The Brendan Banfield Hot Mess Trial - Au Pair Affair Day 6

Will the defense learn how to properly admit evidence? Critical evidence?

Court will run from 9:30 - 5:30 PM ET. We'll skip breaks.


Lol let's see what happens.

Playlist: Au Pair Trial Clips + Testimony Segments:    • Au Pair Affair Trial - Clips & Testimony  
Playlist: Full Trial Streams - Au Pair Trial:    • Trial: VA v. Brendan Banfield (Au Pair Mur...  

0:00 Long bench approach.
Officer Robert Casanova first. Bodycam with Casanova + Juliana played with NO audio.

29:30 Sgt. Brian Ames (Internal Affairs, briefly in DFS/Cyber)
Email to Det. Brendan Miller: no issue with Miller’s executive summary “while I was there.”
Asked about proffers, says he doesn’t recall the files.
Timeline note: he was a street supervisor before, then DFS around Feb 2024 to Nov 2024 (as stated).

Q: Was Juliana challenged during the proffer? Objections sustained. Ames says it’s too long ago to remember.
Transfer questions: had contact with Miller about Banfield case, but says he wasn’t doing forensics.

1:02:00 Cross of Ames
You weren’t in DFS long.
You didn’t work the forensics in this case.
You weren’t involved in Miller’s transfer or his work on this case.
These emails, you were basically just forwarding them.
Any direction to change/hide/distort? No.

Redirect: anything suggest you were being directed? No.

1:05:00 Leah Smith (homicide detective at the time)
Says prosecutors come up with trial theories, detectives do PC affidavits.
Evidence “pieces” came in toward the end.
Forensics (prints/DNA/etc) comes back in waves, not all at once.

1:14:00 Catfishing theory origin

Smith says early on she told people they should have a theory, but they were still gathering. No response.
Doesn’t know when catfishing theory went away, or if it ever did.
Says homicide explored all options (objections during this section).

1:20:00 Juliana charging
Smith: Juliana was charged for her involvement.

1:26:00 Cross (Smith)
Decision to charge Brendan: “when we got the blood evidence back.”

1:27:00 Redirect (Smith)
Felt pressure: says no, but also says she spoke out about pressure.
Names mentioned: Det. DiGiaccio, Capt./Cmdr. Brusch/Vrusch (as stated).

1:37:00 Matthew Nilssen (homicide detective Feb 2023–Nov 2024, now Detective Sgt.)
Talks about plea leverage in general.
Says Juliana cooperated at one point, but he wasn’t part of it.
Never listened to jail calls, says someone else was assigned and notes fed into the investigation.

1:42:00 John Patrick Brusch/Vrusch (former Major Crimes command, now Admin Support)
Says there were concerns about the investigation, especially forensics.
Was involved in decision to transfer Det. Miller.
Says he did not want Miller doing another major-crimes digital forensics case.

1:48:00 Prosecutor stumbles into an objection issue (“steps on rake” moment).

1:58:00 Transfer details and reasoning
He frames Miller’s conclusions as “incorrect,” not “disagreeable.”
Says he couldn’t open a zip file (Cellebrite extraction), so he didn’t check the source.
Critiques deductions/analysis, then says that’s why Miller got pulled from digital forensics.
Peer review comes up: asked about outside review agreeing with Miller. “That’s news to me.”
Retirement timing mentioned: paperwork July 11, 2025, accepted July 25 (as stated).
Messages around Oct 25, 2024 proffer: names include Chief Kevin Davis, DiGiaccio, Sally Fayaz, Brusch/Vrusch.

2:53:00 Lt. David DiGiaccio (Brady list issues come up)
Says there was a meeting about digital forensics after the proffer.
Says catfish theory became “correct” after Juliana proffer (as framed).
Background talk on calls, notes, and “clean house” language: told to close case, told to clean house if necessary. People left.

6:08:00 Sally Fayaz (Victim Services)
Arranged an advocate when Valerie and Juliana came to HQ.
Hotel/“mommy” moment: Valerie asked to call her mommy, later asked “are you gonna marry my daddy.” Juliana responses described. Cross covers what exactly triggered safety concerns.

6:46:50 Det. Miller back again

7:15:00 Screenshots/artifacts: Jan 9, 2023 FetLife Gmail creation day. Messages sent from Christine’s phone/device. WhatsApp appears to show Christine messaging Juliana.

7:44:00 FetLife login/device detail: Samsung SMG991U shows two devices. One is Banfield’s IRS phone, other not identified. Laptop referenced. No deletion markers noted.

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