The Doubts - Ep. 5

Summary

Suave Podcast: The Doubts - Episode 5 Detailed Summary

Introduction

In Episode 5 of "Suave," titled "The Doubts," hosted by Futuro Media, listeners delve deeper into the tumultuous journey of Luis "Suave" Gonzalez. Seven years after his initial release from prison, Suave's life appears to be on an upward trajectory. However, a sudden accusation threatens to unravel his hard-earned stability. This episode explores the complexities of Suave's reintegration into society, the fragility of his freedom, and the overarching challenges within the parole system.

Suave's Sudden Re-Arrest

The episode opens with surprise and distress as Maria Hinojosa receives shocking news about Suave's re-incarceration.

• [02:52] Narrator: "David Luis Suave Gonzalez was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole for a crime committed when he was 17 years old."

Shortly after his release, Suave is accused of assaulting his ex-wife, Angela, leading to his immediate re-arrest despite Suave's claims of innocence.

• [01:44] Maria Hinojosa: "Suave is back in prison."

Understanding the Accusation

Maria seeks to comprehend the circumstances leading to Suave's re-arrest. Angela alleges that Suave assaulted her during an argument, leading to a restraining order.

• [03:46] Maria Hinojosa: "I'm a little bit in a state of shock right now. Can you tell me what happened?"

Suave's social worker, Annika, provides a confusing account where Angela's accusation alone results in a parole violation, forcing Suave back into prison indefinitely until a parole board reviews the case.

• [07:31] Tony (Suave's Brother): "So basically what Tony explains is that Angela told the police that Suave pushed her head against the wall and that her seven-year-old granddaughter was in the house and a witness."

Family's Perspective and Emotional Turmoil

Tony articulates the family's disbelief and frustration over the allegations, especially given Suave's previously exemplary behavior post-release.

• [08:29] Tony: "A year to the date. I won't forget the day we picked him up and how happy it was... he's doing so well."

Maria grapples with the possibility of Suave's capacity for violence, juxtaposing it against his history and the trauma of her own past.

• [10:56] Maria Hinojosa: "I don't think women make accusations like this lightly... I'm deeply disappointed, wounded. I can't really sleep."

Suave's Inner Struggle and Communication

Months pass without communication from Suave, heightening Maria's anxiety until she receives a heartfelt letter from him.

• [12:20] Suave's Letter: "I never put my hands on that woman. I never put my hands on any women. Never will."

This letter leaves Maria conflicted, torn between trusting Suave's plea of innocence and grappling with the public accusations against him.

• [13:50] Maria Hinojosa: "My initial instinct is going to be to trust her, but now I'm having all kinds of conflicted feelings."

Parole System Exposed

The episode critically examines the parole system's vulnerability, where lifetime parole allows for indefinite imprisonment based solely on accusations without substantial evidence.

• [20:09] Suave Gonzalez: "You know, the parole board is being hypersensitive about the cases of former juvenile lifers like him."

Maria's investigative efforts reveal that Pennsylvania's parole board operates with minimal oversight, holding immense power without avenues for appeal.

• [22:00] Maggie Freeling: "We are independent, and so there really isn't anyone who oversees the parole board."

Angela's Account and Additional Context

Suave confronts Angela during a call, presenting her side of the story. Angela denies Suave's claims of jealousy and accuses him of verbal and physical abuse during an argument.

• [18:29] Angela: "When I said that, it's like, he just, like, snapped. And he was like, no, don't. Don't you ever call me an MSM faggot."

These conflicting narratives deepen the complexity of Suave's situation, leaving Maria and listeners to ponder the truth amidst emotional and legal battles.

Suave's Legal Battle and Temporary Release

After enduring 85 days behind bars, Suave faces a preliminary hearing where substantial evidence, including alibis and witness statements, demonstrate his innocence.

• [27:31] Narrator: "Suave's legal team points to the police report Angela filed and a text message she sent to Suave's niece the day of the alleged assault."

The parole board, recognizing the lack of evidence, votes to release Suave, albeit on house arrest pending further court proceedings.

• [28:07] Tony: "I ate a hoagie for wild. And I went to bed, and my cat was playing with me all night."

Reflections on Suave's Reintegration

Suave, now with a GPS ankle monitor, resumes work at Broad Street Ministry, assisting the homeless, including former inmates. However, his return is fraught with emotional scars from the re-arrest experience.

