All Episodes

June 10, 2024 25 mins
We're back with another episode of voiceless behind bars! This week on the podcast Sarah is speaking with Carmem Cruz who is advocating for her brother Daniel Anthony Cruz Hernandez.   You can fin a link to Daniel's appeal below.  

https://law.justia.com/cases/minnesota/court-of-appeals/2020/a19-0814.html
Mark as Played
Transcript

Episode Transcript

Available transcripts are automatically generated. Complete accuracy is not guaranteed.
(00:00):
Zoony afraid of inside the cat Foodstade. Not every lady's gone and got your
baby. Don't let a y icebag. You've been close to her heart.
I love the fashion's kind and shabbykazy because you as to the man
in the morning. It's all kindof then it's Jon me a faded inside

(00:25):
the cat foodstade. Not every laddidn't gone and guide you. Yeah,
when I blow up, I'm gonnasaw a highlight, Peter Pan, real
life, be living out my dreams. Come waking up for sent a fourth
playing whole risk, coming up inice. Hi, Welcome to boys is
spine Bars. I'm your host,Sarah de Yarman, and I've got my

(00:47):
friend Karen Cruise on the phone.She's advocating for her brother Daniel Anthony Cruise
Hernandos and he was sent hotly soand twenty nineteen and his release date is
twenty thirty five. But I'm goingto hand it over to my friend Carmen.

(01:10):
Thanks for being on the show,and do you mind telling us a
little bit about yourself and your brother? Yep, I am hello. My
name is Carmen Cruz. I amhere being the voice for my brother Daniel.
We are pretty close k my familyand my brother came from and unfortunately,

(01:36):
the night of August second of twentyseventeen, a murder took place and
my brothers or at the wrong placeat the wrong time. Unfortunately, the
young man ended up losing his lifethat day. So what you said,

(02:02):
the wrong place the wrong time?Like, were they all asked to come
over there by a friend? Likewhat happened? Back? Done? Well?
That night my brothers and I werethey were helping me put my oldest
started to bed, and they wereasked from a friend to come over and

(02:27):
hang out. They did, andwhen they were hanging out, my brothers
were leaving, trigger's time to comehome, and in the process of them
leaving, two meals came and askedthem for a ride. My brothers we
knew who they were from the neighborhood. My brothers said that they were willing

(02:53):
to give them a ride. Beforethey were able to go into the car,
one of the meals seen the motherof the friend that they were hanging
out with and ended up having aphysical altercation start between him and the mom
of the friends, and a broadbroke out with my brothers and the other

(03:21):
gentleman during that process, the manthat ended up passing him and the woman
weren't on the other side of thisparking lot, which is a good twenty
seat in between twenty thirty feet betweenwhen my brothers were fighting with the other

(03:42):
gentleman and the female and the gentleman'sfriend refighting. During that altercation, my
brothers heard one of the other peoplesay that they stabbed this gentleman and my

(04:05):
brothers left. We ended up findingout maybe around six in the morning,
that this gentleman ended up passing.M oh, I'm just asking, so
what all got the the mother ofall one of these men involved in this

(04:25):
sauce the school altercation, the motherof the friend that my brothers was escorting
my brothers out into the parking lotto their vehicle, okay, and that's
when the two males, one ofthem recognized who the woman was and it

(04:46):
was an argument that turned into it'sa called arplication specified that and then the
boss took place. We ended upfinding out that the gentleman ended up passing
mm hmm. But when my brother'sleft, he was alive. Uh he
was who was alive? His friendwas also you know there, and he

(05:16):
was fine. Until likely, Andlike I said that, we ended up
finding out the man passed. Thedetectives came, they took my brothers.
They also took a lot of peopleinterrogated them. They let my brothers go.

