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Warning. This episode contains references to situations that may be
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disturbing for some listeners. Please proceed with caution. Calerrogushark Media.
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Good morning, I'm read Carter, and welcome to celebrity trials
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on this Tuesday, July twenty ninth. Yesterday brought a cascade
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of guilty please and controversial court decisions that reveal how greed, addiction,
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and cruelty intersect in our justice system. In Los Angeles,
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one of the doctors who supplied Matthew Perry with ketamine
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before his death finally admitted his guilt, but the text
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messages prosecutors revealed show just how coldly calculated his exploitation
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of the beloved friend's star really was. In Florida, a
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mother who tortured her own six year old son to
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death suddenly changed her plea just as jury selection was
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set to begin, avoiding a murder trial but accepting a
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sentence that many will find woefully inadequate. And in New York,
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two men accused of weeks long torture to steal cryptocurrency
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were granted million dollar bail despite prosecutor's objections. These cases
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show us three different phases of criminal exploitation, the medical
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professional who weaponized addiction, the parent who destroyed the most vulnerable,
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and the crypto predators who turned wealth into a target.
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Let's break down how justice played out in each courtroom.
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We start in Los Angeles, where doctor Salvador Placentia pleaded
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guilty Wednesday to four counts of distributing ketamine to Matthew
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Perry in the weeks leading up to the actor's overdose
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death in October twenty twenty three. But the details that
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emerged in court paint a picture of a medical professional
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who saw Perry's addiction not as a cry for help,
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but as a business opportunity. Court documents showed doctor Salvador
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Placentia pondered how much Perry would pay for ketamine in
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a text message to another doctor, calling Perry a moron.
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Think about that for a moment. This wasn't a doctor
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making a poor judgment call. This was a predator who
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looked at one of America's most beloved comedic actors and
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saw dollar signs. The text exchange between Placentia and doctor
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Mark Chavez, who had already pleaded guilty, reveals the cold
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calculation behind Perry's exploitation. I wonder how much this moron
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will pay, Placentsia wrote, Let's find out. After selling drugs
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to Perry for four thy five hundred dollars, Placentia allegedly
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asked Chavez if he could keep supplying them so they
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could become Perry's go to. Prosecutors said this wasn't medical treatment,
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this was drug dealing with a medical license. According to
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Placentsia's plea agreement, he distributed twenty vials of ketamine, ketamine lozenges,
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and syringes to Perry and the actors live in assistant
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Kenneth Iwamasa between September thirty, twenty twenty three, and October twelve,
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twenty twenty three. Perry died on October twenty eighth, just
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weeks after Placentsia began supplying him with illegal ketamine. Perhaps
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most disturbing is how Placentia taught Perry's assistant to inject
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the actor with ketamine, despite Iwamasa having no medical training whatsoever.
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Iwamasa's plea agreement said Perry paid Placentsia up to fifty
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five thousand dollars for the drug in the month before
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his death. Fifty five thousand dollars that's what Placentsia extracted
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from a vulnerable addict in his final month of life.
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The text messages also show that Placentsia knew exactly how
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dangerous his actions were. Federal prosecutors alleged in court documents
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that Placentia told a patient that Perry was too far
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gone and spiraling in his addiction, but that he continued
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to sell him drugs anyway. This is the definition of
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medical malpractice taken to criminal extremes. Placentia saw Perry's desperation
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and chose profit over his hippocratic oath. Placentia faces up
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to forty years in prison and three years of supervised release.
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He also faces a five nine of at least two
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million dollars and has agreed to voluntarily surrender his medical license.
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It's important to note that the FEDS made it clear
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in their June Plea deal announcement that the ketamine dose
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that killed Perry was not from Placentsia. The fatal dose
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came from Josvin Sanga, the so called ketamine Queen, who
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remains the only defendant in Perry's death who hasn't pleaded guilty.
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Her trial begins next month, but Placentia's role was crucial
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in Perry's final spiral. He took a man who was
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struggling with addiction and made that struggle exponentially worse, all
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while counting the prophets. When Placentia is sentenced on December third,
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he'll face the consequences of choosing greed over his duty
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to first do no harm. Our second story takes us
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to Florida, where Ali Seymour was scheduled to begin trial
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yesterday for the first degree murder of her six year
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old son, Anthony Rouss. Instead, in a stunning last minute development,
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Seymour pleaded guilty to two counts of aggravated child abuse
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in the death of her six year old son, Anthony Rouse.
