mock trial direct

Could you introduce yourself to the court?

I am Imari Rodriguez, and I am the assistant director of Recipe for Success.

How many seasons have you done?

Five

Are you familiar with the defendant?

Yes

When did you first become acquainted with the defendant?

At the cast auditions.

At that time, what, if anything, did you know about the nature of Sears and Fromholz's relationships?

I knew that they had had personal issues in the past.

At that time, how did Sears act with the contestants on the show?

Sears acted with a fiery yet professional attitude with all of the contestants. However, he did appear treat Haley differently from the other contestants

What, if anything, was the conversation on April 7th with Sears about?

On April 7, Chef Sears pulled me aside and threatened to leave the show if the other judges continued to vote for Haley, causing Haley to advance in the show.

Is it possible for anyone to be in earshot?

Yes, Haley may have been in earshot.

What, if anything, happened on April 8th?

There was an intense situation on set that we named Parsleygate.

Could you explain what Parsleygate was?

Parsleygate was the incident in which Chef Sears Haley across the face with parsley. It was quite demeaning.

How did Haley react? (Parsleygate)

Haley was fuming, and their face turned bright red. Then, Haley said “quote.” I noticed their voice was tense, and their eyes looked stormy.

On the morning of the shooting, when Haley and Alden arrived late from foraging, what did you notice?

I noticed that Alden was very apologetic and was practically in tears. However, Haley was not apologetic at all and seemed to be distracted and focused on something else.

What if anything disturbed the schedule before shooting?

Haley approached me, holding their head and complaining of a migraine. I accompanied them to their cubby where they had aspirin.

Did you actually see her take the aspirin?

No

What happened during the tasting when shooting?

During the tasting, when shooting, Chef Sears took two bites from Haley’s dish, and then threw the dish across the room. Chef Sears called the dish “bland, uninspiring, muck”.

How did Fromholz react? (dish being thrown)

Haley seemed calm and just stood there with a blank stare. You couldn’t really tell Haley was angry except that their mouth kept twitching, and they were blinking rapidly.

Did anything happen that night?

Yes, later that night, after filming, we had some of the crew stay afterwards so that we could take promotional headshots of Chef Sears. Suddenly, Chef Sears went completely pale and was doubled over, heaving. He couldn’t even speak or look me in the eye, and I could tell he was in so much pain. I then rushed him to the hospital immediately.

What did the doctors do?

The doctors reported that Chef Sears had symptoms of poisoning, and that they had ordered a toxicology report and called in a specialist.

What were you instructed?

I was instructed to put together a timeline of where Chef Sears had been and what he had consumed in the past 24 hours.

Did you contact anyone after this?

I contacted Takoda Morrison and told them to let Alden and Haley know that they would not be on call for tomorrow, and to wait in their hotel until they heard from me.

At what point did you decide to call the police?

I called the police after the doctors told me Chef Sears had died.

What happened afterwards?

Afterwards, the show was canceled, and Detective Sears began an investigation.