for joining us on
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It Is Written Canada.
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When I think of the words,
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"falsely accused," I think of
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two men in the Bible:
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Joseph who was falsely accused
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by Potiphar's wife in Egypt
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and Jesus who was falsely
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accused of being a blasphemer
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and a law-breaker.
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Both were innocent, but both
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were convicted of crimes they
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did not commit and were
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sent to jail.
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Both their stories speak to
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the reality of how the human
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justice system can be
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very unjust.
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Similarly, our guests today
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are Aaron and Zachary Simmonds
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who, on one fateful day in
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February 2020, were on their
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way to visit their brother in
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Toronto.
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>> They had just left their
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parent's house and all of a
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sudden they were confronted
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with a swarm of police cars
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coming out of nowhere,
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guns were aimed at them
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and they faced charges
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of second degree murder.
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In a moment we will hear
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their story.
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¤¤
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[Norwill] I just kept asking
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God, "What happened?"
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"What went wrong?"
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[Zach] One wrong move and
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that's the end of it.
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[Carol] Somebody made a very
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big mistake here,
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not those boys.
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[Norwill] God's always been
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able before, why not now?
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>> So, Aaron and Zack, this is
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amazing that you are willing
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to talk about this.
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We really just want to get
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into mind and...
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What was it like, right?
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So thank you for being here.
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[Aaron & Zack] Thank you for
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having us.
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>> So, Aaron, I'm gonna start
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with you.
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Can you take us back to that
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Tuesday afternoon and share
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with us what happened?
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>> Me and Zack were on our way
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back to Toronto for the week.
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We were both working
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out there.
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We left a little bit later
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than we usually do.
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We were driving and we had
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forgotten stuff, it's almost
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like a family trait, we forget
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a lot of things.
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So we went back home
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and then we were on the
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road again.
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I didn't get to the highway
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yet, I was on the 115, about
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like 10, 15 minutes away when
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I pass an exit and I see a cop
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car and I'm like, "Oh, man."
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"I hope I'm not speeding."
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I'm looking at my speedometer,
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I'm like, "Oh, no. I'm fine."
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Then I see this SUV speeding
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up quickly behind us and as it
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gets closer, I'm like,
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"Oh, OK, that's the cop."
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"That's the OPP officer so"
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"maybe he's going somewhere,"
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"maybe I was speeding,"
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"I have no idea."
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So I just stay in my lane
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until he's right behind me and
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he's really close behind me,
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but no lights were going off
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and my exit was coming up so I
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went into the next lane.
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He pulled up slightly beside
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me and then his lights-- and
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then he turned on his lights
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and we started pulling over,
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but because we had just gone
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off to our exit, we pulled off
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to the side and he was driving
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weird behind us.
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I mean, obviously at that
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point you're not thinking too
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much about how, like, an
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officer is doing what he does.
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So we were just waiting there
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for our ticket or whatever we
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were gonna get when I hear
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over his loud speaker,
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"Roll down your windows."
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So I slightly, I turn my head
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and I look back and I see him
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in the middle of the exit with
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his gun drawn.
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So I roll down my window and
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he proceeds to ask us to do a
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bunch of other things like
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take off our seat belt,
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throw our keys out the window,
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put our hands out the window,
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open the door.
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It wasn't too clear about some
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of the things 'cause of the
00:03:41.25\00:03:42.75
order in which he asked us
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'cause he had asked me to get
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out of the car, but I hadn't
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taken off my seat belt yet.
00:03:47.26\00:03:48.42
You know, you just wanna be
00:03:48.42\00:03:49.62
thorough at that point 'cause
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you don't wanna get shot for a
00:03:51.19\00:03:52.86
foolish reason.
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So I asked him if I could.
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He's like, "Yeah, take it"
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"off and get out, hands up."
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He wants me to side shuffle
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into the middle of the street
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and then walk backwards.
00:04:05.17\00:04:07.24
I walked backwards for a few
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paces before he asked me to
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get on my knees and crawl
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backwards until I got to him
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and then I was put in
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handcuffs and I was patted
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down and asked if I had
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anything on me.
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>> So now you've got the
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handcuffs on, what did you see
00:04:21.82\00:04:24.16
when you turned around?
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>> I see a lot.
00:04:25.79\00:04:28.13
I see a lot of cops, I see a
00:04:28.13\00:04:30.23
lot of cars, SUV's, trucks,
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vans, you hear dogs barking,
00:04:34.24\00:04:36.00
you don't know where they are,
00:04:36.00\00:04:37.74
just a lot commotion and all
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you could really think is,
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"What could have possibly"
00:04:40.94\00:04:42.64
"happened to have this many"
00:04:42.64\00:04:44.28
"people from the police that"
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"doesn't have a huge"
00:04:46.18\00:04:47.72
"population to bring out"
00:04:47.72\00:04:49.32
"this many cops?"
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But at that point it's not
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even about, like, how you
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feel, it's just about how you
00:04:55.16\00:04:56.89
react to the situation 'cause,
00:04:56.89\00:04:58.56
like, one wrong move is,
00:04:58.56\00:05:01.43
that's the end of it.
00:05:01.43\00:05:03.03
>> And this whole time now,
00:05:04.23\00:05:05.93
Zachary, you're sitting in
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the vehicle.
00:05:07.47\00:05:08.40
>> Yeah, yeah.
