DATING APP MURDER TRIAL — BREAKING: The State Cross-Examines Andre Warner - COURT TV

[00:00:00] Speaker 1: Mr. Warner, when you were first pulled over, you told law enforcement that you didn't know Haley's name, didn't you? Yes, I did. A girl that you had just spent, in your words, at least the last week with? Yes. A girl that you hung out with? Yes. On a daily basis? Yes. You went places with her? Yes, I did. Went to Winter Haven with her? Yes, I did. Went to Lakeland with her? Yes, I did. Went to Orlando with her? Yes, I did. Went to Tampa with her? Yes, I did. You guys talked on the phone? Yes, I did. You texted with each other? Yes, we did. But [00:00:35] Mr. Warner: you didn't know her name? No, I did not know her name. I don't ask names. [00:00:43] Speaker 1: And in fact, this was a girl that you kind of liked, right? In a way, yes. You sent her that text message about liking her? Yes, I did. But you didn't know her name? No, I didn't know her name. And you didn't know Miss Bustos prior to her being introduced to you at Evelyn's apartment? No, I did not. Never saw her before? No, I did not. Never heard her name? No, I did not. Never spoke to her on the phone? No, I did not. Nothing? Nothing. And you guys got along pretty well during the time you hung out? Fairly. No beef between [00:01:21] Mr. Warner: the two of you? No, no beef at all. Okay. [00:01:26] Speaker 1: You didn't know Josh Ellington either? No, I didn't know anybody. You met Josh Ellington during your time spent at Evelyn Belmont's apartment? Yes, ma'am. And same with him. He hung out at Evelyn's? You were there with him, right? Yes. You guys chilled [00:01:44] Mr. Warner: together? Me and Josh really didn't chill. He was there. We'll hang out while he was there. But as in going places with Josh and stuff like that, we didn't do. He was just, whenever he was at Evelyn's, I was at Evelyn's, we'll hang out and talk. But that's about it. No beef with him? No, [00:02:02] Speaker 1: I had no beef with anybody there. You didn't know Denzel prior to meeting him at Evelyn's? No, I did not know Denzel. Hung out with him as well? Yes, ma'am, I did. Okay. No beef with him? No beef at all. But you did know Gary Gray? No, I did not know Gary Gray prior to that. You didn't know him? No, not prior to that. You met him prior to meeting Haley and Josh and Denzel though? No, I met him around [00:02:38] Mr. Warner: the same time. On the same day? Not the same day, but later on after I met Haley and Josh and him, [00:02:46] Speaker 1: I ended up meeting Gary. So you met Gary after? Yes, after. But it's your understanding that Gary was somehow related to Evelyn Belmont. Yes. And Gary was somebody that you hung out with? Yeah, [00:02:59] Mr. Warner: he came to a couple places with us. In fact, we see these photographs, [00:03:05] Speaker 1: state exhibit number 427. That's you and Gary and Evelyn, right? [00:03:12] Mr. Warner: Yes, that's me. Okay, that's Gary. Yes. Whose car are you guys in? I believe we're in my car at that time. Where are you guys going? I don't remember if it was it during the day. If it was during the day, [00:03:27] Speaker 1: I believe we're going to Orlando area. Okay. So would this have been right around the time Adam was murdered? It would have been, yes. And Evelyn, you were very good friends with. She was like a sister to you. That's what you told law enforcement, right? You can say that. You can say that. Yeah. And we can see in state exhibit number 426, you and Evelyn in this picture, [00:03:58] Mr. Warner: right? Yes, among other people, yes. Okay. [00:04:05] Speaker 1: You had no beef with Gary. No, I did not. No beef with Evelyn. No, I did not. In fact, Evelyn let you stay at her apartment. Yes, she did. And you stayed in her brother's room. [00:04:25] Mr. Warner: When her brother wasn't there, I'll stay in her brother's room. That's where your stuff was. Yes, that's where my stuff was. He let me keep my stuff in his room. [00:04:39] Speaker 1: And just so we're clear, looking at state exhibit number 362, this is her brother's room, right? Yes, that is. And these are your things that we can see in her brother's room? Yes, ma'am. Those are my shoes. Your white and black Nike shoes that were later collected by law enforcement? Yes, ma'am. The brown boots? Yes, ma'am. Those are my work boots. What about these other shoes right here? These are yours too, right? Let me see. I can't see from here. May I approach, Judge? Yes, ma'am. Yes, ma'am. Those are my shoes. And there's other items in here that are yours, next to the dresser, clothing items, things of that nature? Possibly. Along with Adam's hats. Right? Yes. Now, you were aware that your good friend Evelyn needed money for her light bill during this time. Isn't that right? Yes, from what she told me. And you needed money during this time? At the time, yes. That's pretty evident through your text messages. Wouldn't you agree? You were pretty desperate. I want to say desperate. Well, you were