(air whooshing)
- [Joel] I started looking into the Trayvon Martin case because of the 2018 Florida governor's race.
The Democrat candidate, Tallahassee Mayor Andrew Gillum interested me because he seemed like such a friendly,
charismatic guy.
- Hey, everybody, it's Andrew Gillum here.
- [News Anchor] Mayor of Tallahassee joins you now.
Mayor Gillum, welcome to "Meet the Press Daily".
- What's up, Chuck? Go 'Canes, man.
- [Joel] But he had a surprisingly radical agenda.
- I want y'all to join me on this mission. Together, we're gonna take this state back. Flip Florida blue, and flip this country blue in 2020.
- [Joel] Gillum shocked his more mainstream Democrat opponents.
- [News Anchor] Andrew Gillum seized the nomination for governor despite being third
in the polls just a week ago.
- [Joel] And then lost by only a hair to Republican Ron Desantis in the general election.
What caught my attention were comments Andrew Gillum continued to make during the campaign
about the sh**ting of Trayvon Martin.
- We know, certainly in my state in the case of Trayvon Martin. In the same state where Trayvon Martin was k*lled
for wearing a hoodie, quite frankly.
- [Joel] Then it became about the stand your ground law.
- We can look no further than the situation
between Trayvon Martin and George Zimmerman. And because of stand your ground laws,
he was able to get away with it.
- [Joel] I had followed the Zimmerman case closely enough to know that virtually everything
Gillum said was wrong. The case had nothing to do with stand your ground and everything to do with traditional self
-defense.
- Mr. Zimmerman has made the statement of self
-defense. Until we can establish probable cause to dispute that,
we don't have the grounds to arrest him.
- [Joel] What, I wondered, was the reason for Gillum to bring up Trayvon Martin so much?
Doing some superficial internet research, I saw that Sybrina Fulton, Travon's mother,
was a big supporter of Gillum. He's got my vote.
- And the truth is is, you know what, I'm black.
I've been black all my life. So far as I know, I will die black.
- [Joel] How did Gillum's racially charged political narrative work so well?
- I'm not calling Mr. Desantis a r*cist. I'm simply saying the racists believe he's a r*cist.
- I started to think, maybe it was true that Gillum's improbable run was because of Trayvon Martin.
So I started wondering, who was Trayvon Martin really?
And what was Trayvon's true legacy? I needed to find out. I decided to produce a film about the case
and how it affected American politics. In making the film, I got to know George Zimmerman.
I got to know Trayvon Martin. And, much to my surprise, I got to know
Trayvon's real girlfriend, Diamond Eugene.
Diamond was on the phone with Trayvon just before he was sh*t. I uncovered how Diamond was switched for a fake witness
in the most stunning hoax in American judicial history, a hoax whose consequences have been tragic
beyond anyone's imagination. (explosions booming) (flames crackling) (sirens wailing)
I would come to call this The Trayvon Hoax.
The Trayvon Hoax was rooted in three major deceptions. The first was that George Zimmerman
was a r*cist loose cannon. I came to appreciate how deep this deception was
when I met George. (upbeat music)
I arrived in Orlando and headed to Sanford. On a cold Florida morning, George met me
at a public park on the quiet Lake Monroe. He hadn't done any interviews since the trial in 2013.
George seems smaller than you might expect, 5'7". And yes, he looks Hispanic, whatever that means.
He is soft
-spoken and unfailingly polite. Yes, sir, and no, sir. George, good to meet you.
- Good to meet you, Joel.
- Thanks for coming here to talk to me.
- It's my pleasure.
- Can you tell me where you were politically in the years growing up?
- Politically, I was a Democrat. I was an Obama supporter. I had been caught up in the promises of hope and change.
- And our time for change has come. (crowd cheering)
- I would say Barack Obama's candidacy did inspire me to become more active.
- [Joel] Can you tell me about your mentoring experience?
- I was mentoring two African American teenagers in a suburb of Orlando.
Unfortunately, they had a father that was imprisoned for life. So, they didn't really have a father in the home.
- What kind of things were they getting into trouble
-wise that you were able to help intervene with?
- Unfortunately, as bad as pulling weapons on their parent
or slashing tires, skipping school. Really, a variety of things that a lot of teenagers
from that socioeconomic background struggle with. I'd take them to restaurants that they hadn't been to.
Kind of expand their cultural horizons. We spent a lot of time at churches playing basketball.
Just spending time with them one
-on
-one, letting them know that they were important. And, whenever I could afford it, I'd splurge
and take them somewhere nice. It was inspiring to see a positive change in kids that had a troubled background.
I got a lot more from the kids than I think they got from me.
- [Joel] What was happening at The Retreat at Twin Lakes in the months prior to your joining up
with the community watch program?
- We were being riddled by crime. Robberies.
We actually had home invasions.
- I heard someone ring my doorbell repeatedly.
And I saw two young African American guys. They broke into my house. I heard some things downstairs.
And he was shaking the doorknob, trying to get in. And I was sitting there with a pair of rusty scissors
and my son in one arm.
- Neighborhood watch was not something that I had thought of becoming a part of
or wanted to be a part of. My wife had urged me to do something.
I had seen in the neighborhood that there were neighborhood watch signs up and I told her
that I would go to the next homeowners association meeting. I was willing to do anything to give her a sense of comfort.
The police advised us, when they came and they spoke to us as a neighborhood watch group that we should call
a non
-emergency number if we thought there was a crime being committed or we saw someone that we didn't recognize
in the neighborhood and that it was better to be safe than sorry. Several other neighbors had called and reported suspicious persons, property being stolen,
and I myself had called a few times. The police were having a hard time actually solving
the crimes and catching the people that were committing them.
- Can you describe when you left your house that night and why you stopped your car?
- I was not on any type of neighborhood watch patrol. There was no such thing in the neighborhood watch program.
I left my house that night simply to go to Target to do my grocery shopping as I did every Sunday
to prepare my meals for the week. As I was driving out of my neighborhood, I noticed that there was a man who I perceived at that time.
In other words, in between the buildings, the rows of the townhouses, in the rain, in the cold,
in no particular rush to get out of the rain or the cold.
So I decided to do what the neighborhood watch program had instructed us to do and called a non
-emergency number.
- What caused you to leave your car?
- The reason I left my vehicle was because the non
-emergency dispatcher asks me several times which direction did he go in.
I felt it was my obligation if I was gonna call and ask for their assistance, that I should be at least able to give them
an accurate description of where he had gone. But in fact, I had not seen him from the time
I left my vehicle until the altercation.
- [Dispatcher] Are you following him?
- [George] Yeah.
- [Dispatcher] Okay, we don't need you to do that.
- [George] Okay.
- And when the dispatcher asked you if you're following him,
why did you answer yes?
- I didn't mean that I was actually following him, because I never really saw him.
I just happened to be walking in the direction of where I had last seen him. I never saw Trayvon at all during that time.
And I saw headlights near my car, so I decided to walk back to my vehicle,
thinking it was the police officer. And then, when I got to right about here, he yelled from behind me, to the side of me.
He said, "Yo, you got a problem?" And I turned around and I said, "No, I don't have a problem, man." And he said, "You got a problem now."
And then he was here and he punched me in the face. Being over six foot tall, he closed the gap between he
and I very quickly and sucker punched me and broke my nose. When he broke my nose, I lost my footing, I was disoriented.
He pushed me down and somehow he got on top of me. My head was about halfway onto the concrete
and my body was mostly on the grassy area. And he just kept slamming and slamming. He kept pummeling me with punches.
Decided to b*at my head into the concrete sidewalk. I started screaming help, help, as loud as I could.
Kept going through my mind is get your head off the pavement, you're gonna lose consciousness.
- [Dispatcher] 911, do you need police, fire, or medical?
- [Caller] Both, I'm not sure. There's just someone screaming outside.
- Being on my back, all the blood from my broken nose was going down my throat and essentially choking me.
He was also trying to smother me and stop my cries for help while he was in the midst of raining down blows on me.
Somebody here opened the door.
- Trayvon Martin was on top, correct?
- Correct.
- And he was the one who was raining blows down on the person on the bottom, George Zimmerman, right?
- That's what it looked like.
- And he yelled at him,
"Stop, stop, I'm calling the police." Even with Mr. Good yelling that he was calling the police,
Trayvon didn't stop. He didn't let up at all and he continued his att*ck.
- And then what did you do to get out of the situation?
- I had shimmied my body down the grass to get my head off of the concrete sidewalk.
It made my jacket ride up my body and expose my firearm that had been concealed.
Felt his arm going down to my side and I grabbed it. I didn't really remember that I had the firearm on me
and I didn't think it would ever come into play. And I just grabbed my firearm and I sh*t him one time.
After I fired the sh*t, I believed I didn't even sh**t him. I didn't think I hit him 'cause he sat up and he said,
"Oh, you got me." I thought he was simply stating that he wasn't gonna fight anymore, he knew that I got to the g*n
before he did. I know you have a g*n now, I heard it, I'm giving up. My first reaction was concern for my neighbors.
Where did the b*llet go? Because of the position we were in, my sh*t would have gone into one of their bedrooms.
- And that stunning video takes us right into the police station behind me.
- [Joel] What were your feelings initially as to how the justice system would work?
- I had a great amount of respect and belief
in the criminal justice system. In fact, I did a re
-enactment the day after
with the police without a attorney present. I did several interviews without an attorney present.
I even did a computerized voice stress analysis, which is similar to a lie detector test, without an attorney present.
I believed that the justice system would work. But I still had to deal with the fact that I had taken a life.
I was absolutely devastated. He wasn't that much older than the eldest mentee that I had.
I was destroyed, emotionally.
- I drove to the courthouse, a regal
-looking building
on the outskirts of town. During the trial, the front was filled with television trucks from all
over the country, even the world. The extensive grounds had room for hundreds of protesters,
maybe thousands. I went inside to check out the courtroom.
I just came from a tour of the courtroom. The deputies took me inside and I could see how small it was.
Anybody who's speaking in that courtroom, it is so tight in there, you just know if they're telling the truth or not.
- [Judge] And these proceedings will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?
- So help me God.
- Thank you.
- I saw where Rachel Jeantel testified.
It's very close to the audience.
- [Reporter] A letter she sent to Trayvon Martin's mother describing what she heard.
- [Lawyer] Did you sign it at the bottom?
- Yes.
- What name did you use?
- Diamond Eugene.
- I'm sorry.
- Diamond Eugene.
- Again.
- Diamond Eugene.
- The effects of this trial are still
being felt throughout the country. It really changed the United States. Can you tell me anything that he might have told you
during these final moments that no one knows about?
- He went face down into the grass
and I heard him say, "Tell Mama 'Licia I'm sorry." (piano music)
- [Joel] Next, I went to check out The Retreat at Twin Lakes. Still thinking about Trayvon's final words to George,
tell Mama 'Licia I'm sorry. I had read Trayvon was raised
by his step
-mother, Alicia Stanley.
- You were his step
-mother for a long, long time.
