Cain Velasquez: Blood Sport - Part Two

MMA Champ Cain Velasquez faces a trial for his freedom after what appears to be a shocking act of vigilante justice against the man Cain’s son said abused him at his daycare. While explosive violence and MMA seem to go together, Cain’s defense team tells the court he may be suffering from brain injury which caused him to attack the man he believes abused his son. Could Cain have CTE like Aaron Hernandez and Junior Seau? Join ESPN sportscaster and journalist Jay Harris is he dives deep into the case against Cain Velasquez and discovers this father of two is being treated very differently from the accused abuser.

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Episode Transcript

Speaker 1 (00:08):
Welcome to Playing Dirty Sports Scandals with me, your intrepid host,
Jay Harris. I have over twenty years of experience as
a journalist and sportscaster, hosting a variety of ESPN shows
from Sports Center to Outside the Lines. But I'm playing dirty.
My role is to gather the facts behind some of
the most mind blowing sports scandals of all time to
serve you the inside proteen packed scoop. In our last episode,

(00:43):
I just shared the dark twist in the Cane Velasquez saga,
one so dark that it makes beetroot juice look like lemonade.
Kane Velasquaz, a mixed martial arts champion, had just thrown
his hard won career success and family security to the
wind by allegedly trying to gun down Harry Gillart, the
man who had allegedly molested his four year old son.
And while we clearly do not live in a society

(01:05):
where people are legally empowered to practice vigilanti justice, Cain's
violent attack on Harry Gillart was one that many parents
empathized with and could rationalize. The glass was cracked as
far as US public opinion was concerned, and the divide
as to whether or not Kane Velaska's behavior was justified
widened with each day in court. So here we are

(01:29):
at a tipping point. Let's down this catastrophic cocktail together. People.
Misery loves company, After all, Kane Velasquez looked the picture
of misery. At his initial court appearance, the Santa Clara
County courtroom was packed with media, fans, and community members,
all in shock. Cain, once the center of attention for

(01:51):
his sports achievements, was now gutted by personal tragedy, his
hands literally tied at the center of serious legal proceedings.
He knew he was out of his element. He knew
that his freedom and future life together with his family
was on the line, and he knew that the charges
against him were extremely damning. Ten different criminal counts faced Kate,

(02:12):
including premeditated attempted murder, using a firearm at a crime,
and assault. If convicted of attempted murder, Kane would face
a minimum of twenty years and potentially up to life
in prison. He might miss his kids birthdays, their graduations,
their weddings. Everything that was most precious to Caine in
the world was now in terrible jeopardy. And while Kane

(02:35):
Velasquez was represented by highly competent veteran attorney Mark Gerrogos.
He wasn't able to directly defend himself the way he
had been accustomed to doing all his life. Meanwhile, the
prosecutors ran their element, and the District Attorney's office itself
proved to be an important controversial player in this scandal,
because while the Gallart family and Kane Velasquez has certainly

(02:57):
crossed lines, many believed that the DA's office behaved badly too.
You see, it was the same District Attorney's office that
prosecuted Harry Gallard and seemingly with a far more forgiving
rule book. In fact, DA Robert Philbrooks's prosecution of Harry
Gallart resulted in his release with the sole condition that

(03:18):
he befitted with an electronic monitoring device. For many people,
especially people living locally with kids of their own, that
seemed a ridiculously light precaution, given that Gallart was alleged
to have molested a child. And while the judge may
have ruled for Glart's release of his own volition, it
was the DA's case that had laid the groundwork for
the ruling. Many held the DA's office culpable. Not only that,

(03:43):
but in the weeks following Harry Gilart's release, even as
the road rage incident with cane Velasquez was making national
headlines and stirring up the scent, the judge modified Harry
Gillard's bail requirements at Galard's attorney's request to be even
more favorable, including a work allowed its provision, granting Harry
the ability to move out of the county, and even

(04:04):
giving him clearance to be around minor family members. For
many onlookers to this unraveling legal fiasco, it seemed as
though the DA's office had unwittingly or not made an
example of kane Velasquez, and people speculated that this was
due at least in part to his MMA celebrity. Remember
Meryl Streep's opinion that violence insights violence. Well, at least

(04:27):
from the outside looking in, it appeared that the DA's
office shared her thoughts on MMA and was approaching kane
Velasquez case from a biased perspective. This perceived discrepancy in
the DA's approach towards the Kane Velasquez and Harry Gilark
cases rubbed a lot of people the wrong way. American
Kickboxing Academy head coach Javier Mendez was incredulous it's said

