Luis is a good witness. He doesn't get defensive and remains calm. I like him. Wish he would have a better shake at life and had made better decisions.
@@clubfillerspinkknickers9791 not sure i should take pink knickers seriously, but yes. i believe i do. but not sure the two points are mutally exclusive
@@rachelsavard851I agree with you. What he did was absolutely horrible but I have great respect for every criminal who demonstrates a change in heart, especially when they help the prosecution after participating in a crime. Ideally I want to live in a world where nobody commits any crimes but i know that's unreasonable. Luis could have clammed up but he did the right thing, and soon all the evil Adelsons will be held accountable.
How to confuse a lawyer: Say you're illiterate so he can't impeach you. You just know this lawyer is having kittens trying to catch Riviera in a lie but he can't. He's trying to intimidate him but failing miserably. Riviera is honest af and honesty will rise above ego every time.
If he's honest it's because he might as well be. He's speaking to things he's already doing time for. I doubt he's particularly concerned with telling the court the truth on principle.
I think Riviera may have a higher IQ than most of the Lawyers in the room . I do admire him for being honest.. The other dude simply drank and did too much Cocaine. "His Best Freind .. Tato to his Tito
For real right?! I got that feeling too . These lawyers are just as crooked as the PoLice 🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ you see the whole family got away with a hit on the ex husband. There’s a reason for that. Money and well known makes for a good scape now look these 3 hood folk got clapped up🤷🏻♀️🤦🏻♀️ and the whole family walks. Shady asf. They set up the perfect hit. I mean look at Luis Rivera’s jacket alone 🤦🏻♀️🤣
I can assure you that this jury is hating this attorney right now..For a individual that can't read and write- he is wearing this attorney out..This lawyer needs to stop grandstanding! This isn't A Time To Kill..This Judge has had enough of this clown as well..
I agree. Rivera is spinning the frustrated defense attorney like a top-- “like a toy without batteries” “yeah you couldnsay that.” I hope ALL these murderers and conspirators get thrown in the pen for life!! RIP Dan
I find myself wishing this man had made better choices in his life. He is straightforward and articulate. I think he is being truthful. He has been involved in a terrible crime but I believe if there is such a thing as an honest criminal he is it. I hope he receives some training and perhaps a way to get a GED and a better way through life.
Hey, 40% of recent college graduates end up in menial jobs, because there is an over supply. A former inmate has 0 chance of getting hired, even with a PhD.😂 That's the way the market dynamics work.
Gwen Scott Agreed. He's showing that this guy had more to do with the murder than he portrays himself as being. He claims to be only the little powerless individual who was not directly involved in the murder because he really wasn't hired by anyone, yet that doesn't ring true if he's as powerful as a leader of a national gang. Also he's bound by his gang by a code of silence yet he's ratted out the other murderer.
He really did just make Luis Rivera look like RobinHood 😂 I think he just liked saying words like jackBoy L, and king Tato 🤣👏🏼 probably the most interesting case he ever had 🤷🏻♀️
I just posed the same thing! My first sentence was pretty much the same as your, word for word. Yes, he did a terrible job. Is this his first case? Maybe he's still practicing for the bar.
@@challism no he represented Derek Medina, the man that killed his fiance and put it on FB. He was much worse then, but luckily the judge in this case not letting him get away with the foolishness he did at that trial. His questions were irrelevant and he was so rude to the witnesses, even the murdered woman's mother. He had this annoying habit of facing the jury whilst asking witnesses questions, refusing to face them.
Exactly, he was trying to make him look bad by talking about his gang life and all that, but all it really did was make Luis seem credible cause he admitted to his wrongdoings in his life. Usually people try to deny the crimes they've committed in the past so they don't look bad but Luis just say yes I did.
It saddens me that Luis can't read or write. That means from when he was a young child he was set-up for this lifestyle. Everything about this story is just plain sad.
Maybe they were stepparents and he thinks there his real parents, I mean who would do that to a child or teenager lead them in a career of crime, disgusting parents or family.
Illiterate Luis is smarter than the unprofessional lawyer. He patiently frustrates the arrogant lawyer till he annoys the judge with irrelevant questions. LOL!
