you know, i m trying to defend somebody, and i m going to use everything in my arsenal. reporter: for lead attorney, bob motta jr., that meant challenging or debunking everything jurors had heard from prosecutors for the past two weeks. there were so many inconsistencies with the way that they said that it went down that it just never came together for me that he was guilty. reporter: in a rare move, the defense team allowed dateline inside their private strategy sessions. we need to talk about our strategy on direct. reporter: it was a raucous group with alison motta shut the [ bleep ] up! reporter: serving as a passionate advisor. robert motta sr., the voice of experience. are we missing something? reporter: and local attorney jeremy jorgenson and an assortment of researchers sweating the details. the team rented a home out in west omaha, not far from the dundee nieghborhood. it was there that they plotted strategy. the first order of business?
as a clear attempt to send information to potential jurors that the state s case was suspect. as a result the trial was postponed again, and the judge effectively kicked alison motta off the case. the judge denies her application to practice in the state of nebraska, very controversial move. it was just i spoke to the public, and that put, you know, information that could ve, you know, been information to potential jurors, and that violated the pretrial publicity rule. reporter: the mottas wanted to fight alison s removal, but what their client anthony garcia apparently wanted was a trial. when the mottas appealed over his objection, anthony garcia completely stopped talking with his own lawyers. he d deteriorated mentally, coming into the trial to the extent where he really hadn t i mean, he didn t say one word to us. this guy s mental state at that point was just gone.
within the next minute he says, but it sounds like what they re actually arresting him for is murder, so then obviously my interest was piqued. reporter: it was a stroke of luck. anthony garcia s family had been cold calling lawyers looking for someone to defend anthony. bob motta was the first to call back. it was 2:00 a.m. california time when he got anthony garcia s brother on the phone. 30 minutes later, bob motta was retained to handle his first murder case. i go upstairs. i wake my wife up, who is my law partner, alison motta. and i m, like, we got a murder case. we gotta get up and go to jackson county. you gotta find a sitter for the kids. reporter: when anthony garcia s extradition hearing came up the next day, the mottas, mr. and mrs. were seated at the defense table. you are basically consenting to the authorities from nebraska to take you back to that state to deal with these charges. do you understand that? absolutely understand. i m not going to answer any
garcia lost a lot of weight and bob motta says his client s mental health deteriorated. the fact that he was in solitary confinement for 3 years, 23 hours a day, you know, mentally, no one can withstand that. reporter: prosecutors who were also concerned about garcia s mental state asked the judge to order a lengthy psychiatric evaluation. in the end garcia was found competent to stand trial, and a date was set for april 2016. then this story took a most unexpected turn. thursday or friday before that monday start of jury selection, alison motta says to us and to two local tv stations, we have dna tests that prove that our guy was not at the hunter-sherman scene. reporter: alison motta spoke with wowt-tv via skype. their physical evidence and
back. it was 2:00 a.m. california time when he got anthony garcia s brother on the phone. 30 minutes later, bob motta was retained to handle his first murder case. i go upstairs. i wake my wife up, who is my law partner, alison motta. and i m, like, we got a murder case. we gotta get up and go to jackson county. you gotta find a sitter for the kids. reporter: when anthony garcia s extradition hearing came up the next day, the mottas, mr. and mrs. were seated at the defense table. you are basically consenting to the authorities from nebraska to take you back to that state to deal with these charges. do you understand that? absolutely understand. i m not going to answer any questions with regards to his state of mind at this point. reporter: the mottas brought in bob s father, robert motta sr. as co-counsel. back in the 70s, the senior motta represented a clown-turned-serial-killer named john wayne gacy. i had never tried a case with my dad, and he s towards the end