willing to sell your phone. Yeah, it was an old [00:06:07] Mr. Warner: phone. I didn't need it anymore. So, yeah, I sold my phone. But that's not why you said you wanted to [00:06:12] Speaker 1: sell it. You needed to sell it for money. Yes, I needed some money. Okay. And you didn't even have enough money to put any gas in your car. Not at the time, no. And I think you told Mr. Norgaard, however, that at that time, the only payments that you had to make were your car payments and your insurance payments. Yes. And you couldn't even afford to make those [00:06:42] Mr. Warner: payments either. I was making due. I had a payment plan with the company. They let me pay and get 180 by 180 a month or 180 a week trying to get it back. I was just waiting to get my paycheck that Friday. [00:06:58] Speaker 1: And you were so dead broke, as you put it in your text message that you were trying to do something that [00:07:08] Mr. Warner: night. Isn't that right? I was just telling him that I'm trying to do something. I'm trying to get some money. Basically, that's what I meant. Right. You were, weren't you? Yes, I was trying to get some money. [00:07:19] Speaker 1: I was trying to get some money. So, you know, you're trying to get some money. I'm trying to get some money. [00:07:27] Speaker ?: So, you know, you're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. [00:07:43] Speaker 1: You're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. You're trying to get some money. Now, when you're initially brought into the police station, they asked you about the hats because they see the hats in your car. Yes. And you agree, at this point, these were your hats because you had bought them from Haley Bustos, according to you. Yes. You were dead broke, but you spent $50 on these hats. I got them from my girlfriend. So your girlfriend paid the $50 to get the hats. Okay. And you tell the detectives some elaborate story about Haley got them from some white dude down the street, had them in a box. It was a bootlegger. This whole elaborate story about how she got these hats, according to you. Yes, ma'am. You also told the detectives that Haley used your car to go on her date that Thursday night, didn't you? At the time, I did, yes. But that's not true. No, that was not true. [00:08:59] Mr. Warner: So you lied to the detectives. I didn't mean to, but yes, I did. [00:09:05] Speaker 1: You knew at that point that your car could possibly be associated with the robbery and murder of Adam Hilaire. So you needed a way to explain that to law enforcement, right? [00:09:31] Mr. Warner: At that time, no, I didn't. [00:09:33] Speaker 1: No? So why did you tell them that Haley's the one that borrowed your car that night? [00:09:37] Mr. Warner: Because she did borrow my car that night. [00:09:49] Speaker 1: Now, you indicated that, according to you, Haley, well, let me just back up. She didn't borrow your car to go on the date. No, she did not. [00:10:02] Mr. Warner: Her date came and got her. [00:10:03] Speaker 1: Yes, ma'am. Her date being Adam Hilaire. Yes, ma'am. I didn't know that though. [00:10:07] Mr. Warner: Executed later that night. [00:10:10] Speaker 1: Ma'am. The same guy that was executed later that night. Yes, ma'am. [00:10:14] Mr. Warner: Okay. [00:10:15] Speaker 1: And you, according to you, she came back from the date and her and Gary and Josh took your car, right? Yes, ma'am. [00:10:28] Mr. Warner: Yes, ma'am. [00:10:29] Speaker 1: And you didn't know what they were going to go do? [00:10:31] Mr. Warner: No, like I said, they told me they were going to go get some weed and some K2. [00:10:35] Speaker 1: And you just met these people? [00:10:36] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:10:37] Speaker 1: Yes. You're going to let them borrow your car in the middle of the night, go somewhere you have no idea where they're going to go? [00:10:45] Mr. Warner: I didn't feel like going. And worst case scenario, if they take my car, 911 is available. [00:10:51] Speaker 1: So, you told Mr. Norbert that when they, and I want to make sure I'm clear on this, that the people that are still there at that point are you, Evelyn, and who? Her brother. [00:11:03] Mr. Warner: Her brother? Yes, ma'am. [00:11:05] Speaker 1: Okay, so you don't remember Denzel Rakowski being there with his two-year-old son? [00:11:08] Mr. Warner: No, I did not remember that at all. [00:11:10] Speaker 1: What about Evelyn's kids? Were they there? [00:11:12] Mr. Warner: Yes, Evelyn's kids were there. [00:11:13] Speaker 1: Two little babies, toddlers? [00:11:14] Mr. Warner: Yes, I don't remember exactly. I believe it was two. [00:11:18] Speaker 1: And so when they left, according to you, you went and took a nap? [00:11:24] Mr. Warner: I just laid down pretty much, yes. [00:11:26] Speaker 1: And you're a light sleeper, so when they returned, you woke up and came out, I guess, to where they were? [00:11:33] Mr. Warner: Yeah, I was actually on the couch at that time. [00:11:36] Speaker 