This trial started November 24, 2003 and is ongoing.

April 5, 2004
by
Hilary

New courtroom today: E-209. (If you plan on attending, please make a note of it). Much smaller quarters. They bring the guys in at 9:10, after much scrambling around by the attorneys, Judge, clerk Bob, Detective Thompson, & a guy I don't recognize who appears to be some sort of tech-support guy. Atif smiles at me when they come in, and I smile back. The guards are trying to figure out where to sit: there's not a whole lot of space to choose from. The seismic retrofitting (which is taking place throughout the whole building, hence the move) of this portion of the courthouse is done, and it does look quite nice. Way higher tech, and all the wood construction in the room is that pale-stained (birch veneer? I have no idea) stuff that's so popular now. It's clean and modern. Shelves covered in law books line the walls.

Konat is now standing on the bench reaching into the ceiling. I think he's trying to adjust the lights so they don't obscure the screen for the jury at all. It appears we'll be watching the tape of the confessions today. There's a very at-ease atmosphere in here this morning. I mean, prosecutors are reaching into the ceiling for crying out loud. Everyone's just trying to get things organized as quickly as possible (I presume it was quite the move, what with evidence and all, from the ninth floor down here to the second), so there's no time right now for tense attitudes.

The attorneys are continuing to scramble around setting up. I can hear what I presume to be the jury in the next room. I always picture them penned in, corralled like cattle, no choice but to wait. There's lots of talk amongst counsel about someone named Kirby. The tech guy, complete with little beard, is telling Marc & Roger how to use the video system. The courtroom is alive with preparation & chatter. The judge grabs a chair to use as a makeshift table for himself, up on the stand. The judge always likes to give everyone the play-by-play: "I am grabbing this chair now, and I'm going to pull it up here…and just use it as a table." It's endearing. They have a really hot, high-tech overhead projector & PA system. Sometimes people don't seem to realize that they're mic'd, and they'll be talking at the front as it's broadcasting through the speakers. The guards are chatting away with detective Thompson & each other. There's an older, silver-haired man sitting up where the judge should be (later I realize this is Henderson, and the "witness stand" is just directly next to the judge in a courtroom this small). Court is in session at 9:30. Veronica stands & says that her binder that includes all the info on this witness, Henderson, is all missing. It was last seen in the media room, but maybe it was shuffled around by someone else & misplaced over the weekend. Song says she can proceed with her re-cross, and they can find it later. Instead, EVERYONE leaves to look for the missing notebooks, leaving the defendants alone at the table for several minutes. The guards are sitting behind them. Judge talking about his new haircut, which the female court clerk noticed. Judge says his favorite coffee barista noticed too! (As a former coffee barista, I wonder what the judge's drink is. My guess would be drip or a strong Americano, or a really dry cappuccino. He doesn't seem fussy enough for anything else). James is insisting his hair is also low-maintenance & everyone laughs, even AR & SB.

The Paper-board-on easel at from says: April 11: parking lot April 13: Stolen car May 6: Four Seasons June 15-16: money laundering June 20: Surprise visit June 28: 2nd Royal Scott July 18: Ocean Point July 19: Ocean Point

(These are the scenarios orchestrated by the RCMP to interact with Sebastian and Atif.) Everyone appears to be back now, except the judge is now gone. We're all just sitting here until the Judge comes in & announces that he KNOWS the notebooks & Veronica's large poster board is in the media room. They deliberate back & forth about it. Judge is now less certain. They decide to just start. Shyrrel prepares the jury: behind me and to my right, I can hear her inside their holding pen, doing a jury role call & instructing them to get in order. They come in at 9:48. Song stands ready, poised over a podium & a white binder titled "Henderson Cross," to the right of the defense table. SR starts with Inspector Henderson. She re-capps that they went over first few scenarios last week, & are now on June 28: 2nd Royal Scott. She says they planned the scenario knowing that Haslett (who I formerly called the Sergeant, but now have decided to use his last name) told SB that there was evidence in Bellevue he was going to check on.

Henderson looks extremely Inspector-ish. I should check and see if he leaves wearing a big trench coat and carrying a giant magnifying glass. Still, there's maybe a hint of used car salesman or game-show host injected in there somewhere. His silver hair is combed back neatly with some light grease or gel. He has dark, furrowed eyebrows. SR hands Henderson copied pages from transcripts (excerpts).