- Yes, for 14 years.
- 14 years.
- Trayvon was about three when I met his father.
And Trayvon was at our house, in my home, 90% of the time.
I'm the one that went to them football games. I'm the one who was there when he was sick.
- Trayvon had been sent to Sanford by his mother, Sybrina Fulton, because he had been suspended
from school for the third time in three months. (somber piano music)
(camera clicking)
I was not looking forward to this but I had to come and check it out.
- I want people to know that he wanted
to live with me and his father.
- [Joel] What was Alicia Stanley trying to tell the world?
- [Alicia] Lasagna time. The bread is in the oven.
- [Joel] After he saw George, Trayvon could have walked to his father's girlfriend's house in about 20 seconds.
Instead, he spent four minutes on the phone with his girlfriend and circled back to lash out at George.
Why would Trayvon att*ck someone and refuse to let up? What was going on in his life
that led to this terrible decision? I decided I needed to get to know Trayvon.
If the media would not tell Trayvon's real story, maybe Trayvon's own words would.
(static crackles)
Florida is an open record state. This means every document from every court case
is available upon request. So I ordered up all the cell phone records
in the Zimmerman case. They said it would take about two weeks.
Apparently, Trayvon Martin's phone records had to be subpoenaed because his father refused to give them to police.
Then, the prosecutors tried very hard to keep the records out of court.
In fact, the defense spent 2/3 of their time demanding discovery.
This was hard to understand because that's how Trayvon's girlfriend was discovered as an ear witness.
- Her testimony that's shown on these phone logs, she completely blows Zimmerman absurd self
-defense claim
out of the water. Mr. Martin, on Sunday evening, he had called the young lady.
- [Rachel] Trayvon had run for it. And then the man, and then he said he lost the man.
- They were dating.
- [Rachel] And then the man come and then Trayvon say the man was following him.
- You can call it puppy love or whatever you wanna call it.
- [Rachel] And Trayvon asked, and Trayvon run. And Trayvon said he ain't gonna run like that.
- She is a minor child.
- [Rachel] He gonna walk fast, from the back.
- Her parents does not in any way
want to reveal her identity. She is a minor.
- [Rachel] 'Cause the phone just shut off.
And I called him again and he did not answer the phone.
- We have all the evidence now.
- [Joel] It was an incredible discovery. Within 72 hours of finding her,
their detective work paid off big time. Barack Obama got onboard.
- My main message is to the parents of Trayvon Martin. You know, if I had a son, he'd look like Trayvon.
- [Joel] Basketball superstar LaBron James and the NBA were in too.
- [Reporter] Star player LaBron James writing
RIP Trayvon Martin on his shoe.
- You know, for us to be in the position we in, we happy that we able to shed on the situation
that's unjust.
- [Joey] And Chicago congressman Bobby Rush,
the former Black Panther leader, helped put the pressure on on the House floor.
- Racial profiling has to stop, Mr. Speaker.
(gavel banging)
- The member will
-
-
- These words. He has shown you, God bless Trayvon Martin's soul.
He was a black man wearing a hoodie in a white neighborhood
sh*t in the head.
- [Joel] Black youth were organized and mobilized into student walkouts to protest.
The phone witness had contradicted all the other evidence and ignited the public.
- [Crowd] Justice denied, justice today.
- [Protesters] No peace, no justice.
- Here to demand that the state attorney
charge this homeowners association loose cannon with m*rder.
- And it is the search for justice for Trayvon that has brought us to this moment.
- [Joel] Soon enough, a special prosecutor was assigned and George Zimmerman was arrested.
- Today, we filed an information charging George Zimmerman with m*rder in the second degree.
- The prosecutor did not make a decision based on public pressure.
- Let me emphasize that we do not prosecute by public pressure or by petition.
I wanna especially thank Mr. Crump.
- [Joel] The cell phone document finally arrived.
It was overwhelming, 750 pages, including over 1500 contacts,
almost 3,000 text messages and 3,000 photos. It even had GPS coordinates fixing Trayvon's locations.
Although massive, I knew I would have to read it many times and I would learn more about Trayvon
than even his friends and family knew. My first challenge though was to learn some urban English
starting with the word N
-I
-G
-G
-A. Used repeatedly, it carried no stigma and simply meant dude.
I learned jit was child, boo was sweetheart, bae was babe, bru was brother, deuces meant get lost, slid meant tired,
G
-sh*t was keeping it real, Kush was marijuana, and OG and OB were old boy and old girl, mom and dad.
Then there was urban shorthand to learn like finna, pose, cuz, ion, gud, doe, and W.Y.A., where you at?
I also learned words like da, dis, dat, wit, wat, dey, and na for now.
Now, I was ready to get down with my bad self. In the fall of 2011, Trayvon's activities
seemed to revolve around school, church, and going to the movies with female friends.
His cell phone contacts were loaded with images of girls, girls blowing kisses, girls showing a little skin,
and more girls. Closest to Trayvon seemed to be four former girlfriends who were somewhat similar, about 5'3", thin,
and two years younger than him. They all had nicknames, so I cross
-referenced their phone numbers and email addresses
to locate their Facebook pages to identify them. These included Sunshine.
She was Ashley Burch. She would greet Trayvon almost every morning. Good morning, Sunshine, you wanna go to Galaxy this weekend?
Yeah, if I have money. Daisha Mitchell appears to have been Trayvon's sweetheart
in junior high and was now just a good friend. What you doing tonight? Chillin', you?
Samiie was Samantha Mason, another friend. Where you at? Leaving the movies.
Which movie you seen? Really was Faith Miller. She thought of herself as Trayvon's girlfriend
in early
-2012. What you doing? Nothing, with my cousins, "Everybody Loves Raymond".
Faith was literally the preacher's daughter. Her father was a baptist minister. Faith seemed like a sweet girl.
Faith was in love with Trayvon. Trayvon's text messages with his mother,
Sybrina, seemed fairly routine. Please clean up today, my church day is tomorrow.
I cleaned up my room, am I free to go? She planned family get
-togethers and communicated typical mom things.
Azz up, soldier, rise and shine. I'm up, captain. Trayvon sported tattoos of his mother and grandmother, Nana.
There wasn't much communication between Trayvon and his father, Tracy. His past couldn't have been a great influence on him.
- [Interviewer] Mr. Martin, have you ever been arrested?
- Yes, I've been arrested. Possession of a controlled substance.
- [Joel] In 1989, Tracy Martin was a drug courier. He flew into St. Louis with two kilos of pure cocaine
with a street value of over a million dollars and was arrested at the airport. Tracy pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute
and spent the next several years at Leavenworth.
He also had a tattoo on his neck, Crippin all the time, implying allegiance to the Crips g*ng.
Tracy quickly had the Crips tattoo covered with praying hands once Trayvon's case
started to get media attention.
Some of Trayvon's male friends seemed like bad news. His best friend was Mario,
whom Trayvon called Bru, meaning brother. His real name was Romario Carridice.
Trayvon and Mario seemed to go way back. However, Mario could not have been a good influence.
His Twitter account image was a g*ng sign. He made sure everyone knew he was in a g*ng.
He even used fake gold teeth. On a video on Mario's Facebook page, he's showing off his g*ns
and practicing to sh**t with friends. (g*n f*ring) (friends laughing)
- That sh*t got.
- It's so loud.
- That sh*t got.
- That sh*t.
- Hey, hold on, hold on. Ready? (g*n fires)
- [Joel] He sh*t at targets of people. (g*n f*ring) The Miami g*ng culture was very big and plenty of trouble
and it was all around them. Mario was also friends with Stephan Bramble, another close friend of Trayvon.
Trayvon called him Steve
-o. On Stephan Bramble's Facebook page, I was shocked to see a video he posted
smoking marijuana with Trayvon and some underage kids. That n*gga Trayvon always got joints for the block.
My n*gga Tray did love to smoke. Stephan Bramble seemed like more bad news for Trayvon.
Photos showed Stephan liked to drink lean. It's made from codeine, or cough syrup, and a soft drink to get high.
He also smoked a lot of pot and seemed to sell it and made a lot of money doing it too.
The video showed he was proud of it. Stephan Bramble was also into handguns and even machine g*ns.
It didn't seem to bother him that little kids were around. Not surprisingly, Trayvon's two closest friends,
Mario and Stephan, would later find themselves in trouble with the law. In the fall of 2011, Trayvon's behavior
took a sudden, dark turn. His pastimes now included street fighting, dr*gs, and g*ns.
By this time, Trayvon was using the Twitter handle NO_LIMIT_n*gga, the name of a street g*ng.
♪ No Limit gangsters ♪ ♪ No Limit gangsters ♪
- [Joel] After he was kicked out by his mother,
Trayvon's friend Iyanni, Aiyanna Fleming, tried to warn Trayvon, but he wasn't listening.
My mom kicked me out. The police caught me outta school. So you just turning into a little hoodlum.
Nah, I'm a gangsta. Boy, don't get one planted in your chest. Ha ha, I'm scared.
You should be. The images and text messages on Trayvon's cell phone
showed that Trayvon was heavily into marijuana. He was a regular consumer.
Can we smoke one last time? Weed
-head. I got weed and I get money Friday.
- [Interviewer] Did you know whether or not he was smoking weed?
- No, I did not.
- [Joel] Trayvon's cousin Boobie, Stephen Martin,
tried to warn him not to deal dr*gs, but Trayvon wouldn't listen. I ain't your parent but G
-sh*t, throw it away.
Why you gotta knock my hustle?
- The kids call it Skittles or Triple
-C, but you know it as cough syrup.
- [Joel] Like his good friend Stephan Bramble, Trayvon was into lean to get high.
The ingredients included cough syrup, a soft drink, and candy.
- [Reporter] Cough medicine contains dextromethorphan,
a dangerous hallucinogenic.
- [Joel] Trayvon was trying to score codeine from his friend Mackenzie Baksh.
You know a connect for codeine? I had it before. Just use robitussin and soda to make some fire
-ass lean.
Codeine is a higher dose of DXM. A week before his death, his text messages show
that g*ns and g*n
-dealing were coming into play for Trayvon. Dario was Darius Moro.
On Facebook, he went by Dee Staxx. You got heat? I got a bill right now for some fie.
A bill was $100 and fie meant firearms. Qua was Trayvon's cousin, Ronquavis Fulton.
♪ Money on my mind ♪ ♪ Constant with this grind ♪
- [Joel] He was in on the g*n
-dealing too.
You want a 22 revolver? What sh**t? Tell fool I got 80 for him right now.
sh**t was brand and fool meant friend.
- [Interviewer] Were you aware of a conversation about getting a 22 hand g*n?
- Objection.
- No.
- Would that surprise you?
- Yes, that would.
- [Joel] Trayvon was also dealing g*ns
with his friend Spoonhead Zack, Zachery Witherspoon.
You know somebody with some 38? Yeah, 150. Am finna cop a 38 for a face.
Face meant marijuana. In three months, Trayvon was suspended from school three times.