• [29:12] Maria Hinojosa: "Look, he shows you a pair of 200 Nikes."

Maria observes the conditional nature of Suave's freedom, highlighting the psychological toll of his intermittent incarceration.

• [30:00] Maggie Freeling: "No, it was traumatic because I got a taste of freedom, and only a crazy person would want to trade what's going on in society for a prison lifestyle."

Suave's 50th Birthday and Legal Closure

On Suave's 50th birthday, a significant milestone, the assault case is dismissed by a Delaware judge, exonerating Suave from the allegations and lifting the parole violation.

• [33:15] Maria Hinojosa: "The case is dismissed, which means the parole violation he was being charged with is also dismissed."

Despite the legal victory, the episode underscores the enduring impact of the parole system's flaws on Suave's life and relationships.

Conclusion and Future Implications

"The Doubts" culminates by revisiting the night of Danny Martinez's murder, the event that led to Suave's initial incarceration. The unresolved tensions and lingering questions set the stage for future episodes, promising a deeper exploration into justice, redemption, and the human spirit.

• [35:23] Maggie Freeling: "Where we at? Yes, we down at eighth in Somerset. But it took place right here. Right under this pole."

Key Takeaways

1. Fragility of Parole: Suave's story highlights how lifetime parole can undermine true rehabilitation, threatening individuals with perpetual uncertainty based on unverified accusations.

2. Emotional Complexity: Maria's personal connections to Suave add layers of emotional conflict, reflecting the broader societal struggles with trust and justice.

3. Systemic Flaws: The lack of oversight within the parole board system exposes individuals to arbitrary decisions, emphasizing the need for systemic reform.

4. Resilience and Redemption: Despite setbacks, Suave's determination to contribute positively to society exemplifies resilience, yet his journey underscores the lingering impact of past injustices.

Notable Quotes with Attribution

• [03:46] Maria Hinojosa: "I'm a little bit in a state of shock right now. Can you tell me what happened?"

• [08:29] Tony: "A year to the date. I won't forget the day we picked him up and how happy it was."

• [10:56] Maria Hinojosa: "I can't really sleep."

• [12:20] Suave Gonzalez (Letter): "I never put my hands on that woman. Never will."

• [20:09] Suave Gonzalez: "The parole board is being hypersensitive about the cases of former juvenile lifers like him."

• [22:00] Maggie Freeling: "We are independent, and so there really isn't anyone who oversees the parole board."

• [35:23] Maggie Freeling: "Where we at? Yes, we down at eighth in Somerset."

Final Thoughts

Episode 5 of "Suave," "The Doubts," masterfully intertwines personal narratives with systemic critiques, offering listeners a poignant look into the challenges faced by formerly incarcerated individuals. Through Suave's experiences and the investigative efforts of Maria Hinojosa, the podcast calls for a critical examination of the parole system, advocating for justice, transparency, and genuine rehabilitation.

Transcript

[Maggie Freeling]

Futuro.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Season 2 of Suave was made possible by the Mellon Foundation. Mellon makes grants to support visionaries and communities that unlock the power of the arts and humanities. To help connect us all [e-mail] When I founded Futuro, I imagined a home for journalism with radical transparency. I wanted a newsroom where I wasn't the only Latina behind the mic. Now Futuro is becoming a home for more voices than ever. Help grow this future by joining our new membership program. You'll get exclusive interviews, whole season binges behind the scenes chisme shape the future of storytelling. Join Futuro Visit our website futuromediagroup.org joinplus ET not EVA yes.

[Progressive Insurance Representative]

Suave is brought to you by Progressive Insurance. Do you ever find yourself playing the budgeting game? Well, with the name your price tool from Progressive, you can find options that fit your budget and potentially lower your bills. Try [e-mail] Progressive Casualty Insurance Company and affiliates Price and coverage match limited by state law. Not available in all states.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Oh, fuck it. A hello, Maggie. Yeah, hi. Suave is back in prison. I think you knew that Angela was a bit of a complicated person. Yeah, Saturday morning I saw a Facebook message from him that said, my ex wife is posting, you know, I don't know, false accusations. It's not true. If you see anything, you know, please report it. And I immediately called him and he said that Angela had gotten really jealous in the last, you know, several days. Yeah, and so just this morning when I called, a woman answered and she said, this is Annika. I'm Suave's social worker. I have his phone. Suave has been arrested.

