This trial started November 24, 2003 and is
ongoing.
April 12, 2004
by
Hilary
TD 4-12-04.
Judge Mertel comes in at 9:10. Counsel is now preparing tape
transcripts. There are no other spectators: just me, court
workers, & guards. Oh wait, here comes hat lady. I always
wonder what she's listening to in her headphones. They're debating
over a word in the transcript: "truck" (James thinks)
vs. "trunk" (Judge & Jeff think). The jury is
waiting in their holding pen. Shyrrel goes & tells them to
line up. 48 Hours is here. Jeff plans to play portions of the
tapes. Shinkaruk is on the stand still. Judge comments that
counsel should get evidence in this week, have witnesses lined, up
& so on. James checks all the speakers to make sure they're
working correctly. They start playing an intercept to test sound
quality.
The jury comes in, and the trial immediately gets underway. Jeff asks if Shinkaruk has a copy of the 5-5-95 transcript. He
then asks
Shinkaruk to recall testimony of last week, when they were talking
about how Burns
commented on getting people killed & blowing things up.
Jeff wants to review things that Shinkaruk has said in
conversation leading up to Burns' "getting people killed and
blowing things up" remark. A few sentences from Shinkaruk
are:
"I'll fuck with your family. I'm gonna fuckin'
do your wife & shit like that." May 6, 1995, pg.26
"I fuckin' toasted a guy...When it came time for fuckin'
court, the person that could finger me, they're not around
anymore, so I know that business gets taken care of." May 6,
1995,
pg. 27
"...when I saw you on that fuckin' uh, trying to boost
that uh, car? Like I say that uh, I thought you were gonna fuckin'
shit. I thought holy fuck, big mistake here." May 6, 1995, p. 38
"It seems to me that boosting a car seemed to be at the
uh, at the very outer most extremities of somethin' that you'd be
doing." May 6, 1995, p. 39
Shinkaruk says Jeff is taking these out of context, misleading
the jury. Jeff is trying to say Shinkaruk prompted SB to say the
"getting people killed & things blown up" comment.
May 6, 1995, pg.51
Shinkaruk says SB already had said things about his involvement
in the murders when this conversation took place. Jeff reads the transcript, p.30. Shinkaruk agrees this
is how Burns had started the conversation: (something to the effect of)
"ok I'll level with you: on (July 12), we were in Bellevue
& my friend's parents were, like, murdered." Not
necessarily incriminating himself there.
Jeff reads from the transcripts where SB says "that would be
completely nuts" with regards to killing the Bellevue
detectives (May 6, p. 78). Suddenly Jeff interrupts Shinkaruk
because he isn't answering the question Jeff asked (he's giving
information that wasn't asked). They both start talking over
each other, and Judge Mertel actually has to say
"WHOA!" to get Shinkaruk & Jeff to stop. He tells Shinkaruk
he needs to listen to the question,
& answer directly. He needs to "stop sparring," and
the judge won't allow this arguing with counsel.
5-6-95 scenario (I beleive this is the money counting one): Woody had left room with 9mm guns. Shinkaruk
at this point volunteered the information that he'd "toasted
a guy," and & how Haslett was really solid on taking care
of evidence & witnesses against him. Shinkaruk admits
that he was being as convincing as possible here, going so far as
to have a second person corroborate this statement: Haslett came in
(Shinkaruk exits) & says saving Shinkaruk cost him 80K. Jeff
stresses that it's unfortunate we don't have Shinkaruk on film
telling stories about murders he's "done," like we do of SB. His point is that when someone says
convincingly that they committed a murder, and have it supported
by someone else, it can be false: you have to look beyond just
what was actually said. Shinkaruk's response is that "cases
should be tried on their own merits" outside what is merely
said.
