1 00:00:07,083 --> 00:00:08,125 NICK BILTON: Do you want to be famous? 2 00:00:08,208 --> 00:00:09,625 -BOTH: Yes. -Sign me up! 3 00:00:10,000 --> 00:00:12,834 I don't feel like I want to. I feel like I deserve to. 4 00:00:13,083 --> 00:00:14,333 ♪ (UPBEAT MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 5 00:00:14,417 --> 00:00:15,959 BILTON: We want to do an experiment 6 00:00:16,041 --> 00:00:18,125 to see if we can take some random people... 7 00:00:19,083 --> 00:00:20,250 and make them fake famous. 8 00:00:21,208 --> 00:00:24,750 There's so much that goes into portraying something that's not really there. 9 00:00:24,834 --> 00:00:26,417 INFLUENCER: People take Instagram too seriously. 10 00:00:26,917 --> 00:00:28,333 I wish I could make my Instagram bio, 11 00:00:28,417 --> 00:00:29,834 "Please don't take this seriously." 12 00:00:29,917 --> 00:00:31,375 ♪ (MUSIC CONTINUES) ♪ 13 00:00:42,125 --> 00:00:44,041 Elizabeth Carmichael was ahead of her time. 14 00:00:44,333 --> 00:00:46,875 ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: I can do anything a man can do. 15 00:00:46,959 --> 00:00:50,500 I will run the auto industry like a queen. 16 00:00:52,083 --> 00:00:55,291 SPEAKER: This three-wheeler flew in the face of tradition. 17 00:00:56,041 --> 00:00:58,291 People were flocking to make deposits. 18 00:00:58,542 --> 00:01:00,458 SPEAKER 2: She brought in thirty-grand a day. 19 00:01:00,834 --> 00:01:03,166 There was so much cloak and dagger going on. 20 00:01:03,375 --> 00:01:05,875 We didn't have the equipment to make a car. 21 00:01:05,959 --> 00:01:07,583 SPEAKER 3: People weren't getting their paychecks. 22 00:01:08,000 --> 00:01:11,250 She was getting nervous, and she hired bodyguards. 23 00:01:12,125 --> 00:01:14,083 You're not telling me this wasn't the mafia. 24 00:01:15,083 --> 00:01:15,792 SPEAKER 4: In the shop, 25 00:01:16,291 --> 00:01:19,291 there was a briefcase full of cash and a revolver. 26 00:01:19,583 --> 00:01:21,000 SPEAKER 5: Bad things were going to happen. 27 00:01:21,291 --> 00:01:23,750 We were driving when it came on the radio. 28 00:01:23,834 --> 00:01:25,458 We thought that Liz had been killed. 29 00:01:25,542 --> 00:01:26,667 (TIRES SCREECHING) 30 00:01:47,458 --> 00:01:50,625 ♪ (SYNTHESIZER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 31 00:01:51,333 --> 00:01:53,333 (TAPE RECORDER CLICKS) 32 00:01:54,875 --> 00:01:58,333 G. ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: 33 00:02:13,417 --> 00:02:14,500 And, um... 34 00:02:42,375 --> 00:02:44,208 (TAPE CLICKS) 35 00:02:48,500 --> 00:02:50,083 ♪ (MUSIC ENDS) ♪ 36 00:02:50,500 --> 00:02:54,291 (RINGING) 37 00:02:55,834 --> 00:02:57,709 VERN VIHLENE: I got a call from Liz one day 38 00:02:57,792 --> 00:02:59,667 that they had chartered an airplane 39 00:02:59,750 --> 00:03:03,417 and they were going to take some of their prototype cars 40 00:03:03,500 --> 00:03:06,083 and do television commercials in Dallas. 41 00:03:06,166 --> 00:03:08,375 I was supposed to get an advance payment 42 00:03:08,458 --> 00:03:09,750 of three thousand dollars. 43 00:03:09,834 --> 00:03:11,166 But the day before the shoot, 44 00:03:11,250 --> 00:03:15,000 I still had not received my deposit. 45 00:03:15,083 --> 00:03:16,375 And I wasn't happy about it, 46 00:03:16,458 --> 00:03:18,834 so I just walked into her office. 47 00:03:18,917 --> 00:03:20,208 ♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 48 00:03:20,291 --> 00:03:22,041 VIHLENE: There was a bunch of gentlemen in there, 49 00:03:22,125 --> 00:03:23,542 and they were in some sort of a meeting, 50 00:03:23,625 --> 00:03:25,792 and Liz was behind her giant desk. 51 00:03:26,750 --> 00:03:29,041 I have no idea who these people were, 52 00:03:29,125 --> 00:03:30,959 but they were serious businessmen. 53 00:03:31,041 --> 00:03:33,542 They were dressed to the teeth, as was Liz. 54 00:03:33,625 --> 00:03:35,333 What they were discussing, what was going-- 55 00:03:35,417 --> 00:03:37,583 I have no idea, but I was very uncomfortable. 56 00:03:37,667 --> 00:03:40,125 I knew I should not have been in that room. 57 00:03:41,291 --> 00:03:44,250 And I put a copy of the invoice on her desk, and I said, 58 00:03:44,333 --> 00:03:46,875 "If we're going tomorrow, I gotta have this." 59 00:03:46,959 --> 00:03:49,625 And she opened her desk drawer and counted out... 60 00:03:50,417 --> 00:03:52,834 thirty 100-dollar bills for me. 61 00:03:52,917 --> 00:03:56,542 I left the room feeling a little bit apprehensive, 62 00:03:56,625 --> 00:03:59,333 but as far as I was concerned, we were heading to Dallas 63 00:03:59,417 --> 00:04:02,041 the next day to film a commercial. 64 00:04:02,125 --> 00:04:06,291 It was probably two hours later someone started shooting. 65 00:04:07,458 --> 00:04:09,000 (GUNSHOT) 66 00:04:10,125 --> 00:04:12,083 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 67 00:04:12,166 --> 00:04:13,917 RADIO ANCHOR: Late this afternoon, 68 00:04:14,000 --> 00:04:15,917 someone was shot to death in the showroom 69 00:04:16,000 --> 00:04:18,917 of the Twentieth Century Motor Car Company. 70 00:04:19,000 --> 00:04:20,667 CANDI MICHAEL: I remember pulling over 71 00:04:20,750 --> 00:04:23,917 and frantically talking, "What do we do? What do we do?" 72 00:04:24,000 --> 00:04:26,166 Vivian was scared to death. 73 00:04:28,959 --> 00:04:30,333 We thought it was Liz. 74 00:04:34,792 --> 00:04:36,959 When we got to Dallas, 75 00:04:37,750 --> 00:04:39,417 Liz was at home. 76 00:04:39,500 --> 00:04:44,083 -(GIRLS GIGGLING) -CANDI: Liz had already flown to Dallas. We didn't know this. 77 00:04:44,166 --> 00:04:47,125 We were all just happy Liz was there, and we didn't care. 78 00:04:47,208 --> 00:04:49,458 You know, "Mommy's all right. Life goes on." 79 00:04:49,542 --> 00:04:53,250 And that's when she said that it was between the bodyguards. 80 00:04:53,333 --> 00:04:55,959 There's been no official explanation as to what happened, 81 00:04:56,041 --> 00:04:57,709 but we have learned the victim was a man 82 00:04:57,792 --> 00:04:59,125 identified as Bill Miller. 83 00:04:59,208 --> 00:05:00,875 It's believed that Miller and another man 84 00:05:00,959 --> 00:05:02,959 got into a heated argument in a small office 85 00:05:03,041 --> 00:05:04,542 next to the showroom. 86 00:05:04,625 --> 00:05:07,083 One suspect has been jailed on suspicion of murder, 87 00:05:07,166 --> 00:05:10,125 47-year-old Jack Oliver of Huntington Beach. 88 00:05:10,208 --> 00:05:12,000 And it so happens that the murdered man, 89 00:05:12,083 --> 00:05:14,458 William Miller, first met Oliver at San Quentin. 90 00:05:14,542 --> 00:05:16,125 They were cellmates together. 91 00:05:16,208 --> 00:05:19,792 JACKIE POWELL: William Miller was my dad Jack's cellmate 92 00:05:19,875 --> 00:05:22,458 at San Quentin Prison. 93 00:05:22,542 --> 00:05:28,291 He and my dad were bodyguards for Liz Carmichael. 94 00:05:28,375 --> 00:05:32,291 There was an investigator from the Security Exchange 95 00:05:32,375 --> 00:05:35,583 coming to look through the books of the company. 96 00:05:36,333 --> 00:05:38,583 To quiet the investigation, 97 00:05:38,667 --> 00:05:41,083 Bill Miller had come up with a plan 98 00:05:41,166 --> 00:05:45,333 to assassinate this investigator. 99 00:05:45,417 --> 00:05:48,333 My dad said, "No, this isn't gonna work. 100 00:05:48,417 --> 00:05:50,792 This isn't what we should do." 101 00:05:50,875 --> 00:05:54,667 They wrestled over the gun, and according to my dad, 102 00:05:54,750 --> 00:05:58,667 the gun went off, and he shot Miller four times. 103 00:05:58,750 --> 00:06:00,583 (GUNSHOTS) 104 00:06:01,917 --> 00:06:03,875 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 105 00:06:10,083 --> 00:06:12,500 DICK CARLSON: Mrs. Carmichael can't be reached for comment today. 106 00:06:12,583 --> 00:06:14,000 According to a company spokesman, 107 00:06:14,083 --> 00:06:15,291 she is currently in Texas. 108 00:06:15,375 --> 00:06:17,875 She's trying to negotiate a deal for an assembly plant 109 00:06:17,959 --> 00:06:20,291 she says was abandoned by the Ford Motor Company. 110 00:06:20,375 --> 00:06:23,917 Carmichael had a perfect alibi. She'd left an hour before 111 00:06:24,000 --> 00:06:26,250 from Burbank Airport to fly out to Texas, 112 00:06:26,333 --> 00:06:28,625 where she was opening another facility. 113 00:06:28,709 --> 00:06:30,041 All of this, of course, makes one wonder 114 00:06:30,125 --> 00:06:33,083 why Mrs. Carmichael didn't take her bodyguard along with her, 115 00:06:33,166 --> 00:06:34,875 why she had one in the first place. 116 00:06:34,959 --> 00:06:37,333 Of course, it's a little late for that now. 117 00:06:37,417 --> 00:06:39,750 MARK MACCARLEY: Up until the homicide 118 00:06:39,834 --> 00:06:41,667 that took place in the Encino office, 119 00:06:41,750 --> 00:06:43,375 it was only after that, and very quickly, 120 00:06:43,458 --> 00:06:46,208 law enforcement agencies start taking a closer look 121 00:06:46,291 --> 00:06:49,625 and the press turned on her and said, "This is a scam." 122 00:06:52,458 --> 00:06:54,000 CARLSON: We decided once again this morning 123 00:06:54,083 --> 00:06:56,041 to pay a visit to the Dale headquarters in Encino 124 00:06:56,125 --> 00:06:58,500 to see if they were still selling options on their cars. 125 00:06:58,583 --> 00:07:00,458 They did yesterday. They weren't doing that, 126 00:07:00,542 --> 00:07:02,125 but they weren't doing anything else either. 127 00:07:02,208 --> 00:07:04,250 GERRY MCGUINNESS: Things started to fall apart. 128 00:07:04,333 --> 00:07:07,041 It happened rapidly. One thing after another. 129 00:07:07,125 --> 00:07:09,625 Boom, boom, boom. You couldn't turn on the TV 130 00:07:09,709 --> 00:07:11,625 without seeing a negative report. 131 00:07:11,709 --> 00:07:13,917 CARLSON: Lots of irritated Dale investors were in the lobby 132 00:07:14,000 --> 00:07:15,750 trying to get somebody to pay attention to them, 133 00:07:15,834 --> 00:07:17,417 mostly to get their money back. 134 00:07:17,500 --> 00:07:20,667 I was told that I would receive the money within 10 days, 135 00:07:20,750 --> 00:07:22,917 but I-- I'm a little dubious about it, 136 00:07:23,000 --> 00:07:25,458 and I came here to collect it, and they're closed. 137 00:07:25,542 --> 00:07:28,750 People had begun to show up at the showroom 138 00:07:28,834 --> 00:07:30,417 asking for their money back. 139 00:07:30,500 --> 00:07:32,709 INVESTOR: Let me get my money, that's all I want. 140 00:07:32,792 --> 00:07:34,750 Money, here. Twentieth Century. 141 00:07:34,834 --> 00:07:37,125 I called them last night at nine o'clock, and they-- 142 00:07:37,208 --> 00:07:38,709 they said, "Come on in," you know, 143 00:07:38,792 --> 00:07:40,166 "we'll do what we have to." 144 00:07:40,250 --> 00:07:42,375 And then I came in, and they wouldn't do anything. 145 00:07:42,458 --> 00:07:43,542 So we pounded on the windows, 146 00:07:43,625 --> 00:07:45,083 and they still wouldn't do anything. 