Stunned | "Married to Death" | "48 Hours" Podcast | Forensic Files

foreign [Music] Moriarty 48 hours and this is married to death I promised you a startling end to this
case and you're going to get it this is the Sixth and final episode of married to death the case of reynella Leith
an ending that no one except maybe the judge it's all coming uh my name is Michael persicano and I'm
a professional coffee roaster my name is Jesse Capps and I'm a contract floor technician my name is William McMichael
and I'm in sales in the Powersports industry and what brought the three of you together
jury duty whenever I cover a trial I always want to interview members of the jury their
perspective is just so different from anyone else in that courtroom but I'm not sure I've ever wanted to hear from a
jury more than during this trial and lucky for us three of the jurors agreed to sit down and talk
what about raynella Lee the first time you saw her how much did you watch her during the trial a lot quite a bit I
studied her I wanted to get a feel for how she reacted when that physical evidence was presented
I don't think anything you've heard in the first five parts will prepare you for what you're about to hear in part
six but before we get to the verdict I first want you to try and put yourself in the position of those jurors because
they walked into that courtroom on May 1st 2017 with a completely clean slate had any of you heard of raynella Leith
before you sat on that jury no not a word these jurors were never told how raynella's first husband Ed Dawson died
or that she was once charged with his murder and that those charges were dropped and they never heard Stephen
Walker tell his extraordinary story of surviving a barrage of bullets from raynella's Gone
all they knew was what was presented in this case in this trial in the death of David Lee
so I ask you if you were one of those jurors what would you do could you say Beyond a
reasonable doubt that David Leith was murdered and if you believe he was murdered did prosecutors do enough to
prove that reynella Lee was the one who pulled the trigger those are the questions in this case now
let's get some answers we are inside courtroom number two my producer Josh Gainer and I were seated
in the back row Cindy Wilkerson David Lee's daughter and her family took their usual seats in the
front sitting to our left raynella of course was at the defense table her two daughters Maggie and Katie
and all of raynella's supporters packed the rose behind her to our right before the jurors get the case
elector record reflected all parties are present in the courtroom including the defendant
and both councils there's just one more piece of business a routine defense motion called a rule
29. in Tennessee it's a request to the judge to throw out a case for lack of evidence it's filed in nearly every
trial defense attorneys do it just in case their client gets convicted then they can use that motion later on appeal
only two words are required either motion granted or motion denied senior judge Paul Summers the state is
not established established a time of death Beyond a general time on the morning of March 13 2003.
Ms Leith has accounted for her whereabouts for virtually all of that time that morning prior to the
initiation of the 9-1-1 call her clothing tested negative for blood and gunshot residue
I look at my producer Josh Gainer and I'm thinking what's happening so I look at a court official who looks
right back at me her eyes wide her face puzzled and then like so many times in the story
of raynella leave the unexpected happens in short the state has failed to meet their
burden in the opinion of this court even by a mere preponderance of the evidence
let alone Beyond a reasonable doubt that Ms Leith killed her husband the court finds that the state has failed to meet
the required element of identity of reynella Leith as a person who committed the crime charge the defendant's motion
for Judgment of acquittal is granted Ray never Leith is not guilty the case against reynella Leith is dismissed it
is so ordered this tenth day of May 2017. that gasp you heard that came from raynella Leith
everyone in the courtroom seems shocked after a week-long trial and before the jury can even deliberate judge Summers
on his own dismisses the case and because he did it before the jury had a chance at a verdict
the decision cannot be appealed raynella's attorney Rebecca Legrand she walked in that courtroom presumed
innocent and the state did nothing to overcome that presumptuous they don't get to try this again this is done
they've tried they got their chance to put on all the evidence they had they didn't have enough evidence that any
reasonable juror could find her guilty everyone in the courtroom looked confused
after days of testimony closing arguments the judge had taken the decision away from the jurors and
dismissed the case against the defendant Attorney General Stephen Crum still can't quite believe it when we talked to
him Weeks Later I don't understand it I don't have an explanation I just never expected it and
and still to this day can't explain it three jurors we interviewed there's no other way to put it let us do let's do
what we're here for instance they are angry we were just used I mean I just used us as set pieces pretty much I feel
like if judge Summers was so convinced that he was right about the evidence why not let us deliberate it and how do
you explain that I can't only judge Summers can so we asked judge Summers now retired to
make his case to 48 hours and he agreed and strictly based on the evidence that I heard on both sides
but particularly on the state side if I'd have been the district attorney general
I would not have brought the case to trial did you choose to do this to end this case to finally end this case yes
you did I did at the point in time when I realized that rule 29 had been met when the when the evidence was legally
insufficient I decided to end this case by doing my job and granting the motion for Judgment
of acquittal knowing Summers believes the prosecutors didn't present enough evidence for the jury to
decide a homicide may have occurred but he's convinced they didn't meet their burden to prove Beyond a reasonable
doubt that reynella leaves was the one who committed it there was nothing to link her to the weapon
there was nothing to link her to any of the blood there was no gunshot residue found on her clothes or around her she
had an alibi that the state could not prove the time of death the evidence was clearly insufficient to
show that she was the perpetrator of the crime and finally the the there was no evidence to show that she was even the
last person ever to see David Leith alive if you were so sure that there wasn't enough evidence for the jury to
convict her Beyond A Reasonable Doubt wouldn't the jury have come to the same conclusion
I was simply doing my job not trying to pass the buck to the jury judges sometimes make these
extraordinary decisions when they fear the jurors might be swayed by emotion and not evidence and while we'll never
know for sure what the whole jury would have done we did get a clue after talking to the three jurors Michael
persicano Jesse Katz and William McMichael but if you had gotten to vote how would you
have voted guilty guilty guilty do you feel right now Elise got away with murder I absolutely feel she got away
with murder to these three jurors the gun pointed only to one person exactly and that was raynella Leith for me I
think so much time was spent on other things like was was he depressed did he have Alzheimer's did he have dementia to
me that was totally secondary What mattered was the physical evidence and the physical evidence to me clearly
pointed to a murder there's no way David Lee fired that third shot and you don't
believe the defense witness who said well you can have this spasm after death that pulled the trigger the third time
that's fantasy what most convinced you Jesse that this wasn't just a murder but that reynella Leith was the one who
killed her husband Joshua Hedrick was sitting on that bed and he was twirling that cylinder on that gun well a burden
to my family crowd man doesn't want to be a burden it was just so corny to me it was fake he was trying so hard after
that I was like all right it's just they're trying so hard that it's so obvious now
why it's just so obvious was it past it possible to any of your minds that maybe someone else came into the house
and shot him she was the last person there and there was no other evidence of anyone else in there at all I'm just not
okay with the way that it ended it's a feeling David Lee's cousin Beth Roberts shares
he stole that verdict from the family from the prosecution from the jury it was a theft it wasn't just the three
jurors we interviewed shortly after the judge's decision a majority of the jurors gathered near the
courthouse and they also said they would have voted guilty we shared that information with judge Summers
we interviewed some of the jurors and they told us that after the trial a number of them met up
and they said that to a person they would have voted guilty what's your reaction to that nothing
nothing at all I have I have been through hundreds of Trials I've seen situations where Gerards would go back
into the jury room and the the original vote would be eleven and one one way or the other
and then it comes back eight hours later five hours later or the next day completely opposite
I don't I don't I don't have any comment or any feeling whatsoever for those kind
of comics I I simply took an oath to do my job to do what's right to follow the rules to the best of my knowledge and
ability I followed the rules made a decision and felt comfortable and went to bed
that night feeling comfortable about my decision what this case did for me was just
remind me that while we're all looking for truth we always want truth at the end of the trial we want to know what
really happened all we get is some form of Justice we get what is considered Justice a judge reached a
verdict reynella Leith goes home no one is convicted of David Lee's murder it may not have been a murder or may have
been a suicide but there's still questions and that's that's what this verdict reminded me of is that we don't
necessarily find out the truth we are all hoping to finally know what happened to be able to close that chapter and say
okay either David Lee committed suicide or he was murdered and we're left really
where we were before the trial and so that's how reynella Elise third and last trial ended with the judge
dismissing the case but even without a guilty verdict there is still the court of public opinion and
there are some in Knoxville who will always call her a black widow but none of that matters to her now
because as she leaves the Knox County Courthouse how are you doing right Nella you guys weren't worried about her
before so leave her alone now her daughter's Maggie and Katie by her side reynella and her daughters have endured
years of Whispers suspicions accusations but she is now a free woman did it cross
your mind you might be letting a killer Go free you know there's a difference between
being not guilty and being innocent if the state does not prove its case they are found not guilty
it doesn't say that they're innocent so you're not saying that raynell Elite is innocent you're saying not guilty
there are two entities [Music] of which I'm aware that know the answer to that question
one is the good Lord above and the other one is the defendant right now a lathe but I do know that she's not guilty
so we're at the end of reynella Lee's story or are we it's over for reynell Leith as far as
David Leith is concerned she can never be tried for that case again she's been found not guilty it's over
I'm Aaron Moriarty 48 hours and that's married to death this podcast series Married to death is
developed by 48 hours in partnership with CBS News Radio Judy Tigard is executive producer Nancy Kramer is our
executive story editor Mike valet and Alan Pang are the series producer editors this episode was produced by Josh Gainer
Lisa freed and Luis Geraldo and edited by Mike McHugh Dwayne Tolleson Jamie Benson and Meghan Marcus
things to composer Richard fioka for his original scores Gabriella de mergian and Morgan Canty
are our associate producers Kayla cadell is our production associate thank you to Craig swagler the vice
president and general manager of CBS News Radio and finally a shout out to all of you
our fans we owe it to all of you the millions of fans of 48 hours in the U.S and around the world don't forget to
join me online I am at EF Moriarty on Twitter and we are at 48 Hours on Twitter Facebook and Instagram see you
soon [Music]

