Murdaugh Murders Podcast - TSP #66 - Why This Week’s Hearing in The Bowen Turner Case is a Big Deal Moment + Survivor Chloe Bess Speaks Up For Victims

Episode Date: September 12, 2024

The Bowen Turner case in South Carolina has been one for the outrage records. Listeners across the country have been horrified as they watched the justice system coddle Bowen over and over while the thrice-accused rapist gave his second, third and fourth chances the middle finger. But now, something good could come from the case — a case that included the horrific bullying of Dallas Stoller, one of his accusers. Bullying that resulted in her death.  Something good might come from Bowen’s 2022 sham of a plea deal hearing — orchestrated by a cunning lawyer-legislator, executed by a prosecutor blinded by ambition and approved by a Good Ole Boy judge. Change might be coming because of an appeal filed by another one of Bowen’s accusers, Chloe Bess. Investigative journalists Mandy Matney and Liz Farrell take a look at the historic filing and what went down during oral arguments in front of the state Court of Appeals on Tuesday. The state’s victims bill of rights affords victims the opportunity to be heard in court. In trials, victims can testify before a verdict is rendered — before a potential conviction. But in plea deals they’ve been restricted to being heard only after the judge has accepted the pleading — only AFTER the conviction. Chloe Bess and her legal team are trying to change that … to finally make victims’ rights MEANINGFUL. Episode Resources SC Court of Appeals Broadcast Link SC Victims’ Constitutional Rights Stay Tuned, Stay Pesky and Stay in the Sunlight...☀️ Join Luna Shark Premium today at Lunashark.Supercast.com. Premium Members also get access to searchable case files, written articles with documents, case photos, episode videos and exclusive live experiences with our hosts on lunasharkmedia.com all in one place. CLICK HERE to learn more: https://bit.ly/3BdUtOE. If you are in crisis, please call, text or chat with the Suicide and Crisis Lifeline at 988, or contact the Crisis Text Line by texting TALK to 741741. What We're Buying... Hungry Root - https://hungryroot.com/mandy to get 40% off your first delivery and get your free veggies.. Hungry Root is the easiest way to eat healthy. They send you fresh, high-quality groceries, simple, delicious recipes, and essential supplements. Task Rabbit - Use promo code "mandy" at https://www.taskrabbit.com/ for 15% off your task. Task Rabbit connects you with skilled Taskers to help with cleaning, moving, furniture assembly, home repairs, and more. Here's a link to some of our favorite things: https://amzn.to/4cJ0eVn And a special thank you to our other amazing sponsors: Microdose.com, PELOTON, and VUORI. Use promo code "MANDY" for a special offer! *** ALERT: If you ever notice audio errors in the pod, email [e-mail] and we'll send fun merch to the first listener that finds something that needs to be adjusted! *** For current & accurate updates: TrueSunlight.com facebook.com/TrueSunlightPodcast/ Instagram.com/TrueSunlightPod Twitter.com/mandymatney Twitter.com/elizfarrell youtube.com/@LunaSharkMedia tiktok.com/@lunasharkmedia Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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the BDC Online Loan offers you flexibility to protect your cash flow with favorable repayment terms. Apply now at bdc.ca slash onlineloan. Certain conditions apply. BDC, financing, advising, know-how. I don't know what the South Carolina Court of Appeals will ultimately decide in the Bowen Turner case, but attorneys Sarah Ford and Malia Bowers Jefferson made history on Tuesday when they brilliantly argued on behalf of victims across the state that they have the

right to be heard in court. They showed the world what happens when we have a justice system that doesn't listen to victims. Now it is up to the South Carolina Court of Appeals to decide in this monumental case. My name is Manny Matney. This is True Sunlight, a podcast exposing crime and corruption previously known as the Murdoch Murders podcast. True Sunlight is a Luna Shark production written with journalist Liz Farrell. Last week, the Lunashark Media team celebrated some huge news. Or what I call a very big deal. It's official. The Murdock Murders podcast will be adapted into a scripted Hulu series

starring the Academy Award winner Patricia Arquette as Maggie Murdock. This means that the untitled scripted series on Hulu moved from quote, in development, aka funding and attaching main producers, actors, and writers into quote, pre-production. Which means finalizing the script, hiring additional cast and crew, finding locations to film and other pieces before the quote, production starts or actually filming. News of our project was announced and deadline in November 2022, so it has been nearly two years waiting for the right studio, the right creative team, the writer's strike and the actor's strike, new leadership at Disney and a plethora of other obstacles.

To say this was threading the needle is a vast understatement. The biggest hurdle in recent weeks was finding the right leads and casting them for the right reasons. Trust me when I say this project will be different. Much different from the other salacious Murdock flicks and docs that rush to the small screen. And it'll be different because its production and creative team is different. As you may remember from Cup of Justice episode 83, Erin Lee Carr is a renowned true crime documentary filmmaker known for her thoughtful, nuanced approach to complex cases.

As an expert in the true crime genre, Carr gravitates towards stories that explore the intersection of mental health abuse in the criminal justice system. Carr is known for her ability to humanize victims and provide deeper context around the circumstances that lead to tragic events. Rather than sensationalizing or vilifying, her documentaries like I Love You Now Die and Mommy

Dead and Dearest aim to shine light on the multifaceted nature of these cases. In our COJ conversation, you can hear Erin Lee Carr's keen intellect and empathy that shines through her work. She is not afraid to tackle difficult questions or explore the moral ambiguities that can arise in true crime narratives. Carr's passion for storytelling is matched by her commitment to ethical journalism and an unwavering focus on giving voice to the voiceless, one of our cardinal virtues at Lunashark Media. As a trusted authority in the true crime space, Erin Lee Carr offers a unique perspective that challenges simplistic notions of good and evil.

Her work and insights provide listeners with a more holistic understanding of the human experience beyond those tragic stories. We were honored to learn that the Patricia Arquette will star as Maggie Murdoch, guiding the story from beginning to end, not as a passive bystander but as a vital and sadly overlooked piece of this story in many other productions, even admittedly in our own podcast. But Aaron is also committed to telling Gloria's story and Hakeem's story and Stephen's story. Those people are the reason why we started the Murdock Murders podcast. And it's the

reason why we are confident in our collaboration with Erin and other producers. This is wild to say but yes, I am an executive producer and I'm not even sure I have fully grasped what that means yet. But rest assured, we will keep you all informed along the way. No spoilers, but we want you to know the nuance. To know that we are not selling out and we are not peddling anyone else's story for financial gain. We are a part of this project because it will reach millions, many more than the millions that have already listened to our podcast. It will educate millions of people on the story, the story and it will get the story straight for millions of people across the globe

in a way that only a high quality drama can do. But most of all, there is still work to be done in the saga. Stephen's story needs attention as it will be 10 years next year since he was killed in July of 2015. Over the next year, we will be 10 years next year since he was killed in July of 2015. Over the next year, we will be dropping updates on some of our other partners, the actors and the inside scoop about the project.

