sometimes a moment of self preservation can affect how you how you say things. reporter: but cara was consistent about one thing, her claim that j.j. raped her. evidence to back that up? the marks on her wrists, said futerman, and he called another expert to say they were fresh, just hours old, so couldn t have been caused by the new boyfriend. it was a quantum leap from the state to say the sex that she had 36 hours prior to the incident would leave fresh scratches on her, or a bruise. so we think that that was caused by the incident. reporter: mind you, the state said the marks could have been left by the handcuffs too, but again, futerman had made his point. but now cara had to make a decision, should she testify, or not? i thought, i really don t want to testify. i m scared, and it s painful, and then roger said, it s totally up to you, but my gut
the 911 call. my ex-husband came in and he raped me. he raped you? uh-huh. i shot him. rape? but that s all she said on the topic until about two hours later, when she told the deputy she needed medical attention. i need to see a doctor. i ve been hurt. it was detective syers job to sort through it all and he began by showing cara a bit of kindness. i went over and took the handcuffs off of her. she must have been relieved to have that happen. um i mean, her demeanor at that time was just questioning, i guess. i didn t take her as being under duress or relieved or anything like that. she must have seemed pretty upset. she just shot her ex-husband? not unduly. really? no. mind you, according to cara, as she sat here in the car, she didn t know how badly hurt j.j. was. so, you thought he was alive still? absolutely. in fact, j.j. died rather quickly. a fate that had a certain irony. it was he who gave cara the gun, taught her how to shoot to kill in case
he had bad sides to him. he wasn t a bad guy. his friends, his family felt as if the dead guy is being dragged through the mud. sure. did you feel bad about it? i didn t want it to happen. i never wanted to go to court and air all of our dirty laundry. reporter: but now that she was here accused of murder, j.j. s reputation was fair game, said attorney futerman. i think there was a lot of sides to j.j. that his best friends didn t know. reporter: including his cop buddies, said futerman. cops who, he charged, were blind to anything but cara s alleged guilt, and would do anything to prove it. it wasn t an investigation. it was a witch hunt. they sprang up out of their beds like a church choir, and they met at that gate with pitchforks. why would they do that? they were his friends. they were his buddies, his brothers.
bedroom doorway. the hand reaching toward the bed, reaching for her. so close. she closed her eyes. she pulled the trigger. was the shot fired a warning, just, stay out of my bedroom? i was aiming for whoever it was. that s what i was taught. you don t fire a warning shot. cara called 911. you shot him? i shot him. with a gun? my gun. okay. cara gripped the gun for dear life, terrified the man would come back. you still have the gun? yes, i do. okay, ma am, i m getting help on the way. okay, when did this happen? just now. i was afraid. i was scared. i didn t have any other choice. you fire the gun. when you pick up a gun if he s coming at you, yeah. and he came into that room. so as he s coming in the room what, did he say anything? no. just was sort of coming in the room right. is he still there? i don t know.
so the prosecutor told the jury that dna tests didn t even show clear evidence that they d had sex. and those bruises on cara s hip? were judging from texts with the new boyfriend not from jj. the rough sex a couple of days prior to the shooting is what led to whatever injuries she may have had. reporter: the red marks on her wrists could have been from sex play said the state, could have been from struggling with her handcuffs here in the police car. nothing led me to believe that there was anything from this alleged altercation with jj that was that was on her body at all. reporter: and remember, cara told detectives that jj went back to drinking and abusing oxycodone after they broke up? but the medical examiner testified that the level of alcohol in his system was very low that night. and there was no trace of opiates in his blood at the time of his death.