Resounding VICTORY for Justin Baldoni, Inside Weinstein’s Retrial, and Lynette Hooker's Disappearance, with Ashleigh Banfield

Summary

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MK True Crime Podcast – Episode Summary

Episode Title: Resounding VICTORY for Justin Baldoni, Inside Weinstein’s Retrial, and Lynette Hooker's Disappearance, with Ashleigh Banfield
Date: May 8, 2026
Host(s): Matt Murphy (former homicide prosecutor), Mark Agnifilo (criminal defense attorney)
Guest: Ashley Banfield (journalist, Drop Dead Serious podcast)

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Overview

This episode surveys three huge stories in the true crime and legal world:

1. The legal victory for Justin Baldoni (via attorney Brian Friedman) in a high-profile settlement involving Blake Lively.
2. Exclusive insights into the ongoing Harvey Weinstein retrial, exploring the complications of serial prosecutions.
3. An in-depth case breakdown by Ashley Banfield on the suspicious disappearance of Lynette Hooker, a Michigan sailor who vanished under questionable circumstances in the Bahamas.

Through candid and sometimes blunt conversation, the hosts dissect legal strategy, celebrity culture’s underbelly, and real-time criminal investigations with expert insight and irreverent humor.

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Segment 1: Justin Baldoni’s “Resounding Victory” in the Blake Lively Settlement

Timestamps: 01:00–14:24, 23:38–24:24, 57:27–58:21

Key Discussion Points

• Settlement Background:

  • Brian Friedman (Baldoni’s lawyer) was cagey about details due to judicial oversight, but key facts suggest the case resolved favorably for Baldoni.
  • The hosts criticize “spin” from Lively’s camp post-settlement.
  • [08:32] “We see the spin machine picking up again and that appearance at the Met Gala… straight out of the playbook.” – Matt Murphy

• Confidentiality & Legal Playbooks:

  • Mark Agnifilo highlights the use of “sham litigation,” where lawsuits act as vehicles to leak or launder damaging information—referencing how text messages painting Baldoni in a poor light may have been illicitly obtained ([09:43]–[10:33]).
  • “That has got to be unethical as hell, right? … It’s kind of right out of the playbook of Grifter 101.” – Mark Agnifilo, [10:33]

• Attorney Fees & Insurance:

  • Attorneys speculate that while the principal parties settled, ongoing battles between insurance carriers likely remain ([23:59]).
  • “I would rather get a root canal than have anything to do with that.” – Matt Murphy, [24:24]

• Takeaways & Tone:

  • The civil legal world is depicted as one where glamor is a thin veneer for pettiness and hidden financial maneuvering.
  • “These people turn out to be some of the pettiest, most gossipy, shittiest human beings.” – Matt Murphy, [13:07]

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Segment 2: Inside Weinstein’s Retrial – Lawyering at the Highest Stakes

Timestamps: 16:05–24:24, 26:05–23:38

Key Discussion Points

• Weinstein’s Legal Saga:

  • Harvey Weinstein’s case is in a third round of prosecution in New York, with appeals still pending on an L.A. conviction ([19:03]).
  • “Trying a criminal case, especially a rape case for a third time, is like putting on a wet, sandy bathing suit.” – Matt Murphy, [20:53]

• The Realities of Retrials:

  • Both hosts, seasoned trial lawyers, explain why each successive trial gets harder for prosecutors:
    • Witnesses’ stories diverge over time, creating opportunities for devastating cross-examination.
    • Jurors quickly infer a prior hung jury or mistrial, eroding confidence in the prosecution’s case ([21:42]–[23:42]).
  • “If it’s the second or third trial and you’ve got four previous transcripts under oath—Katie, bar the door!” – Mark Agnifilo, [22:24]

• Memorable Moments:

  • Mark shares how his daughter Tenney, a fellow attorney, has become an expert at cross-examination—eliciting thanks from accusers after grueling testimony ([17:34]).
  • The dynamic between high-powered clients and their attorneys is wryly observed:
    • “This is not a movie, you’re not producing this, you’re not directing this: you’re going to let the lawyers deal with it.” – Mark Agnifilo (paraphrased to Weinstein), [16:05]

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Segment 3: The Disappearance of Lynette Hooker – Deep Dive with Ashley Banfield

Timestamps: 25:54–54:09

Key Discussion Points

• Case Overview:

  • Lynette Hooker, an experienced sailor from Michigan, allegedly fell overboard while boating near Elbow Cay, Bahamas, on April 4. Her husband, Brian Hooker, claims rough seas and a tragic accident, but evidence and timelines contradict his version.
  • Ashley Banfield, who’s been on the ground investigating, unravels inconsistencies and damning background details:
    • Weather was calm, not rough, as Brian claimed.
    • Multiple versions given about what happened (to police, to friends).
    • Lynette’s history as a strong swimmer—should have made reaching shore possible ([28:08]–[31:48]).

• Domestic Violence History:

  • Brian had a documented past of violence, including allegations of choking Lynette and his own daughter, as well as photographs of bruising ([33:25]).
  • “She has returned from the boat to her mother’s many times saying, ‘I’m not going back again.’” – Ashley Banfield, [33:25]

• Critical Moments & Digital Evidence:

  • Analysis of timelines around the last photos, time of departure, and daylight suggest the “accident” could not have happened as described.
  • Marine and forensics experts (and Banfield’s own boating experience) debunk Hooker’s story of drifting for nine hours.
  • Digital trails—watches, phones, and device connections—may contain conclusive evidence, especially as both Lynette and Brian were tech-savvy ([43:39]–[46:59]).
  • “I think the digital exhaust in this one is going to be a real problem for Brian, because… it’s next to impossible to erase yourself going back.” – Ashley Banfield, [46:50]

• Police Investigation Gaps:

  • Bahamian police have been slow, with poor evidence collection:
    • Did not confiscate or image devices immediately, did not even photograph clothing at arrest.
    • Withheld key video from U.S. investigators ([47:16]–[49:04]).