Pg. 80- June 28 Haslett told SB there were 22 hairs with victims' blood on them in the shower. Song is "refreshing" IH's (Inspector Henderson's) memory about the evidence. JK objects to the form of the question, but is overruled, but witness is asked to review the transcript himself for a moment. James objects (tape speaks for itself) & is overruled again. SR is trying to show how this information affected the scenarios IH chose.

SB was also told there was DNA evidence from tissue, & that SB's is the only name listed in a police report from Bellevue. IH says he DID take conversations between Haslett & SB into account when planning next scenario. I notice there are three other spectators now present: young Asian couple & late-20's snowboarder type. Ok, I said snowboarder type simply because he's wearing one of those knitted caps, but on closer inspection, I realize he perfectly typifies Seattle's early-thirties, recovering-from-the-grunge-era-now-that-I'm-older-and-have-a-job- set: Faded jeans, dark t-shirt, grande coffee cup.

Haslett told SB there was blood in the shower that was "6-ft. high."

Song gives IH a copy of Exhibit 502, a list of 5 pieces of evidence. Henderson says it's highly unlikely that Haslett previously told Burns about: blood in garage, saliva on Dr. R's bedroom wall, boxers in wash, analysis of murder weapon impressions. (Bear with me- I don't have proper context just yet either). SB was pushed "pretty hard" on 6-28 for information on what evidence did he leave down there (meaning in Bellevue, at the crime scene). When Haslett asked "what should my guy look for down in Bellevue." SB said "well, there's a hair, look for a hair." IH says SB was not willing to respond to questioning "in this direction." IH says SB takes a lead role in 6-28: or certainly not subservient role in scenario, as would be expected. Veronica objects because of speculation (IH was getting into "expert testimony" when he said this wasn't typical behavior he'd witnessed after 20+ years of working with the RCMP). Overruled because question asked was open-ended- meaning an open-ended response should be expected.  Song adds blithely that she isn't objecting; she is fine with an open-ended answer.  She knew what she was getting into when she asked the question.  Inspector Henderson's response stands.

By end of 6-28, the RCMP could draw 2 possible conclusions, according to Song.  Burns' words and body language could be taken to mean either 1) "I did it but please don't make me say I did it," or 2) "I didn't do it, and saying so can get me in trouble." JK objects to this slide & it's removed, because Song didn't enter it into evidence. Whoops. Veronica objects, is sustained: Defense is asking very open-ended questions, which is why they're getting these responses that VF is objecting to. Honestly though, they aren't getting much of any answers from Henderson. There are probably more objections going off (from both sides) than actual responses from Henderson. A bunch of high-schoolers come in...4 of them cram into 1 bench, next to the couple that was already there. Another sits next to a guard. Song says Haslett told SB: "if you get arrested for a crime, you are a threat to me because you could rat me out." IH agrees that "the gist" of this message continued through scenarios, but not necessarily according to the plan: operators make up their own conversations. Song says if SB said something alluding to his innocence, Haslett accused him of lying.  6-28: pg. 112 IH reads it over while we wait in silence...Song reads from the transcript.  In response to Burns saying he FOUND the bodies with Atif, Haslett says: "you out & out are fuckin' lying to me...I'm not putting up with this bullshit." James objects, Judge Mertel overrules. IH has problem with Song asking about SB saying things "consistent with innocence." "Consistent with innocence" is a matter of perspective, not fact. When asked how he interprets a targets personality through his responses to the scenarios, IH says one conversation or even several don't sway him either way: they have to wait for facts.

Four Question's Haslett Asked SB: 1) you're not saying how you killed them. 2) you're not saying how the blood got in the shower 3)you're not saying how (damnit, couldn't write fast enough!)

SB & AR talked to each other about Haslett & Shinkaruk (the other undercover RCMP-posing-as-crime-boss, whom I previously called the Corporal, until I learned today how to spell his name properly) before the May scenario. IH Knows they talked about Haslett & Shinkaruk when their operation was nearly exposed (when the boys read about a similar case, with RCMP posing as crime lords, in the North Shore News). We are about to watch the tape of the July 18th scenario, so that is the subject matter now. IH was listening in the next room when these scenarios were taped. Song says: "Much of the discussion is pretty chilling, right?" She means the fact that SB & then later SB with AR claim responsibility for murders in the video. IH doesn't find it "chilling" because it's been his career, so he's used to it.

