>> i learned that he was arrested. i was shocked. i was just so confused. i didn't think it was real. i didn't think it was possible. >> in the rarefied world of the ivy league, they was total package -- star student, gifted athlete, wildly popular. >> he was one of the nicest guys. >> no one could understand how a weekend visit to his parents' house -- >> did you say you heard a shot. -- >> ended in gunfire. >> charlie told the officers

mom, hear mom, i had to do it. >> yes. a brave son protecting his mom, a harrowing story, but was it true. >> he's seat bed hind a desk? >> defenseless really. >> this seems to be an execution. >> was this campus hero actually a cold-hearted killer. >> the defendant sends an e-mail to his fraternity brothers calledcall called "show time." >> or was the truth completely different? >> one of the things that was always a question was was charlie covering a trial where nothing went by the book. >> three of the jurors were crying really hard. >> they were turning around in their seats getting emotional. they see what's coming. >> he was becoming unhinged. >> i'm lester holt and this is "dateline." here's dennis murphy with "house

new york, and where you'll find one of the most prestigious universities in the nation, cornell the ivy league big red. ? hail, oh, hail cornell. >> more than 13,000 graduates will take their places in the law, the arts, medicine. only the best need apply. students like charlie tan. he was so kind, his high school classmate featured him in a video random acts of kindness giving gifts to complete strangers. >> not just a great kid but the greatest of great kids. >> charlie was the son of chinese immigrants who became mr. everything in his high school year. scholar athlete, class president, the guy with the cool

to charlie and her own teenaged pals. >> he was happy and energetic. >> the kind of guy that comes in the room and tells joke s? ever >> everybody knows him. the room lights up he starts telling a funny story. >> so you'd think charlie tan was another ivy league overachiever poised for takeoff and great things to come. but that's not this story. this is about the charlie tan, keeper of secrets and quite possibly something >> he was so excited. he was super happy. >> so in thefall of 2013, charlie tan left his parents home near rochester, new york, and drove the few hours to cornell. his exciting new chapter in a life already filled with early achievements. he pledged a frat, he wasn't big

call the sprint football team. >> i met charlie the first day freshman year actually. i had just gotten my locker and charlie was one of the first people i met. >> quarterback rob pinolo. >> one of the most encouraging team players we have. leader of the team by example and his words. t they he was selfless >> charlie impressed his teammates and his coach. thor are i cullen coaches the lighter wait players. >> always a smile never late, hard worker, good kid, solid. >> go back to thes now the rochester suburbs where charlie grew up in his teenaged years. it's called pittsford new york and this newspaper man knows it well. >> a very nice community. >> big lawns, nice cars in the garage. >> big house, lots of executives

lawyers. >> charlie's parents lived in canada before moving charlie and his brother to upstate new york. his dad ran a tech business that thrived. the home just radiated upper middle-class comfort. his friends anna had been there on occasion. >> i went over to his house. i didn't know his parents very well. i talked to his mom a couple times but i didn't have much conversation with them when we were parents and charlie didn't offer details if someone asked. if he had secrets, sorrows, they weren't for the outside world to know about. >> he's very good about keeping his emotions in. >> i didn't know what the home situation was like. i didn't know then and i don't know now. >> other than a few 911 dispatchers and a few town officers, the wider community, the friends of charlie tan, certainly, knew nothing about the whispers of domestic

lane. >> he's a very stoic individual. it's a tough part of his life. >> the record is still sealed but it's safe to say the tan house was known to authorities. go back to cornell. it's the winter of 2015 and charlie is now a sophomore. on a chilly thursday morning, he stopped in unexpectedly to visit his football coach. there is a softer side to this coach than drills an xs and os and his kids know he'll always be there for them. >> our rule is if you have a problem come on in and close t we're here. >> now it was charlie who needed a shoulder or something. >> i said "how are you doing?" he said "good but i can't make weightlifting on friday." i said "what's the problem?" he said "i've got to go home." >> charlie seemed emotional. clearly something was eating at the student. >> i asked him if there was anything he wanted to talk about and he declined. he just said he had to get home. >> it wasn't spring break, classes were in session, but charlie got in his car and