He had a video on his cell phone of street fighting. What you doing? Watching videos on WorldStar, fights.
Trayvon's YouTube channel had videos of fighting and mixed martial arts.
Each time he got suspended, his mother kicked him out and sent him to live with his father.
Pack up your clothes. I love you but I think you being with your dad is best. Pack up your clothes, now.
- [Interviewer] You never knew that he was being considered for expulsion?
- No, I did not.
- This is the first I've ever heard of that.
- [Joel] Trayvon's friends were concerned. Why you always fighting, man, you got suspended?
I lost the first round but won the second and third. You ain't tell me you swung on a bus driver.
I was watching a fight and a teacher say I hit em. Stop, you ain't gonna be satisfied till you get suspended again, huh?
My mom just told me I gotta move. You had a fight dis year? Damn, bru, I got kicked out.
You fighting? Suspended, fighitng. What you fighting for?
That n*gga snitched on me. The urban dictionary defines snitches as m*therf*ckers who gets they ass b*at up.
He ain't bleed enough for me. Only his nose. This text exchange sounded too familiar.
- He had marijuana in his system. I had to wonder if Trayvon thought George was snitching on him for smoking pot.
The Zimmerman and Trayvon deceptions would pale in comparison to the greatest deception of them all.
- [Interviewer] Did he have a girlfriend back then before he passed?
- No.
- [Joel] With only five days to live, Trayvon was back on the bus to Orlando, texting with his girlfriend, Diamond.
Often, their texts were highly sexual. Just got back on the bus.
sh*t, bae, I miss some sex. You shoulda been on the bus. Diamond love to ride.
This d*ck is yours. That you tell me. You should know. Diamond, the girl who stole Trayvon's heart,
was different than the others. She was a badass, boastful, confident, and overtly sexual.
I am gorgeous, fabulous, sexy, and hoe will always hate on this Diamond, 'cause they want what I got.
I would like to show you some move. I wanna see you so bad right now. How you want me?
I want it every way. In February 2012, Diamond's text exchanges
with Trayvon averaged 50 per day and they spoke on the phone for about five hours every day,
including the last day of his life. Diamond was always getting herself ready for primetime.
What are you doing? Taking a hot bath. I wanna join. I bet you do.
I'm doing my hair now. You already started putting the weave in? Yeah.
Text messages between Diamond and Trayvon were often loving. Diamond.
Sweetheart. Good morning, bae. Happy Valentine's Day, bae.
Gimme kiss. (lips smooching) Do you wanna be my ride to die n*gga?
Bae. Ride to die meant we are a couple. We ride together and we die together.
Whatever happens to me, happens to you, because we stay together.
After obsessively rereading Trayvon's text messages about a hundred times, as I set out to do,
I had come to know Trayvon. And surprisingly, now I knew Diamond too.
Almost personally. sh*t, I love my duck ass. I knew her vibe, her jive, and her attitude
well enough to know that something was very wrong here. Diamond was attractive, highly sexualized,
and self
-confident in the extreme. Rachel Jeantel was none of this.
Did Trayvon really beg to jump into a bathtub with Rachel? Yet, Rachel was the girl we all saw at the trial
claiming to be Diamond.
- My name was a lie.
- [Attorney] That's a name that you made up?
- That's my nickname.
- [Attorney] But your last name isn't Eugene.
- That's my mother.
- [Joel] Trayvon's girlfriends were all short, thin, and younger than him.
Rachel Jeantel was a year older and outweighed him by a hundred pounds and there was no duck ass.
I checked Trayvon's contacts. There was no Rachel Jeantel.
There was an entry for Diamond with her phone number used with Trayvon, but no photo.
Trayvon often implored Diamond to text photos and she always obliged. Send me a pic.
You got the pic? Yeah. I then went through the 3,000 photos stored
on Trayvon's phone, yet there was no picture of Rachel Jeantel, who was unmistakable.
Then, I recall Trayvon often called Diamond bae for babe. Morning, bae.
Be safe, bae. Hey, bae. I just got home, bae. Sure enough, there was a contact for bae
right next to the phone number used by Diamond. However, the photo of Bae was not Rachel Jeantel.
Even though Bae wore a long weave and a ton of light makeup, no sighted person could possibly confuse her
with Rachel Jeantel. How could the State of Florida prosecutors not have seen this?
- The young lady completely connects the dots.
- [Joel] I quickly downloaded Benjamin Crump's
20 minute phone call with Diamond. That interview was three weeks after Trayvon was k*lled
on March 19, 2012. Then, I downloaded the recording of Rachel Jeantel's
deposition with prosecutor Bernie de la Rionda from exactly two weeks later on April 2nd.
I selected similar phrases from each interview and compared them, listening over and over.
- [Diamond] What you doing around here?
- [Rachel] What you doing around here?
- [Diamond] What you doing around here?
- [Rachel] What you doing around here?
- [Diamond] Trayvon, he was like walk.
- [Rachel] Trayvon started walking.
- [Diamond] Trayvon, he was like walk.
- [Rachel] Trayvon started walking.
- [Joel] Their voices shared little.
The tone, inflection, syntax, rhythm, and accents didn't match.
- [Diamond] He was walking out the store.
- [Rachel] He was leaving the store.
- [Diamond] He was walking out the store.
- [Rachel] He was leaving the store.
- [Diamond] I was saying, run to your house.
- [Rachel] I told him to run to his dad house.
- [Diamond] I was saying run to your house.
- [Rachel] I told him run to his dad house.
- [Joel] Diamond spoke fluidly and with confidence. The terminology was different too.
- [Diamond] 'Cause his head set like fell.
- [Rachel] 'Cause the head phone he might got off.
- [Diamond] 'Cause his head set like fell.
- [Rachel] 'Cause the head phone he might got off.
- [Joel] Even the stories were different.
- [Diamond] It started raining hard.
- [Rachel] It was not raining.
- [Diamond] It started raining hard.
- [Rachel] It was not raining.
- [Joel] Next, I decided to listen to Rachel Jeantel's April 2nd deposition.
At 6:00 p.m. that day, Sybrina guided the police to Diamond's house. She knew the address because she had driven the real Diamond
home from her house two weeks earlier. However, when they arrived at the redacted address,
they were sent to a different house where who showed up at the door but Rachel Jeantel.
I wanted to know the redacted address and put in a request for the original document. I was guessing the first address
was where the real Diamond lived.
- [Interviewer] Could you state your name for the record, please?
- [Rachel] Rachel Jeantel.
- She is a 16 year old teenager.
- [Interviewer] How old are you now?
- [Rachel] 18.
- [Joel] Prosecutors had to subpoena Diamond's phone records
because she refused to provide them.
- [Interviewer] Is that phone number under your name or under somebody else's name?
- [Rachel] It should now, it should be now under my name. T
-Mobile, I think.
- [Joel] In fact, the cell phone account was Simple Mobile
and was prepaid with no identifying information. It was probably transferred to Rachel that day.
- [Interviewer] Did you consider yourselves dating?
- No.
- [Interviewer] Were you kind of his girlfriend
or just kind of?
- [Rachel] Yeah, we were getting there.
- [Interviewer] Okay, you were getting there.
- [Questioner] That day, February 26,
did Trayvon send you any text messages?
- [Rachel] Like one.
- [Joel] In fact, they exchanged 32 text messages that day.
- [Interviewer] Did Trayvon ever say the guy's coming at me, he's gonna hit me?
- [Rachel] Yeah, you could say that.
- [Interviewer] Did he ever say the guy got out of the car?
- [Rachel] You want that too?
- [Joel] By now, it was obvious that Rachel Jeantel
was just making things up as she went. At the end of the interview, she actually tries to tell the prosecutor she's lying, but he doesn't get it.
- [Rachel] I got guilt.
- [Prosecutor] You got guilt? Why do you feel guilt?
- Real guilt.
- Huh?
- Real guilty.
- Why do you feel real guilty?
- I ain't know about it.
- Huh?
- [Rachel] I ain't know about it.
- [Joel] Rachel did not know about it because she was not Diamond.
- Dramatic testimony emerging late this afternoon in George Zimmerman's m*rder trial. Jurors getting to hear from the woman
who was on the phone with Trayvon Martin just moments before he was sh*t and k*lled.
- [Joel] The most memorable moment of the trial
was Rachel talking about a letter the real Diamond had given to Sybrina Fulton.
- Are you able to read that copy well enough
that you can tell us if it's in fact the same letter?
- No.
- [Prosecutor] Are you unable to read that at all?
- [Rachel] I don't understand.
Cursive, I don't read cursive.
- [Joel] The letter detailed everything Diamond said she heard, yet Sybrina kept the evidence secret
for a year, tucked away in her Bible until just before the trial.
- [Mark] Had you disclosed this to the state before yesterday?
- No.
- [Mark] Did you discuss this with your attorney, the existence of this letter?
- I did not.
- [Mark] Did you consider this letter significant?
- I considered that letter to be personal and sentimental.
- [Joel] In fact, there was nothing personal about it.
It was only a narrative of the phone call with Trayvon and that was it. There was no Dear Sybrina, no feelings,
and it ended with simply thank you, Diamond Eugene.
- [Mark] What did you do once you read it?
- I've received several letters, so I put it in a box.
- [Joel] Meanwhile, Tracy Martin got very nervous when he was asked about Diamond's letter.
- [Interviewer] Was it ever read to you?
- I have no knowledge of what was in the letter. Never read it, never had it read to me,
never had it sent to me, never had it in my possession.
- [Joel] The closer I looked at the letter,
the deeper and deeper I was drawn into it. I sensed it must have some great significance
in the coverup of who Diamond really was.
- I did not write the letter though.
- [Interviewer] Oh, who wrote the letter for you?
- I told Francine to write it. I tell her what to write.
- [Joel] Rachel claimed a woman who worked for Trayvon's mother, Francine Serve, wrote the letter for her.
- [Mark] Did you know Francine?
- Yes.
- [Mark] From the fact that she was helping out with your brother?
- Yes.
- [Joel] I had identified all the callers
on Diamond's phone records by doing background checks online one by one. Soon enough, I was able to assign a name to every number.
Diamond's best friend was the beautiful Felicia Cineas, who was also 16.
Every day, Diamond and Felicia texted and called each other almost nonstop from 5:00 a.m. until midnight.
Felicia went to Michael Krop High School and knew Trayvon. Diamond's best friend Felicia's older sister
was none other than Francine Serve. This was interesting. More background checks revealed that in 2016,
both Francine and Felicia were convicted of identity fraud involving fraudulent use of credit cards and grand theft.
These people were not shy about swapping identities.
- I did say my name is Diamond Eugene.
I signature as Diamond Eugene.
- I decided to look for Rachel's signature
and compare it to the one on the letter. I found it on a 2015 traffic citation.
It looked like Rachel could barely write. Though I'm not a handwriting expert, I didn't believe
for one second that Rachel had signed the name Diamond Eugene.
- Diamond?
- Yeah.
- [Crump] Okay, Attorney Crump.