(04:51):
that California is doing what they're doing. Mendez claimed they
led an alleged pedophile like Harry Gollard out when someone
like Caine who did something that the system was not
doing and handles it and now he's the one they
can't be let out, but the other guy is out,
free as a bird. It makes zero sense to me.
I speak to so many law officers that are involved,

(05:11):
and they all think it's a bunch of bullshit that's
happening to him, and it is. Amateur spectators weren't the
only ones wondering if Kane Velesque's MMA fame and tough
guy appearance were tipping the scales against him in court.
After all, the judge was looking at a large, tough,
bald man famous for his ability to beat other guys
to a pulp in a giant metal cage. That reputation

(05:34):
wasn't a fantastic help under the circumstances. Appearances shouldn't matter
in court or in life for that matter, but it's
crazy to think that they don't. Science even says appearances matter.
We form impressions about other people's personalities in just thirty
nine milliseconds, with an emphasis on survival related qualities like

(05:54):
health care and threat. People who were judging Cain were
starting from that scientific place, and let's he looked well
pretty threatening. Caine's defense attorney, Mark Garages recognized this disadvantage too.
It's obvious to me that the DA is serving two
masters here and can't be trusted to prosecute fairly. He said,
there's a degree of irony, and that the accused pedophile

(06:16):
in his presumed co conspirators are out there trying to
claim the mantle of victim. I'll leave it at that.
Cain is strong. I look forward to vindicating him, but
it would prove to be an uphill battle for Mark
Garrigos to vindicate Kane Velsquez. Cain looked scary, he looked
like a fighter. So when the district attorney argued to
Judge Selina Brown that Cain was a dangerous man who

(06:39):
needed to be kept in prison, she agreed that his
assessment was a reasonable one. It is clear to this
court that there is clear and convincing evidence that there
is a substantial likelihood that Caine Velesque's release would result
in great bodily injury, not just to the named complaining
witnesses in this case, but the Santa Clara residence at large.

(07:00):
Judge Selina Brown said this case involves allegations of extreme
recklessness to human life. Ramming a vehicle in the middle
of the day where citizens are out driving, going about
their business, and shooting out of a car at other
individuals is reckless by any standard. Anyone could have been injured,
anyone could have been killed. And when this Court looks

(07:21):
at Article one, Section twelve, it is this level of
risk that the Court must take into consideration. With that said,
this Court is making the ruling that the risk is
too great and that there will be no bail set
at this time. Now, it's difficult to fault Judge Selina Brown,
even if you're a diehard Kane Velasquaz fan by the book,

(07:42):
her legal logic is pretty spot on. Although many of
Alaska's supporters point to Velaska's intended victim, Harry Gillart, as
the root cause of the road rage attack, most defense
attorneys say the optics of the case a father taking
the law into his own hands after being denied justice,
doesn't actually hold up in a court room. This is
not a complicated case. Veteran defense attorney Steve Cooley explained.

(08:05):
Anyone who says it's nuanced because Cain's motive was to
get even for the molestation of someone he loved, that
that somehow mitigates what he did, well not really. There's
no defense of I got mad because he really hurts
someone I loved. Steve Cooley isn't wrong in his legal logic.
And Judge Selina Brown, however susceptible she may or may

(08:27):
not be to subconscious prejudice based on Caine's tough appearance,
isn't wrong in her legal logic. The law cannot condone
vigilanteism for any reason and continue to serve as an
effective policing tool for society, especially when the vigilanteism physically
endangers other members of the public. Think about it. What if,

(08:47):
instead of accidentally hitting Harry Gallard's stepfather, Paul Bender, Cain
had hit a child playing in a park as the
high speed chase whiz by. Would that child's death be
acceptable because Cain was trying to unish the man who
harmed his son due to two wrongs, even if one
of them is arguably well intentioned, ever really make a
right as far as the law is concerned, and as

(09:10):
far as seventy seven percent of the US population is concerned.
According to the fourteenth American Values Survey conducted as recently
as October twenty twenty three, the answer to that question
is emphatically no. So the scandal and the Kane Velasquez
and Harry Gallart legal proceedings was less about the DA's

