Emily Simpson

In the end, they gathered over 30 videos Mike had filmed without Saskia's consent.

In many of them, she was completely unconscious and her husband was violating her.

Mike was charged with 31 counts of illegal surveillance.

And even though prosecutors had video evidence of what Mike did, in the end, they were only able to bring four counts of rape.

Under Maryland law, it was legal to rape your unconscious spouse, just so long as it was done without force.

If he was found guilty of every charge, he could spend the rest of his life in prison.

That was Saskia's hope.

I wanted him to be in jail.

And I felt like testifying against him and holding him accountable would give me back some of my power.

But if the jury questioned Saskia's story, Mike could walk free.

For Ashley Inderfurth, the lead prosecutor on the case, it was nerve-wracking.

This isn't a scenario where it's a 50-50 and we got to get it to 51%.

The jury has to believe it beyond a reasonable doubt.

In the final lead-up to the trial, Ashley had to pass the case off to another colleague.

I had to go out on maternity leave.

She was pregnant with twins, and they came early.

In the months after they were born, she practically lived in the NICU.

The day before Mike's trial was set to begin, Ashley was in the hospital.

She was at her baby's bedside when her phone rang.

It was Rebecca McFitty, the prosecutor who took over Saskia's case.