147 00:07:48,875 --> 00:07:50,792 CARLSON: Now, we tried to get some reaction from the people 148 00:07:50,875 --> 00:07:52,458 out at Twentieth Century Motors in Encino, 149 00:07:52,542 --> 00:07:55,375 but all the company officers, including Mrs. Carmichael, 150 00:07:55,458 --> 00:07:57,625 are in Dallas, promoting the Dale in that city. 151 00:07:57,709 --> 00:08:00,542 So we can't very well present their side of the story at this time. 152 00:08:02,083 --> 00:08:05,542 ♪ ("TRAVELIN" BY JIMMY CARTER AND DALLAS COUNTY GREEN PLAYS) ♪ 153 00:08:08,166 --> 00:08:11,500 CANDI: I remember when we came to Dallas, 154 00:08:11,583 --> 00:08:14,709 there was a lot of media attention. 155 00:08:14,792 --> 00:08:17,542 I just remember there was a whole bunch of people 156 00:08:17,625 --> 00:08:20,208 with cameras at the airport, 157 00:08:20,291 --> 00:08:23,500 and the family was all together, all the kids and Liz, 158 00:08:23,583 --> 00:08:25,792 and we were waiting for the airplane to arrive 159 00:08:25,875 --> 00:08:28,625 that was bringing the Dale from Los Angeles. 160 00:08:30,875 --> 00:08:33,625 When they finally got it out, 161 00:08:33,709 --> 00:08:35,834 there was a big round of applause. 162 00:08:35,917 --> 00:08:38,000 (APPLAUSE) 163 00:08:38,083 --> 00:08:40,542 CANDI: It was just awesome. 164 00:08:40,625 --> 00:08:43,500 It was just really amazing, the whole thing. 165 00:08:43,583 --> 00:08:45,500 ♪ Begged me To take her with me... ♪ 166 00:08:45,583 --> 00:08:46,834 GERRY BANKS: Once she got to Dallas, 167 00:08:46,917 --> 00:08:49,542 Liz got a lot of television coverage, 168 00:08:49,625 --> 00:08:51,917 was shown on all the local stations. 169 00:08:52,792 --> 00:08:54,333 At the time this happened, I had been 170 00:08:54,417 --> 00:08:58,500 assistant district attorney for about three years. 171 00:08:58,583 --> 00:09:02,917 There was a vehicle that was supposedly the prototype 172 00:09:03,041 --> 00:09:04,583 that had been brought from California, 173 00:09:04,667 --> 00:09:07,959 and it was kept in a garage out in Addison. 174 00:09:10,667 --> 00:09:13,041 And we went out there and looked at it. 175 00:09:13,125 --> 00:09:14,375 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 176 00:09:14,458 --> 00:09:19,125 BANKS: And it was a large toy kit car at the very best. 177 00:09:19,917 --> 00:09:22,542 If Liz wasn't there on the scene 178 00:09:22,625 --> 00:09:23,875 and wasn't convincing you, 179 00:09:23,959 --> 00:09:26,083 and you started looking at this critically, 180 00:09:26,166 --> 00:09:27,750 it was a house of cards. 181 00:09:29,792 --> 00:09:31,542 Liz, you did this in California. 182 00:09:31,625 --> 00:09:33,375 If you think you're gonna screw millions of dollars 183 00:09:33,458 --> 00:09:35,583 out of people in Texas, not going to happen. 184 00:09:35,667 --> 00:09:36,917 We're gonna prosecute it. 185 00:09:37,000 --> 00:09:38,875 ANCHOR 1: This late development from Dallas, Texas. 186 00:09:38,959 --> 00:09:42,208 The district attorney of Dallas has issued criminal complaints 187 00:09:42,291 --> 00:09:43,500 against 10 officers 188 00:09:43,583 --> 00:09:46,083 of the Twentieth Century Motor Car Company of Encino, 189 00:09:46,166 --> 00:09:49,125 manufacturers of the controversial Dale automobile. 190 00:09:49,208 --> 00:09:51,959 They're accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft 191 00:09:52,041 --> 00:09:54,166 in the sale and promotion of the Dale. 192 00:09:54,250 --> 00:09:57,417 Among those charged is Mrs. G. Elizabeth Carmichael, 193 00:09:57,500 --> 00:09:59,250 president of Twentieth Century Motors. 194 00:09:59,333 --> 00:10:02,166 CANDI: It just suddenly came to a head. 195 00:10:02,250 --> 00:10:06,083 The house was full of all the people from the office, 196 00:10:06,166 --> 00:10:08,959 and they were discussing, 197 00:10:09,041 --> 00:10:11,375 "Do we stay and fight or do we leave?" 198 00:10:11,458 --> 00:10:14,917 And they took a vote. Liz did not decide. 199 00:10:15,000 --> 00:10:16,959 And I remember sitting on the stairs 200 00:10:17,041 --> 00:10:19,542 when the last salesman came in the room 201 00:10:19,625 --> 00:10:21,542 with a briefcase. 202 00:10:21,625 --> 00:10:25,583 And that last man had just closed out their account, 203 00:10:25,667 --> 00:10:27,959 and they divvied up the money, 204 00:10:28,041 --> 00:10:30,083 and everybody went their separate ways. 205 00:10:30,166 --> 00:10:33,709 It was Sam she worried about the most. 206 00:10:33,792 --> 00:10:36,959 And she was in tears when she told him, 207 00:10:37,041 --> 00:10:39,709 "Don't worry about it. Do what you've got to do." 208 00:10:40,583 --> 00:10:43,083 Liz thought of Sam as a father figure. 209 00:10:43,166 --> 00:10:46,208 Even as a child, I knew she loved Sam. 210 00:10:47,125 --> 00:10:50,166 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 211 00:10:51,166 --> 00:10:53,166 In probably less than 10 minutes, 212 00:10:53,250 --> 00:10:56,750 the whole family was in the car and we were on the road, 213 00:10:56,834 --> 00:10:58,125 and that was the end. 214 00:10:58,208 --> 00:11:02,041 ♪ ("SOONER OR LATER" BY HOT KNIVES PLAYING) ♪ 215 00:11:02,125 --> 00:11:05,625 BANKS: As we used to use a lot in file argument, 216 00:11:05,709 --> 00:11:07,917 "the guilty fleeth when no man pursueth." 217 00:11:08,041 --> 00:11:10,667 CARLSON: Meanwhile, downtown at police headquarters at Parker Center, 218 00:11:10,750 --> 00:11:13,500 five top executives at Twentieth Century Motor Cars 219 00:11:13,583 --> 00:11:16,375 were booked on fugitive warrants from Dallas, Texas. 220 00:11:16,458 --> 00:11:19,500 They're all accused of conspiracy to commit grand theft. 221 00:11:19,583 --> 00:11:22,500 I believe that, as any good criminal was, 222 00:11:22,583 --> 00:11:25,000 she was thinking several moves ahead. 223 00:11:25,083 --> 00:11:26,834 CARLSON: Investigators say that official records 224 00:11:26,917 --> 00:11:29,667 of her existence before March of 1973 225 00:11:29,750 --> 00:11:31,000 could not be found. 226 00:11:31,083 --> 00:11:32,625 Whatever the facts of her past, 227 00:11:32,709 --> 00:11:34,750 the mystery of Geraldine E. Carmichael, 228 00:11:34,834 --> 00:11:36,750 or who she is, is not going to be solved 229 00:11:36,834 --> 00:11:38,959 until it's discovered where she is. 230 00:11:39,041 --> 00:11:41,333 To have done it three or four times 231 00:11:41,417 --> 00:11:42,333 and gotten away with it, 232 00:11:42,417 --> 00:11:44,250 why wouldn't she think she could keep on? 233 00:11:44,333 --> 00:11:47,291 ♪ And time ♪ 234 00:11:47,959 --> 00:11:49,500 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 235 00:11:49,583 --> 00:11:52,583 (INSECTS CHIRPING) 236 00:11:52,667 --> 00:11:57,959 We went to a judge and obtained a probable cause arrest warrant 237 00:11:58,041 --> 00:12:00,709 and a probable cause search warrant. 238 00:12:00,792 --> 00:12:02,041 (BANGING) 239 00:12:02,125 --> 00:12:03,333 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 240 00:12:03,417 --> 00:12:06,375 BANKS: Place was abandoned. No one was there. 241 00:12:06,458 --> 00:12:09,875 Um, we found a lot of female undergarments, 242 00:12:09,959 --> 00:12:12,625 but a lot of things, and again, I don't know the names for 'em, 243 00:12:12,709 --> 00:12:17,000 that would suppress the male part 244 00:12:17,083 --> 00:12:20,083 so that, uh, she looked more like a female... 245 00:12:21,792 --> 00:12:25,625 and some literature on completely making the change 246 00:12:25,709 --> 00:12:28,125 to a female. 247 00:12:28,208 --> 00:12:32,333 I didn't realize that there's a possibility that she... 248 00:12:32,417 --> 00:12:34,291 uh, she might be of another gender. 249 00:12:34,375 --> 00:12:37,500 It made the case more interesting. (CHUCKLES) 250 00:12:39,667 --> 00:12:42,834 There were some personal papers of Liz Carmichael 251 00:12:42,917 --> 00:12:46,166 of her being from Indianapolis, and some information there 252 00:12:46,250 --> 00:12:50,875 that she had contacts at the local utility company. 253 00:12:50,959 --> 00:12:55,667 I flew to Indianapolis and went to the utility company. 254 00:12:57,500 --> 00:13:02,083 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 255 00:13:02,166 --> 00:13:04,834 CHARLES RICHARD BARRETT: I was over at my office at the phone company 256 00:13:04,917 --> 00:13:06,542 when Mary Jo, my secretary, 257 00:13:06,625 --> 00:13:10,917 she said, "Mr. Barrett, there's some strangers here." 258 00:13:11,000 --> 00:13:12,583 She says, "I don't know who they are. 259 00:13:12,667 --> 00:13:15,458 Charlie, are-- are you in trouble?" 260 00:13:15,542 --> 00:13:17,375 I said, "I think I know what's going on." 261 00:13:17,458 --> 00:13:19,417 I go in there and I shook everybody's hand, 262 00:13:19,500 --> 00:13:20,750 and they said, "Now, 263 00:13:20,834 --> 00:13:22,000 you probably know why we're here." 264 00:13:22,083 --> 00:13:24,125 And I said, "I don't know, but I got an idea." 265 00:13:24,208 --> 00:13:28,834 And he said, "Well, we think you know where she is." 266 00:13:31,542 --> 00:13:34,583 And I said, "Well, I ain't got a clue." 267 00:13:36,959 --> 00:13:39,125 And they said, "We've been talking to your neighbors. 268 00:13:39,208 --> 00:13:40,583 We've been talking to your wife. 269 00:13:40,667 --> 00:13:42,375 You're not being honest with us." 270 00:13:46,750 --> 00:13:48,041 And I thought, "You know, 271 00:13:48,125 --> 00:13:51,542 you're trying to build a case on me, and..." (STAMMERS) 272 00:13:51,625 --> 00:13:53,291 "I'll be truthful as I can." 273 00:13:53,375 --> 00:13:56,417 And that's what I told them, just like I'm talking today. 274 00:13:58,166 --> 00:13:59,208 They said, "Where is she?" 275 00:13:59,291 --> 00:14:01,375 And I said, "Well, she's at this address." 276 00:14:01,959 --> 00:14:03,041 So... 277 00:14:03,125 --> 00:14:04,750 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 278 00:14:04,834 --> 00:14:07,250 CLARENCE MEE: He said, "I've known her for a long time... 279 00:14:08,500 --> 00:14:11,625 and she dresses as a female." 280 00:14:11,709 --> 00:14:14,166 That's when we discovered that Liz Carmichael 281 00:14:14,250 --> 00:14:16,250 was actually Jerry Dean Michael. 282 00:14:17,333 --> 00:14:20,250 We contacted our Dallas office and asked them 283 00:14:20,333 --> 00:14:23,792 to run the name Jerry Dean Michael. 284 00:14:23,875 --> 00:14:25,500 And they got back on the phone and said, 285 00:14:25,583 --> 00:14:28,000 "Y'all get back to Dallas right away." 286 00:14:28,083 --> 00:14:29,875 (CAR ENGINE REVS) 287 00:14:32,709 --> 00:14:36,750 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 288 00:14:38,125 --> 00:14:40,709 CARLSON: After I gave the glass that the informant 289 00:14:40,792 --> 00:14:42,959 had given to me to the LAPD, 290 00:14:43,041 --> 00:14:45,709 I was on the set at ABC 291 00:14:45,792 --> 00:14:47,542 and the phone rang. 292 00:14:47,625 --> 00:14:49,375 (RINGING) 293 00:14:49,458 --> 00:14:51,709 It was a sergeant at the LAPD. 294 00:14:51,792 --> 00:14:54,709 And he said, "Dick, you're not gonna believe this. 295 00:14:54,792 --> 00:14:57,750 This glass belongs to a guy who's a fugitive 296 00:14:57,834 --> 00:15:01,291 from a counterfeiting arrest in 1961. 