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I was just trying to figure
00:05:10.47\00:05:13.01
out, like, OK, now we're in
00:05:13.01\00:05:15.98
this, but, like, what's
00:05:15.98\00:05:17.35
happening, and how are we
00:05:17.35\00:05:18.61
gonna get back to, like,
00:05:18.61\00:05:20.22
what we were doing?
00:05:20.22\00:05:21.32
You know, like, how are we
00:05:21.32\00:05:22.38
gonna get back to, like, on
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the road, I thought we were
00:05:23.32\00:05:24.42
gonna be out of there in the
00:05:24.42\00:05:25.45
next 15, 20 minutes.
00:05:25.45\00:05:27.32
They told me to get out and
00:05:27.32\00:05:28.99
then face forwards and walk
00:05:28.99\00:05:32.23
backwards and then I heard a
00:05:32.23\00:05:33.96
lot of people saying a lot of
00:05:33.96\00:05:35.36
different orders, you know?
00:05:35.36\00:05:36.70
Like, someone was telling me
00:05:36.70\00:05:38.13
stand there, another person
00:05:38.13\00:05:39.40
was telling me get on my
00:05:39.40\00:05:40.64
knees, another person was
00:05:40.64\00:05:42.04
telling me to back up and I
00:05:42.04\00:05:43.04
was like, "Which one do I do?"
00:05:43.04\00:05:44.27
You know, I actually, like,
00:05:44.27\00:05:45.67
there was just a lot going on.
00:05:45.67\00:05:47.48
I just was walking backwards
00:05:47.48\00:05:49.24
and then after, you know, a
00:05:49.24\00:05:50.71
couple steps they told me to
00:05:50.71\00:05:52.35
get on my knees and I was like
00:05:52.35\00:05:53.48
in a big puddle of snow,
00:05:53.48\00:05:55.18
dirt, you know, all that and I
00:05:55.18\00:05:57.02
was like, "I'm going"
00:05:57.02\00:05:59.09
"somewhere, you're gonna"
00:05:59.09\00:06:00.62
"mess up my pants," you know.
00:06:00.62\00:06:02.29
I don't know, I don't know
00:06:02.29\00:06:04.09
what I was thinking, but I was
00:06:04.09\00:06:05.66
like, "This is a puddle!"
00:06:05.66\00:06:07.56
After that they just put the--
00:06:07.56\00:06:09.00
>> That was only part-- at
00:06:09.00\00:06:10.40
that point, that was the only
00:06:10.40\00:06:11.37
point I was actually like,
00:06:11.37\00:06:12.63
"Oh, this could go"
00:06:12.63\00:06:13.80
"really bad."
00:06:13.80\00:06:15.04
[Hollace] What went through my
00:06:17.47\00:06:18.74
mind when I first heard the
00:06:18.74\00:06:20.21
news was, "Impossible."
00:06:20.21\00:06:22.44
"Absolutely impossible."
00:06:22.44\00:06:25.08
I had to fight with myself to
00:06:25.08\00:06:27.85
be reasonable because of what
00:06:27.85\00:06:30.75
I had to deal with the next
00:06:30.75\00:06:32.59
day so I tried to shut my mind
00:06:32.59\00:06:35.56
off, but I think I slept for
00:06:35.56\00:06:38.19
a few minutes, maybe
00:06:38.19\00:06:39.83
half an hour.
00:06:39.83\00:06:41.50
>> That night was extremely
00:06:41.50\00:06:42.96
difficult.
00:06:42.96\00:06:44.87
I'm trying to think if I
00:06:44.87\00:06:46.27
actually did sleep or not.
00:06:46.27\00:06:48.74
I honestly can't remember.
00:06:48.74\00:06:50.04
There were so many things
00:06:50.04\00:06:51.24
going over in my mind, I'm
00:06:51.24\00:06:52.44
trying to figure it out.
00:06:52.44\00:06:54.18
And I just kept asking God all
00:06:54.18\00:06:55.81
night, "OK, what happened?"
00:06:55.81\00:06:58.78
"What went wrong?"
00:06:58.78\00:07:01.05
I knew then I just had to wait
00:07:01.05\00:07:02.78
for the answer.
00:07:02.78\00:07:04.65
I know there was an answer,
00:07:04.65\00:07:05.99
but I know I had to wait for
00:07:05.99\00:07:07.09
it so I said, "OK."
00:07:07.09\00:07:09.26
It was rough though.
00:07:11.46\00:07:13.16
We prepared ourselves to go to
00:07:14.03\00:07:17.77
the court the next morning
00:07:17.77\00:07:19.80
because we were told that they
00:07:19.80\00:07:21.47
were supposed to be in court
00:07:21.47\00:07:22.77
in order to be properly
00:07:22.77\00:07:23.87
charged.
00:07:23.87\00:07:25.24
Unfortunately, as we drove
00:07:25.24\00:07:26.78
down the driveway, we were
00:07:26.78\00:07:29.04
stopped by the police and we
00:07:29.04\00:07:32.85
were detained for 15 minutes,
00:07:32.85\00:07:35.58
could be more.
00:07:35.58\00:07:37.59
They wouldn't give us a good
00:07:37.59\00:07:38.92
answer, why are we detained?
00:07:38.92\00:07:40.79
When they told us that we
00:07:40.79\00:07:43.86
couldn't go anywhere, I said,
00:07:43.86\00:07:45.46
"OK, then I'll just go back"
00:07:45.46\00:07:46.93
"up to the house and sit down"
00:07:46.93\00:07:47.96
"if I can't go anywhere."