Song: "Someone can confess to a murder, and can be lying, right?" To illustrate her point, she uses Shinkaruk as an example: he said to SB he has "fuckin' toasted a guy." So we know someone can convincingly confess to a crime when it's false. IH tries to not confirm this, but SR doesn't really leave him any choice, since she's used his co-worker as an example and all. Now she's going over ways to test a confession. To test that a confession is real, investigators test it against forensic evidence, or they can assume it's a true confession if the person reveals hold-back evidence (evidence that only the killer knows, that can be verified.) IH says hold-back evidence is "nice to have." There is even an RCMP training on the importance of hold-back evidence.

IH says: Yes, it's possible for someone to confess convincingly to a crime they didn't commit, but it usually becomes obvious very quickly if the confessor is lying, because what they say won't match what happened. He also agrees, yes, there was significant media coverage (of this case and the evidence therein): "though I don't really read news articles because they're usually so far off."

Song is now going over various media coverage, asking if he was aware of it, such as the North Shore News article from late July, 1994, which indicated that the murder weapon was metal. She's reading headlines and excerpts from more articles: Basma fought attackers. BPD needs info from anyone who was at the late showing of the Lion King. Sultana was unpacking when she was struck once or twice. The killer then went upstairs to Dr. Rafay's room. Basma was sleeping upstairs and fought attackers (several articles). The point: IF info has been in newspaper, it is not considered useful as hold-back evidence.

Song starts quoting Haslett from the transcripts. Haslett asked SB on several occasions if he washed the murder weapon in the shower. Haslett also talked about motive: "why'd you do it? Money?" "When are you getting the money for the shit in the states?" "Why'd you push the box over?" "Explain to me about, like, about the box." "There's fuckin' blood splatters in the fuckin' shower up six feet high" "Did you wash yourself w/ those red towels." SR is trying to say things that Haslett mentioned to SB isn't considered hold back. IH affirms this, "assuming (the confessor) doesn't add anything.

Break. Song walks over to the guy sitting behind me & gives him a big smooch. The Mr. Seattle gentleman must be her beau. Roger says the appeals court wanted to do a conference call but then they rescheduled it. I talk to Marc all break. We talk about the Factoria Cinemas, its exit alarm system, etc. It's something I've been wanting to ask about ever since Donna and I did our "Murder night re-enactment."

James & Detective Thompson are talking about basketball. The four high school students are standing in a cluster chatting. The guys are brought back in at 11:24, and the jury's in at 11:27.

Resume by playing the full July 18 scenario: Jeff Robinson says it's about an hour and a half. Everyone sits in absolute silence while the DVD is qued up. Noel comes in. There's also an older pony-tailed hippy-ish guy & a skinny blond woman now present (in addition to the students & Song's boyfriend.) The DVD player isn't cooperating. The heating/cooling system in this room is noisy intermittently. Students are told to move over, & more students file in. The defense counsel has to borrow the state's computer.

The video starts. 7-18- 6:45 pm......uh oh, still not working. After it's confirmed that the thing is not going to cooperate at this time, we take the lunch break early so they can figure out how to fix the DVD player while everyone's gone.

Back in at 1:16. James says to me on the way back in, "everyone who reads your site says you think these boys are innocent." I say, for the record, that I haven't made up my mind yet because I don't have all the information, & what difference does it make what I think anyway. I've been crowded out of my sitting spots at the far right end of the benches (there's only two rows of bench seating for spectators in this courtroom). The high schoolers are sitting in the front, right, talking about people they know from school. Their conversation is…appalling on many levels. Let's just leave it at that.  Blond woman comes in, sits. James comes over & talks to her. Guards bring in defendants. The jury comes in at 1:24, and they resume playing the tape:

6:45 pm, 7-18-95. Ocean Point hotel, Victoria. SHINKARUK waves at the camera while SB is off camera doing something (getting a beer?). HASLETT & SHINKARUK begin talking extensively about "the fuckin' Heinekin" being frozen. SB is apparently going to be helping them with computer security. Getting them a program and running it. Sounds like he'll be keeping their finances straight. Their accents are very Canadian. Now there is talk of "macking" (I find this is amusing because I remember when this word was popular slang). SB is trying to explain how it's not directly about being with a woman, it's the romantic notion of being ready, available, and wanted by many women. I think the word he's looking for is flirting and/or being "a player" (ah, how slang moves on). Shinkaruk and Haslett are not getting it, or pretending not to.  I think Burns lost them when he tried to explain it as a romanticized concept, but they don't seem to differentiate that from, well, actual romance. SB says he stayed up most of the night with a girlfriend. They all start complaining about tourism: they can't get a decent hotel in Victoria. Haslett asks if he's been reading the paper. SB says "there's nothing new, I guess." Technical difficulties freeze up the picture. I notice the jury members passing around a tin of Altoids. Song & Jeff can't seem to get the DVD to work.