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She was set to go to trial on first degree murder.
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She was sentenced today to twenty years in prison. She
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was facing life without parole twenty years for systematically torturing
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and drowning a six year old child. Let that sink
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in for a moment. The details of Anthony Rouse's short
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life are among the most horrific I've ever covered. Police
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were initially called to Seymour's home on April twenty second,
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twenty twenty three, for a reported drowning. They found the
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child face down in the bathtub, but noted the bathroom
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had no electricity or natural light and the doors to
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the bathroom had been locked. When Rouse was brought to
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the hospital, medical staff noticed he was covered in cigarette
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burns and had rectal bleeding. But this wasn't an isolated
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incident of abuse. Investigators discovered a systematic pattern of torture
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that involved other children in the home. Six other children
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were living in the house, who said they were rewarded
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for beating the six year old and forcing him into
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a dogcage. Think about the psychological damage inflicted not just
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on Anthony, but on the siblings who were turned into
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accomplices in his abuse. The text messages between Alise and
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her husband, Trey Seymour reveal the depths of their cruelty.
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On April first, aliz Seymour allegedly wrote, bro, Emma end
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up killing this fat bitch. My house getting fucking dirty
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because of him, walls in garage turning fucking black. Gt.
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Marx and shit like bro. Later, she allegedly sent her
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husband a video of Anthony Rouse locked in the cage,
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with Alee saying he can stay in that fucking shit
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and rot. The day before Anthony died, Alize texted Trey,
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I want to put him up for adoption. Instead of
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following through on that text, they chose murder. The child
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told police Rouse would frequently get into trouble for stealing food,
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prompting Trey to take the victim into the bathroom to
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go swimming. The witness advised as swimming means drowning, and
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drowning means holding the victim's head under water. Anthony was
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being tortured and drowned repeatedly as punishment for the crime
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of being hungry. The couple had created a reward system
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where Anthony's siblings would get candy for participating in his abuse,
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turning the entire household into a torture chamber. Trey pleaded
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guilty to second degree murder, aggravated manslaughter of a child,
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child abuse, and causing a miner to become delinquent or dependent,
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and was sentenced to thirty years in prison. At least
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he received a murder conviction. Eliese, who was Anthony's biological mother,
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gets just twenty years for torturing her own child to death.
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Anthony's biological father, Andre Rous, had been fighting for custody
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and repeatedly offered to take his son. Andre Rouse said
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he had concerns about Anthony Rous being around his mother
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and new husband, and had been fighting for sole custody
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of Anthony Rous in the months leading up to his death.
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He tried to save his son, but the system failed
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Anthony in the worst possible way. Twenty years means Ali
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Seymour could be free in her early forties. Anthony Rouse
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will never see age seven. This plea deal is a
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travesty of justice that prioritizes court efficiency over appropriate punishment
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for one of the most heinous child murders I've ever encountered.
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Back in a moment. Our final story comes from Manhattan,
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where two men accused of kidnapping and torturing an Italian
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cryptocurrency trader for his Bitcoin password have been granted one
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million dollars bail each despite prosecutor's strong objections. New York
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Supreme Criminal Court Judge Gregory Carrow set bail at one
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million dollars each for John Woltz, thirty seven, and William Duplessi,
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thirty three, who have been in custody since their arrest
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in May. Waltz and Duplessi pleaded not guilty to multiple charges,
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including kidnapping, assault, and coercion. The allegations in this case
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read like a cryptocurrency nightmare. The twenty eight year old victim,
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reportedly an Italian cryptocurrency trader, arrived in New York City
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from Italy in early May. He was abducted on May sixth,
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police told CNN. Prosecutors said the unnamed victim was tortured
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for days, threatened with death, and at one point dangled
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over a railing unless he revealed his Bitcoin password. When
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he refused, he was beaten, shocked with electric wires, and
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struck in the head with a firearm. They said this
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wasn't a quick robbery, this was weeks of systematic torture
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in all luxury Manhattan townhouse. The indictment alleges they held
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the man against his will with intent to terrorize him,
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and assaulted him with a chainsaw, pistol, and cattle prod
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as part of the torture. They are also accused of
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pouring tequila on the alleged victim and lighting him on fire.
