at the police reports,
check the law, and I'll follow up with James
to see if we can flesh this issue out a little bit more.
I think we're gonna need to file a motion,
to dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct.
I'm on my way to court this morning.
There's a hearing today.
I filed my motion to dismiss for prosecutorial misconduct.
I think the assigned prosecutor has crossed the line.
We'll see what the judge does today.
COURT CLERK: All rise.
Thank you. Please be seated.
Mr. Runnels, why don't you come forward.
I'm Ms. DeRango's supervisor, just so you know who I am.
RUNNELS: That's her name, DeRango? LOUDENSLAGEL: Yes.
-RUNNELS: I never knew. -That's the prosecutor who you spoke with.
I just want to be clear, she never told you,
you are not allowed to contact Mr. Campos, correct?
(SPUTTERS) Uh, I don't... My opinion... I don't know.
I don't want to say yeah. I don't want to say no.
All I say is that, she said that some...
She said sometimes in this case
that it could backfire on you.
But she didn't actually instruct you
-saying... -RUNNELS: It was very short.
-...you're not allowed to contact... -It was kind of short...
It was kind of short about the opinion.
Like I said, if I reach out,
she was saying "In my advice, I wouldn't reach out."
Thank you, Mr. Runnels.
I don't think we need anything further.
RUNNELS: Okay. JUDGE: Thank you, Sir.
RUNNELS: Yes, sir.
Mr. Campos, your motion.
I think there's no question that a victim coming
to the prosecutor and saying, "I was the aggressor,
"I don't wanna prosecute,
"the victim was defending herself,
"she committed no crime,"
I don't see how that is not Brady material, Judge.
I think it's clear from the victim's statements today
that he cannot say that Ms. DeRango
or the victim advocate in this case
ever told him not to speak to Mr. Campos
versus advising him of his rights.
And I wanna make it clear to the court
that the victim's position on this case
was contained in the original police report.
There is no Brady violation.
There's no disclosure violations.
The court should allow the state to go forward.
All right. I'm going to rule.
I don't think miscommunications,
whatever there were or misunderstandings
between the prosecutor and the victim are sufficient
to show prosecutorial misconduct or vindictiveness.
Mr. Runnels has been very consistent
from what I've seen in this record.
So I do not find a Brady violation.
So, I am denying the defendant's motions to dismiss.
Okay.
Once James had told the courts, you know, the truth
and that he's the aggressor, really, and I'm the victim,
I honestly thought my case would be dismissed.
Why is this still being prolonged?
You know, it should have been dismissed a long time ago.
But it's not.
I'm having a lot of, like, restless nights,
I can't sleep.
It's super important to me
to have people within the community,
family and friends to support
because it's just validation that, for one, I'm not alone.
Another thing that makes me really stressed
and really nervous about trial, too,
it's not only Dior, but I'm expecting my second child now.
It makes me feel more defensive
because now I'm not just defending myself,
I'm defending my tribe, my family. You know, we're one.
So if they take me, they break us all apart.
If I was to go to prison while I'm pregnant,
I would hate to say it,
but I might literally lose my mind.
Like, me and Dior are really close,
he means everything to me.
So to have him or another baby
and I'm bonding with this baby,
and when I have my baby, they just take it away
and I can't have any say so.
No, that's a complete violation of my life, of me.
I just... I just wanna be free.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
CAMPOS: We've looked at this case
from every possible angle.
You know, now we're ready to present this to the jury.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the jury.
JUDGE: Thank you, please be seated.
Ms. DeRango, your opening statement.
JENNA DERANGO: Thank you, your Honor.
The defendant and her then boyfriend, James Runnels,
they got into a verbal argument.
He walked over to the defendant and spat on her.
She became livid.
And at that time, she grabbed this from her vehicle.
She takes deadly aim right at James and swings at him.
He swipes it in an effort to protect himself.
We'll ask that you hold the defendant responsible
for unlawfully using deadly force
because she was angry,
wanted payback,
wanted retaliation.
Thank you.
JUDGE: Mr. Campos.
Yes, thank you, Your Honor.
Donjane is charged with causing injury to James Runnels.
There will be no evidence
that Donjane actually caused
injury to Mr. Runnels.
