the scariest thing that you will ever go through. my whole world crumbled. cara was the kind of teacher students just love. she was a rock star at her school. with the same man for 20 years, enjoying life together by the beach. the balcony was like our second living room, you can hear the waves on the shore. but she was all alone that night when, according to her, an intruder burst into her bedroom. i was scared to death. i didn t have any other choice. you shot him? i shot him. she said the man attacked her. he told me he was going to kill me. she d been assaulted. she defended herself. so why did others call it murder? my very first words were, she set him up. cara s account kept changing. it hit me just how different all of these stories were and how unbelievable they were. lies. it s all lies. what really made cara pull that trigger? the rug was pulled out from underneath her. she was shocked. and she was angry? yes. a jury would
miranda, even though the sound s not on, if we get a lip reader we re going to be able to tell if she answered like he explained that she answered. and if she didn t maybe futerman could prevent a jury from hearing that first conflicting story. does it surprise people when they find out how well you can read lips? yes. and here she is. lucinda hebbler, who is deaf, is the lip reader hired by attorney futerman. had you ever heard such a request before? it was the first time in my whole life. the video was very grainy hard to decipher. but lucinda told futerman she would try. what were you looking for her to say? i was specifically looking for, yes, i understand my rights. i see no evidence of her saying those words. right. but then, a judge s ruling
meant it suddenly didn t matter what lucinda saw or didn t see. a miranda warning, said the judge, wasn t necessary at that point. you have the right to remain silent. and in fact cara had been read her rights later at the police station. so the jury would get to hear cara s first conflicting statement. futerman was deflated. somehow he was sure lucinda had to be good for his case. but he also knew the judge s ruling was a problem. so futerman switched gears and planned his strategy to pick a jury. we anticipated that women would be favorable to someone who d have been raped. 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. it s rare to witness the workings of a mock trial. they re usually confidential. and i saw the figure come through the doorway. but this is the actual audio
and she wasn t facing a camera at that point? correct. futerman charged that the deputy changed his story after he found out that lucinda the lip reader had been analyzing cara s words. the deputy said, no, he just refreshed his memory by looking at the tape. but futerman wasn t buying it. he lied. and that s when futerman put lucinda on the stand. she confirmed that she never saw cara respond to a miranda warning, and though she said she couldn t always tell what was said on that video, futerman had made his point. when you lie to a jury, when your witnesses lie, get on that stand, especially a police officer, and lie, the jury s not going to forgive you. and he lied. well, maybe. but the defense still had to account for the prosecution s strongest evidence against cara. her shifting versions, her many different stories about what happened. my story didn t change.
whole life. reporter: the video was very grainy hard to decipher. but lucinda told futerman she would try. what were you looking for her to say? i was specifically looking for, yes, i understand my rights. i see no evidence of her saying those words. reporter: right. but then? a judge s ruling meant it suddenly didn t matter what lucinda saw or didn t see. a miranda warning, said the judge, wasn t necessary at that point. you have the right to remain silent. reporter: and in fact cara had been read her rights later at the police station. so the jury would get to hear cara s first conflicting statement. futerman was deflated. somehow he was sure lucinda had