A confused rush of raw emotions now encircled Andy's mind. Amongst them resonated deceit and disappointment in his government, one that garnered his lifelong pride and loyalty. Hope was still there. It remained in him because now he had to prepare for his appeal.

  

This was the process in which the true failure of the justice system was brought to the surface. Andy, having been grossly underrepresented during his trial, found it his duty to personally investigate the government's case against him. What he uncovered was astonishing.

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Falsification of evidence, bribery of co-defendants and altered transcripts serve as plot points in a novel, but have no place outside of a fictional courtroom. Andy finally acquired the official cell phone records from AT&T and was able to compare them text for text, line by line against what the AUSA had submitted at trial. He had known, but now could prove definitely that the government had lied. Not only had they created text messages that served as incriminating evidence, but they had also inaptly translated a majority of them.

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The lead DEA Task Force Investigator Brown said during cross examination, "I made a mistake in the interpretation of the text messages" and furthermore he admitted their incompetency stating, "my staff was not familiar with the equipment," also, "my staff was not well trained in the use of the equipment." This alone was proof enough to overturn the evidence that was presented to justify the initial indictment of Andy and the seizure of his property and businesses.

    

The next indemnifying attestation he established was even more appalling. Simply put, AUSA Schattman had fruitlessly bribed and coerced two co-Andy's defendants. They had been assured that it was expected their own sentences would be significantly reduced.

However, once they had given false testimony on the stand condemning Andy, those promises were not fulfilled. As would be expected, that prompted them to tell the truth. This was partly a retributive measure for having been lied to and partly an attempt to right a wrong in helping them convict a man whom they knew personally to be innocent.