“The Trials of Frank Carson” Update

Summary

Podcast Summary: "The Trials of Frank Carson" Update

Podcast: Crimes of the Times – L.A. Times Studios
Host: Christopher Goffard
Date: December 2, 2025

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Episode Overview

This special update episode revisits the extraordinary legal ordeal of Frank Carson, a pugnacious Central Valley defense attorney once accused of masterminding a convoluted murder conspiracy. Host Christopher Goffard chronicles the impact of the failed prosecution on Carson, his family, and co-defendants, culminating in a historic $22.5 million legal settlement following Carson’s death. The episode explores prosecutorial misconduct, profound personal fallout, and the enduring ambiguity over the original crime.

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Key Discussion Points & Insights

1. The Rise and Trial of Frank Carson

• Frank Carson’s Background:
  A criminal defense attorney known for his aggressive, sometimes combative style, Carson made many enemies among local law enforcement and prosecutors.
  • “The only thing the DA understands is pain.” (Frank Carson, 01:59)
• The Charges:
  Carson was accused in 2014 of orchestrating the murder of a scrap metal thief, Corey Kaufman, with help from liquor store owners, police officers, and family.
• Courtroom Irony:
  Carson simultaneously defended clients in court while standing trial for his own alleged crimes in the same courthouse—a strange scenario even for experienced reporters.
  • “He would walk down the hall to another courtroom where he was facing his own murder charge.” (Christopher Goffard, 00:17)
• Physical and Emotional Toll:
  Carson spent 17 months in jail as his health declined, showing signs of fatigue and illness but retaining his trademark defiance.
  • “He moved with a kind of swagger.” (Christopher Goffard, 00:17)
  • “It's disconcerting to them… I won't do it. Maybe I should, but I won't.” (Frank Carson, 01:21)

2. Case Collapse and Aftermath

• Acquittal and Lawsuit:
  After an 18-month preliminary hearing and a 17-month trial—the second longest murder trial in California history—Carson and his co-defendants were acquitted.
• Carson’s Death:
  Preparing a malicious prosecution suit, Carson died of a heart attack at age 66, reportedly due in part to the toll of the ordeal.
• Historic Settlement:
  Stanislaus County settled the civil suit for $22.5 million—a major public payout for a botched prosecution, sparing the county the risk of jury scrutiny.
  • “It was one of the largest payouts of its kind in the history of the California courts.” (Christopher Goffard, 04:21)

3. Victims of the Prosecution

• Georgia DeFilippo (Frank's widow) and Daughter:
  Both were swept into the case on scant evidence and jailed for two months; the charges did not survive preliminary hearings.
  • “I thought it was a really bad dream, but ... I was in jail for nearly two months, 59 days.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 04:41)
• Personal and Financial Fallout:
  The family lost their business, nearly lost their home, and suffered enduring trauma.
  • “It was awful. We lost our business… We lost our faith in the system.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 05:15)
• Payout Distribution:
  • Georgia DeFilippo: $4 million
  • Carson’s estate: $4 million
  • Christina (daughter): $2.5 million
  • Atwal brothers (liquor store owners): $3.6 million
  • Three CHP officers: $6.8 million
• Bittersweet Victory:
  “The settlement's great, but what it leaves you with is this really bad taste in your mouth.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 05:45)

4. Problems with the Prosecution’s Case

• Fabricated and Flimsy Evidence:
  Authorities used dubious evidence, such as innocuous text messages, “junk science” claims about cell phone records (by expert Jim Cook), and the testimony of a desperate, unreliable witness, Robert Woody.
  • Cook’s mapping methods were discredited at trial, and his Google Earth analysis favored the defense (Christopher Goffard, 19:21).
• Robert Woody’s Testimony:
  A meth-addicted handyman, Woody initially bragged to a girlfriend about involvement in the murder, but later admitted he was fabricating stories under pressure from police and prosecutors.
  • “I tried to save my innocence from the beginning. It didn’t help out… I did my time for something I didn’t do.” (Robert Woody, 22:01)
• Prosecution’s Bias and Retaliation:
  Investigators (notably Kirk Bunch) and prosecutors had a history of animosity toward Carson, a fact noted by expert witness Matt Murphy, who concluded the case should never have been filed.
  • “Key roles were played by investigators with… pronounced histories of enmity toward Carson.” (Christopher Goffard, 22:52)

5. Ongoing Impunity and Lack of Accountability

• No Discipline for Officials:
  None of the law enforcement or prosecution officials involved in the case admitted wrongdoing or faced discipline. The main players retired with their pensions.
• Enduring Injustice:
  The original murder remains unsolved, and the people pursued in the failed prosecution are left to grapple with the aftermath.
  • “And all these years later, the real killer… is still out there.” (Christopher Goffard, 06:46)
• Georgia’s Call for Accountability:
  “I would like to see criminal charges brought against former DA Birgit Fladager who presided over the prosecution, and [trial prosecutor] Marlissa Ferreira.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 25:27)

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Notable Quotes & Memorable Moments

• Frank Carson on Defiance:
  “They expect that... I should be going through that courthouse cowering and hiding my head. I won’t do it.” (Frank Carson, 01:21)
• On Carson’s Philosophy:
  “The only thing the DA understands is pain.” (Frank Carson, 01:59) “If I really catch [law enforcement] lying in one trial after another, then it’s open season for… their career.” (Frank Carson, 08:10)
• On Justice and Innocence:
  “There’s something infinitely worse than a guilty person going free—it’s convicting an innocent man of crimes he didn’t commit.” (Frank Carson, 09:14)
• On Prison’s Toll:
  “He had diabetes, and… he wouldn’t give [jail doctors] any blood, so he couldn’t be treated. His blood pressure went sky high. His kidneys burned out.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 24:15)
• On Personal Transformation:
  “[Getting out of jail is] like being born again. Frank was a man who believed in the law and the underdog… standing up for somebody who hasn’t got anybody to stand up for themselves.” (Georgia DeFilippo, 24:49)
• On the Settlement:
  “Validation for a group of defendants who went through hell… but, of course, taxpayers foot the bill.” (Christopher Goffard, 06:29)
• On Prosecutorial Closure:
  “A necessary step to close a difficult chapter and maintain our focus on current public safety.” (New DA Jeff Lagero, paraphrased, 27:57)

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Key Timestamps for Major Segments

• Frank Carson’s Defiance and Style: 00:17 – 01:42
• Nature and Fallout of the Charges: 01:42 – 04:21
• Georgia DeFilippo on Impact and Trauma: 04:21 – 05:45
• Payouts to Defendants: 05:59 – 06:54
• Frank Carson’s Approach to Law and Foes: 07:35 – 10:42
• Origin of the Case (Corey Kaufman Disappearance): 10:42 – 13:43
• Police Intrusion and Audio: 12:34 – 14:15
• Robert Woody’s Story and Flip-Flops: 15:29 – 22:52
• Civil Settlement, Expert Analysis, and Systemic Failure: 22:52 – 25:27
• Georgia DeFilippo on Hope and Accountability: 24:49 – 25:27

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Tone and Closing Reflection

Goffard maintains a measured, probing tone—sympathetic to the victims of prosecutorial overreach but critical of the system that allowed it. The interview clips underscore not only the resilience of Carson and his family, but also the deep wounds left by an unchecked official vendetta.

The episode ends with a sense of unresolved injustice: a dead defense attorney, real criminals unpunished, and the authorities who perpetrated the legal fiasco walking away undisciplined.

For further details and related stories, visit Crimes of the Times

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Transcript

[Christopher Goffard]

This is an LA Times Studios podcast.

[Frank Carson]

They're not alleging that I was there. It's just that I set it all in motion and it's not true.

[Christopher Goffard]

That's the voice of Frank Carson, a criminal defense attorney in California's Central Valley. When I met him in 2019, he was on trial for first degree murder, accused of being the kingpin of a complicated murder conspiracy. But local prosecutors had already botched the case so badly that a judge had been forced to let him out on bail. It was one of the strangest cases I had seen in my nearly 30 years as a reporter covering the criminal justice system. In one courtroom at the downtown Modesto courthouse, Carson would represent clients accused of serious crimes, including homicide. Then he'd walk down the hall to another courtroom where he was facing his own murder charge. The ordeal had punished Carson physically. He'd spent 17 months in jail. His body was failing. You can hear the fatigue in his voice. But he carried himself through the courthouse with characteristic defiance. Even with a cane, he moved with a kind of swagger.

[Frank Carson]

It's disconcerting to them. It's not what they expect. I mean, they expect that. I mean, I should be going through that courthouse cowering and hiding my head. I won't do it. Maybe I should, but I won't do it.

[Christopher Goffard]

People told Carson that he was paying the price for putting his thumb in the eye of the man for 25 years, which is how he thought of his work as a defense attorney. His style had always been hyper aggressive and personal, and it had made him enemies.