Shinkaruk's first meeting with Burns is at a hair salon. Shinkaruk tried to appear
to SB as a "player," which he describes as flashy, night-clubby, with access
to money. He suggested to SB that he might know a guy who could
front money for SB's movie. During this 1st meeting, there was no
talk about killing or anything. They did talk of Woody Allen on
the way to Dusty's. (Jeff is jumping all around, in order to
cover everything in this re-cross). Jeff suggests that it's strange to meet
someone, then two days later have them say to you "hey I hear you're a
murder suspect in Bellevue." The result could have been shocking
& embarrassing to Burns. Shinkaruk: yes; depending on
circumstances. SB turned white when Shinkaruk first brought this
up, but it didn't make Shinkaruk think him any less of a suspect.
4-13-95: Driving to Fog & Suds from Whistler (to
meet Haslett again), on the way back
to Vancouver, conversation between SB & Shinkaruk included:
(Shinkaruk is reading): if SB bragged to Haslett about
shoplifting video games, he wouldn't be that impressed. Yes, he
said something to that effect (reading pretrial transcripts.)
Jeff's point: telling the truth isn't going to impress Haslett.
Shinkaruk says to SB: it comes down to how you handle everything;
if all you've done is video games....something something- ok, I
didn't get this part. I think he was said he was trying to be encouraging, as
in how Burns handled situations mattered most.
Jeff says: Atif said on a 4-30-95 intercept that SB should
"call them back" (meaning Haslett and Shinkaruk), which
indicates that they were already talking about the
"criminals" to each other. SB says he went on a date
& it was weird because he couldn't talk about how he was a
suspect for the murders. Jeff brings Inspector Schwartz's notes to witness. Does
Shinkaruk recall being told about this intercept. He answers no, but
maybe he was and can't remember.
Jeff wants to play a couple intercepts. 5-1-95, 9:21 am:
(Jeff passes transcripts to jury). We're waiting for the tape to
start...it will begin 1:20 min. into the conversation from
Sebastian and Atif's
house. It sounds like complete and utter garble to me. Shinkaruk is leaving a message: "I don't have time for this crap."
Jeff asks Shinkaruk to confirm SB reiterated to him that he
didn't really have time to "do anything right now" (for
Haslett & Shinkaruk). Jimmy, not Atif, says "tell them to
stick with you or they'll end up in the trunk." Not
sure what this cryptic remark means.
5-31 95, 9:36 pm intercept: it's the boys (SB, AR, Jimmy)
talking about Haslett & Shinkaruk. Burns ays Shinkaruk is ok, but
he doesn't know his boss that well (Haslett). "Shinkaruk has faith in
me." SB also says he wants to ask Haslett & Shinkaruk to
give him a car (he did later ask Haslett). The point: boys
discussed/planned out what Burns should say to Haslett &
Shinkaruk, just as RCMP planned what to say to them. Awwwhhh.
5-5-95, 21:23: setting up arrangements for their 5-6-95
meeting; SB & Jimmy talking about: (Jeff reads, Shinkaruk doesn't agree with his interpretation): Jimmy:
"do you know
if you're going to do what they want you to do?...If you don't know
now, you probably will do it. They'll be saying 'do it, do it,
we'll kill you if you don't do it."' They play the whole
thing. It is completely unintelligible. Jeff plays it again with
court permission. Jury has transcripts, I don't. No idea how they
could even tell if what they were reading matched.
Shinkaruk had lady officer acting as his mistress. (I think
we're back to the 5-6-95 scenario again). Money counting took about 1/2 hr,
and they sent the woman away to show that Shinkaruk & Woody had things to
talk about that not everyone could hear. Jeff wants to know more
about 9mm handguns: weren't they flashy? Pearl handles? Shinkaruk
doesn't remember for sure because he's "flashed a lot of guns in a
lot of scenarios."
SB at one point took Shinkaruk's license plate. Shinkaruk asked
if he was "going to check him out or turn him in, because
there's a big difference." Shinkaruk, as an undercover officer,
wanted to express his displeasure while still allowing the project
to move forward. Shinkaruk says they tried to remain in their roles:
Haslett acted pissed. It was a question of remaining credible as
criminals, but not having to overtly threaten SB (which would
jeopardize the project). The way to do both at once? He told
Sebastian "knowing what I've
done in the past, you just took a major fuckin' leap forward in my
book for having the balls to tell me that." SB later told
Jimmy that during this conversation, he thought he "was a
dead man" right then & there.