@@caps201 oh so you are another criminal with bravado until facing the justice system. He who lives by the sword dies by the sword. In other words he is meeting his expected outcome.
Looooool this defence attorney is crazy and shady. Thanks judge for keeping him in check lol. Idk why but I like this witness, he is smart, he still has power...
This man and his partner in crime threw their lives away for some pocket change just so this dentist family could get full custody of those kids. Unbelievable.
Might be pocket change to you but I’m sure it was a large amount to him. I find this man’s life sad to be honest, his future was pretty much destined from birth.
I know he is involved with a horrible murder. But when he said he couldn't read, my heart sank into my chest. He was failed at a young age. What was the Adelson's excuse?
I get what the defense attorneys trying to point out. He’s trying to make Rivera out as a liar. But damn the defense attorney is annoying dumb and his questions are irrelevant.
I think he was hoping Luis would deny a lot of things so the lawyer could then show evidence that he's lying but it didn't happen that way. Instead, Luis admitted to his wrongdoings and all it did is make Luis seem more credible.
yeah, too many questions about the timeline, and repetition getting to it, "so it's your testimony"... etc, I am sure the jury lost interest as fast as I did.
I really don’t think this guy has had one chance in life. Not being able to read & write would have advanced all his criminal leanings dramatically. Good on him for coming forward & I sincerely hope he stays safe. I’m sure his testimony helped the prosecution immensely. God Bless 🙏
I'm sure they're very pleased to hear this testimony. Part of conspiracy and solicitation charges comes from Rivera's testimony because without that, they can't charge them for that. It's up to the prosecutors on how they will endorse Rivera's testimony as credible on the jury. Thankfully, the jury mostly believed him even if he's a gang member. Katie and Charlie got convicted for all murder, conspiracy and solicitation charges. Sigfredo was convicted of both murder and conspiracy but not the solicitation.
Lmao! He didn’t just come forward. You like so many others on here are delusional. He would have killed you in a fuxkin heartbeat for some money. Then had some drinks after.
Rivera is making this defense attorney look like a fool he seems actually honest with his answers and it seems like he’s a good guy unfortunately he got mixed up with The wrong crowd I hope he gets out and straighten his life out!
I feel bad for him although he's where he belongs, after what he participated in. He was a hard worker, a brick layer boss, 15 years in the same job. Threw his life away for a little spending money. Justice for Dan
oh its because he was so smart! every time the "educated" lawyer tried to make accomodations, but perhaps not in the ideal dignified way, Luis was able to shut him down and show his bias and judgement - such as let me know if you don't understand, and responding 'i just did '
This attorney is terrible. His chomping of gum, clicking his pen and absolutely terrible cross examination are embarrassing. He somehow succeeded in becoming less likeable than the murderer. By a long shot.
Sad. Luis is a well spoken and intelligent person. Never had a chance in life. He’s real honest about his illiteracy 👍🏻 Scary and dangerous guy however.
afro brit Happy at peace and content. There is a difference between reading/writing simple everyday stuff. A whole different thing to be asked to read out loud a court document out on live streaming in a room full of lawyers. Remember when you started to read and write? A difference right between what the text is about? He is most definitely not the most educated person
El Chingon he was born into it as he said he never had a choice from a little kid. He left school at 12 years old. Based on that any chance he had was minuscule at best. It would have been miracle if he was able to go another route in life with no parent relative or adult guiding him since born. Is he guilty ? 100%. He’s a product of how he was raised early on. But u can’t deny he had no chance in life to go down any other road. He only knows the criminal justice system inside and out. He knows not to speak until an objection is ruled on. He doesn’t get rattled by a pompous attorney and he knows how to wait out a plea deal and getting his best offer. To me it’s the luck of being born in the USA vs being born in North Korea as an unrelated analogy.
Vivian Lee the guy is street smart. He knows the criminal justice system as good as any lawyer if not better. Yea A book report he can’t do but if u want to know what angles to play in court or prison or streets he is as “intelligent” as they come.
It is quite tragic to see him go in jail for 19 years and his rich sponsors cutting a plea deal to stay free. For some odd reason this guy seems more honest than many that are involved in this case...
