This trial started November 24, 2003 and is ongoing.

February 25, 2004
by
hbm

9 am
Defendants come in.  Atif looks very dignified in a black suit.  Veronica Freitas and James Konat are up front talking with the court clerks.  Sitting behind are what appears to be a father and daughter unit.  They rode up with me in the elevator.  The "dad" is explaining something.  Another student-type female sits in my row.  A man is equipping James with some device underneath his shirt.  Same with Detective Thompson- ahah- it's a microphone for CBS news, who are present.  The blood spatter expert who testified earlier, a Mr. Sweeny I believe, is sitting several rows back.

The Judge enters, and the standard discussion of topics outside of what the jury is present for begins.  James begins a discussion about handling certain types of objections from the defense.  Judge Mertel decides in favor of the defense: he will continue to allow objections, though not lengthy speaking objections.  The judge mentions that he needs a copy of interview transcripts, so he can verify that neither side is being misleading by leaving out certain words or phrases in context, and so on.

Jury enters at 9:34 am.  Judge updates the jury on the heating/cooling situation in the courtroom, saying they're going to move them around for comfort reasons.

The trial begins for the day, with James continuing with Detective Thompson.  The testimony resumes with second interviews with the defendants, starting with Burns.  Thompson says the BPD decided a second interview was important, as Rafay and Burns had been inside the actual crime scene, and may be able to provide detectives with additional information.  These interviews took place the morning of July 14th.  Thompson notes that Burns gave more details than Rafay, and that some of those details bothered him, such as Burns' statement that he went to the Tariq's door, but not inside.  This particular assertion interested Thompson because Sebastian claimed he saw blood on Tariq Rafay's head and face, something Thompson doesn't think he could see from where he was standing.

James asks for interview details on days leading up to the 12th.  According to Thompson, Sebastian says they drove up to Vancouver BC one day during their Seattle visit, and they also met with Mr. & Ms. Rackly- the neighbors (not certain of spelling).  Judge asks Thompson to speak up. The father/daughter pair leave, and I notice that for the first time, hat lady is not present today!  Anyway...Thompson says Sebastian gave many details from the day of the 12th, but couldn't give TIMES during the day.  However, his memory of the "alibi times" (time of events during the evening of the murders) were VERY specific.  Burns is writing with a pencil again.  Thompson says once Burns' account moved into the post-alibi period, when they were back at the house, he became VERY vague on time again.  An older man comes in and sits.  Thompson maintains he treated Burns and Rafay respectfully.  No foul language was used by detectives. Thompson says Burns seems "put out" by interview, apparently because they were kept waiting for 3 hours and missed dinner. 

From this point onward, Konat and Thompson basically "re-enacted" or "role-played" the transcript of Thompson's and Gomes' interview with Sebastian Burns.  James read for the detectives' parts, and Thompson read for Sebastian's responses.  It is easier if I put this into a narrative form that can avoid my having to repeatedly say "Thompson said Burns said...," so bear with me:

Thompson began the interview by asking specific questions about Burns' relationship to Rafay. Burns says they met in high school in 1990; says they're good, if not best, friends.  During their stay at the Rafay's house, Burns says they watched a lot of TV, and that the neighbors came over at some point (Sat.).  Burns got the feeling that Tariq wanted to "show off" Atif to the neighbors.  Burns can't remember Saturday night clearly.  He says he doesn't know the geography of Bellevue, so doesn't really differentiate between downtown Bellevue and the rest of it when he's telling about his week at the Rafay's.  He remembers Monday, when they took Sultana's car to Vancouver BC.  They went to Burns' house, saw his mom (who complained that he'd left his room messy), got his bank book, and visited the to bank.  Sebastian also says they visited a friend who worked at a "biology place," in "North Van."  This friend is Jimmy Mioshi.  This part is different than Atif's account, which didn't mention their meeting with Jimmy at all.  They returned back to Rafay house in Bellevue around 8 pm that same day.  They watched TV that night.  Burns says they didn't know anyone in Seattle, and didn't know where anything fun was (i.e. clubs.  Not surprising, given how few Seattle has for the under-21 set).  Sebastian says "like" A LOT in the transcripts.  Thompson's reading sounds fairly "natural" to me, including the incessant saying of "like," "um, you know," and "or something."  And I think these terms/phrases sound very natural to 18-year-old male speech.  On the morning of the murders, Atif and Sebastian left the house around noon, went to a Mitsubishi dealership, then Silver Platters, then to a Cadillac dealership, then (I believe) a bookstore.  Atif whispers with Marc briefly during testimony.  They planned to see a movie that evening, and when asked "why the Lion King," by detectives, Sebastian says he didn't really want to see it, but Rafay did.  Sebastian used the downstairs shower (which he used for each of his showers during the trip) before the movie.  He confirms he never shaved in the shower (or at all, really), and to his knowledge, did not cut himself in shower.