Conscience was a topic of conversation between SB &
Shinkaruk. Shinkaruk's testimony from last summer: Burns said he
wouldn't feel bad about shooting someone, but it would involve a
bunch of technical planning & he doesn't have time for that.
Burns did NOT say Shinkaruk doesn't have to worry about his
conscience because he's already killed 3 people and didn't feel
bad. Shinkaruk's bringing it up was an
attempt to open up discussion of the murders (like he'd say how he
felt about killing people in the past) that didn't work.
Questioning has now turned to the interrogation of Burns in
Bellevue. Shinkaruk tells Burns it only "counts" (as a difficult
but successful experience) if he DID
do something & got through interrogation without revealing it.
SB DOES NOT (in order to claim this success) say that he did it & got through interrogation
anyway.
Break:
10:50: everyone is gone except me, hat lady, Veronica, Marc,
Jeff, Song, clerks Bob and Shyrrel. Song comes over to see what
I'm reading, & we talk about Ann Rule. 11:01: Sarah Jean,
Noel, Times intern, & Davidheiser come in. 11:02: Bob Thompson
& James come in. 11:03: Guards bring in defendants. 11:04: 48
Hours girl & the prosecutors' assistant-guy come in. Guard
talks with 48 Hours girl.
11:08: judge comes in. James has business: says Jeff's method
of using transcripts of prior testimony is inappropriate...this
should be done only if the witness needs his memory refreshed or if he
makes a statement inconsistent with his past statements. James says this hasn't been the
case, & he will object from here on. James asserts that Jeff
asked an open-ended question, and then interrupted the witness. He
says the witness was blamed unfairly, and this has served to
undermine him & the whole prosecution. JK also says Judge has been
dismissive, minimizing the prosecution continually by saying how
their case is "slow slugging" & "I hope we can make some
progress today." James is really laying into the court. He
asks to cite five examples of the court's unfair dismissiveness,
and proceeds to list some incidents that appear to have weighed
heavily on him for some time.
Jeff responds by saying he'll be more careful when choosing to
refer to the transcripts, & that the
witness is known for being long-winded yet non-responsive.
Judge Mertel expresses his extreme disappointment in the remarks of the state:
he reiterates several times that the
pettiness of remarks is EXTREMELY DISAPPOINTING. Says "we are stretching
the abilities of the jury," & urges counsel to move forward quickly.
Someone
whispers "you can smell some desperation in here."
11:20- jury comes in...Jeff continues with Shinkaruk. Shinkaruk
suggested to SB that Haslett's organization had workers in other
places, including the US. Also, in counting money, suggested the
amount of money the ring took in by saying counting this amount
($250-300K) was commonplace.
They're on the 4th scenario- of 12!
Shinkaruk called after the release of a N. Shore news article
detailing another undercover RCMP operation, and tried to ascertain whether
their cover was blown.
5-30- 19:04: Shinkaruk calls SB. Says Haslett is tied up. SB says
"beotch" then has to explain the "clever slang
pronunciation" to Shinkaruk. SB sounds breezy. What did he
conclude as to whether the cover was blown? Shinkaruk had no strong
conclusions. Henderson, Haslett, himself, & coordinators
talked a lot about whether or not to stop the project. Wanted to
for sure find out in a couple of conversations whether it was
blown or not. The officers decided to arrange another meet. The
seed had been planted ("they're cops"), & it could
be an obstacle. At the conclusion of the two phone calls,
Shinkaruk was comfortable doing more meets, but couldn't be 100%
comfortable that the cover hadn't been blown.