When the show debuts, likely next year, Lunashark Premium will have live watch parties and actor show shows so that you can get our take on how the episodes played out compared to how it actually happened. As Becky Hill said, creative projects like this tend to have quote unquote literary ease, but we will do our best to make sure that the important pieces are delivered with sensitivity to victims, a fidelity to the truth and compassion for

those still enduring the hurt caused by Elick Murdoch, Russell Lafitte, Corey Fleming and all of his other yet to be indicted co-conspirators. Because we all know, so many have blood on their hands. And we will see it all on the silver screen next year. So hooray for Hollywood. Today, we are going to take a break from the Micah Francis story because of some very important movement in the Bowen Turner case. Specifically when it comes to victims' rights.

But also, like we said last week, right as we were finishing up the episode, we were given dozens of Micah's alleged medical records by True Crime Re herself, who asked specifically that we attribute the document dump to her. Which was weird. The medical records hold so many answers to the questions we have been asking all along. But again, not in the way JP Miller and his defenders probably think they do. Nevertheless, there are a lot of dots that we can now connect and y'all know how much we love being able to connect the dots for you. So stay tuned. Alright, well let's talk about Bowen Turner, the thrice-accused rapist from Orangeburg, South Carolina who is currently in prison because surprise surprise to no one

with a brain, this privileged punk never thinks the rules apply to him. In March of this year, he violated the terms of his probation again, this time because he was in a single-vehicle daytime wreck involving alcohol. He was charged with driving under the influence, having an open container of beer or wine in a motor vehicle, not wearing his seatbelt, public disorderly conduct, and resisting arrest. If you don't remember him, check out the Bowen Turner playlist in the description. Or maybe this will jog your memory. Ma'am, I'm sorry, ma'am. My hands about to damn choke to death. Ma'am, please unhook these goddamn handcuffs, ma'am.

Man, this shit right here crazy, man. But really, because you got a vendetta. This really how you about to ask? You just resisted arrest, and you're going to tell me that I got a vendetta. Yeah, how am I resist arrest, ma'am? You sitting here, I got my goddamn handcuffs on For what you got you got me in handcuffs how am I was this an arrest please it Don't worry. Don't worry

You got them dark bitch. I know how you writing Don't worry about it And I apologize I didn't mean to say that I'm a little bit you say you say what you feel well I did feel that but I apologize remember that charming right oh and let's not forget this little nugget ma'am can I please go home can I please go home what do you arrest me for what do you have to prove okay I'll pay my bond man can I please go home huh my grandma I promise you I will go home?

Ma'am, I can't do this again. Okay. Will you please listen to me? Ma'am I can't do this again. Okay, please ma'am Go to prick go to jail again ma'am. I can't do it again my grandma see her before she passes away man please I will do whatever you want me to do okay please ma'am I will do whatever you asked me to do okay I will please ma'am I can't do this again I can't do this again. I can't watch your girl through that again behind bars, please That's all I ask of you No, ma'am, I won't get a bond

Because I'm already on probation, man Please please let me get I'm on probation for assault battery ma'am, please let me go home I battery. Ma'am, please let me go home, man. I promise you, I will never be back over here again, ma'am. I promise. Please let me get a bond and let me see my grandma." Oh, and let's do one more because it is really hard to decide which clip really truly encapsulates who Bowen Gray Turner actually is. Ma'am, I can't go to the jail, man. Gray Turner actually is. Ma'am, I can't go to the jail, ma'am.

I can't. I'm a white boy. I can't go there. Okay, please can I speak to you? I'm asking you, please can I speak to you? Huh? Ma'am, I promise I will sit right here. Can I please speak to you? Okay, you know, I'm a white boy. I can't go there, ma'am. Can I please speak to you? Okay, you know, I'm a white boy. I can't go there, ma'am. Can I please speak to you?

Ma'am, please give me an answer. You're speaking to me right now. No, can I please speak to you without having to worry about going to jail? Please ma'am. Ma'am, I am a white boy. Okay, can I please speak to you? Ma'am, you can stop five minutes before the jail. Can I please speak to you? Ma'am, you can stop five minutes before the jail. Can I please speak to you? Ma'am, it is important that I speak to you. Ma'am, I cannot go there. Okay? I feel unsafe. Can I please speak to you?

Ma'am, I will tell you whatever you want to know. Ma'am, I cannot go there, ma'am. Ma'am, I cannot go here. Ma'am, I can't go here, ma'am, I will tell you whatever you want to know. Ma'am, I cannot go there, ma'am. Ma'am, I cannot go here. Ma'am, I can't go here, ma'am. Ma'am, ma'am, ma'am. Ma'am, I feel unsafe, ma'am. All of the charges, except for the resisting arrest charge, were adjudicated with a lightning speed.

The resisting arrest charge is still pending. Bowen pleaded guilty to the other charges and got time served as his sentence. Time served being the 17 days he remained in jail while they tried to figure out what to do with him for violating the terms of his probation. Not only had we never seen a DUI case get pleaded out that quickly before, several attorney sources of ours said they hadn't either. In South Carolina, these cases take months and months, not days. And that's not even the grossest part. The worst part about Bowen's March arrest is

that Sarah Ford and Carl Stoller, the father of Dallas Stoller, who was one of Bowen's accusers, had to fight like hell to keep him behind bars. The judge was set to let him go again. Anyway, that's Bowen the sequel. Let's talk about Bowen the prequel because that's what Tuesday's hearing in the South Carolina Court of Appeals was about. It's all related to what happened in the lead-up to and the day that Bowen Turner was allowed to plead guilty to a single count of assault and battery for rape in April 2022. At that time, he had been charged with two counts of criminal sexual assault and he was set to be tried as an adult. Each one of those counts by the way carries up to 30 years in prison. However,

Bowen Turner was instead sentenced to five years probation under the Youthful Offenders Act. It's a law that is meant to help young people get their lives together. It's a second chance. And had Bowen lived up to the low, low, low standards that were set for him, and if he had gotten through those five years without reoffending, the judge was going to waive the need for him to register as a sex offender. Right there, Bowen Turner was handed the most golden of golden tickets. All he had to do is pretend that the laws applied to him too. Within 31 days of this solid gold gentleman's deal that Bowen received, which he got because

his parents forked over the money for high-priced lawyer-legislator Senator Brad Hutto, Bowen violated the terms of his probation and was charged with public disorderly conduct, minor in possession of alcohol, threatening the life of a public employee as well as violating his probation. Bowen, who was then 20 years old, was drunk and attempting to walk home when police officers encountered him. When he was brought to the detention center, they attempted to put a face mask on him and he threatened a deputy saying he would bite his effing finger off. Anyway, the deal that led to that original sentence of five years probation was highly problematic and not just because he was a thrice accused rapist and barely getting a

slap on the wrist. The deal was struck and it appeared as if the prosecution, defense, and even the judge had conspired to pull a switcheroo on the victims, which we'll explain in a second. The issue at the heart of this was whether Bowen Turner's third alleged sexual assault victim, Chloe Bass, had her constitutional rights violated when the court approved this slimy little plea deal without allowing Chloe to present and be heard back in 2022. But the thing is, we are now seeing this whole incident as more than just an example of an ambitious solicitor making a deal with a lawyer-legislator to pave his way for a judgeship, which, oh