Prosecution points out that the downstairs shower did test positive for blood.  Veronica objects, and is sustained.  Thompson says it was believed the killer(s) showered in that shower. Veronica objects again but is over-ruled.  Konat puts a copy of the interview transcript on the overhead projector.  Jeff objects, under rule of completeness, and asks that several additional lines in the transcript be left on.  Before the movie, Burns and Rafay went to The Keg, "a little after 8:30 or something like that."  Sebastian gives details of their dinner at Keg.  They ate, then became worried about the time- the movie started at 9:50.  Since neither of them had a watch, they (apparently) asked the waiter for the time.  They also asked him about clubs downtown, and he suggested they check out the Weathered Wall.  Atif and Sebastian got to the Factoria Cinemas at 9:40, and Burns seemed surprised that they were early.  Burns bought Sour-Patch Kids.  Atif didn't buy anything, but played Mortal Combat II before the movie started.  They asked theatre employees for suggestions of cool places to hang out in Seattle, and they suggested the Crocodile Café, but hadn't heard of the Weathered Wall.  As the movie began in the theater, there were curtains covering the sides of the screen.  There were around 20 people in the movie.  People were yelling to get curtains open, including Atif.  Atif and Sebastian ran up to pull aside the curtains, but they were stuck, so they went and complained to an employee.  Here in the interview Sebastian goes off about the "shittiness" of the movie, the commercialization of Disney, the bad Elton John music.  I chuckle, because I can really see his point here.  He goes on to say that he foun the ending "unsatisfying" because in the end "good prevails," and then goes on to pontificate on the themes of the cartoon.

Recess
(I go pay the parking meter.) 

Re-convene, 11:05

Over a half-dozen Japanese kids (by kid I mean young adults) here again today.  Before the jury comes in, James wants to make sure a spectator won't take pictures during proceedings.  He gave permission for pictures during the recess, but wanted to make sure the spectator understood it was not to happen during proceedings, just in case that was unclear.  He doesn't really speak English.  Just to make sure all is clear, Judge Mertel has him stand and says there can be no photographs.  This was to avoid the potential embarrassment that could occur if he did take photos, but the guy seems un-phased, so everyone moves on.

The jury comes in at 11:20.  Thompson continues reading his interview with Burns.  After the movie, Burns and Rafay went to downtown Seattle because they were hungry for some "sweet things," and thought it would be a better place to find something open 24 hours.  Thompson thinks this is strange logic, claiming there's 24-hour establishments all over by Factoria Cinemas.  Burns couldn't remember the name of the place they went, but it was someplace on 4th & Virginia.  The hostess that girl sat them down was sporting the "Seattle grunge look."  Burns got a coke, hash-browns, and chocolate cake.  Rafay ordered a coke and an ice-cream dish (I think).  Burns says they stayed an hour, maybe.  The "alternative-looking" girl told them where the Weathered Wall was, and luckily, it was within walking distance.  When they went there, they were told it was closed.  Someone bummed a smoke from Atif, and Sebastian walked back to the restaurant to use the bathroom and get a tissue.  The hostess noticed them, and verified seeing them at 1:40. She checked her watch because she was thinking "they won't get into the Weathered Wall, because it closes soon."  They then drove back to the house.

The drove into the garage, using the automatic door.  From the garage, they walk into the hallway.  The light to is on.  Veronica objects to Thompson's delivery tone, saying it grew pointedly soft and  hesitant, and that it should be clear to the jury that that embellishment is his own.  Thompson reiterates that during the "alibi period" Burns gave long answers to short questions, whereas once they enter the house, he becomes vague. 

Transcripts continues: they see Basma lying in her blood in the family room.  Burns goes towards her, within about 5 feet.  He says she was totally still, and he thinks Atif was talking, though he's not sure specifically what he said.  He says he didn't touch Basma.  Burns says his head was "like filled with white light" from the horror of the image, from the shock and the adrenaline, making it difficult for him to recall precise details.  Burns uses the term "I don't know/I don't remember" 8 times on one page. 

During testimony, several younger men in business attire shift in and out of the courtroom.  Burns gets transcripts out of his bag, to follow along.  A student-type kid comes in; sits with a notebook. 

Next, Atif and Sebastian went to find Atif's dad.  James and Thompson rehash the "was the TV on or not" piece.  The boys went upstairs to Tariq's room.  In the transcript, Gomes says to Burns: "I don't remember isn't going to cut it."  Burns becomes defensive, saying "I've never fucking seen dead bodies before.  I’m sorry I didn't fucking take notes."  Continuing on, Burns says they stood in the hallway to Tariq's bedroom (the hall light was on).  Burns has trouble remembering whether or not Atif was ahead or behind, because he's "about a foot shorter" and therefore does not affect Burns' line of vision either way.  Burns peered around the doorway, saw Tariq lying on his back, face covered in blood.  Blood covered the wall behind him.  Atif goes in, but doesn't touch him. Burns expressed concern that the killer(s) might still be in the house at that time, but says they did not hear anyone else.  They didn't do anything for a moment, then decided to go call 911.  Burns calls from the kitchen phone. He isn't totally sure what he said.  The dispatcher suggested he leave the house.  Atif joined him in the kitchen area before they exited.  They sat in the driveway until police car arrived, which took between five and ten minutes.  Sebastian says he ran over to the first police car, because it passed them a bit, and he wanted to make sure the police knew where the house was.  Then many more police vehicles pulled up.  James suggests this is an appropriate place to break for lunch.