297 00:15:02,291 --> 00:15:04,667 And he's been on the lam all these years, 298 00:15:04,750 --> 00:15:07,625 and his name is Jerry Dean Michael." 299 00:15:08,250 --> 00:15:09,875 There was the proof. 300 00:15:09,959 --> 00:15:11,500 All along, we had this feeling, 301 00:15:11,583 --> 00:15:13,291 but you can't operate on feelings. 302 00:15:13,375 --> 00:15:15,291 And so we decided we weren't gonna tell 303 00:15:15,375 --> 00:15:17,709 the management about this discovery 304 00:15:17,792 --> 00:15:19,709 because we were afraid that they would stop us. 305 00:15:19,792 --> 00:15:21,250 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 306 00:15:21,333 --> 00:15:23,583 ANCHOR 2: Dick Carlson tonight has some answers to those 307 00:15:23,667 --> 00:15:26,041 very intriguing questions about the mystery woman 308 00:15:26,125 --> 00:15:28,291 who vanished completely after promoting 309 00:15:28,375 --> 00:15:30,917 a three-wheel car that really never was. 310 00:15:31,000 --> 00:15:33,583 CARLSON: Introduced the story as another Dale car story, 311 00:15:33,667 --> 00:15:36,291 and then I ran a picture of Mrs. Carmichael, 312 00:15:37,041 --> 00:15:38,250 then I did a slow dissolve 313 00:15:38,333 --> 00:15:41,083 into the crew-cut Jerry Dean Michael. 314 00:15:41,166 --> 00:15:43,125 CARLSON: (IN STUDIO) Mrs. Carmichael's fingerprints 315 00:15:43,208 --> 00:15:45,291 match those of a notorious con man. 316 00:15:45,375 --> 00:15:49,250 Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael in reality is a 47-year-old guy 317 00:15:49,333 --> 00:15:51,166 by the name of Jerry Dean Michael. 318 00:15:51,250 --> 00:15:52,500 ♪ (MUSIC STOPS) ♪ 319 00:15:53,000 --> 00:15:54,625 (BIRDS SINGING) 320 00:15:54,709 --> 00:15:56,417 ♪ (QUIET MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 321 00:15:56,500 --> 00:16:00,625 CANDI: Several months after the exodus from Dallas, 322 00:16:00,709 --> 00:16:04,125 we wound up in Florida on the run from the law. 323 00:16:04,208 --> 00:16:06,458 And we were all sitting on the couch, 324 00:16:06,542 --> 00:16:08,959 and Brian was in and out of the house. 325 00:16:09,041 --> 00:16:11,166 -(DOOR OPENS) -CANDI: And he'd come in and said, 326 00:16:11,250 --> 00:16:16,000 "There's a strange delivery van acting weird two doors down." 327 00:16:18,458 --> 00:16:21,542 Wendi and I went outside and I saw the delivery van, 328 00:16:21,625 --> 00:16:24,291 and then I saw the mail truck. 329 00:16:24,375 --> 00:16:28,709 And I came in and I said, "The mailman's here again." 330 00:16:28,792 --> 00:16:31,792 Liz and Vivian just looked at each other, 331 00:16:31,875 --> 00:16:36,041 and then all of a sudden, Liz jumped up and was gone. 332 00:16:36,125 --> 00:16:37,834 (FOOTSTEPS RUNNING) 333 00:16:37,917 --> 00:16:41,709 And within seconds, the police started swarming in the house. 334 00:16:41,792 --> 00:16:43,375 -(SIREN WAILING) -OFFICER 1: Police! Quick! 335 00:16:43,458 --> 00:16:45,250 Get down! Get down! Everybody down! 336 00:16:45,333 --> 00:16:47,417 CANDI: I was trying to catch Michael. 337 00:16:47,500 --> 00:16:49,417 Michael was running around in the kitchen, 338 00:16:49,500 --> 00:16:51,667 and I'd just picked him up coming around a corner, 339 00:16:51,750 --> 00:16:54,000 -and a cop had his gun... -OFFICER 2: Freeze! You're under arrest. 340 00:16:54,083 --> 00:16:55,417 CANDI: ...pointing right at me. 341 00:16:55,500 --> 00:16:56,500 (METAL CLICKING) 342 00:16:56,583 --> 00:17:00,375 Why would you be bringing guns drawn like that 343 00:17:00,458 --> 00:17:03,000 in a house full of little kids... 344 00:17:03,083 --> 00:17:06,291 against people that have never been accused of violence? 345 00:17:06,375 --> 00:17:09,750 Jerry Dean Michael had never been accused of a violent crime, 346 00:17:09,834 --> 00:17:13,834 had never been accused of carrying a weapon. Never. 347 00:17:13,917 --> 00:17:16,000 Liz, same thing. 348 00:17:16,083 --> 00:17:19,083 And we're just sitting there in shock. 349 00:17:19,166 --> 00:17:21,667 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 350 00:17:21,750 --> 00:17:23,166 CANDI: The whole family was sad. 351 00:17:23,250 --> 00:17:26,458 We figured we'd never see Liz again. 352 00:17:26,542 --> 00:17:29,250 None of us could figure out how she did it. 353 00:17:29,333 --> 00:17:32,583 She ran out the house just wearing her bodysuit. 354 00:17:33,959 --> 00:17:37,417 Day goes by, and we're all sitting around 355 00:17:37,500 --> 00:17:40,458 quietly discussing what's going to happen. 356 00:17:41,500 --> 00:17:44,625 And then Liz creeps out from behind a curtain. 357 00:17:46,125 --> 00:17:48,291 She came back to say goodbye to us. 358 00:17:49,458 --> 00:17:50,542 We were trying to whisper, 359 00:17:50,625 --> 00:17:52,834 and everybody's saying their goodbyes. 360 00:17:54,625 --> 00:17:57,375 -OFFICER 3: Hold it there. -CANDI: Then the cops busted through the house again. 361 00:17:57,458 --> 00:17:58,667 OFFICER 3: You're under arrest. 362 00:17:58,750 --> 00:17:59,917 CANDI: And that's how they got her, 363 00:18:00,000 --> 00:18:02,166 'cause she came back to say goodbye to her kids. 364 00:18:03,417 --> 00:18:06,208 Not exactly happily ever after, 365 00:18:06,291 --> 00:18:10,458 but it started a whole new episode of our lives. 366 00:18:11,333 --> 00:18:13,166 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 367 00:18:14,834 --> 00:18:17,208 (ENGINE REVS) 368 00:18:17,291 --> 00:18:19,625 CARLSON: Elizabeth Carmichael was officially unmasked 369 00:18:19,709 --> 00:18:21,959 over the weekend when she, or rather he, 370 00:18:22,041 --> 00:18:24,875 was caught by the FBI in Miami, Florida. 371 00:18:24,959 --> 00:18:27,000 Carmichael is in actuality a man, 372 00:18:27,083 --> 00:18:28,250 and he spent the weekend 373 00:18:28,333 --> 00:18:31,667 in the men's lockup in the Dade County Florida Jail. 374 00:18:31,750 --> 00:18:34,750 I saw that and I thought, "My gosh. 375 00:18:34,834 --> 00:18:37,125 Look what they're doing to Liz." 376 00:18:37,208 --> 00:18:38,625 It angered me. 377 00:18:38,709 --> 00:18:40,375 CARLSON: Looking harried, bedraggled, 378 00:18:40,458 --> 00:18:42,166 and wearing the pink pantsuit he had on 379 00:18:42,250 --> 00:18:43,583 when arrested late Friday, 380 00:18:43,667 --> 00:18:46,333 Carmichael was handcuffed and taken off to arraignment. 381 00:18:47,000 --> 00:18:48,875 I know Liz. 382 00:18:48,959 --> 00:18:53,125 (CHUCKLES) That had to be just terrible. 383 00:18:53,208 --> 00:18:55,291 (INDISTINCT CLAMOR) 384 00:18:55,375 --> 00:18:58,166 I was notified at home that they had arrested her 385 00:18:58,250 --> 00:19:00,125 that evening in Miami. 386 00:19:00,208 --> 00:19:04,542 I, along with Gerry Banks, flew out of Dallas that night... 387 00:19:06,333 --> 00:19:09,208 and interviewed her the next morning. 388 00:19:11,875 --> 00:19:14,542 BANKS: We knew there was about six million dollars 389 00:19:14,625 --> 00:19:18,291 that we could account for that had come in from California to Texas. 390 00:19:18,375 --> 00:19:20,250 (CHUCKLES) So I said, "Well, Liz, what happened 391 00:19:20,333 --> 00:19:22,417 to that 10 million dollars?" 392 00:19:22,500 --> 00:19:23,959 I deliberately inflated it. 393 00:19:24,041 --> 00:19:26,792 And she immediately said, "It was only three." 394 00:19:26,875 --> 00:19:29,250 The way she said it and the way she looked at you, you know, 395 00:19:29,333 --> 00:19:31,750 and just-- With the smile. (LAUGHS) 396 00:19:31,834 --> 00:19:34,291 And we-- and we both just started laughing. 397 00:19:34,375 --> 00:19:36,667 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 398 00:19:36,750 --> 00:19:40,667 BANKS: She told me that she had gone to Mexico 399 00:19:40,750 --> 00:19:44,125 and had started the surgery to become a female. 400 00:19:44,208 --> 00:19:47,250 As part of this, she had had her testicles removed. 401 00:19:47,333 --> 00:19:48,875 I think you gotta be pretty brave 402 00:19:48,959 --> 00:19:50,792 to do something like that. 403 00:19:50,875 --> 00:19:54,542 That, you know, certainly life-altering, 404 00:19:54,625 --> 00:19:56,500 body-altering change, I-- I-- 405 00:19:56,583 --> 00:19:58,500 I don't think a weak-hearted, faint-hearted person 406 00:19:58,583 --> 00:20:00,041 would do something like that. 407 00:20:00,125 --> 00:20:02,750 Trans people would do what they could do 408 00:20:02,834 --> 00:20:05,875 outside the-- the medical establishment. 409 00:20:05,959 --> 00:20:07,875 Maybe they could get hormones on the street 410 00:20:07,959 --> 00:20:09,000 or on the black market, 411 00:20:09,083 --> 00:20:11,458 or maybe they would inject silicone. 412 00:20:11,542 --> 00:20:13,125 The doctors would say, "We don't want 413 00:20:13,208 --> 00:20:14,583 to essentially sterilize you." 414 00:20:14,667 --> 00:20:19,709 And that would be an argument against surgical transition. 415 00:20:19,792 --> 00:20:23,375 People would go to Mexico for the first step of the procedure 416 00:20:23,458 --> 00:20:25,333 to simply be castrated, 417 00:20:25,417 --> 00:20:28,291 and then they would look for a plastic surgeon in the US 418 00:20:28,375 --> 00:20:29,709 who would operate on them 419 00:20:29,792 --> 00:20:33,041 once they had already, um, had their testicles removed. 420 00:20:33,125 --> 00:20:36,166 That was so common that the slang term for it 421 00:20:36,250 --> 00:20:38,125 was the Tijuana Two-Step. 422 00:20:38,625 --> 00:20:40,417 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 423 00:20:40,500 --> 00:20:42,709 (CAR APPROACHING) 424 00:20:42,792 --> 00:20:45,709 ♪ (PEACEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 425 00:20:45,792 --> 00:20:48,333 CANDI: The first time we went down there, 426 00:20:49,041 --> 00:20:50,834 we went down with Jerry, 427 00:20:50,917 --> 00:20:55,959 even though at home, Jerry was dressing as Liz, 428 00:20:56,041 --> 00:20:58,834 but out in public, it was still "Jerry." 429 00:20:58,917 --> 00:21:02,125 And I remember him wearing black dress pants, 430 00:21:02,208 --> 00:21:05,208 a white button-down shirt, and a black blazer. 431 00:21:07,000 --> 00:21:10,583 And this was for the breast implants. 432 00:21:10,667 --> 00:21:14,166 Even though Liz already had some breasts, 433 00:21:14,250 --> 00:21:15,917 hormones only get you so far. 434 00:21:16,000 --> 00:21:17,458 If you wanna look like Dolly Parton... 435 00:21:17,542 --> 00:21:19,542 (CHUCKLING) you need some inserts. 436 00:21:21,208 --> 00:21:23,250 Wendi and I sat in the waiting room, 437 00:21:23,333 --> 00:21:26,208 and Jerry went into the doctor's office. 438 00:21:26,792 --> 00:21:28,166 We were coloring, 439 00:21:28,250 --> 00:21:30,792 we played board games while we were waiting, 440 00:21:30,875 --> 00:21:32,000 and then... 441 00:21:32,917 --> 00:21:36,125 she came out, wear-- dressed as a woman, 442 00:21:36,208 --> 00:21:39,083 and we went on. 443 00:21:39,166 --> 00:21:42,041 She never went back to wearing men's clothes again. 444 00:21:42,125 --> 00:21:43,166 Never. 