Episode 3 - Defense

TRIGGER WARNING: Domestic Violence

Whitten continues to unmute. She defends herself from crimes she didn't commit.

Transcript

Court Case Preparation and Anxiety

Whitten Montgomery 0:00

Hi , my name is Whitten and I'm Maggie , and this is episode 3 of Unmute .

Maggie Patten 0:05

If you have not yet listened to our two-part episode 2 , I highly recommend you go back and check that out Definitely . In that episode we cover myself and Whitten going back to Pasture Town , getting to the house , seeing the status of the house , Whitten's arrest and getting us back to Kentucky , and while that sounds like it's a pretty heavy episode , there's some shenanigans that we get into that might make you giggle . So I definitely recommend you going back and checking that out Definitely .

Whitten Montgomery 0:39

And as we continue to tell the story , I am always going to start every episode with a trigger warning . This story happened with a lot of domestic violence , both physical and mental , so I do want to make sure we're calling that out before every episode . Also , with my reminder that we are not telling this story in chronological order Sometimes there's gaps between each episode because there's not really worth anything telling you or I decided to tell that at a different time and , lastly , that we have changed the names , except for our own , in this story to protect the guilty .

Whitten Montgomery 1:09

Yes , to protect the guilty , but also to protect myself as I tell the story , and all the others involved who didn't necessarily want their name shared . We haven't even told we're doing this , so , without further ado , I hope you enjoy episode three of Unmute . Okay , let's travel back to this horrific time .

Maggie Patten 1:37

So where are we ? We got back in town . You had a court date scheduled . Can you talk a little bit about how much time there was between and get into a little bit of the prep to get back to Pasture Town ?

Whitten Montgomery 1:44

Yeah , so there were about three weeks , three , three and a half weeks of torture . Really , yeah it was a tight turnaround , yeah , and you don't really get a lot of time for criminal cases . They set a date and that is the date you're attending . There's not a different option in that circumstance . So I had to really get back home and plan my trip back and work with my lawyer to make sure .

Maggie Patten 2:09

Because there was no chance , there was no option for you to do virtual . You had to go back to Pasture Town .

Whitten Montgomery 2:13

Yes , and I couldn't just have my lawyer represent me . So for criminal charges you actually have to be there to represent yourself because those charges could have repercussions that involve jail times . You actually have to be there yourself so that you are there in court to get arrested and to be there for your sentence and again you're going back .

Maggie Patten 2:28

I mean , this is in our previous episode , but you're going back to defend yourself for charges that were brought upon you that we both know were false . They were all the things that lizzie had actually done to you , correct ? But she you didn't had gone and claimed that you did all of these things to her .

Whitten Montgomery 2:47

Yes , she reported to the magistrate , which caused the warrant in my subsequent arrest , right . So , as I got home , that wonderful lawyer that we talked about in the past episode , who did help me get out of jail and only stay there for four hours and not have to stay overnight , was the criminal lawyer I did end up working with for this entire case . Entirely adored him , but , as I identified earlier , he was pithy . And criminal lawyers which I , you know , I didn't have much experience of having a lawyer at all right , but when you have like a family lawyer , they get paid an hourly rate and they will just talk to you , but a criminal lawyer is more of a flat fee for finishing your case , so he doesn't want to , you know , shoot the shit with me and talk about stuff . He wants to get down to business and get through it .

Maggie Patten 3:28

Sure , and he's also doing other cases where I mean , I know you're going to get more into this , but he's like doing trials with like murderers and like really intense criminal shit . And not to say that yours was not very important . Very , it was so important to me . I know , I know , I know , but he definitely had priorities , I think , and I think that due to that , sometimes you had a hard time getting in touch with him for prep work and stuff like that , but ultimately he was very wonderful . Yes , we know that .

Whitten Montgomery 4:03

When I had him with me in person , goodness , he was perfect and fantastic . But this time , between , I wish I could have talked to him every day and I did not have that . So I still did have my family lawyer at the time and , just in all transparency and this can show my ignorance of the judicial system or also just like the gaps in the general public's knowledge of the judicial system but from everything I had seen on TV , I thought that I was going to go into court and have like a jury and it'd be just me and the judge and I would be talking through like my case and have my lawyer and have to go up and do defense . I had no idea that it was just a lot of defendants in a room just going forward to see if these cases are even going to move forward into any type of court .

Whitten Montgomery 4:45

Right , it's not like law and order , no , and that's all I'd known , sure , like I'm not watching Judge , judy or other things which I guess are more similar to what this actually is . But that's even family court , I feel , right . So this was not anything that I knew where there's a bunch , a bunch of defendants there , right , all getting called forward for probably like three minutes to speak before a judge and then the judge decide whether or not they're moving forward with this case or not . So I I am thinking I'm going into a formal right court , proceeding right and like a trial . Yes , I really thought , like I thought there would be a jury and everything and I had no idea . So eventually I spoke to my family lawyer and she kindly explained to me that that was not the case , right , that actually , this time that I had of arriving around 9 am was the time that everyone received Right , we would all get there at that time and the judge would then see everyone in a certain Everybody who was like on the docket that day .