Senior Judge Paul Summers makes an extraordinary move that no one sees coming. Shortly after, Summers sits down with "48 Hours" to explain the rationale for his decision. Several jurors also discuss their perspective on the trial and how it all ended. Join correspondent Erin Moriarty as she revisits the murder investigation of Raynella Leath. Listen to "Married to Death from My Life of Crime with Erin Moriarty" on Amazon Music or wherever you get your podcasts: https://link.chtbl.com/MTDYTE6

True crime. Real justice. "48 Hours" investigates the most intriguing crime and justice cases that touch on all areas of the human experience including greed and passion. "48 Hours," which premiered in 1988, has developed a rich history of original reporting and impact journalism that has helped exonerate wrongly convicted people, caused cold cases to be reopened and solved, and along the way changed lives.

Brief Summary

Jurors discuss their views on Raynella Leith's trial and the judge's unexpected acquittal ruling in the murder case of David Lee.

Key points

The Shocking Verdict. Judge dismisses the case against Raynella Leith, leaving everyone in disbelief.
Jurors Speak Out. Three jurors express anger over the judge's decision to dismiss the case.
The Complexity of Justice. Discussion on the difference between being not guilty and innocent.

Episode highlights

Episode quotes

I promised you a startling end to this case.

0:11WatchJul 19, 2023

Tension

75/ 100High tension

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