445 00:21:44,583 --> 00:21:49,250 BANKS: She told me she wanted to be known as a trailblazer. 446 00:21:49,333 --> 00:21:51,792 Making the change from male to female, 447 00:21:51,875 --> 00:21:54,709 and yes, it can be done. 448 00:21:54,792 --> 00:21:57,333 I said, "All this stealing, all this money you got, 449 00:21:57,417 --> 00:21:58,542 would detract from that." 450 00:21:58,625 --> 00:22:01,458 And her answer was, "No, I don't think it will." 451 00:22:01,542 --> 00:22:03,125 ♪ (MUSIC FADES) ♪ 452 00:22:03,208 --> 00:22:05,625 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 453 00:22:05,709 --> 00:22:07,125 CARLSON: I flew to Miami, 454 00:22:07,208 --> 00:22:09,959 and I went to the sheriff who ran the jail. 455 00:22:10,041 --> 00:22:12,166 And I asked him, "Where did you put this guy? 456 00:22:12,250 --> 00:22:13,417 Is he a male or a female? 457 00:22:13,500 --> 00:22:15,709 He-- he's been saying that he's a female, 458 00:22:15,792 --> 00:22:19,667 but does he have, uh, male equipment or female?" 459 00:22:19,750 --> 00:22:21,041 He said, "Oh no. He's-- he's equipped 460 00:22:21,125 --> 00:22:22,834 just like you and I are. He's a male. 461 00:22:22,917 --> 00:22:25,250 So," he said, "I put him in a cell by himself." 462 00:22:27,917 --> 00:22:29,834 The feds brought him back on a plane. 463 00:22:29,917 --> 00:22:31,333 I rode on the plane with him. 464 00:22:31,417 --> 00:22:33,417 He really disliked me, I have to say. 465 00:22:36,417 --> 00:22:39,083 Pete Noyes and I were always bothered 466 00:22:39,166 --> 00:22:41,875 by the fact that she looked so much like a man. 467 00:22:43,000 --> 00:22:44,125 That was my first thought, 468 00:22:44,208 --> 00:22:46,500 but I couldn't impart that to the rest of the crew 469 00:22:46,583 --> 00:22:48,375 'cause I couldn't say that in front of her. 470 00:22:49,583 --> 00:22:51,458 DENNIS SMITH: There was something off 471 00:22:51,542 --> 00:22:54,625 from the moment he met her. 472 00:22:54,709 --> 00:22:59,959 Dick's alarm went off when he shook her hand. 473 00:23:00,041 --> 00:23:02,959 And he went back to Pete and told Pete, 474 00:23:03,041 --> 00:23:05,959 "I think this woman needs looking into." 475 00:23:22,291 --> 00:23:23,375 CARLSON: People have been asking 476 00:23:23,458 --> 00:23:25,417 why we wanna know so much about the Dale, and... 477 00:23:25,500 --> 00:23:26,959 Well, they have been asking. In fact, you know, 478 00:23:27,041 --> 00:23:28,875 a lot of people have asked me if we have an obsession 479 00:23:28,959 --> 00:23:30,750 -here on Eyewitness News Wants To Know. -COHOST: Do we? 480 00:23:30,834 --> 00:23:33,208 No, we really don't, but, uh, we're convinced 481 00:23:33,291 --> 00:23:35,834 there are an awful lot of questions about the Dale that ought to be answered. 482 00:23:35,917 --> 00:23:37,834 And new ones, in fact, pop up every day. 483 00:23:37,917 --> 00:23:39,542 Till we get the answers, we're gonna continue 484 00:23:39,625 --> 00:23:41,208 to ask the questions. 485 00:23:41,291 --> 00:23:44,583 SANDY STONE: Whenever a trans story surfaced, 486 00:23:44,667 --> 00:23:46,917 the media would take it and run with it 487 00:23:47,000 --> 00:23:49,917 in the simplest possible terms, 488 00:23:50,000 --> 00:23:54,542 which was a man masquerading as a woman. 489 00:23:54,625 --> 00:23:58,750 So when someone like Liz appears in the media, 490 00:23:58,834 --> 00:24:02,959 then you already have that way of framing it. 491 00:24:03,041 --> 00:24:04,625 And it sells much more 492 00:24:04,709 --> 00:24:07,041 than trying to tell the truth would be. 493 00:24:08,500 --> 00:24:13,834 Liz had to combat the narrative in the media 494 00:24:13,917 --> 00:24:15,750 that she was not a woman. 495 00:24:15,834 --> 00:24:19,625 How do you combat the media's narrative 496 00:24:19,709 --> 00:24:21,834 that you are not a woman? 497 00:24:23,000 --> 00:24:25,208 And the answer is... 498 00:24:27,041 --> 00:24:28,375 you don't. 499 00:24:28,458 --> 00:24:29,792 The secret life of Jerry Michael 500 00:24:29,875 --> 00:24:32,625 sounds a little like a second-rate grade B movie. 501 00:24:32,709 --> 00:24:34,959 In 1961, he jumped bail in Los Angeles. 502 00:24:35,041 --> 00:24:37,542 He'd been arrested on a counterfeiting charge at the time. 503 00:24:37,625 --> 00:24:39,291 He's been arrested about seven times, in fact. 504 00:24:39,375 --> 00:24:42,083 And for the last 14 years, he has been a federal fugitive, 505 00:24:42,166 --> 00:24:43,542 moving from house to house... 506 00:24:43,625 --> 00:24:45,917 It was all some version of what now gets called 507 00:24:46,000 --> 00:24:50,500 the "evil deceivers and make-believers" trope or stereotype, 508 00:24:50,583 --> 00:24:53,375 that we're pretending to be something that we're not, 509 00:24:53,458 --> 00:24:55,000 and that it's a deceitful act. 510 00:24:55,083 --> 00:24:57,959 CARLSON: In the mid-1950s, Michael was a gunrunner. 511 00:24:58,041 --> 00:25:00,750 He was supplying the pre-Castro Cuban government 512 00:25:00,834 --> 00:25:02,166 of Fulgencio Batista with arms. 513 00:25:02,250 --> 00:25:04,542 Now I ask you, would you buy a used Dale from this fella? 514 00:25:04,625 --> 00:25:08,000 CARLSON: (IN PRESENT) Elizabeth Carmichael was a supreme egomaniac. 515 00:25:08,083 --> 00:25:09,834 The fact she posed as a woman, 516 00:25:09,917 --> 00:25:13,333 it was a-- a manner of disguising herself as a fugitive, 517 00:25:13,417 --> 00:25:16,375 but also was a way for her to garner publicity. 518 00:25:16,458 --> 00:25:17,709 It was very effective. 519 00:25:17,792 --> 00:25:19,542 You may recall my introduction to Jerry, 520 00:25:19,625 --> 00:25:20,917 or Geraldine if you prefer, 521 00:25:21,000 --> 00:25:23,500 earlier this year when we began our investigation. 522 00:25:23,583 --> 00:25:25,500 Carmichael made a lot of fantastic claims, 523 00:25:25,583 --> 00:25:27,208 then he vanished. 524 00:25:27,291 --> 00:25:30,125 SUSAN STRYKER: There was a lot of using the language of "also known as," 525 00:25:30,208 --> 00:25:31,500 which suggests it kind of like 526 00:25:31,583 --> 00:25:34,166 it's a criminal pseudonym of some kind. 527 00:25:34,250 --> 00:25:35,625 There was a lot of misgendering. 528 00:25:35,709 --> 00:25:38,583 They would say, "A man who was pretending to be a woman," 529 00:25:38,667 --> 00:25:42,291 or "Liz Carmichael, really Jerry." 530 00:25:42,375 --> 00:25:45,458 To be non-consensually outed, 531 00:25:45,542 --> 00:25:48,041 it has to be considered as very, um-- 532 00:25:48,125 --> 00:25:49,250 as a violation. 533 00:25:49,333 --> 00:25:51,250 Something was disclosed about them 534 00:25:51,333 --> 00:25:53,417 without their consent that is gonna have 535 00:25:53,500 --> 00:25:56,917 really powerful negative consequences for them. 536 00:25:57,000 --> 00:25:58,583 CARLSON: To teach the children 537 00:25:58,667 --> 00:26:01,709 that their father was to be called their mother, 538 00:26:01,792 --> 00:26:04,625 that their real mother was to be called their aunt, 539 00:26:04,709 --> 00:26:06,166 and to train them in that, 540 00:26:06,250 --> 00:26:09,041 I can't imagine that any shrink wouldn't say 541 00:26:09,125 --> 00:26:12,417 that this is, like, kind of a bad idea to be doing this. 542 00:26:14,208 --> 00:26:16,875 CANDI: (CHUCKLES) She really was a great mom. 543 00:26:16,959 --> 00:26:18,959 Liz and Jerry... 544 00:26:19,750 --> 00:26:22,083 loved being parents. 545 00:26:23,250 --> 00:26:27,458 BARRETT: When people say my sister and Liz 546 00:26:27,542 --> 00:26:31,250 were leading their children into a terrible thing and so forth, 547 00:26:31,333 --> 00:26:33,333 I really have a problem with that. 548 00:26:33,417 --> 00:26:37,333 Those children were loved very much by both parents. 549 00:26:38,333 --> 00:26:39,333 CARLSON: She used them, 550 00:26:39,417 --> 00:26:42,750 just like she used her real wife, Vivian, 551 00:26:42,834 --> 00:26:46,542 pretending to be the aunt, living in some, uh, 552 00:26:46,625 --> 00:26:48,291 sister-to-sister relationship. 553 00:26:48,375 --> 00:26:49,959 If you didn't think that was kind of sick, 554 00:26:50,041 --> 00:26:51,417 you wouldn't think-- you wouldn't think-- 555 00:26:51,500 --> 00:26:53,542 you would think Jeffrey Dahmer was a normal person, 556 00:26:53,625 --> 00:26:56,208 is what I think, you know. 557 00:26:56,291 --> 00:27:02,208 Jerry chose to become Liz and transition to that end. 558 00:27:02,291 --> 00:27:05,500 And in the process, she kept the children informed 559 00:27:05,583 --> 00:27:08,166 all the time, and they had conversations. 560 00:27:08,250 --> 00:27:10,291 I think she did a good job. 561 00:27:10,375 --> 00:27:13,166 (BIRDS CHIRPING) 562 00:27:14,417 --> 00:27:16,542 ♪ (SOMBER MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 563 00:27:17,875 --> 00:27:21,834 When they took Liz into custody, 564 00:27:21,917 --> 00:27:24,458 they wind up flying her back to LA, 565 00:27:24,542 --> 00:27:26,208 and we've got no money. 566 00:27:33,834 --> 00:27:36,542 And Vivian was trying to figure out 567 00:27:36,625 --> 00:27:38,291 how do we get back to LA? 568 00:27:38,375 --> 00:27:39,500 (INDISTINCT CLAMOR) 569 00:27:39,583 --> 00:27:42,083 CANDI: Reporters were constantly hounding Vivian, 570 00:27:42,166 --> 00:27:44,625 and a reporter offered her 500 dollars 571 00:27:44,709 --> 00:27:47,959 if they'd let him come in and do an interview, 572 00:27:48,041 --> 00:27:49,125 so she did. 573 00:27:50,458 --> 00:27:53,417 And that's how we got back to Los Angeles. 574 00:27:54,875 --> 00:27:58,583 Five hundred dollars was enough money to drive back to LA. 575 00:27:58,667 --> 00:28:01,041 (CRICKETS CHIRPING) 576 00:28:05,333 --> 00:28:07,000 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 577 00:28:07,083 --> 00:28:10,583 In 1974, I joined the Public Defender's office. 578 00:28:10,667 --> 00:28:13,333 I was familiar with the Carmichael case, 579 00:28:13,417 --> 00:28:15,333 and I was very familiar with the jail 580 00:28:15,417 --> 00:28:17,375 wherein she was being housed. 581 00:28:18,583 --> 00:28:21,291 She was taken to the Men's Central Jail, 582 00:28:21,375 --> 00:28:24,041 which is the central location for prisoners 583 00:28:24,125 --> 00:28:25,333 who come to Los Angeles. 584 00:28:25,417 --> 00:28:29,333 In the 1970s, there were really no spoken guidelines 585 00:28:29,417 --> 00:28:30,875 or written guidelines with the way 586 00:28:31,000 --> 00:28:33,959 that transgender people were treated in the jails. 587 00:28:35,500 --> 00:28:36,542 In this particular instance, 588 00:28:36,625 --> 00:28:38,709 thrown into the general population 589 00:28:38,792 --> 00:28:41,792 dressed and grooming themselves totally as a woman 590 00:28:41,875 --> 00:28:44,250 was an invitation to disaster. 591 00:28:45,458 --> 00:28:47,875 -(TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING) -VIVIAN MICHAEL: Dear Sis, 592 00:28:47,959 --> 00:28:51,750 it looked as though March was going to better for all of us, 593 00:28:51,834 --> 00:28:53,208 but disaster struck. 