00:07:47.96\00:07:49.13
He says, "No, you have to"
00:07:49.13\00:07:49.93
"stay here."
00:07:49.93\00:07:50.93
So we sat there and he was
00:07:50.93\00:07:54.00
asking questions and stuff
00:07:54.00\00:07:56.34
like that and I was trying to
00:07:56.34\00:07:57.81
answer but I was trying to
00:07:57.81\00:07:58.94
figure out, "where are you"
00:07:58.94\00:07:59.91
"going with all these"
00:07:59.91\00:08:01.21
"questions?" and he wouldn't
00:08:01.21\00:08:02.71
give me a good answer.
00:08:02.71\00:08:04.58
So I said, "Well, I won't"
00:08:04.58\00:08:05.71
"answer any more questions."
00:08:05.71\00:08:07.52
"Why should I be answering"
00:08:08.68\00:08:09.92
"your questions and you're"
00:08:09.92\00:08:10.82
"not answering mine?"
00:08:10.82\00:08:12.32
>> So you were looking forward
00:08:12.95\00:08:14.02
to going to your brother in
00:08:14.02\00:08:15.52
Toronto to spend time with
00:08:15.52\00:08:17.33
your nephew,
00:08:17.33\00:08:18.29
and the next minute you guys
00:08:18.29\00:08:20.16
are arrested and in jail?
00:08:20.16\00:08:22.23
>> Yeah.
00:08:22.23\00:08:23.77
>> So when did you see
00:08:23.77\00:08:24.67
your parents?
00:08:24.67\00:08:26.17
When was the first time you
00:08:26.17\00:08:27.00
saw your parents?
00:08:27.00\00:08:28.14
>> It was...
00:08:28.14\00:08:29.80
how many hours later?
00:08:29.80\00:08:31.11
Once we finally got to the
00:08:31.11\00:08:32.87
precinct we'd be staying at,
00:08:32.87\00:08:34.44
we were there for about eight
00:08:34.44\00:08:36.81
hours then we were transported
00:08:36.81\00:08:40.78
to the court where that was
00:08:40.78\00:08:42.98
the first time we got to see
00:08:42.98\00:08:44.45
our parents.
00:08:44.45\00:08:45.65
>> So that was the next day?
00:08:45.65\00:08:46.99
>> That was, yeah,
00:08:46.99\00:08:47.96
the next day.
00:08:47.96\00:08:48.92
>> We sat there
00:08:48.92\00:08:50.93
until back and fourth he
00:08:50.93\00:08:52.73
decided after he got, I think,
00:08:52.73\00:08:55.16
maybe from his superior that
00:08:55.16\00:08:58.47
it was OK to let us go,
00:08:58.47\00:09:00.24
he came back and he says,
00:09:00.24\00:09:01.50
"You're free to go."
00:09:01.50\00:09:03.07
OK.
00:09:03.74\00:09:04.91
So we took off to court and
00:09:06.34\00:09:08.04
that's when we first saw
00:09:08.04\00:09:09.34
the boys.
00:09:09.34\00:09:10.68
We were allowed to go to the
00:09:10.68\00:09:12.51
back to see them before they
00:09:12.51\00:09:14.92
actually come into court and
00:09:14.92\00:09:18.15
that's when it kinda
00:09:18.15\00:09:19.62
got teary.
00:09:19.62\00:09:21.16
>> So when you saw them,
00:09:21.16\00:09:24.29
what went through your mind?
00:09:24.29\00:09:26.16
Was it an emotional thing?
00:09:26.16\00:09:29.00
>> It was very emotional.
00:09:29.00\00:09:30.70
I think that was the point we
00:09:30.70\00:09:33.20
actually allowed ourselves to
00:09:33.20\00:09:35.37
realize our full situation
00:09:35.37\00:09:37.74
because up to this point it's
00:09:37.74\00:09:39.27
been a lot of reaction.
00:09:39.27\00:09:42.01
But yeah, no, this was the
00:09:42.01\00:09:43.35
first time I was able to
00:09:43.35\00:09:45.91
realize how much pain it was
00:09:45.91\00:09:49.62
doing to me and my family.
00:09:49.62\00:09:51.95
[Hollace] Aaron was the first
00:09:53.82\00:09:55.29
one to be brought in, we had
00:09:55.29\00:09:56.66
to wait a few minutes and
00:09:56.66\00:09:58.16
I heard shackles
00:09:58.16\00:10:01.63
and he came in, he looked at
00:10:01.63\00:10:04.20
me and he lost his composure,
00:10:04.20\00:10:08.37
he burst into tears, and when
00:10:08.37\00:10:10.37
he was able to speak, his
00:10:10.37\00:10:12.17
question was, "How is Zack?"
00:10:12.17\00:10:14.91
Then we were able to see Zack,
00:10:14.91\00:10:16.91
same scenario, shackles, and
00:10:16.91\00:10:18.98
then he appeared and he had
00:10:18.98\00:10:20.68
his head down and I told him
00:10:20.68\00:10:23.72
to lift his head up and he did
00:10:23.72\00:10:26.82
and he looked at me and he
00:10:26.82\00:10:28.49
burst into tears as well and
00:10:28.49\00:10:30.19
he asked me, "How is Aaron?"