yeah, that was also going on at the time. The prosecutor, David Miller, had a long history of trying to become a judge in South Carolina, which who elects the judges in South Carolina? Senators, like lawyer legislator, Brad Hutto. After this incident and a couple of others involving another lawyer legislator, Miller tried again to become a judge and he almost became one. He dropped out at the very last second after an outcry from Sarah Ford, Karl Stoller, and our listeners. Anyway,

we are now seeing Bowen's atrocious plea deal as not just a potential quid pro quo deal, but also as a conspiracy among several public officials to basically cover up the mess they made in the lead up to the deal. Whether or not this was a conscious act on their part, it's the actual result of what happened, at least as far as we see it now. So Bowen was first accused in the sexual assault of a teenager at her home in May 2018. He was 16 at the time. Slet investigated that accusation, but their investigation ended without charges. Less than five months later, when the first case was either still under investigation

or had just newly been closed, Bowen then allegedly raped Dallas Stoller at a party in Bamberg County, South Carolina in October 2018. He was later charged with sexually assaulting Dallas on January 29, 2019. Originally Bowen was let out on a $10,000 bond and put on a GPS ankle monitor as part of his bond conditions, but by April, less than three months later, his attorney was back in court and he successfully argued to have the monitor removed. On June 2nd, 2019, just 41 days after the court agreed to have Bowen Turner's ankle monitor removed, he was accused of sexually assaulting Chloe Bess

at a party in Orangeburg County. If the system had been working, if the system acknowledged that there was a problem here that this teenager kept getting accused of sexually assaulting girls, Chloe never would have been assaulted. In our opinion, Bowen Turner should have stayed behind bars until his trial for Dallas' assault. Remember, bond is for those alleged offenders who aren't seen as flight risks or dangers to the community.

This might have been Bowen's first rape charge, but it wasn't the first time he was accused of being a rapist. At the very minimum, that ankle monitor should never have come off. But again, Turner was represented by a powerful lawmaker at the time. Senator Brad Hutto had convinced the court to value his accused rapist client's freedom more than public safety and specifically more than the safety of young women. And we'll talk more about that after a quick commercial break. We'll be right back.

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Don't forget to use our link so they know we sent you. Oh boy, I should have read the best before data on this milk. Since I'm with Fizz, my unused data transfers to the next month automatically. I forgot things could expire. For monthly data that transfers to the next month, switch to Fizz. Certain conditions apply. Details at fizz.ca. For a month after Bowen was charged with sexually assaulting Chloe in mid-June 2019, Bowen was held at the South Carolina Department of Juvenile Justice. In July 2019, he appeared in Orangeburg County Court in front of Judge Casey Manning. Yes, that Judge Casey Manning.

The same Judge Manning who was a mentor to Judge Carmen Mullen. And the same Judge Manning who struck a backroom deal with a lawyer-legislator named Representative Todd Rutherford in late 2022, allowing for the release of killer Gerard Price. The first thing that Senator Hutto, who was Bowen's attorney, asked Judge Manning to do was to move Bowen's case from General Sessions' criminal court, Big Boy Court, to family court, Little Boy Court. It was also during this hearing that the prosecutor, back then it was a man named Michael Emmer, thought it was somehow important to tell the judge that both cases in which Bowen had been charged with rape involved juveniles under the age of 18 drinking.

Not just Bowen was drinking, that would have made sense, but the victims as well. Why? Why was that important for the prosecutor to say? Other than, it's a dog whistle to the court to take these accusations with a grain of salt. This is the stuff that happens that is just the normal course of action y'all. The guy who is supposed to be prosecuting bad guys is, intentionally or not, advocating for the alleged bad guy just with that one

little comment. In describing what Bowen was alleged to have done to Chloe, the prosecutor said, quote, Mr. Turner grabbed her by the arm and pulled her to the edge of the woods by a pickup. He forced her to the ground and a sexual assault took place at that time. Not the defendant sexually assaulted the victim, but that a rape took place as if it's just some nameless, faceless act that just so happened to happen to her. Chloe, like Dallas, was covered in bruises. She escaped Bowen and hid in the woods while Bowen and one of his friends tried to find her, calling out her name. Think about how scary that must

have been for her. After the prosecutor outlined the crime and the damage that was done to Chloe, here is what Senator Brad Hutto told the court. He said after the incident, Chloe allegedly said, I felt ashamed. And then he followed that up by saying, well guess what? You just had sex on the ground with a boy you didn't really know and you got up and you felt ashamed. You feel regret. That's not rape. And then he argued that Bowen, the guy accused of raping a teenager within 41 days of having his ankle monitor removed

in the other case where he was accused of raping another teenager, that he should be released and not have to wear an ankle monitor on him. Then Senator Huddo argued that Bowen was too good for Juvi. He said, quote, there's no structure there. He's not a gang member. He's just not in the right environment there. And he's getting no benefit from it as an education. He said a preliminary assessment by a physician

indicated that Bowen is quote unquote age appropriate and shows no propensity to be a predator or a pedophile and has interest in teenage girls." In other words, a doctor with no regards for the victims at all apparently assessed that Bowen was just a boy being a boy. Judge Manning's response to Senator Hutto was, quote, There's an old expression. You don't want to get kicked by the same mule twice. If you've been kicked once, why are you going around the mule again? To which Senator Hutto responded, bad judgment. So yeah, the male judge compared Bowen's

second charge with getting kicked by a mule for a second time. And Bowen's male attorney was like, yeah buddy, totally. But to Judge Manning's credit, he sent Bowen back to Juvie to await his decision, which he made three weeks later. And that decision was to keep Bowen where he was, no bond for him. And further, he will absolutely be charged as an adult. And guess what?

Guess what happened after that? Seven days later, Bowen turned 17 and he was back in court with Senator Brad Hutto arguing again for his release. This time in front of another judge. And this time in Dorchester County. Reminder, Bowen was charged in Bamberg County and in Orangeburg County. But here he was, trying out another judge in another county where he was not being accused of a crime.

Judge George McFadden Jr. released Turner on a $100,000 surety bond. His family only had to pay $5,000 of that and a set of conditions that included a strict adherence to house arrest. He was put back on an ankle monitor and ordered to live at his grandmother's house because his parents lived close to Chloe

Bess. So let's stick a pin in that because it is a huge centerpiece of Sarah Ford's arguments in front of the Court of Appeals on Tuesday. All of that background is important because it shows you not only how we got to where we are today with Bowen, it shows you just how little the system thinks of its victims. If they valued the safety of innocent women more than they valued the comfort and freedom of an accused rapist, then Chloe Bess would have never been sexually assaulted and Dallas Stoller would likely be alive today. So there was blood on the court's hands in these crimes from the get-go.

That is important to recognize. Turner should have been viewed as a high risk to the community at this point by the court. That is, if the men making the decisions in our system actually considered rape as a threatening act of violence. As opposed to what many of them actually think of rape. A crime that has never really threatened them as men. Therefore, they don't care about it. I think it's safe to say that the vast majority of Thrice-Accused Rapists, without good ol' boy connections, would have been satisfied with living at their grandma's house instead of jail, but not Bowen and not his attorney Brad Huddo.

