March 20, 2025 • 42 mins
In this follow-up episode, Lisa Arrowood returns to provide an update on Garrett’s post-conviction motions and what lies ahead in his fight for freedom. We discuss the legal hurdles he still faces, the evidence that could lead to his exoneration, and the efforts being made to correct this miscarriage of justice.
Key Updates:
- The status of Garrett’s post-conviction motions
- The legal roadblocks and challenges ahead
- How new evidence or legal strategies could impact his case
- Ways supporters can help advocate for justice
Why You Should Listen: If you believe in the fight for justice and exposing corruption, this episode is a must-listen. Lisa Arrowood’s compelling testimony brings to light the devastating impact of wrongful convictions and why accountability in the justice system is more crucial than ever.
Tune in now and be part of the movement to uncover the truth and seek justice for those who have been Wickedly Judged.
🎧 Available on all major podcast platforms! Don’t forget to subscribe, rate, and share to help spread awareness.
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Transcript
Episode Transcript
Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Welcome back to Wickedly Judge, the podcast where we uncover the dark truth
(00:29):
of wrongful convictions and expose the flaws in the justice system that ruin lives.
I'm Rebecca and today we're diving right back into our conversation with Lisa Arrowood who has
been helping us peel back the layers of corruption in the case State of Florida versus Garrett
Arrowood. In our last episode Lisa gave us a disturbing look into the prosecutorial misconduct that
(00:56):
plagued this case from the very beginning, how key evidence was buried, how the prosecutor twisted
the facts to fit their narrative and even went so far as to change the time of death to make
their case stick. And if that wasn't enough, we learned about the shockingly small six-person
jury that decided Garrett's fate, raising serious concerns about fairness and justice. Today we
(01:25):
pick up where we left off as Lisa explains exactly why Garrett was forced to stand trial with only
six jurors. Was it a legal loophole, a strategic move by the prosecutor, or yet another example of
how the system was stacked against him from the very beginning? Let's get into it. Okay Lisa,
(01:51):
last week we talked about why Garrett had a trial with only a six-person jury and you were getting
ready to explain that to us. So please if you would continue going back to the jury selection.
Why did he only have a six-person jury? So glad you asked that and all the time that
(02:13):
Bayer Harrison kept telling us not to discuss the case. So it says to me because he and I were
communicating quite a bit, he said my parents and then my niece and my nephew were called into
an interview with the prosecutors and they wanted to know if they wanted the death penalty salt
against my son. Well of course my parents said no, they didn't want the death penalty salt,
(02:38):
but they did want to know the truth, you know, because they felt exactly like I did. I mean,
they loved Garrett, but if he did it, he needs to be put away for life, but they didn't want the
death penalty. Well my niece and nephew did, they wanted the death penalty and so my parents,
this is how I know this because my parents told me that John Weed said, well I just wanted to ask
(03:00):
how you felt about it because I wanted to let you know that we are not going to be seeking the death
penalty. We just don't feel like we have enough evidence to support a death penalty case on this.
That was how that was left. Court appointed lawyer kept saying to me about that the death
sentence could be on the table for Garrett and so as soon as my parents told me about that meeting
(03:22):
with John Weed, told them what I just told you, the whole thing, I said they are not going to be
seeking the death penalty. Well the next thing I know, by a, he went over with a piece of paper to
have him sign given up his right to a 12 person jury in exchange for the six person jury so that
the prosecutor would take the death penalty off the case. Now I had already told by what they had
(03:46):
told my family that they were not seeking it because they didn't have the evidence because Garrett
then calls us and he just says he's like well I signed that and you know we're not supposed to be
talking about it so I'm like, signed what? And he's like the waiver and I'm like what are you
talking about Garrett? I did the waiver so that they wouldn't have the death penalty. Let me go.
I call by you. Oh yes, Lisa, I have done a great thing. I have got the death penalty. You are not
(04:10):
going to have to worry about that. I said by Harrison, what are you doing? I already told you
that they weren't seeking that. When you only have a six person jury, they take their job much more
seriously and I said well by all I can tell you is that the state thinks that that is definitely to
their advantage or they wouldn't be offering that so I don't see how that is good for us. You just
(04:34):
have to trust me. It's good. Well it was done. It was a done deal. He went over there and told
me that we supported that. We told him that he should sign that piece of paper. Are you kidding me?
Let me throw this in for the people that are listening. When there is a death penalty case
on the table, number one you have more than one attorney but if you are a public defender,
(04:57):
you get to charge the state more money for being a death penalty case. That is correct and that is
what my post conviction attorney found out and I can't spell the numbers off to you off the top
of my head but there was a lot of money that by Harrison made off of the case because it was a
death penalty case. Whether it truly was or not, that is correct. He built it as such. That is
(05:26):
correct so it was all a money thing. So now with this, I mean there are some good public defenders
out there. Don't get me wrong. There are and there are some good attorneys out there but anybody would
be able to draw a conclusion that this public defender was not working for your son. Correct.
Who was working for the prosecution. Oh and you know it really took me a while to wrap my head
(05:50):
around that because I'm a very trusting person. I just think and I see and I think the good in
people until I see different you know. So even like as all of this stuff is unfolding I'm just
sitting here going no way. Like I just can't believe I really I mean I'm still shocked that people,
very educated people knowingly strategically do this. You know they they're not seeking the truth.
(06:17):
They're not trying to hold the real people accountable. It just doesn't even matter.
And to know that an innocent person, even a life sentence, I mean my son is life with no parole.
If they wanted to send him away for you know drug use and what not absolutely. You wouldn't
hear a peep out of us. He's guilty of that but he's not guilty of murder. They know he's not
(06:39):
guilty of murder yet. They are clearly okay with pinning this on him and knowing that he's got a
life. He has a death sentence basically. It's you know life with no parole in prison and anybody
that has a loved one in prison knows what that life is like. It's not like what everybody thinks
oh they get to lay around and watch TV and get three meals a day. My son is in North Florida.
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It is hot 70 plus men packed into one concrete cell in with people that set the highest custody
level because he is the highest custody level. He is a convicted murderer and no air conditioning.
It's insane. I mean people that don't know really don't know. It is absolutely wild and to know that
(07:29):
your son did not do this and this is the life that he is living right now for what? Exactly.
For why because somebody didn't want to admit that they made a mistake? Yeah you know like I look
back on that and I think after they let men and walk out that at very first day when they were
(07:50):
all three detained we'll say detained because they weren't all three arrested. I think that right
then that that started that they were no way going to admit that they let the real person that murdered
my sister walk away that day and stay out for seven months you know. Right. Living his life doing what
(08:10):
he wanted to do. Yep. Now how is your post-conviction fight going? Not good. We have presented excellent
information. We had an evidentiary hearing a while back and something from the same judge,
Judge Fina, who has recently retired but he has denied every single motion that our post-conviction
(08:34):
attorney has put in front of him. We have put forth even more evidence even than what I'm telling you
like it's just been crazy the stuff that he has found of you know wrongdoing and presented all
this case law and he just denies it. It gets sent up to the next level it gets denied and there'll be
like no explanation why there's some legal term about that. Well that's because the upper court
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which is usually the appellate court after you know because you have to and most people I don't know
if y'all know this or not but when you file a motion for post-conviction relief you have to
file it in the trial court. Right. Nine times out of ten they're going to deny it so then it goes to
the appellate court. Well the judges that sit on the panel for the appellate court are previous
(09:18):
judges and are friends with all the judges and the prosecutors in the lower court. That is correct.