[Frank Carson]

The only thing the DA understands is pain.

[Christopher Goffard]

Carson was accused of masterminding the murder of a scrap metal thief and then covering it up with help from a pair of liquor store owners, three cops, and his family. You can get the play by play in my 2021 podcast, the Trials of Frank Carson. Ultimately, after one of the longest trials in American history, a jury acquitted Carson and his co defendants. One of the lessons of the case was how ruinous a long criminal trial can be, even when you win. A year after his acquittal, as he was preparing a malicious prosecution suit against the county in federal court, Frank Carson's heart quit and he died. He was 66. But the lawsuit moved forward with his estate named as a plaintiff as well as seven of his former co defendants. They contended that police and prosecutors had fabricated the charges based on perjured testimony and junk science, all in a retaliatory scheme to destroy a defense attorney they happened to hate. Named in the suit were Birgit Fladiger the elected DA of Stanislaus county, who oversaw the prosecution and allowed millions of taxpayer dollars to be spent on it, though she refused to give me an estimated dollar amount when I asked. Also named was Marlissa Ferreira, the trial prosecutor who actually admitted in her closing argument to jurors that the case lacked hard evidence. The suit also named the DA investigator who spearheaded the case and sat with Ferrera throughout the trial. Kirk Bunch of who had a documented history of bad blood with Carson. This April, six years after Carson's acquittal, Stanislaus county approved a $22.5 million payout to settle the suit. It happened right on the threshold of trial. It was one of the largest payouts of its kind in the history of the California courts. But the payout might have been much larger if it had gone to trial and and a jury had had a chance to examine how egregiously the case was mishandled. It's possible Stanislaus county supervisors knew they were getting off cheap when they approved the deal.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

Frank had told me that they were looking at us and he had heard it. And I said, no, no, they'll see that they're mistaken because, you know, we didn't do anything.

[Christopher Goffard]

This is Georgia DeFilippo, Frank Carson's widow, speaking at a press conference after the settlement was announced.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

I thought it was a really bad dream, but I just. And I was in jail for nearly two months, 59 days.

[Christopher Goffard]

The case against her and her daughter was based on some innocuous text messages that authorities framed as sinister. The evidence was so flimsy, the case against them didn't even survive a preliminary hearing. From the start, Carson believed the only reason authorities went after his family was to force him to cop a plea in exchange for their freedom.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

It's like the hand of fate plucking you out of your life and throwing you down a hill. It was awful. We lost our business, came close to losing. We lost our home and it just. We lost our faith in the system and our faith in the people of the county.

[Christopher Goffard]

Georgia's cut of the settlement was $4 million. She's also co executive of her late husband's estate, which got an additional 4 million.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

The settlement's great, but what it leaves you with is this really bad taste in your mouth and this constant anxiety of how wrong everything can go.

[Christopher Goffard]

Georgia's daughter Christina, a former ART student, got $2.5 million of the settlement. The rest was divided between other co defendants who were falsely implicated in the so called conspiracy. 3.6 million went to Baljeet and Daljeet Atwal, who ran the Pop and Cork Liquor Store. 6.8 million was divided between three California Highway Patrol officers, some of whom lost their law enforcement careers as a result of the case. On one level, it's validation for a group of defendants who went through hell on the flimsiest charges. But of course, taxpayers foot the bill. None of the cops or prosecutors who engineered the case have admitted wrongdoing, and none appear to have been disciplined. The key players have retired with their pensions. The defense attorney they tried to take down is dead. And all these years later, the real killer of a 26 year old Turlock man whose disappearance in 2012 ignited the whole case is still out there.

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[Christopher Goffard]

As a defense attorney, Frank Carson had an uncommonly pugilistic style. He was profane and combative, folksy and shrewd, warm and vicious. He took delight in antagonizing and humiliating his courtroom opponents. He insulted cops and prosecutors who got in his way. He would impugn their competence, their honesty, their sanity, and sometimes their manhood. And he won big cases that other lawyers thought were hopeless. All of this made him many enemies among the ranks of Stanislaus county cops and prosecutors.

[Frank Carson]

I haven't had any qualms about going after law enforcement for lying. And if I really catch them doing it in one trial after another, then it's open season for, as far as I'm concerned, for the rest of their career unless they show me something different.

[Christopher Goffard]

This is from one of my interviews with Carson six years ago, while he was still on trial, he was recounting some of his big cases for me and and how he'd won them.