00:10:30.19\00:10:33.13
It's not like when they're
00:10:33.13\00:10:34.96
little and they fall down and
00:10:34.96\00:10:36.67
they get hurt and you can just
00:10:36.67\00:10:38.17
pick them up, I couldn't touch
00:10:38.17\00:10:39.90
them, I-- we were completely
00:10:39.90\00:10:43.54
blocked from each other,
00:10:43.54\00:10:45.34
you know, just the glass was
00:10:45.34\00:10:46.94
separating us and I knew that
00:10:46.94\00:10:49.58
if I showed any kind of
00:10:49.58\00:10:51.68
weakness that it wouldn't be
00:10:51.68\00:10:54.75
good for them and I really
00:10:54.75\00:10:56.32
needed them to stay strong
00:10:56.32\00:10:57.69
'cause I had absolutely no
00:10:57.69\00:10:58.95
idea what we were
00:10:58.95\00:11:00.96
dealing with.
00:11:00.96\00:11:02.39
>> I thought my job was to
00:11:02.39\00:11:03.93
help them to be strong and I
00:11:03.93\00:11:05.99
was just trying to help them
00:11:05.99\00:11:07.46
out of-- allow their minds to
00:11:07.46\00:11:11.10
go somewhere else and just be
00:11:11.10\00:11:12.63
patient because it'll be
00:11:12.63\00:11:14.97
over soon.
00:11:14.97\00:11:16.34
That's all I could give.
00:11:16.34\00:11:18.17
>> We couldn't ask them
00:11:18.17\00:11:19.77
any questions.
00:11:19.77\00:11:21.54
Our conversation was supposed
00:11:21.54\00:11:23.55
to be everything but this big
00:11:23.55\00:11:28.55
problem that we were facing.
00:11:28.55\00:11:30.72
>> And how do you do that?
00:11:30.72\00:11:31.99
(chuckles)
00:11:31.99\00:11:33.62
'Cause you want...
00:11:33.62\00:11:35.96
>> You want answers.
00:11:35.96\00:11:37.19
>> You want the answers right
00:11:37.19\00:11:38.36
there and then and you can
00:11:38.36\00:11:40.56
only look in the eyes to find
00:11:40.56\00:11:42.50
the answers.
00:11:42.50\00:11:44.00
>> But I knew, I knew as soon
00:11:45.00\00:11:47.54
as I saw them, I knew that we
00:11:47.54\00:11:50.84
had to fight tooth and nail
00:11:50.84\00:11:52.51
for them because they didn't
00:11:52.51\00:11:55.18
know what was going on.
00:11:55.18\00:11:57.25
>> The main thing, the most
00:11:58.21\00:11:59.68
important thing was that we
00:11:59.68\00:12:02.12
had to start praying
00:12:02.12\00:12:04.05
like never before.
00:12:04.95\00:12:06.59
[Carol] Murder.
00:12:08.29\00:12:09.89
Not murder, that was way
00:12:11.33\00:12:13.80
too grave, that was way
00:12:13.80\00:12:15.23
too serious.
00:12:15.23\00:12:16.83
Aaron? Zack?
00:12:16.83\00:12:18.80
No, there's gotta be a mistake
00:12:18.80\00:12:21.54
here, somebody made a very big
00:12:21.54\00:12:24.71
mistake here.
00:12:24.71\00:12:26.04
Not those two, not those boys.
00:12:26.04\00:12:30.01
>> I'm Carol Phiri and this is
00:12:31.71\00:12:34.48
my husband.
00:12:34.48\00:12:35.82
>> I'm Finias Phiri and we are
00:12:35.82\00:12:38.39
friends of the Simmonds.
00:12:38.39\00:12:40.49
>> When we met the family,
00:12:40.49\00:12:43.53
they were in elementary and
00:12:43.53\00:12:46.49
they were like brothers to our
00:12:46.49\00:12:48.50
daughters, it felt like they
00:12:48.50\00:12:50.00
were our kids as well.
00:12:50.00\00:12:52.10
>> I remember I was driving on
00:12:52.10\00:12:54.07
the 401 exiting onto Yonge
00:12:54.07\00:12:56.71
Street so I was just on the
00:12:56.71\00:12:58.51
ramp and I got a call from
00:12:58.51\00:13:02.71
Dave Lawrence, he's a family
00:13:02.71\00:13:04.61
friend as well, "Did you hear"
00:13:04.61\00:13:06.11
"about the boys?"
00:13:06.11\00:13:08.05
I'm like, "Hear what?" and he
00:13:08.05\00:13:11.32
said, "Zack and Aaron are"
00:13:11.32\00:13:14.62
"in for second degree murder."
00:13:14.62\00:13:16.83
I was gonna laugh, but right
00:13:18.93\00:13:21.83
away he said, "Hey, this is"
00:13:21.83\00:13:23.87
"not a joke."
00:13:23.87\00:13:25.67
That hit me.
00:13:26.23\00:13:27.57
>> Aaron and Zack are in jail
00:13:28.84\00:13:33.14
for second degree murder.
00:13:33.14\00:13:37.31
Those words, you can't put
00:13:37.31\00:13:40.85
those words in a sentence with
00:13:40.85\00:13:42.95
those boys' names.
00:13:42.95\00:13:45.89
It was hard, it was hard.