594 00:28:53,291 --> 00:28:55,959 (FOOTSTEPS APPROACHING) 595 00:28:57,083 --> 00:29:00,417 On Sunday, Liz was being escorted to pill call. 596 00:29:00,500 --> 00:29:02,792 That's where prisoners receive medication. 597 00:29:03,834 --> 00:29:05,792 At all times when she's out of her cell, 598 00:29:05,875 --> 00:29:08,333 -she's accompanied by a deputy. -(JEERING AND WHISTLING) 599 00:29:08,417 --> 00:29:10,208 VIVIAN: She wears a blue band on her wrist, 600 00:29:10,291 --> 00:29:11,875 which is visible at all times, 601 00:29:12,000 --> 00:29:13,792 and the guards and prisoners alike 602 00:29:13,875 --> 00:29:15,333 all know what it means: 603 00:29:15,417 --> 00:29:18,750 "A woman in a men's jail. Keep away." 604 00:29:18,834 --> 00:29:21,750 Sunday, around noon, the deputy came for her, 605 00:29:21,834 --> 00:29:23,000 and they went the normal route 606 00:29:23,083 --> 00:29:25,083 from the 13th floor to the 14th floor. 607 00:29:25,166 --> 00:29:26,583 ♪ (OMINOUS MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 608 00:29:26,667 --> 00:29:27,792 VIVIAN: Liz suddenly realized 609 00:29:27,875 --> 00:29:30,208 she didn't have the deputy escorting her. 610 00:29:30,291 --> 00:29:33,166 He had disappeared and was nowhere to be seen. 611 00:29:34,166 --> 00:29:35,583 The first blow she received 612 00:29:35,667 --> 00:29:37,458 was in the center of her forehead, 613 00:29:37,542 --> 00:29:40,417 and laid her wide open, tearing a vein. 614 00:29:40,500 --> 00:29:42,333 She said the blood went everywhere, 615 00:29:42,417 --> 00:29:43,583 and she was blinded by it 616 00:29:43,667 --> 00:29:45,959 and couldn't see to defend herself. 617 00:29:46,041 --> 00:29:48,875 He just pounded her face over and over. 618 00:29:48,959 --> 00:29:50,333 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 619 00:29:50,417 --> 00:29:53,583 STRYKER: She was beaten. She was beaten really severely. 620 00:29:53,667 --> 00:29:55,709 In the US, we say you're not supposed to have 621 00:29:55,792 --> 00:29:57,500 cruel and unusual punishments, 622 00:29:57,583 --> 00:30:01,625 but I think incarcerating trans people in prisons 623 00:30:01,709 --> 00:30:04,083 that are not the one that they should be in, 624 00:30:04,166 --> 00:30:06,750 it is a form of cruel and unusual punishment. 625 00:30:06,834 --> 00:30:09,417 It would've happened to me, it would've happened to her, 626 00:30:09,500 --> 00:30:11,625 it would've happened to any number of different people. 627 00:30:11,709 --> 00:30:14,291 What Liz went through was not uncommon. 628 00:30:14,375 --> 00:30:15,917 The only reason hers was reported 629 00:30:16,000 --> 00:30:18,250 was because she was a high-profile defendant 630 00:30:18,333 --> 00:30:20,166 that the press was interested in. 631 00:30:20,250 --> 00:30:23,458 And that was part of the problem that existed then, 632 00:30:23,542 --> 00:30:24,917 still exists today. 633 00:30:27,542 --> 00:30:29,834 VIVIAN: When Liz had been brought into the courtroom, 634 00:30:29,917 --> 00:30:31,375 the judge looked at her. 635 00:30:31,458 --> 00:30:33,917 both her eyes were bulging and black, 636 00:30:34,000 --> 00:30:35,417 and did a double take. 637 00:30:36,208 --> 00:30:37,500 The prosecutor winced, 638 00:30:37,583 --> 00:30:39,667 and everybody in the courtroom gasped. 639 00:30:39,750 --> 00:30:41,291 -(JURORS WHISPERING) -JURY MEMBER: Oh, my God. 640 00:30:41,375 --> 00:30:42,709 VIVIAN: The reporter, Walt Woron, 641 00:30:42,792 --> 00:30:45,625 he has been following this case since the beginning 642 00:30:45,709 --> 00:30:48,208 and is kinda partial to Liz and me. 643 00:30:48,291 --> 00:30:51,625 I almost thought I could see tears forming in his eyes. 644 00:30:52,709 --> 00:30:54,291 I know they were in mine. 645 00:30:54,375 --> 00:30:55,875 (WATER SPLASHING) 646 00:30:55,959 --> 00:30:57,709 VIVIAN: I'm tired, I'm worried, 647 00:30:57,792 --> 00:31:00,875 but Liz says, "Pray and keep your chin up." 648 00:31:00,959 --> 00:31:02,375 And I'm trying. 649 00:31:03,542 --> 00:31:06,583 I've noticed that when I do, things go right 650 00:31:06,667 --> 00:31:08,917 even though they look bad to anyone else. 651 00:31:09,000 --> 00:31:10,750 (TYPEWRITER KEYS CLACKING) 652 00:31:10,834 --> 00:31:12,583 VIVIAN: You'll have to forgive her for not writing, 653 00:31:12,667 --> 00:31:15,917 but she has no time for anything but working on this case. 654 00:31:17,250 --> 00:31:20,375 She is determined to win, and out of all the lawsuits 655 00:31:20,458 --> 00:31:23,917 pay back anyone and everyone who lost money in the company. 656 00:31:26,583 --> 00:31:28,125 Give my love to all. 657 00:31:29,500 --> 00:31:31,709 Love, Vivian. 658 00:31:31,792 --> 00:31:34,542 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 659 00:31:34,625 --> 00:31:37,417 WALT WORON: The courtroom was relatively small, 660 00:31:37,500 --> 00:31:40,667 with molded wooden benches to accommodate 661 00:31:40,750 --> 00:31:43,542 but 70 witnesses and spectators. 662 00:31:43,625 --> 00:31:47,667 The dark-haired, handsome figure at the right of a long table 663 00:31:47,750 --> 00:31:49,500 unwound from his chair. 664 00:31:49,583 --> 00:31:50,750 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 665 00:31:50,834 --> 00:31:54,083 WORON: He began to read from a several-page indictment. 666 00:31:54,959 --> 00:31:56,834 "G. Elizabeth Carmichael, 667 00:31:56,917 --> 00:32:00,417 Edward J. Comstock, Samuel Schlisman, 668 00:32:00,500 --> 00:32:03,875 Andrew Farrell, Jay Gardner, 669 00:32:03,959 --> 00:32:07,083 you are charged with conspiracy to commit grand theft, 670 00:32:07,166 --> 00:32:10,875 with the sale or offer to sell a security without a permit, 671 00:32:10,959 --> 00:32:12,917 with sale or offer to sell a security 672 00:32:13,000 --> 00:32:16,083 by means of false statements or omissions." 673 00:32:16,166 --> 00:32:19,667 The defendants could be seen uneasily shifting in their seats 674 00:32:19,750 --> 00:32:21,375 from time to time, 675 00:32:21,458 --> 00:32:23,041 looking at the jurors. 676 00:32:24,083 --> 00:32:26,709 Walt Woron, Automotive News. 677 00:32:41,583 --> 00:32:43,583 KIT GRANAT: 678 00:33:00,000 --> 00:33:02,208 RON ABRAMS: Liz was the only defendant 679 00:33:02,291 --> 00:33:04,542 that requested a jury trial. 680 00:33:05,625 --> 00:33:08,875 The rest of us would like a court trial 681 00:33:08,959 --> 00:33:10,625 because it would've been shorter 682 00:33:10,709 --> 00:33:13,417 and the judge would've been able to separate out 683 00:33:13,500 --> 00:33:15,583 the defendant's culpability. 684 00:33:17,041 --> 00:33:19,291 My client, Sam Schlisman, 685 00:33:19,375 --> 00:33:21,959 I thought I could get a deal for him 686 00:33:22,041 --> 00:33:24,625 because Sam was really not 687 00:33:24,709 --> 00:33:26,959 the main character in the company. 688 00:33:27,041 --> 00:33:28,667 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 689 00:33:28,750 --> 00:33:29,709 (TAPE SCRATCHES) 690 00:33:29,792 --> 00:33:33,291 MACCARLEY: I will say that I was impressed 691 00:33:33,375 --> 00:33:35,166 by my client, Jay Gardner. 692 00:33:35,250 --> 00:33:37,250 He absolutely believed 693 00:33:37,333 --> 00:33:41,792 in what Elizabeth Carmichael was talking about and developing. 694 00:33:44,166 --> 00:33:46,959 Bob Youngdahl, career prosecutor. 695 00:33:47,041 --> 00:33:50,291 The best description is very competent and methodical. 696 00:33:50,375 --> 00:33:54,166 He was machine-like in terms of his presentation 697 00:33:54,250 --> 00:33:56,000 to the court and jury. 698 00:33:56,083 --> 00:34:00,333 Liz felt that Bob Youngdahl was nothing but a foot soldier 699 00:34:00,417 --> 00:34:02,250 for the big government, 700 00:34:02,333 --> 00:34:05,792 the big government that was out to knock her down 701 00:34:05,875 --> 00:34:07,875 and crush any entrepreneur 702 00:34:07,959 --> 00:34:10,166 who dared challenge the big three. 703 00:34:10,250 --> 00:34:12,208 ANCHOR 3: Liz Carmichael says she doesn't want 704 00:34:12,291 --> 00:34:14,375 her court-appointed attorneys to handle her case 705 00:34:14,458 --> 00:34:17,375 because, as she puts it, they were picked by her enemies. 706 00:34:17,458 --> 00:34:19,125 To have my attorneys appointed 707 00:34:19,208 --> 00:34:21,333 by those people who are prosecuting me, 708 00:34:21,417 --> 00:34:24,709 uh, to me, is not the best way to go. 709 00:34:24,792 --> 00:34:27,458 So I would prefer to have an attorney of my own choice, 710 00:34:27,542 --> 00:34:28,834 even if he were less competent, 711 00:34:28,917 --> 00:34:31,000 than have an attorney of somebody else's choice, 712 00:34:31,083 --> 00:34:33,417 taking the chance that I'm... 713 00:34:33,500 --> 00:34:35,834 not getting the best counsel possible. 714 00:34:35,917 --> 00:34:38,709 WORON: Though she has no formal law training, 715 00:34:38,792 --> 00:34:41,667 she says she has spent the last 14 months in jail 716 00:34:41,750 --> 00:34:45,041 studying law so as to be able to defend herself 717 00:34:45,125 --> 00:34:46,625 when the time came. 718 00:34:46,709 --> 00:34:48,083 She took it upon herself 719 00:34:48,166 --> 00:34:51,542 to defend herself in front of the jury. 720 00:34:51,625 --> 00:34:54,375 She was never gonna end up having some lawyer 721 00:34:54,458 --> 00:34:56,166 represent her and speaking for her. 722 00:34:56,250 --> 00:34:57,291 She had to speak for herself. 723 00:34:57,375 --> 00:34:59,583 She'd been like that her whole life. 724 00:34:59,667 --> 00:35:01,125 ABRAMS: If she had an attorney, 725 00:35:01,208 --> 00:35:03,458 she wouldn't have drawn attention to the fact 726 00:35:03,542 --> 00:35:07,000 that she's six foot two and weighs over 200 pounds. 727 00:35:07,083 --> 00:35:11,417 That taints the jury's perception of this lady. 728 00:35:11,500 --> 00:35:13,000 REPORTER 1: There were some deceptions 729 00:35:13,083 --> 00:35:14,417 involved here though, weren't there? 730 00:35:14,500 --> 00:35:16,709 They claim there were. In my opinion, there were not. 731 00:35:16,792 --> 00:35:18,750 REPORTER 1: Why, for example, did you decide 732 00:35:18,834 --> 00:35:21,375 to pose as a woman in this transaction? 733 00:35:21,458 --> 00:35:22,917 Well, it wasn't in this transaction. 734 00:35:23,000 --> 00:35:24,750 I'm a transsexual. Had nothing to do 735 00:35:24,834 --> 00:35:26,542 with Twentieth Century Motor Car Corporation. 736 00:35:26,625 --> 00:35:28,792 I've been living as a woman for eight years. 737 00:35:28,875 --> 00:35:31,667 My children regard me as their mother. 738 00:35:31,750 --> 00:35:35,667 Uh, totally legitimate, so far as fraud is concerned. 739 00:35:35,750 --> 00:35:36,959 This was, uh-- 740 00:35:37,041 --> 00:35:39,959 I happen to, uh, have a medical problem, 741 00:35:40,041 --> 00:35:41,792 uh, which is not totally unique. 742 00:35:41,875 --> 00:35:43,709 I'm sure you've heard of Christine Jorgensen, 743 00:35:43,792 --> 00:35:45,291 very similar. 