• Potential Motives:

  • No “other woman,” per Banfield, but financial issues: Brian lived off Lynette, who was the breadwinner, and burned through his own 401(K).
  • Lynette had a ticket to leave him just weeks before the disappearance ([52:23]–[53:17]).
  • “He was the biggest asshole they’d ever met… conniving, manipulative, all he ever thought about was how to stick it to the man.” – Ashley Banfield (on Brian Hooker’s reputation), [49:25]

• Ashley Banfield’s Passion:

  • Her direct experience as a mariner, and personal conversations with witnesses and experts, drive her conviction that Brian Hooker’s tale is a lie.
  • “Everything he said, from the minute I heard it, was like, excuse me—is anybody hearing this jack off?” – Ashley Banfield, [53:17]

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Notable Quotes & Moments

• On being cross-examined:

  “After you’ve cross-examined somebody for multiple days, they thank you—I don’t… kind of a weird sensation. Nobody’s thanking me after I cross-examine.”
  — Mark Agnifilo, [17:34]

• On the legal world behind celebrity cases:

  “You… get behind the curtain and… these glamorous, powerful, rich people turn out to be some of the pettiest, most gossipy, shittiest human beings.”
  — Matt Murphy, [13:07]

• On the business of spinning settlements:

  “Talk about really going out of your way to try to declare victory two days later or three days later. It was really kind of pathetic.”
  — Mark Agnifilo, [08:32]

• On the dynamics of retrials:

  “Trying a criminal case, especially a rape case for a third time is like putting on a wet, sandy bathing suit.”
  — Matt Murphy, [20:53]

• On Lynette Hooker's case:

  “His story is horseshit. And I can take you from there, but I’ll stop talking for now.”
  — Ashley Banfield, [31:48]

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Timestamps for Key Segments

• Recap of Blake Lively Settlement & Spin: 01:00–14:24
• Discussion of Celebrity Legal Tactics & Ethics: 08:32–12:17
• Attorney Fees & Insurance wrangling: 23:38–24:24
• Weinstein Retrial – Process & Pitfalls: 16:05–24:24
• Ashley Banfield on Lynette Hooker Disappearance – Overview and Timeline: 28:08–31:48
• Domestic Violence History: 33:25–34:27
• Police Investigation Gaps & Digital Evidence: 47:16–49:04
• Discussion of Motives & Personality: 49:25–53:17

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Where to Hear More

• Ashley Banfield: Drop Dead Serious podcast (YouTube, all major platforms), with further investigative updates on the Lynette Hooker case.

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Conclusion

This episode blends procedural expertise, real-world legal drama, and investigative reporting—shedding light not only on the headline stories, but on the human, ethical, and systemic failures behind them. With sharp banter, pointed critique, and a dose of gallows humor, the MK True Crime team delivers essential context for true crime aficionados and armchair legal analysts alike.

Transcript

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[Matt Murphy]

Welcome to in the well, I'm Matt Murphy, former homicide prosecutor and I'm joined by my longtime co host and friend Mark Aragos, criminal defense attorney to the stars. We're going to get into the Harvey Weinstein rape trial going on in New York right now. And later, journalist, co host of the Drop Dead Serious podcast. Our friend Ashley Banfield will join us to discuss the latest on the investigation into the disappearance of Lynette Hooker. This is a real juicy one. She's the Michigan mom who allegedly fell overboard. Allegedly. Allegedly. In the Bahamas. But first, Mark, I want to discuss the Blake Lively settlement that happened last week.

[Mark Agnifilo]

First, can we talk once? I, you know, I hate it when people fall overboard. I, you know, it's a. By the way, don't I, I think one of the cases, before we talk about Blake Live or anything else, you have one of the original fell overboard cases. That was why that was your claim to fame.

[Matt Murphy]

I do indeed. And this is, I did a little dive into this this morning and it is, it is. The parallels between this and the Tom and Jackie Hawks murder are just rich.

[Mark Agnifilo]

So this is something about Blake Lively. In the interim, you got to take a look at my Rex, the George case, which was also a boat case. And we'll talk about that. But anyway, Blake Lively, this one, we, I think we had the last statement by Brian Friedman prior to the settlement or the last interview, which is last week in episode one. Right?

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah. And just so everybody knows, I think you know, Brian was about to go. He's Mark's buddy. He's about to stand up in front of a federal judge. So Mark and I were very easy with him and the questions and we didn't want to push. And, you know, I, as soon as we were done with the interview, we were kind of chatting with him and he just, he just came alive with some, some really interesting stuff that was. We didn't want to air because we didn't want him to.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Well, especially enrage a federal.

[Matt Murphy]

Federal judge.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Yeah, right. By the way, Southern District, a year ago this week, I was tapped, I've told this story before. I was tapped on the shoulder in a courtroom, in a Southern District courtroom. And Mark Agnifolo said, come with me. And I said, what do you. I'm in the audience. He says, the judge wants to see you in chambers. And it was the Diddy trial. And I go into chambers and the judge, a class act, a Judge Subramanian, but says to me at the time, Mr. Garrigus, I've listened to your podcast. The government has filed a motion to basically have me address the fact that you have called them on your podcast with RV11. Not with you, Matt, I don't want to drag you into this, but that you called the government a six pack of white women now. And he found that to be outrageous. And I said, judge, you know, I've known sean combs for 20 years. He's a black iconic billionaire. And I just thought it's a bad look to have the government prosecuting him under the man act, which was formerly the White Slavery act, and then have a six pack of white women. Now, when I said six pack of white women, those who aren't in California may take that differently because six pack outside of California is like, you're like Joe's six pack or drug door. We know that a six pack is a lineup, a photo lineup. But most people out, this is where there's a cultural disconnect that in a six pack lineup, photo lineup, it's been ruled that if you have unduly suggestive kind of ethnicity or coloring or photographs, that that could be a problem. So anyway, he excoriated me, told me I was. I needed to kind of button it up. And I think without realizing it, I said, as long as you subscribe, Judge, I'm okay with it.

[Matt Murphy]

So, yeah, well, that's something that people need to be aware of. Just in federal court, even for us, it is a very, very intimidating place. There's a saying that nothing on earth is more powerful than God except perhaps a federal judge. And that's kind of the way some of them act. So poor Brian, you know, he's talking to us. And I just didn't want to get the guy in trouble. But he. Man, you asked him a question mark very astutely. I thought about settlement and he was pretty cagey.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Has His Honor referred you to ADR or ordered mediation or settlement discussions?

[Matt Murphy]

I think it's publicly on the docket that we were. We met with the magistrate judge, so I think I can speak to that. And that's the only orders that I'm aware of.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Well, you know, I. Speaking of fathers, my father used to say these cases never settle, sometimes until they see the whites of the juror's eyes. So we'll. We'll see.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah, the. Yeah. It is not. Isn't that the truth? What do you think happened in this settlement?