[Narrator]

From Futuro Studios and prx, this is Suave, a podcast about juveniles sentenced to die in prison told through One man's Journey. I'm Maggie Freeling. David Luis Suave Gonzalez was sentenced to mandatory life in prison without parole for a crime committed when he was 17 years old. He was found guilty of first degree homicide. This is his story of incarceration, redemption, and an unusual relationship between a journalist and a man convicted of murder. Maria, you talked to Suave's social worker. Anika, just before you called me with the news that Suave was back in prison. She didn't want to be recorded, so it's just your side. And we'll summarize what she told you.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I'm a little bit in a state of shock right now. Can you tell me what happened? Sweet. So Anneke tells me that the parole officer had asked Suave to come in for a meeting on Monday morning. So this was not a scheduled check in. And so that's why she and a coworker decided to go with Suave. And then she's like, everything seemed to be going okay, like something normal. But then she says, like, a supervisor walks in and just takes Suave, just takes him right away off to prison. You've gotta be fucking kidding me. You're. I'm sorry. He said no. So then she tells me that Angela, you know, Suave's wife, has accused him of assaulting her in Delaware. But then Annika says she just doesn't think that. That this story adds up at all. You don't. What makes you say that? What makes you so.

[Narrator]

I mean, Annika says there's evidence Suave wasn't at Angela's house at the time of the alleged assault, but because he's on parole and the accusation alone is considered a parole violation, he's back in prison. And Annika says he has to wait for a preliminary hearing with parole to get more details on what he's being accused of. Right now, no one really understands what will happen. He's just in limbo, waiting in prison. Graterford, the prison he was at before, has closed down. So he's at the new prison that replaced it, Sci. Phoenix.

[Maria Hinojosa]

He's in Phoenix. And I'm just like you. What he would do time at the new prison, which has been built to replace where he spent his time greater for. It's like, right across the street. This is crazy. Can anybody. Is anybody going to go try and see him or. So Annika tells me that she's going to try to visit Suave as soon as possible, that she is worried that he hasn't contacted anyone in several days, including me.

[Narrator]

And so, Maria, you reached out to the only person you could think of who might have answers, Suave's brother, Tony, the cop.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Hi, it's Maria. I'm just like, what the fuck happened, Tony?

[Tony]

Well, let me. Let me give you a little preview. Apparently, on Thanksgiving Day, she doesn't want him to go to Philly. So she starts calling him all kind of names. They start arguing.

[Suave Gonzalez]

He leaves.

[Tony]

So now she was, you know, he says, you know, that he doesn't want to be with her, blah, blah, he goes to Philadelphia. And lord and behold, all of a sudden, now she has a red, you know, red marker, and she calls police and makes a domestic battery complaint against him.

[Maria Hinojosa]

So basically what Tony explains is that Angela told the police that Suave pushed her head against the wall and that her seven Year old granddaughter was in the house and witness. And Angela files this report a day after the alleged incident happened.

[Tony]

So he tells the parole officer, parole officer checks, no charges, no nothing, no warrant, nothing. And then. So now he starts a new job. He started a new job in the police department, the police station, as a. A community.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Yeah, right. On Monday. Right?

[Tony]

Yeah. So he was happy with that. I said, daddy gotta take care of that. He goes, my parole officer was fine. She said, there's nothing there that, you know, just. Just don't worry about it. Then he goes to the parole office to do his visit. And I guess the supervisor of his parole officer, the higher up, said, look, you know, she did file a complaint. And so. And they violated his parole. They arrested him until they can figure out what happened. And so he is back in jail a year and one day to the date that he got out.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Fucking A.

[Narrator]

So when Angela filed for a restraining order in Delaware Family Court, she said Suave assaulted her on Thanksgiving, sometime between 12 and 12:30pm during an argument. A warrant was issued for Suave's arrest on two charges for the alleged assault. And because Angela said it happened in front of a minor, normally a person who's been accused of something like this would get to post bail and wait for a court date to present their evidence in front of a judge. But because Suave's on lifetime parole, an accusation alone is enough to get him sent back to prison indefinitely until a parole board decides what to do. And he's now got two cases to deal with. The charge in Delaware and the alleged parole violation those charges caused, you know.

