Law&Crime Sidebar - Woman Who Brutally Stabbed Teen Girl in Neck Gets Locked Up in Prison

Episode Date: July 12, 2024

Two teenage girls, formerly best friends, got into an argument at a smoke shop in Columbus, Ohio in 2023. The altercation escalated when then-18-year-old Bryanna Barozzini stabbed 17-year-old Halia Culbertson in the neck after taking the spat outside. Barozzini initially claimed the stabbing was in self-defense and almost stood trial for murder until she took a guilty plea for involuntary manslaughter. Law&Crime’s Jesse Weber breaks down the case with renowned defense attorney Diane Menasche.PLEASE SUPPORT THE SHOW:If you’re ever injured in an accident, you can check out Morgan & Morgan. You can submit a claim in 8 clicks or less without having to leave your couch. To start your claim, visit: https://www.forthepeople.com/LCSidebarHOST:Jesse Weber: https://twitter.com/jessecordweberLAW&CRIME SIDEBAR PRODUCTION:YouTube Management - Bobby SzokeVideo Editing - Michael Deininger and Christina FalconeScript Writing & Producing - Savannah WilliamsonGuest Booking - Alyssa Fisher & Diane KayeSocial Media Management - Vanessa BeinSTAY UP-TO-DATE WITH THE LAW&CRIME NETWORK:Watch Law&Crime Network on YouTubeTV: https://bit.ly/3td2e3yWhere To Watch Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3akxLK5Sign Up For Law&Crime's Daily Newsletter: https://bit.ly/LawandCrimeNewsletterRead Fascinating Articles From Law&Crime Network: https://bit.ly/3td2IqoLAW&CRIME NETWORK SOCIAL MEDIA:Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lawandcrime/Twitter: https://twitter.com/LawCrimeNetworkFacebook: https://www.facebook.com/lawandcrimeTwitch: https://www.twitch.tv/lawandcrimenetworkTikTok: https://www.tiktok.com/@lawandcrimeSee Privacy Policy at https://art19.com/privacy and California Privacy Notice at https://art19.com/privacy#do-not-sell-my-info.

Wondery Plus subscribers can binge all episodes of this Law and Crimes series ad-free right now. Join Wondry Plus in the Wondery app Apple Podcasts or Spotify. Agent Nate Russo returns in Oracle 3, Murder at the Grandview, the latest installment of the gripping Audible Original series. When a reunion at an abandoned island hotel turns deadly, Russo must untangle accident from murder. But beware, something sinister lurks in the grand. views shadows. Joshua Jackson delivers a bone-chilling performance in this supernatural thriller that

will keep you on the edge of your seat. Don't let your fears take hold of you as you dive into this addictive series. Love thrillers with a paranormal twist? The entire Oracle trilogy is available on Audible. Listen now on Audible. Ms. Culbertson slaps Ms. Barazini. Ms. Barazini then takes a knife that she had at the side of her person, brandishes that knife to Ms. Culbertson and stabs her once in the neck. Ms. Culberton then is later on pronounced deceased. Two teenage girls, best friends who had a falling out, get into an argument that escalates to this. Now, one is dead, and the other was just sentenced to a three-year prison term. How did a few angry words end in tragedy? And also, did the punishment fit the crime? I'll discuss it all with Ohio criminal defense attorney

Diane Manashi. Welcome to Sidebar, presented by law and crime. I'm Jesse Weber. In March of 2023, Brianna Barrenzini, who was 18 at the time, and 17-year-old Halea Culbertson were with some friends inside of a smoke shop in northeast Columbus, Ohio. This is near where they lived. Now, they used to be friends,

which is why what I'm about to get into makes this even more difficult to understand. They had a feud. That was clear. They had a falling out. And for whatever reason, Halea apparently began yelling at Berenzini and then reportedly challenged Barenzini to a fist fight and went outside to wait for her. And when Barenzini came outside, they apparently had words again.

And unfortunately, it did not stop there. One of the friends in this environment captured what happened next on cell phone video. Hey, get off my sister, bro. Get off, get off my, hey, if you touch my sister, girl, I'm have to put my phone down, bro. Halea, crunch your, s to get it over away, bro. Crunch your, get it over away, Halea. Halea seemingly pushes Baranzini, slaps her face,

and that is when Barronzini steps back, but then pulls a knife that she has in her pocket. Now, one of the girls' friends tries to break them up, the two don't listen, and Barronzini stabs Halea in the neck. But her defense attorney, Robert Krepense, interprets this video very differently. He claims that at one point my client produced a knife and displayed it so the assailant would see the knife. That didn't stop her. Culbertson kept coming.

