Hidden True Crime - DRAMATIC Opening Statements and Child Victims Testify | Samuel Bateman Trial Day 1 Full Recap

Episode Date: June 27, 2026

***This episode was recorded live and minimally edited.** The trial of Samuel Bateman is officially underway—and Day 1 was explosive. In this full courtroom recap, we break down Bateman's shocking opening statement as he tells jurors he's "kind and gentle" and would never harm a child, despite the allegations against him. We also cover emotional testimony from the three child survivors found inside the now-infamous cargo trailer, the prosecution's powerful opening, revealing juror questions, and the body camera footage that left the courtroom stunned. Bateman is representing himself, the trial is not livestreamed, and we're taking you inside every major moment, witness, and revelation from this extraordinary first day. About Hidden True Crime What started as a simple conversation at their dinner table became a captivating podcast. Join the dynamic duo of Dr. John Matthias, a criminal psychologist, and Lauren Matthias, an investigative journalist, as they delve into the psychological facets of unthinkable crimes every week. Their unique perspectives and in-depth analysis offer a fresh take on true crime storytelling. Thank you for your support through sponsorships, subscribing, listening, and becoming a Patreon member at⁠ ⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠Patreon.com/HiddenTrueCrime⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠⁠ Learn more about your ad choices. Visit podcastchoices.com/adchoices

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So. This is the clip we have. Let me just set the stage here for those that are new to this case. If you haven't seen the number one worldwide Netflix documentary, trust me a false profit, this is a trial that is happening right now with Sam Bateman. He's the main character villain. Is that what you call? Main character energy, main villain energy in that documentary.

And he's representing himself in his state charges in Arizona, in Plaquessef, Arizona. I was about to lose my mind listening to him today. You know, you have to keep a straight face when you're in the gallery. And I did my best to keep a straight face. to keep a straight face, but inside I wanted to explode as I listened to Sam Bateman, look at this jury and say, I am a kind, gentle person. I would never harm anyone. Kind of corrected himself. He says, I would never harm or intentionally harm anyone. I would never abuse children. And he goes, I wouldn't even spank my own children.

And he also, one of the interesting things that happened is, you heard there, he says, he talks about being a father, right? The jury doesn't know who these children are. They've seen the body cam footage from, you know, we've all seen that if we've seen the documentary of the girls coming out of the trailer in their prairie dresses. And I think the jury's wondering, are these his children? And so even though he's not saying he is their father, he's certainly implying it in those opening statements by saying, you know, I would never harm, you know, applying that he's a good father and referring to children that he has. It was, I thought, kind of manipulative. So you saw Sam Bateman today, again, in Flagstaff, Arizona courtroom, letting the jurors know he is very

kind and gentle. I can't get over it. I know I try to keep a straight face. And again, you might recognize Sam from the Netflix documentary. Trust me, a false profit. He's, again, the false profit in that documentary. So we are calling this the false profit trial. Again, main villain energy throughout that whole documentary. Dr. Christine Marie is the person along with her husband, Tolga, who is videoing and documenting a lot of Sam Bateman's crimes, getting the FBI involved. Ultimately, Sam Bateman is charged with federal charges, takes a plea deal 50 years behind bars, but lo and behold, there is another trial awaiting him, and it is this Arizona trial where we are for that infamous moment where police pull over a trailer after little fingers are sticking out of

the slats and find little girls in prairie dresses inside this trailer along with a makeshift toilet. So today was intense and not only did the false prophet take the stand again in this trial that many didn't see coming, but three of his minor victims or his survivors also testified. And I watched those girls get up and each testify. And so I'm going to share about each of their testimonies. Some of them are still children. Only one of them is just barely an adult. So we're going to protect their identities.

But I'm going to share a little bit about what they looked like, what this was like, how it felt for them to face their abuser, and what they shared. And this morning, I just want to say it started off with jury selection. it was still going. The court has been truly very transparent all the way through this. And because there was no room in the courtroom for media, we listened via a link to voir dire and Judge Steinlaj, at one point told a potential juror he needed to suss it out, suss things out a little bit more with him when asking further questions, which made me giggle because, yeah, we all knew to suss things out. I knew I was going to like the judge at that moment. But after about an hourish this

morning when I thought jury selection might last all day, but a jury was seated and we all headed quickly inside and upstairs into the courtroom for opening statements. I was actually sitting, by the way, well, I'll just say this. The jury is made up of five men and five women. What they will be deciding is whether or not Samuel Bateman is guilty or innocent of three child, three counts of child abuse. And it's only specifically for the 2022 incident in which three minor girls were riding in this trailer. He was pulling this trailer via truck. Are we showing, are we able to show footage of this, of this a little bit? He was pulling this trailer via a truck. If all of you remember this moment, the charges are defined as being under circumstances likely

to produce death or serious physical injury, any person who causes a child to suffer physical injury or having the care or custody of a child who causes or permits the person or health of the child to be injured or who causes or permits a child to be placed in a situation where the person or health of the child is endangered is guilty of an offense as follows. So in order to find Samuel guilty, the state, Arizona, must prove that the defendant committed one of the following actions, directly caused the child. to suffer a physical injury or abuse, caused or permitted the child's person or health to be injured, caused or permitted the child to be placed in a dangerous situation that endangers their life or health.