coach didn't know that charlie tan's life as a student at cornell would soon be over. >> we didn't worry about charlie, charlie's very squared away. got his act together. knows what he's doing. >> only charlie tan wasn't at all okay. it snowed that night. a muffling blanket, covering the home where something awful was about to happen. why did charlie need to rush home? when we come back, the first who called 911. >> he didn't give us a lot of details. i'm just worried that he might do something at his house. >> and then charlie's mom makes a 911 call of her own. >> did you say you heard a shot. >> yes. >> does somebody in the house have a gun? our bacteria family's been on this cushion for generations. alright kiddos! everybody off the backpack, we made it to the ottoman.

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when charlie tan left cornell and made the 100-mile trip on a winter morning,is football coach knew he'd been upset. >> i asked him to call me when he got home just so i knew he was okay. >> and that very evening back in pitts ford, new york, charlie spent time at an old friend's house where he seemed to his pal deeply despondent, sad, possibly depressed. not the charlie he'd known since childhood. after charlie left, the friend and his mother were so concerned they called 911. was charlie suicidal? >> he didn't give us a lot of details. i'm just worried that he might

to happen but i -- i just can't take a chance. >> all right, well i'm going to have them go to that house and check on him. >> and a deputy did just that. detective steve peglo of the monroe county sheriff's office. >> charlie told the deputy he was upset and he came home to talk to people and he was just working out some things and he would be okay. >> it was now late thursday night, almost the weekend. charlie didn't go back to school friday morning and come monday he wasn't at practice. >> there wasn't much i could do other than text him and he didn't respond. >> and then it was monday night, something awful. >> 911, what is the address of the emergency. >> yes. hi. >> the call sore distraught confused the dispatcher. >> my name is jean tan. i just -- i heard an argument and my -- my son was talked to

does anyone need an ambulance? >> it was jean tan, charlie's mother. >> did you say you heard a shot? >> yes. >> does somebody in the house have a gun? >> now the garbled story was coming into focus. shots fired, the husband, the man of the house was dead. >> my husband is dead. >> who's already dead? >> my husband. >> your who? >> my husband. >> are you in a safe spot? >> yes, i am. >> we need you to wait outside of the house officer's safety. >> detective peglo was soon on route to coachside lane. he still had only a garbled account from the 911 call. who had shot whom. >> he was trying to protect me. >> your son was trying to protect you? >> yes. >> it looked like it was what we call domestic murder. it was -- had something that just occurred. >> on arrival, the first deputies on the scene saw a young man who would turn out to

standing in the driveway with his mother. they're outside the house? >> outside the house. it's a safety thing for the deputies. no reason to go in. let the people go out. they asked who else was in the house. >> in the next moments the deputies heard the son tell a story that sounded like self-defense. he had to shoot, he said, to save his mother. he used a shotgun. >> charlie said "my dad's in there, he's dead, i had to do it. he was going to hurt my mom." >> the father is shot because the boy feels his mother's in jeopardy. >> yes. >> it was getting late. the deputies put the son and his mother in a patrol car. >> they asked where the shotgun was. >> after securing the weapon, the detectives made their way into the house. they found their victim. >> the father is behind the desk, spent shotgun shells are in the doorway area. >> the detective would learn more about jim tan, father,

they had lived in canada and moved to the united states some years earlier. >> successful executive? >> by all accounts, yes. >> but was the successful businessman an abuse i husband? detective peglow looked around the household. they came upon an appointment card for jean tan to appear at domestic violence court so the working theory, justifiable homicide, made some sense. but detective rookie. his investigation into charlie tan and what happened inside that home was just getting started. >> one of the investigators found what appeared to be newly taken passport photos along with a list of prominent local defense attorneys. >> that's interesting. >> yes, sir. >> his story is "i had to do it" but you're not taking that at face value? >> correct. coming up, a discovery on

death. >> how many days prior is the last e-mail check?