[Mark Agnifilo]

I will tell you. And by the way, I did not pick up his call. He just called, but I was going to actually hold it up, but I didn't want to get him in trouble, so. And I did not take it because I didn't want him to ever have somebody coming at him that he told me. I. I can tell you with great. I've seen this happen before and I mentioned it last week. What inevitably happens whenever you've got big firm lawyers who are on the brink of a trial is not only do they blink, but their clients blink. They start to get the attorney's fees bill. There aren't, you know, the most of these lawyers have, you know, they're great. They're great kind of studious T14 lawyers who have great resumes and clerk for federal judges. But the number of trials they've actually done, you could count on one hand. In fact, I've had clients that I've said who I've retried their case once, twice, three times. And I've said, you've now got more trial experience than a. The head of litigation at X, Y and Z law firm. So you have that working for you. You've got the fact that Lively just had her. Her case gutted by Judge Lyman. And I'm sure they went to a private mediation. And I'm sure what happened was, is they said, you know, walk away now and kind of cut your losses. And that's what she did. Then you saw what happened today because Brian came out and declared victory and basically implied no money change stands, even though he can't. I'm sure there's a, you know, confidentiality. They came out and they filed something in the docket so they could get the protection. And they said, attorneys fees are still in the Mix or something like that. Well, that was a motion based on California code section that's been before Judge Lyman since September of last year. Talk about really going out of your way to try to declare victory two days later or three days later. It was really kind of pathetic.

[Matt Murphy]

But we see the spin machine, you know, picking up again and that. That appearance at the. At the Met gala, right? Like, that whole thing just. Just straight out of the playbook, right? And they call it. For the. For the viewer. They call it. Once you see the whites of the eyes of the jury, like, it's like. Like Bunker Hill. And that happens all the time. And there she is. It's funny because everybody. I've talked about this. I thought it was an odd timing for her to be there. That's just me. But apparently the dress itself didn't go over. That was kind of controversial in some of the. Some of the commentary. But let me run something by you here. Yes, Mark, I found an interview with Brian. We. We went gentle on him. But this is really interesting. Remember those text messages that were leaked to the New York Times that essentially wound up being a hit piece on Justin Baldoni that made him look pretty bad, apparently. The way they got those was. And again, this is the Internet, so I don't know. It's this magical place so you can use your computer to find out information. I have no idea if this is true or not, but apparently what. What the allegation is is that Blake Lively and her crew put together a. Essentially a fictitious corporation called Vanzen, and she got wind from some publicist. Jason, or Justin Baldoni's publicist had these text messages. And when she left her agency, she left her phone. And these were private communications. She left her phone with the agency. And apparently somebody at the agency called the Lively team and said, I've got these really bad text messages. But they didn't want to just release them, so they set up this corporation that sued and subpoenaed these records, and that's how they got them. And Brian called it sham litigation. And if that's true, Mark, I mean, that has got to be unethical as hell, right? Like using.

[Mark Agnifilo]

It's obviously, you're trying to. For those who may not understand the. All kinds of immunities, privileges exist. Litigation privilege is one where you can wrap yourself up. You drop anything into a lawsuit, and then it's very difficult to get over the hurdle of libel, slander. And I've seen that. I can't tell you how many times. I mean, it's Kind of a right out of the playbook of Grifter 101. And, you know, that's. You drop all of this nonsense into a lawsuit without any kind of belief that it's actually true. And to your point, how is that ethical?

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah. And look, I'm not saying her. The legal team that was involved in the case against Brian was. Did that. I've. I have no idea.

[Mark Agnifilo]

We have no idea. We're talking just hypothetically, what happens when somebody drops a bunch of stuff. You know, we saw it last week in the case with JP Morgan where a guy could say stuff in a lawsuit that you could never say just in an interview, for instance. I mean, I remember out of the Juicy Smollett litigation that the two, two gentlemen ended up suing myself and my partner because. And they did it where they made all kinds of specious allegations in a lawsuit and then sued. I mean, that ended up going nowhere. But it's the same kind of a. It's the same kind of playbook that happens.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah. If I was a federal judge, man, I would, I would, I would look very unkindly on that. If it's true. If it's true. I had one mark where it was a, it was a rape case and it was a bunch of victims and one of those things, and the defense side got one of these victims that I think they paid her out. I don't know for sure. I'll leave the names of the case out. But they got this, this fake frigging lawsuit going and they started doing depositions to circumvent all the rape shield protections of, of the victims and really muddied the waters. And I had a, I had a weak state judge guy I've known for years, really, really liked him, have liked him, still like him, but. But just didn't have the spine to shut that nonsense down. And I, I don't think this is over yet. I would imagine that if it's true, there's enough media out there that maybe the State Bar of New York will take an interest in that. And I don't know. We'll see. But, you know, one of the things that I, I find. Find really fascinating about this case, Mark, is that even growing up in la, I've got the, like, I think all of us have that. We see the glamour like the, the Met gala, right? We see the dresses and the limos and all this money, and they're the beauty and the fame and the magazines. And then you, you, you, you start looking at a case like this. And you start reading these text messages and, you know, or any other case involving celebrities where you actually sort of get behind the curtain and, and these glamorous, powerful rich people turn out to be some of the pettiest, most gossipy, shittiest human beings. And you know what else is interesting is that you instantly learn that the quick dialogue and the brilliance of the characters they play is not who they are at all. Some of them are not that bright. And you've defended so many of them. You know this a lot more than me. I've had three celebrity cases since I've been in private practice and they've all been really cool. Cool and, and not. None of them are charged with anything. I came in as a fixer, that, that sort of thing, and I'll leave their names out. But, but it's a, it's a fascinating thing, isn't it?

[Mark Agnifilo]

Like, you look well and I just look awful. I always say the, the, the biggest lift, so to speak, is not the case itself. And it's not the kind of the media surrounding it. It's the nickel and dime, the 5 and 10% crowd that surrounds most of these people. Because either you or me, when you parachute in, you're in, you're out, and that's the end of the case. And you're not. I, a buddy of mine once said when he parachutes in, he says, you know, don't I, I'm here. I'm captain of this ship.

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[Mark Agnifilo]

In fact, one of the cases we're going to talk about today is Harvey Weinstein. And I without quoting him directly, I will say that it has been said about Harvey that this is not a movie. You're not producing this, you're not directing this. You're going to let the lawyers deal with it.

[Matt Murphy]

That's one of the most. Yeah, that's, that's a real dynamic, isn't it Mark?

[Mark Agnifilo]

Like you because you generally. But it's something that happens whether it's celebrity or anytime you've got somebody who is used to kind of control and a, somebody who is a master of their craft in some area. It's. And I find it the same way. I mean if I'm ever, if I've got a lawyer, I'm the worst client in the world and I want to. I just can't help it. And they can't help it. They, they're used to kind of directing traffic and when you're not the, when you're not the minion, it's a very difficult position when you're telling them and reversing it. Yeah.