The state must also prove one of these levels of intent, intentionally or knowingly, that Samuel was aware of their conduct and consciously chose to cause harm or create a dangerous situation recklessly that Samuel was aware of and consciously disregarded a substantial and unjustifiable risk representing a gross deviation from standard conduct or criminal negligence that Samuel failed to perceive a substantial and unjustifiable risk that a reasonable person would have recognized. So that was explained to the jury and that's what this trial is about. And after that, the state went into opening statements. I'll just tell you where I was.

I was almost directly behind Samuel Bateman on the front row. I don't know if that means I'm sitting with the defense or not. It's a very small courtroom, not that many people are in there. The only reason I wasn't directly behind him was because I was sitting next to the individual who was in charge from the jail watching over Samuel Bateman. So he had to sit directly behind Samuel Bayman and I sat to that person's left. So I was very close to him. So here we go. This is prosecution's opening statements.

I'm going to quote this because we were riding quickly. Quote, a child's fingers clinging to these trailer doors holding them closed. That's what was seen on Flagstaff roadways on a hot summer day in 2012. But not just one child was inside. There were three young girls in this metal cargo trailer. Hot, unventilated, no seatbelts. Inside was a recliner couch, a pillow, chairs, no seat belts. But clearly, someone intended for people to be inside. And that's why there was also a makeshift bathroom with a toilet seat on top of a blue bucket with a black trash bag lining. And we're seeing all these pictures, by the way, as they talk. There were curtains hung for privacy. There was also a generator,

a stroller next to a gas tank, next to the generator, next to the toilet, right next to the gas tank. There were water jugs with bungee cables around them, even a metal shovel. Any of these objects posed a risk to the girls inside. This was not a passenger vehicle. It was a trailer, A welled cargo trailer, not designed for human occupancy or use, no ventilation, windows, AC, or seats. This journey for these girls was not a brief one. They loaded up in Colorado City, Arizona, three and a half hours away from Flagstaff, ages 14, 12, and 11. And that's because of Samuel Bateman. He supervised them.

He was supposed to be taking care of them. This trip was his idea. They were on the phone with him almost the entire trip while he was in the driver's seat of the air-conditioned pickup truck, and they were in the trailer. An employee of Arizona Public Safety spotted fingers sticking out of the trailer. Gary Crosby, he's a roadside motorist assist agent. Roadside motorist assist agent. He was alarmed and began to follow the trailer. The fingers were keeping the precariously latched door closed.

The short video was played, then showing Samuel emerging from the driver's side of the truck. The girls, per his instructions, remained concealed in the trailer. And after speaking with Samuel, law enforcement approached the trailer to see who or what was inside. And inside, we will call them S, G, and D. And S G and D emerged from inside. As the body cam was plain, I at this point looked over to the jurors, a juror on the right side who was a middle-aged woman was completely like wide-eyed through the body cam. It was like she seriously could not believe what she was seen.

Others look confused. I think I think honestly seeing the prairie dresses and trying to process what this case is about, understandably. They looked confused. They looked inquisitive. They looked deep in thought. Like they really did look like they were trying to understand what this was. Those girls had been in that trailer with no windows and simply nothing to protect them from objects inside the trailer either with just things falling over.

No padding. It was a hot day and even hotter inside the trailer. And instead of keeping them safe, Samuel was aware that they weren't safe and he stayed comfortable in the truck. There were other women in the truck with him. They showed multiple photos. then the prosecution continued, essentially saying that they will tell you, these victims, they're going to tell you about their trek in the trailer. This case is about Samuel Bateman, knowing the girls were in the trailer.

He was on the phone with them the entire time. Isn't that interesting? It was his idea. There was only one stop on the trip, but Samuel only pulled over when he was paranoid that law enforcement was nearby. This is not the first time this has occurred. He had been warned not to do this before. He had actually been stopped with these same three girls before in a similarly unsafe fashion.

And two weeks later, he did essentially the same thing again. He knowingly put them in a situation where their safety and health was endangered. And by transporting them and failing to keep them safe in a manner that he, in a manner that he had been warned about and was clearly unsafe, it's, it's, it's common. sense to know who or what is in the trailer that you're pulling. This was child abuse placing these girls in a situation where any common driving scenario like a bump in the road, a sudden stop, a collision could have put the girls in serious danger. Please, the prosecution looked at the jury to ask, please find Samuel Bateman guilty on all three counts. And that is how the state of Arizona, the prosecution ended their opening statements.

Samuel Bateman gets up and he first has a little lapel mic. And he stands up after the prosecution, stands in front of the jury. And he's talking like this. He's talking like this. Can you hear me? I don't know if you can hear me or not. That's how he's talking. And the court reporter quickly stops, looks at the judge and goes, I can't hear him.