deputies canvassed the neighborhood but no one heard the shotgun blast that killed jim tan. but this wasn't a who don e it. the son admitted he did it to protect his mom. >> receiving defense is what we'll listen to. if that's what happened, the law determine that. >> that same night, charlie and his mother were taken down to the station to tell their stories. >> were you able to get a statement from the son charlie? >> his lawyer would not allow us to speak to him. >> his lawyer was on scene? >> his lawyer was on scene a few minutes after me. >> without the cooperation of the admitted participants, the mother and the son, the detectives were on their own. it turns out a very large piece of evidence was waiting to be found right there in their very office, a federal court the house on coachside lane.

>> just two weeks before the shooting, police records show the wife placed another 911 call. >> yes, hi, my name is jean tan and my husband just beat me up, i need your protection. >> are you injured. >> yes, i'm -- he choked me and i'm so scared. please. >> do you want an ambulance? >> oh, he's coming. no. please come. please come. >> the dispatcher heard what sounded like an ongoing fight between husband and sorry, yes. >> no, no! >> yes, sorry about that. it's all right. my wife is probably upset at me. >> help me! help me! you choked me. >> don't be childish, it's all right. >> a deputy was sent to the house and noticed jean tan, the wife, was clearly rattled. reporter john hand of rochester's "democrat and chronicle" newspaper.

upset, she had some red marks on her neck but that there wasn't enough there to charge jim tan with a crime. >> so incident over? >> that night. >> he tried to kill me but nothing results in terms of charges or into the paperwork. >> correct? >> so a history of abuse, it appeared. if that were the case, charlie told no one in his circle at cornell university. up on campus, coach cullen hadn't heard from charlie in days and now his phone rang. >> campus and asked me to come to his fraternity house, which i did. they wanted me to know that charlie's father had been killed. it was rugged. we've got a bunch of players in the fraternity and everybody was obviously very upset. charlie admitting he'd shot his father to death. >> i think it was probably disbelief more than -- and shock that this occurred.

it but immediately after, there was so much support for him and everyone was amazed by the support. >> from the get-go, there was no debate. the entire frat and team had charlie's back. >> not just the football team but everybody on cornell's campus that he knew well was showing support for him. everyone was always trying to help him and ask if there's anything we could do for him. >> to his friends at home there was shock, of course, there, too. and, yet, the heartbreaking his mom by any means necessary made some kind of weird sense. he was, after all, the kid who was always trying hard to help. people talk about him being selfless. >> yeah. >> lives to help other people? >> he would do anything for people. >> close friend anna had a hard time wrapping her head around charlie doing anything violent. the charlie she knew was a thoughtful k things no ordinary teenager did. >> my mom went through cancer

stuff so he was always there supporting anybody. >> so anna, too, would be there supporting charlie through this difficult time. a friend to the end. neither she nor anyone else could have guessed where the investigation was heading next. that the detective who'd examined the scene that night was wondering if there was more to the story. it was all obvious right away that something was off with the working theory of the crime. a heat of passion homicide. we >> we were there for hours searching every bit. one of the things noticed by one of the investigators is just, you know, the dried blood that was all over. >> dried blood, the timeline, and the whole story, in fact, demanded a closer look. >> it's certainly one of the things that starts to get your attention that, okay, hang on, there might be more, let's make sure we're on the right path here. >> and there were other observations that set their timeline back. on jim tan's desk computer where he'd apparently been working

before the weekend. >> jim is trading some e-mails with an employee and then at some point after that he clearly stops using his computer. he is no longer sending and he's no longer opening. >> and as detectives poked around that office monday night -- how many days prior is the last e-mail check? >> four. >> four days? >> that was really a big thing for me. this was a guy that ran his own company with employees and with activity. >> going back four days, that thursday night charlie came home from cornell. and a four-day-old crime scene would also explain what had been plainly obvious to the seasoned detectives' nose. >> the odor of decomposition was very strong. >> the detective now believed that emotional 911 call was bogus. a charade. >> did you say you heard a shot. >> yes. >> his mother was in peril and he had to shoot the husband but