So they're not going to say hey our friend made a mistake you know tea time at nine o'clock you know
that's right that just doesn't happen. So then you have to have enough to take it to the state
supreme court and nine times out of ten it's going to get denied there as well. That is correct and
(09:39):
that's what's happened to us and you know a large part of that is good old by a Harrison the original
court appointed attorney has flipped. You'd have to go through and read the transcript from the
evidentiary hearing. It was unreal. I'll give you just kind of two examples. Oh yes yes I knew
(09:59):
Garrett was in Jacksonville and I was praying that they wouldn't bring that up and oh I did not ask
for that GPS report because I was praying that they wouldn't bring that forward because oh my
goodness that would have shown flight and that he was out in these pawn shops just doing everything
(10:19):
he could do to make money to get his next fix. By a he comes right back to Perry on the exact same
day like what do you mean flight he went to Jacksonville, Tallahassee, straight back to Perry
and hooks right back up with the Wittens like he has no concept that the Wittens have just
murdered his aunt. He goes right back with them and stays in the camper with them. There's no talk
(10:44):
until Saturday and even when Garrett got pulled over Garrett had been kind of running over another
run in. His former guy that he was buying drugs from had put the word out that he was going to get
Garrett because Garrett had quit buying drugs from him. He had made a police report saying that Garrett
had stolen some stuff from him. Garrett said that's what he thought the whole thing was about. He
(11:05):
thought he was getting arrested because they had found him because the dude had said that he stole
the stuff from him. So now where where can you go from here? I mean I know where you can go but
what's y'all's next step? I'll tell you that by Harrison did he even said at our um evidentiary
hearing I'll paraphrase it. Then Ms. R Wood sends me this picture after the trial showing Garrett
(11:28):
over and he's in Jacksonville. I don't know what she did to get the picture. You know she would go
to any length to do anything. She was going behind my back doing all kinds of things trying to help
her son. He said that at the evidentiary hearing. And yet the email chain shows that he sent it to you.
All the correspondence my lawyer gets up and goes so wait a minute so can you explain can you read
(11:51):
that for me? You know where does that email come from? Yes by a Harrison attorney at law. How was
that? Did you send that? Well I guess I must have sent that to Ms. R Wood. And the judge just takes
it all in. He listens to everything and like because he was like claiming you know all the different
case law about not giving evidence. Exculpatory evidence which is if it's not presented during
(12:13):
trial it actually constitutes a Brady violation. There we go Brady and there's another one is a
female's name. That one I'm not sure of Giglio maybe? I'm not sure about that one. Giglio too and
he presented all different things that were just I mean right there in front of you by Harrison
because he said that everything was strategic. That was the key that got everything off from him being
(12:39):
held ineffective. It was all part of his strategy. Right. Yeah. That strategy. That didn't pan out.
Oh I'm sure it was part of a strategy. The prosecution strategy. And I can't tell you I like
three more cases since then that's been in our newspaper that by Harrison is representing the
people. Same thing they did a plea deal for a six person jury. He's getting a cut back on that. Oh
(13:02):
yeah yes. And the kickbacks. Yeah in the judge too like you're supposed to have an evidential
hearing if there's like an exorbitant amount that they're requesting you know like because our
attorney like I told you his son was the one that had represented Mandon and he had asked for
something I don't know money for something when he was representing Mandon and the same judge Judge
(13:25):
Fennah made him go through all the steps he had an evidentiary hearing to prove why he needed all
of this money. Our attorney the father attorney went through all of bias never not once did Judge
Fennah ask for an evidentiary hearing when by a requested money and it was a lot like I don't
(13:45):
know two or three hundred thousand dollars worth of stuff and that part about it is is you can't
even go to the attorney general of the state of Florida to do an investigation on this because
well his office was involved. Yeah before even all of that went down our attorney did file a complaint
with the DOJ on it basically just said they weren't interested in checking in on that because he
(14:10):
pointed out like he documented it very well he just says not once I mean like it and there's
evidently a law like that if it's over I don't know ten thousand dollars or whatever like they are
supposed to have an evidentiary hearing because this is taxpayer money you know so they're supposed
to have an evidentiary hearing for them to prove why that money was needed never on bias and then
(14:33):
that state attorney that was the head state attorney so I'm still I'm a business owner so I'm
thinking you know things work in my business if one of my employees is not doing as they should
people would typically come to me file a complaint let me know what's going on with my employee and
let me investigate it you know check it out so I'm still thinking I'm not I'm not knowing his name
(14:56):
was Jeff Sigmaster he is the the head state attorney over this circuit and so I write him a letter
and I put in quite a few pieces of evidence to show him wrongdoing on the part of John Weade his
assistant state attorney and I send a letter with all of that information and request that we have a
meeting to discuss at all I don't ever hear anything from him I'm up in the courthouse and I'm going
(15:21):
through the state attorney's office and I as I'm walking by I know one of the ladies that works in
there and I see him there all these guys are sitting around it's John Weade James McCain like
assistant state attorneys they're laughing and having a big time and as I walk by so I asked the
the lady in there I said is that Jeff Sigmaster and she said yes ma'am it is and I said you think you
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could um ask him if he has a minute to speak to me when he gets done and she's like sure and so he
um gets through and he comes I said oh hi I said um I'm Lisa R Wood and he said yes ma'am I know who
you are and I said oh okay well I was just wanting to see did you receive my letter yes I did okay well
(16:04):
I'd like to have a meeting with you you know so we can maybe discuss ma'am I really have nothing to
discuss with you I can tell you right now you are just wasting our time did you look at it did you
not you are okay with what you read did you not see the things that John Weade has done did you go
look at like the interviews of what people had said versus what they turned and said at Garrett's
(16:26):
trial like how their stories were completely different somebody told them to say that ma'am I
am telling you right now you are just wasting our time and I said well I said we'll see about that I
said we're going to be filing to have a deposition he says and I can tell you right now I'll take it to
the Supreme Court before any of my state of assistant state attorneys give you a deposition
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I said okay I see where I see where you stand Mr. Sigmaster that all happened very quick and I went
right then I'm like that man is not good I didn't know to the full extent of how not good he was I
just knew like he was not interested at all in seeing the evidence that I you know put forward
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I had started doing a little checking on him and I guess ruffled some feathers I started emailing
him directly like asking questions and he had fired back at me just be real nasty you know when it
got down to what we just talked about earlier about John Weade telling my family that they were not
going to seek the death penalty and yet by Harrison then offering the plea deal after he had already
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been told that say I knew the exact date that that meeting happened and so I started questioning him
I'm like how do you explain that you know whenever he's already told him and then the plea deal happens
after the fact on such and such date how do you explain that how do you explain the amount of money
that by Harrison received well he would never answer me so I finally got smart and I got all of the
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media outlets emails addresses on there it went something like this Mr. Sigmaster this is the eighth
time I have requested a response from you I just need to know you know and I went through all that
again and I had all of them copied on there but then I immediately get a response this is being
looked into and actually just to clarify things the death penalty was never officially off the
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table until the paper is signed so even though he verbally told the family that they wouldn't be
seeking the death penalty until that paper is signed that is not official then I start getting emails
from some of them people and one of the ladies oh it was good she was out of another county and
she's like oh you just don't know how crooked Jeff Sigmaster is let me just tell you I know personally
(18:43):
of a family that the guy that he golfs with and it's his big drinking buddy had a DUI manslaughter
he killed somebody and that conveniently got brought down to a misdemeanor charge and I know
another one where a child was murdered and I don't remember the whole story she laid it all out well
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I'm like okay so I sent a letter to our governor who had just been elected to Santas and I said
you need to know that you have a very corrupt state attorney Jeff Sigmaster in this third judicial
circuit in Florida I linked down her name so I wasn't putting her on the spot because I didn't have
her permission but I told her story of what she said and I told him what I just told you about
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my meeting with him and about him having no interest at all in what his employees were the wrong
doing that they were doing he sets the tone for the whole circuit here and when you're getting
things like this you know it just lets you know like something's not right here that would have
been in January by November all of a sudden Jeff Sigmaster is abruptly resigning he is resigning