00:13:45.89\00:13:48.39
I remember just falling
00:13:48.39\00:13:50.39
apart and my kids just crying
00:13:50.39\00:13:55.30
and my husband just went to
00:13:55.30\00:13:59.30
grab them and we just hugged.
00:13:59.30\00:14:02.30
>> The gravity of it all,
00:14:04.31\00:14:06.21
again, was the fact that
00:14:06.21\00:14:07.98
they were still inside.
00:14:07.98\00:14:11.25
They're still inside, by now
00:14:11.25\00:14:13.72
they should have found out the
00:14:13.72\00:14:15.25
truth, I mean, but see, those
00:14:15.25\00:14:17.19
are the wheels of justice,
00:14:17.19\00:14:19.85
they take their time,
00:14:19.85\00:14:21.82
you know, but they were
00:14:21.82\00:14:23.22
still inside.
00:14:23.22\00:14:24.66
Just one night, one day in
00:14:24.66\00:14:27.40
jail, it's like eternity.
00:14:27.40\00:14:31.97
Now two weeks and second
00:14:31.97\00:14:35.30
degree is gonna be something
00:14:35.30\00:14:37.37
like ten years?
00:14:37.37\00:14:39.64
'Cause, when are they gonna
00:14:39.64\00:14:41.18
clear them, when are they
00:14:41.18\00:14:42.48
gonna say, "Oh, sure, we made"
00:14:42.48\00:14:43.68
"a mistake," you know.
00:14:43.68\00:14:45.05
>> Are they warm?
00:14:45.05\00:14:46.58
Are they eating?
00:14:46.58\00:14:48.38
Who's there, who's talking
00:14:49.85\00:14:51.82
to them?
00:14:51.82\00:14:52.92
Can they get phone calls?
00:14:52.92\00:14:54.69
Can somebody, just somebody,
00:14:54.69\00:14:57.19
can somebody be there
00:14:57.19\00:14:58.69
for them?
00:14:58.69\00:15:00.20
>> When you don't even have
00:15:00.20\00:15:01.50
the means to fix anything,
00:15:01.50\00:15:03.03
you're powerless.
00:15:03.03\00:15:04.37
That's what's the hardest.
00:15:04.37\00:15:06.70
Yeah.
00:15:06.70\00:15:08.00
>> Sorry, sorry.
00:15:10.97\00:15:12.31
So sorry, Mike.
00:15:13.88\00:15:15.88
I just-- I always
00:15:25.19\00:15:26.65
I hate crying, dislike it.
00:15:26.65\00:15:29.82
The Bible tells us that there
00:15:32.49\00:15:34.20
will be no more tears,
00:15:34.20\00:15:36.00
no more sorrow.
00:15:36.00\00:15:37.87
I look forward to that.
00:15:37.87\00:15:39.57
[René] How long were you
00:15:41.40\00:15:42.84
there for, in jail?
00:15:42.84\00:15:44.94
>> Three weeks, almost
00:15:44.94\00:15:46.37
four weeks.
00:15:46.37\00:15:47.71
>> But I feel like I kinda
00:15:47.71\00:15:48.91
just blocked a lot of it out
00:15:48.91\00:15:50.35
of my mind.
00:15:50.35\00:15:51.28
Most of the time I just spent
00:15:51.28\00:15:52.55
in my head.
00:15:52.55\00:15:53.68
A lot of reading,
00:15:53.68\00:15:55.02
a lot of push ups.
00:15:55.02\00:15:56.45
>> There's not much to do in
00:15:56.45\00:15:59.92
jail so you tend to do the
00:15:59.92\00:16:02.79
things you know.
00:16:02.79\00:16:04.49
So read the book-- definitely
00:16:04.49\00:16:06.09
read the Bible a lot,
00:16:06.09\00:16:07.56
started working out more
00:16:07.56\00:16:09.40
'cause I know my dad would get
00:16:09.40\00:16:10.93
on me if I wasn't.
00:16:10.93\00:16:12.40
We started playing chess,
00:16:13.80\00:16:15.94
Scrabble, definitely started
00:16:15.94\00:16:17.64
talking to people.
00:16:17.64\00:16:18.97
You know, just trying to make
00:16:18.97\00:16:20.14
the best of a bad situation.
00:16:20.14\00:16:21.51
You just wanna understand.
00:16:21.51\00:16:24.98
You see a lot, you hear a lot.
00:16:24.98\00:16:28.72
It's about finding that
00:16:28.72\00:16:30.05
balance between not being an
00:16:30.05\00:16:31.92
outlier and not getting
00:16:31.92\00:16:34.39
involved with something you
00:16:34.39\00:16:35.76
wouldn't do on the outside
00:16:35.76\00:16:36.93
'cause people definitely
00:16:36.93\00:16:38.29
lose themselves.
00:16:38.29\00:16:39.93
So much goes on, even if
00:16:39.93\00:16:42.00
you're not involved, you're
00:16:42.00\00:16:43.50
either gonna have to defend
00:16:43.50\00:16:45.07
yourself or you're gonna have
00:16:45.07\00:16:46.74
to do something for someone
00:16:46.74\00:16:48.30
else to retain your position.
00:16:48.30\00:16:50.77
It's very political in there.
00:16:50.77\00:16:53.21
There's a lot of people that
00:16:53.21\00:16:54.88
must be appeased.
00:16:54.88\00:16:57.18
You see what you can deal
00:16:57.18\00:17:00.32
with, how much you can handle.
