This trial started November 24, 2003 and is
ongoing.
February 24, 2004
by
guest writer Erin
9:45 am: Wow! There are so many people
here today! About 15 people are here in the benches watching. All
but two of us are girls, hmm. Right now, Konat and the witness,
Detective Thompson of the Bellevue Police Department are going over
a phone bill. Calls from the Burns residence to the Canadian
Consulate, Bellevue Police records department, and to Japan are
reviewed. Bob, the court clerk who is usually pretty spunky, is
looking at the screen with the call list on it at such an angle that
he looks somewhat cadaverous. I’m not saying he’s sleeping or
anything, but I sure have seen that pose on my dad at church before.
And Bob really probably isn’t praying. I heart Bob.
10:05 am: Robinson has a few clarifying
questions (which numbers are which, etc. Pretty low-key.)
These were just some admissibility questions.
Now the jury can come in.
Thompson defines the difference between
statement and interview (written statement, interview with detailed
questions) Konat then asks many questions about the first interviews
with Burns and Rafay. These are the interviews that the BPD had
with the boys the morning after the murders, when everyone had been
up all night.
Thompson is asked about what if anything struck
him about Rafay at the interview, and he said that it struck him
that Rafay seemed very unemotional for having just lost his entire
family. Konat confirmed that the detectives were not threatening or
swearing or that any theatrics were going on on the part of the
detectives. In fact, Thompson said that detective Gomes took on a
“fatherly” tone with Rafay, saying that they were going to have to
ask him some hard questions, that he was showing concern for Rafay
and let him know something about funeral arrangements or asked about
funeral arrangements (Thompson was pretty quiet, and even Judge
Mertel asked him to speak up) and that Rafay remained showing no
emotion.
Then Konat goes over the times of the
interviews, that they each lasted about half an hour with half an
hour in between, from about 6:45 am to 8:00 am (the lawyers are more
specific about the minutes than I am).
10:25 am
Konat asked about if there were any parts of
the statement that Burns had put in that had been “highlighted”.
This term was used after Konat had asked if there had been anything
unusual about the statement, but the objection that this was
characterization was sustained, and Konat changed his question.
Thompson said he had highlighted a couple things. The first being
that Burns noted that Basma was developmentally disabled (Burns’
terminology, not mine or Thompson’s) and didn’t talk much and that
it made her hard to be around. She was autistic. The other thing
that struck him about Burns’ statement was that Burns said he saw
Mr. Rafay’s head and that it was covered in blood, but Thompson’s
observation at the house was that from the doorway where Burns said
he looked into the bedroom, especially in the dark of the night, was
that it was not really possible to see Mr. Rafay’s head. That’s
pretty exciting and classic TV courtroom evidence, if ya ask me.
Today’s whole discussion is keeping me pretty interested.
Over the next hour more questions are asked
about what Thompson finds of note in the interviews. Some of them
are:
Though neither Burns nor Rafay were wearing watches, they are
very specific about times things happened on the night of the murder
until the time when they get to the house. This was interesting to
him compared with the fact that Rafay said he couldn’t remember
anything much about the days before, like, the 7th
through the 11th of July when he and Burns had been
staying with the Rafay family. He used the term “mishmash” to
describe the days, and couldn’t even remember which day they took a
trip to Vancouver.
Also, Thompson found it of note that Burns said
he sat at the end of a very short driveway with Rafay after calling
911 and leaving the house because he was afraid the murderer might
still be around. Of note since the driveway wasn’t even as along as
the length of an average room.
Konat kind of overindulges on this point, and
both the defense and Judge Mertel kind of shush him on to another
point.
Things Thompson Found Suspicious:
That Burns didn’t try to help the family, just assuming they were
dead.
That even though Rafay heard Basma moaning, he didn’t try to help
her.
That Rafay hadn’t notified any of his family in Canada about the
murders.
That Burns hadn’t called and talked to his family about the murders.
That Burns seemed “put out” about having to talk to the police.
11am – 11:30 am: Morning break. Not much
goes on during this break. Last time there was chatting and banana
eating, but this time, not a lot. The prosecution says they will
probably not finish with Thompson till tomorrow.
OK. Back to work, lawyers! Konat has
Thompson point out on a diagram where the Bellevue Police
Headquarters is in respect to the motel where they put Burns and
Rafay up. Thompson has to borrow some reading glasses to see the
cross streets, and his wife and daughter, who are sitting behind me
giggle and talk about how he just needs to bite the bullet and go
get glasses. It’s cute. The distance between the motel and HQ
is about a mile. Now Bob is fiddling with his nails and giggling.
Good to see he’s getting perkier. Maybe he slammed some espresso on
break.
The two detectives tracked down Burns and Rafay
at the Barnes and Noble somewhere between HQ and the Bellevue motel.
Thompson said they both seemed apprehensive about talking to police,
and that when asked for separate interviews, Burns put out his arm
to shield or block Rafay and said they'd go together. When
Gomes and Thompson got Atif alone, they went to a park and talked to
him for about two hours. More testimony about Rafay being very
unclear about times and activities on the other days, but clear on
the 12th. He maintained that the lights were off in the house
when they got home. He talked about when he and Burns went to
bed (usually very late, like 3 am) and what time his mom and dad
went to bed (dad by 11, mom by 12). At 12:10, still during
testimony, I had to leave, but more of the interview was being
discussed. |
