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Callaroga Shark Media, Good morning, I'm read Carter Friday, February twentieth,
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twenty twenty six. Two trials dominating the news cycle right now,
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Both massive, both potentially historic. Let me catch you up Manhattan.
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The Alexander Brothers sex trafficking trial. Three brothers Tal thirty
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nine and Twins or In and a Lawn thirty eight,
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charged with masterminding a decade long conspiracy to drug and
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rape women using their wealth, luxury, real estate, empire, and
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party scene connections. Three weeks of testimony before Judge Valerie Caproni,
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nine alleged victims took the stand, Jurors saw photographs of
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the word rapists scrawled in eyeliner on a door at
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a Hampton's mansion, text messages where one brother boasted about
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twin DP being the special on the menu, another text
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telling a friend to throw some pante dropper pills in
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the dishes. A juror was dismissed for reaching a verdict
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before the trial was over. The trial is on a
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ten day break. Resumes February twenty fourth. Today we're doing
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a comprehensive recap of what the jury has seen so far.
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Los Angeles, Wednesday, Mark Zuckerberg walked into a courtroom and
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testified before a jury for the first time in his career.
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The question did Meta deliberately design Instagram to addict children
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and destroy their mental health? Internal documents showed over four
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million users under thirteen on a platform that requires you
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to be thirteen to join. Instagram's own head Adam Musseri,
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testified last week that he doesn't believe social media addiction exists.
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Parents who lost children to social media slept on the
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courthouse steps to get seats. A judge threatened contempt over
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someone wearing Meta's ab smart glasses in the courtroom. I'm Reed,
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Carter today. Two trials that could reshape how we think
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about power, wealth, and corporate accountability in America. This is
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celebrity trials. Let's start in Manhattan, Southern District of New York,
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United States. Versus Ailon Alexander Orin Alexander and Tal Alexander.
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Before their arrests in December twenty twenty four, Oran and
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Tal Alexander were luxury real estate titans Miami born sold
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some of America's most expensive properties penthouse deals, celebrity clients,
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multimillion dollar commissions, A Lawn worked at a private security
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firm owned by the family. Between them, the brothers lived
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the kind of life most people only see on reality television. Mansions, yachts,
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exclusive parties, Hampton's weekends, ski trips in Aspen, cruise ships
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to the Bahamas. Prosecutors say all of it was a
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hunting ground. The indictment twelve counts conspiracy to commit sex trafficking,
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sex trafficking by force, fraud or coercion, inducement to travel,
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to engage in unlawful sexual activity, sexual abuse by physical incapacitation,
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sexual exploitation of a miner. Eight named victims in the indictment,
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including two who were under age, but prosecutors interviewed more
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than sixty women who reported being raped or sexually assaulted
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by at least one of the brothers. Sixty women. Let
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that sink in. The brothers hired heavy hitters for their defense.
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Orrin tapped Mark Agnifilo and Tenny Garrigos, the same attorneys
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who represented Sean Ditty Combs in his federal sex trafficking
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trial last year. The team that got Ditty acquitted on
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sex trafficking and racketeering. Now they're trying to do the
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same for the Alexander brothers. They also retained Judah Engelmeyer,
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the public relations strategist who previously represented Harvey Weinstein. The
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defense argument boils down to this, These weren't traffickers. These
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were single men who liked to party, who pursued women
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at nightclubs and bars, who hooked up. That's not trafficking,
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that's dating. Teeny Geragos told the jury that the government
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is trying to turn their life of partying into one
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of the most serious crimes we have. Deanna Paul, representing Tal,
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acknowledged her client was a womanizer, but said there's no
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evidence he acted unlawfully. Now, let me tell you what
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the jury has heard over three weeks, because it doesn't
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sound like dating. Week one. The prosecution's first witness was
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a woman testifying under the pseudonym Katie Moore. She described
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meeting the brothers at a New York City nightclub called Provocateur,
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accepted a drink from someone in their group. Her body
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immediately started swaying. Not gradual, not like getting drunk, sudden,
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like a switch being flipped, loss of control, confusion, darkness.