[Matt Murphy]

They say doctors make the worst patients and lawyers make the worst clients. But yeah, you can see that, right? Somebody like that Harvey Weinstein with all the power that he had and I mean he's obviously substantially diminished now. But yeah, dealing with clients like that, especially shot callers when you're a high profile guy like yourself who gets these big heavy hitters. That's got to be an interesting dynamic between.

[Mark Agnifilo]

You're looking at that picture right there. If you're watching this on YouTube and there's Harvey and he's got Jacob Kaplan on his right and Mark Agnifolo on his left. Both partners with my daughter Tenny who just did last week the cross examination of the accuser for the. I guess that's. This is the third trial involving this accuser and, and it was quite a couple of day cross examination to the point where the woman when she Tenney was finished cross examining her. I read a couple of stories. I wasn't in the courtroom. Harvey's mad at me for not being there. But the. I read a couple of stories where the woman who was being cross examined by Tenney actually either nodded or gave her some kind of thank you afterwards. I mean which is, which reminded me a year ago when Tenney had cross examined the victim number two or Jane Doe number two in the Diddy case. Same thing there where the. I told Tenney I don't know how to take it when the, after you've cross examined somebody for multiple days, they thank you. I don't say, kind of a weird sensation. Nobody's thanking me after I cross examine.

[Matt Murphy]

So what is, what is the status of the whole Weinstein saga? Bring us up to date on that. Like there's cases in la, there's cases here. What, where is it right now?

[Mark Agnifilo]

So he, he was convicted in Los Angeles. It's up on appeal. It was just argued and everybody who watched the argument, in fact the, the AG who argued it was David Glassman, who I went to law school with. I don't know if you've ever run into David. He's probably the eminence, grease of the, of the Attorney General's office. And I, I laughingly have told him not only is my law school classmate, but one of, one of the guys who actually handled an appeal of my father's case and then argued an appeal of a case involving my daughter. So I mean, talk about bridging a couple of generations. But that case is up on appeal. They haven't issued an opinion yet. Court watchers were telling me it didn't seem to go well for the defense. And in here in York, where I'm sitting today, that trial is, it's the third time around for him. The first trial, Harvey was convicted, it was then reversed. I thought it would be reversed at the intermediate level. I watched those oral arguments, but no, it took the highest court here in New York to reverse it. Arthur Idalla, our co host, MK True Crime alumni, retried it the second time, convicted, I think on one count, but hung on a third involving the woman. And they retried it the third time, this time with Agniphilo, Kaplan and Garrigus retrying it. And that's pending right now as we speak that trial. In fact, I may as this drops and when you're watching this today, I may be there to watch and to talk to Harvey. I feel bad that I've not talked to him since I've seen him.

[Matt Murphy]

They have an expression for our, for our viewers that I know Mark's heard many times. Trying a case for a second time is like putting on a wet bathing suit. There's nothing comfortable about it. Trying a criminal case, especially a rape case for a third time is like putting on a wet, sandy bathing suit. And I've, I've had it. I've gone through that experience.

[Mark Agnifilo]

I had a, this is interesting. Three times, once I've done three trials, retry, you know, Trial on, I think, three occasions. I can think of one in Riverside, one downtown, one in Torrance. I, I am in a minority, I think amongst defense lawyers, the common wisdom is, is it gets better for the prosecution. I have never had that experience. I think, I think it's much better for the defense.

[Matt Murphy]

It is much better for the defense. If nothing else, the jury knows that other juries either couldn't figure it out or there was no conviction. Because you're cross examining everybody and also for the, for the viewer, for a prosecutor, it's a nightmare because they tend to be very emotional and people get, you know, and testifying is an intimidating thing. And, you know, even if they're, if it's the nice old lady down the street with nothing to gain, there will always be some detail that she forgot the first time she testified or, or forgets the second time. And with a skilled trial lawyer that's, you know, that can be devastating for a prosecution's case. And it always gets weird. Weird is always bad for the D. A. So I agree with you, Mark. It's.

[Mark Agnifilo]

And then you've got the judges, and it's usually the prosecutor. And I don't know why they do this. They want to kind of hide the fact that there's been a previous trial. So they do these motions in limine to have the defense not say trial, but you have to say proceeding or previous hearing. Previous hearing. And it's so obvious. And I will admit that I'll sit there and go, at the previous time you testified. And jurors look at you, they know what's going on and they know that it's at the prosecutor's behest because I'm mocking them as I do it. And it never goes well, because in a criminal case, generally you've only got one time to get out of witness, if that, because you're the master of doing hearsay prelims. But if you've had the witness once at a prelim, there's just one story and they can refresh their recollection. Mind you, if it's the second or third trial and you've got four previous test transcripts under oath. Katie, bar the door. Somebody said they didn't know what that expression meant yesterday when I used it, but it means that it's a defense lawyer's sandbox.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah, that's right. That's right. And a jury figures it out in 10 seconds.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Right.

[Matt Murphy]

That's not a big mystery. So. Yeah. So what do you think? Blake Lively? No money exchanged, apparently no money Exchange hands. No apologies necessary. Yeah, I think those attorney's fees might be coming from her to him. That's my guess. But I don't know.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Yeah. And I think that you're going to have a insurance free for all. I think that's what's going on. I think insurance companies, subrogation, reservation of rights, all the stuff that just makes your eyes kind of roll into the back of your head is really what's going on. The two of them, the principals have settled the insurance companies, there's going to be a trail of insurance fights from here on out.

[Matt Murphy]

I would rather get a root canal than have anything to do with that. But that's why we do what we do. That's why civil wars do what they do. Next, journalist and host of the Drop Dead Serious podcast, Ashley Banfield joins us. Please stay tuned.

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[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah.

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[Mark Agnifilo]

Well, I'd like to extend a. I'm not reading from the teleprompter. I'm going to tell an Ashley Banfield story. We're going to welcome her to this podcast. One of my favorite humans in the world. A little known fact is many years ago, 20 or 20, I don't know how many years ago, she looks way too young to be this old. She was at a event at a law school that my Loyola and it was a journalism and something or other event and I was doing a panel with Bob Baker and Bob Baker, for those who don't know, had defended OJ in the civil trial And I did a shtick, and then Bob did a shtick. And Ashley was in the audience. And I. And I love Bob, but Ashley eviscerated him on a cross that I was actually jealous of. And so for those who think she's just a pretty face or just a true crime maven, this. She's got chops. I'll leave it at that. I was there, I had a front row seat, and I turned to Bob and I said, I feel your pain. That was awful. Jesus. Yeah.