- [Joel] I began to wonder if any of the witnesses in this case could be trusted, including Diamond herself.
Crump was leading the witness.
- [Crump] Let me do this here. Let me have you start over just saying that there, okay?
And say it loud and slow for me, okay?
- All right.
- Okay. One, two, three.
- [Diamond] In this situation, in this kind of case, to me, it's a racial. It is a racial.
It was a innocent boy. Just because he had a hoodie on.
- [Joel] She was just repeating back to Crump
the narrative he'd said on the news.
- All he had was a bag of Skittles and an iced tea.
And say it loud and slow.
- [Diamond] He ain't do nothing. He was just like going to get his little brother
a little Skittle and a Arizona Iced Tea, that's it.
- [Joel] Even worse, whatever Crump said, Diamond simply agreed with him.
- [Crump] Did Trayvon sound scared?
- [Diamond] Yeah.
- [Crump] Did Trayvon sound normal throughout the whole day since you had talked to him?
- [Diamond] Yeah.
Yeah, he sound real happy.
- [Joel] I had to laugh. Diamond knew Trayvon was not happy that day
because of Diamond. You said I'm a waste of your time. It what it is. You really hurt a n*gga feelings.
It whatever. You done with me? n*gga, go f*ck a hoe. Crump slipped up when he told Court TV
what was obvious to me. Diamond was coerced.
- This interview happened, Jane,
because we pushed her making a statement.
- [Joel] For three weeks, Diamond was hammered
by calls and texts from Trayvon's two best friends, Mario and Stephan Bramble.
The tag team pressured Diamond with three
-way calls with Felicia too. By the third week, Diamond caved in.
- How did you locate Witness Number Eight?
- Mr. Martin got his phone bill and he saw the last person
that was on the phone and it was this witness.
- [Joel] Only the media could fall for Crump's story
of discovering Diamond.
- [Crump] One, two, three.
- [Joel] Out of the blue on March 18.
Diamond had a lot going on in March 2012. Some calls seemed routine, like fast food.
Diamond loved Pizza Hut and Chinese food. She was also concerned about skin care.
There were regular calls to financial institutions. A little suspicious for someone too young to have
a credit card and calling from an untraceable, prepaid phone. There were 21 texts and six phone calls
with Trayvon's mom, Sybrina Fulton.
- Good morning, Matt.
- Hey, good morning, Robin. We've been following this story for a few weeks now.
- There were 74 texts and four phone calls between Diamond and ABC News correspondent Matt Gutman,
including calls late at night and early in the morning. There were also regular calls
between Diamond and Rachel Jeantel. And a call to Benjamin Crump on March 31st,
just before Rachel's deposition.
Clearing my head after weeks of research, I realized I had just uncovered the most flagrant
judicial fraud in modern times. But even with all the phone records,
I still could not identify Diamond. Maybe it wasn't accidental.
There were over 100 texts missing. Why did Diamond have to be forced to come forward?
Why was Rachel Jeantel substituted as a fake witness? And who knew the George Zimmerman case
had started the modern era of fake news and race hoaxes. Had the truth been exposed at trial,
the whole course of recent history would have been different. There would be no Black Lives Matter movement.
The city of Ferguson might not have blown up. Colin Kaepernick might still be playing for the 49ers.
And thousands of young African Americans might have been spared the lethal consequences
of the Ferguson Effect. But to tell this story, I had to find Diamond.
I needed to know the backstory. I had to understand the culture, the street life, even the geography of Diamond's world
if I was going to find her. It was time for some field work.
And there was only one place to go. (upbeat music)
Miami.
Arriving in Miami on a cool, overcast day, I headed for the side of town that is on no tourist map,
the east side. And I'm gonna hit a lot of houses where people live, really understand all the people that I've been studying
for so long by looking at their neighborhoods, their schools. They all lived in a roughly four square mile patch
of Miramar, Miami Gardens, and Opa
-locka.
I wanted to get a sense of the geography and also the lifestyle. The streets were flat, linear, and easy to follow.
It would be hard to get lost. The main streets were lined with strip malls.
The side streets with old Florida houses, detached, pleasant, each with yards and lots of greenery.
No one's idea of a ghetto.
- [GPS] The destination is on your left.
- We've reached the house of Sunshine, Ashley Burch.
- [GPS] In a quarter mile, turn left onto South University Drive.
- [Joel] Next, I went to check out
where Trayvon's good friend Daisha Mitchell lived. I started to get the sense that these girls
all lived in pretty decent homes.
- [GPS] In a quarter mile, the destination is on your left.
- This is where Faith Miller lived,
good Christian girl, father's a preacher and a lawyer.
There was a Baptist church van in the driveway. I was surprised to run into the Nation of Islam.
- You know we trying to reduce some of this crime in the community. Y'all like to help us out?
- Here you go.
- I appreciate you. My brother, thank you.
All praise you do to Allah, y'all have a blessed one, all right? (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) brother.
- Should blacks consider separation? Hate crimes, blacks the number one target.
Right now we're going to the house of Felicia Cineas, the best friend where they sent hundreds
and hundreds of texts to each other. This is Felicia house.
Diamond's best friend.
- So, I'm dressed and waiting.
- This is the house where Trayvon lived for 12 years with Mama 'Licia.
- Hi. Say hey, everybody.
- [GPS] And the destination is on your left.
- This is the house where Trayvon lived part
-time with his mother, Sybrina.
Going to Miami Beach to check out Matt Gutman's condo, the ABC News reporter.
Turns out, Matt Gutman lives on the island.
- ABC News has obtained exclusively the last information from the last person to speak with him.
- It was from this location that ABC's Matt Gutman started texting and calling Diamond,
even late into the night. Next, I decided to visit the four high schools
that Trayvon and his friends attended. I need to go through every yearbook of every high school if I'm gonna find Diamond.
I was able to walk right into the administrative offices and buy a yearbook.
There it is. Miami Carol City 2012.
My next stop was Michael Krop High School where Trayvon attended but had been suspended three times
in his final three months. I made my way to the administrative offices
and bought a yearbook.
Got it, Michael Krop yearbook. I wondered if Diamond was somewhere in these pages.
It's a big yearbook.
- [GPS] Turn right onto Northwest 12th Avenue.
- Going over to Miami Norland Senior High School.
This is where Rachel Jeantel at one time was in high school. I'm gonna go see if I can get a yearbook and learn something and take a look around the school.
- [GPS] Turn left, then your destination will be on the right.
- [Joel] Here, I was hoping to get more information
on Rachel Jeantel as well.
I hit it off with someone who told me about Rachel's academic history.
I learned that in 2012, Rachel was an 18 year old ninth grader.
- [Don] Did you miss a year somewhere along the line?
- No, I fail.
- [Don] You failed and were held back one year?
- Yes, two.
- [Joel] Also, I learned that Rachel was in the Exceptional Student Education program
designed for students with learning disabilities among other problems.
- Yeah, I got like 100 tardies.
- [Don] Well, you basically would just sleep in?
- When I feel like waking up, I wake up.
- [Don] So, did you dictate the letter?
- What is dictate? Explain dictate. What's an example of dictate?
- [Don] It's another person writes down what's being said.
- I will get confuse. I don't even know what I remember.
- [Don] You're having trouble with remembering the details?
- Yeah.
- According to The Washington Post, Rachel was reading at a fourth grade level
at the time of the trial. Looking back, I doubt Rachel could read at all.
I began to wonder whether Rachel's limitations had made her an easy target for those with their own agendas.
I had learned a hell of a lot from my brief visit to Miami Norland.
It didn't seem like Rachel was even in school that year. I had one more high school to go.
Miramar High School. I'm gonna go in and try to see if I can get a yearbook as well as look around the campus.
Trayvon had several girlfriends who had attended Miramar and Diamond could have been one of them.
They had a nice cafeteria.
Diamond, baby, I hope you're in here.
I got the Miramar High 2011, 2012 year book. There were thousands of students whose names
and class years I would need to cross
-check with Trayvon's phone records. This, I would do when I got back to Los Angeles.
Next, I made my way to Little Haiti in downtown Miami,
a rundown area just over the bridge from luxurious Miami Beach.
Who all at your crib now? My grandma, my aunties, uncles, all the Zoes. I knew from Diamond's text messages
that she was of Haitian descent. Zoe was a nickname for Haitian. Also, Diamond's last name on her letter
to Sybrina Fulton was Eugene, a common Haitian name. I thought maybe a Voodoo priestess
could help me find Diamond. So I tried to call in advance. (speaking in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)
- Diamond Eugene.
- [Priestess] Diamond.
(speaking in foreign language)
- [Priestess] Oo, la, la. (speaking in foreign language)
You speak French? (speaking in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)
- That didn't exactly work out.
It was great to be in Little Haiti, so busy and so colorful.
There was creole music blasting everywhere.
It looked like there were no tourists. It would be just me and Haitians.
This is what it must be like in Haiti. I walked the streets of Little Haiti
to get a feel of the place and the people.
Little Haiti. There were beautiful murals everywhere.
(exotic music)
And there it was, right before my eyes, there was Diamond, in a mural welcoming me to Little Haiti.
This was a good sign if there ever was one. Now, I just had to find the Voodoo priestess.
Where can I find a Voodoo priestess?
- I know there's one down there.
- Hello, hi. Voodoo priestess, give me some advice. Yeah.
No? All right, thank you.
- Yeah, I don't know anything about that.
- Don't worry about it, okay, thanks anyway.
The stores were jammed with souvenirs. You could barely walk around.
Do they have a priestess here?
- What is that?
- They give you like advice.
- I don't know.
- No?
Okay, thanks anyway. I thought, maybe if I buy something,
people will tell me where to find a priestess. I chose a Haitian spice grinder.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Marriange. (speaking in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)
- Diamond? (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language)
(speaking in foreign language) (speaking in foreign language) No one seemed to know a Voodoo priestess or Diamond.
- Do you need Haitian blanket? (speaking foreign language)
Do they have a priestess in Little Haiti? Are you one?
- No.
- No? (speaking in foreign language)
- I know Diamond, I don't know nobody surname.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Okay. Now they got a Voodoo priestess on 59th.
Second Avenue and 59th.
- 2nd and 59th?
- Uh
-huh.
- Maybe they can help me find Diamond.
- Yeah, maybe they will help you.
- I hope so, I'm looking for her. (speaking in foreign language)
I'm looking for someone named Diamond. I'm trying to find her, I don't know where to find her.
- When you see the spirit, you will talk to him about this.
- [Joel] Can I do a video tape of it?
- Pay more. Take the camera.
You would like to find her?
- I need to find her. I need to find Diamond.
- Cut. Now, why are you looking for her?
- [Joel] Someone was k*lled six years ago. She knows what happened.
- I would like to help you, to find Diamond.
But now, I can tell you, she's out of town.
- So what city is she in?
- I don't know where you can find her. She's out of town.
One day, you will find Diamond.
- [Joel] Is Diamond a good person
or is Diamond not such a good person?
- Diamond, she is not.
- Not good?