[Tony]

A year to the date. I won't forget the day we picked him up and how happy it was. The best day of my life. And then to see him, I'm just so disappointed. So many people that post, so many things are happening for him, and he gets this new job in the police department. I mean, come on, you know, life was great and a nice little apartment in Philadelphia. He's doing so well.

[Maria Hinojosa]

But I have to ask you this, because I'm like, I mean, did Suave. Does Suave have the capacity to have hit Angela? I mean, I.

[Tony]

You know, honestly speaking, I wish I could answer that. You know, I'm thinking, you know, I'm thinking, you know, remember, you know, he was in jail for 31 years, so, you know, defending himself and triggers, certain triggers that happen, you know, could happen, you know, but it's hard. It's hard to believe, you know, it's just. I just, you know, I'm Just, oh.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I know Tony.

[Narrator]

I mean, you were wondering the same thing. And so you call one of your closest friends, Julio, to talk about it.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I'm. I'm in a state of shock.

[Maggie Freeling]

Yeah.

[Tony]

Yeah.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I don't understand, because I don't think I. You know, as somebody who's a survivor, I don't think women make accusations like this lightly. So porotra parte, you know, I'm like, okay, well, human beings, you know, Suave has the capacity to lift a hand to the woman who he's known since he was 15 and who knows what happens behind closed doors. And so I'm deeply, you know, in that sense, deeply disappointed, wounded. I can't really sleep.

[Narrator]

Weeks go by and you still don't hear from Suave. And you want to visit, but he hasn't put you on his visitation list.

[Maria Hinojosa]

You know, I just wanted to hear from Suave, from himself, what the hell happened. But, you know, that wasn't happening. So I was just looking forward to getting these updates from Tony.

[Tony]

He called me yesterday, and of course, I didn't reckon that, you know, I just picked up and they go, you know. You know what I heard? For 31 years, you know, you gotta. You gotta call from SI is ASO 834. I know.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Like, I mean, it's like, are you serious? You kept his number open? You kept his number open?

[Maggie Freeling]

Jesus.

[Tony]

Number open. You know, I was like, oh, my God, I just bought.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Yeah.

[Narrator]

So the holidays roll around and you still haven't heard from him.

[Maria Hinojosa]

And then finally my assistant ends up forwarding me this piece of mail. So I'm opening a letter from Suave. This is the first contact that I've had. The date is 1220. Postage. That means that exactly one month after he would have been inside is when he. This was posted. And I don't really know what to expect, but. Dear Maria, I start this letter by saying that my heart aches and I feel strong pain when I think about this messed up situation I find myself in today. These difficult times are testing me to the point where I want to say that God has turned his back on me. I. I really want to say I'm sorry for letting you down. I tried to do everything right, working, helping the people in need, giving myself to anything that needed my help. I married the woman who I thought loved me, and she turned around and accused me of hitting her. Maria. I never put my hands on that woman. I never put my hands on any women. Never will. In fact, I never have, never or haven't put my Hands on anyone in almost 20 years. To be back in prison for something I didn't do is very hurtful. I feel so lonely. I feel so far. I feel like I have been deeply torn apart. I feel so hopeless. I feel that I have gone blind. It has me so full of fear that it seems to me that I'm losing my mind.

[Narrator]

So at this point, reading this letter, the first communication you've had with Suave since all of this has happened. I mean, what are you thinking? Here he is telling you he was set up. He didn't hit Angela. But you saw pictures that she posted online saying, I was hit. I have a bruise on my face.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I think at first it was really hard, because when Suave is writing these things, like, I'm sorry for letting you down, I was like, oh, my God. So he did this. He's letting me down because he did it. And then, you know, later he says, I never put my hands on that woman. Never put my hands on any women. And that was the Suave that I knew, right? The one who was like, I'll never put my hands on a woman. I just kind of know that. But, I mean, a woman making up an accusation like this, after everything that we had been through in the country and, you know, learning to trust women, listen to women's voices. You know, my own experience with this, where I didn't even want to trust my own voice that knew I had been raped. But it took me, you know, over 25 years to be able to kind of acknowledge what really happened. So I'm all about trusting women. And now this person who I've known for all of these years is being accused by a woman who I don't know. My initial instinct is going to be to trust her, but now I'm having all kinds of conflicted feelings about how I'm feeling towards another woman who made an accusation like this.

