Russell Brand Cleared of One Charge on the Judge’s Direction, Replaced by a Lesser Count, Six Still Stand, Birchmore Autopsy Testimony

0:08 Good morning. This is Daily Crime and Justice from Calaroga Media, powered by AI. I'm Garrett Fisher. It's Wednesday, October 28th, 2026. Yesterday at Southwick Crown Court, the judge in the Russell Brand trial turned to one of the jurors, a man sitting at the end of a row, and asked him to stand and deliver a verdict. Not guilty. It was the first verdict of this trial on one charge. And moments later, the jury heard Russell Brand himself, in his own words, through the statements he gave police. A very promiscuous life. Kisses with hundreds of members of the public. Sexual encounters in countless locations, often with people he'd just met.

0:50 And every one of them, he said, consensual. Today, the defense begins. So here's the question. When a famous man tells police his sex life was wild but always consensual, is that a confession of character or a defense? Let's get into it. This segment discusses allegations of rape and sexual assault. I'll keep it to what the jury heard, without graphic detail. First, a quick note on timing. Yesterday I told you the prosecution was expected to finish in the morning and the defense would begin in the afternoon. That didn't happen. The court lost half a day while some documents were sorted out. The judge apologized to the jury, calling the delay deeply regrettable and said it wasn't the fault of the lawyers, the complainants, or Brand. Sometimes in life, he said, stuff happens. When court resumed Sky News reports, the public gallery was packed for the first time in this trial. Brand had arrived with his arm around his wife, Laura, in a gray suit, an open white shirt, and a gray scarf. His entourage had grown by one or two, including his security guard and his manager. In the dock, he sat as always, alone and upright. The prosecution's junior barrister read the jury a set of agreed facts, evidence both sides accept. Brand's copy was posted to him through a gap in the glass panels of the dock, and he read it holding it up in front of his face with both hands. Some of those facts matter. The

2:21 jury heard the 999 call the third complainant made to police in September of 2023. She's the woman who testified that Brand orally raped her in a toilet at a Soho party in 2004. In that call, she described Brand grabbing her and forcing her into the men's toilet and trying to force her into a sex act. She said she pushed him off, started screaming, and tried to open the door, that someone outside asked if she was okay, and that Brand then opened the door and let her out. You can see why both sides wanted that in front of the jury. The defense will point to the difference between tried to in that call and the rape she described in court. The prosecution will point to her sister's evidence on Monday, that she later admitted she hadn't told the whole story at first. The jury also heard a message the sixth complainant sent a friend in 2023 about working with Brand. He was a nightmare to work with, so rude, so controlling, all levels of awful. And they heard that Mark Pinheiro, Brand's old flatmate and the prosecution's very first witness, wrote on Facebook in 2014, Russ is my brother and I love him. That tells the jury Pinheiro was no enemy of Brand's when he testified that Brand came back to their lodging after a night out at the 1999 labor conference, looking flustered, insisting they leave immediately, and saying he may have gone too far. Then came Brand's own words. He was interviewed by police four times, twice in late 2023, once in January of 2024, and

3:53 once in July of last year. Each time he read a prepared statement rather than answering questions freely. And at the end of each interview, he said, I have nothing further to add. The jury also heard that before those interviews, police didn't show him photographs of the women. That matters because his explanation for one of the allegations, the one from 1999, is that if it happened, he simply doesn't remember. Here's some of what he told them. As I have repeatedly stated publicly and written about extensively, I led a very promiscuous life in the past, which I have spent years openly denouncing. I have never engaged in non-consensual sexual activity.

4:38 He called the 2023 Channel 4 documentary defamatory and fictitious, and said that after it aired, the media and the police publicly invited more allegations, which, in his words, resulted in further encounters being invented or reimagined. He said that at live shows, press events, and book signings, he tried to be accessible and loving, that there was often physical contact, and that he'd shared kisses with hundreds of members of the public in front of hundreds of people with photos of many of them online. He said he routinely made provocative jokes, and he acknowledged something that echoes what several of these women have said. He told police that he did, on occasion, find reasons to leave, or to ask partners in casual encounters to leave, shortly after it was over.