So she can't type. She can't record what he's saying. I can't hear him. And so the judge says, you know, sir, you're going to have to, you're going to have to speak up so that the court recorder can hear you, let alone the jurors. So please, speak up, speak up. So he nods and it sort of starts out kind of like a little bit louder. And then it goes like, okay, well, I just want to tell you I'm, I would never harm anyone and to have me just I just such a wonderful person. And they're like, speak up. And all I can think about, I'm just going to say this, I'm like really kind of. processing the psychology of this. And I'm thinking to myself, A, this is sort of reminding me of

Warren Jaff's, this sort of like soft spoken tone, this soft spoken voice that we see Chad Dabal's, another one, right? We've seen this before. It's like a false profit voice. Can we call it that? And I'm listening and I'm realizing that like his thing, you know, he's not, he's not, you know, some people might think in order to convince a jury, maybe they need to get up and speak like Tony Robbins, right? Or, you know, a president of the United States with some authority and verbose and say, look, I'm innocent. I'm not. I have confidence in myself. That is not what these false prophets do. It seems like their MO is always the more meek and quiet and submissive they are, the more believable they become.

I mean, you guys tell me what you think. This is my opinion on this moment in the courtroom. It was this fascinating moment because ultimately he had to start over three times, maybe four, and they finally switched his mic to a handheld. So he had a lapel mic, and when they realized this was not going to work, and he was not going to keep his voice loud enough for anyone to hear, let alone even just like the court reporter, a little on the jurors, they gave him a handheld.

Mike and said, just put that up to your mouth. So I just, there's something there, I feel like, with these false prophets. Again, Chad Daybell, you know, Warren Jeff's, and, you know, and now this sort of Sam Bateman meekness. And I think it's because they think that that is what a man of God or a man in the scriptures might sound like, very manipulative, in my opinion. See, Emil finally gets the handheld mic, and at this moment, should I let you play a little bit? And I don't know what five minutes this is. Let's watch it together. I just ask you to be patient with nature since this is my first time when I'm going on lawyer.

I'm just saying that I'm a kind and loving follower. That's just what I am. I'm very kind and gentle. And I don't ever willingly harm anybody. I don't even spend my own. children, anything like that. Also, please realize that the informational indictment is not evidence. I just ask you to make your ruling on facts and evidence, not on feelings or opinions or

opinions or whatever stories you heard. And also remember, as I say here, that I have a clean slate. We just, just a very clean slate. So please keep that in mind. And it is up to the state to trim their case. And when the government makes, they're opening, just take those kids, sorry. Yeah, I apologize for my notes here. But again, I'll just mention that the government will never prove that my intent was to harm them.

Because I'm not my nature. And I also like to mention that I was already parked. The government said that I had to know how to be pulled over because Gary Crosby, I think, says, is a input deciding. But what actually happened is the girls in the trailer called me and said, hey, we're back here. And I was so shocked. I was like, oh, my goodness. They said their hands were sticking out of the trailer the night wore.

And so I pulled over immediately. And it just so happened to be that's right the exact time of the game, Crosby pulled it behind me. And he pulled up real fast and just right behind my trailer. And so I kind of go up and everyone. I was like, no, boy, what I said this? So I didn't know. I was on the phone with those girls. right when he built up beside me so apparently looked like I was a very

which I kind of was anyway but I will say that those girls asked me quite a few times and I came back there and I told them no at first but then I just wanted and it was dumb I promised I had I got it no it's good I shouldn't have done it and I'd like to mention that I was already in the parking my part for four or five minutes for the call Sarah Spott. So they didn't have a night's on. I've had several attorneys and they told me that is all important is you have to pull over and that wasn't I was already parked. Parked in the person, because those girls called me told me they're back there with their hand out of the door so I was like oh my goodness

and some testimony you'll hear that I swear back who's worth. Yeah that's because this guy followed us home he's so close. And I knew that he was part of the city, a city writer. So yeah, that was very apparent. The question I have is, the government claims that there was a 911 call, but I asked where is that person? There's very nowhere to be found. And I just reminded that there are three cell phones back there.

I think one else actually didn't work, it just uses an iPod, but at least two cell phones back there. And I'd also like to mention that that trainer was, it was, like you can tell is an old crusty trader had holes all over and I wasn't worth one bit right not been patient have taxed quite been released I mean I'm not saying it wasn't a lot probably was hog and they were on the phone with me at all times pretty much as long as there was service that's kind of how we travel as a family the holder that's probably about 40 feet or maybe five or six me vehicles in our caravan pretty much every where we live and we did a lot of

Hey, okay, well, there you go. Also, just a lot of contradictions in his opening statement. He didn't know they were there. They snuck in. He did know. Who called 911? He mentioned there's no 911 call. It kind of jumped into conspiracy theories.