Maggie Patten 5:37

For the day Was going to be there .

Whitten Montgomery 5:39

Yes , thanks to my family lawyer , I actually learned how court actually worked and understood the proceedings and the fact that I would be there . I wasn't necessarily going first or last , just at some point throughout the day and I would get called forward by the judge . I did speak with my criminal lawyer a couple times and I do remember one conversation where I was saying to him you know , I don't really know what to wear , how does this work ?

Maggie Patten 6:12

And he legitimately told me as long as you're not wearing a budweiser shirt , I bet you'll be fine a budweiser shirt . I love the emphasis that you the way you say budweiser isn't that what you but ?

Whitten Montgomery 6:16

but , weiser , isn't that how you say it . It's just budweiser , budweiser , budweiser . But but that's not , of course .

Maggie Patten 6:23

People show up to court and I learned that , according to him , in a Budweiser t-shirt and like denim cutoffs , I mean like I'd be Maggie it's not that .

Whitten Montgomery 6:30

Far from that , it is not that far from that when , I got there in reality , so I did still find a very cute outfit . I remember during the time there was this um documentary going around about that girl who pretended to be Russian . What did she pretend to be ? Some sort of Russian heiress .

Maggie Patten 6:46

Yes .

Whitten Montgomery 6:46

Yes and so , but her real court case was happening . They were showing off outfits she was wearing to court .

Whitten Montgomery 6:52

So whatever , modeling it off that Whatever I would type into Google like what to wear to court , it was always her outfits for what she wore , pretending to be a damn Russian heiress or something , but they were definitely not Budweiser t-shirts . I did go through and plan the trip . One of my closest friends not Maggie did come with me on the trip . It was something where I knew I was not going to go alone . It's definitely a terrifying circumstance , but Maggie was not emotionally ready to go back to Pasture Town and one of my other closest friends probably was the right pick overall for this . She is a no-nonsense , a little more level-headed than myself , yes , and she also just is very assertive and that's not the first word I'd use for Maggie Although you are not like passive in any way , but it's just not the first word I would use for you .

Whitten Montgomery 7:36

My therapist at the time did let me know that court is often a thing that they don't allow a lot of people into the courtroom for . Court is often a thing that they don't allow a lot of people into the courtroom for . So , given my state of PTSD , from the whole experience that I went through with the DV and the arrest and all the other things that had happened since then , she did write me a note about being a PTSD victim and that I should be able to have someone in the court with me . So prior to going , my therapist did help me and give me that information to take with me . That's great .

Whitten Montgomery 8:06

Yeah , north Carolina is a little unique in the sense that they do say , before going to court , it's good to have some community service hours and take all your stuff with you , because the judge might just dismiss it and want it all with you like on the stand . So I did take with me , like before I went and I worked for a nonprofit but I also did a lot of extra nonprofit hours . So I took all these nonprofit hours with me in addition to my note from my therapist , to really showcase the fact that during this time , not only was I giving back to the community and innocent , but I also was going through a lot of mental health treatment for everything I've been through Right .

Maggie Patten 8:36

So you're gearing up to go back to Pasture Town for court , knowing that lizzie will likely be there , because she's been subpoenaed and , just like you , is expected to be there in person .

Maggie Patten 8:49

However , we know that a mutual friend of all of ours because , again , we all go back to the same community that we've been involved in for a very long time , for years past was getting married and I and I knew lizzie was super excited about this wedding because we got the invitation when we were in Pasture Town , so I was very positive that Lizzie would be attending this wedding .

Whitten Montgomery 9:09

And this wedding was the weekend prior to the Tuesday court date . Right ?

Maggie Patten 9:13

I decided not to go . You were not going to go , obviously , but I got an invitation as well and I decided not to go because I didn't want to see Lizzie , for sure , but also you were my emotional support that night .

Whitten Montgomery 9:23

we did spend the night together watching horror films , yes , yeah . But during that wedding we actually had friends of ours sending us photos of Lizzie being there and I knew from what my lawyer had gathered that Lizzie might try to use the excuse of being her son's caretaker during this time . Caretaker during this time . As I mentioned earlier in the past episode , I chose to go to North Carolina during that time , three and a half weeks prior , because I knew Lizzie was taking her son to a surgery . So about three and a half weeks prior to that she was going through a surgery with her son and we thought she might try to use being his caretaker as an excuse for not attending court . Right ? So , knowing that she was going to this wedding it was actually across state lines and not super close to where we all lived Like- further than you would leave a child that you need to be their nursemaid .