744 00:35:45,375 --> 00:35:48,458 STRYKER: Christine Jorgensen was the first person to become, 745 00:35:48,542 --> 00:35:51,709 I would say, globally famous for being trans 746 00:35:51,792 --> 00:35:54,750 when news of her sex reassignment surgery 747 00:35:54,834 --> 00:35:56,959 uh, was trumpeted on the, you know, headlines 748 00:35:57,041 --> 00:35:58,542 of newspapers around the world. 749 00:35:58,625 --> 00:35:59,750 Thank you very much. 750 00:35:59,834 --> 00:36:01,792 STRYKER: Trans women who followed in her footsteps, 751 00:36:01,875 --> 00:36:04,458 like her, were able to assimilate 752 00:36:04,542 --> 00:36:06,750 and go unnoticed in society. 753 00:36:06,834 --> 00:36:10,333 But those who were unable to navigate the medical system, 754 00:36:10,417 --> 00:36:13,917 those who had only partial surgeries, like Liz, 755 00:36:14,000 --> 00:36:16,667 were much more likely to be characterized 756 00:36:16,750 --> 00:36:19,750 not as women but as men masquerading as women. 757 00:36:19,834 --> 00:36:21,166 REPORTER 1: And you had a sexual operation? 758 00:36:21,250 --> 00:36:23,834 I had the first one. I still have another one to go. 759 00:36:23,917 --> 00:36:26,000 STRYKER: Just because she had not had 760 00:36:26,083 --> 00:36:28,917 the second step of that process, 761 00:36:29,000 --> 00:36:32,166 the conversion of a penis into a vagina, 762 00:36:32,250 --> 00:36:35,083 that she was considered to still be a man. 763 00:36:35,166 --> 00:36:37,792 But she'd been on hormones, she had breasts, 764 00:36:37,875 --> 00:36:39,417 she didn't have testicles. 765 00:36:39,500 --> 00:36:41,834 But the press would say, like, "Oh, you're still a man 766 00:36:41,917 --> 00:36:45,166 because you have this sort of non-functioning penis." 767 00:36:45,250 --> 00:36:47,750 PATRICK COLEMAN: She prefers to be known as Liz Carmichael. 768 00:36:47,834 --> 00:36:50,125 She has requested me, which I have done on her behalf, 769 00:36:50,208 --> 00:36:52,500 is try to see if she could wear women's clothing 770 00:36:52,583 --> 00:36:54,458 in the courtroom itself properly. 771 00:36:54,542 --> 00:36:55,875 She's been a woman the last eight years. 772 00:36:55,959 --> 00:36:58,291 That's the way she wants it. Doesn't wanna change. 773 00:37:03,792 --> 00:37:06,583 STRYKER: In 1976, there was actually a hearing 774 00:37:06,667 --> 00:37:08,875 about Liz's gender identity. 775 00:37:08,959 --> 00:37:12,083 You know, could she be considered a woman? 776 00:37:12,166 --> 00:37:16,375 Based on her self-statements, the hormones, 777 00:37:16,458 --> 00:37:17,792 the-- the castration, 778 00:37:17,875 --> 00:37:21,041 she was taken seriously as a transsexual, 779 00:37:21,125 --> 00:37:23,875 therefore she could be presented as a woman. 780 00:37:23,959 --> 00:37:26,875 The judge asked Liz, 781 00:37:26,959 --> 00:37:29,083 "What name are you known by?" 782 00:37:29,166 --> 00:37:33,959 And she says, "I am Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael. 783 00:37:35,000 --> 00:37:36,250 I'm world-famous." 784 00:37:36,333 --> 00:37:38,542 ♪ (INSPIRING MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 785 00:37:38,625 --> 00:37:40,208 And it was official at that point. 786 00:37:40,291 --> 00:37:42,583 She was Geraldine Elizabeth Carmichael 787 00:37:42,667 --> 00:37:44,083 in the eyes of the law. 788 00:37:44,166 --> 00:37:46,250 CARLSON: Judge Malcolm Lucas ruled that Michael could wear 789 00:37:46,333 --> 00:37:48,667 -women's clothes for the trial. -♪ ("A NEW DAY" BY THE NOTATIONS PLAYING) ♪ 790 00:37:48,750 --> 00:37:50,959 CARLSON: So he carried a blue pantsuit and a pink blouse with him. 791 00:37:51,041 --> 00:37:52,709 Michael's wife and four small children 792 00:37:52,792 --> 00:37:53,834 waited inside the courtroom 793 00:37:53,917 --> 00:37:56,000 for the person they call "Mommy Liz." 794 00:37:56,083 --> 00:37:59,417 MACCARLEY: That was the beginning of the trial of Liz Carmichael, 795 00:37:59,500 --> 00:38:02,625 which continued for almost nine months, 796 00:38:02,709 --> 00:38:04,166 one of the longer cases 797 00:38:04,250 --> 00:38:06,917 in the Los Angeles Supreme Court history. 798 00:38:07,000 --> 00:38:08,500 Would it be appropriate for me to say 799 00:38:08,583 --> 00:38:10,583 Channel Two is my favorite channel? 800 00:38:10,667 --> 00:38:15,291 Liz sought out the media as much as she possibly could. 801 00:38:15,375 --> 00:38:18,959 She felt that the more she explained herself 802 00:38:19,041 --> 00:38:22,583 and her case, the better it was for her. 803 00:38:22,667 --> 00:38:24,834 MACCARLEY: Every time we stepped out of the courtroom, 804 00:38:24,917 --> 00:38:27,458 there were representatives from the major networks, 805 00:38:27,542 --> 00:38:28,959 CBS, NBC, ABC, 806 00:38:29,041 --> 00:38:30,917 that were covering this every single day. 807 00:38:31,000 --> 00:38:33,208 REPORTER 2: What's your reaction to what happened today? 808 00:38:33,291 --> 00:38:35,041 -Very frustrated. -MACCARLEY: She knew 809 00:38:35,125 --> 00:38:36,959 that every word that she put out 810 00:38:37,041 --> 00:38:40,083 would be recorded or taken down by a member of the press, 811 00:38:40,166 --> 00:38:41,583 as well as the jury. 812 00:38:41,667 --> 00:38:43,750 ♪ Thank you for a new day... ♪ 813 00:38:43,834 --> 00:38:46,625 ABRAMS: She was a true believer, in the sense that... 814 00:38:46,709 --> 00:38:49,875 if she said it, it must be true. 815 00:38:49,959 --> 00:38:52,291 REPORTER 3: Ms. Carmichael, the obvious question. 816 00:38:52,375 --> 00:38:53,709 Where is the money? 817 00:38:54,166 --> 00:38:55,208 What money? 818 00:38:55,291 --> 00:38:57,375 MACCARLEY: If she had really wanted 819 00:38:57,458 --> 00:38:59,667 to engage in a big fraud, 820 00:38:59,750 --> 00:39:03,125 all she would have had to do is collect all these deposits 821 00:39:03,208 --> 00:39:04,667 and not even spend the money 822 00:39:04,750 --> 00:39:06,834 for all those employees that she hired. 823 00:39:06,917 --> 00:39:10,542 This is good evidence. It says she didn't take that money 824 00:39:10,625 --> 00:39:13,875 and run off with all this cash, never to be seen again. 825 00:39:13,959 --> 00:39:15,667 ♪ It won't be bad... ♪ 826 00:39:15,750 --> 00:39:18,500 WORON: Liz Carmichael is exhibiting more optimism 827 00:39:18,583 --> 00:39:20,625 than at any time during the trial. 828 00:39:21,750 --> 00:39:23,500 The longer the trial has gone on, 829 00:39:23,583 --> 00:39:26,333 the more assured she has become. 830 00:39:26,417 --> 00:39:29,959 MCGUINNESS: I was called up. She said to me the one question, 831 00:39:30,041 --> 00:39:33,083 "Tomorrow, if I wanted you to come back and work for me, 832 00:39:33,166 --> 00:39:34,500 would you do it?" 833 00:39:34,583 --> 00:39:35,542 "Well, of course! 834 00:39:35,625 --> 00:39:38,250 But I would like a little more money." 835 00:39:38,333 --> 00:39:40,667 (LAUGHS) 836 00:39:40,750 --> 00:39:42,542 -(SOBBING) -MCGUINNESS: Other guys had gone up after me 837 00:39:42,625 --> 00:39:44,709 and bawled like babies, just going, 838 00:39:44,792 --> 00:39:47,125 "Liz, I'll follow you to the end of the world!" 839 00:39:47,208 --> 00:39:50,917 That's how powerful she was. 840 00:39:51,000 --> 00:39:53,750 MACCARLEY: This is a woman who knew how to inspire. 841 00:39:53,834 --> 00:39:55,000 ♪ Someday... ♪ 842 00:39:55,083 --> 00:39:57,625 MACCARLEY: You listened, even for five or ten minutes, 843 00:39:57,709 --> 00:39:59,083 to Liz Carmichael, 844 00:39:59,166 --> 00:40:01,166 and even I could have become a believer. 845 00:40:01,250 --> 00:40:03,709 The prosecution put on over a hundred witnesses. 846 00:40:03,792 --> 00:40:06,375 Every one testified that we were building the car. 847 00:40:06,458 --> 00:40:08,750 Uh, prosecution would like to have you believe 848 00:40:08,834 --> 00:40:10,041 that we never intended to. 849 00:40:10,125 --> 00:40:12,000 Their own witnesses testified that we were building it. 850 00:40:12,083 --> 00:40:14,125 There'd have been a quarter million Dales on the road today 851 00:40:14,208 --> 00:40:15,542 if they'd have left us alone. 852 00:40:15,625 --> 00:40:19,583 MACCARLEY: The jury did want to inspect the vehicle, 853 00:40:19,667 --> 00:40:22,917 and so we went down to a facility 854 00:40:23,000 --> 00:40:24,333 to look at the car. 855 00:40:24,834 --> 00:40:27,250 (WAVES SLOSHING) 856 00:40:27,333 --> 00:40:29,542 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 857 00:40:29,625 --> 00:40:31,208 ABRAMS: The car looked terrible. 858 00:40:31,291 --> 00:40:33,875 It was kind of off-balance, it was dirty, 859 00:40:33,959 --> 00:40:35,750 it was in a dingy garage. 860 00:40:35,834 --> 00:40:39,542 The prosecution had this car for a long time. 861 00:40:39,625 --> 00:40:42,792 The district attorney made sure it didn't look 862 00:40:42,875 --> 00:40:45,166 like a presentable vehicle. 863 00:40:47,542 --> 00:40:50,125 MACCARLEY: The one that we saw was the mock-up. 864 00:40:50,208 --> 00:40:52,291 No engine in that vehicle. 865 00:40:52,375 --> 00:40:56,291 Now, of course, this was Bob Youngdahl's decision. 866 00:40:56,375 --> 00:40:59,083 He wanted the jury to see that the car 867 00:40:59,166 --> 00:41:02,458 that was touted as the greatest vehicle since the Model T 868 00:41:02,542 --> 00:41:04,458 had nothing inside of it. 869 00:41:04,542 --> 00:41:08,667 It was purely a piece of, uh, prefabricated fiberglass. 870 00:41:08,750 --> 00:41:10,709 Somebody, I think, opened the front hood. 871 00:41:10,792 --> 00:41:13,792 There was nothing inside. That's extremely damaging. 872 00:41:13,875 --> 00:41:16,208 If you want, I'd call that one of the low points 873 00:41:16,291 --> 00:41:18,500 in the trial for Liz Carmichael. 874 00:41:18,583 --> 00:41:20,375 (JURORS MUTTERING) 875 00:41:42,000 --> 00:41:45,291 MACCARLEY: Youngdahl went back and said, "You saw what you saw 876 00:41:45,375 --> 00:41:46,667 in that maintenance yard. 877 00:41:46,750 --> 00:41:49,250 And did you see something that could actually 878 00:41:49,333 --> 00:41:52,417 even get itself outside of the maintenance yard?" 879 00:41:53,166 --> 00:41:54,208 No. 880 00:41:54,834 --> 00:41:56,208 (SEAGULLS CALLING) 881 00:41:56,291 --> 00:41:58,667 CARLSON: I was notified that they were gonna put her on trial 882 00:41:58,750 --> 00:42:00,208 and they wanted me to testify. 883 00:42:02,625 --> 00:42:05,750 And I was picked up by Bob Youngdahl, the prosecutor. 884 00:42:05,834 --> 00:42:08,125 On the way out in the car, Youngdahl said 885 00:42:08,208 --> 00:42:11,083 that the Los Angeles Police Department 886 00:42:11,166 --> 00:42:13,583 had arrested a minor criminal. 887 00:42:13,667 --> 00:42:15,875 In the course of interrogating him, 888 00:42:15,959 --> 00:42:19,458 he offered up some information that would perhaps 889 00:42:19,542 --> 00:42:21,542 get him out of the charge that he was facing. 890 00:42:23,792 --> 00:42:26,834 He had been hired to murder Youngdahl 891 00:42:26,917 --> 00:42:28,959 and Pete Noyes and me. 892 00:42:29,917 --> 00:42:31,542 Ten thousand dollars each, 893 00:42:31,625 --> 00:42:33,875 and another 15 for doing the deed. 894 00:42:33,959 --> 00:42:36,709 G. Elizabeth Carmichael had offered them 895 00:42:36,792 --> 00:42:39,041 the money to do this. 896 00:42:39,125 --> 00:42:41,834 MIA YAMAMOTO: Jailhouse snitches invariably 897 00:42:41,917 --> 00:42:43,542 are trying to get out of the crimes 898 00:42:43,625 --> 00:42:46,792 for which they are legitimately culpable. 