- No.
- [Joel] How do you know that?
- 'Cause that's what I see.
I don't know what she did.
- [Joel] Can you show me the card that says she did bad?
- The Black card.
- Black?
- Black. That means she's no good.
- She's no good?
- She doesn't have a good heart.
- That's what I'm afraid of.
- She doesn't have a good heart. When you will meet her, then you will say that.
- I'll find her, but then she'll have a bad heart.
- Definitely.
- [Joel] Okay, you helped me, you helped me. Good luck then, okay.
- You are a good man.
- Same for you.
(speaking in foreign language)
- Okay.
- The Voodoo priest's words were chilling. Diamond had a bad heart.
With that on my mind, I drove to Miami Gardens.
Andrew Gillum. Andrew Gillum for governor.
He said it all started with Trayvon Martin. There was the vestige of Gillum's campaign for governor, all about race.
It was an historic election, an appeal to skin color. With a disarming aw shucks smile, Gillum reminded me
of none other than Gomer Pyle. That's why Andrew Gillum was trained by leftists in San Francisco.
They knew the socialist message would work if the messenger is super friendly and looks like
the people he is selling to. Next, I visited Antioch Missionary Baptist Church,
the deeply Christ
-centered house of God was attended by Sybrina Fulton and it's where the funeral service
for Trayvon was held. Despite the shabby neighborhood, the church was doing well enough to afford
a major construction project that would include an elementary school.
- We are building for his glory.
We're gonna have over 25 classrooms.
- [Joel] I wondered if the pastor knew Andrew Gillum would stop school vouchers
for church education. I got to thinking about the role of Christianity in the lives of the people involved in this drama.
They often invoked Jesus and God.
But it seemed to me they had ignored the fundamental tenants of their faith. This included Diamond herself.
I'm a child of God on Sunday, but Monday to Saturday I'm a pimping. It included Trayvon's parents.
- We simply wanted an arrest. Thank you, Lord, thank you, Jesus.
- When I walk, I will walk by faith.
- [Joel] The prosecutors were praying too.
- After meeting with Trayvon's parents,
the first thing we did was pray with them. We opened our meeting in prayer.
- [Joel] Then, there was the clergy who stoked the mob.
- No justice.
- No peace.
- No justice.
- No peace.
- [Joel] How could religious leaders
call for the railroading of George Zimmerman?
- [Al] Lock him up.
- [Joel] Then they all politicized Trayvon's death.
- We are here tonight with Hillary Clinton.
- Now they've made Trayvon a martyr. Martyrs have power.
- I'm gonna continue to praise God.
- [Joel] Where exactly did Jesus come in? Or God? Weren't there religious principles
that would apply to being truthful under oath?
- [Woman] Raise your right hand, please.
I need you to raise your right hand, please.
- [Joel] Rachel Jeantel never actually swore to tell the truth.
- So help me God.
- [Joel] She just asked God for help.
- So help me God.
- I'm here in Miramar at Diamond Girl Beauty Supply. I couldn't resist stopping at Diamond Girl Beauty Supply.
I knew that Diamond was big on wearing weaves. In her photo, she had a weave or a wig.
I figured if I learned all about weaves and wigs, it would help me identify Diamond in the yearbooks.
But then I realized these weren't hairpieces, these were disguises.
It was overwhelming. I thought I had a lot of potential in a weave.
But then I realized I just looked like Sideshow Bob.
- These are weaves back here but if you wanted to get a weave to make into your own,
it would be like there on the wall.
- Oh, that's for the weaves.
But how much of this do I need to create a full wig?
- Two to three packs.
- Two to three packs? Is that a remote?
- Yeah.
- [Joel] I like it. So that's one with the bangs like that?
These are the bangs. Now I knew a lot about weaves. I was ready.
I had learned a lot in Miami. The visit gave me a much clearer sense of Trayvon
and Diamond's world. And, thanks to the Voodoo priest, I now had a glimpse
into the soul of the elusive Diamond. I headed back to Los Angeles to find her.
Back in LA, I took all the high school yearbooks I had and I dove in.
I knew Diamond had to be in here somewhere. But then I realized the girls were not easy to identify.
The photos were small. There was tons of makeup and weaves.
3,000 small photos just turned into 6,000. This was going to be a lot more difficult
than I had imagined. I decided to first look at all the girls named Diamond.
I counted 15 Diamonds in the yearbooks. I compared them all to the photo of Trayvon's Diamond.
Diamond Dixon from Norland looked like she might be a match.
I did a quick background check on her but no Haitian names in the family.
I found more photos of Diamond Dixon online. Wow, her photos looked very different.
Smile, no smile. Weave, no weave. I decided she was not the one.
Diamond Dixon's nose was bigger and she had a gap between her two front teeth that Trayvon's Diamond did not have.
Diamond Johnson was in Trayvon's contacts. She went to Miramar and was now an accomplished author
who had written a dozen romantic novels. Diamond Johnson was typical of how these girls
seemed to change their looks dramatically, often day to day. I called her and asked to buy autographed copies
of her books, hoping for a handwriting sample.
Within a few days, the books arrived. I even got a T
-shirt.
I compared her Diamond to Diamond Eugene on the letter. It was not a match.
But maybe Diamond was a middle name or a nickname. I decided to look at all the girls
with the last name Eugene. I put the pictures on my computer. But by now, I was exhausted.
Every weave and every smile ran together. I was beginning to lose it.
With no Eugene match, I went to sleep that night even more depressed.
On too many nights, I would dream of finding Diamond and then losing Diamond.
Then, on one sleepless night at 3:00 a.m., it hit me. The photos of Diamond on Trayvon's cell phone
should have the same timestamps as the text messages. I sh*t out of bed
and found the times Diamond had sent Trayvon photos. Lil Cuz JJ.
Diamond sent Trayvon the same photo of her cousin twice in a row at 4:52 on February 19.
There she was, Diamond's cousin. Next, Diamond sent a photo of herself.
There was Diamond. At first, Trayvon thought it was the cousin though. Diamond sh*t back, that me, you ass.
You don't know how your chick look? On February 20, Diamond sent Trayvon more photos.
Just for my bae 'cause he had a bad day. My two little friends will make smile. There was Diamond again.
Another photo that day Trayvon labeled February 20 with hearts. Trayvon was in love.
Diamond's photos all looked slightly different, but I was used to this by now. Now it was back to the yearbooks
to finally identify Diamond.
This was proving near impossible. There were thousands of weaves, wigs, makeup.
It was endless. I decided to start with the Diamonds again.
No. No. No. No. She wasn't any of them.
Then I thought to double
-check the Eugenes. No. No.
No. No.
Yes. I found Diamond. I found her.
I found Diamond. Finally. Diamond was Brittany Eugene,
a sophomore at Miramar High School. It was unmistakable. Her 2012 yearbook photo even had the same Chinese weave
as the photo she sent Trayvon. I quickly did a background check on Brittany Eugene.
Her full legal name was Brittany Diamond Eugene. There it was, Diamond.
Diamond was her middle name. Birthdate January 2nd, 1996.
She was 16 years old at the time.
- She is a 16 year old teenager. She is a 16 year old teenager.
- [Joel] Next, I looked online for traffic citations hoping to find Diamond's signature.
Brittany Diamond Eugene. She had a lot, Broward County.
Madison County. Columbia County. A signed document. Bingo.
I brought it into Photoshop and compared it to Eugene on the letter.
It was a match. Diamond Eugene had signed the letter and not Rachel.
- I signature as Diamond Eugene.
- [Joel] This was becoming an episode of "CSI: Miami".
Luckily enough, the un
-redacted document I had requested with Diamond's address arrived.
I was so excited. Diamond's address was 2648 Flamingo Drive in Miramar.
That was Brittany Diamond Eugene's address. 2648 Flamingo Drive.
On April 2nd, 2012, Sybrina directed detectives to Diamond's house to interview her.
2648 Flamingo Drive. But when they arrived
-
- (door knocking)
The detectives were sent to a different address.
They were told to go to 52nd Avenue where Rachel Jeantel was waiting at Francine Serve's house.
- Francine was there. I knocked on the door and Francine was there.
- [Joel] Francine, of course, was the older sister
of Diamond's best friend, Felicia. Wow.
- [Mark] You never spoke with Francine about the connection?
- Of how she knew Diamond?
- Yeah.
- I don't understand.
- Why didn't the cops just pull up the list of residents at 2648 Flamingo Drive
just like I did? Back to the photos. I had to laugh. At her deposition, Rachel was wearing a Chinese weave
identical to Diamond's, but it didn't fit. And Rachel looked nothing like the sexy Diamond.
How many people knew about this deception? Next, I set out to learn everything I could about Diamond.
I Googled Brittany Diamond Eugene. Her Instagram page came up.
Over 4200 followers. God first, fashion second.
I hit a mother
-load of photos of the beautiful Diamond.
10 different looks and my looks all k*ll. More like a hundred different looks.
She was like a master of disguise. For her 21st birthday, Diamond was wearing a white diamond embroidered dress.
She wrote on January 2nd, God created Diamond. This was the boastful Diamond that I knew.
Everything that Diamond put on Instagram began with a post that was totally self
-absorbed.
Remember this face, 'cause I'm that girl you gonna lose to. Always me, never you.
Betting on me is the right risk. Maybe I'm not your speed.
Maybe I'm out of your league. There was still a lot more to learn.
Diamond had attended Broward College. Got my associates degree today.
And then she transferred to Florida State University to study criminal justice.
Oh, the irony. Top two and I'm not two.
There she was on the beach. Untouchable, but they feeling me.
Diamond had a tattoo of the map of Haiti on her side.
Diamond loved to remind everyone she was above all the rest.
Every thick girl needs a skinny friend. It's me, I'm the skinny friend.
Diamond was a model in a dance group. Next, I found Diamond's Facebook page.
It looked like everything had been deleted except for two posts, love yourself.
I knew that narcissists suffered from a lack of self
-worth, they also tended to be very boastful.
Her next post was already feeling another bitch. Just make sure the hoe badder than me.
Next, I found Diamond's mother's Facebook. Her name was Eliana Eugene.
She had lived with Diamond at Flamingo Drive. Eliana had been arrested for obstructing justice,
giving false information to police, and using false identification. Changing identities was apparently
all the rage in Diamond's world. On her Facebook page, Eliana had a great photo of Diamond
from back in 2012 with the caption Princess Brittany always in front of a mirror.
My baby know she's pretty. Whoa, now I had to compare photos again.
Did Diamond get a nose job? Was Diamond trying to avoid being recognized
in case someone like myself investigated one day? From there, I found another Facebook page for Diamond
under the alias Tiffany Eugene. There she was, the queen.
She was a heartbreaker and she knew it. I even managed to find a link to Lil Cuz JJ.
Her name was Alexis Jacquet, a very close cousin of Diamond who also went to Miramar High School.
The next stop was Twitter. There were 28,000 tweets.
She joined in 2011, that was good. All I had to do was scroll down to 2012
and it might reveal a treasure trove. Damn, the Twitter feed ended in December 2016.