Whitten Montgomery 10:12

Yes , except he was legitimately like an adult in his 20s . But yes , correct If this lie were true .

Maggie Patten 10:18

Right and we knew that he was doing fine .

Whitten Montgomery 10:21

Yes , but we had people sending us photos of her at the wedding .

Maggie Patten 10:26

Dancing and just having a Because your boyfriend was there . Yeah , he was , and he was sending us pictures , and some of our very close friends were sending us pictures as well . I mean , I think we got videos too . It was just very obvious that she was . She was just there having a damn good time .

Whitten Montgomery 10:41

Yes , lizzie was out enjoying herself and did not need to be at home , right , so we know that Lizzie is at this wedding .

Maggie Patten 10:49

Yada , yada , yada , a couple days pass .

Whitten Montgomery 10:53

I'm still terrified . I'm going to see her .

Maggie Patten 10:54

Right , I hadn't seen her since .

Whitten Montgomery 10:56

I hadn't seen her since she was banging my head into the ground Right Since then I had run away and I had been away from her .

Preparation for Court Appearance

Whitten Montgomery 11:03

I , with Sally , went to Pasture Town . We flew there . She was not as afraid of the flights as you were oh , shut up . But we got there and when the flight landed in Pasture Town legitimately as we landed , right before you even could get out of the plane there were two armed cops standing there and I looked at Sally and I was like they're about to arrest me . And she said she looked at Sally and I was like they're about to arrest me . And she said she looked at me and after hearing everything you had said , she was like I can't tell you , they're not going to . So she was just like if they do , it's okay , and I was like that's not okay . I literally thought I was going to land and be arrested by these two cops . Luckily we walked past the two cops .

Maggie Patten 11:45

They didn't give a shit about me . I don't know , I have no idea , but just thinking about me and like my ptsd , I can't imagine what that was like so poor sally like had to deal with me legitimately like running terrified I'm sure having like a pull-out panic attack . Yes , trying to get off . Trying to get off this crop duster plane yes , yes , so we get there .

Whitten Montgomery 12:01

we actually um , sally's standards are a little different than yours , so we actually sit at a very fancy hotel . That night , sally was helping me like , steam my dress , get ready . We were trying to put friends on the TV , just something to distract us .

Maggie Patten 12:15

whatever we could do , Something comforting to relax you .

Whitten Montgomery 12:17

Yes , and I just could not sleep . I had bought all my friends Christmas presents ahead of time , thinking I was going to be in jail for Christmas . Everything was sitting wrapped at my house . So my friends have kids . I'd wrapped their children's presents . I had everything sitting there waiting for all of you because I thought that , wow , because I'd never , my word had never been believed over Lizzie's clearly right . So I was so afraid I was going to walk in there and my whole life was going to be taken . Given the . The consequence was not as grave as that , but I did know like if I was like accused of it , it could be up to a 30 to 90 day charge , given I had no nothing on my record . I had nothing going for me , so likely not , but I was still super afraid . So that night prior was horrible and I think it was horrible for Sally too .

Maggie Patten 13:00

I'm sure that you just didn't sleep at all and you had to be up very , very early , which probably also led to not sleeping .

Whitten Montgomery 13:06

Yes , yes , and she was trying to straighten my dress with a hair straightener a little bit to make it be super straight in certain spots . I had this little perfect secretary dress with a little bow in the front it was green . I was trying to be very classy for the fall . Look very official .

Maggie Patten 13:24

So you got a little nap in , yeah , and then you got up and you got ready . What time did you have to be at court , do you or be at the courthouse ?

Whitten Montgomery 13:34

so we had to be there around nine was like our arrival time , but I did know that the building opened at eight and I wanted to be there upon opening , so I'm sure you got there at 6 am . I think we got there at 7.30 . And I was so incredibly anxious . I was the first one there waiting and as we're there , more and more people start to appear coming and I'm learning more and more that my criminal lawyer was correct and they are dressed in sweatpants or torn t-shirts or torn jeans or cutoffs . Yeah , they're dressed so just by what they had not dressed for the day of court which I feel bad laughing at that now .

Whitten Montgomery 14:14

But no , it's true , though , and like I was so anxious about it and so I just spent so much time preparing an outfit , and I know that everyone just wore what they had . It wasn't a big deal to a lot of these people there . I don't think it was a lot of their first time I gotcha

Courtroom Preparation and Procedures

Whitten Montgomery 14:28

.

Maggie Patten 14:28

So are you like lined up at ? Is this like outside the building before you go in , or is it ? Yes , okay .