00:17:00.32\00:17:02.35
[Hollace] When you look at
00:17:03.49\00:17:05.05
what's going on in the world
00:17:05.05\00:17:07.19
around you, when we see what's
00:17:07.19\00:17:09.09
happening in the media, it was
00:17:09.09\00:17:11.23
terrifying, it really, really
00:17:11.23\00:17:13.03
was terrifying and at that
00:17:13.03\00:17:15.03
point in time, as bad as
00:17:15.03\00:17:17.03
things seemed, I was just
00:17:17.03\00:17:18.57
really thankful that they were
00:17:18.57\00:17:21.00
alive and they could speak,
00:17:21.00\00:17:22.70
they knew who we were.
00:17:22.70\00:17:24.51
And even though we couldn't
00:17:24.51\00:17:26.24
hug them, we couldn't talk
00:17:26.24\00:17:28.41
about, you know, what was
00:17:28.41\00:17:30.01
going on, they were still
00:17:30.01\00:17:32.05
whole and we were grateful for
00:17:32.05\00:17:34.52
that because it could have
00:17:34.52\00:17:36.15
been so much worse.
00:17:36.15\00:17:38.22
>> I went to the closet and I
00:17:38.22\00:17:39.92
thought-- I said, "Lord,"
00:17:39.92\00:17:41.92
"they need me to be strong."
00:17:41.92\00:17:43.83
And I knelt there and I was
00:17:43.83\00:17:46.56
just in complete tears, just
00:17:46.56\00:17:49.36
bawling, not-- this wasn't
00:17:49.36\00:17:51.07
crying, this was just bawling
00:17:51.07\00:17:53.23
and just asking, "What is"
00:17:53.23\00:17:54.54
"going on?"
00:17:54.54\00:17:56.07
"Give me an answer."
00:17:56.07\00:17:57.74
And as I was there crying,
00:17:58.91\00:18:00.28
crying, crying, I hear this
00:18:00.28\00:18:01.68
voice in my head, said,
00:18:01.68\00:18:03.08
"What are you doing?"
00:18:03.08\00:18:04.95
"You asked Me for an"
00:18:04.95\00:18:06.38
"experience and I'm giving"
00:18:06.38\00:18:07.65
"it to you."
00:18:07.65\00:18:09.12
This is one of the things that
00:18:09.12\00:18:10.29
Hollace and I, we always pray
00:18:10.29\00:18:11.42
for, you know, that God will
00:18:11.42\00:18:13.96
always lead out our kids into
00:18:13.96\00:18:16.89
experiences that will draw
00:18:16.89\00:18:18.56
them to Him.
00:18:18.56\00:18:19.79
That has always been our
00:18:19.79\00:18:21.10
prayer is "Lord, give them"
00:18:21.10\00:18:22.56
"experiences that will draw"
00:18:22.56\00:18:24.03
"them closer to You."
00:18:24.03\00:18:25.40
And so as I heard the voice,
00:18:25.40\00:18:29.54
I got up and I said,
00:18:29.54\00:18:32.01
"What am I doing?"
00:18:32.01\00:18:34.54
And I quickly went to the face
00:18:34.54\00:18:36.38
basin and I washed my face
00:18:36.38\00:18:39.75
and I said, "OK."
00:18:39.75\00:18:41.92
I said, "I understand."
00:18:41.92\00:18:44.65
I said, "OK, I know what"
00:18:44.65\00:18:45.92
"You're doing."
00:18:45.92\00:18:47.16
"I got it."
00:18:47.16\00:18:48.49
And I was able to share with
00:18:50.56\00:18:54.46
Hollace, I said, "I see what"
00:18:54.46\00:18:56.56
"God is doing."
00:18:56.56\00:18:58.43
"We pray for something and"
00:18:58.43\00:19:00.20
"this is what we're getting."
00:19:00.20\00:19:02.54
So I said, you know, "We just"
00:19:02.54\00:19:04.17
"have to be strong through"
00:19:04.17\00:19:05.27
"this, it's gonna be alright."
00:19:05.27\00:19:06.78
"I'm not sure when yet,"
00:19:06.78\00:19:08.71
"but it will be."
00:19:08.71\00:19:09.98
>> When I went to the news
00:19:11.41\00:19:15.92
story of it on the internet,
00:19:15.92\00:19:19.29
they were showing a car and
00:19:19.29\00:19:23.02
right there, then and then I
00:19:23.02\00:19:25.56
saw the mistake 'cause that's
00:19:25.56\00:19:28.80
not Aaron's car.
00:19:28.80\00:19:30.20
Aaron has a smaller car,
00:19:30.20\00:19:31.90
it's a hatchback and that car
00:19:31.90\00:19:33.94
was a bigger car.
00:19:33.94\00:19:35.37
I'm like, there's the mistake.
00:19:35.37\00:19:37.37
I, right away I concluded that
00:19:37.37\00:19:39.71
that's the mistake.
00:19:39.71\00:19:41.28
It's not Aaron's car.
00:19:41.28\00:19:44.21
That's where they
00:19:44.21\00:19:45.31
made the mistake.
00:19:45.31\00:19:47.12
>> We were able to get bail
00:19:47.12\00:19:48.82
for the boys, but they were
00:19:48.82\00:19:51.35
not allowed to be together so
00:19:51.35\00:19:54.56
we had to have Aaron housed in
00:19:54.56\00:19:56.93
a separate home.