Now it was onto Diamond's online clothing store called She's the b*mb Boutique.
Diamond, of course, was the model. She was selling sexy outfits, showing off her gorgeous self.
I thought the best way to meet Diamond would be as a customer.
It says right here pickup in Tallahassee. Pickup in Tally. So I bought a lot of her dresses online
and went to pick them up. And as you can see, this one is out of stock.
You wanna know why? 'Cause I bought four of them. This next one is called the royal skirt set
and I've purchased several of these. And it's only $50.
I might be her best customer for all I knew. Can't wait to meet Diamond.
I've been trying to find Diamond for a long time. It's a lot of makeup.
A lot of eye shadow. A lot of hair weaves. Different eyebrows. It's just amazing how she
and these other girls transform themselves. I badly wanted to read Diamond's
hour
-by
-hour tweets from 2012.
With an hour until touchdown, I thought to try Twitter's advanced search tool.
It's never worked when the tweets weren't online.
I couldn't believe it, there they all were. Almost 50 tweets per day.
I quickly perused the tweets that jumped out at me. I deserve the world.
My only competition is the mirror. I need to just step back and kiss myself. I'mma worry about me, give a f*ck about you.
This weave breaking out my face. I eat pizza and Chinese food entirely too much.
I have a legit shopping problem. Broke boys don't deserve p*ssy. Took a hot shower 'cause I was bored.
I wanna be a Kardashian so bad. Diamond had an epic secret. The deception had to be eating at her conscience.
Everything you do in the dark will eventually come to light. Karma's a bitch.
Another doozy caught my eye. Ever cheated? Do you regret doing so?
Yes and yes. I decided to put aside Diamond's Twitter account until I got back to Los Angeles.
It was time to rock and roll. (upbeat music)
With the rest of the day to look around Tallahassee, I headed to the downtown area.
Located on Florida's panhandle, Tallahassee has the look and feel of a small southern town.
It was an un
-Florida
-like 45 degrees. My first stop was the state capitol building.
Across the street was the Florida Supreme Court. Ah, the halls of justice.
I would go check it out. Given that Diamond was a criminal justice student,
I decided to pile on the irony by bringing Diamond a gift, a 16 inch bronze statue of Lady Justice.
The guards took my picture and gave me some info on the Supreme Court.
- Any questions?
- [Joel] Tell me about Lady Justice.
- [Guard] I'm not sure about her, man.
- The guard wasn't sure about Lady Justice.
There was the seal of the state of Florida. (speaking in foreign language) The Latin phrase means with time, true justice will prevail.
I made my way to the six foot tall statue of Lady Justice. The blindfold represented impartiality.
The scales represented objectivity. The fair weighing of evidence.
But what if someone tipped the scales of justice by lying? In that case, there was the snake.
The symbol of evil. Beware of the snake.
Then I walked into the Florida Supreme Court chambers. I had learned in high school civics class
that the courts were the great equalizer. But of course, justice depended on people being honest.
How could there be justice if witnesses pretend to be someone else and the system fails to recognize it?
My next stop was the Florida State University campus.
There was the beautiful main quad, a graceful sight with a beautiful fountain,
all built in 1911. It looked like the Old South, thick with Spanish moss
hanging from weeping willows. Although Tallahassee was a dud, the campus had energy to it.
Students were bustling around as though they actually had someplace to go that mattered. Here at the Florida State University
College of Criminology and Criminal Justice. Oh, the irony, oh, the irony.
I'm gonna go check it out. Criminal justice, of course, was Diamond's field of study.
In the lobby, there it was again, the scales of justice. Justice was just about everywhere in Florida,
on the surface anyway.
Diamond had agreed to deliver my order to the Holiday Inn the next day.
The location was ideal. They even had a post
-it sign for video taping.
The next morning, I was up at 6:00 a.m. getting ready. I decided I needed to get a good handwriting sample
from Brittany Diamond to compare to the letter. I'm gonna ask her to sign Christmas cards to eight girls
that I'm giving the clothing to. Now, what names am I gonna use? What I did is I took actual words from the letter.
I needed an I
-N
-G so I found the name Blessing. And then the word turn, so I have Turner, Blessing Turner.
These are really funky names. I hope she doesn't think something's up. Then I wanted the word rain and also a T
-R,
so I have Tracy Rainer walking through the rain. Constance Trelock, which is a really weird name.
The man was getting closer. So I made Theresa Closerman.
This should really help us do a handwriting analysis with a professional handwriting expert and I just hope the names aren't so strange
that she starts to wonder like what's going on here. But I think it's a really unique way to be able
to compare exact handwriting samples. Here we go. Finally, I was going to meet Diamond.
I admit to being a little angry with her. But at this point, I was more curious than angry.
The early start allowed me to stake out a corner of the hotel lobby. I set up my camera in plain sight.
I was waiting with great anticipation. Diamond was about to transform from a cyber
-ghost
into a real live person. Diamond was running late for the 9:00 a.m. meeting.
Hi, my GPS says I'll be there at 9:13 a.m.
And suddenly, there she was, in an all black high fashion dress.
The Voodoo priest had told me Diamond had a black heart. If so, the outfit matched.
Wanna sit down a second?
- [Diamond] Oh yeah, sure.
- Are you the model by any chance on the website?
She's the model.
- I model most of my own clothes.
- [Joel] Diamond was beautiful.
She looked right into the camera with her 20 inch weave. Diamond was thrilled to hear
I had brought her a Christmas present.
- Thank you.
- It was the statue of Lady Justice.
You know what that is? Ironically, she didn't recognize Lady Justice. It's Lady Justice.
It's like a desk thing.
- So cute, thank you.
- It's the scales of justice.
She thought it was cute though. How did you get into criminal justice? Were your parents in law enforcement?
- It was like my second interest, that's all. Like first interest was fashion, and my second interest is criminal justice.
So I was like, I'm not gonna go to school for fashion. I'm just going to school for my second.
- The lawyer in the family or a police officer.
Most people
-
-
- Yeah.
- You do? A police officer? What?
- I don't wanna be a police officer though.
- What, your parent, your mom, dad?
- Dad.
- He's a police officer? Wow. As far as I could tell, Diamond's father was no cop.
- [Announcer] Zoe Pound, one of the city's most notorious gangs, was started by Haitian immigrants steeped in a culture of v*olence.
No Miami g*ng is more violent.
- He was affiliated with the notorious Zoe Pound,
a Haitian g*ng that terrorized Miami in the 1990s. He used the alias Butler Eugene for some crimes.
Butler had multiple convictions for grand theft auto and spent time in prison before returning to Haiti.
Here's a card. Melanie Walker. Willow Connery.
This gal's name is Blessing Turner.
- Different.
- That's a pretty name. Blessing, they're religious people.
Tracy Rainier.
- [Assistant] Do you think you'll go home for the holidays?
- I'm working.
I work at Pandora jewelry store.
- Diamond worked at Pandora selling fake diamonds no less.
The irony just would not stop. Theresa Closerman.
- [Diamond] Do you have to get on the road after this?
- Yeah, we're hitting the road right now.
We're just checking in. Constance Trelock.
- [Diamond] You have some unique names.
- So you going to law school next, what's next for you?
- I'm actually, I don't wanna go to law school. I just wanna like, since I graduated I kinda just wanna go into work. And I'm aiming for working with like juveniles,
the Department of Juvenile Justice, like a probation officer.
- I wish you the best of luck in this exams and what you do next.
- Thank you, guys, so much.
- [Joel] Diamond left, her rockstar self in full swagger mode.
Diamond walked right out of the door and took Lady Justice with her. I could see why Trayvon was drawn to her.
The hair was perfect, the clothes just right, the smile electric.
Diamond had the power to do the right thing. Why didn't she?
- This is a copy of the letter that Diamond gave me.
- [Joel] It was time to find out who really wrote
and who really signed Sybrina's letter.
- [Interviewer] The letter that was given to you by the person you knew as Diamond Eugene.
- [Joel] I submitted the cards Diamond signed to a handwriting expert by email. I also submitted Diamond's traffic citation.
I included Francine Serve's handwriting samples from all her brushes with the law
as well as Rachel Jeantel's signature.
Next, I decided to reconstruct the month leading up to Trayvon's death starting in late January 2012.
Trayvon had just over 30 days to live. I miss my baby.
When he at work, I be so bored with nobody to talk to. The baby was Diamond's boyfriend of seven months.
18 year old Jeffrey Watler who went by Jeff. Lucky for me, Jeff used Twitter too.
Diamond was constantly complaining about not getting enough attention from Jeff. I didn't see my boyfriend in two weeks.
I be wanting all his attention. Jeff was working two full
-time jobs.
Jeff Watler worked here at Simon's Sportswear. This is one of his two jobs that was keeping him
too busy to give Diamond enough attention.
This is the Abercrombie and Fitch where Jeff Watler worked when Britt was dating both him and Trayvon Martin.
Sometimes, Diamond used Twitter to encourage Jeff. Baby, I'll ride for you. Baby, I'll die for you.
But she mostly used Twitter to publicly embarrass Jeff into action. He take forever to text back.
My phone d*ed. I don't hear from him till he get in. That's not gonna fly with me. I need a new phone.
A real man won't let his woman down. With no car, he would often arrive home
by bus after midnight and get up at noon the next day and go back to work.
I called this boy twice and didn't get no answer. I got no energy. I miss you.
Going to work. Okay, I'm getting bored now. Diamond's complaints were making Jeff insecure.
My biggest fear besides God not letting me in heaven is losing Brittany. Jeff was so exhausted, he would often tweet just one word.
Sleepy. I went to get some juice and he already hung up. I bet he done fell asleep.
Ion play disrespect. I'mma stop getting mad and just get even.
On February 2nd, Diamond sent two photos to a boy three days shy of his 17th birthday.
Only a week earlier, Diamond had tweeted when you pretty, you get away with a lot of sh*t.
The drama was not doing much for Diamond's grades. I got an F in this class, Lord help me.
To cope, for Diamond, there was junk food. They selling Krispy Kreme doughnuts, oh yes.
Jeff, in crisis, turned to faith. God blesses me every day. Now, Diamond was not responding.
Why my girlfriend never text me back? Because Diamond was on the phone with Trayvon.
But then, two days later, Diamond was reassuring Jeff. Jeff my best friend, my trustie, my main man,
all that in one. That's why I got so much love for the kid. With the stress of managing two relationships,
Diamond gorged on junk food. Doughnuts and cupcakes. I'mma have diabetes by the time I'm done eating these shits.
But soon enough, Jeff began to get the sense he was being played. It's a dream I be having about my baby.
I hope it never come true. But it wasn't just a dream.
On Valentine's Day, Diamond was with Jeff. Spending time with the boy I love most.
Diamond deceived Trayvon about why she couldn't talk to him on the phone. She was at North Miami Park with my daddy at dance practice.
But the day with Jeff didn't go well. Today was the first time I almost hit a girl.