[Frank Carson]

I told the jury that towards the end that we're all taught to render unto Caesar Caesar. And I usually point to the da Caesar doesn't deserve this man. I tell him that there's not a person in this room that wouldn't be sick of the idea that a guilty person walked out those doors unpunished for a crime that they committed. But there's something infinitely worse.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

And that.

[Frank Carson]

Would be to convict an innocent man of crimes that he did not commit. We go to great pains to explain reasonable doubt. And we go to. And we take sometime, we take a long time, but. Sorry, I'm sorry. Apologize.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

Sorry.

[Frank Carson]

I'm sorry to get all goofed up. Anyway.

[Christopher Goffard]

Carson was emotional during this interview. Part of it was he feared that his career as a lawyer doing the thing he loved to do was basically over. He told me about his first years as a lawyer in the public defender's office and how he relished taking what he called the dbls, the dead bang loser cases.

[Frank Carson]

I love trial and I also loved the idea that they thought it was hopeless. And I did like winning. I loved winning. But I got to where I wasn't afraid to lose. I've had attorneys, they said, oh, Frank, you should have seen me. It was Carson esque. I told them off and all that. That isn't the point. The point is to win.

[Christopher Goffard]

Carson was the opposite of a slick looking legal operator. He was shambling and disheveled. He loved to visit swap meets and collect old junk, which played a role in his downfall. There were piles of scrap metal and random machinery strewn all over his yard in the city of Turlock where he was living. But local junkies and scrap metal thieves were constantly raiding the place. There was a hole in the fence that the thieves used to get in and out. One of the well known local thieves was named Corey Kaufman. He was 26. People called him Corn Dog. He was deep into a methamphetamine addiction. He had a lot of enemies who wanted to hurt him. People he had ripped off in one way or another. When he disappeared one day in 2012, one of his friends, a career criminal and junkie himself, told police that Kaufman had planned to steal some metal pipes from Carson's property. Maybe there was a connection. Maybe Carson was behind the disappearance. And so local authorities began investigating. The DA's office led the charge. A man who took point had a well established history of rancor with Carson. This was DA investigator Kirk Bunch. Carson had attacked him publicly and called him a liar, quote, dishonest and unprofessional. Carson had ridiculed him on the witness stand. There were other suspects detectives might have pursued. Some had threatened Coffman and expressed open hatred toward him. But it was Carson detectives devoted their energies to. When Bunch and other investigators paid a surprise visit to Carson's office, Carson did what he would have advised a client to do. He refused to talk.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

We are also investigating.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Get out. A potential murder. Get out. You're a person of interest. Get out. You need to get out. Get out. Get out. Don't be aggressive, Mr. Carson. I need help here in 911-811-15th Street. Get out. These people won't leave. Get out. Calm down, Frank. Get out.

[Christopher Goffard]

Faced with cops in his office who refused to leave, Carson behaved with characteristic chutzpah. He called 911 and threatened to arrest and disarm them. Authorities would point to his behavior and use this recording as evidence, supposedly of his explosive and slippery nature.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

These guys are armed. They're armed. One is a police officer. VA investigator.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

You're welcome to call. You have our number.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

He won't get out. Hey, Frank. I'm gonna place him under arrest.

[Christopher Goffard]

They're gonna place me under arrest.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Frank. I'm gonna have him disarmed and place him under arrest. Frank Carson, attorney of law. Get out. Frank, can we. They won't leave. They won't leave.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

You know, Georgia, this thing's gonna be all bad.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

I'm ready.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Wait a minute. He just threatened. Bunch has just threatened my wife, saying it's all gonna be bad. Get out so we can lock the door.

[Christopher Goffard]

Lock.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

I'm gonna lock the door. Can I tell you something real quick? Get out. No, I don't want to hear anything. I'm tired of your abuse and your threats. Are you gonna be okay? Georgia, lock the door.

[Christopher Goffard]

Shut up.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Get out. I just wanna make sure she's gonna be okay.

[Christopher Goffard]

Get out.

[LA Times Studios Announcer]

Give me a call.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Get out.

[Christopher Goffard]

Okay.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

Get out.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

All right, Mr. Carson.

[911 Dispatcher / Police Officer]

It's not gonna go back. It's not gonna work. Let go of my door.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

It's not gonna work this time. Mr. Carson, you're under investigation.