Then it sort of suggested that maybe they called 911, but there were a lot of contradictions. It was very strange. you know the thing that sticks with me ultimately is sort of that first clip I shared in what it you know I would never hurt a child I would never even spank my children I you know knowing what he's already been convicted of it's just it's like just horrific to hear such denial um and again to know that the many of these victims are going to have to come face him. And remember, the jury doesn't know that these minors that will be taking the stand. At this moment, they don't know that they aren't

his children. They don't know that they are his wives and his belongings and objects and that he abused them horrifically. So again, just like to say kind and gentle, I don't even spank my children. Like, no, you just severely abuse them. So I, um, I, did write down some of what he said. So some of it was probably played unexpectedly, but I wrote down what I was able to gather, and I want to read this to you. But let's read through this together. Sam Bateman today in court, quote, they will never prove I intended to harm them, meaning these victims. I was already parked. The government said I was paranoid and pulled over, but really the girls called me and told me they were back there. I was so shocked. I didn't know they were there.

Again, like, really? Really, you were talking to them? Okay. I acknowledged that it was dumb. The government says there was a 911 call. Where is it? The trailer was rusty and had holes in it. So there was ventilation. But it probably was hot. Those three girls were very busy and courageous and liked to get back there. I'm sympathetic and empathetic, not a child abuser. So hard to even quote them. I will not be calling any of these people because I care about their feelings and don't want to put pressure on them. I have a deep concern that this was a pretextual stop, and I'm being profiled. We did stop several times along the way, and they could get out because the vehicles were so full of people, end quote. Yeah. Again, we'll have those full statements for you,

hopefully tomorrow. And after opening statements, the judge gave everyone an hour and a half for lunch before coming back to start testimony. And that is when I did do a quick, brief lunch, live for you. And the first witness on the stand was the youngest victim. It was SB, who is currently 15 years old. So just to paint the picture, Because I think this is actually part of a curiosity of how these girls are doing. So let me tell you, she has short hair, very short hair. It's almost a pixie cut except that she has longer bangs that almost sweep her eyes, kind of go almost down to her eyes.

It's a stylish cut. She's wearing very trendy makeup eyeliner. and she was wearing a purple satin button-down shirt and black dress pants, which to me was just sort of this stark difference looking. They had a picture hover up on the slide for the jury to see the whole time, and she's wearing a purple prairie dress in this photograph, and she's a lot younger, of course, too. And so then to see her now as a 15-year-old in not a purple prairie dress, but a purple satin button-down shirt, it was just sort of showed clearly, and I think the jury was trying

to process it, a stark difference, a change. Something has happened, right? And that was a moment for me to kind of take in and trying to understand how the jurors are seeing this, because back in again, 2022. She's only 11. She's the youngest girl inside the trailer. She wasn't the youngest girl at the scene. There was a nine-year-old there, but she was in the truck or in another vehicle, but she was the youngest girl inside the trailer at age 11. And when she got on the stand, she was asked to identify Samuel Bateman. And it was this, it was heartbreaking, honestly, this moment. I don't know how you feel trace on the case about this, but it was heartbreaking to watch this moment because you could almost see this sort of trauma response in her. I mean,

Samuel Bateman sitting right in front of her. But she wasn't laughing by any means, but she seemed nervous and it took her a while. She had this sort of nervous giggle type response as she took a little bit to finally like point Samuel out and say that he was in front of her. Just to answer that question was difficult. I thought it's a trauma response. And after identifying Samuel, the state started by asking SB about an incident on August 14th, 2022, which was two weeks. It was two weeks before the infamous Flagstaff incident. So SB testified that on August 14th, 2022, she was traveling with Samuel that day. Well, they were going to the mountains and brought an ATV that had been put on an open trailer attached to Sam's truck.

S B wrote on the ATV with the other survivors, G, J and D, B. So G and D were also with her on the ATV with S. And yes, these are the exact same girls who were in the trailer two weeks later for the Flagstaff incident. So while she and the others were on the ATV, Samuel was hauling them on the highway. So S says that they did have seatbelts during this incident because they were on the ATV. And while driving that day, though, they did get pulled over by the police and they were given a warning. Then they were told to get into the truck with Sam. The prosecution then moved into the August 28th incident, which is why everyone was there, right, for those charges.

And on August 28th, that day, these same three girls were traveling with Samuel and some women and girls again. And the trip began in Colorado City, Arizona. Colorado City, Arizona, to remind you, it's right on the border of Utah and Arizona. Short Creek, or Short Creek is the community's name. And S and these two other girls loaded up in a box trailer attached to a gray truck while some other people were in the truck. S did not seem to remember a ton of details and even testified to that, that she didn't remember a lot. But here's what she did know.

she remembers and testified that they stopped at a gas station once or twice she remembered that they sat in chairs in the trailer she said that she thought it was the girl's idea to be in the trailer but when she asked samuel if they could be in the trailer he said no at first but ended up saying yes so in other words samuel knew that they were in the trailer i also want to point this out because i think that this confused the jurors for a little bit. She's saying, well, it was our idea, right? S is saying it was our idea to be in the trailer. We asked to be in the trailer. Two things crossed my mind. A, why wouldn't you want to be in a truck with Samuel? You know, why would you rather be in this trailer? But two, I think I see my personal perspective,

and this is in general overboard. So like as a whole, watching all three girls testify today, I see that they're still deconstructing, and I think that Samuel Bateman is so manipulative that these children sometimes perhaps think that certain things were their ideas, like riding in a trailer, when ultimately it was Samuel's idea. That's my opinion, because as I continue to listen to testimony today, there wasn't room in another vehicle for them. someone was going to have to be in the trailer. But she did say, we asked to be in there.