[Narrator]

Then on New Year's Day, you finally get the call you've been waiting for. And when I heard this call, that's when I realized, oh, Maria has made up her mind.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Thank you for using Secure it. You may start the conversation now. Oh, my God. Suave, Suave, Suave. Suave. Suave. Oh, my God.

[Suave Gonzalez]

How you doing? Is there. Don't.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Please swab it. It's like. All right, listen. Are you okay? First of all, are you okay?

[Suave Gonzalez]

I'm okay.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Tell me how you're sleeping. Tell me, are you cold? Are you. Are you hot enough? Do they. I mean. And now what are you eating?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Oh, I'm really not trying to get into. Into this prison stuff. I'm really not. I know my mind is not for this prison stuff, so.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I know, sweetie.

[Suave Gonzalez]

You know, so, you know, this is a misfortune, you know, and I've been thinking and thinking and thinking and, you know, but it's gonna be all right. It's gonna be all right, Maria. I promise you that.

[Narrator]

So, Maria, what happened in this first phone call you had with Suave since he was locked up?

[Maria Hinojosa]

I mean, he was a broken man. He was. I don't. I had. I mean, in all of the years that I had spoken to him, I had never heard him like this. And as I listened to his voice and I listened to how he spoke, I realized that, you know, I was making a decision to believe him. When he said that he didn't do this and that I trusted him and that I said that to him, I was like, I believe you. And this whole episode really just. I mean, it really kind of crystallized for me that now I'm invested in this person. Like, it's not that I can just kind of see him from afar and just be like, well, somebody that I'm reporting about was put back in prison. No, I was clearly invested. And that's why from the very beginning, you know, we knew that we had to bring on someone from the outside, someone who wasn't tied to Suave the way I was for this project.

[Narrator]

Yeah. And what really stuck out to me wasn't whether Suave was guilty or innocent. What seemed most important was the fact that he could be return to prison indefinitely on an accusation alone. Still, I thought it was important to hear from Angela about what happened. So I tracked her down and called her and. Just a warning about the tape you're going to hear. It includes homophobic language.

[Angela]

So you're at your house right now. How is everybody doing?

I'm good. I'm here, basically. Well, I'm here with my. I got one granddaughter here because there's no school, but I'm good. I've been working from home, so I'm good.

[Narrator]

I asked Angela to tell me about what happened with Suave.

[Angela]

And then we got into the argument and I said, well, that he was probably gay and that he was having sex with men. And when I said that, it's like, he just, like, snapped. And he was like, no, don't. Don't you ever call me an Ms. A faggot, because I'm not a faggot. And then he came to my face and started shaking his finger and Then I hid his hand away from my face. And when I did him, and he hit me on the side of the head and my face hit the wall, and that's where I got the eye black.

[Narrator]

And then I asked Angela about her side of some of the accusations Suave has made about her.

[Angela]

Yeah. So Suave said also, like, a lot of the fights in your relationship are because you were jealous of him.

And you know what? I'm going to repeat the same thing that I said to the lawyer. When the lawyer brought that up, I said, you can't be jealous of somebody. If I'm not in love with him, there's nothing to be jealous about.

I guess the other. The one other person I have a question about is Maria Hinojosa. Do you remember meeting her? Because he was specifically said that you were, you know, jealous of his relationship with her.

Oh, that is so funny. No, I want to say, hell no. I met her. I think she was really a nice lady. That's the lady from the radio station.

Yeah.

No. No. Oh, my God. No, that's. That's funny. No.

[Narrator]

Foreign's lockup. He had a preliminary hearing. This is where the parole board reviewed the accusation against him and decided if there was enough evidence to hold him until a real parole hearing can be scheduled. Suave's assigned parole officer even showed up in front of the board and spoke on his behalf.

[Suave Gonzalez]

You know, like the parole agent told the parole, y'all should have never bought him back. My parole agent came and spoke for me, which is something they never do. They never. They never do that. She spoke for me for two hours when she tell her, this guy never gave me a problem.

[Narrator]

Suave says his lawyer asked for him to be released so he could go to Delaware and deal with the accusation. But they decided to keep him in prison until they set a date for a full hearing.

[Suave Gonzalez]

The thing is, since I'm with you in our life, they're overreacting.