Donjane is charged with putting James Runnels in fear.
Donjane felt threatened, felt fear,
and she used reasonable means
at that moment to defend herself.
The evidence will show
that the wrong person is on trial here today.
Thank you.
JUDGE: Thank you, Mr. Campos.
CAMPOS: Putting an innocent citizen through this, it's grueling.
This is really a travesty of justice
that the government is going to this length
to try to convict Donjane Smith.
Ms. DeRango, your first witness.
DERANGO: Thank you, Your Honor.
DERANGO: Ultimately, her story to you was that
she grabbed the machete
and then Runnels chased after her?
MICHAEL WARREN: That's correct.
DERANGO: At any point during the investigation,
were you made aware of any evidence
to the contrary of that statement?
I mean, I was told there was
video surveillance from the store.
DERANGO: And who told you that?
My partner, Officer Brnak.
He just told me that it showed the defendant
kind of running after Mr. Runnels with a machete.
DERANGO: No further questions.
JUDGE: Mr. Campos.
CAMPOS: When you got on the scene,
did you see her out of control?
WARREN: No.
Did you see her livid?
No.
Did she act with you that she wanted
to get retribution against Mr. James Runnels?
Not that I saw, no.
Thank you, I don't have anything further.
JUDGE: All right, that's it for today. Thank you.
CAMPOS: Their case doesn't really impress.
I think the jurors are looking at this and saying "Is this it?"
What's very concerning is
they don't know that she's facing
mandatory prison of five to 30 years.
They have no idea how serious this case is,
and that Donjane has everything to lose
if a jury comes back with a guilty verdict.
(INTENSE MUSIC PLAYING)
SMITH: I don't really know what he's gonna do or say.
So, it causes stress to me
and then I don't deal with stress well,
I just get really sick. My body shuts down.
CAMPOS: It's critical that today
I'm able to score some big points with James
and establish that he was never afraid
and that Donjane did not cause his injuries.
And if I can't really score huge on those two points,
we've got a real problem.
He makes or breaks this case.
COURT CLERK: All rise.
Thank you. Please be seated.
LOUDENSLAGEL: Your Honor, at this time
the state would call it's next witness...
JUDGE: All right. LOUDENSLAGEL: ...James Runnels.
JUDGE: Mr. Runnels, come forward, please.
JUDGE: Mr. Runnels, I need you to speak nice and loud
-into that microphone. -Yes, sir, yes, sir.
LOUDENSLAGEL: When did you first meet Ms. Smith?
RUNNELS: Hmm, roughly five years ago.
LOUDENSLAGEL: And would you consider your relationship romantic?
Boyfriend, girlfriend?
I mean, it's like homie, lover, friends.
Sometimes we homie. Sometimes we friends.
Sometimes we lovers.
I mean, I have... I have a couple of those, so.
Now, on the drive, how was Ms. Smith acting?
I mean, she was normal. She was just normal.
Do you remember telling Officer Daley
that Ms. Smith got upset
that you were talking to other women?
Yeah, I probably said that.
Did you think that Ms. Smith
was overreacting to you talking to other girls?
Uh, no. She's... No.
After Ms. Smith got spit on twice by you,
would you still testify that she was calm at that point?
No. She got a little aroused at that time.
And what did you do in response to her coming around the car
and swinging the machete at you?
I tried to hit it with the bag. I tried to be funny, like,
yeah, try to hit it with the bag.
She wasn't going to hit nothing.
She didn't like... When she waved it,
it was like you could see.
It's like, I mean,
if she was really trying to get me,
she could have got me. It's a big machete.
LOUDENSLAGEL: At some point,
did Ms. Smith raise it up and point it at you?
Yeah, she picked it up and just like
to tell me to stay back because I was charging,
like, I was coming at her aggressively.
So she was like, "Hey, hey, stop stop,"
and I hit the knife.
LOUDENSLAGEL: Is this when you got the cut on your finger?
Yes.
LOUDENSLAGEL: No further questions at this time, Your Honor.
JUDGE: Mr. Campos.
Isn't it true that the bottom line is
that you were never afraid of Donjane?
Yes.
James, you didn't tell the police
the full truth, did you?
No, I like lowkey... I bluffed that...
