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Mel and Rebecca break down Michael Proctor lost his phone (AYFKM?) Who Danny Dasilva from the Lowell PD is and wtf is he doing with a 17 year-old? And have you heard about JMail? You have now. You don't want to miss this one! If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!

Mel and Rebecca break down the explosive news of the week: Matthew Farwell asks the judge to change the venue AND dismiss the case against him and the judge in Aidan Kearney's witness intimidation case suggest Cosgrove sub in another prosecutor if Lindsey Gaitani takes the stand. WTAF? PLUS menopausal injuries, lotsa tangents, and what's up with the journalism debate between Turtleboy and Sue O'connell? Oh and there's also the Epstein Files, Don Lemon, and Mel teases a new show about politics. If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!

We're doing a back episode this week since it's Groundhog Day! Pamela Smart has received a hearing date in late February 2026. We don't have news yet whether this will be an evidentiary hearing or just process, but Mel will keep you informed as the news comes out. Pam's attorneys feel confident that their arguments are solid and based in NH case law, so if the state of NH doesn't hear this case, it proves politics are at play once again when it comes to Pamela Smart. Stay tuned! It's going to be an interesting year! And if you like the work I do, please tip. TO LISTEN TO SEASON ONE, start here. Watch SOMETHING'S OFF Join the Investigator Club for early and ad-free episode, bonus content, lives, and so much more! Episode Description: It's been a long road, but we're finally here. Pamela Smart's attorneys have filed a petition of Habeus Corpus asking for a new trial or at the very least resentencing and they've given me access to the petition. I've been investigating Pam's case for going on a decade and some of the work I did on the first season of The In Between Podcast became the basis for this Habeus. I'm always so proud of the work I do on The In Between Podcast, but this case has been my white whale and I'm so honored to be apart of these arguments. I want to share what I can with you, so without further adieu, here are the five points Pam's case will hinge on. PLEASE PLEASE share her story.

If you like us, please tip us:  venmo: @melbarrettwrites  cashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips  You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level.  Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc  Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!  Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts!

Within hours of Alex Pretti being killed by a federal officer in Minneapolis, the government decided who he was. They said he was a terrorist.They said he came to kill law enforcement.They said the case was clear. But the evidence tells a very different story. Alex Pretti was a 37-year-old ICU nurse, a licensed gun owner, and a U.S. citizen who was filming a federal immigration enforcement operation when things escalated. Video shows him holding a phone. Witnesses say he moved toward a woman who had been shoved to the ground. Seconds later, he was dead. In this episode of The In Between, Mel Barrett breaks down what actually happened — and what happened next: how senior officials in the Trump administration rushed to declare motive, intent, and guilt before the public had access to the evidence; how the right’s long-standing claims about guns, protests, and “intent” suddenly collapsed; and how a coordinated narrative blitz turned a witness into a threat. This is not just a story about a killing.It’s a story about how the state controls the narrative after lethal force — and why some lives are explained away instead of examined. Because once the public accepts the label, the questions stop.And that’s how accountability dies. If you like Mel's work, please tip her: venmo: @melbarrettwrites You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!

Mel and Rebecca welcome Karen Read Dramaturge, Jimmy aka Auntie Deb, to the show to dish on all things Read adjacent and pop culture. We had a blast with Jimmy, though he does show up late. 🤣  If you like us, please tip us:  venmo: @melbarrettwrites  cashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips  You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level.  Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc  Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!  Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your p

Mel and Rebecca discuss KAren Read updates, the Turtleboy movie, Aaron Spencer trial updates, police corruption and civil rights. If you like us, please tip us: venmo: @melbarrettwrites cashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips If you too have been a victim of impersonation of the McAlbert's fundraiser, you can contact GiveSendGo here to lodge a complaint: https://help.givesendgo.com/portal/en... You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts 0:00 Intro + Nightline/Other Updates 11:20 David Yanetti + should Rebecca play poker? 25:05 Updates from the show with Maggie Freleng 36:53 Karen Read updates/sidebar info 51:45 What’s up with paid commenters? 58:45 Aaron Spencer Case Info/Updates 1:20:33 Police Corruption/Civil Rights Discussion 1:27:16 Can we use all the bad to bring people together? 1:39:42 Discussion of politicized language/freedom of speech 1:47:20 Dyson AirWrap…share the show… goodbye for now!

A new episode of Something's Off! Rebecca's back from her nude beach vacation and she's got some stories to tell! We also dive into the new release of Brian Higgins police interview and the inconsistencies we found there, Turtleboy/Young Jerks fundraiser drama, Plevin Lenihan's "bombshell," and of course, more sidebahs! This is the audio from the Something's Off YouTube presentation. If you want to watch the replay, stop by Something's Off and don't forget to engage, subscribe, and share. It helps the algorithm tremendously! If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsYou can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts

Two people are dead. A family has been destroyed. And a seventeen-year-old girl is sitting in jail, charged as an adult and facing the possibility of life without parole. In this episode of The In Between, Mel takes a careful, evidence-forward look at the case of Sarah Grace Patrick, a Georgia teenager accused of murdering her mother and stepfather while they slept. This is not an episode about internet rumor or TikTok outrage. It’s about what we actually know, what we don’t, and how quickly narrative has replaced transparency in a case where the stakes could not be higher. Mel breaks down the known facts, the gaps in the public record, the prosecution’s likely theory, and the defense’s emerging strategy — including the role of adolescent brain development, forensic neuropsychology, and the danger of treating online behavior as evidence of guilt. She also confront the broader issues this case raises:What happens to the presumption of innocence in the age of social media?How harmful is it when “experts” turn compliance into confession?And what does it say about our justice system when a child can legally be sentenced to die in prison? This episode lives in the space between confidence and proof — and asks why, before trial has even begun, so many people seem so certain. Listener discretion advised. If you like Mel's work, please tip her:venmo: @melbarrettwrites You can now join the Something's Off YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts!