[Matt Murphy]

You know, Mark, if I could add to that, if I ever get in trouble and you're representing me, remind me that whatever I do not to piss off Ashley Banfield. Because I've been. I've been getting into this case and oh, my God, it's. It is. It is like. It is so pointed. Her points are so freaking biting.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Because she gets it. She gets it. She's seen this. She's the embodiment. Ashley is the embodiment of seeing this movie before.

[Matt Murphy]

So, yeah, no becoming a lawyer, Ashley, because you would have. You would have killed us both if we were in a courtroom again. Against you, no doubt.

[Ashley Banfield]

No, I can't figure out hearsay. I just can't catch it when it happens.

[Matt Murphy]

You're not alone there.

[Ashley Banfield]

Thank God.

[Matt Murphy]

So why don't you take us through this case, if you could. Actually, this thing's fascinating. This is the Hooker case out of the Bahamas. And this runs a lot of parallels to cases that Mark has done in the past. Cases I've done in the past. Why don't you take us through this, give us an overview and tell us what you think.

[Ashley Banfield]

So just the broad strokes, because I could go on for 20 hours and I've done. That's half of, you know, what I've done in the last two weeks. But I've been on it since April 4, when Brian Hooker and Lynette Hooker spent the day on Elbow Key. They're sailors. They live aboard. They've lived aboard their sailboat for four years. And they bomb all over the place. And they're in the Bahamas in the Elbow Key, Marsh harbor area. And they have a mooring ball in Marsh Harbor. But they decided to get off the mooring ball and sail across to Elbow Key and spend a night and a day enjoying the beautiful, beautiful waters over near Elbow Key. And they threw down anchor in at Pat's Bay and they went over to Tahiti beach and enjoyed that really shallow, white blue water. And then they went all the way back in their little dinghy because, of course when you anchor a big boat, that keel goes down deep and you can't get into the shallow, so you use your dinghy. They got in that dinghy and they went all the way from Tahiti beach up Elbow Key and in to the Abaco Inn for some late afternoon drinks. 4:30 in the afternoon on April 4th. And they were seen there ordering two Cuba Libras each and enjoying the pool there and the bar there. And that's when things start to go fuzzy. I got a couple of pictures of Lynette taking selfies by the pool before 6 o' clock and Brian on his. And Brian's at the pool too. And Brian walking alone down to where the dinghy is docked at 6, 7 o'.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Clock.

[Ashley Banfield]

But he tells the police the following. At 7:30pm My wife and I get in the dinghy from the Abaco Inn and we go out the white sound channel and we take a left and turn south down the shore of Elbow Key towards our sailing yacht that is sitting on anchor in Apat's Bay. And we only get halfway there. And the sea was angry. My friend, that's a reference to Seinfeld. He says the sea was 2 to 4 foot waves. The wind is blowing 20 knots. She bounces off the back of the dinghy. He's trying to row to her and the pin breaks and one oar goes. Now he's trying to row to her, but he just keeps getting separated by the current and the tide and the waves. Remember those three things? They're gonna be important. He throws out this stupid thing that's like a swim, floaty, but there's two life jackets down in the bottom of the dinghy as well as an anchor. And somehow says, I can no longer see her for the waves. And I'm being blown so far. And that was the last, I couldn't even hear her voice. So the real story is the wind was blowing maybe 18 knots on the other side of Elbow Key, but it was calm as glass on their side of Elbow Key. Hence safe harbor. Why you throw down an anchor and put your sailboat in the lovely calm leeward side of an island. So that's bullshit. Everything he just said about the wind and the angry sea, all bullshit. The next thing is that they're in about five, four, three feet of water. So get out and stand up. The next thing is Lynette's a strong swimmer. It was 150 yards to shore and a thousand yards to the sailboat. To one person, he says, she's swimming to the sailboat to another person. He says, I never saw her again. And I just don't even know where it happened. I was so confused. It was dark. Bullshit. They left the Abaco Inn at 7:30 at the latest. Doesn't get dark till 8. I stood there, I boated there. I waited for the sunset. I waited to see what the darkness would look like. And so seven minutes out of the Abaco Inn, he'd be in the landing spot where he said all hell broke loose. It would have been about maybe 7:37, maybe 7:40. Plenty of light. So his story is horseshit. And I can take you from there, but I'll stop talking for now.

[Matt Murphy]

Oh, keep going, keep going. This is. Yeah.

[Mark Agnifilo]

By the way, you know, Ashley, if you ever talked to Matt about that, this was his breakout case, by the way, back in the day. Where was it? Newport Beach.

[Matt Murphy]

Newport Beach? Yeah.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Nobody. Nobody in that case.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah, you know, just. I'm hoping for that. Yeah. Quick, quick history on that, actually. You know, Newport beach, when you're signed to the Homicide unit, you're assigned in Newport Beach. That's a. It's kind of similar, right? There's a lot of. A lot of boozing, a lot of. They call them duffies, these little electric boats that cruise around. And Mark's. Mark's been there, probably out in the water.

[Mark Agnifilo]

I have been there so many times. They. They cruise around and.

[Matt Murphy]

And yeah, every once in a while you get a. You get a murder with a couple. One was. There's one before, right before I came into the homicide unit. There's a woman that was murdered by her boyfriend slash romantic partner. And she. She was an. An heiress. She had a bunch of. Bunch of money and. Same thing out on a dinghy. They were supposedly water skiing. And he claimed to have accidentally hit her with the boat. And he was prosecuted and convicted of murder. So. So keep telling us about this. So. So she.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Wait, I want to know. Ashley, normally in these cases, as you know better than anybody, then there's always the other woman. So has that come up?

[Ashley Banfield]

I don't think that's a thing. And I'll only say this because they're live aboards. They're on a sailboat for four years. You're basically never apart from your. Your sailing mate. When you live on a sailboat and you sail around, well, that'll make you

[Mark Agnifilo]

want to throw her overboard, so.

[Ashley Banfield]

Well, I'm glad you brought that up because this guy, Brian Hooker, has a bad history. He has many allegations of choking her out. She has returned from the boat to her mother's many times saying, I'm not going back again. She's photographed bruises on her back, texting them extemporaneously to her friend, saying, I am going to photograph these bruises because this is what happened to me the last time he pinned me back in the cockpit and was choking me out. He was charged with choking his 12 year old daughter out, went to court and was acquitted by a jury. And the story that many of the family members give me is that they were able to convince the jury that many of the family members may have put memories into this 12 year old. But I have spoken to many of these family members and many of them say they were there when they said

[Mark Agnifilo]

it's 12 year old. Related to the missing woman.