00:19:56.93\00:19:59.23
So it was a pretty exhausting
00:19:59.23\00:20:01.86
month, you know, trying to
00:20:01.86\00:20:03.47
make sure that they got time,
00:20:03.47\00:20:05.33
you know, after being
00:20:05.33\00:20:07.54
separated so traumatically,
00:20:07.54\00:20:09.57
time with us.
00:20:09.57\00:20:10.97
Somebody always had to be
00:20:10.97\00:20:12.37
with Zachary.
00:20:12.37\00:20:14.48
In this age of technology
00:20:14.48\00:20:15.68
where, you know, they're
00:20:15.68\00:20:17.05
always on laptops, always on
00:20:17.05\00:20:18.58
phones, they could have none
00:20:18.58\00:20:19.75
of that, you know.
00:20:19.75\00:20:21.35
Everything had to be monitored
00:20:21.35\00:20:23.52
and, you know, it was like
00:20:23.52\00:20:24.89
just peaking over their
00:20:24.89\00:20:26.19
shoulder so it was very tiring
00:20:26.19\00:20:28.22
for us and frustrating for
00:20:28.22\00:20:30.89
Zack, especially.
00:20:30.89\00:20:33.06
>> Yeah, it was...it was.
00:20:33.06\00:20:35.83
But thank God they cope.
00:20:37.20\00:20:38.73
(chuckles)
00:20:38.73\00:20:41.07
Yeah, they got through it.
00:20:41.07\00:20:42.64
>> Lots of prayers.
00:20:42.64\00:20:44.34
>> Once the charges finally
00:20:44.34\00:20:46.94
were dropped and you were
00:20:46.94\00:20:49.94
free, how did you feel?
00:20:49.94\00:20:53.92
>> It's time to get back to
00:20:55.45\00:20:56.92
regular real life.
00:20:56.92\00:20:59.62
Honestly, that's, like that's
00:20:59.62\00:21:02.66
the entire time it was just--
00:21:02.66\00:21:04.39
I wanted to, like, everything
00:21:04.39\00:21:06.39
to be normal.
00:21:06.39\00:21:07.66
>> And just try and bury it.
00:21:07.66\00:21:10.67
>> So move on.
00:21:10.67\00:21:12.17
>> Yeah, try to.
00:21:12.17\00:21:14.40
>> Well, try to move on, yeah.
00:21:14.40\00:21:16.27
Yeah, it still happened,
00:21:16.27\00:21:17.81
still think about it.
00:21:17.81\00:21:19.34
It's just so many, like, so
00:21:19.34\00:21:20.71
much happened that you kinda--
00:21:20.71\00:21:22.14
There's a lot to reflect on
00:21:22.14\00:21:24.68
and try and piece together and
00:21:24.68\00:21:26.18
make understanding of even if
00:21:26.18\00:21:27.68
there is none.
00:21:27.68\00:21:29.12
>> In every situation, we
00:21:29.12\00:21:30.82
really don't know what the
00:21:30.82\00:21:33.15
lesson is from this, but we
00:21:33.15\00:21:36.19
know that in everything that
00:21:36.19\00:21:37.76
you go through there is a
00:21:37.76\00:21:39.43
lesson so one day maybe we'll
00:21:39.43\00:21:41.73
get to find out why my boys,
00:21:41.73\00:21:45.33
yes, my boys, my boys had to
00:21:45.33\00:21:48.37
go through this, but right now
00:21:48.37\00:21:50.34
we don't know.
00:21:50.34\00:21:51.71
All we know is there are
00:21:51.71\00:21:54.34
moments when God just has to
00:21:54.34\00:21:57.15
show himself to you and when
00:21:57.15\00:22:01.08
He does it, you cannot doubt
00:22:01.08\00:22:02.92
it, you can never say, "Oh,"
00:22:02.92\00:22:04.69
"yeah, I had a good lawyer."
00:22:04.69\00:22:06.45
Yes, they did a good job, I'm
00:22:06.45\00:22:07.49
not going to take that away
00:22:07.49\00:22:09.19
from them, but there's higher
00:22:09.19\00:22:11.66
power in everything that we
00:22:11.66\00:22:13.66
go through.
00:22:13.66\00:22:15.13
God just did show His face.
00:22:15.13\00:22:18.30
>> You know one of the things
00:22:18.30\00:22:19.90
that we did when we met with
00:22:19.90\00:22:23.10
the lawyers and though we
00:22:23.10\00:22:26.07
heard good things about the
00:22:26.07\00:22:27.61
lawyers and that they were
00:22:27.61\00:22:28.84
good lawyers...
00:22:28.84\00:22:30.25
>> Excellent things.
00:22:30.25\00:22:31.65
>> When we met with them,
00:22:31.65\00:22:33.28
I asked them if we could pray
00:22:33.28\00:22:37.05
and we prayed that God will,
00:22:37.05\00:22:40.26
you know, guide them through
00:22:40.26\00:22:41.99
all of this.
00:22:41.99\00:22:43.43
The way in which things turned
00:22:43.43\00:22:45.09
out, I think they were even
00:22:45.09\00:22:46.66
puzzled themselves how it
00:22:46.66\00:22:48.66
actually all turned out.