While Rebecca's away, Mel jumped on solo to talk about two cases that are keeping her up at night: Aaron Spencer, the Arkansas father, who killed the man who had SA'd and kidnapped his daughter. Was it vigilantism, or stopping a crime as it was happening. Let Mel know in the comments. And well-known actor, Timothy Busfield (Thirtysomething, West Wing) is arrested for child SA, accused of abusing 11 year-old twin boys who he was directing on set of The Cleaning Lady. His wife, Melissa Gilbert (Little House on the Prairie), is standing by her man. This is the audio from the Something's Off YouTube presentation. If you want to watch the replay, stop by Something's Off and don't forget to engage, subscribe, and share. It helps the algorithm tremendously! If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsYou can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts

While Rebecca's on vacation, Mel sits down with fellow podcaster, rockstar journalist, all around badass, and friend, Maggie Freleng. If you want to watch Mel fangirl all over Maggie, join us! We'll be talking about Maggie's groundbreaking work on wrongful convictions, her newest and amazing podcast, Bone Valley: Graves County Season 3, and the ethics of reporting in the true crime sphere. If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsYou can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts

We knew that already though. Join Mel and cohost, Ellyn Marsh, who is in for Rebecca who is on vacation as they talk Alan Jackson on Billy Bush, Rotten Mango interview w/Karen Read, and Microdots 24 mph in reverse?If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsYou can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts

In this episode of The In Between, Mel sits down with Pamela Smart’s attorney and her good friend— Matthew Zernhelt, on what feels like a turning point day in Pam’s case. Matt has spent years doing the kind of work that doesn’t fit neatly into soundbites: complex post-conviction litigation, constitutional violations, and the long, grinding fight to get a court to actually look at what went wrong. And this week, he and his team filed a new habeas petition — a last-resort legal mechanism that lets you challenge a conviction after the appeals are over, but only on specific, fundamental constitutional grounds. We break down what a habeas petition is (in plain English), why Pam’s case is so unusual, and why this filing is happening in two places at once: New Hampshire, where she was convicted, and New York, where she’s been incarcerated for decades under an interstate compact that creates a jurisdictional mess no one seems to have a clear playbook for. Then we walk through the five core arguments in the petition — including: A groundbreaking scientific study on confirmation bias and “expectation-induced” hearing, showing how state-created transcripts shaped what jurors believed they heard on barely-audible wiretaps. A media-tainted verdict, including evidence that a juror relied on a newspaper story during trial — information that was never presented in court. An unauthorized concession of guilt by trial counsel in closing argument, and why that matters legally (not just emotionally). Faulty jury instructions, including what the jury was not properly told about accomplice liability, premeditation, and what evidence they were allowed to consider. A sentencing problem that still stops me cold: the claim that Pam was given life without parole as if it were mandatory — when the law didn’t actually mandate it for the charge she was convicted of. This is a conversation about law, yes — but it’s also about how a person gets “convicted by headline,” how institutions double down, and what it takes to reopen a case the public thinks it already knows. You’ll hear what happens next, what an evidentiary hearing would look like, and what a “win” actually means here — a new trial, a new sentencing hearing, or the first real shot in decades at getting Pamela Smart back to New Hampshire… and back to her life. (The petition is public and will be made available to listeners. The underlying study has not yet been formally published, but it’s coming.)If you're a fan of Mel's work, please tip her. She's a one-woman-show and is appreciative of your support. ❤️venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsWant to listen to The In Between Podcast AD FREE and receive loads of bonus content? Join the Investigator ClubWatch Something's Off on YouTube

Listener discretion advised.What happens when the state kills someone — and then decides the story matters more than the truth? In this episode of The In Between, host Mel Barrett, examines the killing of Renee Nicole Good, a 37-year-old mother of three shot and killed by a federal ICE agent in Minneapolis. Using newly analyzed video, eyewitness accounts, and reporting that directly contradicts the federal government’s claims, this episode slows the moment down — frame by frame — and asks what we’re being told to believe, and why. This isn’t just about one shooting.It’s about narrative power.About confirmation bias and “alternative facts.”About being trained to reject the evidence of our own eyes. As protests erupt and federal agencies close ranks, local investigators are shut out, the FBI takes exclusive control of the evidence, and career civil rights prosecutors resign rather than participate in what they see as a refusal to investigate. The institutions meant to provide accountability begin to crack — and the cost of that collapse becomes painfully clear. This episode confronts fear-as-justification, panic-as-crime, and the growing gap between what happens and what we’re told happened. It asks what justice looks like when transparency disappears — and what it means when the people inside the system walk away. Because Renee Good didn’t get a trial.And her story deserves more than a press release. If you're a fan of Mel's work, please tip her. She's a one-woman-show and is appreciative of your support. ❤️venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTipsWant to listen to The In Between Podcast AD FREE and receive loads of bonus content? Join the Investigator ClubWatch Something's Off on YouTube

What can we say? You don't want to miss this one! If you like us, please tip us:venmo: @melbarrettwritescashapp: cash.app/$SomethingsOffTips You can now join the YouTube channel! Click the join button to select your favorite level. Follow @realmelbarrett on all socials / TT: @jackofalltradesdc Listen to the In Between Podcast wherever you get your podcasts! Follow ‪@reblavoie‬ on all socials Listen to Crime Writer's On wherever you get your podcasts