[Narrator]

Suave says the parole board is being hypersensitive about the cases of former juvenile lifers like him. If they reoffend after being released, it might serve to prove the critics right. Maybe people convicted of such serious crimes shouldn't have been released in the first place. And all these decisions to grant release or to put people back in jail, they are all on the parole board. They are the sole arbiters. There is no appealing their decisions. So Suave is at their mercy. He's got to wait in prison. So who is the parole board, exactly? I mean, this seems like a pretty Important job, and we need to know, who were they?

[Maria Hinojosa]

So we did our work, and we found out that in Pennsylvania, it's a group of nine people, and these are people who are appointed by the governor and confirmed by the state Senate, you know, and. And parole boards are not very public. But I was so frustrated at this point that I decided to try to get an interview with the chairman of the parole board, Ted Johnson, and a board member, Jim Fox, and they said yes. So I asked the agency what system is in place as a check and balance to their decisions, because after all, the parole board, their decisions can't be appealed. And they wield incredible power.

[Maggie Freeling]

We are independent, and so there really isn't anyone who oversees the parole board.

[Tony]

Which I believe is key in us making decisions.

[Maria Hinojosa]

But if there is a criticism of a decision made by the parole board, is there no way to make that criticism or critique or who would hear that complaint?

[Tony]

Unless there's some type of constitutional issue? The courts really do not defer to the parole board to make these decisions. There really isn't any court oversight of the parole board.

[Narrator]

And this power is becoming clear to Suave. The fear of what lifetime parole means is really wearing on him because it.

[Maggie Freeling]

Get to that point, it feels like you losing your mind. You know, you start getting suicidal thoughts. All that comes to your mind, you know, because you're in a position where the parole board can say, I see you in 10 years, I see you in 15 years, they throw the key away. You know, when you dabble, that's heavy on your mind. When you start thinking about that. No matter if you're doing good, no matter if you got a job, no matter if you got this, so you got that. It could be snatched from you in a heartbeat, and there's nothing you could do about it.

[Narrator]

We'll be right back.

[Brooke Gladstone]

There's a lot going on right now. Mounting economic inequality, threats to democracy, environmental disaster, the sour stench of chaos in the air. I'm Brooke Gladstone, host of WNYC's on the Media. Want to understand the reasons and the meanings of the narratives that led us here and maybe how to head them off in the pass. That's on the media specialty. Take a listen wherever you get your podcasts.

[Narrator]

We're back, and Suave is once again sitting in a cell waiting.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Are we good? Thank you. Are we good, Maggie? Thank you. You may start the conversation now.

[Suave Gonzalez]

Hello.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Oh, my goodness. Swabby.

[Suave Gonzalez]

Well, I got a little bit of humor for you.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Did you say humor?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Yeah.

[Maria Hinojosa]

All right.

[Suave Gonzalez]

Guess who spun next door Neighbor.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Is Bill Cosby your next door neighbor?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Oh, my God. How you know.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Wait, are you. Are you kidding me?

[Suave Gonzalez]

I swear to my mother's birth.

[Maria Hinojosa]

So have you seen. Have you seen Bill Cosby?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Yes. Yes, yes, yes, yes. We was in the visit room yesterday.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Together, and then Suave, it tells me that they're actually wheeling Bill Cosby down the block towards him right now as we are speaking on the phone, as.

[Suave Gonzalez]

A matter of fact.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Right now. And I'm just like, this is so crazy that Suave is back in prison to begin with, but then he's in prison with Bill Cosby, like, convicted of sexually assaulting multiple women. What. What is actually happening right now?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Yeah, he's right here. Just whittle him in. He got on. I see. I got Mr. Cosby guitar. No, there's nothing gonna happen.

[Narrator]

But most days aren't like this. Now that you two are talking again, it's clear that Suave is struggling a lot with his return to prison. It's not any easier the second time around.

[Suave Gonzalez]

You know what? This place, the water's never high. The water's never high. The light is on all night. So you gotta really get used to.

[Maggie Freeling]

Sleeping with a light on.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Is that all over the prison or just in your unit?

[Suave Gonzalez]

No, all over the jail. That's. That's. That's how these new places are built.

[Maria Hinojosa]

They never turned off the lights.