5:26 And in his final statement from July of last year, In the past I had sexual encounters in countless locations and scenarios, often with people I had just met. Those encounters were always consensual. Then, the moment of the day. At this halfway stage of an English trial, a judge has to decide whether the evidence on each charge is strong enough to let the jury consider it. Mr. Justice Benethen told the jury he had concluded there was insufficient evidence to support the charge of indecent assault. The allegation by the second complainant, the woman who worked at MTV and says Brand grabbed her arm and tried to drag her into a men's toilet in 2001. He told them they must find Brand not guilty of that charge. Then, he picked one juror to stand and formally say the words, not guilty. But the charge didn't vanish entirely. In its place, the judge added a new, lesser charge relating to the same incident, attempted indecent assault. In other words, the question for the jury is no longer whether Brand indecently assaulted her, but whether he tried to. Calling it a slightly artificial process, the judge told the jury that Brand had pleaded not guilty to the new charge. the jurors were told to put a line through the old one on their paperwork.

6:46 So where does that leave Russell Brand? He still faces seven charges, three counts of rape, three counts of sexual assault, and now one count of attempted indecent assault. And he still denies every one of them. Which brings me back to the question. Brand's statements to police are, in a way, both his biggest problem and his defense. The prosecution will say he's describing a man who took what he wanted from strangers and left. The defense will say he's describing a lifestyle that was reckless and maybe ugly, but legal, and that he's never hidden it. Remember, too, the warning police gave him at every interview. It may harm your defense if you don't mention something you later rely on in court. He gave them his story in writing. Whether he'll now give it to the jury in person is the question of the week. The defense case begins this morning in London. Brand's barrister, Ian Winter, will name his first witness and we'll know very quickly whether it's Russell Brand.

7:46 Russell Brand denies all charges. When we come back, the medical examiner in the Sandra Birchmore case and a fake pregnancy with a reality star. Yesterday, I told you the medical examiner who first ruled Sandra Birchmore's death a suicide was about to testify. In fact, she had already testified on Monday. Our information was out of date. Here's what she said. Quick refresher. Sandra Birchmore was 23 and about two months pregnant when she was found dead in her apartment in Canton, Massachusetts in February of 2021. Former Stoughton police detective Matthew Farwell is on trial in federal court, accused of strangling her and staging it as a suicide.

8:42 Prosecutors say he'd been sexually exploiting her since she was 15. He's pleaded not guilty, and his defense says she took her own life. Dr. Maria Capo-Martinez performed Sandra's autopsy, and in May of 2021, she ruled the death a suicide by hanging. On the stand, she told the jury that the state police investigators gave her very little. They never told her there was any reason to suspect the death wasn't a suicide. The jury saw an email a state trooper sent her office in May of 2021 saying there was, quote, nothing new to report. She said she knew nothing about Sandra's phone being found near her hand, the last texts on it, the security video showing Farwell entering the building, Sandra's visitors, or witness statements. And according to WHDH, she didn't know about a snap necklace chain found in the apartment.

9:34 which prosecutors say shows a struggle. She testified that her office depends on investigators for that kind of information. And under questioning, she agreed that some of the injuries and abrasions she documented could indicate that Sandra's body, or the strap around her neck, had been moved. The FBI took her through its own findings at a meeting in August of 2024. In the spring of this year, she changed the death certificate. Cause, asphyxia, manner, undetermined. Farwell's lawyers have accused federal investigators of pressuring her to make that change. Her answer on the stand was direct. I was not pressured to change the death certificate. On cross-examination, the defense showed her photographs of Sandra's clothing bundled in a bag next to her body at the medical examiner's office, part of its argument that evidence wasn't handled carefully either way.

10:29 And the defense noted that even now, she can't say whether Sandra's death was a suicide or a homicide. That's what undetermined means. The defense's own expert, a former chief medical examiner of New Hampshire, is expected to say the same. that the medical evidence doesn't rule out suicide. Then came a remarkable witness, Matthew Farwell's twin brother, William, also a former Stoughton police officer. He testified under a grant of immunity and told the jury he had a sexual relationship with Sandra beginning in 2018 when she was 21, which he called consensual, including while he was on duty. He said he wanted immunity so he couldn't be charged for that.

11:09 He also testified he didn't know at the time that his brother was involved with her. William Farwell resigned from the department in 2022 and gave up his police certification, and he's not charged with any crime in connection with Sandra's death. He's the second witness in this trial to testify under immunity. The first, according to the Boston Globe, was the actual father of Sandra's unborn baby. The prosecution's strangulation expert, Dr. William Smock, who says Sandra was strangled and fought back, was scheduled to take the stand on Tuesday and will bring you what he told the jury. And the defense, which still maintains Sandra took her own life after Farwell ended their relationship, is expected to begin its case this week. Sandra Birchmore was 23. Someone has to say her name. Sandra Birchmore believed Matthew Farwell was the father of her baby. DNA later proved he wasn't.