899 00:42:46,875 --> 00:42:50,834 The very use of the jailhouse snitch, 900 00:42:50,917 --> 00:42:54,208 in many ways, shows how desperate the prosecution is, 901 00:42:54,291 --> 00:42:56,875 and it undermines their credibility. 902 00:42:56,959 --> 00:42:59,333 They went and saw the judge 903 00:42:59,417 --> 00:43:01,625 to tell the judge that the defendant, 904 00:43:01,709 --> 00:43:03,917 who was also her own attorney, 905 00:43:04,000 --> 00:43:06,333 has been charged with a plot 906 00:43:06,417 --> 00:43:08,792 to murder some of the witnesses. 907 00:43:08,875 --> 00:43:11,166 The judge said, "I can't listen to all of this 908 00:43:11,250 --> 00:43:13,542 unless you bring in the defense attorney, 909 00:43:13,625 --> 00:43:15,417 who is Mrs. Carmichael." 910 00:43:15,500 --> 00:43:18,542 ♪ (TENSE MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 911 00:43:18,625 --> 00:43:20,917 ABRAMS: Because she was representing herself, 912 00:43:21,000 --> 00:43:23,417 Liz had the ability 913 00:43:23,500 --> 00:43:26,834 to cross-examine every witness. 914 00:43:27,750 --> 00:43:30,750 That means that everybody that testified 915 00:43:30,834 --> 00:43:32,834 could be questioned by Liz. 916 00:43:33,875 --> 00:43:36,000 YAMAMOTO: This individual, he found out 917 00:43:36,083 --> 00:43:38,250 that he was going to be cross-examined 918 00:43:38,333 --> 00:43:40,250 by Liz Carmichael, 919 00:43:40,333 --> 00:43:42,583 and decided to take the fifth. 920 00:43:42,667 --> 00:43:44,667 None of that testimony ever came out. 921 00:43:44,750 --> 00:43:47,125 And that actually showed a fairly sophisticated 922 00:43:47,208 --> 00:43:49,625 understanding of the criminal justice system 923 00:43:49,709 --> 00:43:51,500 by Liz Carmichael. 924 00:43:51,583 --> 00:43:54,625 When something that inflammatory would come in, 925 00:43:54,709 --> 00:43:56,750 it would completely taint the entire proceedings. 926 00:43:56,834 --> 00:43:59,375 It would have called, at least, for a mistrial. 927 00:43:59,458 --> 00:44:00,625 If there had been a verdict, 928 00:44:00,709 --> 00:44:02,458 that verdict would have been overturned. 929 00:44:02,542 --> 00:44:05,625 It was so tainted, they dropped the entire effort. 930 00:44:05,709 --> 00:44:08,125 And that was the end of the investigation. 931 00:44:08,208 --> 00:44:10,792 Mrs. Carmichael was a thoroughly bad person 932 00:44:10,875 --> 00:44:13,041 from my point of view, and the irony 933 00:44:13,125 --> 00:44:16,000 of having to be interrogated by her on the stand 934 00:44:16,083 --> 00:44:18,125 is infuriating. 935 00:44:18,208 --> 00:44:20,625 I sat on that stand for at least a day, maybe two days, 936 00:44:20,709 --> 00:44:24,625 and I would say something that was completely prejudiced, 937 00:44:24,709 --> 00:44:26,417 because I was completely prejudiced. 938 00:44:27,542 --> 00:44:30,166 I would periodically, uh, refer to her as "sir" 939 00:44:30,250 --> 00:44:33,208 or some other male designation, 940 00:44:33,291 --> 00:44:34,792 and the judge would interrupt me and say, 941 00:44:34,875 --> 00:44:37,125 "Mr. Carlson, I've told you, uh, twice now 942 00:44:37,208 --> 00:44:41,625 to stop calling Mrs. Carmichael, uh, by male pronouns. 943 00:44:41,709 --> 00:44:44,792 Please refer to her as 'ma'am' or 'Mrs.' or something." 944 00:44:44,875 --> 00:44:46,542 And I would say, "Right. Yeah. Sure, Your Honor. 945 00:44:46,625 --> 00:44:47,959 Okay. Of course. I certainly will." 946 00:44:48,041 --> 00:44:49,500 And then I wouldn't do it, 947 00:44:49,583 --> 00:44:51,875 uh, because I thought it was ludicrous and I didn't think I had to. 948 00:44:53,417 --> 00:44:56,834 ABRAMS: Liz being transgender probably was 949 00:44:56,917 --> 00:45:01,500 the single most important motivating issue 950 00:45:01,583 --> 00:45:05,792 in why they went after her so diligently. 951 00:45:06,625 --> 00:45:08,166 It tainted the entire trial. 952 00:45:08,250 --> 00:45:10,583 I think all the jurors were kind of... 953 00:45:11,375 --> 00:45:13,333 aghast at what was going on. 954 00:45:13,417 --> 00:45:15,917 It was really a circus. 955 00:45:18,208 --> 00:45:21,667 STRYKER: Technically, Liz Carmichael was on trial 956 00:45:21,750 --> 00:45:23,208 to determine whether or not 957 00:45:23,291 --> 00:45:26,333 she had committed a fraud in promoting the Dale, 958 00:45:26,417 --> 00:45:27,834 but it's pretty clear that 959 00:45:27,917 --> 00:45:30,709 she was on trial as a trans person. 960 00:45:30,792 --> 00:45:33,542 When they couldn't decide if the car was real or not, 961 00:45:33,625 --> 00:45:36,250 they started focusing on Liz. 962 00:45:36,333 --> 00:45:39,125 If she was a fraud, then the car was a fraud. 963 00:45:39,458 --> 00:45:42,917 GRANAT: 964 00:45:51,250 --> 00:45:55,208 WILLIAMS: 965 00:46:05,667 --> 00:46:08,542 GRANAT: 966 00:46:32,166 --> 00:46:34,291 YAMAMOTO: Because she was a transgender woman, 967 00:46:34,375 --> 00:46:37,750 that immediately put a barrier between her 968 00:46:37,834 --> 00:46:40,667 and virtually every other person on that jury, 969 00:46:40,750 --> 00:46:42,625 and allowed the people on that jury 970 00:46:42,709 --> 00:46:45,875 to base their view of her and her testimony 971 00:46:45,959 --> 00:46:48,417 and her argument in a way that was colored 972 00:46:48,500 --> 00:46:50,583 by their view of transgender people. 973 00:46:50,667 --> 00:46:52,792 (INDISTINCT CHATTER) 974 00:46:52,875 --> 00:46:54,500 REPORTER 4: I think most people are interested 975 00:46:54,583 --> 00:46:56,375 in your personal life and your-- 976 00:46:56,458 --> 00:46:58,667 your sex change, to be perfectly candid. 977 00:47:00,083 --> 00:47:03,125 Well, whatever claim to fame I have 978 00:47:03,208 --> 00:47:06,667 is as a producer of automobiles, not as a sex change artist. 979 00:47:06,750 --> 00:47:08,458 REPORTER 4: Can you give us a little personal insight 980 00:47:08,542 --> 00:47:11,291 on what this ordeal has been about with you? 981 00:47:11,375 --> 00:47:13,875 I think it's a combination of industrial, 982 00:47:13,959 --> 00:47:16,375 political, uh, pressure being brought to bear 983 00:47:16,458 --> 00:47:19,500 against individuals who don't want me to build a car. 984 00:47:19,583 --> 00:47:22,959 MACCARLEY: She saw this as an opportunity 985 00:47:23,041 --> 00:47:25,250 to address not only the jury, 986 00:47:25,333 --> 00:47:29,125 but she saw this as a way of justifying what she did. 987 00:47:29,208 --> 00:47:31,333 Well, I'm not the Lone Ranger in this. 988 00:47:31,417 --> 00:47:33,000 This has happened to others before. 989 00:47:33,083 --> 00:47:34,291 I expected it. 990 00:47:34,375 --> 00:47:36,875 It's anybody who's attempted to start in the United States 991 00:47:36,959 --> 00:47:38,500 to produce a car in mass production 992 00:47:38,583 --> 00:47:42,709 has been either forced out, put in jail, harassed... 993 00:47:42,792 --> 00:47:46,041 I came to the belief that she thought 994 00:47:46,125 --> 00:47:49,041 that she would be the next Henry Ford. 995 00:47:49,125 --> 00:47:52,125 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 996 00:47:52,208 --> 00:47:54,709 ANCHOR 4: Testimony in the trial of Elizabeth Carmichael 997 00:47:54,792 --> 00:47:56,834 has concluded after seven months 998 00:47:56,917 --> 00:47:59,208 in one of the lengthiest cases to be tried 999 00:47:59,291 --> 00:48:01,375 in the new Criminal Courts Building. 1000 00:48:01,458 --> 00:48:04,000 After closing arguments, a verdict is expected 1001 00:48:04,083 --> 00:48:05,500 early next year. 1002 00:48:06,792 --> 00:48:08,667 MACCARLEY: There are very few attorneys 1003 00:48:08,750 --> 00:48:12,959 who have ever gone through a nine-month jury trial. 1004 00:48:13,041 --> 00:48:16,458 Liz Carmichael, for the most part, represented herself. 1005 00:48:16,542 --> 00:48:18,625 Almost every single argument, 1006 00:48:18,709 --> 00:48:20,166 anything that was really important, 1007 00:48:20,250 --> 00:48:21,792 Liz was right in there, 1008 00:48:21,875 --> 00:48:24,750 and she was making that argument. 1009 00:48:24,834 --> 00:48:27,875 Her defense was, "This was absolutely credible. 1010 00:48:27,959 --> 00:48:31,542 I was taking on General Motors, Ford, and Chrysler, 1011 00:48:31,625 --> 00:48:34,709 because I was doing something that would be good for America." 1012 00:48:34,792 --> 00:48:38,041 It was the state interfering with her right 1013 00:48:38,125 --> 00:48:41,041 to be an extraordinary entrepreneur and a woman. 1014 00:48:41,125 --> 00:48:43,500 -♪ (MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY) ♪ -Pretty powerful message. 1015 00:48:45,166 --> 00:48:46,375 (TAPE CLICKS) 1016 00:48:46,458 --> 00:48:47,750 CARMICHAEL: Most people who believe in free enterprise, 1017 00:48:47,834 --> 00:48:49,959 number one, think that they're totally alone. 1018 00:48:50,041 --> 00:48:52,083 I did. 1019 00:48:52,166 --> 00:48:56,250 I believed that I was a freak in my philosophical beliefs 1020 00:48:56,333 --> 00:48:58,041 up until just a few months ago. 1021 00:48:59,500 --> 00:49:02,250 The majority of the American public 1022 00:49:02,333 --> 00:49:04,834 wants free enterprise. 1023 00:49:04,917 --> 00:49:07,250 I think that they want total freedom. 1024 00:49:07,333 --> 00:49:09,125 But they've been brainwashed into believing 1025 00:49:09,208 --> 00:49:10,458 that it's not possible. 1026 00:49:10,542 --> 00:49:12,834 And there's been nobody with enough stature 1027 00:49:12,917 --> 00:49:17,375 willing to stand up and say, "Hey, it is possible." 1028 00:49:17,458 --> 00:49:19,667 Free enterprise has never had an opportunity. 1029 00:49:19,750 --> 00:49:20,834 (TAPE CLICKS) 1030 00:49:23,500 --> 00:49:26,917 ♪ (DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1031 00:49:31,125 --> 00:49:33,667 (PENCIL SCRIBBLING) 1032 00:49:34,458 --> 00:49:37,041 WILLIAMS: 1033 00:49:56,667 --> 00:49:58,875 YAMAMOTO: Mary Thayer was probably 1034 00:49:58,959 --> 00:50:01,083 the most interesting juror on the case 1035 00:50:01,166 --> 00:50:06,291 because she was convinced that Carmichael was innocent 1036 00:50:06,375 --> 00:50:09,333 and was going to hold out for that verdict to the end. 1037 00:50:09,417 --> 00:50:12,458 The jury foreman said, "We've taken many votes, 1038 00:50:12,542 --> 00:50:14,166 and no matter what, 1039 00:50:14,250 --> 00:50:16,750 we're not gonna be able to come to any conclusion." 1040 00:50:16,834 --> 00:50:19,083 And that's when we found out 1041 00:50:19,166 --> 00:50:21,500 what the jury count was: eleven to one. 1042 00:50:21,583 --> 00:50:23,166 -(INDISTINCT CHATTER) -(CAMERAS CLICKING) 1043 00:50:23,250 --> 00:50:24,417 REPORTER 5: Ms. Carmichael. 1044 00:50:29,083 --> 00:50:30,166 No, I'm disappointed. 