Now we get to listen to the conversation in SB & AR's home during & after the phone
call we just heard: again, I have no idea what was just said. They
go over it though, & all agree there was no
conversation/indication after phone call that anyone in the house
thought they were cops. SB then says "a great weight has been
lifted" with regards to not having to meet with Haslett &
Shinkaruk.
I notice that Burns is very animated & expressive in conversation.
Though it's hard to tell if he's overcompensating for nervousness
at times.
Next scenario: June 15-16 at Royal Scott Hotel in Victoria.
Purpose: meet Jimmy Miyoshi, and figure out if any threat remains that their
cover was blown. RCMP thought if the boys (just Sebastian and
Jimmy) stayed over night, they
might stimulate private conversation. This scenario involved the
boys making deposits at a number of banks, moving around $150k in
cash.
Shinkaruk drove Jimmy & SB around to different banks. Car
was wired, so other officers could listen in. Also could hear
private conversations between SB & Jimmy in car.
Shinkaruk was not present when SB was talking with Haslett. SB
asked him if he heard anything about Bellevue.
One plaguing question: Why would Sebastian believe that these
criminals would be so kind as to destroy evidence to help him? Computers!
His computer savvy would be used to suggest to SB that he had value to
Haslett. They used the rouse that Haslett wanted to start putting
records on computer: if SB did computer stuff for them, they'd
help him.
June 15-16 scenarios made Shinkaruk feel more
comfortable about whether the cover had been blown, but the
concern would always be there.
June 20 scenario 7: purpose: communicate to SB, Jimmy, &
AR that their computer abilities would be an asset to their
organization. Shinkaruk called Burns, wanting to arrange to go to
their homes.
Channel 35 June 20, 8:44 pm intercept phone call:
Shinkaruk says he wants to stop by. SB says the computer is not
ready, and further explains that their home is in "total mayhem."
Shinkaruk wants his address. He will report to Haslett that
they're not ready, & then they can decide what to do. Sebastian
gives him the address & directions. SB says there are two choices
Haslett could give him: a due-date for the computer to be ready,
or they could go to a café with computers. After this phone
call, Shinkaruk & Haslett went SB's house without calling first as
he asked. Shinkaruk says he didn't think SB was surprised,
though he wasn't expecting them, & he DID appear
unhappy. Jeff says Haslett had to use a demanding tone of
voice to enter the house. LONG pause- Shinkaruk won't confirm
this, says Haslett will testify to that himself. Jeff asks him to
read his previous testimony on the matter. He leafs through to the
correct page & line. He did confirm that Haslett used a demanding
voice & said "don't leave me standing outside on the porch."
Shinkaruk waited in the foyer while AH & SB spoke elsewhere. SB
said to Haslett he feared the house was bugged.
Back to June 15-16: Jimmy & SB asked Shinkaruk a lot of questions
about Haslett. He answered in mostly general, open-ended
terms, so as to not paint AH into a corner. Their imaginations
went wild, & they ended up getting the impression that Haslett was
an international criminal, as opposed to demonstrating that they had the impression he was an
undercover cop.
Lunch.
1:30: I'm back in. So is hat lady & 3 high school
students: 1 guy, 2 girls. They giggle incessantly. Other than
that, we spectators sit in complete silence for several minutes.
1:45: everyone is trickling in. All defense counsel now
present. Judge Mertel pokes his head in & asks Shyrrel to get
everyone ready as quickly as possible. She nods, checks on jury.
Then she passes cookies around to the defense.
1:47: James, Bob T, & assistant come in with Shinkaruk,
then leave again. 1:50: Sarah Jean, followed by 48 Hours girl.
1:51: guys brought in. AR & his lawyers are laughing loudly
about something- inside joke. Noel comes in, sits by Sarah Jean.
Today I'm feeling like a total outsider. SB is standing, leaning
over table conferring with Song & Jeff. 1:55 Judge comes in
& instructs us to stay seated. Students are from intro to law
class at UW!! Holey moley!
1:59: jury enters & Jeff starts again.