Samuel said no at first, and then he said, okay. But thus, that was important, though, because Samuel absolutely knew they were in the trailer no matter what he said in his opening statements. So S said that she thought the other girls were on the phone with him throughout the trip while Sam was in the truck and they were in the trailer. She said there was a bunch of random stuff in the trailer that they were bringing on the trip, like a stroll. a generator and this makeshift toilet. By the way, everybody called it the makeshift toilet throughout the whole thing. The judge, the prosecution, seeing the victims, it was the makeshift toilet. And we saw pictures of this makeshift toilet.

It was gross. It really is like a bucket. Like to think of like a bucket you'd buy at Home Depot with like a garbage can in it. So like right? And then like some like lid on top of it. Anyway, so she testified that these were the things in the in the truck. But she also testified that there was no AC, nor were there windows in this trailer. She remembered that the trailer was hot and stuffy.

And next, the state showed SB some photos to see if she recognized the truck, the trailer, and the things from the scene that day. So in this portion, they would show Sam the photos on an iPad and then go show them to SB and then show them on a projector for the jury. So there were photos of the trailer and photos of each individual girl that had been in the trailer standing in front of the trailer. The last thing the SB said was that she was a little bit scared to be in the trailer because things were bumping into them and the door wasn't latched well. Very scary. And after that, the state concluded their direct examination. And my biggest worry,

did not come true, Samuel said that he would not be cross-examining this witness. It would not be cross-examining her. And he didn't with any of the witnesses. So, yeah, thank goodness. But the jury had questions. I love it when the jury can ask questions. That doesn't happen in every trial. It depends on the county and the state. This jury was able to ask questions, and you could see that they were really trying to put these pieces together and try to understand. understand what was going on. So question one from the jury, could you all have fit in the truck? The answer is no. No, they could not have. Question two, was there light in the trailer? The answer from S was no. Question three, did Samuel know the door wasn't secured via the phone? The answer is yes.

Question four, did Samuel know the girls were in the trailer? Answer, he did know. So the state followed up by asking one follow-up question, which was how did SB know? And I just realized the SB is the same initials as Samuel Bame. I didn't even gather that. So S is, let's just call her S, the victim S. How did S know that Sam knew that they were in the trailer, the girls? And S's answer was because we were on the phone with him for most of the trip. Interesting, right? So we're learning a lot about this trip. It is interesting. So the second witness on the stand was G.J.

So G is, they're going in order of age. She was the second youngest. G, J, or we'll call her G, is 16 years old now. And again, to set the stage, because we won't be showing any visuals of these minors, she walked into the courtroom. She's very tall with long blonde hair. that was down. It was not in a braid. It was just down and straight. And she was wearing jeans and sort of this soft, classy gingham short-sleeved sweater. And she too looked very different from the 12-year-old

girl that she was back in 2022 and not simply because of her age. So as those who are FLDS might say, she also was in Gentile clothing. I don't know if that's what those that are FLD. always say, you can correct me, Esther, if you're in chat. But she is not wearing her FLDS prairie dress anymore either. So in other words, these are clothes that you could buy at the mall or on Amazon. And I did wonder again what the jurors thought as each of these young girls came in to testify, each looking so different from the body cam, not just the age difference again, but the clothing. And also, they all have different last names. And their last names are not Baitman. So they're also starting to process that Samuel Bates.

Bateman is in charge of these girls somehow, but none of them have his last name. And none of them have each other's last name. So I think they're realizing something's up, right? I will say, though, that G's mother, G's wonderful mother was also in the courtroom supporting her daughter and supporting the hopeful conviction of Samuel Bateman. And yet her mother, G's mother, is still wearing her traditional FLDS dress and clothing. So G spoke a lot more boldly during her testimony than she did in this in the body camera footage four years ago. When she was asked about the August 14th incident in which she was riding in the side-by-side ATV, she does remember it. Her reasoning for writing in it was that there were a lot of people in the truck. So the three young girls

wrote in the ATV instead. But then they were obviously pulled over. She did say that there were seatbelts on the ATV, but she sort of giggled, as she said, that they weren't wearing them the whole time because they didn't care about them. So the questioning then went into the Flagstaff incident from August 28th.