Of course that was the whole plan to begin with 🤷🏻♀️ they knew that they would get off. The cops just want to hold someone accountable.. they don’t care who it is🤦🏻♀️ let the “upstanding” suburban lawyers and drs get off and throw the Latin king “thugs” in jail. This was the perfect set up. It’s crazy to me. But so obvious.
Amen 🙏! This defense team is a joke!! I’ve heard better questions asked in the movie My Cousin Vinny! Rivera was so patient with him, waaay more that I could have been,
Kind of a weird thought, but makes sense. Call me crazy, but I somehow think “Tato” was born to be a criminal and he’s right on the path he was always fixin to be on.
How has being able to read or write have anything to do with being able to translate meaning verbally from one language you speak to another language you speak? There are plenty of 3 and 4 year olds who can't read or write yet who translate words for their non English speaking parents and grandparents everyday. He really is trying to demean the witness here. Patronising prosecutor. Literacy is really no indicator of intelligence if you were never taught to read.
absolutely on the verbal vs written. shows the lack of knowlege of the lawyer. however, i don't think he was trying to demean Luis per say, he was just revealling his bias that 90 percent of the people posting on this page are doing when they say -- hmm? i like him, or hmm? if only he or his family had made better choices
ortech715 just trying to paint him as a bad guy, also was trying to get some lies out of him for inconsistency and unreliability but judge shut him down. Certainly not great but only has so much to work with and try to make something
I get that he's trying to impugn the character of the witness, but my goodness. The jury already knows who this guy is and what he's done. Already knows his record and that he's not an altar boy. All this questioning about who snorted coke in the car and how much, who drank in the car and how much, how many bullets, all of the inner workings of the gang, etc. TIE YOUR QUESTIONS TO THE MATTER AT HAND already! Sheesh.
I feel the male attorney is asking so many questions about the Latin Kings just for his own information. In case he ever has another Latin King in another trial. (He's learning something new everyday!) Many of those questions do not seem to me to be directly to do with the murder.
He clearly is out of his depth here. Knows zilch about inner-city life, gangs, the street, the corner, or the hood. He looks positively foolish. Did he get his law degree from Cheese Whiz University? 🙄🙄
My all time favorite answers from Rivera to the lawyer. “I don’t remember “🤷🏻♀️😏🤣 he played it dumb the whole time but seems to be the smartest in there🤷🏻♀️🤣
this guy is really something special with the right upbringing he could have been anything in this world he wanted to be he's very bright. He may not be able to read your right but he's brilliant
I'm sure he reads and writes Spanish. No is no in Spanish and yes is Si which he would have seen 1000's of times. These antisocial psychopaths are very smart in the ways of crime.
I can't believe this attorney---he keeps interrupting himself, jumps around, gets flagged by the Judge a few times... No wonder the defendant gets confused; he's not the only one!!
I watched this trial when it originally happened but I had to come back after Charlie’s conviction and rewatch some of it, I want them to get Wendi so badly! This defense attorney Saam Zangeneh keeps talking about the Latin Kings because in a round about way he’s threatening Luis’ life, knowing that ppl are already trying to kill him, he’s throwing gas on the fire to intimidate him bc he knows the more Luis talks about LK the more trouble he will be in back in prison It’s disgusting, again Latin Kings have nothing to do with any of this, it’s all smoke and mirrors. I actually feel that Luis is credible and being honest regardless of his reasons for being honest I believe everything he’s saying. He’s also using articulate vocabulary intentionally in an effort to take advantage of someone that is illiterate. Just sick!
He can read and write. He passed tests in jail. He’s a lying, stealing, drug dealing gang leader and murderer who beats his girlfriend. That’s the states key witness?
God that male defence lawyer is hard to take. Luis (even tho illiterate )is 100% smarter than that lawyer. The Judge is awesome in permitting no lawyer to grandstand.
Whatever it was… I just have to highlight that Rivera did an amazing job keeping his cool while answering all those nonsense-repeated-all-over-the-place questions to Garcia’s imitation of a lawyer 😅😅😅
Who ever told this defense attorney for Garcia that being an attorney was his calling really sold him a dream!! He is terrible! He is a complete embarrassment!
@@melsar1977 On the murder charge he was given a 19 year sentence. The sentence will run at the same time he is serving a 12 year sentence on federal racketeering charges. He has been in prison since 2014. He will get credit for the 5 years he has already served.