(05:38):
Then on May first, I can'tremember the exact the exact year,
I want to say twenty eighteen,we get a knock on our door.
Her the detective uh said that theyhad pictures to show us from the crime

(06:00):
scene and they wanted my brothers tolook at it. So us, not
thinking, we allowed my brother toleave out of the home and they arrested
him right then and there. Andduring this process we ended up finding out
they spoke to a confidential informant statingthat stating that my brother murdered this gentleman,

(06:33):
and made a whole story of wherethe where the weapon was used,
where it's at. It was justit made no sense social you were saying,
yeah, here's say. And weended up finding out who the confidential

(06:54):
informance is, which was really unfortunate. It was one of the father of
my oldest daughter. We have lostcontact the two years prior to this happening.
I kept my family away from himbecause he was a very he was

(07:16):
heavy into drugs at this time,and we ended up finding out that that's
who their confidential informant was. Thesame day that my brother was the rest,
I got a phone call with himstating what he did and that he
was under the influence, and thedetectives met him at a mess house,
gave him funds to use the substanceand take a statement. And it made

(07:43):
no sense. It was unfortunately becauseit cost my brother his freedom. Right.
So fast forward, we're going intoa pre trial trial. Here we
are, we're finding things out evident. I winnished the state at this gentleman
was sad by female. My brotheris very much male, does not look

(08:05):
like a female any which way youlook at him, right. They they
they also say what the person's wearing. My brother was not wearing. They
described a vehicle during this as well, because they also charged my brother with

(08:30):
aggravated robbery and murder. That you'redoing murder and the vehicle that they describe
is a four door Gray vand mybrother was driving a two door red Taota.

(08:54):
And during this time we ended upfinding out that he had to go
chase the other people involved rather thanthe male friend of the decease. He
was already in Minnesota. But everyoneelse that was involved in the altercation with
the gentlement left down to the border. It took it took them months to

(09:18):
get them back into Minnesota, andwe brought awareness that doesn't that look a
little suspicious considering that we might Shameynever left the state exact, we never
left the state. We never onceneglected to talk to the depasitos. We

(09:39):
never hit our faces. We werethere when they needed to speak to us.
If we were, that would bewhy would we cooperate with you?
And then during this time, themother of the decease made it known that
the close that the real murder warthat night, they dropped it off at

(10:05):
her house in a garbage can forthe mother of disease. I feel truly,
I feel so bad. She hadto see the clothes that had her
deceased son's blood on it. Yeah, And the detectives refused to take her
statement because they said that she wasunder the influence, and the deceased mother

(10:28):
pleaded and begged for the detectives totake her statement because she also knew because
the eyewitnesses also to the mother deceasedthat it was not a male that killed
her son, so they were justputting her through hell as well. Yeah,

(10:48):
and during this time it was reallyrough because my brother ended up and
during racial disparity in an unfair trialwell, and he was judged not for
his crime, but also for thecolor of his skin. He was in
a county that's not very fond ofthe brown, black or indigenous people.

(11:11):
Yep. And then my brother wasassigned a public defender, and unfortunately I
became the mule they used. Thepublic defender used me to speak to the
witnesses that were there when the murdertook place, and because of that,

(11:33):
when trial came, it was usedagainst my brother and they let me know
I would be charged in contempt whenwhen I heard the words, I had
to explain to an officer of thecourt a dynama to speak to someone and

(11:54):
let them know exactly what happened.Who sent me there? Find out that
the public defender that was originally assignedto my brother's case was not really interested
in helping my brother. He wasrunning for judge in Saint Paul and Ramsey
County, so he was taken oncases and I apologize he was paying working

(12:20):
on cases and just having his clientsdo the work and me being not being
educated about law or my rights.I fell for it and did what I
was told because I was desperate runright, and he knew that took advantage
of us. Yep, they knewthat, And like I told them,

(12:41):
if I was like, if don'tunderstand, if I was trying to threaten
these people, why I gave thesepeople my personal name and phone number,
not once to hide who I was. And then the trial kept going on.
Things kept happening. We fired thepublic defender, hired a lawyer,

(13:03):
and we were forced by the courtto fire him. He ended up,
they said, because he represented bothof my brothers during the interview if a
conflict of interest and a few otherthings. And we also ended up finding

(13:24):
out he was in the process ofbeing disbarred because of his handling of the
law. So we had it onceagain strike too with misrepresentations. We ended
up finding another lawyer, which washe was a godfriend. His name is
Jack Rice. He came and seeingthe case that was at hand, and