And G testified that while they rode in the trailer that day, there were items they kept having to dodge because even though there were things to like, tie the stuff down. Nothing was strapped down. She said there was water in there, which we could all see on the photos shown in court, two, five gallon jugs of water. The prosecution guided her through that nearly three-hour road trip to Flagstaff before their trip was cut short. They stopped at gas stations along the way. And during at least one of these stops, one of them, listen to this, this was a woe moment. So during one of these stops at the gas station,

one of them, one of them went into the trailer to use the bathroom at a stop. So they went into the trailer to use a bathroom, not a gas station, but the trailer to use the makeshift toilet. And then she testified that that person was Samuel Bateman. So in other words, they all had to get out of the trailer at a stop at a gas station so that Samuel Bateman could go. into the trailer to use the restroom. We'll get into that a little bit more, a little bit later. And then once he was done, they all went back in. And this was a moment, the jurors were like, WTF, as was I.

And he didn't like take the plastic bag out after. So there you go. That's a little, yeah, we'll get into that more. So she testified, but it shows, but it was like, But it was like kind of brief, right? So she testified first that yes, somebody, just somebody, somebody went into the bathroom, the trailer at one of the stops. And then she testified that both her and Dee's phone, Dee hasn't testified yet. She'll be later right after this. Both her and D's phone at the time they had them. And so pretty much anytime there was self-service, anytime there was self-service, they were on the phone with Sam. So despite being on the phone

with Sam, she said that they weren't necessarily talking. a lot. He just always wanted to be on the phone with them for what she thought was to monitor what they were doing. This was such an important line of questioning for the jurors to hear. When I heard this, I was like, thank you. Because throughout S's testimony, I feel like what was missing was sort of this coercive control element that, in other words, why are you in the trailer? Why are you communicating with Sam. Could you feel like you could communicate with Sam? Was he controlling you? And this moment, they finally realized that he's monitoring them. They are on the phone with them not to chit chat and because they're besties. They weren't even talking to him. They were just simply there

because he was essentially monitoring them. Again, such an important line of question for the jurors. I was like, thank goodness when that came up. He just always wanted to be on the phone with them. Wow. Yeah. So when asked if Sam had given them any directions, she testified that before being pulled over by police, he did tell them to hide and not make any sounds. And he didn't say that he was going to stop to get them out of there and there were no plans to get them out. And then there were more juror questions. So that was that was G's testimony at this moment, but the jurors had questions. G brought up a lot more. So the first jury question was, quote, once made aware that the door was unsecured, how much longer did Samuel continue driving? And G. said that she did not remember

exactly, but that they told him that it was unlatched before they got on the freeway. And I told you this last night in my life. They told him that the door was completely unlatched before they even got on the freeway. And what did he do? He said, don't worry about it. He'd fix it at the next stop. That was it. So second question, were there big or small holes in the trailer with enough ventilation? And G responded saying that there were small holes, so it let some light in, but not a lot of air. There was no air circulating, and the holes were mostly near the top, near the door area. Third question. Looking back, do you feel that Samuel put you in danger. G. did not hesitate. Yes, she said. Yes, looking back, Samuel put us in danger.

Fourth question, when you asked to be in the trailer, did Sam say no at first? G responded that he did say no at first. Fifth question, where would you have gone to be seated if he continued to say no? G stated, maybe another one of the vehicles? And the final question was, when did G notice the door was not latched? And G answered that scene right when they pulled out of the gas station, they used their hands to grab the top of the trailer to keep it closed. After that, the state had some follow-up questions after those answers for G. So they asked if CM ever fixed the trailer doors at the next exit like he said he would. Gee said that no, he didn't.

He just kept going. She also testified that there were other times he did stop, and still he didn't fix the doors. They asked a couple more repetitive questions from earlier, and then they asked her specifically, why do you feel that Samuel put you in danger and in what ways? So G was bold and said that he, as an adult, should have been strong enough to say no, they couldn't ride in that trailer. She said they could have fallen and hit their heads. things could have hit them and ultimately they were children at the time. They ended by asking her,

quote, at what point did he, meaning Sam, at what point did he, Sam, tell you know it first, when did you end up in the trailer? G ended by saying that they asked him twice and he gave in the second time. So to her, it was quite a while before they left Colorado City. And after that, There was an afternoon recess before we all came back and heard from the third girl who was in the trailer. It was really interesting hearing little bits and pieces from each person. Hey, and Gray, if you see any great comments, will you star them and I'll go over them at the end? And thank you. Guys, Grayson's been amazing.

So glad we have her. She's a rock star. All right. The next witness was the last girl from the back of the train. trailer, and this is D, B, or D. So D is 18 years old now, barely, but she was 14 in August of 2022. And during that time that Samuel was in charge of her, she was that age. So what she said, this was, this is important. Again, this is a very important line of questioning. She said that what he said goes, what Samuel said goes.

This was the same for S&G. They would often travel and Samuel was the leader of the trips, deciding where they went and what vehicles they'd take. She declined the August 14th, 2020 incident. They were going to go to the mountains to a sand... Yeah, yeah, yeah. So what she says is that they were going to go to the mountains to a sand dune area.

supposed to be a family trip. And she did end up going. So she did end up going. It was the same three girls. Sam was driving and pulling a trailer with an ATV. And she and the other two girls who were also in the trailer with her wrote in the ATV. So she didn't decline. She did go.

