"I want to make sure Jon is safe and alive. I want him alive."

In her interview with Fortuna Police Officer Ryan Richardson, Rachel Goldberg expressed concern about her husband's safety. "I want to make sure Jon is safe and alive. I want him alive."

When she spoke to the Fortuna Police Department, all she knew was that Tim Smith had been shot. An employee of Bridgeville Elementary had told Frieda Smith, who Rachel Goldberg was with at that time, that the school was "on lockdown."

Deputy District Attorney Luke Bernthal continued his cross examination of Rachel Goldberg starting at 9:20 a.m. After questioning by both attorneys, she was excused around 10:30.

When Deputy District Attorney Luke Bernthal has to use the defense investigator's report, more than the Fortuna Police Department interview (one with recording issues) to try and impeach a key witness and he still fails, that says a lot.

If Jessica Springer and Tim Smith can recall some details on a particular day, or moment and not recall others, the same standard can be applied to Rachel Goldberg. The inconsistencies Mr. Bernthal was trying to make a big deal out of with Rachel Goldberg did not exist and were not as stark as the ones made by Jessica Springer and Tim Smith Jr. And their inconsistencies are from their own testimony, not hearsay by someone else.

Bringing up her direct testimony, Mr. Bernthal continued with his nit picking strategy over minutia.

Rachel Goldberg would answer calmly. "He was very sad. He was very emotional. He was not angry towards me."

What makes Rachel Goldberg believable is that she did say yes to statements not flattering to her, she didnt pull the I don't recall most of the time regarding inconsistencies like Jessica Springer and Tim Smith.

Rachel Goldberg replied "yes" when Mr. Bernthal said that Jon Goldberg called her "a dirty bitch."

She said "those weren't his exact words" to Mr. Bernthal's vetsion of Jon Goldberg's statement, "You didn't deserve a kid if you couldn't be a wife to him."

As he has with other witnesses, Mr. Bernthal has failed to prove his claim of a violent angry person and any abuse towards Rachel Goldberg or any proof Jon Goldberhg shot off firearms on September 26 at his property.

Not only did Mr. Bernthal fail to impeach Rachel Goldberg, the two "inconsistencies",  may not matter because the one Fortuna Police Department audio validated more of Rachel Goldberg's testimony in court.

Just like all the other key witnesses and any witness in this case, it only matters how the jury views and evaluates testimony and credibility. They will be given a jury instruction by Judge Graham Cribbs regarding evaluating witness testimony.

Rachel Goldberg can be heard crying during the Fortuna Police Department interview. She can hardly talk. All this verifies her testimony.

The audio quality was poor. One of the statements that Deputy Luke Bernthal tried to attribute to her about the texts "at night" was difficult to hear. I did not hear anything about "at night"  on the audio. The jury has transcripts, audience doesnt. The texts were sent at night so even if there was a reference, other than playing audio, there was no clarification or follow up question.

Regarding the Douglas Smith photo, Mr. Bernthal just showed the photo and did not even question her or allow a response. Mr. Russo had to ask that question on redirect.

She denied statements that Frieda Smith supposedly attributed to her and those statements were not made by Smith in court.

Failing to impeach Rachel Goldberg, Mr. Bernthal tried to make a big deal of her not testifying at the preliminary in April 2017. He attributed an inaccurate statement to Judge Gregory Elvine- Kreis, who was in 2017, court appointed to advise Rachel Goldberg.

Mr. Bernthal claimed Judge Elvine-Kreis said the DA.'s office was revictimizing Rachel Goldberg.

Mr. Russo read Judge Elvine Kreis' exact statement. "The DA is trying to revictimize a person they think is a victim."

Nothing like having a jury see you misquote a Judge and former attorney.

During redirect, Mr. Russo was able to bring forth that Rachel Goldberg was trying to cooperate with the DA investigator who had contacted her several times. The District Attorney's office then just stopped contacting her.

"You told your attorney that the statements from other witnesses were hearsay," said Mr. Russo about why Rachel Goldberg did not testify at the April 2017 hearing.

"You told your attorney you were not going to perpetuate fraud," said Mr. Russo.

This was after Rachel Goldberg had already told Mr. Bernthal she did not testify in April 2017 on her attorney's advice.

At this point, Mr. Bernthal should be worrying about his own credibility and lackluster performance in the courtroom.

Instead of proving their case beyond a reasonable doubt, Mr. Bernthal's strategy is to spend more time on defense witnesses. Is his boss, District Attorney Maggie Fleming, aware of the daily disaster in court and if so, what is being done about it?

As it stands, the prosecution has not provided any evidence that supports Count 2 and 3 except for Frieda Smith's testimony. While she was a good witness, some of her testimony has been been denied by the alleged victim.

The prosecution is left with Count 1. The jury will be given an option of murder and lesser charges.

Like the Lawson case, if the District Attorney in this case is allowing Fortuna Fire and a segment of the community to influence their prosecution of this case, then time will tell if the result is the same.

Every civilian witness in this case has inconsistencies. There has been sloppy investigation by the Fortuna Police Department. The difference, so far is better presentation by the defense and more claims in the defense opening statements proved by testimony. The defense does not even legally have to put on a case. The prosecution has the burden of proof to prove the case beyond a reasonable doubt.

The room was stacked with Tim Smith family and supporters for Rachel Goldberg's testimony, including Fortuna Fire Chief Lon Winburn.