[Suave Gonzalez]

That would turn off the light, you know, it's just crazy. It's just crazy. I'm just angry, man. That damn. You know, I did every. Everything I was supposed to do, but yet I'm back in the same predicament that I was that I spent 31 years in. I'm back in the same goddamn.

[Narrator]

Finally, after 85 days behind bars on February 2, 2019, Suave gets to address the parole violation charge. Angela doesn't show up, but Suave's legal team points to the police report Angela filed and a text message she sent to Suave's niece the day of the alleged assault. Both say the assault happened at Angela's home in Delaware around noon. And then they present witness statements and about a dozen photos of Suave serving food to the homeless in Philadelphia around noon. Suave couldn't have been in both places at the same time. The parole board votes to release Suave, but he's placed on house arrest until he goes to court for the charges in Delaware. If he's cleared there as well, then parole will take him off house arrest and his case for a parole violation will be thrown out. But that's going to take months.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Were you crying last night when you got to your apartment?

[Tony]

Hell, no. I went to bed. I played with my cat. I was so happy.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Oh, my God. I had you. I had you crying. I did. I was like, oh, my God. Suave is crying.

[Tony]

I ate a holding. I ate a hoagie for wild. And I went to bed, and my cat was playing with me all night, like she listening.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Oh, my God. Suave, where are you now, sweetie?

[Tony]

I'm on my way to work.

[Narrator]

Suave wears a GPS ankle monitor. Now, it's a thick black cuff with a square device that looks like one of those old school beepers. He says his cat Bella loves to sleep on it at night because it gets so warm. Suave can only leave his house to go to work, and he has a curfew. Now, if he needs to go anywhere else, he has to get permission from parole to go to the doctor, the grocery store, you name it.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Wait, what?

[Suave Gonzalez]

I'm on my way to work.

[Maria Hinojosa]

They gave you your job back?

[Suave Gonzalez]

Yeah, I got it. Well, I got to go meet with the supervisors and stuff.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Oh, my God. Swy, congratulations. While he didn't lose his job at the police precinct during the time that he was incarcerated, Suave tells me that, you know, when he was inside, he had time to think that he's decided he doesn't want to work for the criminal justice system anymore. He doesn't want to be tied to the police. Like, he's kind of done with that. So he has taken a new job at Broad Street Ministry, which is the biggest homeless shelter in Philadelphia. And he'll get to work with men and women who are without homes, and some of them are actually returning from prison. And. And he says it's exactly the kind of work that he wants to be doing. But it also feels like very conditional because, you know, he is still haunted by having been locked up again.

[Maggie Freeling]

No, it was traumatic because I got a taste of freedom, and only a crazy person would want to trade what's going on in society for a prison lifestyle. I don't care how hard your worst day in the street cannot compare to your worst day in prison, because I got a lifetime parole. And at the end of the day, if somebody don't like you and decide that they want to get you out the way, all they have to say is, he looked at me wrong. And you, on lifetime parole, you are going in jail.

[Narrator]

Then, three months after his new release, still wearing an ankle monitor and still awaiting a hearing date From Delaware, Suave's 50th birthday rolls around.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I look like hell. Happy 50th. Hell, yes. The 50th. No prison in the 50s. Yay.

[Maggie Freeling]

Say hi, Bella.

[Tony]

Look, Bella.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Bella. Bella is not interested. Oh, my God. Swabby. I never, ever, ever, ever call you on FaceTime. Ever. And now I'm seeing you with your little cat. Let me see. Bella, don't put the phone so close up to your face, man. I don't really want to see your face that close. It's too much.

[Maggie Freeling]

I'm dating you.

[Maria Hinojosa]

You're like this. I'm like, I don't want to see your forehead.

[Tony]

Hold up.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I've never seen the inside of your apartment ever. My God.

[Maggie Freeling]

I'm guilty, Maria. I'm guilty. I got an addiction with shoes.

[Maria Hinojosa]

That's the second addiction you've been telling me. You were like, I'm addicted to social media.

[Maggie Freeling]

I got an addict. Listen, I love shoes. I just treated myself to these for my birthday.

[Narrator]

Look, he shows you a pair of 200 Nikes.

[Maggie Freeling]

To be free at 50 means, like, being reborn. You know, Even though I got this paroling, you still can't compare it to being in the prison system and. And not being able to eat a cupcake with a little candle, right?