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due to his wife and him were getting divorced and he just needed some time off now mind you he was
coming up for reelection so he had just been all out campaigning for the thing that was coming up
but now all of a sudden not only is he not running but he's resigning early so I'm like okay what's up
you know welcome to find out all kinds of craziness deads had came in and was investigating him for
(20:16):
dazzling money like he was taking money for for bribes like dropping charges for people or adding
charges for people when it came down to it not only did the man like when it like it came time for
he was fixing to go to trial for it he ran he assumed a false identity got a camper trailer
hauled but left only reason he was ever even caught was he got in a car wreck out in Arizona
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and the officer could tell that that was a fake phony ID and off his fingerprints they got him
off his fingerprints that it was oh this is Jeff Sigmaster state attorney in Florida that's wanted
for you know all these racketeering and all these different charges so they extraditing back he's
all strung out on drugs too by the way and extradited back to Florida to face his charges
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and so I'm really at that point I'm thinking yay oh my goodness you know God is exposing this and
this is wonderful you know like some all right somebody cares somebody really does care in this
system you know he's supposed to be facing like I don't know over a hundred years he's supposed to
get in prison well he gets plea-dealed down to like I don't know like four years right there I'm
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kind of like you know he served I want to say six months oh wow yeah for unknown reasons for reasons
that are not disclosed he has been released I'm like why did they even go after him like somebody
must have wanted him but then they must not have had enough power to make it hold because somebody
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came in and covered him because he did not serve long at all I don't know where he is or what he's
doing now but I will just tell you how involved that man was he was so involved that whenever we
were in front of Judge Fennah and we were exposing all this that John Wheat he came down and personally
represented the state at one of our hearings on behalf of the state he personally represented for
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the state that's crazy it's like they were not backing down and they were not going to let it be
exposed what all they had done to have my son you know falsely convicted of this why were you never
able to get a change of venue because I kept asking that for by I'm like I know everybody in this
town like everybody knows me this is how crazy one of the women that was on the jury my husband was
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married previous to me it was his ex-wife's sister was on the jury like we know everybody in all
fairness do I think that she was unbiased I think that those six people I would have done the same
thing given the information that I was given can't fault the jury you know I completely
fault the prosecutor and our attorney for not having you know not disclosing all the information
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and purposely purposely presenting false information I can't fault them but I'm that's just kind of
how this town goes asked about that and by a he he just wasn't interested he said he thought he could
get a fair trial here that it could be worse in another county and a matter of fact every that's
the reason we got judge fennel because every judge in here we had our two judges they both
(23:21):
recused theirself because they know me personally so well that's how we ended up with judge David
fennel out alive which is where John weed his office is right down the hall from judge David
fennel like they're very close very good friends yeah exactly would make very good co-defendants
yeah they would so what I started to say you asked about kind of what's going on now so we have two
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things so the post conviction motion that we had the evidentiary hearing on all of that went to
nothing then man and women story number 1385 reaches out to this lady her name is Kathy Gephardt
she used to live across the street from me and she was our neighbor in our house where Garrett grew
(24:11):
up so Kathy keeps up with us and she's like there is no way Garrett could have killed Shelly she's
good friends of my sister too so she's she's just kept in touch with us through all the years so she
has seen how everything was going so she's been following very appalled at judge fennel wrote him
this nice letter after that evidentiary hearing everything went down and she just said I am embarrassed
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as an American that our judicial system is handled like this you have been presented so much evidence
of wrongdoing yet you continue to cover for these people you should be ashamed of yourself you were
nothing but a buffoon and I mean she just puts it to him writes this nice letter sends it to the to
judge fennel judge fennel files it as part of the case he has her served papers in North Carolina
(24:59):
at her door letting her know that this paperwork has been received and it is now part of this court
case and trying to intimidate her she actually even called me as like oh my god Lisa I just got
served papers and am I going to be in trouble for it so I immediately call our lawyer David Collins
and he's like no absolutely not she is an American citizen she has got freedom of speech she can say
(25:22):
anything she wants to judge fennel that is he is trying to intimidate her you tell her not to worry
one bit she has not done anything wrong and there is she is now part of our court case well evidently
mandan gets disinformation with his court case way all I know is that he has it and the reason that I
know that he had it was because he wrote Kathy Gephardt a letter and he mails it to her and in it he
(25:46):
says I read your letter and you are so right this whole thing has been such a fiasco Garrett did not
do this matter of fact well I don't know if that was the time he said Michael his latest story is
that Michael my sister son did it I'm not sure because he's told so many stories so he writes her
this long letter she immediately sends it to me I immediately send it to our attorney our attorney
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sends an investigator over to talk to mandan mandan lays it out he tells the investigator he was
coerced to say all of this that john weed and his lawyer out of Jacksonville put together a script
what he was to say and that he tried to kill himself because he just couldn't take it anymore he
(26:31):
couldn't keep up with all the lies that they were making him say and they were trying to make him lie
on his daddy and that none of them were involved not him not his daddy not Garrett it was all Michael
and then Garrett needs to tell the truth and tell that they got them guns from his cousin Michael
that they exchanged his xanax pills for those guns that they went and hid on their property okay so we
(26:57):
file post conviction motion on it now with that said there was several things okay so the pill
container comes up in the meantime jeff sigmeister state attorney is out they get the new state
attorney in his name is john dorette we have a meeting with john dorette lay out all of this
stuff john weed still works for the state attorney's office john dorette gets moved to state attorney
(27:21):
actually don't get moved he runs he runs for election and gets elected state attorney so we go to him
in our attorney is like john i know this is uncomfortable talking about john weed i too you
know you and i we know each other and the facts are something ain't right there is a lot of very
(27:43):
unscrupulous things that have happened in this case you're new here i'm just asking you to take a
look at it i would like it where he looks long story short he's like y'all keep going through
your channels he don't want to get involved on the one hand i understand where he's coming from
a piece of me as a business owner like he's sitting here looking at this dude that has prosecuted
(28:05):
tons of cases if ours gets turned over because of the corruption that this man has done what is that
going to lead to who else is going to what what all the millions of other cases are going to come
unravel because of it exactly and that is exactly why they don't want to overturn it right there
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yeah because of all the other cases that will have to be reworked and the people that will be
filing motions to get out on technicalities yep but on the other hand where is your integrity
right is right and wrong is wrong and okay it's gonna cost a whole lot of hassle and a whole
(28:47):
lot of trouble but what about this boy that they know has been done wrong and what am i gonna do
you know i think now i will say this and my our attorney says this if john deret had been the state
attorney he don't think this would have ever went down like this because he's like really genuinely
(29:07):
inside i think he's a good man but with that said i would have told you the same thing about john
weed until this case came up and he said you know lisa i work in my amy like i have seen a lot of
crap and he said i have never seen anything like this he said it just in your face and he said i'm
ashamed i'm ashamed for our judicial system that y'all have been treated like this and he has been
(29:32):
a bulldog like he has not meant words and he has went to bat for us but it has fell on deaf ears
nobody has done anything he has presented more than enough evidence to show what they have done
but nobody has done anything you ask what's left so we filed that motion of course judge finna
(29:54):
denied it he just denied it and so david has got an appeal into the next you know the court of appeals
on it on the point on the basis that he denied it without an evidentiary hearing how can he
tonight he hasn't even looked at all the evidence right like how can he not investigate these claims
that this guy has made you know and so we have that still pending over two years and you know
(30:17):
as well as i do if david reaches out and asks hey why haven't i heard anything yet on this case
it's going to get being immediate denial like you just don't do that right you don't reach out to the
appellate court asking them when they're going to rule on your case or you're you just basically