A few months after judge shopping and getting what he wanted, Bowen had the audacity to ask for more. In December 2019, he wanted to see his family for Christmas. Why his family couldn't come and see him at his grandma's house is not clear, but God forbid any of them be inconvenienced. So, of course, Santa, Brad Badoe, made that happen, apparently with a simple phone call to the solicitor's office and they appallingly approved the bond modification. And the thing is, it should have never gone down like that.

The solicitor's office should have requested a hearing for the bond modification. A judge should have decided this after hearing objections from the victim and her family. Instead, the prosecutor in the defense appeared to have had a gentleman's phone call and the prosecution gave Senator Hutto a, yeah, it's cool, man, type answer, which was basically a signal to the thrice accused rapist that his bond terms were flexible and no big deal, really. Because think of the difference in messaging between having to stand in front of a judge who no doubtedly would have asked the question, why can't mom and dad go to grandma's and just making a phone call. It was more fodder for Bowen's undeveloped and immature prefrontal cortex to think, I'm a special boy. So again, the court failed the victims by signaling to Bowen Turner that his bond conditions were

a casual situation. Now, let's fast forward to March 2020, when Turner got yet another bond modification. This one allowed him to stay at his parents' home in Orangeburg because living with his grandma was causing him quote, emotional stress. And he was granted this modification despite the victims' objections, again signaling to Bowen and the victims that the justice system wasn't taking his case seriously. Luckily, the JPS ankle monitor stayed in place, but it wasn't enough. Between 2020 and November 2021,

the victims received few updates from the prosecutor's office on their progress with the case. And this weighed especially heavily on Dallas dollar. Remember, Dallas became a different person after her assault in 2018. She endured horrific bullying from her own community in Orangeburg, including the adults, when she reported Bowen in 2019. And then that bullying persisted even after she left town to go to college. Here's her sister Brett from episode

40 of Murdoch Murders podcast when we first began covering this story. Brett She was so anxious that she was getting physically ill. She actually when she started the College of Charleston, unfortunately, some of the people that and I begged her and I begged her not to go there. I begged her to leave and go out of state, but she really wanted to go to College of Charleston and she loved Charleston and they ruined it for her. Some of the people that she went to high school with that started the hashtag free bow in and that flood shamed her so bad.

Actually, one of the main ones happened to be on her hall in her dorm. So she went there and immediately it started. She's going to school for a fresh start and immediately it starts. Dallas had to go to the hospital several times while she was in college, her freshman year while she was at College of Charleston because she was growing up and so anxious and getting sick so often that she was getting stomach ulcers. I really can't explain to you the mental impact this had on her. She had to leave. She ended up having to leave college at Charleston. And she then fortunately went to University of South Carolina, Beaufort. One of her very good friends from high school was there.

You know, she was doing better. We thought she was doing so much better. She was seeing therapists, she was getting help. But but unfortunately it wasn't enough. The Solicitor's Office wasn't helping either. Had they taken Dallas's case seriously and scheduled the case for trial when they should have, she would have had some sort of hope for closure with an end to the nightmare in sight. But the Solicitor's office gave her no hope and no reassurance that the man who did this would ever be held accountable. Dallas Hayes Stahler succumbed to a self-inflicted wound on November 14, 2021. She was 21 years old. And yes, her blood is absolutely on the hands of the court.

Sometime after Dallas Stahler's death, Chloe Bess and the Stahler family kept hearing that Bowen was being seen in places that he should not have been, despite the fact that he was being monitored by a GPS. Allegedly monitored, I should say. Attorney Sarah Ford, on behalf of Chloe and the Stahler family, requested that Sled gather the GPS records on Bowen Turner's ankle monitor. Between November 2021 and February 2022, Sled reported that Turner had violated his bond conditions more than 50 times in a number of places including, and this part is horrible, Dallas' gravesite.

This was in direct contradiction to the very strict guidelines set forth by Judge McFadden when he let Bowen out of jail, contrary to Judge Manning's decision just a few weeks earlier to keep him there. On March 25, 2022, the Solicitor's Office filed a motion to have Bowen's bond revoked, and a hearing was scheduled for April 8 of that year. Which is great, right? The Solicitor's Office was showing that this mattered. Ha! Not so fast. The terms of Bowen's bond required that he be immediately arrested upon a report that his GPS was showing him outside the bounds of his house arrest. It was supposed to go like this. Arrest, then hearing. Not hearing first. not a gap in time before consequences.

I also want to mention that during David Miller's hearing to become a judge this year, when Karl Stoller stood up to express his concerns and mentioned this particular incident that instead of having Bowen arrested according to the judge's order, David instead scheduled a hearing. Representative Todd Rutherford, he of Back Door Deals, Killer on the Loose fame, verbally tussled with Carl. He was basically like, how can we be sure Bowen violated the order? Leave it to a defense attorney to hear that a defendant's GPS anklet showed he breached the bounds of his house arrest, and witnesses saw him do it more than 50 times and then make the argument, maybe he was a good boy, though. Four days before that scheduled hearing, the solicitor, David Miller, contacted Chloe Bess

and told her that he was planning on offering a plea deal to Bowen, reducing the first-degree criminal sexual conduct charge to assault and battery. On April 6, 2022, Chloe filed a petition for a writ of mandamus to require SLED or the Solicitor's Office to arrest Bowen to force them to do their jobs by enforcing the judge's order and the terms of Bowen's bond. Chloe also filed a rule to show cause against the bond company because, guess what? The bond company was required by that judge's order and by the law to report Bowen's transgressions to the sheriff's office within 24 hours of the violation. And they did not do that. Disgustingly, Sled filed a brief in

opposition to Chloe's petition to have Bowen arrested. So, the April 8th hearing on the motion to revoke bond was still scheduled. Even though Chloe was told that the solicitor's office was planning to offer a plea deal to Bowen, the solicitor never told her that that's what was going to happen like ASAP. Chloe was given no notice that the April 8th hearing was now being converted to a change of plea hearing. And this is that switcheroo we talked about at the beginning of the episode. The hearing was heard by Judge Markley Dennis, and we've talked a lot about how odd it was

that he was assigned to Orangeburg County Court that week. We looked at his archived calendars and in 10 years he had only ever been assigned to Orangeburg County, Senator Brad Hutto's home county, one time. But it's a chicken and the egg scenario. We don't know when Judge Dennis was assigned to Orangeburg and we don't know if Senator Huddo saw his assignment to Orangeburg as a good thing for his client. We do, however, know that Judge Dennis's reputation at the time was as a defendant-friendly judge and we do, however, know that Judge Dennis approved one of the dumbest sentences in the history of South Carolina. And that would be the sentence he gave to Bowen Turner who was 19 at that time. By the way, we'll give credit where it's due. Prosecutor David Miller had presented