00:22:48.66\00:22:50.83
But, you know, we realize and
00:22:50.83\00:22:53.70
we understand that it was more
00:22:53.70\00:22:55.94
than just good lawyers, it was
00:22:55.94\00:22:57.94
just the power of God working
00:22:57.94\00:23:00.11
and it was just the most
00:23:00.11\00:23:01.41
amazing thing
00:23:01.41\00:23:02.94
to see how God works.
00:23:04.48\00:23:06.75
>> I just remember them
00:23:06.75\00:23:08.45
walking through the doors,
00:23:08.45\00:23:10.52
Aaron with his big, goofy
00:23:10.52\00:23:12.75
smile and Zack just being
00:23:12.75\00:23:15.69
Zack, you know, Mr. Cool,
00:23:15.69\00:23:18.36
you know, "this didn't do"
00:23:18.36\00:23:20.06
"anything to me" kind of look,
00:23:20.06\00:23:22.40
But knowing, you know, he's a
00:23:22.40\00:23:24.53
child, a lot went through--
00:23:24.53\00:23:26.53
It was-- you know, you just
00:23:26.53\00:23:29.30
say, you know, "God, You are"
00:23:29.30\00:23:31.31
"just amazing."
00:23:31.31\00:23:33.14
"The way You work"
00:23:33.14\00:23:34.51
"is just amazing."
00:23:34.51\00:23:36.04
Seeing them walk through those
00:23:36.04\00:23:38.68
doors was just...
00:23:38.68\00:23:41.72
it was just everything.
00:23:41.72\00:23:43.69
>> It was a really tough time
00:23:45.22\00:23:46.99
that we were going through,
00:23:46.99\00:23:48.76
but through it all, you know,
00:23:48.76\00:23:50.23
I know that God
00:23:50.23\00:23:51.93
was able.
00:23:51.93\00:23:53.46
I knew He was able to
00:23:54.30\00:23:55.66
do something,
00:23:55.66\00:23:56.83
to change something.
00:23:56.83\00:23:59.10
He's always been able before,
00:23:59.10\00:24:01.00
why not now?
00:24:01.00\00:24:02.74
¤God is able
00:24:05.34\00:24:16.52
¤God is able and
00:24:16.52\00:24:21.32
¤He won't fail
00:24:21.32\00:24:28.50
¤God is able
00:24:28.50\00:24:40.01
¤God is able and
00:24:40.01\00:24:45.48
¤He won't fail
00:24:45.48\00:24:54.56
¤Tell me who can make
00:24:54.56\00:24:56.19
¤a mountain
00:24:56.19\00:24:58.19
¤move out of my way
00:24:58.19\00:25:03.00
¤And who can make a miracle
00:25:03.00\00:25:06.40
¤because of my faith
00:25:06.40\00:25:12.07
¤So when the doctor says no
00:25:12.07\00:25:14.94
¤Who can still say yes
00:25:14.94\00:25:18.41
¤And when I'm in trouble
00:25:18.41\00:25:21.78
¤who's right there to help me
00:25:21.78\00:25:23.79
¤pass every test
00:25:23.79\00:25:27.39
¤God is able
00:25:27.39\00:25:37.27
¤God is able and
00:25:37.27\00:25:42.54
¤He won't fail
00:25:42.54\00:25:46.98
¤Tell me who can make a river
00:25:46.98\00:25:50.38
¤out of a little stream
00:25:50.38\00:25:54.25
¤And who can tell the
00:25:54.25\00:25:55.85
¤clouds to roll back
00:25:55.85\00:25:57.95
¤so that the sun
00:25:57.95\00:25:59.25
¤can look at me
00:25:59.25\00:26:03.46
¤And who can tell the wind
00:26:03.46\00:26:06.56
¤to whistle through the trees
00:26:06.56\00:26:09.63
¤And when I'm in trouble
00:26:09.63\00:26:12.40
¤who's that same God
00:26:12.40\00:26:14.14
¤that will come down
00:26:14.14\00:26:16.30
¤and rescue me
00:26:16.30\00:26:18.77
¤God is able
00:26:18.77\00:26:28.52
¤God is able and
00:26:28.52\00:26:32.79
¤He won't, He won't fail
00:26:32.79\00:26:36.12
¤No, He won't fail
00:26:36.12\00:26:44.30
¤He won't fail
00:26:44.30\00:26:49.44
¤Oh, no no no
00:26:49.44\00:26:51.37
¤Don't you dare give up
00:26:51.37\00:26:53.01
¤Don't you dare give in
00:26:53.01\00:26:54.48
¤God won't fail
00:26:54.48\00:27:01.52
¤God is able
00:27:01.52\00:27:07.79
¤God is able and
00:27:07.79\00:27:12.16
¤He won't
00:27:12.16\00:27:16.53
¤No, God won't
00:27:16.53\00:27:25.04
¤He won't fail
00:27:25.04\00:27:31.81
¤God won't
00:27:33.75\00:27:37.09
¤He'll never leave
00:27:39.49\00:27:42.16
¤He'll never forsake you
00:27:42.16\00:27:47.03
¤No, He won't fail
00:27:47.03\00:27:52.47
¤He'll be there
00:27:52.47\00:27:55.94
¤'til the end
00:27:55.94\00:27:59.41
¤God won't
00:27:59.41\00:28:03.31
¤He won't fail
00:28:03.31\00:28:13.29
¤¤
00:28:17.56\00:28:40.18