TO
TO ANYBODY ELSE. THIS GUY SAYS HIS EX TOLD A
LIE...
LIE... THAT COULD HAVE SENT HIM TO PRISON FOR THE REST OF HIS LIFE...
BUT HE AND HIS PARENTS HELPED
UNRAVEL THE
CASE AGAINST HIM.
TONY PLOHETSKI HAS HIS STORY --
AND HOW HE FELT
'GUILTY UNTIL PROVEN INNOCENT.'
THIS IS THE MUGSHOT OF AN
ACCUSED MONSTER -- -- BOOKED INTO JAIL LAST
SEPTEMBER
SEPTEMBER FOR AN ALLEGED VIOLENT CRIME AGAINST HIS EX-GIRLFRIEND. ACCORDING TO POLICE RECORDS, SHE
ACCUSED 21-
YEAR-OLD CRISTOPHER PRECOPIA OF
CEDAR PARK OF
FORCING HIS WAY INTO HER HOME IN
TEMPLE,
PUNCHING HER IN THE FACE, AND
SHOVING HER TO THE
GROUND. IN THE PROCESS --
KNOCKING OVER A FLOWER VASE
AND OTHER ITEMS IN HER LIVING
ROOM -- A SCENE
CAPTURED IN POLICE PHOTOGRAPHS.
SHE TOLD DETECTIVES PRECOPIA
PINNED HER
ARMS BEHIND HER HEAD AND USED A
BOX CUTTER TO
SLICE AN "X" JUST ABOVE HER
CHEST.
IN A HANDWRITTEN STATEMENT TO
POLICE, SHE
WROTE: "I COULD HEAR THE SLICES
BEING MADE."
TWO DAYS LATER -- POLICE DROVE
TO THE WILLIAMSON
COUNTY LUMBER YARD WHERE
CHRISTOPHER WORKED --
"I'M JUST SPUN AROUND,
HANDCUFFS, PUT IN A COP CAR."
-- AND ARRESTED.
"I HAD NO IDEA WHO ACCUSED OF ME
OF THIS. I HAD NO IDEA WHY
EVERYTHING
WAS HAPPENING, AND I WAS LOST.
PRECOPIA SPENT THE NEXT 24 HOURS
IN JAIL. HIS
PARENTS PAID A 150-THOUSAND
DOLLAR BOND -- THEN
THOUSANDS
THOUSANDS MORE FOR A LAWYER. BUT PRECOPIA SAYS HE KNEW HE DIDN'T DO IT -- KNEW HE
COULDN'T HAVE DONE IT.
"I
"I WAS
"I WAS GOING TO SLEEP HOPING I WOULDN'T WAKE UP. JUST TO TRYING TO GET AWAY FROM IT."
COURT RECORDS SHOW TEMPLE POLICE
MOVED QUICKLY
TO ARREST CHRISTOPHER --
BUILDING
BUILDING A CASE IN TWO DAYS -- BASED ON THE WORD OF HIS ACCUSER. HE SPENT THE NEXT
NINE MONTHS FEARING HE WAS GOING
TO PRISON ON A
CHARGE OF BURGLARY OF A
HABITATION WITH THE
INTENT TO COMMIT OTHER FELONIES.
"THAT'S WHAT I WAS SCARED OF
MOST. JUST GOING TO PRISON FOR
NO
NO
REASON."
REASON." THEN -- A TURNING POINT. ONCE CHRIS AND HIS LAWYERS
STARTED GETTING POLICE
RECORDS AS PART OF THE ONGOING
COURT CASE -- THEY
SAW THE DATE AND TIME HIS
ACCUSER SAID THE ATTACK
HAPPENED -- WEDNESDAY, SEPTEMBER
20TH, AROUND
7:20 P.M.
THEY REALIZED THEY HAD A WAY TO
PROVE THAT WAS
IMPOSSIBLE.
THAT NIGHT -- PRECOPIA WAS HERE
-- AT THIS NORTHWEST
AUSTIN HOTEL -- AT AN EVENT WITH
HIS MOTHER. IT'S 70 MILES AWAY
FROM
TEMPLE.
FROM TEMPLE. TO BOLSTER HIS DEFENSE,
CHRISTOPHER'S ATTORNEY GOT
THESE SWORN STATEMENTS FROM
PEOPLE WHO WERE
WITH HIM THAT NIGHT.
THEN -- HE AND HIS MOTHER, ERIN,
REMEMBERED
THEY POSED IN THIS PHOTO AT 7:02
P.M. -- ABOUT 18
MINUTES BEFORE THE ALLEGED
ATTACK AT A PLACE
MORE THAN HOUR AWAY.