[Ashley Banfield]

No, that would be. The husband is the one we're talking about. Brian hooker. It's his 12 year old. He remarried Lynette. And Lynette also has a daughter, an only daughter now. Yeah.

[Matt Murphy]

So you got a, you got a history of domestic violence. You had a little bit of alcohol. So far we got some, some of the common ingredients we see in this stew. What happens? Yeah, tell us what happens next. So the. She supposedly falls off the. Off the dinghy. What does he do next? He obviously dials 911 right away.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Sure.

[Ashley Banfield]

Good question, Matt. Because he's got a phone and you will all know this. Not everybody knows this. No matter whether your phone has a SIM card or not, there's a little thing at the top says emergency calls only. Okay. Not everybody might know that. So I would give him that grace if he weren't a former AT&T employee. So let's go there. He's a former AT&T telephone installer and repairman. He is a tech geek. He brags about his tech geekiness. She bragged about geeking out the networking of that boat. And guess what? He was fired from AT&T for masking the location on his work van by jiggering with the gps. So this guy knows a thing or two of electronics and he knows that phone will work without a SIM card. And by the way, it would work anyway. You just have to pay higher rates. Your American rates. Big deal. Your wife's supposedly drowning and you're desperately trying to reach her. So the next thing he says is that I tried and tried and tried and I just kept getting farther and farther away.

[Mark Agnifilo]

And.

[Ashley Banfield]

And then she had gone out with the dry bag and the lanyard from the electric key. The spare key was in the dry bag along with our passports and Other things and her phone. And I am left completely rudderless without any power. And I drift for nine hours in the wind and I land on Marsh harbor four miles away. Again, full horseshit. I've spoken to every Marine expert, including the top marine experts in America who have done all of the mapping, all of the marine mapping, the tide mapping, the wave mapping, the wind mapping. He would not have ended up where he was and it would not have taken nine hours. We actually did a demonstration that I'm about to put on my podcast. Takes about five hours if those conditions are replicated almost perfectly.

[Matt Murphy]

So he doesn't know how to swim. He has got a background with the water. What else do we know besides AT and T?

[Ashley Banfield]

Nice. Ex Marine. So an ex Marine. And I usually don't say ex Marine gentleman, because I say once a Marine, always a Marine. But this fella, even with his USMC tattoo, does not espouse the morals or the character of any of the United States Marine Corps that I've met. So he's an ex Marine to me. Just based on the garbage that he's feeding everybody and the fact that he bounced out of the Bahamas just as fast as he could after promising everyone he would stay there until his wife was found. Not even 10 hours out of jail and he's got a fresh passport and he's on his way out. But.

[Matt Murphy]

So, yeah, so tell us about that.

[Mark Agnifilo]

So tell me about the where. What stage are we at right now in the proceedings?

[Ashley Banfield]

So the Bahamian police arrested him on day five. Hang on, let me count. He goes out Saturday night, Sunday, Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday. So day four and a half. They pull him in and they detain him, but they don't charge him and they gather evidence. I'm just going to tell you right now, not ready for prime time because this evidence gathering didn't even include photographing him or taking his clothes or taking his watch, which is a marine watch that gathers all sorts of what, say it with me, location data. They don't take his phone either. And so they hold him for as long as they can based on their local laws. I guess they didn't have enough probable cause. I found it in about five minutes. Being a sailing captain and a swimmer and a dinghy driver and a boating captain and I mean, I don't even live there, but I could see right away the story was a lie and they had to let him go when the 72 hour mark of the extension expired. He spent the next day doing interviews with three networks while at the same time secretly Getting emergency passports, but telling abc, CBS and NBC that he would never leave until he found his wife and bam. The next morning he was on a plane back to America. And right now he could be anywhere from Sacramento to Michigan, because his mom and his sister are in Sacramento and Michigan is where he used to hang his hat.

[Matt Murphy]

Let me show Mark a couple of images. I want to get Mark's reaction to this. Okay, so this, this I think is one of the interviews that you were talking about. And what do we see there on his left wrist? You see nothing.

[Ashley Banfield]

This was. Yeah, so that watch is not on his wrist. And I was thinking at the time that this came out. Holy free holies. Is that the missing watch? His extraordinary Mariners watch that has a. A Zepp app that downloads all of the stuff in real time. That thing would be full of data and at the time.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah, if you guys could. Sorry, sorry. Actually, if you guys could show that other photo, the one that, that, that shows the watch. This is always dangerous when I get online. Okay, Ashley? I, I couldn't, I couldn't help myself. I think if I. It's a little blurry, but I think this is what's known as a Garmin Quatics sailors watch. They're like a couple thousand bucks. And it has GPS information on it. So when you pick it up from there, what does that mean?

[Ashley Banfield]

Well, he had multiple watches. And I'm actually just looking at my notes to see the name of the newer watch, because I don't think that's even the particular watch. I just know that the watch he was wearing was one that connects to the Zepp app. Zepp, I believe it is. And that's the one he actually was walking out of jail holding in his hands. Meaning they gave it to him as he was leaving. You know, you get your personal effects.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Holding it, not wearing it.

[Ashley Banfield]

He got his property back.

[Matt Murphy]

That. That looked like consciousness of guilt to you? The guy's got a. Got the GPS on his watch and then all of a sudden it suddenly disappears. We've got that awesome tan line. Looks like he's never probably.

[Mark Agnifilo]

I was gonna say that tan line is the. For those who can't see it. I could see it and it was shocking just how the VPLs. But actually Vwlron is armed.

[Ashley Banfield]

Let me.

[Matt Murphy]

I didn't mean to watch though, Interrupt. Yes.

[Ashley Banfield]

Something changed with the watch. You know, early on in the reporting we noticed. We noticed the big tan line, we noticed the missing watch and we thought, is it possible that this guy got arrested? Wasn't expecting to because they went to his boat and they arrested him on his sailboat, and they put him in cuffs and put him in the boat, and then they were transporting him to Freeport in Grand Bahama where they have better detention facilities, and he fell out. He fell out into the Sea of Abaco, as they were. I can't even. I cannot even. He's holding his stuff and has a life jacket on, thank God, but he's coughed, and he goes out and the Bahamian police have to dive out and rescue him. Don't even ask. I don't even know how this would have happened. But I'm not kidding you. But at the time, I'm thinking, hold it. Was this a ploy to wriggle out of the water and let it sink?