Excuse me for that. I misspoke. So at some point, this trip was interrupted because they were pulled over by police. and after the stop, someone in the truck passenger side came out and got them and told them they needed to ride in the truck. And we saw a body cam footage of this event from the dash cam or dash cam footage of this moment when all the girls are climbing out and getting in the truck during this warning incident two weeks before the trailer incident, even though the truck was very full. And by the way, I think this August 14th moment is so important. It's nothing we ever really knew

about until this trial because they're saying, look, he was literally warned the same three girls. And two weeks later, he's like, and I'm going to put them in the trailer. I don't care. So I think they were just trying to show it. Like, this is a pattern. This guy does not care. He is above this morning. So on August 28th, 2022, they were traveling again. And Dee was originally told that they were going to Tucson, Arizona. But then it was decided that they would go to Phoenix. And when she went outside to get ready to leave, she saw another one of the girls in the trailer and asked if she could sit back there too. She said they made a couple of stops during the trip. And after one of the stops, she realized the trailer door had not been latched back properly.

She told Sam that they needed to pull off to fix it, but Samuel said they needed to get out of the city first before he could stop to fix it. So they rode for a little while longer. She helped hold the trailer door shut with the tips of her fingers, right? Remember the fingers that you saw? So she helped hold the trailer door shut with the tips of her fingers hanging. out. And she said that she was scared because they were going down the freeway, and she was scared that the door would fly open. And during one of the stops, she remembers that Sam actually comes back to check on them to see how they're doing. And at one point, Sam even used their makeshift toilet. So again, we got a little like preview that someone used the toilet from G's testimony. And I'm like, it was like, she kind of like left it hanging, even though I did the spoiler alert,

because I was like, you guys got to hear this. And so now it's Dee's testimony. And she's letting us know, by the way, it was Sam. So at one point, Sam gets out of stop and uses their makeshift toilet inside the trailer. Make this make sense. I want to know what people think of this. This was mind-blowing to me. So she doesn't recall that there was any waste disposal process for the toilet.

She said that Sam knew the girls were in the trailer. the whole time. She testified that this was not the type of trailer that people were meant to ride in. And we saw a lot of photos of the trailer. We saw details in the trailer today. She's right. This was not a trailer for people. It was a cargo trailer. Metal, plywood, no seats, no seatbelts, no padding, no ventilation or AC. So as the day went on, it got hotter and hotter in the trailer. The roads were bumping most of the time. When they hit a bump, they get jostled around and there wasn't a lot to hold on to. She said, hopefully you'd brace yourself enough to not get hit with anything.

She said that at the time, she knew it wasn't necessarily safe, but writing in there sounded like fun. Yeah, because she's a kid. And she doesn't have to be in the same place as Sam Bateman for a hot second. I'm sure that made her feel good too. So she wasn't in charge of the trip, though. But in hindsight, Dee realizes just how risky it was, and she is actually surprised that nobody got hurt. And even prior to the door getting messed up at one of the stops, they all knew that the latch was bent and it had to be done. The latch actually did have to be done in a certain way just simply to stay close.

So even though the latch wasn't completely down, just in general, the latch was iffy. In general, the latch was bent. In general, the latch had to be closed a certain way just to keep the back closed. So it was already in bad condition, the whole trip, but happened to come undone after one stop. She said, after your eyes adjusted, you could sort of see inside the trailer, but there wasn't a lot of light at all. And at one point she testified that even though they were on the phone with Samuel for the majority of the trip, This is so weird. They were on mute and they weren't supposed to interrupt Samuel.

If they had a question, they generally were supposed to text someone else in the truck to relay the question. And then she said she knew it wasn't right to unmute the phone. I mean, so, okay, so think of this. They have to be on the phone the whole time with Sam Bateman. but they have to be on mute. And if they want to ask them a question, even though they're on the phone with them, she has to text somebody else in the cab essentially for permission to ask him a question. I mean, this was a really important testimony from D because I think the jurors are really starting

to see the coercive control. This isn't like a few girls saying, can we ride in a trailer? This sounds fun and like some loser dude making a stupid decision. this is much worse than that. He was in control and essentially, you know, actually making sure that he was always aware of where they were and what they were doing. So, again, they're on the phone essentially the entire time sitting in the back of the trailer, but they're on mute. They realize that they want to ask him a question or tell him something, but they know it's inappropriate to unmute the phone and ask that without getting permission from texting the other girls in the cab. But she did it anyway.

She unmuted herself to let him know about the latch. That's how important they felt it was. To me, this was such an important moment in testimony, D bringing this up. And that's sort of where it ended until the juror questions. There were so many juror questions. Okay. So here are the juror questions. Describe how hot it was.

And did you tell Samuel it was hot and hard to breathe. She explains that the closer, we got to being pulled over, she became a little bit more scared and it made it a little bit more worse and warmer. So in other words, it got warmer, it got hotter as the day went on. It was stuffy because there wasn't any circulation. Throw in the Sam, use the toilet. I don't know, like what the hell? And at any point, another juror question was, did any of the three of you, express safety concerns to Samuel? No, they didn't express safety concerns, she says.