>> correct. that first inference from the 911 call and from what charlie said in the driveway-to-the deputies seemed to be in confrontation with what we were starting to see inside. >> down at the sheriff's office, jean tan, the mother, was released from custody. but not charlie. the 19-year-old ivy leaguer was charged with second degree murder. what did you think, anna? >> i was shocked. i was just so confused about -- i didn't think it was real. i didn't think the great kid if convicted was facing 25 years to life in prison. coming up, store video shows the gun that killed charlie's father being purchased. but it's not charlie buying it. >> new name all together here? >> correct. >> and then the strange thing charlie did just before his mom placed the 911 call. >> the defendant sends an e-mail to his fraternity brothers

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anna valentine was in a state of disbelief when she learned her close friend charlie tan had been arrested. did you have a chance to talk to charlie himself? >> he called me on the phone from jail so i talked to him a couple times. >> anna didn't sit around. she was going to do whatever she could to defend her because she knew there was no way charlie did anything wrong. you did something remarkable, anna. you sort of pulled together a whole community behind charlie. >> yeah. >> anna started a defense fund support page for charlie. >> it spread crazy. i had no clue what would happen. >> so you just spread it out there on the net. >> i put it on the page and told my friends i did it. people i hadn't heard of were supporting him. everyone was doing. >> it how much money did you

>> why did people come out of the woodwork to support charlie. >> he had just been one of the nicest guys ever and i think everybody knew that and wanted to do whatever they could to give back to him. charlie would give back to other people. if somebody needed anything he would give it to them. >> reporter john hand was working non-stop wion one of th most talked-about stories the county had seen in years. so now it's an investigation, great ivy league kid blows away his father in this neighborhood. what's going on? >> we were astonished. it's not very often you have a murder suspect who a bunch of people from pittsford are rallying around. >> the case captured the hearts and minds of a community that couldn't imagine this exceptional young man in prison. and these are lawyers and surgeons and political king -- i mean, these are big powerful people in new york state who are behind this kid. >> oh, yeah. >> we wish that didn't happen but the kid deserves a break? is there some of that feeling around?

the community felt that very strongly. >> the sworn representative of the people with the murder case to prove founders in an odd spot. >> the biggest problem was the defendant himself because he did appear to be an upstanding nice young man. >> monroe county district attorney sandra doorley. >> from the very beginning people were disappointed that, you know, an indictment was filed against charlie tan and people who violate the laws of our state. >> the assistant d.a. prosecuted the case in court. he told the jury that, yes, charlie tan was a high achiever, a bright young man who always went the extra mile for his friends. >> and perhaps he wanted to succeed as charlie tan and solve all the problems that were occurring on coachside lane. >> helping his mother? >> helping his mother. >> by killing his father. that was the solution. >> that was our theory, yes.

scene. his fingerprints are on the ammo. his mother, again, a mother saying "my son did it." and charlie saying he had to do it. >> but did he have to do it? that was the key question. and the prosecution said no. this was no justifiable homicide. this was an execution. in fact, theea deputies traced the gun and discovered it had just been watt from a walmart near cornell. >> so we sent investigators down there and as they began to look into that they found the gun had been purchased by a young man named whitney knickerbocker. >> newly purchased? >> newly purchased. >> a new name all together. >> correct. >> the transaction had been