I'M THINKING, THIS IS AWESOME.
BY THE GRACE OF GOD, SHE SAID IT
HAPPENED ON THE DAY WHEN I CAN
SAY TOTALLY, 100 PERCENT, WHERE
HE WAS AT.
PROSECUTORS HIRED A FORENSICS
EXPERT, WHO CONFIRMED THE
PICTURE WAS -- IN FACT -- TAKEN
ON THAT DAY, AT
THAT TIME.
BRUCE MILLS -- A FORMER APD
ASSISTANT WHO NOW CONSULTS
IN POLICING ISSUES -- SAID
INVESTIGATORS SHOULD TRY TO
QUESTION A PERSON BEFORE
ARRESTING HIM -- IN CASE THEY
HAVE AN OBVIOUS ALIBI.
THE POLICE DIDN'T DO THAT IN
THIS CASE.
NINE MONTHS PASSED BEFORE
CHRISTOPHER'S ATTORNEYS HAD
GATHERED THE EVIDENCE THEY
SAY THEY NEEDED TO PROVE HE
DIDN'T DO IT.
"I THINK THERE SHOULD HAVE BEEN
MORE INVESTIGATION."
IN THE END -- PROSECUTORS
DROPPED THE CHARGE "IN THE
INTEREST OF JUSTICE" -- A
CLASSIFICATION OFTEN USED IN
CASES WHEN THEY NO LONGER THINK
A PERSON IS
GUILTY.
CHRISTOPHER'S ATTORNEY -- RICK
FLORES -- SAYS THIS CASE
WAS UNUSUALLY EASY TO PROVE.
MOST OF THE TIME, WE DEAL WITH
GRAY MATTERS. IT'S NOT NORMALLY
BLACK OR WHITE. BUT THIS IS ONE
OF THOSE CASES WHERE I COULD
DEFINITELY PROVE HE DID NOT
COMMITT THIS OFFENSE.
TEMPLE POLICE WOULDN'T ANSWER
OUR QUESTIONS
OUR QUESTIONS
ABOUT
ABOUT HOW
ABOUT HOW THEY HANDLED THE CASE. COUNTY D-A HENRY GARZA ALSO WOULDN'T GO ON CAMERA, BUT HE
ACKNOWLEDGED POLICE LACKED THE
WHOLE STORY BEFORE
ARRESTING CHRISTOPHER, AND THAT
QUOTE, "WE ARE
ALWAYS WILLING TO LISTEN AND
EXAMINE NEW INFORMATION,
AND THAT'S EXACTLY WHAT WE DID
IN THIS CASE."
IN STATEMENTS TO POLICE --
CHRISTOPHER'S ACCUSER
CLAIMS THEY HAD A TROUBLED
RELATIONSHIP WHEN THEY
DATED IN HIGH SCHOOL THREE YEARS
AGO. SHE TOLD POLICE
SHE WAS TRAUMATIZED -- AND
THAT'S WHY SHE TOLD
POLICE
POLICE CHRISTOPHER ATTACKED HER LAST YEAR. I DON'T UNDERSTAND WHY THIS IS
GOING ON AND WHY SHE
FEELS THE NEED TO DO THIS.
TODAY -- CHRISTOPHER SAYS HE
WANTS HIS NAMED
CLEARED --
"I'M READY TO ACTUALLY LIVE MY
LIFE, THE WAY I WANT TO, WITHOUT
HAVING ANY KIND OF WORRY THAT
THIS CAN COME BACK AND HURT
ME."
-- A LIFE ALMOST DERAILED BY A
WOMAN'S ACCUSATION
THAT PROSECUTORS LATER REALIZED
JUST DIDN'T
HOLD UP.
TONY PLOHETSKI, KVUE NEWS.
KVUE
KVUE IS
KVUE IS NOT NAMING THE CHRISTOPHER'S ACCUSER-- BECAUSE SHE HAS NOT BEEN CHARGED
WITH A CRIME.
PROSECUTORS SAY THE MATTER
REMAINS UNDER REVIEW.
CHRISTOPHER'S ATTORNEY ALSO SAYS
HE AND HIS FAMILY ARE
CONSIDERING A LAWSUIT AGAINST
HER TO TRY TO
RECOVER THE MONEY SPENT ON HIS
BOND AND LEGAL
DEFENSE.
DEFENSE.
DEFENSE. IF YOU HAVE SOMETHING YOU WANT
THE KVUE DEFENDERS TO INVESTIGATE - SEND US AN EMAIL
OR CALL