On to scenarios 7 and 8,
from June 27 and 28: purpose: establish a stronger relationship with
Miyoshi & further relationship with Burns. Did Shinkaruk have
specific things to tell them? Not sure of his answer here.
6-28: Haslett arrived bearing wine? Shinkaruk can't recall so
Jeff asks him to refresh his memory by reading his past
testimony, after which he confirms Haslett came in with wine
and beer.
Jimmy, SB, & Shinkaruk had general conversation. This scenario
was recorded, and it's about 8 hours long (they won't play it now
because State will play later.) Jeff says Jimmy had some
understanding that the house may be wired, & Shinkaruk
confirms this from his past testimony. Haslett & SB decided at some
point to take a walk outside the hotel, & Shinkaruk suggested
to Haslett that he should ask SB if he was willing to kill for
Haslett. Shinkaruk can't recollect whether this question was
actually put to SB, and Haslett wasn't wired on the walk. He can't
recall any suggestion to SB on 6-28-95 to explain the evidence
against him in Bellevue. Jeff:
when SB suggested the evidence didn't show he was guilty (this
"alluded to his innocence" bit has come up before), Haslett
says "you're lying to me." James objects twice on
grounds of foundation & hearsay, but Judge allows him to
answer. They refer to transcripts to sort it out. Sebastian says: "the only time those clothes were in the
proximity of the house, ok? That's something that can be accounted
for by the mere fact that we came back to the fuckin' house."
Then Haslett says the bit about "you're out & out fuckin'
lying to me." (This quote has come up several other times.)
Shinkaruk also agrees that SB appeared to believe that Haslett
could have him killed.
Now Jeff wants to discuss a 7-11-95 trip the RCMP officers made to Bellevue
to find out if the targets have "involvement
in or knowledge of the homicide." Shinkaruk starts by
discussing what his feelings about SB were before the trip: "he was extremely
intelligent individual, very cunning in his nature...very cunning
& smart in his dealings with Haslett...I was of the opinion
that he could have had something to do with the murders." His
opinion is that SB was "playing a double-edged sword" by
giving Haslett enough info for Haslett to take care of problem,
but was very reluctant to give any additional information. (Marc
objects: speculation: overruled) Burns appeared to pick his words
very carefully. Shinkaruk was surprised at how smart &
calculating he was/is. Burns would say he'd told Haslett enough,
didn't need to give more information. His opinion was that Burns
was "much schooled in all aspects of the investigation."
So they went to Bellevue because they thought they needed a VERY
authentic document in order to make sure Burns believed it. They
wanted to get BPD's lingo & everything down for in the fake
report. They knew Burns would REALLY scrutinize it, so they had to
be foolproof by going to the source (Bellevue) to ensure accuracy.
Observed that Burns put more thought into what they did than they
themselves did. SB says his lawyers couldn't get any information
about the investigation, but Shinkaruk's impression was still that
he knew about it. Shinkaruk's interpretation of SB's way of
talking is that he DID it, but didn't want to SAY it. Jeff says
another interpretation could be that he didn't do it and was lying.
Shinkaruk & Haslett NEVER said to Burns "it's ok if
you didn't do these murders. Just tell us that." True, but
Shinkaruk says they were trying to set the context for
"truth, trust, & honesty," so he should have said so
if that was the case. Guard change- a lady guard comes in! In transcripts, SB
says he doesn't think they have shit for evidence against him in
Bellevue, but he doesn't really know because they won't give his lawyer
any information.
Jeff asks if Shinkaruk was aware that SB & AR WERE wearing the same
clothes Before & AFTER the movie (same clothes at dessert
place as at the Keg). Shinkaruk doesn't recall much of anything from his trip to
Bellevue: not from meetings/conversations with BPD, information
about investigation, evidence, etc.