Whitten Montgomery 14:33

So they're in North Carolina , which I'm sure every state is different , but in North Carolina they have two types of court happening . There is superior court and district court . Okay , I was going to district court . Superior court is for felonies . I was going to district court for misdemeanors . So , on a very different sort of plane than the other court we went in , the district court was downstairs near family court . We got there and a bunch of people were lining up outside waiting to be seen by the bailiff . There is a gosh what do you call it ? A rope , a stanchion rope and stanchion thing for us to line up inside of outside of the courtroom . So there is one of those .

Whitten Montgomery 15:17

I am first in line but a bunch of people start to line up behind me . One person comes behind me and I am so anxious that I am talking to everyone and Sally is not wanting me to speak to anyone and everyone's coming in in very different sort of outfits . And one person comes in and he's legitimately in a police outfit , but he's in line with me . So he's there because there's charges against him . Oh , and I start to talk to him because I'm curious , like he's in , like with me . So he's there because there's charges against him . Oh , and I start to talk to him because I'm curious like he's in like a straight up uniform . He's in his police uniform . I'm sure he's probably trying to do it to get like the judge , to see him as a police . I actually saw him go forward to the judge so he had a lot of domestic violence issues that he was doing , but I was asking him a lot of questions and sally was not having it soally was like stop talking to everyone in line .

Whitten Montgomery 16:03

We ended up getting out of line , going to the bathroom and getting back in line and being about fourth in line because sally was trying to pull me away from talking to everyone , because everyone was giving me insight .

Maggie Patten 16:12

That wasn't really helpful to you yeah , but you had this nervous energy and also you're quite a talker .

Whitten Montgomery 16:18

I am and very friendly , and that doesn't surprise me at all so eventually a bailiff comes to the front of the line and he has a list of all the names there , of everyone who should be there that day . Okay , and as he's doing it , he goes past the first few people because we've gotten a little farther behind in line , because sally didn't like me talking to everyone , so we came back later , so about fourth in line , and the bailiff tries to go to everyone . When he comes to me , I'm like hi , my name's Whitten , blah , blah , blah this is my case number everything . And he literally looks at everyone in that line and says everyone should be like her . Know your information , when you talk to me she's doing great . And then sally looked at me just like this is not good . Everyone gave me death eyes . They did not like I was not shit .

Maggie Patten 17:05

Of course you were gonna do that .

Whitten Montgomery 17:07

I mean , you were fucking prepared , I was not trying to be teacher's pet or anything , but I think it appeared as such . Oh no , yes , yes . So the bailiff then tells us that the order in which we're going to come inside they're going to start with those who do not have an attorney , either their own or a court appointed . Because a lot of people in my circumstance , as we talked about , the domestic violence box was checked . So I was out on bail , so I already had to have a lawyer and I already had to go through the court procedure . But say , anyone had just sent an assault charge and it wasn't domestic violence , they would not have to get arrested , they could legitimately just leave on bail , so they wouldn't have to have a lawyer or hear anything about the criminal proceedings . So a lot of those people might not have brought a lawyer or been able to afford one . So a lot of the people they call before you who might not have a lawyer , mean the court needs to appoint them a lawyer .

Maggie Patten 17:54

Okay , so these are just people who aren't really aware of how the system operates Exactly . I'm learning a lot . I know you've told me like a lot about this but I'm still learning a lot about the judicial system .

Whitten Montgomery 18:07

It's very interesting , it is . So we're sitting there and they say that this is going to happen , but then my lawyer , my criminal lawyer , comes forward and he meets me downstairs , thank goodness . I mean , he probably had to with the amount of calls I'd given him preparing for this day .

Whitten Montgomery 18:16

I'm sitting there texting my family lawyer and she's texting me back . I mean , she and I are besties at this point . She's helping me with everything and this criminal lawyer is terrifying me . But he appears and he explains to me that he has heard from the DA that Lizzie has called and stated that she cannot be there because she has to take care of her son . And my lawyer looks at me and Sally and says to me this is a 99% chance , Then it's just going to go to a continuance and you're going to have to come back in two weeks because if the key witness has a reason to not come , from the legitimate reason yes , then they are .

Whitten Montgomery 18:51

Then they are like they will continue the case and I am heartbroken because I've spent so much money , I've spent so much emotional energy . I am here , I am ready for this , and he says just be prepared for continuance . And Sally is starting to try to get me ready for continuance . So when he tells me that Lizzie's going to be absent and that we're going to have a continuance , I explained to him is that fair ? Because Lizzie was at a wedding across state lines and she was showing that she could go places . She posted it on social media .

Maggie Patten 19:19

Right and you're like taking time off work You're , you're actively losing money and spending a lot of money to fly down here . Multiple flights , small airports those tend to be more expensive because just travel to those is not as easy . And you're you know you're putting yourself up in a hotel , you're getting care for your dog . Like you're , you know you're putting yourself up in a hotel , you're getting care for your dog . Like you're , you're doing a lot to be there . Yes , and she's not ?