Noel & Sara Jean both here, chatting. 48 Hours chick is here too- she chats with Marc. Hat lady hobbles in! In this small room, the place is packed. Very intimate. Especially since we're all just sitting here in complete silence.

We watch the footage with no sound for about a minute and a half. SB says he wants Haslett's help. Haslett shows him something that he "never fuckin' saw from me." It's a fake police report. (SB whispers to AR). Roger & James come sit on the audience side for better view. Song asks for a break to get Pro Video back to fix the DVD. On the impromptu break, I become buddies with Barton, whom I earlier described as a hippy-ish older man. He is a retired RCMP undercover officer, and just decided to drop by the trial out of personal interest, while on vacation.

Ok, it's back on. SB reads the fake police report then appears utterly baffled that it says he left hairs on a red towel, because he says he doesn't rub his hair after showering, he just goes straight to combing it. Haslett is saying (in an attempt to add urgency, get him to explain immediately?) things are happening quickly, & he's going to jail, while Haslett himself will be affected financially. Burns reads: "stains on boxer shorts found in the washer." Pauses, sighs.  Says he knows nothing about that, didn't even do laundry while at the Rafay home. He appears to literally have no idea what this "boxer shorts" evidence is about. He also says he "has no idea why there'd be blood stains in the garage."

SB says there could be things he doesn't know about (meaning evidence in Bellevue that he can't instruct anyone to find and destroy because he's unaware of it). Haslett is acting very upset because his guy in Bellevue says the cops will come up & lock SB & Haslett both up. Haslett is saying SB has to listen & obey him, or he won't help him: he has to know exactly what evidence he's looking for in Bellevue (because ostensibly his guy in Bellevue will be destroying the evidence, and needs to know everything he's looking for so he doesn't miss any...though when they say the plan is to torch the whole evidence lab anyway, I don't know how this reasoning works here, especially since Burns is supposed to be brilliantly intelligent...). Haslett is trying to get SB to say he dried off with the red towels, but he won't- instead he just says "uh, yeah, I guess I used whatever was there." SB is silent while Haslett is saying he has to tell him what happened before he can help him. SB is silent, thinking, for an uncomfortably long period of time. He appears baffled at how to respond. SB says Atif was in the house, but didn't help commit the murders. Song stops video & asks IH to confirm that forensic evidence indicates that two people, not one, committed the murders. SB stands up and goes of camera, saying loudly "funny how (Shinkaruk) is so adamant that I drink beer, cuz sometimes I really don't fuckin' want to." Sebastian is now talking about the money they'll get eventually: the insurance money is "all frozen up." Haslett asks why he did it for a few grand. SB basically hums & haws.

Burns tells Haslett he hasn't told Jimmy Miyoshi and Atif yet about his dealings with Haslett. Song stops the video again to confirm that IH knew SB was lying when he said this (the RCMP knew Sebastian, Atif, and Jimmy all talked about Haslett and Shinkaruk because they heard them on the wire taps). Under Haslett's grilling, SB doesn't implicate Atif. He explains Atif's not helping with the murders because "he's a little guy," and that Burns himself felt "competent enough" to do the job alone. Burns is having difficulty convincing Haslett that AR is "solid" (as in trustworthy to Haslett) because AR didn't help with the murders. SB is trying to convince him. SB laughs nervously a lot, and really doesn't give any additional information.

Haslett asks Burns to explain their alibi. SB is saying how they were seen. He recounts the whole evening. When he moves on to the dessert place he and Atif went after the Lion King, he says "at this point it would've been after the murders," but otherwise does not explain how the murders fit in with the rest of the evening. He just tells about their evening straight through, omitting the murdering-portion. Burns says he likes to leave big tips (in order to "mack," & because he used to work in a restaurant and knows how it makes people's days). He says he doesn't remember doing this consciously, but heard later that he left an $8 tip for the waitress at the dessert place (which would be about 40% from what I gather). When asked by Haslett, SB says they committed the murders by leaving the movie theatre early. Haslett grills him for not explaining that earlier. SB is giving Haslett info as he asks for it, which according to my interpretation, sounds as if he's making it up as he goes. He says "uh," a lot whole lot and trails off when asked to talk about the murders. He giggles nervously when talking about the murders, whereas he's animated & articulate when talking about the alibi events. Haslett is going on about how Atif "had better be fuckin' solid." SB says he can't remember where the bat came from- "it was just kicking around down there" (meaning it was already at the Rafay house). Song stops the tape and asks IH if he thinks it was odd that SB couldn't remember at first where the bat came from. He says no. SR: Not weird that it came from the house? IH: Not specifically. Song says SB saying it was already in the house contradicts other statements (of Jimmy Miyoshi, for example, who said Atif and Sebastian discussed buying it on their visit to his work).