(13:50):
he knew from the beginning my brother, my brother was innocent. Nothing was
matching up. He sawed motion andthey were denied at one point, So
it was ridiculous they try to chargemy brother for uh. They tried charging
him a murder about six different waysto make sure that he got a murder

(14:15):
conviction, and went from first degreemurders to third degree murder, went intent
without intent, premeditated. They werethrowing any charge they could against him just
to make sure he got charged.Then during during the trial, we ended

(14:37):
up finding out the judge's wife perishedand he was still allowed to continue and
continue to be appointed to the trial. And I felt like that shouldn't I
don't felt I felt like I wasinappropriate due to he's in a trade of
state of mind. He just aloved one and he's dealing with a murder

(14:58):
case. Right during trial, theylet us know that they found a knife
that the female stated was hers.They did not do finger plants for DNA
on the night that they found andthey didn't do it at all during the

(15:24):
snow. But during this time theycame back and took my brother's vehicle and
they tested it for DNA. Theyfound a tense point size drop of blood,

(15:45):
which you know there would be sometypes of blood from people fighting.
But like we have stated before,we know these kids from the neighborhood.
There's been things like we know whothey were. This gentleman will severe times

(16:06):
in his heart. If my brotherswere the one that murdered him, there
would be more than just a pensize. Oh gosh. And then we
also ended up finding out that therewas two weapons involved, not just a
single knight mm hm. And theydidn't test those nights. The night that

(16:32):
they found they didn't test. Theyrefused to also use a statement to my
winesses stating that they seen females robthe deuces, not males. That's where
the rob the robbery charge comes in. The detestive did not listen to the

(17:04):
confident transployment. When he stated thathe lied just to get fund for his
next six he stated that he evenin the in the courtroom, he stated
he was under the influence, andhe stated that he was under the influence
in the courtroom, and he refusedto remove his statement. So the mother

(17:34):
the deceased, they wouldn't take herstatement, saying no, no, under
the influence. With him, itwas no, still gonna take your statement
even though you're under the influence.You were under the influence then right now,
my gosh, yeah, life washard because during that time it was

(17:55):
a high murder profile case in myfamily. Life was in Jeopany my brother
the most. He was being attackedevery which way and not getting medical attention
during that time when everything happened duringtrial because they kept having to stop filence

(18:19):
started a new one through alcohol thingbecause evidence there was a lack of evidence
for the evidence that we wanted tobe used, the refuse the you.
Also, they weren't allowing any goodcharacteristics of my brother to be brought up,

(18:45):
like his job. He was aPCA. My brother worked helping people.
He was not this cold hearted murderthat they painted him to be.
My brother has never seen inside ofa cage self until all this a role
And like I tell people, it'snot just my brother, There's more Daniels,

(19:11):
there is more Marvin Han. There'sa lot more than just our loved
ones. There's a lot and there'smore out there that people don't realize how
our system is failing our loved ones. Yeah, yep, we have an
epidemic when it comes wrong with connections, Yes we do. And it's tragic

(19:38):
because our children are suffering, ourfailies are suffering, and the ones that
are going to jail, are stuffering, and I keep stressing another thing I
keep stressing to everybody. And it'sthe same with this case, with tethnic
Ruver's case and Marvin and I talkedabout it when it came to her brother
Marvin's case. The real killer isstill out there, yes she is.

(20:03):
And all I'm asking for anyone that'slistening, Like my brother has said,
two people lost their lives that day, my brother in the decease. My
brother is never gonna get that thetime back, and in the decease,
they're not going to get their lovedone back. We're just asking for anyone

(20:26):
that's listening to help us get atleast time served because someone paid a price.
But it doesn't have to be mybrother. The real murder is out
there and we need to put anend to the wrong ones being put it

(20:47):
in the system. Exactly not I'vesaid to people over and over again.
I'm still saying to this day,I want my tax dollars to go towards
people who actually committed the crimes,who were actual dangers to society. I
don't want the people who are wronglyconvicted in prison, who are in there

(21:10):
for like non violent drug crimes whoshould be like in rehabb again. I
want people who committed these violent crimes, who our actual danger to society.
That's where I want my tax dollarsto go to. I don't want the
wrong person paying the price. Idon't know how people can and I mean,

(21:30):
I know this sounds cliche, butI mean it. I don't know
how people could sleep at night purposelyputting the wrong person in jail, and
they shouldn't be able to sleep withknow with a peace of mind, because
these men and women are not atpea right because I'm like I say to
my brother, never seen inside ofa cage cell. He did that day

(21:52):
and now that's the next thing he'sgoing to see permitted the next twenty seven
years. If I for anyone that'slistening this week, don't get him home.
So the best thing someone can do, the best thing you'd like.

