Page 4 - Cara Pull News Today

Different persona altogether. >> so what was the truth about j.j.? >> she was happier than hes been ever, that i can remember, and all of his friends will tell you the same thing. >> who was right? and what did it say about the events in this little seaside bedroom? coming up -- >> i asked john to help me and he was reluctant at first and then he finally helped med, but when he did, he said, dont tell cara. >> a very different picture emerges of j.j., as a man very much under caras thumb. >> he ...

Cara told them it was pretty wild -- >> sex that i havent even thought about since college. >> the detectives looked at text messages between cara and her new boyfriend sent a few days earlier. >> well, they had text messages back and forth. >> tie me up, tie me down. >> talked about putting certain type of lotion and bite marks or bruises, and they talked about handcuffs. >> the injuries on your wrists, the text from him. he said he would bring over handcuffs again and again leave some marks. >...

>> reporter: once the trial began, futerman told those jurors that cara had no choice but to use her gun to defend herself. plain and simple. >> he attacked her. she said stop. he never acted like this, stop. youre raping me, stop. >> reporter: something else the defense tried to do, persuade the jury that j.j. was out of control after seeing that text from caras new boyfriend, and came back to the house in a rage. >> he snapped. she defended herself. he snapped. >> so those are the elements you...

Scene now on this tiny street in indian rocks beach. the street lit up with flashing lights, police lines drawn, crime scene investigators and detectives arriving. >> my name is john syers, okay. im with the sheriffs office. >> lead detective john syers and his partner a.j. scarpati introduced themselves. asked cara, who did she shoot? did she know him? without hesitation she said -- >> my ex-husband. >> who do you -- >> jay. >> im sorry. what do you call him? >> jay. >> jay? >> j.j. >> okay. >>...

>> cara told detectives that as she and j.j. were in bed together, he phone kept beeping. incoming text messages. chirp chirp. >> yeah. so i ignored it. >> it was scott. >> it went off again. and i told him, "just ignore it. just ignore it." and he leaned over and he grabbed the phone and he opened it and he said, "who the hell is scott holderbaum? " >> that, cara told police, is when j.j. saw shed sent the same picture, the same invitation to both of them. >> so, he saw, kind of like, the text ...

>> reporter: so cara took the stand and tried to explain why there were differences in the way she told her story. she also explained to the jury that she was smiling in those photos taken two days after she shot j.j., because her friend asked her to smile. then came the bombshell. >> he left a suicide note. >> reporter: when did he write that note? >> i dont know when he wrote it. >> reporter: attorney futerman said he made the discovery after going through more than 300 pieces of evidence. >> ...

Later, they looked at the tapes of cara, recorded during that drive to the station. did she appear to be emotionally battered or anything? >> i mean, if you watch the in-car camera, shes just kind of casually talking with him about being in the law enforcement community and knowing different people. >> yaz was on my husbands softball team. >> it was just kind of, you know, general conversation. she didnt seem so upset in that video. >> it was around 2:00 a.m. at police headquarters when cara rev...

To be good for his case. but he also knew that judges ruling was a problem. so futerman switched gears and planned for his strategy to pick a jury. >> we anticipated that women would be favorable to someone whod have been raped. >> reporter: he decided to do a dry run, enlisted mock juries composed of men and women to test their reactions, not just to the evidence, but to cara herself. its rare to witness the workings of a mock trial. theyre usually confidential. >> and i saw the figure come thr...

>> because he had trained cara that if someone comes through the front door unannounced -- you pick up a gun, you close your eyes and you shoot. >> to a lot of people, it would seem a stretch. >> he had not announced he was coming over. someone came through the front door and she did as she was trained to do. >> detectives werent buying greenes idea. >> its kind of a ridiculous theory. >> so, caras version? that without her to help him, j.j. was depressed, suffering from ptsd, a suicidal, gambli...

>> i told the jury, the police are going to lie to you. >> lie as when the deputy said he read cara her rights in the patrol car, said futerman. >> 15, 20 minutes. >> reporter: the deputy originally said it was during the first 15 minutes, then he changed his story. >> and he said, i no longer read miranda within 15 minutes. i read it in an hour and ten minutes later. >> and she wasnt facing a camera at that point? >> correct. >> reporter: futerman charged that the deputy changed his story after...