left cornell. the salesman remembered the purchase and even better they had the surveillance video of charlie's friend and fraternity brother buying the shotgun. video which was shown to the jury. whitney knickerbocker was never accused of having everything to do with the killing. charlie apparently convinced him to help buy a gun. >> friends say whitney was told by charlie that he was going to go on a hunting trip to so he asked whitney to help him. >> of course, the prosecution says there was no hunting trip. charlie was before he got the friend to buy the weapon, surveillance footage showed how intent he was on getting one. hours earlier, there was charlie. >> charlie tan is on video going to the walmart attempting to purchase the shotgun. he is unable to. >> why is he turned down? >> he's a canadian citizen. >> which meant there would be a waiting period. time the prosecutor says charlie tan didn't so he gets a friend to come in and make the purchase. >> that was our theory, yes. >> it's hard to put together a

in jeopardy, if you purchased the weapon in advance. >> correct. >> and the prosecutor told the jury there was no evidence of a fight. >> if you look at the exact moment of the killing, jim tan is just sitting at his desk. >> doing business. answ answ answering e-mails. >> answering e-mails working to provide a live aing and a prett good living for his family. >> in fact, the medical testified that as jim tan sat behind his desk in his home office he was shot three times about the left and face. the last shot the coup de grace. >> medical examiners believe jim tan was alive when that was inflicted right to his face. >> the prosecutor believes that was thursday night, the same night one of charlie's friends sent a deputy to the tan home to check on charlie's welfare. it's possible that when the boy answered the door and said he was fine his dad was already dead inside. but no one from the tan home

rather, says the prosecutor, charlie and his mom grabbed their passports and fled the country. >> jean tan and charlie tan left the country, went to canada and came back on that monday before the 911 call was placed. >> so why come back and tell a lie? the prosecution didn't know. a guess, perhaps someone had to run jim tan's business. and this last tidbit, creepy, implied the state. before that four day's light 911 call was placed, the time to send a warning e-mail to his pledge buddies. they would soon hear things in the news. >> the defendant sends an e-mail to his fraternity brothers called "showtime." >> you're going to be hearing from law enforcement? >> yes, yes. you will be surprised, showtime. >> no jurors, don't buy self-defense, said the prosecutor in summation. this was no crime of passion, it was a planned murder. so this is an assassination. >> yes.

away. >> exactly. t . >> the prosecution rested. the defense team was up next and they were about to lay out a head spinning theory of the crime from seemingly another universe. no one saw it coming. coming up, the defense drops a bombshell. >> one of the things that was always in question of ours was was charlie covering up for someone else? >> and then the prosecution's stunning reaction. >> he picked up the shotgun, he moved quickly across the >> when "dateline" continues. polo! marco...! s?? polo! marco...! polo! scusa? ma io sono marco polo, ma... marco...! playing "marco polo" with marco polo? surprising. ragazzini, io sono marco polo. s?, sono qui... what's not surprising? how much money amanda and keith saved by switching to geico. ahhh... polo. marco...! polo! fifteen minutes could save you fifteen percent or more.

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it was an upside down world in this courthouse where you'd routinely expect lots of supporters for the victim, there were none. >> there was no one mourning the victim. the victim's assistance from the district attorney's office, i sat with her the whole trial because she had nothing to do. >> apparently some peoplenk deserved, got what was coming to him. >> oh, yeah. people that normally wouldn't advocate homicide who say if he did it then he did it and that his father deserved it. >> but the accused? his girlfriend and friends crowded outside the courtroom every morning, surrounding him protectively as he walked into court. he had all but a cheering section with pom-poms. >> i think it meant everything. i think having all the support made him feel so much better, so much stronger. i think he knew we were all

>> his friend anna was on the witness list so she wasn't allowed to sit inside the courtroom until the very end. >> i went as much as i could between classes for the rest of. >> it how did he seem to you? how was he putting up with it? >> some days were harder than others, some days he seemed good. >> charlie would sit in court while his defense would build a case with evidence that seemed to support domestic violence. played that tape of jean tan calling the cops two weeks before the shooting. >> hi, name is jean tan and my your protection. >> are you injured? >> yes, i'm -- he choked me and i'm so scared. >> defense attorney james nobles thought the 911 recording spoke volumes about that household. >> it was almost as if we were put in the hell that charlie lived in for a brief moment and the hell that jean lived in for a brief moment. >> and they kept piling on. jim tan, continued the defense, wasn't just a bully at home.