(09:34):
hardline approach to prosecuting Kane Velasquez and more about the
course leniency towards Harry Gillard. The fact that it was
the same district attorney's office prosecuting both cases, and the
same district attorney's office that later failed to even notify
Caine Velasquez family of Harry Gallart's release. That is the

(09:54):
crux of the problem and the match that ultimately ignited
this scandal. The discrepancy in the prosecution of the two
men felt prejudicial against Kane Velasquez and in favor of
Harry Gallard, and under the circumstances, that was what felt
deeply wrong. Kine needed someone to help reset his MMA

(10:15):
tough guy image and reframe his story. He couldn't contest
that he had behaved recklessly. Clearly, his temper and potentially
even the onset of CTE or chronic traumatic encephalopathy, a
brain condition thought to be linked to repeated head injuries
and blows to the head, had temporarily muted Kaine's ability
to reason clearly, and his very public attack on the

(10:37):
Gallart family had exceeded the law's limits. What he and
his defense attorney, Mark Geragos could do, though, was introduced
the softer side of Kane Velasquez to the court and
to the public. Maybe becoming a less threatening, more relatable
presence in the court would inspire the judge to grant
a lesser punishment for Kine, just as Harry Gallard had

(10:58):
been given a surprisingly lenient Surely, these two men, on
opposite sides of a dark tragedy, deserved fairness in the
form of comparable consideration under the law, and so Michelle Velasquez,
Kane's wife, got involved in his defense. Seeing the events
of what had transpired through her eyes, through a mother's eyes,

(11:19):
made clear that any bias in her husband's prosecution wasn't acceptable.
Her husband's appearance and profession were irrelevant. Caine was a
gentle giant and a loving father who, from her perspective,
hadn't caused a fraction of the damage that Harry Gillard
had to their northern California community. Yes, Kaine's misguided attack
might have injured an innocent citizen, but arguably it hadn't

(11:43):
Paul Bender, Harry Gallard's stepfather, had been injured by Kane Velasquez.
And while Paul Bender didn't molest Kine Junior, did he
really bear no responsibility for what had allegedly happened at
Patty's childcare? Really, despite the beautiful location and seemingly tipped
shape of Patty's childcare, social service documents revealed that the

(12:04):
daycare run by Patti Gollart and Paul Bender had actually
amassed ten violations since twenty eighteen. Granted, none of the
sided incidents were specifically sexual in nature, but the daycare
run by Paul Bender's wife, Patty Gallart in their shared home,
certainly had a worrying record, and in the Velaska's lawsuit
against Patty Goalart's daycare, the thirteen page documents submitted claim

(12:27):
that Patricia Gallart, Paul Bender, and Patty's childcare staff clearly
allowed Harry's behavior and conduct to occur and continue to occur,
and fail to adequately monitor and supervise the victims and Harry.
Despite the warnings, observations, and signs of inappropriate behavior and conduct,
Harry at all times remained permitted to reside on the

(12:50):
property of Patty's Childcare. So this information begs the question,
how should the non fatal injury of alleged criminal associate
Paul Bender's staff up against all the innocent children who
had been allegedly put in harm's way at Patty's daycare
over the years. Surely, the Velasquez family argued this question
should be considered, so Kin's attorney, Mark Garrigos made sure

(13:14):
that it would be by having Michelle Caine's softer, more
presentable have share in press and with the court the unthinkable,
heartbreaking experience that she, her husband, and her son had endured.
Michelle Velasquez described the moment she learned about the abuse
of her son, Kane Velasquez Junior, whom she lovingly calls

(13:35):
Little Kine, as a mother's worst nightmare. My heart sank,
she said. She and Kane Velaskaz Senior are putting their
four year old son to bed when little Kine disclosed
what had happened to him. Little Kine said that Harry
Gollard had taken him into the bathroom at the daycare.
When Cain asked his son why Harry had gone into
the bathroom with him, given that he was fully potty trained,

(13:58):
Little Kaine said that Harry had touched his private parts. Later,
Michele relayed to the court that Little Kine had seemed
ashamed when he told them about Harry Gillart touching his
penis and scrotum, and when she asked if Harry Gallart
put Cain Junior's penis in his mouth, she said her
son answered yes. The revelation of their son's abuse at

(14:19):
Patty's childcare left both parents reeling with shock and outrage. Horrified,
Michelle called Child Protective Services within the hour to file
their report against the Gallard's daycare center. Meanwhile, Cain Senior
stayed with their son, trying to calm him down and
get him to sleep. Child Protective Services told Michelle to