Whitten Montgomery 19:44

Yes , and my lawyer is very intrigued to hear this , because this is not just arguing the part of arguing the case , it's arguing the fact that she didn't respond to a subpoena that she was required to attend . So he asks more about that and I show him the Facebook post , right ? He also explains to me that he has a case in superior court that morning . Yes , so a case in superior court . That is a murder case , and he says that he actually talked to the judge and explained to that he wanted to go first in district court , where I am , so that then he could go deal with a superior court case , because that's going to take a lot longer in court to argue . He said there , when they call everyone in and they let the people go first who don't have an attorney , they're actually going to call you in too , because I've spoken to the judge and we're going to be able to speak first . It's probably going to be continuance , but we're going to get to go first that I can go do my superior court case . So during this time he does leave me , but he does leave having the Facebook post , because she has a public Facebook to look at , right ? So I'm highly aware at this moment that I'm going to be called in the first group . The bailiff has gone through it with us . He's let us know who's going to be coming in the first group .

Whitten Montgomery 20:55

That being said , the way that they call you into court is absolutely terrifying . Oh no , it sounds like Montgomery Whitten . Montgomery Whitten , come forward or your bail will be forfeited and a warrant will be issued for your arrest . Montgomery Whitten . Montgomery Whitten , come forward , or your bail will be forfeited and a warrant will be issued for your arrest .

Maggie Patten 21:16

Did you sprint into the courtroom . I was right there , I walked right in . Yes , yes , I'd be like here , here , I'm here , I'm here , god damn .

Whitten Montgomery 21:25

It is absolutely terrifying how they call you into court .

Maggie Patten 21:28

So do they like but aren't y'all all in a line ?

Whitten Montgomery 21:32

A lot of people , though that they wanted weren't there . Oh , there were warrants issued right there and the bailiff has that Montgomery Whitten , Montgomery Whitten . It's terrifying . So I walk in and , knowing the COVID protocol , sally can't come in with me . But , as we've said , sally's a little bit of a pit bull and Sally gets shit done , and Sally had my note from the therapist and she went up to that bailiff and she scared the shit out of that man and explained to him that I could basically pass out on the floor from a panic attack at any point in time .

Maggie Patten 22:04

And y'all were talking like five foot two maybe .

Whitten Montgomery 22:07

I think she's five foot three .

Maggie Patten 22:08

Okay , five foot three blonde spitfire , she can get shit done , I believe that shit and we get in there and we're seated .

Whitten Montgomery 22:19

well , first I'm seated and then I see her coming and I'm like , well , thank god , yeah . So then she sits by me and a bunch of people are in there who'd been called forward , and I'm aware that my lawyers told me we're gonna go first and he's not there . He doesn't appear , shit . And this whole period is incredibly terrifying because during this time , the the judge sees that my lawyer is not there . So he starts moving forward and I just start watching him do cases with people and he just moved past you , moved past me .

Maggie Patten 22:48

But when he acknowledged you , he acknowledged that we were going to wait for my lawyer . He's not there , yeah .

Whitten Montgomery 22:52

And we just start moving forward with those who do not have attorneys in the room Because your lawyer's upstairs dealing with murder .

Whitten Montgomery 23:01

Okay , dealing with murder , yeah , and the judge is aware of this . While we're sitting there , this is the time where everyone in the room does not have an attorney , except for me because of my weird circumstance and people start going forward and there's just I just have to say this one sad story . So this one old man who wandered into someone else's yard and was there on trespassing , he gets up there and he clearly has his daughter there saying you know , he needs a court appointed attorney . And they say that because he has no priors and there's nothing against him other than fines , that only if you have jail time can you have a free court appointed attorney . So he just doesn't get one .

Maggie Patten 23:39

What do you mean ? He wandered in like does he

Courtroom Drama and Legal Maneuvers

Maggie Patten 23:41

have dementia .

Whitten Montgomery 23:41

I I don't know why he wandered into someone else's yard , but someone did trespassing charges against this old man and literally the court doesn't give you an attorney unless you're going to have jail time , but if you're gonna have to pay money , they don't give you one . So this poor old man had accidentally done this , and I'm realizing now how corrupt our political system is . It's fucked up . So we're just sitting there and person after person is moving forward , and a lot of these people are there and this is their misdemeanor charge , but they have other , bigger charges , so they're let in there in shackles and orange from the jail and they're just coming forward hoping their charges can all be concurrently seen , and the judge is just not giving anyone anything good , and so I am terrified you got a tough judge and I am sitting there , anxious out of my mind , wondering where my lawyer is it's pretty intense seeing that all firsthand , seeing how it's heartbreaking

Maggie Patten 24:36

that works and seeing how corrupt it all really is . It's heartbreaking , yeah .