in the workplace. >> every other person who worked with jim tan said he was miserable, says he behaved like a child, said he would bully people, said he was nasty at work. >> so a son defending his abused mother was a defense no-brainer strategy that seemed to require little assembly. the other defense lawyer, brian dekarlis. >> i think most people that looked at this case said the only defense is self-defense or some hybrid of a synd syndrome. >> but that wasn't what the defense team planned. >> our strategy was to keep our strategic defense in our back pocket hitten from the prosecution as long as we possibly could. >> so what was the secret defense? they were going to agree with the prosecution on one point --

report her husband dead, it was days old. >> that call is 100% fake, no question about it. >> not only was the mom lying to 911 about when the murder occurred. no, argued the defense, she was lying about something much bigger. who the true killer was. the defense attorney saved his surprise for closing arguments. >> it was an unusual moment because certainly i knew there were many friends and supporters of jean tan in the courtroom and i was going to basically suggest to these jurors that she had the true killer. the defense said the shotgun was in her hand. she pulled the trigger, she solved her own problem, not her son. that was the story the defense saved for the 11th hour. >> not an easy thing to do in a packed courtroom. >> according to the defense, it was jean tan who had the motive, the motive to get rid of her bully husband, get the house, the business, the money. >> frankly, it put motive in

charlie. >> and whatever little evidence there was was incon cluesive. >> there was a fingerprint on the shell casing. charlie could have loaded the gun but not pull the trigger. >> as the defense saw it, the mom did it theory explained the odd e-mail charlie sent his frat brothers before the 911 call, the e-mail called "showtime." the e-mailmp come might not bt the real one. it went on to say this. >> the real truth will come out one day and you'll know what really happened. one of the thing that was always a question and a concern of ours was was charlie covering up for someone else? >> in acourt, assistant prosecutor bill gargan appeared caught off guard and stressed when he rose to make his closing argument. >> he addressed charlie directly. he said something to the effect of "charlie, your lawyer is calling your mother a killer."

jury closely with it. he was trying to make a point, a very passionate point. >> brandishing the murder weapon as a prop didn't sit well with judge piampiano who hold the prosecutor to calm down. >> frankly, we knew at that point we had done exactly what we had wanted to do, we had totally taken him by surprise. >> after a week of testimony the case went to the jury. in the hallway, tv cameras dogged charlie's every move. he'd been on bond the entire time but his f coming to an abrupt end. >> his knows his life is hanging in the balance. that's a tough thing for anybody to go through. >> but he had the unwavering support of team charlie. they all waited with charlie as the deliberations began, then spilled over into a second day. and then another. >> everyday we'd show up to court being like, oh, is it going to happen today? everyone was super nervous like on the edge of their seats the

was. because if it goes in an adverse way for you and charlie you wouldn't see him for a long, long time. >> it was hard to imagine that. >> jennifer mcguff was a juror, she walked us through what they talked about. >> i'm not sure anybody felt sorry for jim tan, but the way he died was still a crime. >> both the prosecution and defense agreed charlie's fingerprints were on the ammo. >> did he pull the trigger or load the gun and give it to his mom and say "here you contention. >> she was ready to vote guilty, but the panel of 12 was far from unanimous. more days passed. >> eight people guilty, four people not guilty. >> a stalemate, an impasse seemed to be at hand. but still they talked. >> three of the jurors were crying. really hard. because they didn't want to think that he was guilty but they couldn't ignore it at that point. >> the local media asked