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The level of violence alleged here is staggering. These men
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allegedly turned a soho townhouse into a torture chamber, using
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tools of terror to try to break their victim's will
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and access his cryptocurrency fortune. But here's where the case
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gets complicated. The defense pushed back, saying there is video
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of the alleged victim having the time of his life
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and engaging in activity at odds with having been tortured.
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Among the evidence, the lawyers said they have obtained our
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photos of the accuser moving freely in and out of
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the house, even taking a trip to an eyeglass store
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with one of the defendants. This creates a fascinating question
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about the nature of modern kidnapping cases. In an era
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where everything is documented, how do we understand cases where
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the alleged victim appears to have some freedom of movement.
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Does visiting an eyeglass store negate claims of torture and coercion.
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The prosecution maintains their case is solid. In late May,
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the victim escaped the apartment where he was allegedly being
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held after agreeing to provide his password, which was stored
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on his laptop in another room. Prosecutors said when one
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of the suspects turned his back, the victim fled the
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apartment and sought help from a traffic officer. Police said
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the victims escape running to a traffic officer for help
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suggests genuine fear and desperation, and prosecutors have additional evidence
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beyond the victim's testimony. Prosecutors said on Thursday, Waltz allegedly
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instructed the assistant to monitor the alleged victim whenever he
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used his phone, suggesting a level of surveillance and control
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that goes beyond voluntary association. Judge Caro clearly found enough
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ambiguity in the evidence to grant bail despite the serious
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nature of the charge. Both men must surrender passports, submit
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to electronic monitoring, and remain on home confinement. Notably, the
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justice ordered neither can use cryptocurrency to post bail, a
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fitting restriction given the nature of their alleged crimes. This
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case highlights the evolving nature of kidnapping and extortion in
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the cryptocurrency age. Traditional concepts of captivity may need to
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be reconsidered when dealing with digital assets and modern technology.
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The defense argues this was a business dispute gone wrong,
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while prosecutors maintain it was weeks of systematic torture. What
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connects all three of today's stories is the intersection of
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greed and cruelty in modern crime. Doctor Placensia saw Matthew
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Perry's addiction as a profit center. Ali Seymour saw her
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own child as an inconvenience to be eliminated. The Crypto
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kidnappers allegedly saw an Italian trader's wealth as something to
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be extracted through torture. Each case also shows how modern
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technology and communication create new evidence trails. Placentsia's text messages
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calling Perry a moron became key evidence of his predatory mindset.
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Ali Seymour's texts about killing Anthony and videos of him
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locked in a cage documented her systematic abuse. The Crypto
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case involves surveillance videos, phone monitoring, and digital evidence that
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complicates traditional notions of kidnapping. But perhaps most importantly, these
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cases show how our justice system struggles with proportional punishment.
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Placentia faces up to forty years for exploiting Perry's addiction,
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while Alise Seymour gets just twenty years for torturing her
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child to death. The Crypto kidnappers get million dollar bail
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despite allegations of weeks long torture. Where's the consistency. Where's
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the justice that matches the crime? The answer isn't always satisfying.
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Plea deals prioritize certainty over maximum punishment. Bail decisions balance
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public safety against presumption of innocence. But when we see
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such disparities in how justice is meeted out, it's hard
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not to question whether our system truly serves the victims
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and protects society. Matthew Perry died seeking relief from his demons,
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exploited by a doctor who should have helped him heal.
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Anthony Rouse died seeking food and love, murdered by a
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mother who should have protected him. The Italian trader survived
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his ordeal, but faces the challenge of proving systematic torture
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in an age of digital documentation. These cases remind us
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that evil often wears familiar faces, the trusted doctor, the
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protective parent, the successful business man. The warning signs are
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often there in text messages, behavioral changes, and cries for help,
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but recognizing them requires us to look beyond surface appearances
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to the cruelty that can lurk underneath. That's celebrity trials
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for today. I'm read Carter. Remember in an age where
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every message is preserved, and every movement can be tracked.
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Criminals create their own evidence trails, but technology can't replace
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human judgment in recognizing when someone is in danger or
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when justice has been served. Justice isn't always proportional, but
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it's absolutely riveting. See you back here tomorrow for more
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developments from America's courtrooms and whatever new legal drama unfolds