She struck my client in the face. My client realized she was not going to stop, so my client swung the knife. And there, Your Honor, you can see Ms. Culbertson pacing back and forth in front of the store. And there, 2248 and 24 seconds is Wayne. Brianna and her friend exit the store. Now, it has been certainly implied that she came out to accept the challenge to fight Ms. Coulerson, but I believe that the evidence is anything but that. She comes out with drinks in her hand, not alcoholic drinks, no weapon in her hand,

clearly not coming out in order to engage into a fight. Further, as I play this video a little further, we see that she and her boyfriend take a direct path to the car in which they had come. I had counted no less than 30 steps that my client took backwards. She pulled a knife from her pocket and took 15 more steps backwards away from Ms. Culverson. She didn't want to engage at all. So Halea, sadly, tragic situation, she is rushed to the hospital. but she dies. She dies soon after. And what does the defendant do?

Ms. Berizini goes home to her house at Pine Oak in the city of Westerville, where the Columbus Police Department eventually finds her clothing in the washing machine, the knife hidden in the crawl space with her shoes, and then she had taken a shower. This is a really sad case, but it's also an important one to talk about. One of the reasons we're able to present you these stories and talk about the law and talk about the facts the facts is in large part to the support that we get from our sponsors. And that includes Morgan and Morgan, America's largest injury law firm. If you should find yourself in a position where you're hurt and you need legal representation, Morgan and Morgan may be who you want in your

corner. And they are specialists in this area. And you know why they're so big? Because they win a lot. Verdicts and settlements in the multi-millions across this country. They make the process super easy for their clients because from starting your claim to uploading documents to signing contracts and talking to your legal team. It can all be done from your smartphone. So if you're injured, you can easily start a claim at for the people.com slash LC sidebar. So Baron Zini is arrested and charged with murder, which carries a sentence of life in prison, but she's also charged with involuntary manslaughter. And with this trial set to begin, some very incriminating evidence turns up that might have put

a wrench in this whole self-defense argument. Why? Because apparently Barronzini sent some texts a week before the stabbing to where she wrote, I'd sooner slice Culberson's throat if she comes near me again, and I will cut that expletive on my whole family if she tries showing up to my family's home again. So what happens? The defense files a motion asking the judge to prevent prosecutors from showing these messages to the jury. The judge indicates he would allow them to come in. So while Barron Zinney's initially pleads not guilty, just as jury selection is about to begin, she changes her play. Ms. Barazini now wishes to plead guilty to the stipulate lesser included offense as to count one, involuntary manslaughter, which is a felony of a third degree. That guilty plea would

carry with it a maximum potential penalty of 36 months at ODRC, up to a $10,000 fine. In signing it, you're telling me you want to admit to a felony three crime called involuntary manslaughter. When you plead guilty, it is a complete admission. you're guilty, you're going to be convicted today and you're going to be sentenced on July the 11th. It'll be on your record. It's a non-expungible offense. Do you understand the nature of the charge to which you're pleading guilty and what the maximum penalties are? Yes, Your Honor. A month later on Thursday, July 11th, Brianna Barronzini, now 20 years old, is sentenced to the maximum of three years in prison for involuntary manslaughter. But for Halea Culbertson's family, that's not enough. They

Arranzini a villain who deserves more than what she should receive as part of this plea deal. Her grandpa, Harley Langley says, my granddaughter was 17 years old, 17 years old. She loved life and everybody was her new best friend. Culbertson's mother addressed the court in a very emotional victim impact statement. This was not just the tragic death of a child. It was a heartbreaking betrayal of a young life taken by someone who was once a best friend. my daughter was not killed by a faceless stranger but by a person who was once trusted and loved a friend who knew her understood her shared countless moments of her life this betrayal makes the

loss even more profound as it was not an act of random act of violence but a calculated decision made by someone who is supposed to protect and cherish her she went on to say it feels like a betrayal of my daughter's memory and the justice she was promised she wished my daughter to hell she was clearly mad sworn her whole family her intent so how does she end up the same place at the same time culberts and sister Kaelin speaks out to I've lost a lot of people in my life but nothing has scarred me so badly as losing Halea I don't have many friends in this world but when I was with my sister I didn't need anyone else because of this my sister is gone forever and

every time I want to talk to Halea, I have to go sit at a graveyard and talk to her headstone. Wishing I could just hear her voice one more time. I wish I could just wake up and run into her room and lay in her bed and hug her and tell her I love her just one more time. And as for Baranzini, she also addressed the court. This was before she was sentenced. Not a day goes by that this incident hasn't been on my mind. I understand and feel for the victim's family as I know the harm I have caused them is indescribable.