>> i don't have experience with a jury out this long nor do my peers. >> on day eight, after 50 hours of deliberations, the jurors told the judge they were hopelessly deadlocked. the judge declared a mistrial. that didn't mean it was over for charlie by any stretch. >> no, it just meant there was a long road ahead. >> charlie, a few words about how you're feeling right now? >> a long road with another trial, another set of court dates, another jury to go through the same set of facts -- unless that wasn't what was going to happen at all. coming up, an entire courtroom gets the shock of a lifetime. >> they're actually turning around in their seats, they're getting emotional. they see what's coming. >> as charlie tan awaits his fate, the proceedings threaten to spin out of control. >> he was becoming unhinged.

the judge in the tan murder case declares a mistrial. >> even though the case was over for now, the charlie tan mistrial was big news in rochester.

charge against charles tan. >> everyone was talking to the media -- including judge piampiano who was running for state supreme court, and spoke to our affiliate whec tv. would you preside as judge again? >> i believe i would because the case had been assigned to me. that's the normal protocol. >> the lawyers on both sides shared thoughts about doing it all over again. >> it's a murder charge. it's not a petty larceny charge with a hung jury where you walk away from it. rerecognize the d.a.'s office isn't going to walk homicide. >> from your perspective, how will it look differently? >> better. for me. that's how it will look differently. >> unfortunately for charlie's attorneys, they'd already played their surprise defense -- mom really did it. there would be no shock value in a second trial. >> frankly, we've got to face this like it's a brand new case starting today. hung juries are a situation where you have to reinvent the wheel. >> last november, just weeks after the trial ended, both sides were back in the same court before the same judge,

days earlier had won that state supreme court seat. it was a routine hearing to talk retrial logistics you were setting a calendar date? >> we figured maybe a january date. >> reporter john hand was there, too. >> there was a number of charlie's friends there, myself and roughly four or five other reporters who covered the trial, the gang's all here. and the judge said we have to address the motion for dismissal by the defense. >> that's a common motion made by most defense attorneys when they asked ask a judge to throw out a case due to a lack of evidence. >> you always do it. it's frankly malpractice not to. >> everyone thought this would be an order of business quickly dispatched and the judge would move on to setting a new trial date. >> then he starts talking about the lack of evidence regarding the possession of the gun and charlie ever having the gun, lack of evidence that the

like he shot it. i looked at another reporter and i said "what's going on here?" >> charlie's lawyers had a glimmer about where this was going. >> i leaned into charlie's ear and i told him "something good is about to happen." >> the assembled press couldn't believe where the judge was heading. you've been in courts for years, john, how unusual is this? >> yeah. i look over and the friends of charlies are looking at each other, they're turning around in their seats, getting emotional. everybody is sensing this. you' you're going "he's about to dismiss this case, the biggest case we've had in years and years and years. a case jurors deliberated on for 50 hours, a second degree murder case. >> assistant prosecutor bill gargan saw the train wreck ahead and wasn't at all pleased. he grabbed the mike. >> "can i speak?" the judge very quickly said "no, you may not." bill gargan continued to speak. the judge said "i'll put you in handcuffs." >> the judge to the district attorney?

>> and a court deputy walks up behind bill gargan, the prosecutor, not the defendant. >> he was interrupting, he was becoming unhinged. >> i felt bill felt it incumbent to be heard. >> which would be fine except that you have to let the judge finish what he's saying. >> after the dramatics with the prosecutor the judge did finish his thought. he threw out the entire case against charlie tan. a judicial ruling that meant the case couldn't be reprosecuted or retried. >> it was aig tan. he was ecstatic. >> outside the courtroom, the media was waiting for charlie, the former defendant who hadn't yet spoken to reporters. >> now you'll talk to us right. >> back up, back up, please, please. >> and before we got a chance to talk to him his defense lawyerished him down a hallway. >> what did you think? did you take it all in? i'm not sure how he did. >> i'm not sure i took in the at first. >> that this is over? >> it was super exciting.