[Maria Hinojosa]

Are you crying?

[Tony]

Oh, I'm not crying on my birthday.

[Maggie Freeling]

I'm done with crying today.

[Maria Hinojosa]

That's a tear coming down your eye.

[Maggie Freeling]

Nah, that's just. That's just my eye hurt.

[Narrator]

Finally, it's September 2019, almost a year since Angela's accusation landed Suave back in prison. Almost a year that he spent either incarcerated or on house arrest. He travels to Delaware for the assault hearing. And, Maria, you go meet him.

[Maria Hinojosa]

I take a train down to the courthouse in Wilmington, Delaware, from New York. And we're all in this waiting room waiting for the hearing in the court. So we're outside of the court, and then a woman comes and just calls Suave's name and then hands him a piece of paper. And the paper says the case is being thrown out by the judge and that the judge has ruled in Suave's favor. Suave walks out with that piece of paper that says that the case is dismissed. And he's like, you know, this has been so emotionally draining for Suave. And it's like, here. Here's a piece of paper. It's over. And he's like, what?

[Narrator]

Yeah. I mean, for such a crazy process, it's like, what even just happened. But the case is dismissed, which means the parole violation he was being charged with. Is also dismissed. So when you leave court in Delaware, I imagine you guys would go celebrate. But that's not what you did. Right away, he rushes you all in the car and makes you drive straight back to Philly to see his parole supervisor. The same person who put him in prison. He's the one who cut off his ankle monitor.

[Maggie Freeling]

Want me to cut it off for you? As I said, I figured you probably.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Wouldn'T have cut it off.

[Suave Gonzalez]

Right.

[Maria Hinojosa]

Congratulations.

[Narrator]

It's real.

[Maria Hinojosa]

God.

[Narrator]

After all that's happened over this last year, it's clear that Maria and Suave's relationship has changed. It's progressed. And still there's something looming over their friendship. A big part of Suave's life that's affected everything they've experienced, even their meeting. And yet they never really discussed in detail. And if Maria and Suave are going to have a real friendship, it's time to go back to 1986 and the night of Danny Martinez's murder.

[Maggie Freeling]

Where we at? Yes, we down at eighth in Somerset. But it took place right here. Right under this pole.

[Suave Gonzalez]

Right here.

[Narrator]

Right where prosecutors said he murdered Danny Martinez. Suave again tells us about that night, but this time he includes an extra detail, one he'd held back before.

[Maria Hinojosa]

You need to look at me. You need to look at me. Suave. Suave. Olame, por favor. Just look at me, okay? What the fuck are you saying to me?

[Narrator]

Coming up on Suave.

[Maggie Freeling]

That little piece right there changed my whole Life. Right there. December 6, 1986. Right there. 15 seconds. 15 seconds.

[Narrator]

Suave takes us back to the place where it all started. And we set out to find those that were present on that November night in 1980. 86. We can't go back there.

[Progressive Insurance Representative]

Yeah. No, no, that. It's done.

[Narrator]

It's done. That's coming up next time on Suave. Suave is a production of Futuro Studios and distributed by prx. It's produced by me, Maggie Freeling and Julieta Martinelli. Additional field reporting by Aaron Moselle, Michael Simon Johnson, Zoe Malik and Zakiya Gibbons. We are edited by Audrey Quinn. Our executive editor is Marlon Bishop. Our director of production and operations is Natalia Fidelholtz. Our engineers are Stephanie Lebeau and Julia Caruso. Maria Hinojosa is the executive producer. Our fact checker is Amy Tardif. Original music from Taka Yasuzawa and Alex Segura. Production help from Lita Halwell, Juan Diego Ramirez, Maya Cueva, Sam Bernitz, Fabian Caballero and Lily Hershey Webb. Special thanks to Marsha Levick at the Juvenile Law Center David Santi, Suave's lawyer Shannon Atala, Jill Settlemeyer and Claire Fitzpatrick David Bohm, our private investigator Jodi Kent, Karma El Moussa and Heather Renwick at Campaign for the Fair Sentencing of Youth. Support for this podcast is provided by the Art for Justice Fund, a special project of Rockefeller Philanthropy Advisors and the Heising Simons Foundation. Unlocking Knowledge, Opportunity and possibilities. [e-mail].

[Maria Hinojosa]

From PRX.