[Christopher Goffard]

The investigation died down for a while, but revived when Kaufman's fragmented skeleton was found in Stanislaus national forest in 2013, 17 months after he vanished. Still, there was nothing to link it to Carson. Then along came a man named Robert Woody, a drug addled steroidal handyman at the Pop and Cork liquor store in Turlock. One day he was doing crystal meth with a girlfriend he described as another dope fiend. He was in a bragging mood. He told his girlfriend that he was responsible for Coughman's murder. Police put a wire on the girlfriend, who got him to say it again. He claimed that he'd yanked out Kaufman's teeth and fed him to the pigs. It was a scenario uncannily similar to a popular monologue in the Guy Ritchie film Snatch. It didn't matter that Woody's description did not actually match Kaufman's remains. In Kaufman's skull, the teeth were conspicuously intact.

[Robert Woody]

I made a statement to another doping, you know, a girl, and things I said to her was apparently what happened to the victim or whatever. And it turned out to be nothing like that.

[Christopher Goffard]

But Woody was arrested and subjected to harsh questioning. Kirk Bunch threatened him with the death penalty. Woody kept insisting that he had been making up the story. He'd just been trying to impress a lady with a tall tale. Faced with a murder charge, Woody was eventually allowed to plead no contest to manslaughter in exchange for a seven year prison term and in exchange for his testimony as the state star witness. When I interviewed Woody years later, he told me he came to understand what story Stanislaus county law enforcement wanted to hear, that Carson was somehow behind the killing. So Woody became the pillar of the prosecution's case, even though his story shifted and changed endlessly, Even though he was never able to direct police to a single piece of evidence corroborating his claims. He said that Carson had enlisted the brothers who owned the nearby Pop and Cork liquor store to watch his property and that they had killed and disposed of Kaufman when he came to rob the place. At one point, Woody even said that he'd seen Carson himself at the murder scene with a gun. Woody's lawyer told him was no one would believe such a stupid story. And so Woody retracted it. He said he'd just been embellishing, trying to help the prosecution's case. Incredibly, even this did not stop prosecutors from making him their star witness.

[Pat Morrison]

Just because you can't see it doesn't mean it isn't still here.

[Robert Woody]

It is smog.

[Pat Morrison]

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[Georgia DeFilippo]

Everywhere.

[Pat Morrison]

You listen to podcasts.

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[Christopher Goffard]

Shh.

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[Christopher Goffard]

In the State of California vs Defense Attorney Frank Carson and his co defendants, There was an 18 month preliminary hearing and a 17 month trial. The second longest murder trial in California history for prosecutors. Among the many embarrassments was a cell phone expert named Jim Cook. They had paid nearly $400,000. Cook claimed that on the night Coffin supposedly vanished from Carson's property, cell tower records put the Poppencourk brothers phones in that area. But he admitted he had done his mapping with a protractor and his naked eye when he did it with Google Earth, the results actually favored the defendants. In the end, Robert Woody was. Was the only person convicted in connection with Kaufman's death. After he got out of prison, he told me that he made up the whole account because he had no other choice. He wanted to see his family again. He told me his testimony was make believe and stories they wanted to hear. It was a theme he repeated during his deposition during the civil suit.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

As far as you're concerned right now, the things you told the police about being involved in the Corey Kaufman killing, that. That Frank Carson or anybody else was involved, none of that was true. Is that your testimony today?

[Robert Woody]

I didn't see nothing.

[Christopher Goffard]

Okay.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

You didn't know anything about Frank Carson being involved in Corey Kaufman's killing?

[Robert Woody]

No, sir.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

Do you recall that you were taken by the police up into the mountains to where they found the body of Corey Kaufman and you went up there?

[Christopher Goffard]

Yeah.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

Had you ever been up there to the mountains where this guy was apparently buried?

[Robert Woody]

No. I've never even owned Carson's property neither.

[Christopher Goffard]

Okay.

[Robert Woody]

I don't know. I made a comment about chopping a body up. You know what I mean? And chopping the body up and feeding it to the hogs.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

Hogs?

[Robert Woody]

Yeah.

[Christopher Goffard]

Figs.

[Frank Carson]

Yeah.

[Robert Woody]

So. But when they. I guess that Right there, you mean? And I said, take the teeth out. You mean? And pulverize the teeth. And I made some stupid comments. But when that public defender came to me, the teeth were intact. The body wasn't cut up. You know, when they stopped wanting to hear me saying that I was innocent. Give them what they want to hear.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

Why do you think you did that?

[Robert Woody]

Get him off my. Get him off my back. I mean, what I feel is I did my time for something I didn't do. It got taken from me. You know what I mean? I'm not gonna get it back. I tried fighting. I tried to save my innocence from the beginning. It didn't help out. I told all of you guys that no matter what I say today or tomorrow, it's not gonna change nothing. I mean, what actually needs to be done was actually the killer needed to be the one caught being charged. But instead, they tried to wrap all of us up in. Irritates me, makes me aggravated, you know what I mean? What I put myself into and allow myself to get put into it instead of having a backbone, standing.

