MINNEAPOLIS — In the absence of cameras in the courtroom, live Tweets — when allowed by the judge — give observers a play-by-play window into high-profile trials.
It is a style of coverage KARE 11's Lou Raguse has become known for during high-profile cases.
In Tony Lazzaro's sex trafficking trial, details included the Ferrari-driving GOP political operative recruiting, transporting and paying a 15-year-old and four 16-year-olds for sex at his luxury condo at the Hotel Ivy.
When Lazzaro himself took the witness stand last week at the end of the case, a former friend in Texas, Charles Bittman, started following along with the live Tweets with particular interest.
"I wanted to hear what he had to say in his own defense," Bittman said.
Up to that point, the victims and Lazzaro's co-defendant, Gisela Castro Medina, had all given compelling, credible testimony.
But certain elements of the allegations came down to Lazzaro's word against theirs. Then one of Raguse's tweets about an off-handed remark Lazzaro made caught Bittman's attention:
"Lazzaro mentioning with distaste some girls coming over wearing lingerie, adding: 'For the record, I don’t even like lingerie. You can even ask my girlfriend that,'" the Tweet said.
"It just sparked a memory of, 'You sent me pictures before. God, tell me this isn't of these girls," Bittman said.
Bittman remembered Lazzaro sending him photos and videos of girls in lingerie. Bittman said he didn't know they were minors. And didn't know they were the victims from the trial he was following.
It was revealed during the case that Lazzaro also had a porn business, using women who were 18-plus, and Lazzaro was an actor in his own pornography.
"Because he was such a narcissist, he would send over tons of videos with these girls that he was doing scenes with," Bittman said.
That afternoon with Lazzaro on the witness stand, Bittman contacted the FBI. That evening, he heard back from the prosecution team. They sent over FBI agents from Austin, Texas, to scan his phone and fly the evidence back to Minnesota.
The next day — just like in the movies — prosecutors unveiled the surprise new evidence in court.
"I've only been doing this since 1985. I've never seen [new compelling evidence delivered mid-trial] before," U.S. Attorney Andy Luger said.
And Assistant U.S. Attorney Melinda Williams revamped her cross-examination strategy around the new evidence. She showed that Lazzaro lied about the existence of the lingerie photo, claiming he had taken a selfie.
Lazzaro also claimed under oath he never asked Castro Medina to be his recruiter. "That term was never used," he testified.
But then Williams confronted Lazzaro with this text message exchange with Bittman: "See why I use Gisela/recruiters?"
And Lazzaro especially started floundering on the witness stand when Williams showed these messages to Bittman, on the anniversary of the death of Jeffrey Epstein, the world's most infamous sex trafficker: "Poor Jeff. RIP my brother."
"He definitely admired Jeffrey Epstein," Bittman said. "There were conversations we had over the phone about Jeffrey Epstein and how he thought the guy got a raw end of the deal."
Lazzaro claimed the blurry photo accompanying the messages might have been his grandfather before finally admitting it was Epstein.
The prosecutors felt they had enough evidence to convict before the new batch, but they happily accepted more.
It was an incredible turn of courtroom drama, sparked by the Tweet concerning Lazzaro's comment about lingerie.
"If Tony never makes that off-handed comment about lingerie and you don't post it, none of this happens," Bittman said.
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