asking for him to deny it so we sit and we wait here goes the next little crazy twist there was
(30:41):
an inmate um i could just tell you his last name is philips i don't really recall his first name but
he had sent years ago in prison he is the bump mate of mandon witton mandon witton spills his
guts to this guy he's he's now claiming that he did it and he claims that he used my father's 22
(31:06):
that he my father has a he claims and my my dad has like a big farm and he has a what's called a
mule which is a side by side it's a atv a little vehicle that you ride in like out across the field
you know and he does farm work in it and he sowed this mule he tells this guy that he found he saw
(31:29):
when he was over one time with garret he looked in the glove box of that mule and he saw a 22 and
he grabbed it and slipped it in his pants and that he had that he stole the 22 from my daddy and
that that was the 22 that he shot my sister with and that so scared he went back and put it back
(31:50):
in the mule just put it back in there now there's a whole craziness about mandon was spotted at the
end like not even kidding you like a hundred yards from my daddy's driveway women spotted mandon down
there all during this time when my sister was killed looked at hot and sweaty like he was running
that was their description of him asking was he okay yeah i'm just i'm just waiting on a ride
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well he did try to make up stories about what he was doing down at the we call it the end of those
steam road why he was at the end of those steam road and he was saying that his daddy and garret
were back there cutting down scrap metal out of a pole barn but and the police all went out there
and there's no pole barn out there that nobody was cutting scrap metal out of he's that's been his
(32:36):
only story about what he was doing down there so this guy sends on weed this letter saying there
are innocent people locked up i to him innocent so i have a heart for innocent people i don't think
it's right and i'm writing this letter to tell you that mandon witton you know he blah blah blah
(32:58):
all this he told me this and he told me that he was the one that did this but he was not done right
either because you know y'all coerced him and told him to make up all these lies like he tells him
all that too the john weed was the one orchestrating it telling him what to say nothing is done like we
we don't hear about this forever okay like the guy writes the letter to john weed tells him
(33:21):
that he needs to send an officer over because he has information that he needs that he there's innocent
people in prison and he needs to come investigate it well nothing happens so everything you know how
they do in prison you get transferred here transferred there man it gets transferred out
there it gets transferred to the same prison where this guy is where this phillips guy is
(33:42):
he comes in he gets actually he's in one area he's in this bunk thing and uh or this one dorm
he switches dorms and when he comes in he says this guy goes what is your name and he says
arwood and the guy goes is your name garret arwood and he's like do you know mandon witton
garret's like yeah and he tells garret he's like i this must be a son from god he said i wrote this
(34:09):
letter and he goes like he still has it he printed it out and he shows garret and garret's like wow
you wrote this when he says ask me you know mom if you heard no we heard nothing about this guy
takes it upon himself he says i'm supposed to follow up on this so he takes and he writes another
letter and he tells him he says look i have information concerning wrongful convictions
(34:36):
and the murder of a woman in taylor county and i wrote the state attorney back in and he gives the
date that he wrote the letter and i never heard anything back from him he sends it to another
state attorney and like from somebody that he knew from like his case from the county that he's from
and he's like and nothing has been done and i just feel the need to report this and so he lays it all
(34:59):
out well all of a sudden now john weed has to because the woman takes and sends it sends it to john
weed and attaches john dorrett his boss man you know on it and says i've received this letter i'm
just letting you know what i received this is from this inmate and this is what it says of course
he has to now let our post conviction attorney know about it so he has to copy him in an email
(35:25):
and i'm like oh my gosh wow and he claims but he don't tell him in the letter all that that he knows
where the gun that man didn't use which is what all i just told you because they sent a law enforcement
officer over there he thought it was god telling him that he needed to do something about this when
gared he was being his bunk mate and maybe god did what are the chances of that yeah that's wild
(35:51):
that is wild like how no way he could know without it coming out of man's mouth now the question is
is man telling truth this time i mean you know it's very odd to me that he knew my daddy had a 22
in the mule and so they did well i do know that they did come and pick up the pistol from my dad
(36:13):
just gosh week and a half ago maybe supposedly they are sending the bullets out to be checked against it
the law enforcement officer that has been assigned to this case i have been talking with and i have
sat down and i have not told him in this much detail what i've let the shared with you but he
knows exactly where i stand on it and i just said please please look into this please don't take
(36:41):
what john we tells you because john we will lie straight to your face i have caught him multiple
times he will tell me something i will fact check it and it is a bald face lie and then i confront him
with it and he just shrugs his shoulders at me he has no ex or he does not even try to explain you
know why because he don't have to because he knows he's got a judge that's going to deny everything
(37:04):
we put in front of so he doesn't care he don't care that i catch him in a lie do not let him just tell
you that the bullets can't be tested go look at them yourself get them and go test them let an
expert test them he promises me that he will and that he is going to so that's where we're
stand right now so right now we're standing on a possible opening if this checks out if this
(37:29):
checks out to be the gun but you know as sad as it is i'm like how do we know that the bullets
that they have in the evidence locker are actually the bullets that killed my sister you know what i
mean right at this point with all the things that were done corruptly it's hard to even imagine so
we just hope that they have super duper good pictures from autopsy of the bullets and that they
(37:52):
can compare on who can i trust that somebody's going to do that and sadly as crazy as it sounds i do
hope that's the gun i mean it's another kick in our teeth if it would be my daddy's gun that killed
my sister that you know but the point being my sister is dead you know like it i mean i don't think
(38:14):
it can get any worse than that so it can be no worse than what we're already dealing with right so
if it is that at least lets us know that i mean man was telling the truth there so then that means
the rest of his story that could if we can just get back in all we want is another we want another
trial like let us present all of the evidence to a jury and then let them decide what they think
(38:36):
yeah there was enough in reading through your case records and everything that i saw that it should
have at the very least raised reasonable doubt if it would have been presented absolutely the pill
container right there is enough to raise reasonable doubt she had two undigested pills in her stomach
which would have been her morning pills they were missing from the pill container in the picture that
(39:00):
was sent the day of so right there that's enough to raise reasonable doubt yep the fact that she had
a partially digested pair in her stomach she was on a diet that the only time she could she could
have one piece of fruit a day and that was in the morning at breakfast and there was a partially
(39:23):
digested pair in her stomach so i mean if they're saying she you know they tried to back it up to
wee hours of monday night what she ate a pair that night and went to bed and then very shortly very
shortly after was killed but she got dressed because she's in a dress had all her jewelry on in her
(39:43):
car in the middle of the night does not make sense no like that just to a normal person on the street
if you told that story it wouldn't make sense unless you did a family member call there was
some kind of emergency or something that would be the only way that that could be rationalized
absolutely i am so sorry that you have had to deal with this well i appreciate that i just hope
(40:07):
that somebody hears this it can help somebody you know maybe even put ears back on our case
or even help somebody from falling into the same trap that we did you know get an attorney yeah
that's all i can say check everything out don't spit to police something's wrong that's right if
your gut's telling you something's wrong it is start looking well thank you very much for this
(40:33):
interview today i really appreciate it and i because you guys definitely need a fair shot at court
i appreciate it so much and i will be back in touch with you here shortly okay that sounds
wonderful thank you thank you that's it for today's episode of wickedly judged a huge thank you to
(40:55):
lisa arwood for joining us and sharing her son's story we truly appreciate her time strength and
willingness to shed light on his case in our next episode we'll be recapping her son's case
breaking down the key details and discussing the unanswered questions that remain you won't want to
(41:18):
miss it and remember if you or someone you know has a case that needs reviewing if you have evidence
related to any of the cases that we've covered or if you'd like to support the show through
sponsorship or donations reach out to us every piece of information every bit of support brings
(41:38):
us one step closer to uncovering the truth you can contact us through social media or email
wickedlyjudged at gmail.com or you can even call us 513-393-7452 if you haven't already
be sure to subscribe leave a review and share this podcast with anyone who believes in justice
(42:05):
your voice matters until next time stay informed stay persistent and never stop seeking the truth
(42:35):
you
Welcome back to Wickedly Judge, the podcast where we uncover the dark truth
(00:29):
of wrongful convictions and expose the flaws in the justice system that ruin lives.