(14:39):
file a police report and recommended that she'd get in
touch with State licensing about Patty's childcare too. Of course,
Michelle did everything she was instructed to do, Immediately shocked
and crushed by the weight of feeling powerless to protect
her child, Michelle could at least find some solace in
believing that steps were being taken to address the horror

(15:01):
that it happened to her precious toddler. After a sleepless night,
Michelle and Kin woke up to a new, darker reality.
Suddenly one hundred percent of their energy was focused on
taking care of their son, getting him help to cope
with the trauma he'd endured, and ensuring that Harry Gallart
was charged and removed from society to make absolutely sure

(15:22):
that he was unable to harm their children and any
other children for that matter ever again. Michelle and Kane
expected that child protective Services, the police, and the state
Licensing Department would all spring into action, giving their grave
situation the urgent attention it demanded. So when they hadn't
heard anything back from any of the agencies by late morning,

(15:42):
Michelle called the Sheriff's department directly. Three deputies were dispatched
to the Velasquez home immediately, and finally, after an interminable
night and morning, Michelle and Kin felt like they were
taking positive action to support their son. The deputy's visit
focused on gathering information from Cain and Michelle. They spoke
in tense whispers around their dining room table as Kane

(16:05):
Junior watched a movie in the next room. The deputies
had not come to speak directly with Little kin specialized
detectives must be sent out for interviews with children, but
Little Kine left his movie anyway, wandered into the dining
room of his own volition, climbed onto the table, and
told the deputies what had happened to him at daycare.
It was remarkably brave and horribly sad behavior to witness

(16:28):
from a four year old. Less than twenty four hours earlier,
Cain and Michelle had been eating dinner at this table,
feeling totally and completely blessed. Now they found themselves sitting
in the very same seats, at the very same table,
but with pits of grief in their stomachs. Law enforcement
officers beside them and their beloved toddler in a sullied spotlight,

(16:50):
discussing how he'd been abused at daycare. What a surreal,
nightmarish moment. And these tense, painful conversations were far from
from over with Little Caine despite Cain's and Michelle's screaming
urge to protect him from anything further to do with
the unraveling tragedy. This is because the prosecutors needed Little

(17:11):
Cain to provide a forensic interview conducted by someone trained
to question children. The logic behind this is that kids
aren't just smaller adults. Their brains aren't fully developed, and
if they are really young, like Little Caine, then they
can be suggestible. That means that the people interviewing him
must be highly qualified to only gather information from them

(17:33):
and not give information to them. Professor Michael Lamb, who
formerly headed up the Department of Social and Developmental Psychology
at the University of Cambridge, explain that the quality of
forensic interviewing practices is of utmost importance if the right
of both child victims and innocent suspects are to be protected,

(17:54):
and that makes sense right so, however horrible it was
for the Velasquez family to keep having their time recount
his tale of sexual abuse, they recognized that it was
a necessary evil to support the system's prosecution of Harry Gallard,
but they must have absolutely hated it, and understandably, what

(18:14):
parent wouldn't Michelle and Kaine must have shouted at the
prospect of their young son being put through this process,
replaying his ordeal again and again. Plus they were told
that Little Kaine's forensic interview would need to be videotaped
so that it could be played back later in court.
The video interview would create a permanent account of their
son's abuse. How terribly painful and how difficult it must

(18:38):
have been for Cain to restrain himself throughout these dark,
endless days following Little Kaine's allegations against Harry Gallard. A
man so accustomed to fighting surely must have wanted to
defend the people he loved most immediately. But here's the thing. Cain,
as always in his marriage to Michelle, followed her lead.

(19:01):
He loved her, he respected her, and above all, he
trusted her. Cain has said in multiple interviews that it's
Michelle who looks out for him, not the other way around.
And because Michelle had faith in the legal system, Caine
did too. If the legal system needed their family to
go through hell recounting what had happened to Little Kane

(19:21):
again and again and again in order to realize justice
and put Harry Gillart behind bars. Then they were committed
to that path all together as a family, So the
Velasquez family drove down to the Children's Advocacy Center in
Santa Clarita. Children's advocacy centers provide a sensitive environment for
children who've experienced abuse to go for therapy and to

(19:43):
provide forensic interviews. The center is an inviting place, with
warm colors painted on the walls, toys stacked up in
the corners and spread out across tables, and plenty of snacks,
but it must have become a place of heightened distress
for Cain and Michelle when they were informed that they
couldn't be in the room during little Kaine's interview. The
last thing they wanted to do was leave their son unattended,