Did Samuel ask if things were okay in the trailer at each stop? D says she doesn't remember. There were only two recliners in the trailer. So there were, there were two, like pieces of furniture. Two recliners, like two chairs, were put in the trailer. So there were only two recliners in the trailer. So what was the plan where everyone would sit was one of the jurors? questions, right? If there's only two chairs that they put in there, recliner-type style chairs,

like lazy boy style chairs, but not as nice as a lazy boy. So where did everyone sit? And so she explained that they would trade places and one person would sit in a stroller that was in there and the two others would sit in the recliner. So there was a baby stroller in there and two recliners, three girls, so they would switch around and take turns. One of them sat in a stroller. Was the toilet tied down? They wanted to know. Great question. No, the answer was no.

The toilet was not tied down. So fingers crossed, they didn't hit a big bump. How long did you have to hold the door closed? They said 10 minutes or so. Were you in fear for your life? They asked D. Yes, when I realized the door wasn't latched, I thought we could fall out. Why do you think G, I mean, the last person, didn't want your finger showing when you were holding the door?

because G testified that, oh, sorry, D testified that G told her to hide her fingers because her fingers were showing and not to show her fingers. I thought this was a great question from the jurors because they were trying to figure out like, why would she care if your fingers were showing? And it was interesting to hear the answer because I don't think she fully grasped, but the jurors were like thinking, like, what was Sam trying to hide something? Clearly he was. But so why didn't G want your fingers showing when you were holding the door? and de-answered so that we were not noticed. So then the prosecution had follow-up questions to this.

What was the purpose of the phone calls on the trip? Like, why did you have to be on the phone with him the whole time? And the answer was to listen to what Samuel was saying, not to interrupt him, but to listen to him. And they asked, did you do what Samuel told you to do? Yes. Did you have any independence? No.

When you arrived in Flagstaff, did Samuel tell you what to do to hide behind the curtain and not make a sound? Did you feel like you were allowed or able to call 911 in this situation? No. Then she continued and described that answer. Were you able to call 911? No. It was kind of a big deal to speak up and tell Samuel your safety concerns, right? Yes.

Yes, it was. heart. Did Samuel seem concerned about safety on this trip? No. Was there space in the truck for you to ride? No, not legally safe. Someone would have had to ride in the trailer because that's where there was space. Why was there concern about not being noticed? And D's answer was, I don't know Sam would be paranoid. Yeah, yeah. You know, as Deputy Max Horsley, who currently works for the Mojave County Sheriff's Office, back in August of 2022, he was working with Colorado City, by the way, Marshall's office. And Horsley testified that on August 14th, 2022, he pulled Samuel Bateman over on a traffic stop

after seeing a white SUV pulling a trailer with an ATV, a couple of small dirt bikes, and three young girls on the ATV. So he's now testifying to this. And at the same time, Samuel did not have his driver's license on him, but provided a phone screenshot of his driver's license. Wouldn't that be nice if that work? Horsley explained that the girls being in the ATV was unsafe. He was asked if there was any room in the vehicle to have the girls go sit in there and be buckled.

He said that he had room and someone got out of the passenger side and told the girls to come in the vehicle. Horsley asked him for the names and ages of. the girls and while he was hesitant at first, he did give the first name and age of the girls. Horsley testified that he told Sam it was unsafe for the girls to be writing on an ATV, on a trailer, and needed to be in the car with seatbelts on. And next, using a photo, Horsley showed how the ATV was strapped to the trailer, which was only in the front. There were no side or back straps holding the ATV down. So after showing the jury the straps,

the prosecution led Horsley into his body camera footage from that day. And the prosecution then asked Horsley why it was so dangerous for the girls to be on the ATV. Horsley explained that if there was an accident, the ATV could fly forward because that was the only place

it was strapped or if they were to roll it, it could even cause death to the girls. So in cross-examination, Sam had two quick questions. He wanted to know if the traffic stop was pre-planned and if Officer Horsley was aware of any surveillance on him before. This was his cross-exam. He said his first cross-exam.

That's what Sam wants to know. I mean, talk about self-importance. You guys ready? So Sam's finally cross-examining his first witness and here he is. This is what he wanted Horsley to answer. Was this traffic stop pre-planned and was Officer Horsley aware of any surveillance? on him beforehand, to which Officer Horsley said no to both. Then there was only one jury question for Horsley, which was asking if there are seatbelts

on the ATV to which he said he was not aware. The prosecution followed up by asking if Horsley was familiar with the exact model of ATV to which he said, no, he is not. He simply just knew enough to know that some ATVs have seatbelts and some don't, but he did not know about the specific one that was on Samuel Bateman's trailer that day. And when asked if the girls were wearing seatbelts, not wearing seatbelts was the reason for the stop. He said the seatbelt was minor compared to the other safety violations. So after that, he was released from the stand and court concluded for the day. So there you go. We'll see you guys. We'll see you

tomorrow. Bye-bye.