On the 17th, Diamond spent an incredible 8 1/2 hours on the phone with Trayvon.
To throw Jeff off the scent, she tweeted at 10:30 p.m. just waking up. Annoyed.
The following day, phone on 2%. Unappreciated. The next day, Diamond made a bold move.
My girlfriend said she feel unappreciated and she want a break for a week. Only God can judge me.
By now, Diamond was spending more time speaking to Trayvon than sleeping. I don't really feel good.
I'm getting bags under my eyes. Taking my ass back to sleep. The next day, Diamond descended into junk food hell.
I got food poisoned. I knew I shouldn't have ate that sh*t. With one day to live, Trayvon texted Diamond
feel like you playing with my emotion. The day he d*ed, Trayvon and Diamond spoke
for seven hours, mostly in conflict. I'm 'bout to hung your ass.
If you don't wanna be on the phone with me, hang up then. I'm showing you how you treat me. Don't feel good do it?
Their last call disconnected at 7:15 p.m. Diamond later told Crump she wasn't that concerned.
- [Diamond] He ain't call back, so I'm like okay. He might a knocked his phone on the grass 'cause I thought it was a fight.
- [Joel] In reality, Diamond spent the next two hours frantically calling Trayvon and Felicia Cineas.
She said a prayer with Felicia and tweeted prayers changes things, I got hope.
The next day, Diamond and Felicia Cineas texted over 100 times. Stephan Bramble tweeted about Trayvon.
RIP @NO_LIMIT_n*gga. The real die young. After school, Diamond was back to her usual self.
Thinking should I take a nap then go to the mall. Ha ha, my boyfriend funny. But Jeff wasn't buying it.
Chilling with my baby. Something don't feel right at all. Diamond was worried. She tweeted to Jeff, eight months strong.
My n*gga for life. But Jeff must have heard rumors that Diamond and Trayvon were tight.
I'd rather my girlfriend spit in my face than cheat on me. Meanwhile, Trayvon's friends and family
continued to call his cell phone to leave goodbye messages. Diamond wasn't one of them.
On March 1st, Felicia and Diamond did three
-way calls with Mario. Now, Diamond knew she was on the hot seat.
I don't like people who run they mouth too much. By the next morning, the stress was getting to her.
I need to find somebody who selling doughnuts. Then, later that day, at China Town, ordering me some Chinese food.
On Saturday, Trayvon's funeral was held.
- When he was alive, I was his step
-mother.
But in death, I'm not his step
-mother? I don't love him because he done passed?
- [Joey] The new media image of Sybrina and Tracy meant there was no place for Mama 'Licia.
- That's the most painful thing that they have done to me.
- [Anderson] You weren't allowed to sit in the front row?
- No, no. No, I had to sit in where I've been in.
- [Joel] During the funeral, Diamond was at home tweeting.
Why everybody want IHOP? Denny's way better. My baby here. Crump would later lead the witness again.
This time, about why she didn't attend the funeral.
- [Crump] So, you had to spend the night in the hospital.
- [Diamond] Yes.
- [Crump] So sick that you had to go get medical assistance?
- [Diamond] Yes.
- [Crowd] We all Trayvon Martin. We all Trayvon Martin.
- [Joel] Diamond seemed oblivious to the storm
building around her. Headphones in, tuning everybody out. I need to go back to my 4/30 color.
I sneezed and a noodle came out my nose.
- I want you guys to stand up for justice and stand up for what's right.
- [Joel] By Sunday night, Team Trayvon got word that the police investigation would find Zimmerman acted in self
-defense.
Stephan Bramble texted Diamond twice followed by six calls from Felicia, each lasting about 30 seconds.
Diamond was hanging up on her friend. Then, more Mario. Finally, Diamond tweeted aggravated.
It appears even Diamond's father in Haiti was asked to reach out to Diamond. My old boy requested me on Facebook.
Deactivating my sh*t. Diamond was getting battered from every direction.
The pressure on Diamond continued the next day. Stephan Bramble hammered her all morning at school
and Mario into the evening. Diamond responded by calling Pizza Hut and Chinese food.
Then, she turned off her phone for several days.
- Say what's going on right there? I say just call the police.
- [Joel] Unable to recruit Diamond,
Crump presented two roommates from The Retreat at Twin Lakes.
- As soon as the g*n went off, the crying stopped.
Therefore, it tells me it was not Zimmerman crying.
- [Joel] It fell flat. Diamond was still tweeting, of course.
Hungry. That time of the month. On the weekend, Diamond got two calls from Tracy Martin,
then Stephan Bramble tag
-teamed with Mario into Sunday evening. Diamond was under siege.
This can't be happening to me, crying. Going for a walk, need to ease my mind. Somehow, Diamond agreed to speak with Sybrina Fulton
and Benjamin Crump the next day. Snicker ice cream. After school the next day, Francine dropped off Diamond
at Sybrina's house. Sybrina then drove Diamond home and spoke to her mother.
- [Bernie] She ended up coming by and giving you this letter
and then you went by her house.
- [Joel] The next day, Diamond's voice went out over the airwaves.
- Diamond?
- Yeah.
- Attorney Crump. We have all of the evidence now.
- [Joel] Stephan Bramble tweeted, my n*gga Tray worldwide. Rip Tray, we miss you, dog.
- This interview happened, Jane, because we pushed her making a statement.
- [Joel] I'mma slide to Mario crib and smoke one.
- What do you think this phone call proves? Can it be trusted?
- Yes, it can. She was distraught. She had to go to the hospital.
- [Interviewer] You lied about going to the hospital?
- Yeah.
- [Joel] On Saturday evening at Abercrombie and Fitch, Jeff got word that Diamond was Trayvon's girlfriend.
Damn, I can't believe it. Damn, I'm mad. I love God. I hate a liar.
Diamond stepping out had blown up in her face. Why the f*ck he not answering my calls?
Where is my boyfriend? I need to get right with God. On March 26, to convince prosecutors
they were responsible parents, Tracy claimed he drove Trayvon to meet Brandy.
- [Brandy] He caught the bust.
- [Interviewer] Where'd you pick him up?
- Greyhound bus station.
- [Joel] That evening, Diamond was channeling Crump again,
this time on Twitter. To them, it's just another black boy off the streets. The system f*cked up.
Diamond also appealed to Jeff. Where my baby at? I miss him. Jeff sh*t back, I hate when people say a jealous girlfriend
a faithful one, that don't mean sh*t. Diamond's mother liked Jeff. On Tuesday after school, Diamond's mother took Jeff
and Diamond to a Chinese restaurant. Diamond must have told him one hell of a story
because it worked. Kissed and made up. Cuddling. The next day, Diamond did a phone interview
with Matt Gutman. She and Sybrina texted during the interview and then they spoke in the evening.
On March 29, prosecutors subpoenaed Diamond's phone records. That night, Diamond called Felicia and Rachel Jeantel.
On Saturday morning, Sybrina texted Diamond at 8:17 a.m., but she did not respond.
Instead, Diamond called Felicia and then Benjamin Crump. I would have loved to listen in on that call.
Then, Diamond spoke to Rachel Jeantel.
- Why is it that this crucial witness
has to be discovered by Tracy Martin and Ben Crump?
- [Bernie] The only means of communication that we had with her was Sybrina Fulton.
- [Joel] On April 2nd, prosecutors arrived in Miami. Sybrina directed them to 16 year old Diamond's house
where she had driven her home two weeks earlier. 2648 Flamingo Drive.
But someone sent them to Francine's house.
- When I knocked on the door, Francine answered the door
and I asked for Diamond.
- [Joel] That's when 18 year old Rachel Jeantel appeared.
Sybrina was alarmed. She broke away and called Diamond.
Diamond immediately tweeted about Sybrina's call. Trayvon Martin Mom just called me.
She thought I was Trayvon girlfriend asking me hella questions. Confused.
The audience for Diamond's tweets was Jeff. Sybrina had a big dilemma.
Celebrities and even the president had rallied to her side. Millions had signed petitions and marched.
If Sybrina alerted prosecutors there would be no payoff from the homeowners association
and her I Am Trayvon trademark would be worthless.
- And say prove us wrong, where is your evidence?
Give us one name or one witness that could establish that this was a hox.
- It was a cop.
- [Joel] Even worse, the name Trayvon Martin would be remembered as just another Al Sharpton race hoax.
- Trayvon.
- Trayvon.
- Trayvon.
- Trayvon.
- Trayvon.
- Trayvon.
- Give love, Sybrina.
- [Joel] Sybrina chose to say nothing.
- [Interviewer] Could you state your name for the record, please?
- [Rachel] Rachel Jeantel.
- [Joel] By the end of Rachel's deposition, if Sybrina wasn't feeling guilty about the deception,
Rachel was.
- [Rachel] Real guilty.
- Huh?
- Real guilty.
- Why do you feel real guilty.
- I ain't know about it.
- Huh?
- I ain't know about it.
- [Joel] The real Diamond Eugene went back
to tweeting that night. I'm dying laughing, man, that was too funny. Got my noodles and juice, I'm tuned.
Juice was alcohol and tuned meant drunk. Two days latter, Felicia Cineas posted on her Facebook page
only God could judge me, can't trust nobody.
- Joining us in Los Angeles is Bart Baggett, handwriting expert.
He's examined copies of the Ramsey ransom note and the yearbook, what do you think?
- [Joel] Next, I went to see the handwriting expert Bart Baggett to get his findings on the letter.
CSI: Miami, baby.
Bart, I really appreciate your looking at my samples. I can't wait to hear what you have to say.
- This case involves a note written by an unknown individual signed by someone named Diamond Eugene.
This kind of evidence is really important.
- I considered that letter to be personal and sentimental.
- Well, there's nothing about this letter that's sentimental. I mean, it's clearly a declaration of what this individual
observed or witnessed.
- [Interviewer] Did you disclose it to anybody?
- No.
- Before yesterday?
- What would it tell you if somebody had a piece of evidence
and they withheld it from prosecutors and the police for a full year?
- Well, anytime someone hides evidence or protects stuff
-
-
- I put it in a box.
- There's obviously some fire there.
There's something there that we need to know about.
- [Interviewer] And you would like to keep that, is that correct?
- Yes, I will.
- Okay.
- The mom's got this letter and she's like, if I reveal it to the cops, a handwriting expert
might find out that Brittany did sign that. And you know it's bad to lie to the police
and in the middle of a trial. It's my belief, after all my research, that Francine wrote the body of the letter in cursive.
I also think she dated it. After I established that the body of the note was written by Francine, we looked at the signature
as a separate entity. I found the handwriting of Rachel Jeantel probably the most interesting because it was so sloppy
and illegible and almost as if it was difficult for her to write. Rachel's handwriting comes from a disorganized mind.
- I didn't want this at first. Like, I just told it not like how it is but...
- She doesn't have clarity. She doesn't have symmetry. There's a low skill level. Her neuromuscular behavior,
such as handwriting, never fully develops.
- Could Rachel Jeantel have signed this letter?