I would be living with this guilt the rest of my life. Now, with all that, I want to bring in Ohio criminal defense attorney Diane Manashi to get her thoughts on this, what is a very sad and senseless case. Diane, thank you so much for coming on. What is your impression of this? I know you're from Ohio. What can you tell us about this? I actually practice in Franklin County Common Police Court where this took place most often. My thoughts on our, you know, I think the one piece, Jesse, that's so important about this case is the provocation piece, right? And I think even when we're talking about the victims, family member statements in court, I reviewed those audio clips as well. And I did have an opportunity to talk to the presiding judge last night. And he gave me certainly permission to say that. But, you know, they left out the provocation piece.

I mean, there was, their daughter went into the convenience store. There was an incident, and actually the employee of the convenience store escorted her out. So she comes out of the store. And, you know, Halea, as I will call her, she was waiting. You know, she was escorted out of the store by the employee because she was causing such a scene inside. And instead of leaving the parking lot or leaving the scene, she waits. She waits for the defendant. And she's not alone.

And also, I think, you know, she's bigger inside. although she's younger in age. She's certainly bigger in size. And as you said, Jesse, these two women had a history together. So this wasn't, you know, this wasn't the first night that they're meeting. There was, there was some history and clearly hostility between the two. So I think that provocation piece is huge to really understand why ultimately the prosecution dismissed the murder counts. And she pled to the involuntary manslaughter. I think there was an argument for self-defense here. Now, of course, you could say, Maybe she should have stayed inside the store.

Maybe she should have called for help, right? You can always make that. But going outside, I can, you know, based on what's been laid out and I haven't seen all the evidence, but I would suggest you can make a self-defense argument. Why do you think they decided, hey, let's plead guilty to involuntary manslaughter three years? Three years in prison. Is it just they weighed the risks against it? They felt that their self-defense claim just wasn't strong enough or it's just the risk of

a trial and that the jury might not be by it and she can be facing life in prison. I think it's all of that. And as that calculus was surely being made by the defendant and her attorney, Robert Craypens, I trust that it wasn't just the text message that you talked about that she said a week prior. But Jesse also afterwards, she did leave the scene. She did go home to her house. She did change, get rid of her clothes, clean the knife. And so as you know, you know, there's a jury instruction that would have been read to the jury about consciousness of guilt and how the jury could perceive that action that she took afterwards. Now, admittedly, she wasn't charged with tampering with evidence, but certainly the actions

that she did afterwards and the text message, they would have bookended that situation. And as you said, Jesse, if she had been convicted of the murder, life in prison. And she wouldn't have gotten the option of parole in Ohio until after serving a full 15 years on the murder count. So, and by the way, if I remember correctly, I think the judge even said, said when she was, you know, accepting this plea, that this is probably in your best interest to do this. Having said that, are you surprised that the government accepted this deal, or put this deal and allowed her to plead guilty to manslaughter because they could have felt they had

a strong enough case for murder? You hear the victim's family members who are clearly not happy with this. So are you surprised they accepted a deal like this? You know, why I'm not is because of the video evidence. And I did have an opportunity to watch what was played in court. You know, she clearly steps back. And we know that the victim is certainly the aggressor, right? She hits her, slaps the defendant in the face, and then the knife does come out. But she steps back, at least 15 steps.

And I know you talked about 30. It's even 15 and then it becomes 30 steps. She does try to retreat. And Jesse, there's also some other individuals there. The gentleman that was or the person that was holding the camera, you know, he's also instigating it. People are trying to intervene and they're being pushed aside. So certainly things are escalating and percolating before the single incident where the knife is put into her clavicle. I'm not surprised.

The government dismissed the murder counts. It probably should have just been indicted as an involuntary manslaughter initial. based on the video evidence but as you will know you know oftentimes there's you know you indict everything and and and maybe capture something that might be where the case ends up sometimes I can backfire jury could say you're throwing too much out here it's you know you don't even know what your theory of the case is let me ask you about this three years so obviously as I said the family doesn't feel that's enough that's the maximum I believe for involuntary

manslaughter but did you expect the judge to to go lower than that or is three years you think appropriate, given the facts of this case? Well, the judge at the plea hearing, as I understand it, and again, would talk to him last night, indicated to the defendant that he was certainly likely to send her to prison, but that if she went to prison and did all the right things and, you know, was a low security level and didn't cause any issues in prison, that she would be a really good candidate for early release. So she can be released after six months under the statute here in Ohio, and certainly I would anticipate that the motion for judicial release on her behalf will be filed right at that six-month

mark. What will her life be like after release? Because I know you, look, you're in this space, you're in this industry. You have clients, I imagine, who come out of prison. For someone her young, so young, for what she pled guilty to, what is she looking at for the rest of her life? Well, I think that was certainly part of why she took the plea is because she now knows that she will get out, right? She knows that worst case scenario, she took a plea that would keep her in prison for three years. I mean, she is a very young person. Even if she were to be released after serving six months or seven months in prison, certainly, you know, she has a long lifeline ahead of her. And I think that was part of the victim's family members, you know, comments during the sentencing

hearing was that she can still go on and live and certainly Halea can't. But going to prison, you know, having a felony like involuntary manslaughter on your record, it's obviously not sealable or expungeable. It will be life-altering for her, just the conviction alone, let alone, you know, the circumstances, the trauma, a bit, you know, just carrying that incident forward. You know, one of the most tragic aspects of this, and I've covered stories like this before, is how senseless it is.

You know, there's a fight, there's a beef, young people. It should never have escalated to this, and now we have the loss of the life. of a young girl, and you have, as you just mentioned, someone who's really at the start of her life and will never be the same, and this, again, shouldn't have happened. There's an alarming stat from youth.gov where it looks at the rates of homicide, and it says homicide is the third leading cause of death for young people between 10 and 24. Are you seeing this a lot in your practice? Are you seeing a lot of teen-on-teen violence? I am, but it's with guns.

And so this fact pattern is certainly unique. Also, it's more, you know, if we're talking sex or gender, it's usually more male-on-male. But absolutely, particularly in that 18, 19 space where they're not juveniles, but they've just become adults and they can be charged as adults without a bindover, just an absolute increase in what I'm seeing even in my own clientele. But that said, you know, this was a single stabbing. and you know jesse it's important for anyone to know that the reason why she had a knife on her was because she actually she being the defendant in this case had a job where she used that knife so um you know i think that also goes to sort of the uh you know how this case is different from those other types of homicides that are that are happening with youth right now in other words you're

talking and i don't want to put words in your mouth we see youth on youth violence because of perhaps gang affiliations or something like that a criminal element we do and you know people carrying guns to use guns in an illegal way right right um with the purpose to either protect themselves or you know threaten others or or actually you know hurt and harm others so certainly i think this case is different from that from those as well you know you're you have a very tough and unique job and i think one of the things i'm always curious about how how do family and the friends who are involved in this on either side. How do they come to terms with what happened?

What do you tell them? I mean, because this is such a traumatic, life-altering situation that they'll never be the same again, and they've lost loved ones. What do you tell them at a time like this? Well, in a case like this in particular, it's a sliding door moment, right? If the one hadn't been in that convenience door,

at the same time, the other one decided to go there too in a very small town, this would have never happened. And while that seems unique, it is actually common to the cases that defense attorneys often have in this space. And I always tell my clients, you know, it's a marathon, not a sprint.

Understand that like every moment right now, you know, feels like a decade, but you've really got to look, you know, down the road, think of this long term. How do we get through the three years in prison, right? What does that look like? I try to give my clients as much information as possible because speculation never leads us to the right place.

And so really just give them information. You know, this is what prison's going to be like. This is what it'll be like with the felony in your record. Here's how you can, you know, use resources in our community to get a job even with the felony record. And really try to give the clients that long-term perspective. Because, Jesse, as you know, the short-term perspective in these cases is pretty awful. Tragic case. Tragic case.

Diane Manashi, thank you so much for coming on. Thank you so much for your perspective. Thank you so much for speaking to the judge and getting more information about what was happening here. Really appreciate your time. Thank you. Absolutely. Thanks for having me. All right, everybody.

That's all we have for you right now here on Sidebar. Thank you so much for joining us. And as always, please subscribe on Apple Podcasts, Spotify, YouTube, wherever you get your podcasts. I'm Jesse Weber. I'll speak to you next time. You can binge all episodes of this law and crime series ad free right now on Wondery Plus.

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