[Mark Agnifilo]

No, I thought it was just. He was doing. I thought he was doing a demonstration, a demo.

[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah, well, it's a little different being in the size boat they were in. In the dinghy that, you know, they were driving on April 4th in glass water, you know, that had barely a ripple on it in the leeward side of Elbow Key. I will tell you this. It was one of my theories when I saw that empty, you know, tan line. And then it was five days later, they let him out of detention, and he's holding the watch in his hands, which makes me even more angry because, well, he didn't wriggle out of the watch. They had it. The police had it, didn't keep it.

[Mark Agnifilo]

But they. In their defense, you would expect they could have imaged it while they had it. And I've had that happen where I've even had it with computer desktops where they will image it and then give it right back to you on a. Especially if you're doing some kind of a quick motion or you're in there quick. How soon did he lawyer up?

[Ashley Banfield]

Right away. He had a. He had a lawyer from Nassau who flew to Grand Bahama right away and was, you know, giving comments to anybody who would listen. Set him up with abc, cbs, and NBC for a, you know, a triad of. Of bounce, bounce, bounce interviews, which is like, dude, you are so out of touch. Nobody watches those networks for true crime. They watch us. They watch podcasts. Now. This is where the millions of people are if you're trying to get the message out.

[Matt Murphy]

Do you guys remember that movie Apollo 13 when they had all the. It was with Tom Hanks and they're going to the moon, and they had their. All the medical detectors on, and then they had that rebellion where they took them all off. And the flight doctor thought they were all dying. We really live in a world now where we all kind of like. I got one on now. I got an apple watch. What about her? Ashley? Did she have anything on her that could help him figure it out?

[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah, she sure did. And I've been looking for the name of his watch. I've got hundred pages of notes, but I'll find it at some point and tell you. Her watch. This is a really good part of the story, you guys. Her watch is an apple watch with a powder pink band. And she wore it all the time in social media. Carly, her daughter, was just there sailing with them, sleeping in the V birth, traveling along, having a great time, doing excursions, and said mom was wearing her powder pink apple watch, but that the battery didn't work really well on it and it was dead before dinner time usually. So it would go on the charger. This is an important thing to remember. She put the apple watch on the charger sometime around dinner. Dinner's around 6, 7 o'. Clock. Because it just wouldn't. It wouldn't stay, you know, powered up. And we got a photo of Lynette taking selfies at the Abaco Inn. This is the last known time that anyone has seen her. And she looks to have that powder pink apple watch on her wrist. But here's the thing. Thing. There's one thing that the Bahamian police did do right so far. And I can't tell you a lot of what I see as right because I haven't seen much forensic. They haven't even asked for video of. Of all the homes that face the Abaco Sea. It just drives me bananas to hear what hasn't been done. But I digress. So they did get an apple watch off the boat. Apparently it was there, the powder pink banded apple watch. I don't know if they got it off a charger. I don't know where they got it from. But Lynette originally had complained that the watch wasn't working well. So Brian bought her a new one. But he didn't buy her an apple watch. He bought her a replica of his own, the name I can't remember, with the Zepp app that goes with it. And it was green. And so knowing that the Bahamians have seized a powder pink apple watch off the boat gives me so much joy in terms of the possibilities of solving this, because I personally believe there was no bouncing off the back of the dinghy. Give me a break. We're not idiots. I think that dinghy Made it all the way back to Soulmate. I think they got back up on Soulmate, and I think that whatever happened on Soulmate in the ensuing hour, two or three, caused the death of Lynette. Was it murder? I don't know. Maybe. He's got some pretty ugly history. I will say that. So if allegedly there was this murder onboard Soulmate. Well, what happens when you come back into contact with your home devices? Your watch connects and your Apple. Your Apple devices connect and your watch connects. And I know that Lynette's watch was connected to her Apple phone because Carly, her daughter, said she always used the Find my Phone. And I do it, too, because it drives me crazy. I can never find my phone. Oh, there it is. I just found it. She did that all the time. And so I know that Lynette had her watch connected to her phone. So if they made it back to Soulmate, ding, ding, ding, ding. They've got Starlink. And they would have connected even if she did an email check, Facebook, she did lots of social media. Her habit was to get up on board, and often they would spend the evening just being on their devices. So I think the digital exhaust in this one is going to be a real problem for Brian, because while he might be a whiz at erasing himself going forward, it's next to impossible to erase yourself going back.

[Mark Agnifilo]

So what is the. Has he formally been charged under Bahamian law, or is this what would be comparable to American law, where it's a prosecutorial reject pending further investigation? Is that where we're.

[Ashley Banfield]

No, it's complicated. Yeah. No, it's complicated. So the Bahamians, it's their jurisdiction, obviously, the Royal Bahamian Police Force is the lead the. The Coast Guard. So there's the United States Coast Guard Investigative Services, which I know you must be, you know, intimately familiar with Matt, because of your cases. But they are like the FBI of the water, you know, and so they have this case. They've opened a criminal investigation into this case. But it's a delicate dance. There's nothing that they can do without the imprimeter of the Royal Bahamian Police Force. And the Royal Bahamian Police Force, my opinion only here, Are not ready for primetime. They just haven't done the basic things that you and I would think to do. And we're not even detectives. Right. So I just believe that right now there's a lot of paddling under the water where the duck looks very calm above. And I think that there's a lot of investigating going on in The United States. Maybe not so much in the Bahamas. Who knows what's going on in the Bahamas. I can't get them to return a call.

[Matt Murphy]

Well, one thing that's interesting, Mark.

[Ashley Banfield]

Both.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah, I did a little research on this too which is always scary. The feds, federal, federal prosecutors do have jurisdiction under certain circumstances when two US nationals are involved in a murder case out of the country and when they assert that is often when one of them comes back to the United States. So you know, I want to give the Bahamians a little, maybe a little leeway here. It's a small, I mean I guess we had to look at it like a small town, it's a country. But they're not going to get a whole lot of missing body murder cases probably in their experience. So hopefully the feds can take a look at this. What do you think Mark? This could be interest of U.S. attorney.

[Mark Agnifilo]

I would ask Ashley, is there, I mean are they, is there a working theory? Is there insurance? Is there any the you've already debunked. I at least my go to or the police's go to another woman. But is there a financial motive of some kind?