Break.
I come back in and sit down. There's another woman present I don't recognize. SB & AR chat with each other. Lot's of chatting today- unusual! The jury is back in at 3:30. The court resumes watching the tape. SB is reassuring Haslett that AR & JM are solid "to the ends of the earth." Now he's talking about doing "their film:" they thought Atif would get to go back to Cornell, & they could use their cameras. After the murders though, they could not go back to the United States. Haslett is now assuring that the evidence is going to all be destroyed (burning the lab will be the means) or altered (replacing Burns' hair with a stand-in hair sample). SB says he and AR would be a lot happier if the murders hadn't happened. I notice Sebastian says things like "& then the murders happened," vs. "and then we did the murders," which is a curious manner of speaking, since he's supposed to be trying to convince Haslett that he did the murders and can therefore give all the details of evidence needing to be destroyed. Haslett says he has an East Indian guy who's going to go tell the Bellevue PD he & a group of people did the murders, then destroy the evidence. (Uh, sounds like a plan…) Haslett tells SB to get some replacement hair, & that he still needs to talk to AR & JM. You know, to make sure their "fuckin solid" (this is the catch phrase of the day). SB is again trying to explain why Atif & Jimmy didn't help him with the murders saying there was "no point in spreading it around I suppose." SB talks loudly, then drops into silence or a low voice when talking about the murders. He sounds quite serious when he says he felt capable enough to commit the murders on his own. Put upon to find a replacement hair sample, SB is trying to figure out how he's going to get the collected hair back to Haslett: meeting on a ferry? SB sounds very eager to have more work from Haslett's ring. He talks big about his future in Haslett's business, like he assumes he'll be a large part of it. He says he plans on making them both a lot of money. Haslett answers a phone call, and some cursing ensues (I believe it's supposed to be Shinkaruk on the line). When he's done, they start going over all the evidence again. SB saying the bat is long gone, & he had gloves on when he used it anyway.

Now they're recounting alibi night again. Then Sebastian starts going off about the various effects of being in the newspapers all the time as a murder suspect. He's saying how some girl he used to have an, ahem, romantic relationship with called him after seeing his picture in the paper (The Province). He goes off on how stupid people are when they say AR & SB are "hot" in the paper. He appears disgusted but somewhat thrilled that he's getting attention from females over this. He goes on to talk about how he and Atif want to write a book to coincide with the release of their film, & the fact that their faces are always in the paper will be a huge marketing tool for their movie...They start rehashing Haslett's concerns about why Atif didn't help with the murders, and what that says about whether he is or is not "fuckin' solid."

SB says he assumes he'd get killed by Haslett (and/or company) if he was "fucking him around." Song stops the video & asks IH if he recalls hearing other times when Haslett says "you aren't a threat, & I won't kill you" (which essentially was his response here. On the tape here, he also says in response "oh, I'm not a killer," in serious, almost offended tones). Song asks if saying this after SB already gave information about the murders was part of the RCMP's plan. IH says operators make the decisions about what to say, so it wasn't part of the plan.

Sebastian is saying he should go pick up some girl & have "sex with her & stuff," to get a sample of her hair. Haslett says to make sure & not get into trouble- the last thing he needs is to get arrested and spend the night in jail. SB will pass Haslett an envelope of hair the next day, it sounds like. SB is now bragging about his intelligence: he doesn't know his IQ "but it doesn't matter because he's smarter than whoever made the IQ test." Haslett asks him to compare his own intelligence against Atif's and Jimmy's. Sebastian explains how smart Atif is when it comes to being systematic and efficient (and more technical things, such as computers), but how he himself is better at understanding people: he's able to know them better than they know themselves. Burns says Jimmy has an interesting, "Asian brain:" he's innovative, but also has a good ability to understand and relate to people.

Jury exits at 4:16. Drummund (?) coming tomorrow for about 1/2 hour direct. Song is going to play the scenario for July 19th tomorrow, and the court asks if IH can be done, as he has familial obligations, & needs to be gone Tuesday night. That sounds like it'll work. The defendants are locked back up and everyone files out for the day.