(22:14):
As always that I ask my listeners, please share this, say his name.
Sharing helps so much because someone outthere knows something, and by sharing
it, say his name, itcould definitely lead to the right person or
you know, the right attorney orboth. The right attorney could help him

(22:38):
get parolled exonerated, help him,you know, get a credit for time
served. Just anything any of thathelps, and also anything else we can
do to help you. Yeah,you guys don't have to listen to the

(23:00):
words that I say, so youcan read in black and white alone how
things don't make sense. It wasjust a messy situation in my brother's one
came the ultimate place. So ohwhere can we read that? It should
be online. I will have alink to it in the description for this

(23:29):
episode for sure, so people canclick on it, they'll read it,
and they can see what a messthis all is for themselves. Because that's
why I encourage everyone to do.See for yourselves right there. Don't just
take my work for it anyone else's, you know, please look for yourself.

(23:49):
You'll see with your own eyes,yes, because your eyes don't lie
exactly. Truth speaks for itself.Yeah, thank you so much for coming
on the show. Show. Wewill continue to have you on here,

(24:11):
keep people updated all and also justyeah, like I said, keep sring
this episode. His name will haveeverything in the description. Well, keep
sharing that as well so more peoplecan see the cold hard facts and anything
else you want to say before wego. No, just thank you for

(24:33):
your time, and I hope thatyour loved ones don't endure the pain in
my family here. Oh gosh,yes, I don't want anyone else to
go through this, and hopefully wecan put it into this epidemic soon.
And thank you so much for comingon here. Like I said, we'll
keep having you back on here tilljust serve and everyone keep spreading that word.

(24:56):
So be abated, cat foodstars,Not every light is gone, and
gutty baby, don't adding main noice, spark get it close to her
heart. I love the pressure's goneand drive you crazy because your right to
the madness in the morning. It'sall kind of van it's don't be afraid

(25:19):
of it. S be care forwodstars. Not every light is gone,
and guide you. Yeah, whenI blow up, I'm gonna saw a
highlight. Peter Pan in real life. Be living at my dreams. Come
waking up. Percent of fourth Land, whole wrist covered up in ice.
Stealing ship, never asked the price
Advertise With Us

Popular Podcasts

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

NFL Daily with Gregg Rosenthal

Gregg Rosenthal and a rotating crew of elite NFL Media co-hosts, including Patrick Claybon, Colleen Wolfe, Steve Wyche, Nick Shook and Jourdan Rodrigue of The Athletic get you caught up daily on all the NFL news and analysis you need to be smarter and funnier than your friends.

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

On Purpose with Jay Shetty

I’m Jay Shetty host of On Purpose the worlds #1 Mental Health podcast and I’m so grateful you found us. I started this podcast 5 years ago to invite you into conversations and workshops that are designed to help make you happier, healthier and more healed. I believe that when you (yes you) feel seen, heard and understood you’re able to deal with relationship struggles, work challenges and life’s ups and downs with more ease and grace. I interview experts, celebrities, thought leaders and athletes so that we can grow our mindset, build better habits and uncover a side of them we’ve never seen before. New episodes every Monday and Friday. Your support means the world to me and I don’t take it for granted — click the follow button and leave a review to help us spread the love with On Purpose. I can’t wait for you to listen to your first or 500th episode!

Dateline NBC

Dateline NBC

Current and classic episodes, featuring compelling true-crime mysteries, powerful documentaries and in-depth investigations. Follow now to get the latest episodes of Dateline NBC completely free, or subscribe to Dateline Premium for ad-free listening and exclusive bonus content: DatelinePremium.com

Music, radio and podcasts, all free. Listen online or download the iHeart App.

Connect

© 2025 iHeartMedia, Inc.