Update: State Of San Andreas V. Daniel McFall, Arthur Cain, & Bazil McFall-Bertstien

Note: Highlights of the court case can be found below. A full recording of the court case can be found at the end of the page.

Read our previous coverage of [2023-CM-163] here.

TLDW (Too Long; Didn’t Watch):

Docket for [2023-CM-163]

Date: July 27, 2023

Suspect(s): Daniel McFall, Arthur Cain, & Bazil McFall-Bertstein
Arresting Officer: Amelia Drake

Charges:
x1 Accomplice to Aggravated First-Degree Murder
x1 Accomplice to Aggravated First-Degree Murder
x1 Accessory to Aggravated First-Degree Murder, x1 Attempted First-Degree Murder for Bazil McFall-Berstein
x1 Kidnapping

Judge:
Joanna McGrath (Overseeing Circuit Judge)

Defense:
Daniel McFall
Arthur Cain
Bazil McFall-Bertstien
Donald OHagen (Hunt & OHagen LLP.)

Prosecution:
Raven Teal in First Chair
Emma Maestri in Second Chair

Testimony:
Ophelia Dane
Lucas Lloyd (Blue Bionic)
Stefford Johnson
Danny Walker

Important Notes:
The kidnapping charge was dropped earlier on into the case due to concerns involving statute of limitations.

The Court was closed to almost everyone, including government officials such as Governor Ryan “Ryry” Avery and Security of State Link Jordins, amongst others)
A minor riot occurred outside during the proceedings, including cars beginning to set ablaze, small explosions, and gasoline pouring across several courthouse entrances. Only minor injuries were reported.

Corporal Amelia Drake, the arresting officer, could not attend the court case as a witness, despite being subpoenaed and her involvement with other witness testimonies and evidence. She was never approved as a witness by Judge McGrath. Nonetheless, this would’ve led to much evidence being stricken from the record on validity grounds. These facts led to confusion from some during court and overruling on the motion for this from Judge McGrath. The final verdict remained the same.

Final Charges:
The final verdict found Daniel Mcfall, Arthur Cain, and Bazil McFall-Bertstien not guilty on all charges.
Stefford Johnson, a witness the court had subpoenaed, was charged with x1 Criminal Contempt of Court for failure to appear during trial.

BONUS: Final Opinion of The Court:
In order to find someone guilty of a criminal charge, this must be proven beyond a shadow of a doubt. Though the State did present plenty of circumstantial evidence and reasonable suspicion, these pieces of evidence were often conflicting. Three of the witnesses on the stand had conflicting statements regarding key details of the crime scene, the victim’s body, and the order of events; which makes it difficult to determine who is a reliable witness and who is not. Furthermore, for the scene of Hunter McFall’s murder, none of the defendants were seen and no physical evidence places them there in order to meet the conditions of Accomplice to Aggravated First-Degree Murder.

For the kidnapping of Mr. Lucas Lloyd, Mr. Lloyd did not identify his kidnapper and was only told afterward who it was suspected to be. In the texts that tie Mr. McFall-Bertstien to Mr. Lloyd, there are no admissions of guilt and only circumstantial evidence that makes him a suspect in this case, as no one can positively place him without a shadow of a doubt at the scene. This does not meet the conditions of x1 Attempted First-Degree Murder. Even if Mr. McFall-Bertstein did commit this crime and tried to have Mr. Lloyd send a tweet denouncing the document he was given by Cassius Black, this could not be considered x1 Accessory to Aggravated First-Degree Murder as a public tweet cannot be covered up or withheld as evidence by tweeting again.

Therefore, this Court cannot say without a shadow of a doubt that these individuals are guilty of the charges they are accused of. – Joanna McGarth

Full Court Recording: