Latest / Crime Stories with Nancy Grace / Man Accused of Killing UGA College Student Faces a Judge instead of a Jury |Crime Alert Recap Saturday 11.16.11

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Man Accused of Killing UGA College Student Faces a Judge instead of a Jury |Crime Alert Recap Saturday 11.16.11 · Crime Stories with Nancy Grace

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  Speaker 1: Crime a art hourly update Breaking crime News Now. I'm
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  Speaker 1: Nicole Parton. Jose Abara, the individual facing charges for the
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  Speaker 1: murder of Augusta University student Lake and Riley on the
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  Speaker 1: University of Georgia campus in February, is reportedly opting for
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  Speaker 1: a bench trial by the judge instead of a jury trial.
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  Speaker 1: Fox News was inside the courtroom when this announcement was made.
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  Speaker 2: The state was contacted by the defense last week and
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  Speaker 2: they let the state know that they wished to waive.
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  Speaker 1: The defenise right to a trial by jury and instead
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  Speaker 1: this defendant wishes to see a trial by judge only,
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  Speaker 1: a bench trial. Ebarra, twenty six, is accused of fatally
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  Speaker 1: attacking Riley, a twenty two year old nursing student, while
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  Speaker 1: she was jogging on one of UGA's popular pedestrian trails.
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  Speaker 1: This on an early morning in February twenty two. Holloway
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  Speaker 1: expressed confusion over Ebarra's decision to request a bench trial,
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  Speaker 1: which was approved by state prosecutors and granted by Judge
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  Speaker 1: Patrick Haggard. Ibarra's trial is now set to commence tomorrow,
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  Speaker 1: a change from the previously scheduled jury trial happening on Monday,
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  Speaker 1: Holloway remarked, this decision seems to be away for him
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  Speaker 1: to fast track himself to a life without parole. It
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  Speaker 1: will certainly expedite the process. From a legal standpoint, I
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  Speaker 1: can't comprehend the defense's reasoning behind this. He further explained
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  Speaker 1: that by selecting a bench trial, Ibarra is forfeiting his
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  Speaker 1: last chance to sway a jury into doubting his guilt.
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  Speaker 1: Rather than risking a potential mistrial due to a jurors skepticism,
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  Speaker 1: ibarro will now present his case directly to a judge
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  Speaker 1: who will determine his outcome. Holloway noted that the evidentiary
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  Speaker 1: process in a bench trial is typically quicker, and that
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  Speaker 1: both sides might skip opening and closing statements which are
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  Speaker 1: in a jury trial, as they are not deemed necessary
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  Speaker 1: in this setting. Ibarra and his brothers, who are also
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  Speaker 1: undocumented immigrants from Venezuela, resided in an apartment near the
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  Speaker 1: park where Riley was running. The incident was described by
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  Speaker 1: Uga Police Chief Jeffrey Clark as quote a crime of opportunity.
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  Speaker 1: In May, a grand jury in Georgia indicted a Barra
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  Speaker 1: on multiple charges, including malice murder. To counts of kidnapping
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  Speaker 1: resulting in bodily injury, two counts of aggravated assault with
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  Speaker 1: intent to commit rape, and several other offenses, including tampering
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  Speaker 1: with evidence and being a peeping tom. The peeping tom
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  Speaker 1: charge originates from a separate incident on the same day,
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  Speaker 1: when Ebarra allegedly looked through a window of a residence
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  Speaker 1: on the UGA campus, spying on a university staff member.
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  Speaker 1: Ebarra had recently attempted to have his charge dismissed. However,
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  Speaker 1: prosecutors contended that both incidents were closely linked, and the
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  Speaker 1: judge opted to keep the charges together. Additionally, the judge
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  Speaker 1: has allowed DNA and cell phone evidence, which Ibarra's defense
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  Speaker 1: team sought to suppress. He is scheduled to return to
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  Speaker 1: court tomorrow for the trial, with jury selection initially set
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  Speaker 1: for November thirteen. Prior to this request for a bench trial,
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  Speaker 1: ibar crossed into the United States illegally through El Paso,
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  Speaker 1: Texas in September twenty twenty two, and was subsequently released
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  Speaker 1: into the US under Border Patrol Services, as reported by
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  Speaker 1: ICE and DHS sources. His older brother, Diego Ebarra, faces
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  Speaker 1: charges related to a green card fraud case and is
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  Speaker 1: linked to the notorious of Venezuela gang in the United
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  Speaker 1: States known as Tranda Arragua. According to federal court documents,
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  Speaker 1: both men should have been deported before, but remain in
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  Speaker 1: the United States.
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  Speaker 3: I'm Drew Nelson. A Las Vegas woman is found dead
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  Speaker 3: in a free inside her own home, where the suspect
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  Speaker 3: allegedly continued to live with the body until it was discovered.
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  Speaker 3: Monique Gilbertson, aged sixty eight, lived for more than twenty
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  Speaker 3: years in a mobile home where neighbors knew her well.
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  Speaker 3: They noticed her absence after October twenty second. She was
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  Speaker 3: usually seen walking her dog every day. Concerned neighbors contacted
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  Speaker 3: the mobile home parks management, who requested a welfare check.
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  Speaker 3: November sixth, police got there and knocked for forty five minutes,
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  Speaker 3: and they finally went in after receiving no response. But
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  Speaker 3: inside they found two people, including thirty seven year old
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  Speaker 3: Jaslyn Rausch, who had been living with Gilbertson. During the search,
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  Speaker 3: they discovered Gilbertson's body inside a locked freezer. Raush admitted
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  Speaker 3: putting her there, allegedly telling police quote, I put her
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  Speaker 3: in the ice box because I didn't know what to do.
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  Speaker 4: I told her many times, don't give these friendly people
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  Speaker 4: too much information.
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  Speaker 3: Well, she wouldn't listen. But to the good girl, she
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  Speaker 3: had good heart. Neighbor Christine Marshall tells KVVU she knew
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  Speaker 3: the victim for the whole time she lived there at
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  Speaker 3: the trailer park. Court records reveal raus allegedly provided Gilbert's
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  Speaker 3: and with the cocaine laced with fentanyl that caused her death,
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  Speaker 3: claiming that Gilbertson accidentally overdosed. Police found cocaine, methamphetamine, fentanyl,
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  Speaker 3: a digital scale, and other paraphernalia in the home. Gilbertson
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  Speaker 3: had previously accused Rausch of stealing from her and tried
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  Speaker 3: to evict her. Despite being locked out, Rausch was still
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  Speaker 3: able to gain access to the home. After Gilbertson's death,
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  Speaker 3: Rausch gave inconsistent accounts of where she found Gilbertson's body.
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  Speaker 3: At first, she claimed Gilbertson was at the dining room
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  Speaker 3: table surrounded by drugs, but later she said the body
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  Speaker 3: was in a different room. Rausch's wife, Gina Lopez Rausch,
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  Speaker 3: initially denied knowing about the freezer, but later admitted she
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  Speaker 3: knew the body had been there for four days. She
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  Speaker 3: also confessed to helping purchase the laced to drugs. Police
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  Speaker 3: believe Rausch quote wilfully, unlawfully, feloniously, and with malice, caused
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  Speaker 3: Gilbertson's death. They charged her with second degree murder. Raush
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  Speaker 3: pleaded not guilty during a court appearance. Her preliminary hearing
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  Speaker 3: is set for November twenty seven. The investigation is ongoing
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  Speaker 3: and authorities are still working to confirm Gilbertson's exact cause
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  Speaker 3: of death. Marshall, the longtime neighbor, says quote, she probably
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  Speaker 3: would have given them anything they wanted. This should never
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  Speaker 3: have happened to her.
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  Speaker 4: I'm Jennifer Gooold Up Florida mother's determination to protect her
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  Speaker 4: daughter from a predator turns into a dramatic showdown and shooting.
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  Speaker 4: The incident began when the mom discovered her thirteen year
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  Speaker 4: old daughter exchanging inappropriate text messages with an adult male.
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  Speaker 4: Taking decisive action, the mom confiscated her daughter's phone and then,
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  Speaker 4: posing as the teen, arranged a meeting with the suspect,
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  Speaker 4: identified as eighteen year old Sari Rodriguez Banks, at a
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  Speaker 4: Popeye's in Jacksonville. Here's Jacksonville Sheriff TK Waters talking to
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  Speaker 4: the media.
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  Speaker 2: Absolutely, we'd like for parents let us handle these situations. Listen,
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  Speaker 2: it's protective in nature, and moms and dads are going
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  Speaker 2: to do what they feel they needs to protect their
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  Speaker 2: protect their kids, which we can't really blame them for
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  Speaker 2: doing it, but we do ask to allow us to
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  Speaker 2: make sure we take care of situations like this.
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  Speaker 4: Banks arrived at the restaurant expecting to meet the young girl,
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  Speaker 4: but instead encountered the mother, her daughter, and her eleven
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  Speaker 4: year old son. The situation took a dangerous turn, though,
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  Speaker 4: when Banks allegedly lifted his shirt, revealing a handgun tucked
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  Speaker 4: menacingly in his waistband. According to authorities, He then threatened
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  Speaker 4: the mother, stating quote, when you hear the shots tonight,
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  Speaker 4: you know what's up end quote. Fearing for the safety
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  Speaker 4: of her children and herself, the unidentified mom retreated into
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  Speaker 4: the Popeyes and immediately contacted the police. Responding officers arrived
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  Speaker 4: approximately thirty minutes later to find Banks still lingering outside
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  Speaker 4: the restaurant. Knowing the suspect was armed and potentially dangerous,
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  Speaker 4: the officer cautiously approached Banks ordering him to turn around
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  Speaker 4: and show his hands. The already tense situation escalated, however,
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  Speaker 4: when Banks reportedly disobeyed commands and bolted, running around to
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  Speaker 4: the back of the Popeyes. The officer then gave chase.
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  Speaker 4: As the officer rounded the corner, where he witnessed Banks
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  Speaker 4: draw his weapon from his waistband, and, with no time
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  Speaker 4: to hesitate, the officer fired multiple shots, striking Banks. Though wounded,
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  Speaker 4: Banks continued to run, disappearing behind a nearby business. A
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  Speaker 4: K nine unit was deployed to track the suspect down,
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  Speaker 4: eventually locating him hiding in a drainage tunnel. Medical personnel
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  Speaker 4: were called to the scene to treat Banks for superficial
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  Speaker 4: gunshot wounds. He was then taken to the hospital for
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  Speaker 4: further treatment. Banks faces a multitude of charges, including aggravated
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  Speaker 4: assault with a deadly weapon, lude and lascivious conduct with
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  Speaker 4: a minor, unlawful use of a communication device, and traveling
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  Speaker 4: to meet a minor after online solicitation. He is currently
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  Speaker 4: being held on a seven hundred thousand dollars bond. The
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  Speaker 4: officer on the scene was not hurt. For the latest
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  Speaker 4: Crime and Justice News follow the Crime Alert hourly update
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  Speaker 4: on your favorite podcast app with this crime alert. I'm
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  Speaker 4: Jennifer Gould.