I'm Rebecca and today we're diving right back into our conversation with Lisa Arrowood who has
been helping us peel back the layers of corruption in the case State of Florida versus Garrett
Arrowood. In our last episode Lisa gave us a disturbing look into the prosecutorial misconduct that
(00:56):
plagued this case from the very beginning, how key evidence was buried, how the prosecutor twisted
the facts to fit their narrative and even went so far as to change the time of death to make
their case stick. And if that wasn't enough, we learned about the shockingly small six-person
jury that decided Garrett's fate, raising serious concerns about fairness and justice. Today we
(01:25):
pick up where we left off as Lisa explains exactly why Garrett was forced to stand trial with only
six jurors. Was it a legal loophole, a strategic move by the prosecutor, or yet another example of
how the system was stacked against him from the very beginning? Let's get into it. Okay Lisa,
(01:51):
last week we talked about why Garrett had a trial with only a six-person jury and you were getting
ready to explain that to us. So please if you would continue going back to the jury selection.
Why did he only have a six-person jury? So glad you asked that and all the time that
(02:13):
Bayer Harrison kept telling us not to discuss the case. So it says to me because he and I were
communicating quite a bit, he said my parents and then my niece and my nephew were called into
an interview with the prosecutors and they wanted to know if they wanted the death penalty salt
against my son. Well of course my parents said no, they didn't want the death penalty salt,
(02:38):
but they did want to know the truth, you know, because they felt exactly like I did. I mean,
they loved Garrett, but if he did it, he needs to be put away for life, but they didn't want the
death penalty. Well my niece and nephew did, they wanted the death penalty and so my parents,
this is how I know this because my parents told me that John Weed said, well I just wanted to ask
(03:00):
how you felt about it because I wanted to let you know that we are not going to be seeking the death
penalty. We just don't feel like we have enough evidence to support a death penalty case on this.
That was how that was left. Court appointed lawyer kept saying to me about that the death
sentence could be on the table for Garrett and so as soon as my parents told me about that meeting
(03:22):
with John Weed, told them what I just told you, the whole thing, I said they are not going to be
seeking the death penalty. Well the next thing I know, by a, he went over with a piece of paper to
have him sign given up his right to a 12 person jury in exchange for the six person jury so that
the prosecutor would take the death penalty off the case. Now I had already told by what they had
(03:46):
told my family that they were not seeking it because they didn't have the evidence because Garrett
then calls us and he just says he's like well I signed that and you know we're not supposed to be
talking about it so I'm like, signed what? And he's like the waiver and I'm like what are you
talking about Garrett? I did the waiver so that they wouldn't have the death penalty. Let me go.
I call by you. Oh yes, Lisa, I have done a great thing. I have got the death penalty. You are not
(04:10):
going to have to worry about that. I said by Harrison, what are you doing? I already told you
that they weren't seeking that. When you only have a six person jury, they take their job much more
seriously and I said well by all I can tell you is that the state thinks that that is definitely to
their advantage or they wouldn't be offering that so I don't see how that is good for us. You just
(04:34):
have to trust me. It's good. Well it was done. It was a done deal. He went over there and told
me that we supported that. We told him that he should sign that piece of paper. Are you kidding me?
Let me throw this in for the people that are listening. When there is a death penalty case
on the table, number one you have more than one attorney but if you are a public defender,
(04:57):
you get to charge the state more money for being a death penalty case. That is correct and that is
what my post conviction attorney found out and I can't spell the numbers off to you off the top
of my head but there was a lot of money that by Harrison made off of the case because it was a
death penalty case. Whether it truly was or not, that is correct. He built it as such. That is
(05:26):
correct so it was all a money thing. So now with this, I mean there are some good public defenders
out there. Don't get me wrong. There are and there are some good attorneys out there but anybody would
be able to draw a conclusion that this public defender was not working for your son. Correct.
Who was working for the prosecution. Oh and you know it really took me a while to wrap my head
(05:50):
around that because I'm a very trusting person. I just think and I see and I think the good in
people until I see different you know. So even like as all of this stuff is unfolding I'm just
sitting here going no way. Like I just can't believe I really I mean I'm still shocked that people,
very educated people knowingly strategically do this. You know they they're not seeking the truth.
(06:17):
They're not trying to hold the real people accountable. It just doesn't even matter.
And to know that an innocent person, even a life sentence, I mean my son is life with no parole.
If they wanted to send him away for you know drug use and what not absolutely. You wouldn't
hear a peep out of us. He's guilty of that but he's not guilty of murder. They know he's not
(06:39):
guilty of murder yet. They are clearly okay with pinning this on him and knowing that he's got a
life. He has a death sentence basically. It's you know life with no parole in prison and anybody
that has a loved one in prison knows what that life is like. It's not like what everybody thinks
oh they get to lay around and watch TV and get three meals a day. My son is in North Florida.
(07:05):
It is hot 70 plus men packed into one concrete cell in with people that set the highest custody
level because he is the highest custody level. He is a convicted murderer and no air conditioning.
It's insane. I mean people that don't know really don't know. It is absolutely wild and to know that
(07:29):
your son did not do this and this is the life that he is living right now for what? Exactly.
For why because somebody didn't want to admit that they made a mistake? Yeah you know like I look
back on that and I think after they let men and walk out that at very first day when they were
(07:50):
all three detained we'll say detained because they weren't all three arrested. I think that right
then that that started that they were no way going to admit that they let the real person that murdered
my sister walk away that day and stay out for seven months you know. Right. Living his life doing what
(08:10):
he wanted to do. Yep. Now how is your post-conviction fight going? Not good. We have presented excellent
information. We had an evidentiary hearing a while back and something from the same judge,
Judge Fina, who has recently retired but he has denied every single motion that our post-conviction
(08:34):
attorney has put in front of him. We have put forth even more evidence even than what I'm telling you
like it's just been crazy the stuff that he has found of you know wrongdoing and presented all
this case law and he just denies it. It gets sent up to the next level it gets denied and there'll be
like no explanation why there's some legal term about that. Well that's because the upper court
(08:57):
which is usually the appellate court after you know because you have to and most people I don't know
if y'all know this or not but when you file a motion for post-conviction relief you have to
file it in the trial court. Right. Nine times out of ten they're going to deny it so then it goes to
the appellate court. Well the judges that sit on the panel for the appellate court are previous
(09:18):
judges and are friends with all the judges and the prosecutors in the lower court. That is correct.