[Ashley Banfield]

So two things to Matt's point. First, yes, there are all sorts of ways that the Americans can get involved. The Bahamians should be asking for that help if they are a small town police force which up in the Abacos, sure it's smaller, it's more remote but the way I'm seeing things, there's not a lot of sharing going on. They haven't even passed over the video from the Abaco Inn. And on Saturday, May the ninth, it'll be five weeks. That's inexcusable. They should have shared that with the Americans on day one. And the reason I know that is because I was right there standing beside a stage prestigious agent at the Abaco Inn as we were both trying to get that video and they were saying absolutely not. The Royal Bahamian police force will not allow us to release it to anyone. RBPF won't give it to me. RBPF presumably won't give it to the Coast Guard either because it's my understanding they don't have it yet either. So that's just shameful. So that's to your point Matt. To your point Garagos? So yes, this is another story. Lynette was the money maker. Lynette had all the money. She had around 650, $700,000 in a 401k from AT&T where she also worked. I've spoken to several of Lynette and Brian's former co workers. He was a union steward, and every single one I've spoken to said he was the biggest asshole they'd ever met. Conniving, manipulative. All he ever thought about all day long was how to stick it to the man, even if it was drove his own co workers crazy. The people he was stewarding, he just wanted to screw the company any which way. But Sunday, he also spent a bucket of money defending himself against three releases, aka firings from AT&T. First one, he was able to fight it. Second one, he was able to fight it. Third one, he didn't fight it, but he lost a boatload of money. Not only that, he. He told others, and Lynette told others that he had burned through his 401k and that he was basically living off her. So do I think that that's the motive? I'm not sure. But I'm just going on his past, like 15, 20 years, and it's all been rife with allegations of horrendous spousal abuse and child abuse. And so this is a guy, according to family members who. And not just Lynette's family members, I will say, who is just so incredibly volatile when he drinks. And the two of them had been drinking pretty much all day that day. And what Lynette's mother says is they're terrible together when they drink, and Lynette knows it. And she again, has left him multiple times because of physical assaults and brutality during drinking episodes. She had actually bought a ticket on March 11 to leave him, which breaks my effing heart.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Okay, that's. You know, if you're the defense, that's a bad fact.

[Ashley Banfield]

Yeah, there's a lot of bad facts. I mean, I've just got to say from. The reason I'm so passionate about this case is because I can. I can smell it. I can breathe it. I captained my own 34 foot CNC in the Whitsunday Islands in Australia for six days. I am a mariner. I have sailed multiple sailing races. I live in a dinghy. I live on boats. I live on an island, for Christ's sake. I. I can't get groceries unless I'm in a boat in the dark of night, in lightning and thunderstorms. So I know pretty much everything there is to know about things that go sideways on boats small and large. And everything he said, from the minute I heard, it was like, excuse me, is anybody hearing this jack off? Like, that's why I hate this guy with a passion because everything's gonna say, how do you really.

[Mark Agnifilo]

How do you really feel, Ashley? Thank you, Ashley. Where do. Where do our listeners get to listen to you more? Because I could listen to you for hours.

[Matt Murphy]

Me, too.

[Ashley Banfield]

Drop Dead Serious. Easy to find. Drop Dead serious. It's my YouTube channel. It's my audio podcast. It's my website everywhere and every day. I'm gonna tell you right now. I've been breaking a piece of news on this every day. And the next thing I'm gonna put out is the actual demonstration. Someone in a dinghy in those wind conditions. Same tide, same waves, different location, but replicated almost exactly. Shows you just how far you actually would have floated if Brian's story were true. Which. Okay, it ain't.

[Matt Murphy]

Well, keep up the good work, Ashley. Keep the pressure on, because if you shake the trees, you might just shame somebody into taking some action on this. I would love to see it.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Thanks, Ashley. We miss you.

[Ashley Banfield]

Congratulations on your new podcast. I'm so excited for you. I'm going to watch every episode because you're two of my favorite people in the whole wide world.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Thank you, Ash.

[Matt Murphy]

Thank you.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Next up, a tale from in the

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[Mark Agnifilo]

You know, one of the old tales, one of my favorite stories with Matt Murphy involved a client of mine who will remain nameless.

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Who.

[Mark Agnifilo]

It took me a while to convince Matt to not be his usual when he was a prosecutor. And the theme that finally got Matt. It took me forever. I don't know how many appearances this is back in the day when you could continue a Case forever, basically, in the 90s. And I finally just admit, Matt, just transport yourself back to a time far away in Romeo and Juliet. And just think, if you were the local prosecutor during the time of Romeo and Juliet, you would have prosecuted Romeo for stalking. And to his credit, he laughed and said, okay, okay, okay, we won't mention the name, because I had forgotten the name. And when I was reminding Matt about the case, he knew instantly who it was. But he ended up giving me a. Given the client, a soft place to land on that case, and I was forever appreciative. So thank you, Matt.

[Matt Murphy]

You know, it's true. Yesterday's romance is today's stalking, and that's what I charged a client with. But it was.

[Mark Agnifilo]

It was.

[Matt Murphy]

It was a good point, as usual. And for those of you who don't know, the reason why Mark is so famous is because he's so damn persuasive, both of juries and also to prosecutors. So he. He got me on that, and he made good points. And, yeah, we figured out a resolution.

[Mark Agnifilo]

We figured out a resolution. By the way. I don't think he ever came back. So that was a good thing.

[Matt Murphy]

Which is good. Which is good.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Yes. Till next week. I. You know. You know, Matt, I think next week we could actually have Tenney do something on Weinstein, Brian do something on Lively, and Ashley do a. Another. We could have, like, kind of a synopsis or greatest hits. But I would love.

[Matt Murphy]

I would love to see that. Brian's interview was awesome. Mark, that was. That was. Talk about the zeitgeist of the moment. And that really got me thinking about that whole thing. And, you know, one of the things that's interesting about that is that my impression of Brian is that he encountered a guy who was in trouble. He saw a guy, Justin Baldoni, who's getting bulldozed by, you know, from Brian's point of view, bulldozed by some really powerful people that were vindictive and going after his client. And he stepped in to help. And at the end of the day, that's really what the. That's what the practice of law is all about. Right.

[Mark Agnifilo]

When he. When that was settled, I sent him a text, which I won't reveal, but it channeled those sentiments.

[Matt Murphy]

Yeah. I mean, good for him. And what. What a huge win. And by the way, for everybody who's watching, that was. That was Brian's win. That was.

[Mark Agnifilo]

Yeah. No matter how they try to spin

[Matt Murphy]

it, Met Gala be damned, Mark's body. Brian Freeman won that case for his client. Anyway, all right, so thanks to our guest, Ashley Banfield, and thanks for all of you for tuning in to in the well, new episodes will drop every Friday, and I hope everybody has a wonderful weekend.