>> not quite everyone. assistant d.a. bill gargan was fuming. >> were you willing to get arrested over this? >> absolutely. i was more than willing to have handcuffs placed on me to argue my point because i didn't cross any lines. >> so charlie tan is free. >> that's it. there's no appeal from this trial order of dismissal because there had not been a verdict by the jury. >> the event didn't happen. >> correct. >> but months later, the d.a.'s a higher court to reverse the judge's decision. they admit it's a legal long shot. so in "the people v. charlie tan" you had to cynically wonder whether the son's vocal supporters carried the day from outside the courtroom. you're talking about the division in the community. i guess some of them think the golden ivy league boy was able to kill his father and get away with it. >> there is's a question of what does affluence buy you in a courtroom. >> strange story, the whole thing. >> yeah. >> charlie's mother, according

there's never been any evidence to show she is responsible for the murder. would it have been the mother? >> i look at a 12-gauge shotgun, she was a small woman, i don't know if she was capable of even being able to discharge that kind of weapon. so the only two people who know what happened in that house -- charlie and his mother -- have stayed mum. neither was interviewed by police, neither has spoken publicly about a case closed but >> people will say this is a kid who killed his father and got off and people will also say no, it isn't, they couldn't prove it. you have two groups of people back there who said "i don't care what happened, i'm never sending this 19-year-old cornell student to prison." >> the mom and brother are running the company jim tan started. as for charlie -- is he okay, do you think? >> he seems okay, he's very positive. wants to get back to school. >> he's a great kid, a smart student, a popular kid who's

time to move on now. we welcome him back with open arms. >> but that didn't happen. the university let charlie know that if he attempted to return to cornell it was prepared to discipline him for violating the school's code of conduct. so charlie withdrew and lost the cornell version of the gold-plated entrance ticket to adult life. his former coach thinks charlie will regardless find a way to succeed. >> if he can get over the turmoil that he came out of, i think he'll do him. >> in his young life, he'd pleased everybody. his coaches, his teachers, his devoted friends. outwardly happy, inwardly, who really knew? all one can say with any certainty are the known facts of a murky case. he got a friend to buy him a shotgun, said good-bye to the ivy league, and, on a winter's day, drove home. that's all for now. i'm lester holt.

this sunday, 6 five days to election day and we're no clearer about donald trump and deportation. is he purposely not committing to a policy or does he really not have one. >> we did discuss the wall. we didn't discuss payment of the mate, mike pence on what is trump presidency would do. >> donald trump has been completely restricted. >> its just more evidence and hillary clinton is the most d dishonest candidate. >> my sit down with mike pence, also, you say you want a revolution. >> we need a political revolution. >> but where is it?

most passionate followers to get behind clinton? senator sanders will join me live. plus polls show the races getting tighter. clinton is losing ground but trump isn't gaining much. so where is clinton's support going? joining me for insight and analysis this sunday morning are chris of the washington post, kristin welker of nbc news, alex castellanos welcome to sunday, it's "meet the press". >> from nbc news in washington this is "meet the press" with chuck todd. happy lay bor day weekend, d of summer. it's hard not to think this is oddly familiar. on friday hillary clinton and e-mails and the fbi revealed details about the interview with clinton and raised questions and

ammunition about how she and her aids handled e-mails and classified information while she was at the state department. on wednesday, it was trump and the issue of deportation. in the afternoon he seemed accommodating. maybe even presidential in a meeting with mexico's president in mexico city. then just hours later before supporters in phoenix, trump gave a thundering anti illegal immigration speech that seemed more suited for the primaries than the general election. and just yesterday, trump ma african american voters with an appearance at great faith ministries in detroit. >> i am here today to listen to your message, and i hope my presence here will also help your voice to reach new audiences in our country. today i just want to let you know that i am here to listen to you and i've been doing that. >> yesterday i caught up with trump's running mate governor mike pennsylvania at the ohio