12:07 Our last story is about a pregnancy that never existed at all. Clayton Eckhardt was the star of season 26 of ABC's The Bachelor in 2022. A while after the show, he met a woman named Laura Owens, an Arizona woman who is the daughter of a well-known San Francisco radio host. Eckhardt has said the two had a single encounter in 2023. Afterwards, she told him she was pregnant with his twins. She wasn't. Investigators say she fabricated the whole thing. Doctored ultrasound images, fake medical records, and a paternity claim that dragged Eckhardt into a legal fight for three years. The case became a viral obsession, with Eckhardt sharing his side online and Owens insisting she was telling the truth. Then prosecutors in Maricopa County, Arizona charged her with fraud. Investigators say she went to extreme lengths to manipulate men. And they found another man too. A second victim's statement, read in court, described how she stole an ultrasound image from a stranger's personal blog to fool him. In August, Owens pleaded guilty to four felonies, two counts of fraudulent schemes, one count of taking another person's identity, and one count of perjury.

13:21 Other charges were dropped as part of the deal. On Friday, she was sentenced. Etchard spoke in court and asked the judge to send her to prison. Laura will not stop, he said, until she is removed from her environment. He told the court her tears weren't from empathy. Owens, in tears, apologized. I pleaded guilty to four felonies, she said, and I am profoundly, profoundly sorry for the pain, distress, and expense that I've caused them. The judge gave her 30 days in county jail, followed by seven years of probation. If she violates that probation, she could face up to 12 years. Etchart's lawyer said he was disappointed. Here's what I think is worth noticing. For almost three years, the public argued about this case like it was a he-said-she-said reality show plot.

14:10 And for a long time, plenty of people believed her. It took court records, medical experts, and a prosecutor to prove there were no babies at all. A fake pregnancy can wreck a man's life, and it makes it harder for every woman who makes a real claim to be believed. That's why the law treats it as a crime. Clayton Eckert spent three years fighting a lie. Someone has to say his name. When we come back the week ahead... That's the show for this Wednesday. Here's my question for the Spotify crowd. If you were on the brand jury, would his police statements make you more likely to believe him or less? If you're listening on Spotify, drop a comment.

15:03 If you've got a friend who watched The Bachelor, send them this one. That's how we grow. And on Apple Podcasts, tap listen uninterrupted at the top of your screen. $ 5 a month, no ads. This show plus thousands of other Calaroga Media shows and the first 30 days are free. To everyone already subscribed, thank you. Coming up, the defense case in the Brand trial and whether Russell Brand takes the stand. In Boston, the strangulation expert and the start of Matthew Farwell's defense. And next week, Florida's scheduled 19th execution of the year. I'm Garrett Fisher. Do better. This episode of Daily Crime and Justice is produced with the assistance of artificial intelligence and is intended for news and commentary purposes only. It is not legal advice. Everyone charged with a crime is presumed innocent unless and until proven guilty in a court of law. Russell Brand has pleaded not guilty to all charges and denies all of the allegations against him. He has been found not guilty of one count of indecent assault on the judge's direction. Matthew Farwell has pleaded not guilty. William Farwell has not been charged with any crime in connection with Sandra Birchmore's death.

16:20 Laura Owens pleaded guilty. Correction. Tuesday's episode said the medical examiner in the Birchmore case was about to testify. She testified on Monday, October 26, on Russell Brand. Accounts of evidence and of Brand's police statements are as reported by Sky News from Southwark Crown Court. Our description of English procedure at the close of the prosecution case is a general summary. Under the Sexual Offenses Amendment Act 1992, complainants in sexual offense cases in the United Kingdom are entitled to lifelong anonymity. On Sandra Birchmore, testimony is as reported by the Boston Globe, CBS Boston, WHDH, WFXT, NBC Boston, Patch, and LA Magazine. On Laura Owens, Details are as reported by Fox, 10 Phoenix, KTVU, The San Francisco Chronicle, and Court TV. If you or someone you know has been affected by sexual violence, you can call RAINN at 800-656-4673.

17:21 In England and Wales, you can reach Rape Crisis at 0808-500-2222. If you or someone you know is struggling or in crisis, call or text 988- Thank you.