Mock Trial Taren

1. Please state your name for the court, spelling the last for the record? 

Hello! My name is Taren Rivera. Rivera spelled R-I-V-E-R-A

1. Good morning/afternoon/evening Mr/Ms Rivera, what do you do for work? 

1. Good morning! I currently work for the Federal Trade Commission (FTC) and have worked here for the past two years. 

How did you get started as an investigator?

1. Well before switching over to the FTC I worked for the Federal Bureau of Investigations (FBI) for 10 years in the White Collar Crimes unit specializing in things like money laundering and wire fraud. 

1. How did you get involved in today’s case? 

1. Well you see a part of my job is having an open line for tips on white collar crime. When I switched over to the FTC, I had over 50 tips for The Sabatouers being rigged so my boss sent me on a mission to investigate the show. We worked to het me onto the crew for season 10 under the alias Casey French  

1. What was the first day of filming? 

1. The first day of filming was February 1st.

1. How did filming go on that day? 

1. It went well. Noting of serious note happened until March when we started filming episode 8. 

1. Well what happened during that week of filming? 

1. Well, that was when Charlie started becoming erratic

Who is Charlie?

1. Charlie was a past player of The Saboteurs. Honestly, I heard of him as a loser before I even met him. Apparently on season 2 of the show, he got embarrassed by Rob really bad. 

1. Back to episode 8, what did the defendant do that made them seem erratic? 

1. Well, I ran into the defendant in the basement which was the first red flag as no contestant was even allowed there? When I ran into him/her however, they were closing the cabinet and told me there was some form of coke spill. 

Did you see any spilled coke?

1. No, we dont even have coke on the ship! Plus, I didn’t see the defendant with any cleaning supplies! 

1. What did you see the defendant with? 

I saw the cat, Strawberry, rub up against Charlie affectionately, and the defendant was holding a bottle.

1. What was on the bottle?

1. Well I only got a flash of the bottle that time, however, when I interviewed Lennox later, they stated finding a bottle with an “Oxalic Acid” label on it in the defendant’s room. In addition, investigators found the Material Safety Data Sheet (MSDS) for that same drug in the defendant’s phone.  

1. Would you recognize the data sheet and label if you saw them in court today? 

1. Yes I would 

1. Now what if anything, did you find of note on these documents? 

1. Well the label warned on its toxicity generally, however, On the MSDS, under “hazard identification” it states that not only is the acid toxic, but it may cause kidney damage, or respiratory issues. 

1. Why is this important? 

1. Well it is important because it is consistent with the cause of death on the autopsy report and the toxicology reports listed cause of death. 

1. Was that seeing the defendant in the closet the last thing that happened on Episode 8? 

1. No. It was really just the start. On April 1st, we went to film the challenge and Rob and Charlie got into a major disagreement.

1. Do you remember this exchange? 

1. I mean how could I not. The two were coming back from a challenge and when they arrived, Rob was being very cocky in my opinion expressing how he was better than everyone, and even called Charlie weak. 

1. How did the defendant respond to this?

At this point, Charlie was irate. He got blood red in the face and told Rob “shut the hell up Rob, I will bury you!” but that wasn’t even the worst comment made

What was?

1. Well after Rob responded, Charlie then told him “I won’t regret a thing when I hear you take your last breath. Push me too far, and that day will be here before you know it. Enjoy those next few days, it'll be your last” 

1. Why was this so important? 

1. Well firstly, all the cameras were down. So I know this wasn’t being played up for the cameras and secondly, I have never once in my life seen Charlie that upset. Not only was there something sinister in the way he spoke, but how he looked as well. He was bloodshot red all over. 

1. Did this tension start on April 1st? 

Well no. Like I said before, they had a past on Season 2 when Rob betrayed Charlie, however, throughout the season it seemed very tense. Plus, with Charlie being the saboteur, I chalked most things up to his job.

1. Like what? 

1. Like locking the cat in Rob’s room, or adjusting the temperature in Rob’s room. 

1. You saw the defendant do both of these things? 

Well, yes. I did. At the time however, I did not know that Rob was allergic to cats.

1. I understand. Let's move onto the final day of filming, April 6th. What happened then? 

1. Well the show was down to its final contestants. I got up around 4am to go on a jog and as I returned, I saw Charlie with a small container near the challenge equipment. Charlie was going through the diving equipment. 

1. Did you see him mess with any specific equipment? 

1. Well, yes. I saw him pick up the blue mask with the attached airtank. That took about two minutes and then I saw Charlie walk back to the hotel with the container and the bag. Through my later investigation, I learned that he has a history with diving equipment and is PADI certified. 

1. What happened next? 

1. Well nothing really until the challenge came around. I wasn’t there until I heard the screaming but when I arrived, the blue backpack had extra pounds whereas the orange one, Charlie’s had none. In addition, it was reported that the diving equipment was messed up, and that is exactly what I saw Charlie messing with earlier that day. 

1. Did your investigation end there? 

1. Well some would say it started there. Once I reported to my boss, I had to get on it immediately. Along with my sightings, and an interview that was conducted of Riley, it was important for me to begin looking at Charlie as a real suspect but then I saw his interview and it put many things into perspective.

1. Would you recognize a transcript from that interview? 

yes

1. What if anything was of note from this transcript? 

1. Well firstly, in the transcript he stated that he spilled wine on his wooden flood and needed the poison to clean it up, however, during our interaction, he told me coke. What this informed me was either Charlie lied to me, or Charlie lied to the officer, either way, is a major red flag for the credibility of Charlie’s words. 

1. Anything else? 

1. Yes, that was a small thing. However, Charlie then admitted to putting the acid in the mask! Which confirmed that it was Charlie I saw that morning. Despite that, Charlie again tried to lie and state that they did not intend for him to breath it in and didn’t think it was enough to be fatal yet when I interviewed Lennox, Lennox stated that there was a note in Charlie’s room next to the bottle that read “one gram is too much”. There was more than one gram found in the toxicology report. He also admitted to adding the extra weight. 

Was that the last thing of note?

1. No. when asked about the airtank, Charlie tried to divert attention to Riley and that Riley would have known. When the officer pressed on, and asked further, Charlie simply stated they wanted a lawyer.

1. Were there any results at the end of your investigation? 

1. Well with all of this evidence, and more, I had enough to make the arrest and arrested Charlie Martin at the conclusion of my investigation.