the terms of what he would be okay with as a sentence for Bowen, and that was apparently two years' probation, according to court filings. After Judge Dennis heard from the victim's father's, which, go dads. He decided it should be five years probation. This is sick stuff, right? The only smart thing Judge Dennis did in that hearing was make it so that Bowen would have to register as a sex offender if he committed any probation violations. Boy, did Judge Dennis have the right defendant for that stipulation. At any rate, it was during this April 8, 2022 hearing that Sarah Ford tried her hardest to get Judge Dennis to recognize the earlier motions, the reason why this hearing was scheduled

in the first place. The Solicitor's Office never told Sarah or Chloe or the Stalers that this bond revocation hearing was now going to be a plea offering. After the hearing, Chloe's dad, the Rev. Darren Bess, told the Orangeburg Times and Democrat newspaper that this was, quote, a formalized stage of a pre-arranged dance that was choreographed in secrecy and is nothing the victim's support. The Rev. Bess told the paper that his daughter and the other accusers, quote, not only feel victimized by the defendants,

but also the very system of justice meant to protect our daughter and others. Oh, and by the way, according to the Times and Democrat, prosecutor David Miller had told a reporter there that he planned to drop the charge against Bowen in Dallas' case because she was no longer alive. So the main issue here is that switcheroo plea deal hearing. Judge Dennis would not allow Sarah Ford to argue the merits of her motions. Sarah immediately appealed the decision in April, 2022. In her pre-hearing briefs, she told the appellate court

that Judge Dennis denied Chloe justice by refusing to hear from her before accepting Bowen's guilty plea. Chloe was only allowed to speak after the judge accepted Bowen's plea, a decision that could not be undone at that point. Sarah called this a meaningless show, noting that the process denies the victim of any meaningful input and thereby circumvents the

constitutional provision that she should be allowed to present. That is a big deal. And it appears to be the first time that a lawyer is taking on what is a procedural norm that seems to fly right in the face of the state's Victims' Bill of Rights. Sarah wrote in her brief, in South Carolina, the recommended plea becomes a done deal once it is accepted by the court. The trial court's custom of delaying the victim's statements until the sentencing phase of the plea denies the victim procedural justice. If the victim is not allowed to present until after the plea is accepted,

the court is just going to go through the motions when it listens to the victim's impact statement and the victim's input, rendered after the fact, is reduced to a mere formality. In other words, on Tuesday, when Malia Bowers Jefferson made her arguments in front of the South Carolina Court of Appeals on Tuesday, she was making history. And depending on how the court ends up ruling, the future might look different for victims of crime. If victims are allowed to weigh in on a defendant's plea deal before the judge accepts the terms of it, it could end up influencing the deal for the better.

If prosecutors know that a victim is not happy with a proposed plea deal, they might be less inclined to pursue these gentleman deals for defendants who are represented by lawyer legislators who hold power over the state's judges. If they knew that the victim is going to call them out in open court and that the judge is required to listen to their input,

well, prosecutors might want to save themselves from potential humiliation, because after all, they are supposed to care about putting the bad guys behind bars. They are supposed to care about protecting the community from further harm. They are not supposed to be repeatedly cutting deals for defendants who don't seem to care about the law one bit. And we'll be right back. After decades of shaky hands caused by debilitating tremors,

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Learn more at sunnybrook.ca slash special. It's really not important to me to have a lot of things to show off, fancy cars, you know A giant home those things are just not part of who I am But I've been coached and I've learned through my advisor that it's not one-size-fits-all Everyone has their own preferences everything that I do with Edward Jones is tailored to who I am Edward Jones we do money differently I am. Edward Jones. We do money differently. Visit edwardjones.ca slash different. Speaking of cutting deals, there was a second thing going on Tuesday. When Bowen Turner first violated the terms of his probation, 31 days after

being handed that naughty boy slap on the wrist from Judge Dennis, another judge revoked his probation and sent him to jail. And like we said, as part of that revocation, Bowen was then required to register as a sex offender, which let's think about that one more time. He had such little respect for the system that he couldn't even be persuaded to act right when the sex offender registry was on the table. Immediately his team filed an appeal. Their argument was that the judge who revoked his probation aired in five different ways. The first is that they say the judge should have allowed a psychologist to conduct a psychosexual evaluation of whether thrice accused rapist Bowen is a sex offender. So they wanted the judge to allow them

to present findings from a doctor that they would pay to evaluate Bowen. Nevermind that part of what went on 31 days after he was sentenced included him being drunk at a bar and trying to persuade women to take him home. Nevermind that we all know what Bowen sounds like when he's trying to get his way because of all the pleasemamming he did earlier this year with the state trooper. Which, by the way, this appeal was filed before all that happened. So Bowen's attorney had to

make these arguments while knowing the whole world had seen what Bowen Turner is like when he is drunk. Second, they argued that the revocation judge abused his discretion by not exercising it, by saying that Judge Dennis gave him no leeway when it came to the terms of the sentence. Third, they argued that there was no evidence on the record that Bowen is a sex offender. And you know what?

They tore a page out of the good old boy playbook for that one, didn't they? Step one, create a situation. The situation here being that they pulled off a big old heist with their switcheroo hearing allowing him to plead guilty to a much lesser charge that had nothing to do with the rape. Step two, point to that situation as the problem. So essentially they're saying, there's no rape on the record,

so why are we treating him like a rapist? When really it should go more like this. There's no rape on the record because Bowen's parents paid for Brad Hutto, a Senator, to keep it off the record. So why are we now holding him accountable for the rape when he paid not to have it off the record. So why are we now holding him accountable for the rape when he paid not to have it on the record? Fourth, they tried to argue that the revocation judge didn't

have the right to order Bowen to register as a sex offender. And fifth, they tried to argue that the state at the sentencing hearing should have been forced to show that there was good cause to include a sex offender registry as part of the potential sentence. So yeah, very gross stuff here because again, Bowen was handed a gift and he blew it. And there are two ways to look at this. One is that Bowen is a straight up fool and should be treated as such. The system let him get away with heinous crimes and as a thank you, he gave the system the

middle finger. The second way is to look at it like this. He can't stop breaking the law because deep down, he wants this system to finally and actually hold him accountable so that he can get better. At any rate, the South Carolina Court of Appeals told Bowen's attorney that they didn't need to hear the oral arguments on this, meaning they didn't schedule a hearing for it. But because the Court of Appeals had scheduled a hearing for Chloe's appeal, Bowen's team was like, no fair, you're going to hear oral arguments from her. And four days ago, the Court of Appeals was like, fine, you can argue your case And four days ago, the Court of Appeals was like, fine, you can argue your case afterward. That was frustrating for a few reasons. The primary reason being that what Sarah Ford and her team were doing was making history and trying to make the system accountable to

its own constitution. And what Team Bowen was doing was stomping their feet and complaining about their diamond shoes being too tight. So let's talk about what went down at the first hearing. And let's start by talking about Judge Stephanie McDonald, who was one of the three appellate judges on the panel and Judge McDonald's repeated acknowledgments of just how egregious this case is. And I'm not just using that word. Judge McDonald used it too. Most of what she said Tuesday proved just how right Sarah Ford