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Moore woke up naked on a bed with Alon standing
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over her, also naked. She had no idea what had happened,
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tried to get out of bed, Ailon kept pushing her
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back down. She was thirty four years old when she
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told the jury, I'm thirty four years old now, and
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I know who I am, and I want someone held
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accountable for what was done to me. Another woman testifying
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under the pseudonym Amelia Rosen, was shown a video of
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her own alleged rape, a video she'd never seen before,
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found on a backup of Orn's computer, sent the same
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night it was captured. She was seventeen years old in
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the video, had no memory of the encounter or the recording,
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was contacted by the government and shown what had been
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done to her. The video was played privately for individual
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jury members. That's not dating, that's not hooking up. That's
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a video of an unconscious seventeen year old found on
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a man's hard drive. Week two more witnesses, more alleged victims,
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and then the messages. Prosecutors unveiled a trove of texts, emails,
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and group chats pulled from the brother's phones and computers.
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The brother's own words words, let me read you some
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of what the jury saw. After a three day party
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cruise from Miami to the Bahamas in January twenty twelve,
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Alon texted a friend, biggest fuck fest I've ever seen
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twin DP was the special on the menu, DP standing
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for double penetration, bragging about it to a friend in writing.
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In a separate exchange after the same cruise, Alon wrote
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that he didn't sleep once during the trip because he
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was just hunting the whole time, said his friend Dylan
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brought a camera and filmed a lot. When the friend
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asked if Dylan had slept with anyone, Alon responded, he's
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not as aggressive as Orn and I. The friend remarked
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that few people are Elon replied, that's true hunting. That's
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the word he used, hunting. A woman testifying under the
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pseudonym Ronda Stone, described being on that same cruise. Said
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she approached the twins to buy MDMA during a late
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night DJ set, followed them back to their cabin, accepted
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a mixed drink, blacked out almost immediately. When she regained consciousness,
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one of the brothers was on top of her, raping her,
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while the other was having sex with another woman in
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the next bed. She watched helplessly as they went back
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and forth, then blacked out again. Prosecutors also found a
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note on Oran's iCloud account functioned like a diary of
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the creuse bullet pointed entries for each day. Most were redacted.
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One surviving entry from Saturday Night SAT Late night thick blonde.
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That's how he cataloged women, two words and a physical
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descriptor in a bullet pointed list. More messages emerged in
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September twenty eleven. A lawn texted about an upcoming party,
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telling someone to throw some panty dropper pills in the
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dishes sent to our table. Other exchanges referenced g HB, qualudes, ambion, ketamine,
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and xanax, all drugs that can cause loss of motor
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function in paired consciousness and memory loss, exactly what multiple
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women described experiencing. The defense called some of the messages
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crude jokes. The prosecution's medical expert, doctor Stacey Hale, testified
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that g HB is useful to commit sexual assault because
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its colorless, odorless, and virtually tasteless. Week three, the testimony
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got worse. Meelen Garrett took the stand and accused Alan
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of drugging and raping her during a ski trip in Aspen, Colorado,
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in January twenty seventeen. She was seventeen, said Alan spotted
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her at the now shuttered Bootsy Bellows Club, invited her
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and two friends to their table, handed her drinks. Her
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head started feeling really heavy, could barely hold it up.
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The twins invited the girls to what they described as
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an after party, took them to an empty hotel room
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with two beds. Alan allegedly assaulted Garrett in the bathroom.
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Her friend, testifying as Katie Brown, set along, then got
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into bed with her and put his hand down her pants.
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She removed his hand and left with Garrett. Judge Caproni
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noted that the jury appeared to be hanging on to
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Garrett's every word. Then came Isa Brooks, the testimony that
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capped the third week. Brooks was sixteen years old, days
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before her seventeenth birthday when she says she and a
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school friend skipped their senior prom to go to a
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Hampton's party invited by a club promoter named Matt Lippman,
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who counted the Alexander Brothers among his clients. Party bus
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from Times Square to East Hampton Nightclub, then a rented mansion.
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The next morning, Brooks noticed the house was emptier. Girls
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who'd been there the night before were gone. Lipmann told
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her they hadn't made the cut. They'd been sent away. Brooks,
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the sixteen year old, almost felt special to have been selected.
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Then she accepted a drink from a friend of the
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Alexanders while in a hot tub, started feeling woozy and
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limp headed inside. Tal allegedly followed her to a bedroom
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started kissing her. Her body felt heavy, heart fluttering, couldn't stand.
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Then Tal allegedly said five words that will stay with
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the jury. My brother is going to join us. Now,
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a lawn and two other men entered. What followed Brooks
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can only recall in flashes, men taking turns holding her down,
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raping her, saying degrading things. She told them to stop,
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too weak to fight back. I was terrified, Brooks told
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the court, through tears and increasing violence, both in what
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they were saying and how they were raping me. I
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was just wondering why it felt like they hated me.
