Cash Call, A Stan Turner Mystery Vol 5

  Chapter 19

  Treading Lightly

   So far my plan to secure a partnership with Stan Turner was working perfectly. We had successfully negotiated a plea agreement on the Blaylock case, I'd been promised dinner, and Stan had called to get some inside information on another case. We still had the matter of the Jesse Ramirez case, however, and I was afraid it might be more difficult to settle. The public intoxication charge wasn't a problem, but the assault charge against a police officer could be.

  On the one hand I wanted to please Stan, but on the other hand I'd have to get my supervisor to sign off on any plea deal I made. I knew Jesse Ramirez wouldn't likely testify if the case went to trial and I was sure if Rob Blaylock testified he'd likely claim a memory loss due to his intoxication.

   My only likely witnesses would be the police officer and the two girls, Jennifer Rich and Linda Connors. The two girls apparently weren't as drunk as their dates otherwise he wouldn't have let them take the car. I decided it was time to question them and find exactly what their testimony would be. I caught up with Linda Connors at Mesquite High School. The vice-principal let me use his office to question her.

   "My name is Paula Waters. I'm an assistant district attorney with the Dallas District Attorney's office and I've been assigned to prosecute you boyfriends public intoxication and assault cases."

   Linda stiffened. "I don't have to testify against my boyfriend, do I?"

   "Unless you're married to him, you do."

   "Hmm. I didn't see anything. I was asleep in the back seat."

   "You'll be under oath in court and if you don't tell the truth you could be prosecuted for perjury."

   She sighed. "It's not fair. I love Jesse."

   "Listen. You're probably going to want to testify. If you don't the judge or jury will only hear the police officers side of the story. I'm sure you might have seen or heard something that would be favorable to your boyfriend. Don't you want the judge or jury to hear that."

   Linda nodded. "Okay. What do you want to know."

   I had her run me through the events of the evening up to Rob's arrest. Then I asked her exactly what she saw.

   "Jesse and I were in the back seat. We were watching anxiously as the officer gave Rob the sobriety test. I could tell Jesse was tense as I was holding onto his arm. Everything was fine until the officer suddenly spun Rob around, made him put his hands on the car and frisked him. This set Jesse off and he jumped out of the car and started screaming at the officer."

   "What did he say?"

   "What are you doing? Leave Rob alone. He didn't do anything."

   "What did the officer do?"

   "He raised his hand for Jesse to stop and told him to get back in the car, but Jesse just kept screaming at the officer. Then Rob broke away and tried to get between the officer and Jesse, so the officer grabbed Rob and made him get in the back of the squad car while Jesse was trying to pull him in the other direction. It was horrible. I was so scared."

   "Did Jesse hit the officer?"

   "No. He was just wrestling with him, trying to keep him from arresting Rob."

   "Did the officer hit Jesse or Rob?"

   "No. I didn't see any of that."

   "So it was like a scuffle?"

   "Un huh. Jesse was just trying to stop the arrest. He was drunk and was trying to protect his friend. Jesse wasn't trying to hurt the officer."

   "Okay. I think I get the picture."

   I thanked the vice-principal and let Linda get back to her class. Later that day I tracked down Jennifer and she gave me a similar story with the exception of a claim that the officer was overzealous in his arrest of Jesse once he had Rob in the squad car. Luckily Jesse was examined when he got to the station and no cuts or bruises were found.

   When I got back to the office I went to see Margaret to see who she had assigned the Richard Banks case to. She looked in her book and advised me that Larry Sizemore had been assigned that case. As I was leaving she asked how the Ramirez case was coming along.

   "Okay. I've interviewed the officer and the two girls who were witnesses. They all tell about the same story."

   "What about Blaylock?"

   "I've haven't talked to him yet. I doubt he'll be cooperative. The only negative issue that has come up so far is an allegation that Officer Lansdale was a little too aggressive in his arrest of Ramirez."

   "Who made that allegation?"

   "Jennifer Rich. But her friend Linda didn't mention it."

   "Good. You need to get a conviction and press for a maximum sentence. We need to set an example here. We can't have people assaulting police officers."

   I forced a smile but inside I was sick. Personally I didn't see any purpose in throwing the book at Jesse Ramirez. The guy was drunk and didn't know what he was doing, plus Officer Lansdale wasn't hurt and probably enjoyed being given an excuse to rough up a drunken teenager. And then there was the matter of trying to get on the good side of Stan Turner. He wouldn't be thrilled if we ended up having to try the case.

  I pondered the situation for awhile and then a solution hit me. Officer Lansdale had made a mistake when he allowed Jennifer to drive Rob's car after he was arrested. The car wasn't in her name and she didn't have anyone's permission to drive the vehicle, not to mention the fact that she had admittedly been drinking herself. Perhaps this fact could be used as leverage to get Margaret to approve a generous plea bargain.