Like, I took everything I did and didn't say it.
And then everything she did, I just said it,
but then I just put extra on it.
CAMPOS: You told the police that
-she sliced at you three times? -RUNNELS: Yeah.
And it was the third time that she sliced at you
-that you cut your finger, right? -Correct.
-And that's a lie? -Correct.
Isn't it true that Donjane never came down on you
when you were off the video?
Right. When she ran up,
she was just like talking to me.
And then I was talking to her.
And that's when I said "I'll break your face."
Because you could tell, she's saying "Hit me,
"you gonna hit me." That's when I was telling like,
"Yeah, bitch, I'll break your face."
I was about to beat her up.
-You were about to beat her up? -RUNNELS: Mmm-hmm.
-Is that a yes? -Yes, sir.
I don't have anything further, Judge. Thank you.
DERANGO: Your Honor, at this time, the state rests. JUDGE: All right.
COURT CLERK: All rise for the jury.
SMITH: I feel good, after today,
I feel really confident.
I feel like we covered everything
that needed to be covered.
So everything's exposed, pretty much.
There's no evidence to substantiate the charges.
And you know what, it's a complete defense victory.
After the government puts on their case and rests,
we have the right to approach the judge and say, "So what?"
Take what they've presented, it still doesn't add up
to enough evidence to take it to the jury.
CAMPOS: If the judge makes a finding
that there wasn't enough evidence
he will dismiss the case right now,
we don't have to present a defense.
It's incredibly difficult
to convince a judge to toss the case out.
They wanna just let the jury decide.
And this judge is very conservative.
I'm not sure he's ever done it before.
COURT CLERK: All rise.
Thank you. Please be seated.
All right. We are back on the record, State vs. Donjane Smith.
Jury is not present.
Mr. Campos, you have a Rule 20 motion.
Your Honor, I'm not gonna spend a lot of time.
Honestly, in 36 years,
I've never seen a truer, cleaner, motion for Rule 20
in any trial I've ever been a part of.
Mr. Runnels took the stand under oath
and affirmatively stated
that he caused his own injury,
and that is supported by the video.
Mr. Runnels was very clear that he was never in fear.
He put his hand up to provoke my client.
He thought the entire thing was a joke.
That does not amount to substantial evidence
on either one of those elements to take it to the jury.
So, I urge the court to put an end to this.
-Thank you. -JUDGE: All right.
Who's gonna argue for the state?
DERANGO: I am, your Honor. JUDGE: All right.
DERANGO: It's noted in case law
that people in a domestic relationship
may want to lie to protect their loved one.
The jury will get an instruction
that for any witness,
they can choose to accept all,
none, or part of the witness's testimony.
They do not have to accept the victim going up there
and now claiming he wasn't in reasonable apprehension.
They don't have to accept
that he thinks he caused his own injury.
They can reject those claims
based on the review of the other evidence in this case.
JUDGE: Thank you.
There are substantial weaknesses to the state's case.
There's no question that Mr. Runnels caused his own injury.
There's no factual dispute about that.
He was never in fear. And if you watched that video,
when you talk about reasonable apprehension,
he is the aggressor from beginning to end.
He pursued her.
She went to the other end of the parking lot
with the knife in her hand because he was going at her,
he was moving at her.
She kept retreating.
I do not find that a reasonable juror
could find the defendant guilty beyond a reasonable doubt
with regard to both counts.
The court is granting the Rule 20 motion
and dismissing both counts with prejudice.
SMITH: I feel really happy, overwhelmed with joy.
I don't have words for it. It's like breathtaking.
Literally. I cannot breathe.
I'm like... (BREATHES DEEPLY) "What's gonna happen?"
CAMPOS: This case never should have come to this point.
You know, it's been over two years
that I've been battling the government on this case.
And finally we prevailed.
Justice was done today.
SMITH: Thank you so much. CAMPOS: All right, thank you.
-I really, really appreciate it. -CAMPOS: All right. I know.
SMITH: The relief of, okay, wake up tomorrow.
What's tomorrow now? There's no more court.
I don't have to deal with court.
I don't have to worry about court.
So it's just a new life.
I feel like I'm born again today
and I get to kind of start over fresh.