1: Did you see them bringing in the TVs and the Xbox and the hats? [00:11:40] Mr. Warner: They didn't have any TVs and they didn't bring in any hats. The only thing they brought in was the liquor bottles. That's all they brought in. [00:11:47] Speaker 1: They didn't bring any of that into Evelyn's apartment? [00:11:49] Mr. Warner: No, ma'am, not that I've seen, no. [00:11:51] Speaker 1: But you did see them with the liquor bottles? [00:11:53] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:11:54] Speaker 1: And you drank the liquor bottle, out of the liquor bottle with them? [00:11:58] Mr. Warner: I didn't drink out of the liquor bottle, we poured shots. Okay. [00:12:01] Speaker 1: And they weren't making any statements, according to you, about what they allegedly had just done without you? [00:12:07] Mr. Warner: No, not at that time, no. [00:12:08] Speaker 1: You had no idea where they got the liquor bottles? [00:12:11] Mr. Warner: No, like I said, I assumed they got them from their house, something like that. [00:12:24] Speaker 1: Now, you didn't ever tell the detectives, though, about this part, did you? [00:12:29] Mr. Warner: No, I did not. [00:12:30] Speaker 1: You lied to the detectives. You told the detectives that you let Haley borrow your car to go on the date, you went to sleep, and that you didn't wake up the next morning until 10 o'clock in the morning. Isn't that right? [00:12:41] Mr. Warner: At the time, yes, I did. [00:12:43] Speaker 1: So what you told us here today is the first time that you ever told anybody that? [00:12:49] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:13:06] Speaker 1: And you would agree that you were up that entire morning hanging out with all the people at Evelyn Belmont's apartment? [00:13:16] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:13:36] Speaker 1: And I want to make sure I'm clear on this. You were up at Evelyn's. Haley was there, right? [00:13:48] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:13:49] Speaker 1: Josh was there. [00:13:50] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:13:51] Speaker 1: Gary was there. Yes. Denzel was there, possibly. I know you don't remember. I don't remember. It's possible he was there. [00:13:57] Mr. Warner: It's possible. [00:13:58] Speaker 1: No reason to dispute that. No, there's no reason. [00:14:00] Mr. Warner: Okay. [00:14:01] Speaker 1: Evelyn was there. Yes. And according to you, Evelyn's brother? [00:14:06] Mr. Warner: Yes. [00:14:07] Speaker 1: You didn't hear any statements being made about Adam being forced to his knees? [00:14:16] Mr. Warner: No, I did not hear anything like that. Being tied up? No, I was not told anything like that. [00:14:22] Speaker 1: Begging for his life? [00:14:24] Mr. Warner: No, I was not told anything like that. You didn't hear any of that? No, ma'am, I did. [00:14:28] Speaker 1: There was no celebrating the fact that that had just occurred? [00:14:34] Mr. Warner: Celebrating from my standpoint, there was no celebrating. Like I said, we're just standing around drinking, hanging out like we normally do. [00:14:47] Speaker 1: And you certainly never told anybody that you executed Adam because you were barefaced. [00:14:53] Mr. Warner: No, I never say that. [00:15:03] Speaker 1: Now you heard, you've been sitting through this whole entire trial, right? [00:15:06] Mr. Warner: Yes, ma'am. [00:15:07] Speaker 1: You heard what Haley testified to, right? Yes, ma'am. You heard what Josh testified to? [00:15:14] Mr. Warner: Yes, ma'am. [00:15:15] Speaker 1: You heard what Denzel testified to? Yes, ma'am, I do. And according to you, these are people that you got along with. [00:15:23] Mr. Warner: Yes, I did. [00:15:24] Speaker 1: No reason for them to tell anybody that you're the one responsible for Adam's murder, right? [00:15:32] Mr. Warner: That's what I thought. [00:15:34] Speaker 1: Well, you would agree. No reason for them to do that. [00:15:37] Mr. Warner: Not from my recollection, no. [00:15:39] Speaker ?: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:15:58] Speaker 1: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:01] Speaker ?: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:04] Speaker 1: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:08] Speaker ?: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:12] Speaker 1: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:16] Speaker ?: No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. No reason for them to do that. [00:16:27] Speaker 1: You testified that you asked your girlfriend to look up the information regarding Adam's murder. That's what you testified to. You remember saying that? [00:16:44] Mr. Warner: I told her to look up and see if anything was going on around the area. [00:16:50] Speaker 1: But that's not really how it went down, right? Because we have your text messages between you and Mindy. Do you remember sending her a text message on the 20th of August? Daily