So they're not going to say hey our friend made a mistake you know tea time at nine o'clock you know
that's right that just doesn't happen. So then you have to have enough to take it to the state
supreme court and nine times out of ten it's going to get denied there as well. That is correct and
(09:39):
that's what's happened to us and you know a large part of that is good old by a Harrison the original
court appointed attorney has flipped. You'd have to go through and read the transcript from the
evidentiary hearing. It was unreal. I'll give you just kind of two examples. Oh yes yes I knew
(09:59):
Garrett was in Jacksonville and I was praying that they wouldn't bring that up and oh I did not ask
for that GPS report because I was praying that they wouldn't bring that forward because oh my
goodness that would have shown flight and that he was out in these pawn shops just doing everything
(10:19):
he could do to make money to get his next fix. By a he comes right back to Perry on the exact same
day like what do you mean flight he went to Jacksonville, Tallahassee, straight back to Perry
and hooks right back up with the Wittens like he has no concept that the Wittens have just
murdered his aunt. He goes right back with them and stays in the camper with them. There's no talk
(10:44):
until Saturday and even when Garrett got pulled over Garrett had been kind of running over another
run in. His former guy that he was buying drugs from had put the word out that he was going to get
Garrett because Garrett had quit buying drugs from him. He had made a police report saying that Garrett
had stolen some stuff from him. Garrett said that's what he thought the whole thing was about. He
(11:05):
thought he was getting arrested because they had found him because the dude had said that he stole
the stuff from him. So now where where can you go from here? I mean I know where you can go but
what's y'all's next step? I'll tell you that by Harrison did he even said at our um evidentiary
hearing I'll paraphrase it. Then Ms. R Wood sends me this picture after the trial showing Garrett
(11:28):
over and he's in Jacksonville. I don't know what she did to get the picture. You know she would go
to any length to do anything. She was going behind my back doing all kinds of things trying to help
her son. He said that at the evidentiary hearing. And yet the email chain shows that he sent it to you.
All the correspondence my lawyer gets up and goes so wait a minute so can you explain can you read
(11:51):
that for me? You know where does that email come from? Yes by a Harrison attorney at law. How was
that? Did you send that? Well I guess I must have sent that to Ms. R Wood. And the judge just takes
it all in. He listens to everything and like because he was like claiming you know all the different
case law about not giving evidence. Exculpatory evidence which is if it's not presented during
(12:13):
trial it actually constitutes a Brady violation. There we go Brady and there's another one is a
female's name. That one I'm not sure of Giglio maybe? I'm not sure about that one. Giglio too and
he presented all different things that were just I mean right there in front of you by Harrison
because he said that everything was strategic. That was the key that got everything off from him being
(12:39):
held ineffective. It was all part of his strategy. Right. Yeah. That strategy. That didn't pan out.
Oh I'm sure it was part of a strategy. The prosecution strategy. And I can't tell you I like
three more cases since then that's been in our newspaper that by Harrison is representing the
people. Same thing they did a plea deal for a six person jury. He's getting a cut back on that. Oh
(13:02):
yeah yes. And the kickbacks. Yeah in the judge too like you're supposed to have an evidential
hearing if there's like an exorbitant amount that they're requesting you know like because our
attorney like I told you his son was the one that had represented Mandon and he had asked for
something I don't know money for something when he was representing Mandon and the same judge Judge
(13:25):
Fennah made him go through all the steps he had an evidentiary hearing to prove why he needed all
of this money. Our attorney the father attorney went through all of bias never not once did Judge
Fennah ask for an evidentiary hearing when by a requested money and it was a lot like I don't
(13:45):
know two or three hundred thousand dollars worth of stuff and that part about it is is you can't
even go to the attorney general of the state of Florida to do an investigation on this because
well his office was involved. Yeah before even all of that went down our attorney did file a complaint
with the DOJ on it basically just said they weren't interested in checking in on that because he
(14:10):
pointed out like he documented it very well he just says not once I mean like it and there's
evidently a law like that if it's over I don't know ten thousand dollars or whatever like they are
supposed to have an evidentiary hearing because this is taxpayer money you know so they're supposed
to have an evidentiary hearing for them to prove why that money was needed never on bias and then
(14:33):
that state attorney that was the head state attorney so I'm still I'm a business owner so I'm
thinking you know things work in my business if one of my employees is not doing as they should
people would typically come to me file a complaint let me know what's going on with my employee and
let me investigate it you know check it out so I'm still thinking I'm not I'm not knowing his name
(14:56):
was Jeff Sigmaster he is the the head state attorney over this circuit and so I write him a letter
and I put in quite a few pieces of evidence to show him wrongdoing on the part of John Weade his
assistant state attorney and I send a letter with all of that information and request that we have a
meeting to discuss at all I don't ever hear anything from him I'm up in the courthouse and I'm going
(15:21):
through the state attorney's office and I as I'm walking by I know one of the ladies that works in
there and I see him there all these guys are sitting around it's John Weade James McCain like
assistant state attorneys they're laughing and having a big time and as I walk by so I asked the
the lady in there I said is that Jeff Sigmaster and she said yes ma'am it is and I said you think you
(15:44):
could um ask him if he has a minute to speak to me when he gets done and she's like sure and so he
um gets through and he comes I said oh hi I said um I'm Lisa R Wood and he said yes ma'am I know who
you are and I said oh okay well I was just wanting to see did you receive my letter yes I did okay well
(16:04):
I'd like to have a meeting with you you know so we can maybe discuss ma'am I really have nothing to
discuss with you I can tell you right now you are just wasting our time did you look at it did you
not you are okay with what you read did you not see the things that John Weade has done did you go
look at like the interviews of what people had said versus what they turned and said at Garrett's
(16:26):
trial like how their stories were completely different somebody told them to say that ma'am I
am telling you right now you are just wasting our time and I said well I said we'll see about that I
said we're going to be filing to have a deposition he says and I can tell you right now I'll take it to
the Supreme Court before any of my state of assistant state attorneys give you a deposition
(16:46):
I said okay I see where I see where you stand Mr. Sigmaster that all happened very quick and I went
right then I'm like that man is not good I didn't know to the full extent of how not good he was I
just knew like he was not interested at all in seeing the evidence that I you know put forward
(17:07):
I had started doing a little checking on him and I guess ruffled some feathers I started emailing
him directly like asking questions and he had fired back at me just be real nasty you know when it
got down to what we just talked about earlier about John Weade telling my family that they were not
going to seek the death penalty and yet by Harrison then offering the plea deal after he had already
(17:31):
been told that say I knew the exact date that that meeting happened and so I started questioning him
I'm like how do you explain that you know whenever he's already told him and then the plea deal happens
after the fact on such and such date how do you explain that how do you explain the amount of money
that by Harrison received well he would never answer me so I finally got smart and I got all of the
(17:55):
media outlets emails addresses on there it went something like this Mr. Sigmaster this is the eighth
time I have requested a response from you I just need to know you know and I went through all that
again and I had all of them copied on there but then I immediately get a response this is being
looked into and actually just to clarify things the death penalty was never officially off the
(18:17):
table until the paper is signed so even though he verbally told the family that they wouldn't be
seeking the death penalty until that paper is signed that is not official then I start getting emails
from some of them people and one of the ladies oh it was good she was out of another county and
she's like oh you just don't know how crooked Jeff Sigmaster is let me just tell you I know personally
(18:43):
of a family that the guy that he golfs with and it's his big drinking buddy had a DUI manslaughter
he killed somebody and that conveniently got brought down to a misdemeanor charge and I know
another one where a child was murdered and I don't remember the whole story she laid it all out well
(19:04):
I'm like okay so I sent a letter to our governor who had just been elected to Santas and I said
you need to know that you have a very corrupt state attorney Jeff Sigmaster in this third judicial
circuit in Florida I linked down her name so I wasn't putting her on the spot because I didn't have
her permission but I told her story of what she said and I told him what I just told you about
(19:28):
my meeting with him and about him having no interest at all in what his employees were the wrong
doing that they were doing he sets the tone for the whole circuit here and when you're getting
things like this you know it just lets you know like something's not right here that would have
been in January by November all of a sudden Jeff Sigmaster is abruptly resigning he is resigning
(19:51):
due to his wife and him were getting divorced and he just needed some time off now mind you he was
coming up for reelection so he had just been all out campaigning for the thing that was coming up
but now all of a sudden not only is he not running but he's resigning early so I'm like okay what's up
you know welcome to find out all kinds of craziness deads had came in and was investigating him for
(20:16):
dazzling money like he was taking money for for bribes like dropping charges for people or adding
charges for people when it came down to it not only did the man like when it like it came time for
he was fixing to go to trial for it he ran he assumed a false identity got a camper trailer
hauled but left only reason he was ever even caught was he got in a car wreck out in Arizona
(20:41):
and the officer could tell that that was a fake phony ID and off his fingerprints they got him
off his fingerprints that it was oh this is Jeff Sigmaster state attorney in Florida that's wanted
for you know all these racketeering and all these different charges so they extraditing back he's
all strung out on drugs too by the way and extradited back to Florida to face his charges
(21:06):
and so I'm really at that point I'm thinking yay oh my goodness you know God is exposing this and
this is wonderful you know like some all right somebody cares somebody really does care in this
system you know he's supposed to be facing like I don't know over a hundred years he's supposed to
get in prison well he gets plea-dealed down to like I don't know like four years right there I'm
(21:27):
kind of like you know he served I want to say six months oh wow yeah for unknown reasons for reasons
that are not disclosed he has been released I'm like why did they even go after him like somebody
must have wanted him but then they must not have had enough power to make it hold because somebody
(21:48):
came in and covered him because he did not serve long at all I don't know where he is or what he's
doing now but I will just tell you how involved that man was he was so involved that whenever we
were in front of Judge Fennah and we were exposing all this that John Wheat he came down and personally
represented the state at one of our hearings on behalf of the state he personally represented for
(22:10):
the state that's crazy it's like they were not backing down and they were not going to let it be
exposed what all they had done to have my son you know falsely convicted of this why were you never
able to get a change of venue because I kept asking that for by I'm like I know everybody in this
town like everybody knows me this is how crazy one of the women that was on the jury my husband was
(22:35):
married previous to me it was his ex-wife's sister was on the jury like we know everybody in all
fairness do I think that she was unbiased I think that those six people I would have done the same
thing given the information that I was given can't fault the jury you know I completely
fault the prosecutor and our attorney for not having you know not disclosing all the information
(23:00):
and purposely purposely presenting false information I can't fault them but I'm that's just kind of
how this town goes asked about that and by a he he just wasn't interested he said he thought he could
get a fair trial here that it could be worse in another county and a matter of fact every that's
the reason we got judge fennel because every judge in here we had our two judges they both
(23:21):
recused theirself because they know me personally so well that's how we ended up with judge David
fennel out alive which is where John weed his office is right down the hall from judge David
fennel like they're very close very good friends yeah exactly would make very good co-defendants
yeah they would so what I started to say you asked about kind of what's going on now so we have two
(23:48):
things so the post conviction motion that we had the evidentiary hearing on all of that went to
nothing then man and women story number 1385 reaches out to this lady her name is Kathy Gephardt
she used to live across the street from me and she was our neighbor in our house where Garrett grew
(24:11):
up so Kathy keeps up with us and she's like there is no way Garrett could have killed Shelly she's
good friends of my sister too so she's she's just kept in touch with us through all the years so she
has seen how everything was going so she's been following very appalled at judge fennel wrote him
this nice letter after that evidentiary hearing everything went down and she just said I am embarrassed
(24:33):
as an American that our judicial system is handled like this you have been presented so much evidence
of wrongdoing yet you continue to cover for these people you should be ashamed of yourself you were
nothing but a buffoon and I mean she just puts it to him writes this nice letter sends it to the to
judge fennel judge fennel files it as part of the case he has her served papers in North Carolina
(24:59):
at her door letting her know that this paperwork has been received and it is now part of this court
case and trying to intimidate her she actually even called me as like oh my god Lisa I just got
served papers and am I going to be in trouble for it so I immediately call our lawyer David Collins
and he's like no absolutely not she is an American citizen she has got freedom of speech she can say
(25:22):
anything she wants to judge fennel that is he is trying to intimidate her you tell her not to worry
one bit she has not done anything wrong and there is she is now part of our court case well evidently
mandan gets disinformation with his court case way all I know is that he has it and the reason that I
know that he had it was because he wrote Kathy Gephardt a letter and he mails it to her and in it he
(25:46):
says I read your letter and you are so right this whole thing has been such a fiasco Garrett did not
do this matter of fact well I don't know if that was the time he said Michael his latest story is
that Michael my sister son did it I'm not sure because he's told so many stories so he writes her
this long letter she immediately sends it to me I immediately send it to our attorney our attorney
(26:11):
sends an investigator over to talk to mandan mandan lays it out he tells the investigator he was
coerced to say all of this that john weed and his lawyer out of Jacksonville put together a script
what he was to say and that he tried to kill himself because he just couldn't take it anymore he
(26:31):
couldn't keep up with all the lies that they were making him say and they were trying to make him lie
on his daddy and that none of them were involved not him not his daddy not Garrett it was all Michael
and then Garrett needs to tell the truth and tell that they got them guns from his cousin Michael
that they exchanged his xanax pills for those guns that they went and hid on their property okay so we
(26:57):
file post conviction motion on it now with that said there was several things okay so the pill
container comes up in the meantime jeff sigmeister state attorney is out they get the new state
attorney in his name is john dorette we have a meeting with john dorette lay out all of this
stuff john weed still works for the state attorney's office john dorette gets moved to state attorney
(27:21):
actually don't get moved he runs he runs for election and gets elected state attorney so we go to him
in our attorney is like john i know this is uncomfortable talking about john weed i too you
know you and i we know each other and the facts are something ain't right there is a lot of very
(27:43):
unscrupulous things that have happened in this case you're new here i'm just asking you to take a
look at it i would like it where he looks long story short he's like y'all keep going through
your channels he don't want to get involved on the one hand i understand where he's coming from
a piece of me as a business owner like he's sitting here looking at this dude that has prosecuted
(28:05):
tons of cases if ours gets turned over because of the corruption that this man has done what is that
going to lead to who else is going to what what all the millions of other cases are going to come
unravel because of it exactly and that is exactly why they don't want to overturn it right there
(28:26):
yeah because of all the other cases that will have to be reworked and the people that will be
filing motions to get out on technicalities yep but on the other hand where is your integrity
right is right and wrong is wrong and okay it's gonna cost a whole lot of hassle and a whole
(28:47):
lot of trouble but what about this boy that they know has been done wrong and what am i gonna do
you know i think now i will say this and my our attorney says this if john deret had been the state
attorney he don't think this would have ever went down like this because he's like really genuinely
(29:07):
inside i think he's a good man but with that said i would have told you the same thing about john
weed until this case came up and he said you know lisa i work in my amy like i have seen a lot of
crap and he said i have never seen anything like this he said it just in your face and he said i'm
ashamed i'm ashamed for our judicial system that y'all have been treated like this and he has been
(29:32):
a bulldog like he has not meant words and he has went to bat for us but it has fell on deaf ears
nobody has done anything he has presented more than enough evidence to show what they have done
but nobody has done anything you ask what's left so we filed that motion of course judge finna
(29:54):
denied it he just denied it and so david has got an appeal into the next you know the court of appeals
on it on the point on the basis that he denied it without an evidentiary hearing how can he
tonight he hasn't even looked at all the evidence right like how can he not investigate these claims
that this guy has made you know and so we have that still pending over two years and you know
(30:17):
as well as i do if david reaches out and asks hey why haven't i heard anything yet on this case
it's going to get being immediate denial like you just don't do that right you don't reach out to the
appellate court asking them when they're going to rule on your case or you're you just basically
asking for him to deny it so we sit and we wait here goes the next little crazy twist there was
(30:41):
an inmate um i could just tell you his last name is philips i don't really recall his first name but