Whitten Montgomery 24:43

And everyone there who you know just got there without an attorney , is just getting a court appointed attorney . And these poor court appointed attorneys you can just see them walking around , like there were several out there with us while we were in our corral and they're going around wondering who their people are . I saw this one guy with a stack like as big as a dictionary just wondering , calling back and forth like are you mine , are you mine ? And that's just because the caseloads that they have are just that large .

Maggie Patten 25:11

That's just heartbreaking it is heartbreaking because then you're just a number , you know you're a , just a file in their stack and not a person . And I'm sure that there's plenty of people who it's a misunderstanding or it's an old man with dementia walking into somebody's yard . I hope that wasn't the case . I hope he was like an old convention and he was like trying to shoot a gun at somebody .

Whitten Montgomery 25:34

He literally , his only charge was trespassing into someone else's yard , like trying to shoot a gun at somebody . He , literally his only charge was trespassing into someone else's yard . So that's , but that's what . What's happening in front of me , and I'm just sitting here waiting for my lawyer to come downstairs so at this point you you've been in the courtroom .

Maggie Patten 25:48

there have been quite a few people that have gone ahead of you because your lawyer is not downstairs yet , so I'm sure you're freaking out , but sally's in there with you at this point , so hopefully she's easing a little of your stress , and oh the poor thing .

Whitten Montgomery 26:03

Sometimes she would try to rub my leg and then pull her hand off of it . I couldn't tell . If I wanted to be touched or comforted , then she wouldn't touch me , then I'd be like rub my leg , be my friend , be here , touch me she touched me that I didn't want to do Poor thing . I just feel bad .

Maggie Patten 26:14

I'm sure . Well , I mean good God . What a rollercoaster of emotion .

Whitten Montgomery 26:19

Yeah , so eventually my criminal lawyer does get there , sure , and he comes and he sneaks in through this back door where all the people who had been shackled were coming through , and then he comes and he sneaks next to me and he sits by me , okay , so eventually there's a couple more cases that are seen and then eventually the judge does call us forward .

Whitten Montgomery 26:40

This is a little bit like kind of like what you think . There's a little maybe like table slash podium where he and I go stand behind , and then one on the other side where the da's are , and there's an assistant da and a da . They're like going through maybe hundreds of pieces of paper , throwing them around for each case , like not knowing what the fuck they're doing half the time and they the . The judge explains that he's going to do my case because my lawyer has something upstairs , calls us forward , we go stand at this table and the da explains that lizzie cannot be there because lizzie has to have to be with her son , to her son , yes , so the da says we , we are motioning for a continuance and apparently typically she doesn't have a lawyer .

Whitten Montgomery 27:18

I mean she's the da is representing her , the state's representing her , she doesn't need a lawyer . So she is a witness of the state , sure ? So she's the key witness for this charge that she brought forward . She subpoenaed to be there because of the charges she put forth in front of me .

Whitten Montgomery 27:30

Yes , sorry , that's some , just my ignorance right there right , but you don't need a lawyer if you're part of the state side , the DAs take care of the state . So that's different than the ones they give you . If you need one to represent you , so that's a court-appointed attorney . My lawyer which is very unusual just says I know , I do not accept the motion , I do not agree to a continuance , and states that Lizzie had attended a wedding across state lines . That Lizzie had attended a wedding across state lines . At this moment the judge seems flabbergasted . He's like wait , what Like ? This woman's not here because she , like she's saying she couldn't attend because of her son , and now she had she attended a wedding and the DAs also seem a little bit confused .

Maggie Patten 28:14

I and Because certainly she's not telling them the truth .

Whitten Montgomery 28:18

I feel bad for them , too a little bit confused I , and certainly she's not telling them the truth . I feel bad for them too a little bit because they must . They have so many cases in front of them and they think this one's just like a sure fit , like surefire , like going to go through , right . And so the judge asks my lawyer do you approve of this ? And he says yes . So my lawyer goes forward and shows the judge the Facebook evidence that she had attended at the wedding , right and there's pictures , there's video , like we know , we know she was there , so the da is incredibly confused .

Whitten Montgomery 28:46

So the judge says hold , we need to . You need to contact this witness , okay , and figure out what's going on so reach out to lizzie .

Whitten Montgomery 28:55

Yes , okay , because the judge is right now saying right now I'm inclined to dismiss this case unless there's a reason why Lizzie's not here . That is valid Right . So I remember him saying we get 20 to 30 minutes where they're going to go , so they send the assistant DA off to go try to contact Lizzie . Then my lawyer takes me to there's like these rooms on the side of the courtroom which are just like little tiny rooms and they have these high top tables and I guess people go in there to talk to their lawyers about stuff like during court . Okay , it's like in a private room that no one else can hear , like a little confessional booth Kind of .