- I don't think her fingers and her brain
are capable of writing the word Diamond Eugene with this level of clarity. I don't think Rachel Jeantel had anything to do
with writing the words Diamond Eugene. There's really down to two candidates, Brittany or Francine.
We dug down to look for the upstrokes, the downstrokes, the backstrokes. It's interesting, the word Eugene
and the letter formations are very similar to the question signature. And you know, that is similar to Brittany's writing.
But the D in Diamond, the last D, does have a match in Francine's signature.
So is it possible that Brittany and Francine could have written one word each? I guess it's possible. Kind of an odd and interesting twist to the whole story.
So my final conclusion is Diamond Eugene, it's more likely that Francine wrote it, but I'm still not totally convinced Brittany
couldn't have written part or all of that.
- [Prosecutor] Did you sign it at the bottom?
- Yes.
- What name did you use?
- Diamond Eugene.
- So the one thing is conclusive is Rachel Jeantel did not write the words Diamond Eugene.
- [Joel] The handwriting expert had confirmed the witness switch beyond any doubt.
I had one more big question that I thought forensics could answer. Why would Rachel Jeantel agree
to take Diamond Eugene's place? Were they related through Rachel's Haitian mother Marie Eugene?
I collected trash from outside of Rachel Jeantel's house. It had a little bit of everything.
I sent the items to Speckin Forensic Laboratories in Michigan. And in a separate package, I sent Christmas card envelopes
that Diamond had licked shut. First, they got Diamond's DNA profile.
Then, from Rachel's trash, they tested the headband and the underpants.
The results came in. Greater than 99% probability that underpants,
Marie Eugene, was the mother of headband, Rachel, and envelopes, Diamond Eugene, was greater
than 99% probability also the daughter of underpants Marie Eugene.
Wow. Comparison of envelopes, Diamond, to headband, Rachel, indicates they are half
-sisters.
Incredible. I had never suspected this. It was a shocking revelation that explained a lot.
That also explained why Diamond's second phone number was in the name of Rachel's brother, Daniel Eugene.
He was likely Diamond's half
-brother too. I decided to call what I uncovered The Trayvon Hoax
because it became the standard scam the media would play on black Americans to control their votes.
- [Robin] Matt Gutman is in Miami with the latest on all this.
- Hey, good morning, Robin. We've been following this story for a few weeks now.
- [Joel] The Trayvon Hoax goes like this. The media repeats a story with no questions asked
that a black person was att*cked by a white male because of skin color.
Then they say the white person represents America. So black people must be very afraid.
And to protect themselves, vote Democrat.
On Election Day 2012, Felicia Cineas tweeted vote Obama or die.
That's The Trayvon Hoax. Felicia, Diamond, and all their friends and family
bought into it as kids. The fear prevents people like Felicia and Diamond from connecting the problems in their families
to the Democrat policies controlling their communities. The terrible schools, drug cultures, gangs,
and lack of jobs in urban America. Vote Democrat or we're gonna die.
That's The Trayvon Hoax.
- [Interviewer] So you said my name is Diamond Eugene and I'm 16?
- Don't say my name or my fake name. Don't say my age or my fake age.
- [Joel] Without Rachel Jeantel, the fake witness, George Zimmerman would never have been arrested,
nor been the subject of the most racially charged trial since O.J.
- Mr. Zimmerman.
- Yes, sir.
- [Judge] You are appearing here at this time for charge of m*rder in the second degree.
- One word to describe Rachel Jeantel.
- Truthful.
- [Joel] What exactly did the State of Florida prosecutors know?
- He bought Skittles and some kind of watermelon
or iced tea or whatever it's called.
- [Joel] For over a year, they had access to the cell phone data that I used to find Diamond.
The photos were not Rachel Jeantel. The explicit text messages were not sent to Rachel.
- There was another young lady that he was seeing.
- [Bernie] Trayvon Martin was in a relationship?
- Yes.
- [Joel] The voice on the phone with Crump was not Rachel Jeantel.
- He was walking out the store.
- He was leaving the store.
- Trayvon he was like walk.
- Trayvon started walking
- It started raining hard.
- It was not raining.
- [Joel] The signature on the letter was Diamond Eugene, not Rachel Jeantel.
And it was not signed by Rachel.
- She is a 16 year old teenager.
- [Joel] Rachel was not 16.
- [Interviewer] How old are you now?
- [Rachel] 18.
- [Joel] The address Sybrina took the police to on Flamingo Drive was Diamond Eugene's house.
Rachel even confessed that she was lying at the deposition.
- I ain't know about it.
- Huh?
- [Rachel] I ain't know about it.
- [Joel] If I could figure it out in a few months with a full year, shouldn't the prosecutors
have figured it out too? Could that explain why so much evidence was withheld from the defense until just before the trial?
- I'm not prepared to make an argument. This thing's obviously been working on for months and months and months just to spring it
on everyone at the last minute.
- [Joel] The effects of The Trayvon Hoax
continue to this day. George Zimmerman lost his job, got kicked out of college, and lost his wife.
- Emotionally, the trial was very devastating on me, even after the trial. I was being accused of being a r*cist, a m*rder*r, and a bigot.
There was no way I could handle the fame and it wasn't fame. It was negative fame. Looking back, I kind of internalized
all this negative attention on me. If people were gonna label me as such a bad person, such a jerk, I was gonna show them that I could be.
It took me a few years to work through it and go back to being the person that I was.
- Jeantel was born premature and reading never came easily. You had a fourth grade reading level.
- Yeah.
- [Joel] Rachel Jeantel dropped out of high school and later went to an alternative school
and graduated at age 21.
- She was depressed. We actually had her evaluated and she was actually suffering
from post
-traumatic stress disorder as a result of this ordeal.
- [Joel] The cruelty of those who allowed Rachel Jeantel
to testify cannot be more obvious. As for Diamond Eugene, Jeff later tweeted
Brittany was looking so good, but I had to drop her. Jeff broke up with Diamond around the time
Rachel Jeantel appeared on the witness stand. When the trial verdict was announced, Diamond tweeted
my heart goes out to Trayvon Martin's family. I can imagine how they're feeling. I want some Krispy Kreme doughnuts.
Diamond graduated from Miramar High School in 2014 and attended the prom with her new boyfriend, Noah.
Then, Diamond went to Broward Community College. That's when her love life came to a crashing halt.
Single as f*ck. When I met her, I felt the Voodoo priest was wrong.
Diamond had a good heart. At just 16, Diamond faced enormous pressure to tell a story.
- We pushed her making a statement.
- [Joel] Diamond persevered.
She graduated with a degree in criminal justice.
- [Announcer] Brittany Diamond Eugene.
- [Joel] Diamond still models for her online boutique called She's the b*mb.
The summer collection is here.
I am her best customer, having purchased her entire inventory. Diamond now tweets only about once a week.
Real love, I'm searching for real love. For Trayvon's best friends, it's been all downhill.
Mario has since been convicted of stealing a car, resisting arrest, and most recently, for pimping.
Stephan Bramble was convicted of burglary and grand theft. Sybrina Fulton is now a public speaker
and a Democrat party operative who spreads The Trayvon Hoax at every chance she gets.
- In our communities, don't feel safe simply walking to the store to get candy and a drink.
That because of someone's color of their skin, people hate you so much that they want to k*ll you.
- [Joel] Black people must be afraid of America and vote Democrat. He's got my vote.
People, please get out and vote, it's important.
- Your life depends on it. Get out and vote.
- [Joel] Sybrina is now running for office.
- I am you.
- [Joel] Trayvon's phone proved to be the Rosetta Stone of my investigation.
I got to know Trayvon over the last eight months of his life.
I saw him grow up, struggle, feel pain, hope and love,
and act with kindness and recklessness. With the phone records, I was able to decode his language,
find Diamond, and unravel The Trayvon Hoax.
- We want you to know that our hearts are out there marching with them.
- [Joel] The true meaning of Trayvon's life
was stolen by left wing activists, the media, and their agenda.
Trayvon's real legacy is in fact a teachable moment.
- I knew he had a Twitter account.
I wasn't aware of the name.
- [Interviewer] Were you aware that he was smoking marijuana?
- I found out after the fact.
I don't recall Ms. Fulton ever asking me to speak with Trayvon about him being with the wrong crowd or him doing dr*gs.
- He wanted to live with me and his father.
- [Anderson] When did you separate from Alicia Martin?
- November 2011.
- [Interviewer] In November of 2011, Trayvon was kicked out
of Sybrina's house.
- This is my first of ever hearing that.
- [Interviewer] He was suspended in the fall of 2011
for possession of the w*apon and the jewelry.
- I wasn't aware of that.
- [Interviewer] Were you aware that he was skipping school a lot?
- No, I wasn't.
- [Interviewer] Any parent teacher conferences?
- I may have been invited. I didn't attend.
- [Joel] The lesson is this. For young black men, the problem is not armed white men
in the streets, rather it's the absence of strong black men in the home to make rules.
No dr*gs, no gangs, no g*ns, no fighting, and don't stray from the girl who loves you.
Faith. Based on The Trayvon Hoax, Black Lives Matter was formed
to promote a radical liberal agenda that had nothing to do with black Americans,
collectivism, transgenderism, globalism, and black villages.
- We called up to New York City and we called for a man who had a track record.
- I've been privileged to be an advisor and a spokesman for Tawana Brawley.
- Reverend Al Sharpton.
- [Joel] Like his hero Al Sharpton, Benjamin Crump became a national figure
because of a race hoax.
- [Narrator] He was named the National Trial Lawyers top 100 lawyers in America.
Ebony Magazine power 100 most influential African Americans.
- [Joel] Crump wasted no time at all
arriving in Ferguson, Missouri with Reverend Al for the next big Trayvon Hoax.
- That prosecutor has no regards for the young person of color.
(explosions booming)
- [Joel] The Ferguson Effect caused a crime disaster
in black neighborhoods as cops backed off proactive policing. Thousands more black youth have been k*lled each year
as a result. Then, Crump went Hollywood, starting his own film production company producing,
ironically, "Evidence of Innocence".
- Going and getting an iced tea and Skittles.
- [Joel] Of course, Crump endorsed Andrew Gillum for governor of Florida.
- I know and I believe that God is using me.
- [Joel] No, I don't think it's God. For the Lord hates a heart that devises wicked plans,
a false witness who breathes out lies and who sows discord among brothers.
It's a pretty evil idea to use a troubled black teen's tragic death to put an Hispanic man in prison
with the goal of controlling black voters. In fact, the media plays The Trayvon Hoax every day.
Play means to make a fool of.
- It's all a fresh reaction that's been going on in just the last few hours after the word
of this crime has started to spread out there.
- And this is America in 2019.
- [Joel] I know Trayvon. At heart, he was a good kid. He knew right from wrong.
- What do we want?
- Dead cops.
- When do we want it?
- Now.
- [Joel] Trayvon would not have wanted anyone to die
for a hoax in his name. (somber music)
Trayvon Hoax, The (2019)
Moderator: Maskath3