he had sent years ago in prison he is the bump mate of mandon witton mandon witton spills his
guts to this guy he's he's now claiming that he did it and he claims that he used my father's 22
(31:06):
that he my father has a he claims and my my dad has like a big farm and he has a what's called a
mule which is a side by side it's a atv a little vehicle that you ride in like out across the field
you know and he does farm work in it and he sowed this mule he tells this guy that he found he saw
(31:29):
when he was over one time with garret he looked in the glove box of that mule and he saw a 22 and
he grabbed it and slipped it in his pants and that he had that he stole the 22 from my daddy and
that that was the 22 that he shot my sister with and that so scared he went back and put it back
(31:50):
in the mule just put it back in there now there's a whole craziness about mandon was spotted at the
end like not even kidding you like a hundred yards from my daddy's driveway women spotted mandon down
there all during this time when my sister was killed looked at hot and sweaty like he was running
that was their description of him asking was he okay yeah i'm just i'm just waiting on a ride
(32:12):
well he did try to make up stories about what he was doing down at the we call it the end of those
steam road why he was at the end of those steam road and he was saying that his daddy and garret
were back there cutting down scrap metal out of a pole barn but and the police all went out there
and there's no pole barn out there that nobody was cutting scrap metal out of he's that's been his
(32:36):
only story about what he was doing down there so this guy sends on weed this letter saying there
are innocent people locked up i to him innocent so i have a heart for innocent people i don't think
it's right and i'm writing this letter to tell you that mandon witton you know he blah blah blah
(32:58):
all this he told me this and he told me that he was the one that did this but he was not done right
either because you know y'all coerced him and told him to make up all these lies like he tells him
all that too the john weed was the one orchestrating it telling him what to say nothing is done like we
we don't hear about this forever okay like the guy writes the letter to john weed tells him
(33:21):
that he needs to send an officer over because he has information that he needs that he there's innocent
people in prison and he needs to come investigate it well nothing happens so everything you know how
they do in prison you get transferred here transferred there man it gets transferred out
there it gets transferred to the same prison where this guy is where this phillips guy is
(33:42):
he comes in he gets actually he's in one area he's in this bunk thing and uh or this one dorm
he switches dorms and when he comes in he says this guy goes what is your name and he says
arwood and the guy goes is your name garret arwood and he's like do you know mandon witton
garret's like yeah and he tells garret he's like i this must be a son from god he said i wrote this
(34:09):
letter and he goes like he still has it he printed it out and he shows garret and garret's like wow
you wrote this when he says ask me you know mom if you heard no we heard nothing about this guy
takes it upon himself he says i'm supposed to follow up on this so he takes and he writes another
letter and he tells him he says look i have information concerning wrongful convictions
(34:36):
and the murder of a woman in taylor county and i wrote the state attorney back in and he gives the
date that he wrote the letter and i never heard anything back from him he sends it to another
state attorney and like from somebody that he knew from like his case from the county that he's from
and he's like and nothing has been done and i just feel the need to report this and so he lays it all
(34:59):
out well all of a sudden now john weed has to because the woman takes and sends it sends it to john
weed and attaches john dorrett his boss man you know on it and says i've received this letter i'm
just letting you know what i received this is from this inmate and this is what it says of course
he has to now let our post conviction attorney know about it so he has to copy him in an email
(35:25):
and i'm like oh my gosh wow and he claims but he don't tell him in the letter all that that he knows
where the gun that man didn't use which is what all i just told you because they sent a law enforcement
officer over there he thought it was god telling him that he needed to do something about this when
gared he was being his bunk mate and maybe god did what are the chances of that yeah that's wild
(35:51):
that is wild like how no way he could know without it coming out of man's mouth now the question is
is man telling truth this time i mean you know it's very odd to me that he knew my daddy had a 22
in the mule and so they did well i do know that they did come and pick up the pistol from my dad
(36:13):
just gosh week and a half ago maybe supposedly they are sending the bullets out to be checked against it
the law enforcement officer that has been assigned to this case i have been talking with and i have
sat down and i have not told him in this much detail what i've let the shared with you but he
knows exactly where i stand on it and i just said please please look into this please don't take
(36:41):
what john we tells you because john we will lie straight to your face i have caught him multiple
times he will tell me something i will fact check it and it is a bald face lie and then i confront him
with it and he just shrugs his shoulders at me he has no ex or he does not even try to explain you
know why because he don't have to because he knows he's got a judge that's going to deny everything
(37:04):
we put in front of so he doesn't care he don't care that i catch him in a lie do not let him just tell
you that the bullets can't be tested go look at them yourself get them and go test them let an
expert test them he promises me that he will and that he is going to so that's where we're
stand right now so right now we're standing on a possible opening if this checks out if this
(37:29):
checks out to be the gun but you know as sad as it is i'm like how do we know that the bullets
that they have in the evidence locker are actually the bullets that killed my sister you know what i
mean right at this point with all the things that were done corruptly it's hard to even imagine so
we just hope that they have super duper good pictures from autopsy of the bullets and that they
(37:52):
can compare on who can i trust that somebody's going to do that and sadly as crazy as it sounds i do
hope that's the gun i mean it's another kick in our teeth if it would be my daddy's gun that killed
my sister that you know but the point being my sister is dead you know like it i mean i don't think
(38:14):
it can get any worse than that so it can be no worse than what we're already dealing with right so
if it is that at least lets us know that i mean man was telling the truth there so then that means
the rest of his story that could if we can just get back in all we want is another we want another
trial like let us present all of the evidence to a jury and then let them decide what they think
(38:36):
yeah there was enough in reading through your case records and everything that i saw that it should
have at the very least raised reasonable doubt if it would have been presented absolutely the pill
container right there is enough to raise reasonable doubt she had two undigested pills in her stomach
which would have been her morning pills they were missing from the pill container in the picture that
(39:00):
was sent the day of so right there that's enough to raise reasonable doubt yep the fact that she had
a partially digested pair in her stomach she was on a diet that the only time she could she could
have one piece of fruit a day and that was in the morning at breakfast and there was a partially
(39:23):
digested pair in her stomach so i mean if they're saying she you know they tried to back it up to
wee hours of monday night what she ate a pair that night and went to bed and then very shortly very
shortly after was killed but she got dressed because she's in a dress had all her jewelry on in her
(39:43):
car in the middle of the night does not make sense no like that just to a normal person on the street
if you told that story it wouldn't make sense unless you did a family member call there was
some kind of emergency or something that would be the only way that that could be rationalized
absolutely i am so sorry that you have had to deal with this well i appreciate that i just hope
(40:07):
that somebody hears this it can help somebody you know maybe even put ears back on our case
or even help somebody from falling into the same trap that we did you know get an attorney yeah
that's all i can say check everything out don't spit to police something's wrong that's right if
your gut's telling you something's wrong it is start looking well thank you very much for this
(40:33):
interview today i really appreciate it and i because you guys definitely need a fair shot at court
i appreciate it so much and i will be back in touch with you here shortly okay that sounds
wonderful thank you thank you that's it for today's episode of wickedly judged a huge thank you to
(40:55):
lisa arwood for joining us and sharing her son's story we truly appreciate her time strength and
willingness to shed light on his case in our next episode we'll be recapping her son's case
breaking down the key details and discussing the unanswered questions that remain you won't want to
(41:18):
miss it and remember if you or someone you know has a case that needs reviewing if you have evidence
related to any of the cases that we've covered or if you'd like to support the show through
sponsorship or donations reach out to us every piece of information every bit of support brings
(41:38):
us one step closer to uncovering the truth you can contact us through social media or email
wickedlyjudged at gmail.com or you can even call us 513-393-7452 if you haven't already
be sure to subscribe leave a review and share this podcast with anyone who believes in justice
(42:05):
your voice matters until next time stay informed stay persistent and never stop seeking the truth
(42:35):
you
Host
Rebecca Wall
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