I hate a snitch but something is so likeable about him! He sounds way more believable than Wendi and I don’t believe for one second that he can’t read but it cracks me up that he says it w such a serious face and makes the guy fumble and read to him 😆
This lawyer is lit trying to get him killed?? He's in protective custody and he just outs him and makes him snitch on the press?! Wth like he was already snitching and he was asking things that had nothing to do with the case
Although Luis Rivera committed a terrible crime, I believe every word that came out his mouth and the lawyers can't handle the truth! Their clients are guilty as charged!!!
Dolores Stroman I agree. He literally has said that they are going to try and kill him and he’s no longer in the LATIN kings...so I don’t understand why this guy keeps trying to relate this. He’s trying to be honest about it now because the Latin kings do NOT have his back now.
Well he did contradict himself, I caught it. Which means he lied if he contradicted himself. In one such statement he says I didn’t know that we had to kill someone and just today he said Siegfried o told him that night, and they went to get gun and then bullets. Also to get 35000 and not shoot someone is a little unreal like the prosecute said to Rivera.
@@normacolon9618 Luis just couldn’t remember how the story went down but the bottom line is Katie was the middle person, and Luis Rivera got that right because Katie has been convicted by a jury so Luis River’s story is credible
Is this prosecuting attorney at the same trial. I thought this trial was about the hit on a FSU Law Professor. The attorney keeps asking questions about how Luis Rivera robs people, does he go to their house to rob them on the street. sssssh. What is he looking for when he robs them ???? money or drugs. I totally do not understand this lawyers line of questioning. The questions seem to lack relevance.
Well theblawyers point is he trying to make is Rivera has no qualms about doing robberies, assaults, etc, why would he have a thought about not killing markel, then he says again,mi don’t kill where there is children there or around, So he shot lawyer down, which in any case it may only be another lie to get off, and show he didn’t kill markel.
It pains me to say this, especially knowing I’ll get a ton of backlash…but there is something about this man that almost makes him likable (which is obvious by many comments here) and I think that’s because he’s got a conscious. My best explanation is that there are those who do bad things (i.e., murder, robbery, theft, assault, arson etc..) with no boundaries or limits. This man is not one of them as he could not kill Mr. Markel due to the children. Could he have done better in his life? Absolutely. But being born into the gang life, I can only surmise he acted and behaved in ways based on learned behaviors. It’s what he knew. As I’m writing this I’m realizing how hard it is to verbalize what I’m attempting to put in words here but if you’ve ever seen HBO’s “Dexter” you might find it somewhat relatable. A likable killer who only kills those that are evil or deserve it. No women or children. That being said I believe that there is a difference and 2 kinds of criminal. One more evil than the other where there is truly no regret to their actions. They have no boundaries and feel nothing. That does not appear to be the case with this man.
I agree, and it's a terrible situation he put himself into...he is there because his conscience....you can just tell by his actions and his answers....the defense wants to stumble him up....but Rivers is as sharp as the attorney as most criminals are.....they just chose the wrong side if the law.
PLEASE solve the issue of the mic by easily getting a longer stem and flexible stem so they can put the mic in front of their mouths. The cost will be minimal and save time in the court and irritation to the witness every time the Judge asks them to pull up closer to the mic. Clearly, something is wrong where they can’t pull up closer to the mic. Knees, chair, figure it out.
Why is he answering questions on an organisation he’s in. What has his other crimes got to do with this case? The amount of years he’s been given won’t make a difference to his life. He will die in prison. I know he’s a criminal but sometimes these people never have a chance in life.
He is 'street smart' personified. Cant read but his intelligence overpowered that attorney and drove his attempted agenda off course. I'd say Rivera is likely the smartest human in that room, but his body language gave him away when he said he'd never ordered a KOS ;)
Hello lawyer why focus so very much on gang info. Let's get to the knitty critty why did he participate in this murder and how & who paid him the $$. PLEASE move on leader.
This male lawyer is absolutely terrible. He uses people's first names, uses slang like the word "dudes" and "hit the road." He clearly has no destination for his line of questioning. It's like he's making up questions as he goes along. The judge even told him to stop repeating everything.
