What happens when survival is treated like a crime?

In this episode of The Black Docket, we break down the case of Chrystul Kizer, a teenage girl who was trafficked, groomed, and controlled by an older man, and later charged with homicide after killing him. What followed wasn’t just a trial, but a legal battle that forced Wisconsin courts to confront a question they’d never had to answer before: Can a trafficking victim claim self-defense when survival turns violent?

This is a story about the law catching up too late. About how courts decide who gets grace, who gets blamed, and who gets forgotten. We walk through the grooming, the charges, the landmark appeals that reshaped Wisconsin law, and the years Chrystul spent growing up inside jail while judges debated theory. No perfect victims. No easy answers. Just the reality of what happens when trauma doesn’t fit neatly into the system.

January is Human Trafficking Awareness Month, and this case reminds us that trafficking doesn’t always look the way we expect. If you care about true crime, court cases, criminal justice reform, or stories the system struggles to tell honestly this docket is for you.

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