Ridge, Auburndale, one shot and killed. And her response was, "Damn." Remember that? Would you like to see it? Yes, actually I would. May I approach judges? Yes, ma'am. [00:17:18] Speaker ?: Do you agree that's her phone number? Yes, ma'am. I do. [00:17:21] Speaker 1: And those are text messages between you and her? Yes, it is. [00:17:23] Speaker ?: So you are the one that actually sent her the information about the murder? [00:17:25] Speaker 1: Yes, I did. I'm sorry. I'm sorry. [00:17:28] Speaker ?: I'm sorry. Thank you. [00:17:29] Speaker 1: Yes, I did. You agree that's her phone number? Yes, ma'am, I do. And those are text messages between you and her? Yes, it is. So you are the one that actually sent her the information about the murder? Yes, I did. I'm sorry. Now, you heard Haley testify about the threats that you made to her down in the holding cell during one of the court proceedings. Do you remember her testifying about that? About you calling her the police, and if the police wasn't around, you'd spit on her? Yeah, I heard her say that, yes. Did that happen? No, that did not. She made that up, too? Yes, she did. Now, finally, let's talk about that phone call. We heard the phone call. You heard the phone call, right? Yes, ma'am, I did. You didn't tell your grandfather during that phone call. You didn't do it? No, I did not. No. What's the first thing you say? You say, I took plenty of showers between the murder and my arrest. I didn't say murder, per se. No, I did not. But you said you took plenty of showers between then and now. [00:19:08] Mr. Warner: I told them it took me a couple days to come get me from the time of what they say happened. And I took plenty of showers. I took a shower every day. And gunpowder residue stays on you for 24 hours. That's what I said. [00:19:22] Speaker 1: So you knew that that gunshot residue wouldn't be on your hands anyway because you took showers and because you knew that it would only last for 24 hours. [00:19:30] Mr. Warner: I was telling my grandfather facts so he could tell that this is how he can know that they're lying. This is how you know. I done took plenty of showers. That's why I said what I said. [00:19:41] Speaker 1: So the law enforcement officers wouldn't have been able to get any GSR from you because of the showers that you took and because of the amount of time that had passed. Isn't that right? And you knew that? [00:19:50] Mr. Warner: From my understanding? Yes. [00:19:58] Speaker 1: Now, Mr. Warner, your attorney spent with each of the persons that testified against you, most of his cross-examination talking about their motivations to testify. Do you remember those questions that Mr. Norrhart was asking of Haley and Josh and Denzel? [00:20:17] Mr. Warner: Yes, ma'am. [00:20:18] Speaker 1: Wouldn't you agree that the person in this case that has the greatest motive to lie is you? You're the one facing the death penalty, right? [00:20:29] Mr. Warner: Well, honestly, I had a choice. [00:20:39] Speaker 3: Okay, sidebar during the cross-examination of the defendant. We'll take a quick break, get you back into the courtroom right after this. [00:20:49] Speaker 4: I think Kato Kaelin was one of the more memorable witnesses. Wouldn't you? His name. Why would you bring him on the stand? On the next episode of OJ25... Kato, you believe him? Who knows? Did something unusual occur? Yes. I heard a thumping noise from behind the wall. An all-new original true crime series, OJ25. New episode Thursday night at 9, 8 central. Only on CORE TV. [00:21:19] Speaker 5: But when the police started talking to you, they kept talking about somebody named Haley, Haley Bustos, but she'd been introduced as Rose or Rose. Yes. Okay. With respect to whether or not Ms. Bustos had used your car to go on the date, did you think at the time that she had... Say it again, sir? When you were talking to the police, did you think that she had taken your car on the date? At the time, yes. Okay. [00:21:48] Mr. Warner: Did you find out later that actually the guy had picked her up? Yes, I did. And like I said in page three, that I'm not really good on times and I'm not... It's time frame. My time frames are iffy. [00:22:00] Speaker 5: But you had thought she had taken it on the car and then you learned after the fact that she hadn't? [00:22:05] Mr. Warner: Yeah. [00:22:05] Speaker 5: Okay. And then as far as the prosecutor's questions about your conversation with your grandfather and the phone call, the phone call they chose to play... Yes. And you already had prior calls with your grandfather where you told him that you didn't shoot the man. Yes, I did. Another question. [00:22:26] Speaker 3: Mr. Warner, you may resume your seat at council table, sir. Thank you. Thank you. [00:22:30] Speaker 4: Mr. Warner, you may resume your seat at council table, sir. [00:22:49] Mr. Warner: Mr. Warner, you may resume your seat at council table, sir. [00:22:54] Speaker ?: Mr. Warner, you may resume your seat at council table, sir.