and Carl Stoller and Chloe Bess and her father, the Reverend Bess, and all of their team, and sorry, I have to say it also our reporting, have been right so far. Our outrage has been justified. The good old boyism that's been happening here is real. Just listen. I'm disturbed because there were many filings as this plea approached. I believe there had been notification to the Solicitor's Office of the 50 plus bond violations, one in Brunswick, Georgia, over a month, I think, or at least a month before the plea itself was heard. And it certainly seemed that there was a rush to the courthouse to get this thing

pled before they had to go through all those bond problems and electronic monitoring problems, which continues to be a problem in South Carolina. Notice how she mentioned the GPS monitoring systems are a problem. We talked about all this in a recent Cup of Justice episode in which we had Carl Stoller on to talk about it. The GPS monitoring system is essentially a lie and a money-making endeavor for the insurance industry, but I digress. It's strange to me seeing Mr. Dudek and Mr. Farthing sitting together at the council table, but I'm used to seeing them sit opposite to each other,

but I think they both know, as you do, that the Solicitor's Office makes that call. They scheduled this, and for the reason that it got scheduled, the motions were untimely, according to the Circuit Court, as far as notice goes. So I thought to myself, well, why didn't they just continue this?

Well, Ms. Ford asked for a continuance and the solicitor opposed it. And the trial court for whatever reason felt like it had to do what the solicitor said. I don't understand that either, but that's what we're left with here. And so I guess you can tell that I'm a bit frustrated because we, I don't think have any relief that we can grant to address this. What I see is a pretty egregious violation of the victim's rights here. You heard her acknowledge how strange it was to see the prosecution and defense sitting

on the same side of this issue, right? Stick a pin in that thought because there's a reason. Here is one of our favorite moments. When Judge McDonald responded to the lawyer representing the Attorney General's office here. His argument was basically, and I'm paraphrasing here, but the judge did hear from Chloe. And what's more, no one pulled a fast one on Judge Dennis. Chloe's lawyer even got to talk to the judge in chambers before the hearing. Plus, the motions! They filed their motions! The judge saw those too.

Take a listen. At first, he thought it might be a negotiated plea, which as you know is a take and a leave it. But then no, no, no, it's a recommendation. I'm not sure I agree with you that there was nothing surprising here. You got an out-of-circuit judge coming to hear it for reasons, but I appreciate your advocacy. You picked up on that, right? She said, you have an out-of-circuit judge coming here for

reasons. Has Judge McDonald been listening to our show? Seriously though, it felt really good to hear that. It was vindicating to know that we weren't just reading tea leaves there, that we were actually seeing what we were seeing on Judge Dennis' calendar. That he came poof out of nowhere and he was right ready and present for the switcheroo. This is a big deal that this was said out loud and on the record. It's an acknowledgment that a game was being played. So there were two sets of issues that collided Tuesday. Judge McDonald repeatedly said that she saw how messed up that April 8th, 2022 proceeding was, which is great, but also maintained that she didn't see a way to fix it. And that was basically the theme Tuesday. Attorney Malia Bowers Jefferson presented for Team

Chloe and she did a beautiful job, just phenomenal. Her and Sarah's portraits really need to go in a Hall of Fame somewhere because not only are they fearless attorneys, they are talented. Also, Chloe, she deserves a hundred highways named after her for pushing for this historic moment. Malia was resolute, quick on her feet, and clear. No matter how the judges end up ruling, Malia was successful in conveying their innovative argument, one that has the potential to change plea hearing procedure moving forward, in a way that characterized this as a legislative oversight with a very simple fix. No matter how many times the judges challenged her on it, attempting to

characterize it as a radical and disruptive change and characterizing themselves as powerless to address the issue, Malia kept bringing it back to center. The judge's main point was this. Yes, the Constitution says that victims have a right to be heard and to present to the court, but statutorily that right has a limit. The legislature made it so that the victims could be heard before the sentencing. So how do we fix that? What do we do? State law says one thing and the Constitution leaves it open. Here's Malia gently reminding the court that it's actually their job to fix it and they've done it before. We've edited out her citation of case law here for brevity. Well, I can appreciate that perspective, Your Honor,

because I do really understand that this court takes its role seriously and does not attempt to go outside of that role. However, our appellate courts have established rules that explain how our statutes and court rules are to be administered. I submit to this court that asking you to make a rule in this particular case is actually not outside of the scope of your authority, right? This court has that authority to issue the guidance to the future court, particularly

in a urgency and public import one. We're not asking you not asking you to evade t legislature. I think, um observe that people in le and sometimes they overlook they make mistakes.

And I believe that just because section 16.3.550 does not include the procedure for what happens at a police stage or what happens at the bond stage doesn't mean that this court can't. We are not asking you to create rights. We are asking the court to clarify that the law not only doesn't limit when a victim has the right to speak, it cannot limit it.

And you guys are in charge of reconciling that tension. What worries us is the court's seeming hangup on this issue because it could be a peg that they hang their decision on. And believe me, it would not surprise us to hear that two out of the three judges, meaning the two male judges who didn't seem to care a whole lot about any of this, are searching for that peg. Because again, if the Court of Appeals rules in Chloe's favor, it will ruin the day of every good old boy defense attorney out there, every good old boy solicitor, and every good old boy judge. If the court is forced to hear from the victim

prior to accepting a deal, it forces this triumvirate of systemic corruptors to conduct themselves as though the law applies equally to everyone. It forces them out of back rooms. It makes their handshakes less powerful. It makes their high-price promises less potent. And it forces judges to do their actual jobs proactively. It forces them to consider and decide and not just nod and go to lunch.

It puts them all in the position where they will have to look the victims in the eye before saying yeah yeah yeah, I accept that deal. And it gives them very little room to gaslight everyone into thinking that justice was served when the very people who were harmed by the crime are actually saying no it was not. And that likely scares the protectors of this system. Prosecutors represent the state, not the victims. Victims are largely inconveniences to how the system actually works.

It would make it harder to give a thrice accused rapist an assault and battery charge and sentence him to a warm hug. But the thing the protectors of the system and the court of appeals panel need to remember is this, they just want the option. They want the opportunity to say their piece. It doesn't change the power construct.

The solicitor still can recommend a plea. The defense can still accept it or not. And the judge can still rule for or against it. The only thing that changes is the court will have to acknowledge that the victim has a constitutional right to say, before you accept this deal, Your Honor, here is how this affected me.

That's it. The right already exists. And all Team Chloe, Malia Bowers-Jefferson, Sarah Ford, Tamika D. Cannon, and Terry Hearn Bailey are asking is for that right to exist in a meaningful way. Here is Malia again. None of those words are really difficult to establish a meaning of.