Shinkaruk is not sure how much it was in the media; says he blocks it out
most of the time. Did he take into account facts that were in the media? He
says no, because he didn't pay attention, & the info being in
the media wasn't taken into account for scenario planning. Jeff
goes over a bunch of media, asking for each piece if he took it
into account when planning July 18-19 scenario. Shinkaruk says he
was unaware of each piece of information being in the media, &
agrees that therefore, he couldn't tell if SB was repeating things
from newspaper or not. July trip to Bellevue resulted in the fake
police report, which they showed to SB on 7-18-95
7-10-95: Scenario with Jimmy & Shinkaruk alone for about
2.5 hours. Didn't question Jimmy about murders: Purpose: to
separate Jimmy from Burns & get information about relationship
between Burns and Rafay. (not sure why we skipped to this
suddenly, then drop it).
FACTS SUGGESTED BY Haslett BEFORE 7-18: Jeff asks: was
it part of the plan for
Haslett to suggest to Burns on 7-18 that the murder weapon was washed in
shower, that box had been moved, that he showered after murders?
Shinkaruk can't remember if these comments were part of the plan,
but they were said. SB couldn't talk to AR between 7-18 & 7-19
(which is when AR came to the hotel). (This is significant,
in case you didn't catch on, because SB says things in his 7-18-95
confession which are contradicted the following day by Atif's
confession).
Haslett and Shinkaruk mentioned to SB on 7-19-95 that there was a guy they needed to go
get money from. Basically, Shinkaruk is going to rough him up and
make him pay what he owes Haslett, and wanted Burns to come along. SB asked what role he might have if a shooting
occurred. SB implies he thinks Shinkaruk has expertise in gun
shooting. SB was not confident in his own abilities (he was shying
away from any possibility that he'd be made to shoot someone).
Shinkaruk told him to follow his lead. Shinkaruk
doesn't actually know who brought up the gun issue. SB was nervous when they got to the guys hotel room, not cocky
or excited. SB's job was to watch the hallway. Shinkaruk
isn't sure how much of the interaction SB saw.
Jeff is now finished with Shinkaruk. Marc is reserving
for now. Break!
3:30: Redirect by James.
James asks why Shinkaruk would think they'd have an evidentiary conversation after
the Whistler scenario? Answer: there was lots of discussion, unsolicited, about
criminal activity, his expressed willingness to be a hit-man, and the
comment that Haslett didn't have as long a way to fall as
Sebastian (this being poetic speech about being caught for a
crime). All of these comments made
him think he should tape the next scenario. Shinkaruk found it significant that SB
said he could "fall" farther than Haslett, since he would consider murder
the number one worst crime (and remember, Burns would be assuming
that Haslett, being a crime boss, is a murderer), and therefore the farthest point from which you
could fall.
Shinkaruk had no plans to get SB to say anything specific about the Bellevue
murders. Operators try to further conversation, but can't exactly
control the flow of conversation. James Konat is done for now.
Jeff goes again, wanting to address the "furthest to fall" remark.
Would Shinkaruk agree an innocent person convicted of murder would, in
fact be "falling" farther? Shinkaruk side-steps it: saying he
wants nothing to do with cases involving wrongful convictions.
3:41 jury dismissed. Counsel is asked to stay. The judge asks
if they have anything to discuss. James says Chris Wazny (female
RCMP) not available. Will continue with Scott Duran (?) tomorrow,
then Haslett. They apparently will do a Friday court session in
mid-May: May 14th. Jury will deliberate all 5 days of the week if
they want. James: done with Canadian evidence 4-26 or 4-27.
Defense needs to give list of who will testify, & hopefully
will have a decision on whether the clients will testify.
Marc: transcripts provided by state this morning from 5-14
& 4-30 (channel 34=house, not phone). There's a
misunderstanding about what transcript they're going to use. The
April 30 transcript isn't on the judge's list. Marc will wait to
see if they use it.
Song: Haslett through May 6, 1995 or further?
Song wants to object to some intercepts- one is between SB
& a girlfriend, the other is between SB & Arash. There are
five in total that Song wants not to be heard by the jury, one of
which is portions only. I think this is on the grounds of
relevancy.
Jeff: informed by State that Ed Blake is doing additional DNA
work, & they want to know what it is.
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