1045 00:50:30,250 --> 00:50:32,083 I expected a "not guilty on all counts" 1046 00:50:32,166 --> 00:50:33,625 within the first three or four days. 1047 00:50:33,709 --> 00:50:36,291 REPORTER 6: Are you saying, then, that this is not in your... 1048 00:50:37,250 --> 00:50:40,458 WILLIAMS: 1049 00:50:57,959 --> 00:51:00,625 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1050 00:51:12,041 --> 00:51:13,959 ♪ (MUSIC STOPS ABRUPTLY) ♪ 1051 00:51:17,125 --> 00:51:21,208 -(COUGHING) -Mary Thayer, it was determined, got sick 1052 00:51:21,291 --> 00:51:24,166 and was sent to the hospital. 1053 00:51:24,250 --> 00:51:27,375 WILLIAMS: 1054 00:51:28,834 --> 00:51:31,625 (COUGHING) 1055 00:51:33,792 --> 00:51:35,500 ♪ (SUSPENSEFUL MUSIC PLAYING) ♪ 1056 00:51:45,166 --> 00:51:47,375 I had a terrible headache that day. 1057 00:51:47,458 --> 00:51:49,583 We had come to a complete deadlock. 1058 00:51:49,667 --> 00:51:51,709 And I kept going through the-- 1059 00:51:51,792 --> 00:51:54,250 the books and the records and everything else, 1060 00:51:54,333 --> 00:51:56,417 and the headache kept getting worse and worse. 1061 00:51:56,500 --> 00:51:58,000 REPORTER 7: Knowing it was at a crucial point, 1062 00:51:58,083 --> 00:52:00,375 why did you agree to go to the hospital? 1063 00:52:01,542 --> 00:52:03,583 I thought I was under court order. 1064 00:52:03,667 --> 00:52:06,208 ANCHOR 5: Juror Mary Thayer was present for the trial, 1065 00:52:06,291 --> 00:52:09,417 but the final jury vote occurred while she was hospitalized 1066 00:52:09,500 --> 00:52:10,834 for a short time. 1067 00:52:10,917 --> 00:52:13,166 She was taken off the case despite her wish 1068 00:52:13,250 --> 00:52:15,917 to remain on the jury and cast her vote. 1069 00:52:16,000 --> 00:52:17,458 Thayer was pressured off the case 1070 00:52:17,542 --> 00:52:19,333 by court officials and other jurors, 1071 00:52:19,417 --> 00:52:22,792 asserts Liz Carmichael and her counsel. 1072 00:52:22,875 --> 00:52:25,291 MACCARLEY: Liz questioned whether or not 1073 00:52:25,375 --> 00:52:26,959 this juror was truly ill. 1074 00:52:27,041 --> 00:52:30,792 She thought that something untoward was taking place. 1075 00:52:30,875 --> 00:52:34,041 If you have a situation where juries come back eleven-one, 1076 00:52:34,125 --> 00:52:35,500 then that juror falls ill, 1077 00:52:35,583 --> 00:52:39,208 what the prosecution is gonna do is get the judge to replace 1078 00:52:39,291 --> 00:52:40,792 the sick juror with somebody else, 1079 00:52:40,875 --> 00:52:44,291 and then in about five minutes, we'll have a twelve-zip. 1080 00:52:44,375 --> 00:52:47,667 ABRAMS: Some of the defense attorneys found information 1081 00:52:47,750 --> 00:52:51,834 that perhaps some of the bailiffs 1082 00:52:51,917 --> 00:52:55,458 and some doctors stated things to the judge 1083 00:52:55,542 --> 00:52:58,583 about Thayer's condition that were not true. 1084 00:52:58,667 --> 00:53:00,333 Everybody in the court was misled 1085 00:53:00,417 --> 00:53:02,667 as to what her actual condition was. 1086 00:53:02,750 --> 00:53:06,000 We all thought she was, uh, dying or desperately ill. 1087 00:53:06,083 --> 00:53:07,500 And it turns out that 1088 00:53:07,583 --> 00:53:09,583 the doctor's note that we relied on 1089 00:53:09,667 --> 00:53:11,000 was not written by a doctor. 1090 00:53:11,083 --> 00:53:12,542 Half of it was written by a nurse, 1091 00:53:12,625 --> 00:53:14,458 and the other half was probably written 1092 00:53:14,542 --> 00:53:16,125 by the bailiff and the court. 1093 00:53:16,208 --> 00:53:19,417 The bailiff admits that she may have altered 1094 00:53:19,500 --> 00:53:22,291 the medical slip excusing Mrs. Thayer. 1095 00:53:22,375 --> 00:53:25,959 And if she did, of course, this is tantamount to forgery. 1096 00:53:26,041 --> 00:53:27,875 She claims that, if she did-- 1097 00:53:27,959 --> 00:53:29,875 "If" she did. She just said she may have. 1098 00:53:29,959 --> 00:53:32,875 She isn't sure. Draw your own conclusions from that. 1099 00:53:32,959 --> 00:53:35,834 But she said that if she did alter the medical slip, 1100 00:53:35,917 --> 00:53:37,875 it was because she heard the doctor say 1101 00:53:37,959 --> 00:53:40,792 that she would possibly be out longer than three days. 1102 00:53:40,875 --> 00:53:42,458 I wasn't there. You weren't there. 1103 00:53:42,542 --> 00:53:46,291 What hard testimony do you have except Mrs. Thayer, apparently, 1104 00:53:46,375 --> 00:53:48,542 who has indicated that that's her position? 1105 00:53:48,625 --> 00:53:52,792 But, uh, is there any evidence to support that position? 1106 00:53:53,750 --> 00:53:55,500 ABRAMS: During the jury deliberation, 1107 00:53:55,583 --> 00:53:57,375 we actually had hope 1108 00:53:57,458 --> 00:54:00,458 that maybe it'll be a hung jury. 1109 00:54:01,709 --> 00:54:03,542 Because you hang the jury, 1110 00:54:03,625 --> 00:54:05,959 you can probably get a plea bargain. 1111 00:54:06,041 --> 00:54:07,458 (PAPER RUSTLING) 1112 00:54:08,625 --> 00:54:12,750 After juror Mary Thayer was excused 1113 00:54:12,834 --> 00:54:16,500 and the jury received an alternate juror, 1114 00:54:16,583 --> 00:54:19,500 they came back four days later with "guilty." 1115 00:54:21,000 --> 00:54:23,458 WORON: The jury found the five defendants guilty 1116 00:54:23,542 --> 00:54:28,083 of 137 charges out of 155. 1117 00:54:28,166 --> 00:54:30,583 G. Elizabeth Carmichael has been found guilty 1118 00:54:30,667 --> 00:54:34,000 of grand theft, conspiracy to commit grand theft, 1119 00:54:34,083 --> 00:54:36,625 and of selling securities fraudulently 1120 00:54:36,709 --> 00:54:37,959 and without a permit. 1121 00:54:38,041 --> 00:54:40,417 -I've got nothing to say. -WORON: All were judged guilty 1122 00:54:40,500 --> 00:54:43,583 of the conspiracy and securities violations. 1123 00:54:43,667 --> 00:54:46,917 Each defendant faces a possible one to ten years 1124 00:54:47,000 --> 00:54:50,375 for each guilty verdict, applied consecutively. 1125 00:54:50,458 --> 00:54:53,000 Walt Woron, Automotive News. 1126 00:54:55,166 --> 00:54:58,625 Uh, I would have liked a heavier sentence, 1127 00:54:58,709 --> 00:55:00,667 but until, throughout the state, 1128 00:55:00,750 --> 00:55:02,959 we have all the courts giving heavier sentences 1129 00:55:03,041 --> 00:55:05,125 for serious white-collar crimes, 1130 00:55:05,208 --> 00:55:06,959 until that actually occurs, uh, 1131 00:55:07,041 --> 00:55:09,458 you'd have to say this was a very fair sentence. 1132 00:55:09,542 --> 00:55:11,917 All through the trial, she thought 1133 00:55:12,000 --> 00:55:14,917 it would be "not guilty" and the car company would go on. 1134 00:55:15,000 --> 00:55:17,333 REPORTER 8: What do you think it'll do to you emotionally, 1135 00:55:17,417 --> 00:55:19,625 to be housed in either a man's or a woman's prison? 1136 00:55:19,709 --> 00:55:21,959 I'm a strong person. It won't do anything to me. 1137 00:55:22,041 --> 00:55:23,333 REPORTER 9: Which would you prefer? 1138 00:55:23,417 --> 00:55:25,250 -Women's prison. - REPORTER 9: Why? 1139 00:55:25,333 --> 00:55:26,792 'Cause I'm a woman. 1140 00:55:26,875 --> 00:55:28,792 REPORTER 9: What would happen if they sent you to a man's prison? 1141 00:55:28,875 --> 00:55:30,917 I'd be in solitary confinement. 1142 00:55:31,000 --> 00:55:33,083 Nobody knew how they were gonna do it, 1143 00:55:33,166 --> 00:55:37,250 but she really thought that they would never convict her. 1144 00:55:39,583 --> 00:55:41,000 ♪ (MUSIC CONCLUDES) ♪ 1145 00:55:41,083 --> 00:55:43,000 (TYPEWRITER CLACKING) 1146 00:55:43,083 --> 00:55:46,875 ♪ ("FLAT BED RHYTHM" BY AL HAZAN PLAYING) ♪ 1147 00:55:47,834 --> 00:55:50,458 WORON: December 4th, 1980. 1148 00:55:50,542 --> 00:55:53,959 Remember transexual G. Elizabeth Carmichael? 1149 00:55:54,041 --> 00:55:56,500 Scheduled to appear in a Los Angeles court 1150 00:55:56,583 --> 00:55:58,917 on December 3rd for final sentencing, 1151 00:55:59,000 --> 00:56:00,750 she apparently skipped town. 1152 00:56:02,083 --> 00:56:05,083 A bench warrant has been issued for her arrest. 1153 00:56:05,166 --> 00:56:08,542 ♪ Well, I got a rhythm Seated in my head ♪ 1154 00:56:08,625 --> 00:56:10,000 ♪ Same kind of rhythm That you get ♪ 1155 00:56:10,083 --> 00:56:12,458 ♪ When you're riding On a Santa Fe flatbed ♪ 1156 00:56:12,542 --> 00:56:16,125 ♪ Got a little tingle It's a tingle down in my toes ♪ 1157 00:56:16,208 --> 00:56:17,917 ♪ Same kind of tingle That makes me tickle ♪ 1158 00:56:18,000 --> 00:56:19,917 ♪ When you wanna Picka the Van Gough ♪ 1159 00:56:20,000 --> 00:56:21,750 ♪ Well the only thing bad About riding the track ♪ 1160 00:56:21,834 --> 00:56:23,625 ♪ If you miss that handle Gonna break your back ♪ 1161 00:56:23,709 --> 00:56:25,542 ♪ But I'll cheat death And I'll take a crack ♪ 1162 00:56:25,625 --> 00:56:27,875 ♪ At riding on the railroad Free forever now ♪ 1163 00:56:27,959 --> 00:56:29,250 ♪ Got a rhythm Gonna give you some ♪ 1164 00:56:29,333 --> 00:56:31,208 ♪ It's a free riding river Over railroad bum ♪ 1165 00:56:31,291 --> 00:56:33,041 ♪ Take your freedom And gimme some ♪ 1166 00:56:33,125 --> 00:56:34,875 ♪ I'll take the freedom Of a railroad bum ♪ 1167 00:56:34,959 --> 00:56:38,709 ♪ Oh I've been stagnant In this town too long ♪ 1168 00:56:38,792 --> 00:56:40,500 ♪ Every time I think I'm gonna be happy ♪ 1169 00:56:40,583 --> 00:56:42,500 ♪ Everything starts Going wrong ♪ 1170 00:56:42,583 --> 00:56:46,125 ♪ Had a little lady that I thought could love me too ♪ 1171 00:56:46,208 --> 00:56:48,041 ♪ When it came to men I guess she had ♪ 1172 00:56:48,125 --> 00:56:49,667 ♪ That flatbed rhythm too ♪ 1173 00:56:49,750 --> 00:56:51,750 ♪ Well the only thing bad About riding the track ♪ 1174 00:56:51,834 --> 00:56:53,709 ♪ If you miss that handle Gonna break your back ♪ 1175 00:56:53,792 --> 00:56:55,583 ♪ But I'll cheat death And I'll take a crack ♪ 1176 00:56:55,667 --> 00:56:57,750 ♪ At riding on the railroad Free forever now ♪ 1177 00:56:57,834 --> 00:56:59,375 ♪ Got a rhythm Gonna give you some ♪ 1178 00:56:59,458 --> 00:57:01,250 ♪ It's a free riding river Over railroad bum ♪ 1179 00:57:01,333 --> 00:57:03,125 ♪ Take your freedom And gimme some ♪ 1180 00:57:03,208 --> 00:57:05,375 ♪ I'll take the freedom Of a railroad bum ♪ 1181 00:57:12,125 --> 00:57:14,166 ♪ (SONG CONCLUDES) ♪ 1182 00:57:21,834 --> 00:57:25,458 ♪ (JAZZY MUSIC PLAYS) ♪ 1183 00:57:26,083 --> 00:57:28,875 SPEAKER: Her number one goal. Family must always be together. 1184 00:57:29,125 --> 00:57:30,083 ELIZABETH CARMICHAEL: I decided to give 1185 00:57:30,166 --> 00:57:32,208 the flower sowing idea a try. 1186 00:57:33,041 --> 00:57:34,166 SPEAKER 2: Liz broke laws. 1187 00:57:34,375 --> 00:57:37,875 However... I think the way things went down was wrong. 1188 00:57:39,208 --> 00:57:41,000 SPEAKER 3: Everything's completely off the book. 1189 00:57:41,208 --> 00:57:43,542 CARMICHAEL: They work there out of their own free will. 1190 00:57:43,625 --> 00:57:46,959 SPEAKER 3: Liz is trying to justify what is done. 1191 00:57:47,250 --> 00:57:49,125 I had the story of the year. 1192 00:57:49,208 --> 00:57:52,083 (CAMERA SHUTTER CLICKING) 1193 00:57:52,542 --> 00:57:56,208 CARMICHAEL: The world will know my name before I am through.