What we're only talking about is when is that right to be heard? And the US Supreme Court has said due process requires that the fundamental tenet of due process is to have a right enforced at a meaningful time and in a meaningful manner. And we have submitted that that is the problem here. They were allowed to be heard or they were listened to, but they were not heard in terms of what it means constitutionally when you're applying due process because it did not occur at a meaningful time and it did not

occur in a meaningful manner. Brilliant, right? Allow the victim to speak at the juncture of where due process is occurring. So you're probably wondering what the rebuttal was like. It started with the lawyer who represented the prosecution being allowed to talk for a long time before his clock actually started. When Malia got up to the microphone, the gods of time had their finger right there on the button and almost as soon as she opened her mouth, they hit it. But when the prosecution and the defense attorneys Mark Farthing and Robert Dudek got to speak, the gods of time were apparently so enraptured by their bumbling bumble words that they forgot to hit start right away. Mark's argument was essentially, but the

victim did get to speak and she was part of the process before the plea. He also had a four score and seven years ago component to his speech at the ready and began talking about the intent of the state's founding fathers. He was like, this is the justice system those guys wanted, so let's keep it the same. He left off the part where women weren't part of the team back then. We were legally restricted from weighing in until, well, you know, we weren't allowed to argue our cases back then. So good times, Mark. Yeah, let's return to them. He also left off the part where the founding fathers had nothing to do with the Victims' Bill of Rights, which was added to the state constitution in 1996

by voters, by the people. Eighty percent of South Carolinians approved a referendum to amend the Constitution to protect the right of victims. So, with all due respect, Mark, your justice system heroes weren't thinking about the full scope of victims back then, were they? As for Bowen's public defender, yes, public, as in paid for by the public, his argument was Bowen is good boy. He bullied by social media, to which Judge McDonald was like, hold my gavel. And we're not here about feelings or somebody getting their feelings hurt, but I just want to- Oh, wait a minute. I think it's a lot more than somebody getting their feelings hurt. But I just want to say. Wait a minute, I think it's a lot more than somebody

getting their feelings hurt. I understand your position Judge McDonald. I'm just going to say too, I want to get this out. My client and particularly his family has undergone some pretty bad things over the last several years as a result of this by social media and other things. So all I'm saying, Judge McDonald, is this is not one sided. And I want to get... Well, nobody's been bullied to death that I know of, right?

In his family? Well, I don't, again, I don't know of anybody who's been bullied to death. Lovely. Mr. Anti-Bullying just acted like a bully by pretending not to know who Delis Stoller was or why she died. Robert wasn't on his game, so he leaned really hard into his birthright by letting Judge McDonald know that he didn't appreciate her opinions on how egregious the switcheroo hearing was in April 2022. In other words, he scolded her. And that's pretty much it. He left the podium halfway through his time

because he had nothing more to say. Or maybe he was just saving up his bluster for the next hearing. As expected, when team Bowen got up to the bat for their appeal, it was a much different ball game. Dudek was the very definition of a good ol' boy lawyer. He was sloppy, underprepared, disjointed, and downright offensive. We don't want to spend too much time on this because frankly, both of us are shocked. But not shocked. That the Court of Appeals even

bothered to hear this. But I do want to play a couple of clips from his arguments so that you guys all believe me when I say this was messy. And remember, the Court of Appeals did not find Bowen's case compelling enough to warrant oral arguments. The only reason this appeal was heard Tuesday was because Robert Dudick whined about Chloe's appeal getting scheduled. In other words, the judges were humoring him here and it showed. Judge Williams and may it please the court I represent Bowen Turner. Let me say first of all our concerns this morning are not with probation revocation unless it has a direct nexus to the

sex offender registry. Our objection is to the sex offender registry. Our objection is to the sex offender registry. As you know, Bowen pled guilty to ABHAN, which is discretionary registration. As trial counsel or plea counsel said at the time, Bowen was 15, 16 years old at the time these incidents happened. Now I've certainly had other lawyers, not myself, stand up here in brutal murder cases

and refer to 15 year olds, 14, 15, 16 year olds as children. I'm not going to do that, but I do wanna stress that my client also was at a very young age where fortunately at 15 or so, you ought to be worried about making your high school basketball team or your JV team. But what this case came down to at the plea was condition 11 here in a series of sex offender conditions dealing with drinking alcohol.

That is on the list of sex offender conditions, Mr. Denton. It's number 11, yes ma'am. It says, I will not consume alcoholic beverages. And it's a dead serious case, and I don't mean being to be flippant in any way, but I think this comes down to is almost, is at one point during the, near the end of this plea, where the plea judge could have said, if you so much as sip a beer, you're going on the sex offender registry.

I would think and I would hope we would all think that was absurd, but I submit that's what happened in this case. Well, it may or might not be considered a lot absurd. It's the context of the plea in which it is taken. Okay, so that was the first few minutes just to give you all an idea of Bowen's side of things. I just want to point out that Bowen wasn't 15 slash 16. He was almost 17 years old when one of the alleged rapes occurred. That is not hard math to figure out nor was it a mystery. His lawyers definitely know his birthdate, but they like to muddy the waters to make them look deep, right? And actually, they're dog whistling again,

painting Bowen out to be closer to 15 years old because he's not an accused rapist then but rather a victim of his hormones. Robert then really started to plant the seeds of his woe is Bowen argument. The poor kid should have been trying out for high school basketball, not facing rape charges. Like we've said before, Bowen accepted his plea because he was very lucky to get it. He is the one who agreed to have no alcohol as a condition of his probation and if he was caught drinking because alcohol played a role in the incidents he was charged with, he would have to register as a sex offender. It was a simple rule, but of course, Mr. Lois Bowen wanted to argue

that it was sad and absurd that an underage thrice accused rapist would be given such a rule to follow, and it's a rule he should have been following to begin with. No drinking. He was not 21. Then Mr. Woe is Bowen reduced that rule and characterized it as not a sip of beer, as if it was a tragedy. And worse, Robert Duddock conflated it with the probation and parole department's list of sex offender registry conditions. He kept pointing to provision 11, which bars the registrant from consuming alcohol. But that wasn't the issue at hand. The issue is that Bowen was barred from drinking as a condition of staying off the registry. If old Robert Dudick wants to talk about rule 11, then let's talk about

Bowen's arrest this past March because he was a sex offender then and he was caught drinking, but that's an issue for another day. Essentially, Robert Duddock then argued that there was no evidence on the record to qualify Turner for the sex offender registry. And thankfully, Judge McDonald challenged him on that. And he concluded his argument to ask for a hearing to determine whether or not Bowen should be on the sex offender list because again, Bowen's legislator lawyer created that situation. Brad Hutto and David Miller are the reason there's no rape on the record.

As Mr. Duddock pointed out, sex offender condition number 11 is shall not drink any alcohol. And now this was certainly a lot more than just a sip of beer. He was intoxicated at a bar underage. And then there are some other allegations that also were certainly alarming based on Mr. Turner's reported behavior while intoxicated. Therefore, the state's position that the motion for continuance not being granted was completely fine.