(20:06):
having found out so recently what had taken place in
their absence at daycare. But again, the system demanded this
trust of Cain and Michelle Velasquez. This is because parents
are naturally distressed as their child discloses the awful thing
someone did to them, and children take cues from parents.
If the parents act horrified, then often the child will

(20:29):
stop talking, and prosecutors need the child to talk to
tell them as much as possible in order to bring
the person who harmed them to justice. So they are
Kin and Michelle having just relinquished their precious son to
forensic interviewers, a child they are desperate to protect from
any further harm. Can't you just imagine them sitting hand

(20:50):
in hand in the waiting room at the Children's Advocacy
Center in loaded silence as their hearts break. Would Little
Caine ever fully recover from what had happened? Would they
ever be able to forgive themselves for not knowing, for
not being able to protect their child. They probably thought
the situation couldn't get any worse, But in the words
of esteemed actor Ving Raims, it can always get worse.

(21:13):
The interview at the Children's Advocacy Center managed to shake
loose even more serious abuse claims than the one Little
Kane had previously shared with his parents. Their nightmare felt endless,
and the only light at the end of their family's
tragic tunnel was that Harry Gallart would face justice for
his crimes. Michelle and Kan told little Kine that he

(21:34):
would be safe from now on. They were giving the
justice system everything that it needed to function, and Harry
Gallart would never again be free to hurt children. Michelle
and Kin had no reason not to believe that this
was the truth. It seemed cut and dry. Little Cain
had given enough information in the forensic interview at the
Children's Advocacy Center in Santa Clarita for the prosecutor to

(21:57):
give the green light to charge Harry Gallart with child
mother station check. Harry Gollart was then promptly arrested Check, so,
even though he was devastated by what had happened to
his son, at this point in the saga, Cain at
least had every reason to believe that their trust in
the system had been well placed. They'd done everything asked

(22:17):
of their family in the aftermath of Little Kaine's allegations,
and justice had been swiftly served. But as we know,
things didn't end there. The judge hearing Harry Golart's case
decided he should be let out of jail shortly after
his arrest, after just two days in jail. Unbelievably, to
be fair, even the Die's office was stunned by the

(22:38):
judge's decision. Prosecutors went on record with their opposition to
Harry Golart's release. The Collective sentiment was that Harry Gallard
was a probable sex offender who posed an active threat
to miners. But the judge let Harry out of jail anyway,
and with an o R bond to boot. O R
means own recognizance, So all Harry Gollard had to do

(22:59):
was some a piece of paper pledging he'd returned to
court when he was told to do so, and that
was it. He was a freeman, adding insult to injury,
and despite California law requiring it, nobody from the DIA's
office told the Velasquez family that Harry Gallart, the man
who would abuse their child, was back on the streets.
When Cain and Michelle did find out, they were shocked

(23:22):
and gutted. Now Harry Gallart was back out in society
with the potential for daily contact with their family. This
did not seem fair or acceptable to many people, and
it certainly didn't seem fair or acceptable to Kane Velasquez,
a wounded father and highly capable fighter who was now
overcome with grief and rage. There is a lot of

(23:47):
gray in the world. Law is one of those things.
For me, terrifyingly gray. It's designed to be absolute to
keep everyone safe in principle, but the law is subject
to human interpretation, and humans are varied and opinionated. How
does the lost treatment of Kane Velasquez and Harry Gallard
sit with you so far, Fellows Scandal Scoopers. I've definitely

(24:10):
served up a lot of facts here today, So digest
them and decide what do you think? Is this how
our justice system is supposed to work? And in your opinion,
is Kane Velaskaz justified for playing dirty? Join me your host,
Jay Harris, as I add more layers to this messy blend,
delving even deeper into what happened to Kane Velasquez, his family,

(24:32):
Paul Bender, and the Gallarts in the next episode of
Playing Dirty Sports Scandals. Playing Dirty Sports Scandals is a
production of Dan Patrick Productions, Never Ever Productions and Workhouse

(24:55):
Media from executive producers Dan Patrick, Paul Anderson, Penela Maya Glickman,
and Jennifer Clary, Hosted by Jay Harris, Written and produced
by Jen Brown, Francie Haiks, Maya Glickman, and Jennifer Clay.