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She was sixteen years old. At a party she went
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to instead of prom being raped by multiple men while
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she could barely move. Eventually, she mustered enough strength to
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kick one of the men. He backed away a lawn
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and two others left. Tal stayed behind allegedly told her
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don't be mad at me. Don't be mad at me,
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after allegedly participating in the gang rape of a sixteen
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year old girl, don't be mad at me. Later that
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same evening, Brooks walked past a bedroom and saw a
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girl lying in a green bikini with a bunch of
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guys on top of her. Another woman, Avishon Bognude, who
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works at the United Nations, confronted the group, crying out
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I work for the UN and I know what you're
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doing or an Alexander allegedly slammed the door in her face.
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Bog Nude testified separately, said she heard a woman screaming
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for help over and over, asking them to stop. Said
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the men moaned loudly over the woman's cries, while Bognude
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described those sex noises. The brother's father, Shlomy Alexander, appeared
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to be smirking in the gallery, smirking while a witness
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described his son's allegedly raping a screaming woman. Bognoud fled
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in a taxi that night, but before she left, she
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scrawled messages on the homes door and wall eyeliner rapists,
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you need to apologize. Photographs of that graffiti were recovered
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from Tal Alexander's hard drive and shown to the jury.
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I hope that someday this could be used as evidence,
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boge Nude said tearfully. The defense pushed back. Cross examined
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Brooks about photos showing her celebrating her birthday days later,
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asked why she stayed overnight at another Hampton's home where
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Tal was present, why she didn't contact police, why she
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didn't tell her parents. I was scared to rock the boat,
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Brooks said, I was scared that I would get in trouble.
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She was sixteen, still in school, still a child. In
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twenty twenty, Brooks called East Hampton Police, an officer expressed
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frustration over gaps in her memory. She hung up, called
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the Manhattan DA's office, left a voicemail. Nobody called back.
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She finally reported to the FBI in twenty twenty four,
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after reading about other women coming forward. I've been haunted
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by this for seventeen years, Brooks said, I am horrified
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that there have been others. And then there was the juror.
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Mid trial, Judge Caproni dismissed a male juror, who admitted
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he'd already decided on a verdict before the case was over,
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unclear which way he was leaning. The jury now stands
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at seven women and five men. Here's the pattern across
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three weeks of testimony. Women meet the brothers at clubs, parties,
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or through dating apps. They're invited to luxury destinations Hampton's mansions,
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Aspen ski trips, Bahama's cruises. They're offered drinks, they black out,
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they wake up being raped, or they don't wake up
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at all and find out later from video evidence. The
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brothers have pleaded not guilty to all charges. They've been
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held without bail since December twenty twenty four. Their parents
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sit in the gallery every day. Their pr strategist previously
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represented Harvey Weinstein. Their defense attorneys previously represented Diddy. If convicted,
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each brother faces fifteen years to life in prison. Trial
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resumes February twenty fourth. More witnesses expected, more evidence, More
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testimony from women who say three wealthy brothers used their
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money and status to turn luxury experiences into hunting grounds.
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Make it make sense. We'll be right back with Mark
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Zuckerberg on the witness stand. Four million children under thirteen
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on Instagram, internal documents comparing the platform to a casino,
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and a judge threatening contempt over AI smartglasses in the courtroom.
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Welcome back to celebrity trials. I'm reed, Carter, Los Angeles,
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Los Angeles Superior Court, Wednesday, February eighteenth, twenty twenty six.
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Mark Zuckerberg walked through the front doors of the courthouse
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at eight thirty am, past a swarm of media, past
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parents holding photographs of children they say were killed by
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social media, Past families who had flown in from across
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the country and slept on the courthouse steps to guarantee
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a seat. Zuckerberg did not respond when a reporter asked
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what his message would be to those parents. This is
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the landmark trial experts are calling social media's Big Tobacco moment.
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The question before the jury are social media platforms defective products?
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Engineered to exploit vulnerabilities in young people's brains. The plaintiff
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is a twenty year old woman identified only by her
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initials KGM. Her real first name is Kayley. She claims
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she started using YouTube at age six, Instagram at age nine.
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By age sixteen, she was spending more than sixteen hours
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a day on Instagram. She alleges the platforms addicted her,
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exacerbated depression and suicidal thoughts, and destroyed her mental health,
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not by accident, by design deliberate choices made by companies