There was no abuse of discretion because certainly because he admitted his violations, that certainly does not lack evidentiary support. And there's certainly no error of law in this particular case. We have a clear clearly stated condition. In his response, Mr. Dudek once again argued that the world should feel sorry for Bowen, which we actually do. We actually do feel sorry for Bowen

because you know what, Mr. Dudek, if the system had held your client accountable from day one, he might've been rehabilitated. He might've had a chance. It doesn't make it any better in the terms of this case. What this case is deciding that he would have a chance to get off in 15 years if ordered on. The plain thing here is when Judge Dennis

was doing the sentencing, he was talking about rehabilitation and other things for Bowen, who again was a very young, troubled teenage young man with a drinking problem. Okay. Um, and that's what this was. And we have section 11 in there on you cannot consume alcoholic beverages, and we can go off and try and talk about other things that were not directly before the court on, oh, well, he was harassing women in a bar. Judge McDonald asked him about the record of that, and Robert once again doubled down

on his point, feels sorry for Bowen. But I think, again, this record, nowhere in this record does it for the draconian thing of registering as a sex offender when you have no expert testimony in front of you. And that's why again, we've argued it's an abuse of discretion not to grant us the continuance. You have no evidence, no evidence in this record of good cause to put him on the sex vendor registry. There's no evidence, expert or otherwise, that he would be a risk to reoffend. And Bowen Turner or any other defendant is entitled to have the state make that record before the circuit court,

before he or she is placed on the sex offender registry where now we know what that does to them, which is destroy their life. All we're asking is that they meet the burden that the statute requires them to do and the case law requires them to do. All right, hang on. Did he just call a sex offender registry the system that warns women and children in the community at large about where danger might exist? Draconian? If there's such a thing as reincarnation, Mr. Dudek just secured his place in the future as a woman because the universe has a lesson

to teach him. You know what else ruins lives, Robert? Rape. He summarized his argument asking for a full and fair hearing about whether or not Bowen should be a registered sex offender. He wants to waste more taxpayer money and time on what has proven itself over and over to be a lost cause. Varon Brockovich were working this case. She'd be pouring Bowen into a glass and telling Robert to take a sip. And you know what?

He wouldn't. Why? Because Bowen has shown himself to be dangerous and he has shown himself to be someone who does not care about the law. We don't expect to know how the judges will rule in either of these appeals for another six months or so. I know. Six months. I wouldn't be surprised if the judges had already made up their minds on Bowen's sex

offender registry appeal because, come on now, as for Chloe's appeal, I hope that the judges understand that this goes beyond honoring what the state constitution says. It is about honoring what the people of South Carolina wanted their justice system to look like when they voted back in 1996. But it doesn't really matter what I think about this. It matters what Chloe Bess thinks about this. Chloe and her family sat behind Sarah's chair in the hearing. Their presence was inspiring and choked me up at times.

Chloe and her parents drove eight hours from Florida, where they moved to after the horrific bullying Chloe endured following the assault and Bowen's arrest. She said that it was important for them to be there. And for the first time, they felt good after attending a hearing. We were lucky to speak with Chloe on Wednesday. Here is Chloe. Luckily, I have the most supportive parents ever, and I'm so thankful for them because I don't know what I would do if I did not have my mom and dad So I'm very very thankful for them, but we are very very big on like communication and always talking about how we're feeling and you know

We're allowed to share our thoughts within each other and kind of go back and forth Which I think is so healthy and especially in a situation like this You have to like you have to have that type of Dynamic other words, it's we're all gonna crumble, you know, if we all keep how we're really feeling on the inside You know, we can't carry all that by ourselves So I'm very thankful we have that type of relationship, but we kind of all walked away yesterday Feeling a little bit different than we had in previous court hearings.

I think it was very refreshing to finally have a judge up there asking the right questions and kind of putting a little fire under it. We really haven't seen that, you know, up until this point. And so we didn't know what to expect walking in there yesterday. You know, I was kind of, I'm always hopeful in situations like this because, you know, you never know. So I always walk in just like, oh, you know, please, I hope this kind of just plays out in our favor or at least we hear some different discourse, you know, please, I hope this kind of just plays out in our favor or at least

we hear some different discourse, you know, but you really don't know. So to have that yesterday, I'm so glad that I was in that courtroom hearing it with my own ears and seeing it with my own eyes because in the five, six years that this has been going on, that's the first time that that's happened, which sounds crazy to say, but it really is. So it was honestly such an amazing moment. And so me and both of my parents agreed that things might get a little bit better.

There's hope. There is hope. But also, I had to ask how Chloe felt after sitting there as her alleged rapist attorney tried time after time to make the court feel sorry for him. So stop trying to play it like he was this young, innocent child because he wasn't. was this young innocent child because he wasn't. You know, if we're gonna argue that he was this innocent 15, 16 year old kid, so was I. You know, so I mean, I really, that whole argument is just discredited

the second it left his mouth. And there's just so many things you can go back and forth with and the arguments that they're trying to argue for him It's just it has no weight to it You know, it just feels like they're grasping at straws. And again when you look at everything that's happened up until this point You can't say stuff like that. Like you you just can't so I mean it's It's a lot and it continues to be a lot,

but I mean, I don't mind carrying all that. I'm just very glad that I'm strong enough to hear all those things and know how to process it as they're being said. The instinct in me is you just kind of wanna jump up and say like, what are you talking about? But you just have to sit there and you have to listen and you have to think about it. And you know, you have to form your own opinion.

So it's been very tricky over the years, kind of teaching myself to stay quiet at certain points or kind of like know what to say when to say, because there I think that you have to play it at certain points or kind of like know what to say when to say because there's a way you have to do it unfortunately and they're obviously playing a game.

So I mean you just kind of have to learn how to play that game to as messed up as that sounds but you you got to learn how to play it better honestly so that's what we're we're hoping to be doing and, you know, hopefully setting forth change in future victims' cases so that nobody has to go through this again because it really is like one of the worst things ever

and I don't wish it on anybody. So if I can be a part of that change, I would gladly do this a million times over again. So Chloe had a lot more to say about how the system has mistreated her, about what Brad Huddo said about her in court, about how social media has responded to her story, and about what it felt like to see Bowen's father at Tuesday's hearing. But we will be back with more of Chloe's story next week,

because her interview put both David and I in tears. She is so inspiring and fearless, and I don't want her words to be overshadowed by the chaos of this week. Also we will be back next week with another big update in the Micah Francis case. So stay tuned, stay pesky, and stay in the sunlight. True Sunlight is a Lunashark production created by me, Manny Matney, and co-hosted by journalist Liz Farrell. Learn more about our mission and membership at lunasharkmedia.com.

Interruptions provided by Luna and Joe Pesky. The justice system can be intimidating, but it doesn't have to be. We all want a drink from the same cup of justice, and it starts with learning about our legal system. My name is Mandi Matney, and together with journalist Liz Farrell and world-renowned attorney Eric Bland, we create the perfect trifecta of legal expertise, journalistic integrity and a fire lit to expose the truth wherever it leads. We all encounter a part of our justice systems at one point, so why not get prepared while being

entertained with tales from the newsroom and the courtroom? Cup of Justice has amazing special guests like Sheryl Crow, Vinnie Politan, Emily D. Baker, and other experts to share their take on the bright side of the truth. Lunashark Media invites you to gain knowledge, insight, and tools to hold your own or hold public agencies accountable. Search for Cup of Justice wherever you get your podcast or visit cupofjusticepod.com.