Whitten Montgomery 29:27

So Sally and my lawyer and I go into this room , okay , and he's like this is incredible , like this has not usually happen , the fact that the judge is believing in this , which is true , that she went to this wedding and we're saying that's not the half of it . Her son does not even even need help right now . And my lawyer's like what

Legal Victory Through Social Media Evidence

Whitten Montgomery 29:47

are you saying ? And we explained to him that her son believes he's a tiktok star . So her son who thinks you know he has the tiktok account , it's public and he puts little videos of him doing different things on . It has been all over tiktok doing videos that are showcasing him running around doing all sorts of things and the judge is like post cert , like boasting about surgery and like how well he's doing not even not even just that , because there are photos of that , but these are just photos of him just doing like the things just fun stuff like

Whitten Montgomery 30:15

he does little videos where he does cosplay or dresses up as shit and so all those videos are on there and he's doing them with little quirky things Very fine up and doing these videos . And we also explained that Lizzie's profile is public and we have the footage that Lizzie posted of after the surgery of her and her son and the doctor all standing up looking like very proud after the surgery . So the judge calls us back , okay , eventually . So we show my lawyer all of this . My lawyer's staying with us . He's actually you could see him get a little excited . He's like I'm finally starting to see some other side out of it . He has a personality . He's not just pithy , he's into the . He's like we're going to get this .

Maggie Patten 30:53

He's like I thought 99% . He's like this is more exciting than that murder case upstairs .

Whitten Montgomery 30:57

He's like 99% continue . It's fucking . We're down here , we're doing it . So we get called back up and then the judge says you know , do you have any information from Lizzie ? And they say Lizzie sent us the medical recovery for her son Because we're stating her son's a 22-year-old he doesn't need help . And stating her son's a 22 year old , he doesn't need help . And it's been over three weeks since the surgery .

Whitten Montgomery 31:20

Her son's moved forward and so they have the medical advice that Lizzie said them that is what her son needs to recover , which is from an online website . And this says that her son cannot stand up , her son cannot lift his hands above his head . And we have all this footage of her son lifting his arms above his head , her son standing up , her son doing all this . So my lawyer says we're going to have evidence that directly conflicts with what they're stating . That Lizzie is saying Is there any reason not to dismiss this ? And then the judge says I will see all your evidence . I want you all to call Lizzie one last time and see if this is what she wants to go with . Oh my , because right now and I loved when he said this he said right now , this woman seems like a liar .

Whitten Montgomery 32:00

I know , I know , I know the judge is getting it so they , they go away and I think they get a hold of lizzie , okay . And we go to a hallway on the side of the courtroom and sally and I are going through pulling up all the best footage that we can on our phones . My phone has the tiktok up her , her phone has the facebook up . We're pulling up all the stuff we can have for this evidence that everything she's saying is a lie . And this is even about her like lying about attacking me . This is a whole new lie , right . And so we're pulling all of this up and the judge eventually . So we go back in the courtroom . The judge eventually just sees us sitting there , sees and sally sitting there and he goes . Can we just get back to that poor sweet girl ?

Whitten Montgomery 32:43

that poor sweet girl and her oh my god , because he probably just feels that I'd like dress so nicely . I just feel it's such an interesting can we get ?

Maggie Patten 32:53

back to the rule follower , who's in the courtroom right now doing everything she should .

Whitten Montgomery 32:58

So the innocent woman in the room and the da says like my , my assistant's still not making calls . But eventually my lawyer comes back and he like sits next to me . He's like I don't know what's gonna happen and I'm like well , fuck , I thought we were winning , yeah . So then he puts like the fear of god in me that , like you know , this is still happening or it's still going to be continued . And he kept reinforcing to me that like continuance could still happen .

Whitten Montgomery 33:21

The judge calls us forward again because he sees my lawyer and he's like can we get back to Kentucky girl's case ? Yeah , and the judge brings the DA forward and says you know what has Lizzie said ? And the DA says Lizzie says if you dismiss this case , she'll just resubmit the charges . So if your case gets dismissed legitimately , you can just go put the charges in again because the case has never been seen . That's fucked up . It's crazy , because you would assume that no one would do that if a case gets dismissed , but it's allowed . So basically the DA is like well then , she's just going to submit these charges again . There'll be another warrant for Ms Montgomery's arrest . And the judge is like I am inclined to lean toward the defendant in this case . What is the evidence that you all have . So then my lawyer says your honor , may I approach the bench to show you TikTok ? And I just think it's the absolute most hysterical thing ever .