[Christopher Goffard]

The prosecution's decision to build their massive case on the word of a witness as obviously unreliable as Robert Woody was just one of the problems. Matt Murphy, a former Orange county prosecutor, served as an expert witness for the plaintiffs and produced a detailed report. He found the prosecution was rife with mistakes. Key roles were played by investigators with what he called pronounced histories of enmity toward Carson. He said the acrimonious history between Carson and local prosecutors should have compelled the district attorney's office to recuse itself. Murphy concluded that the case should not have been filed in the first place. He didn't think any reasonable jury would have convicted. A lawyer for Stanislaus county told me the $22.5 million payout would come out of the county general fund and insurance.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

He was cold all the time he was there for nearly two years. He was. No bail.

[Christopher Goffard]

Carson's widow believes the stress of the criminal case destroyed his health and contributed to the heart attack that killed him. No small part of it was the 17 months he spent in jail. He was so distrustful of jailhouse doctors that he refused to let them treat him.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

He had diabetes, and when he went in, he was afraid to be tested for the diabetes because he knew that cops would plant evidence if they had his blood. He wasn't sure where it would turn up, so he wouldn't give him any blood, so he couldn't be treated for that. His blood pressure went sky high. His kidneys burned out, and I want to make something clear.

[Attorney Gary Gwilliam]

The clients are not just not guilty, they're innocent.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

And there's a difference. These people all are innocent. Every single one.

[Christopher Goffard]

Georgia said the ordeal on the time she spent in jail has transformed her outlook.

[Georgia DeFilippo]

Actually, I, I much more appreciative when I finally did get out, you know, it's just. It's like being born again. It you realize how beautiful the world is and how great ice tea is with, with ice in it, you know, and it's just the little things. Frank was a man who believed in the law and the underdog. I can't think of anyone that was quite like him. He wasn't afraid to stand up and he called it poking the bear. You know, he's standing up for somebody who hasn't got anybody to stand up for themselves.

[Christopher Goffard]

She said she would like to see criminal charges brought against former Stanislaus County DA Birgit Fladager, who presided over the prosecution and the trial prosecutor Marlissa Ferreira. Both of them have left the DA's office. She found it painful to see them walk away without any real consequences. Georgia's attorney, Gary Gwilliam, described the case as a cautionary tale about what happens when the government goes after people they don't like. He said that during depositions in the civil case, the prosecutors and law enforcement officers who targeted Carson did not acknowledge that they had done anything wrong and did not face discipline for their behavior. Gwilliams said, quote, they said they thought they did the right thing. We thought Woody was credible. They have to toe the line, end quote. In Stanislaus county, law enforcement wants to consign the whole episode to the past. The new District Attorney, Jeff Lagero, who took office in January 2023, issued a press release after the settlement. He described it, quote, as a necessary step to close a difficult chapter and maintain our focus on current public safety. Prior. From LA Times Studios, this is Crimes of the Times. To read more about these cases, check out Crimes of the [e-mail] this episode was written and reported by me, your host, Christopher Goffard. Our senior producers are Mary Knoff and Jonathan Shifflet. At Studio Phonic, executive editor is Stuart Leavenworth. Associate producer is Jordan Patterson. Our camera operator is Peter Grayson. Our director of post production is Patrick Stewart, and our senior sound recording engineer is Nick Norton with additional engineering by Jordan Patterson. Destin Leigh is our senior coordinating producer. Special thanks to LA Times Studios President Anna McZanian, President and Chief operating officer of the Los Angeles Times, Chris Argenteri and executive editor of the Los Angeles Times, Terry Tang. Crimes of the Times is executive produced and co created by Darius Derek Shahn and me, Christopher Goffard.

[Halimo Yudin]

Who's abducting 100,000 children in China each year. And how is a cult where paedophilia, murder and torture were commonplace allowed to operate in Chile for nearly four decades? At True Crime Reports, a new video podcast from Al Jazeera, we'll investigate these stories from the global south and beyond. True crimes that often haven't reached the headlines in the West. I'm Halimo Yudin. In each episode, we'll take you to a different country. You'll hear from experts and firsthand accounts from those right at the heart of these stories. True Crime Reports. Find us under Al Jazeera's YouTube channel podcast tab and wherever you get your podcasts.