Maggie Patten 34:22

I mean do you think those words have ever been uttered In a courtroom ? I know I mean certainly in this day and age , but like it's 2021 . I don't know thing ever . I mean do you think those words have ever been uttered in a courtroom ? I know , I mean certainly in this day and age , but like it's 2021 , I don't know . It's just . That's .

Whitten Montgomery 34:31

That's hilarious so I have to . So I have my phone and sally's phone and both of them are at a certain spot and I'm leaning across to sally because she's in this like stands . She's away from you , yeah , and I forgot her damn code . And she's whispering me and it's like blah , blah , blah , and I'm like it's four digits , not just three . And so finally I get it in , good lord , we go up there , we show the tiktok video of her son running around with his hands above his head , being perfectly fine . And then we showed the photo of on facebook where she posted right after that , right after the surgery , that her son's fine .

Whitten Montgomery 35:06

And the judge , legitimately , is like this woman's a liar . And we walk back and the judge is like I don't care if Lizzie wants to submit these charges again . You all can deal with that on your own . I'm going to need to dismiss this case . And this is when Sally said she wanted to strangle me . Because then I said your honor , may I ask you a question ? Oh my God , like shut the fuck up . And of course my lawyer is like excuse me , your honor , I'm just going to see what my defendants question is before she says it . And I whisper in his ear and then he's like we're not going to ask that question , we are fine .

Whitten Montgomery 35:50

Because I said can we do counter charges for lizzie , like that is not an absurd question . I was so mad , I just , and so that is not absurd at all .

Maggie Patten 35:56

I mean , my god , she charged you with what she fucking did to you . The judge sees that she's a liar . I bet if you would ask that fucking question , the judge would have been like you know what , let's do it . Yeah , I don't know like she's guilty .

Whitten Montgomery 36:12

So the ? So my lawyer says we're not going to ask the question . The judge says , miss montgomery , has it been a hindrance to make it here for today's case ? And I said yes , I had to take three days off work and it costs over two paychecks . And he said I am dismissing this case .

Whitten Montgomery 36:25

So that is like fine and good , except my lawyer knew that that lizzie could go and resubmit the charges so my actual lawyer went and talked to the da so that we could maybe try to resolve this where the da wouldn't accept the case , even if lizzie resubmitted the charges .

Maggie Patten 36:39

But at this point massive win right , because massive win fucking tiktok for the win fucking t TikTok Like her Social media .

Whitten Montgomery 36:45

Doing good , doing the Lord's work here Indeed , and so that's incredible . What didn't end up happening was my lawyer ended up creating a deal with the DA saying , because the DA's charges said Lizzie's listed that I got incredibly drunk and that's why I attacked her . And so the DA said if you can approve that Miss Montgomery doesn't have alcohol problems , we'll just never let her resubmit these charges , right ? So we accepted that and said that I went and took a test with a therapist and talked through with them and we realized I do not have alcoholic tendencies , I'm not an alcoholic . And everything was dismissed , with Lizzie not actually being allowed to resubmit the charges , which was huge , huge , because just the dismissal would have meant that she could have resubmitted the charges . But since the da agreed , yes , that I was not a threat at all society , I think it's they fucking knew .

Maggie Patten 37:34

I'm sure they knew . They knew that she was batshit crazy at that point , right and like . Also , the only reason that you were fucked up at all that night is because she drugged you , right .

Whitten Montgomery 37:44

Right , god , the whole situation is just crazy , it is wild . But that courtroom , I mean just the feeling I was feeling , the adrenaline I was feeling and Sally will say it One day . We'll bring her on for an episode . But Sally will say she was feeling . She said she's never felt that kind of pressure in a room because there was just so much dependent upon their conversation with Lizzie and us wondering whether or not Lizzie , like , had a good reason for not responding to her subpoena . We knew it was likely a lie and entirely was a lie . But just being able to take it all up to the judge in such a scary circumstance and also such a good case that the judge cause I saw him be so tough with other people but I'm just so glad he understood what was going on .

Maggie Patten 38:25

May I approach the bench with TikTok ? Who knew , who knew it's wild . Do you feel like we've covered everything pertinent for your court date Pertinent ?

Whitten Montgomery 38:39

yes , I'm sure there's other little tidbits that I could throw in later , but I think we covered it all .

Maggie Patten 38:43

Oh , I'm sure we'll cover more little tidbits later . We hope you enjoyed episode three of Unmute . Next episode we are going to we're going to get into how Lizzie and Whitten met . Oh , I know it's the beginning of the end for me . Yeah , this is going to be tough for me . I know you's the beginning of the end for me . Yeah , this is going to be tough for me . I know you were involved . I was a spectator and I was not enjoying what I was watching , but we're going to learn a whole lot more about how manipulative Lizzie is was .

Maggie Patten 39:23

Probably still is , probably still is and will continue to be for the rest of her life , but until then until then we're gonna go back on mute , so bye .