This trial started November 24, 2003 and is
ongoing.
May 10, 2004
by
Hilary
TD 5.10.04
I arrive on time,
but no one is in the courtroom. When I step inside, a middle-aged
brunette woman tells me it's not starting until
11:00 because a juror had a doctor's appointment or something
along those lines. So I have some time to kill.
10:36
I come back
to the courtroom. Outside are several young women who stop talking
and seem to give me their undivided attention as I walk by. Trial
Diary readers? I go into the courtroom and sit down. Brunette
woman is still there, searching through papers in a big binder. I
wonder who she is. There's a clerk I don't recognize- male, with a
mustache, about 45- sitting up front. The 48 hours camera man goes
in and out of the room, preparing. Other than that, there is no one
else yet present. But I'm still very early.
11:05.am
Things finally getting under way. Judge says juror's dental
appointment (which was the cause of the delay this morning) was
actually cancelled and has been re-scheduled for May 17 at 5 pm, so
court will adjourn by 3:30 that day. There's a mob of young people
present- including the girls from before- and the judge asks where
they're from. One girl speaks up that they're from Lynnburg high
school. The jury enters at
11:13.
Examination of
Haslett continues. James is playing the tape of the 6-19-95
scenario. This was the 11th of the 12 scenarios. Sebastian is on
the phone making arrangements with Atif to come to the hotel. He
asks if Atif can bring a brown bag containing his contacts. At
Shinkaruk's request, Sebastian describes Atif's appearance.
Shinkaruk will be picking him up. Now Burns is talking about how he
got a hair sample. First, he sat behind a woman in a movie theater
and cut a piece of her hair. But it had highlights, so he had to
discard it and keep looking. He wandered around to clubs and tried
to pick up girls, but none had suitable hair. He explains how
"everywhere I turn there's like, a hair salon...terrorizing me."
Finally he offered a street musician (playing bongos) a dollar for
some hair. I don't catch here whether or not he actually got it- if
he did, it didn’t work because he looks for another one later. Now
conversation has moved on to whether Atif is "solid." Haslett is
curious about what all Burns has told Atif about him. Sebastian
says he has suggested to Atif that "you guys are alternatively
employed."
Now they're
talking about the murders- the topic Haslett never goes long without
bringing up in these tapes, and with obvious reason. Sebastian is
saying they moved things around to simulate a break in. "Um, I
know, I think..." is his response to the question of whether they
removed anything from the house to make it look like a B and E. I
find it notable that Sebastian says "I think...Atif told them, like,
he thought the VCR was missing" (paraphrase) v. "we took the VCR."
Says he bought the bat in
Bellingham
a few days before, and that he "didn't do shit to make myself
memorable" at the store. He says he's worked retail before, and
knows how these things work. Shinkaruk and Haslett are nervous about
the bat salesperson coming forward. Sebastian tries to convince them
that's unlikely by speaking as if in a mock-employee meeting at the
store, to point out the apparent ridiculousness of them remembering
him buying the bat.
Haslett says he'll
give Atif and Sebastian cash to go buy the computer he wants.
They'll go over the documents to go into it and then shred the paper
trail. Haslett asks what Atif will say when he finds out he'll be
working with him. Sebastian intimates that it won't be a shock.
James stops the
tape to ask about how Haslett told Sebastian that he wouldn't have
to go on collections again with Shinkaruk (as they had earlier in
the day, where Shinkaruk pretended to rough up a man while SB “stood
6” or whatever). Haslett says he did this in order to pacify him,
and because knowing he would soon be talking with Atif, he probably
wouldn't have to put Burns in that situation again (because they'd
be arrested before to long).
Sebastian is
giving Haslett an extremely rudimentary explanation of computer
hardware: monitor, “which is like a TV….a tower-style box where all
the circuits and stuff are….a keyboard with letters and stuff,”
(paraphrase) etc.
Talking about
topical search computers at Tower Records, and why they don't have
them in every video store. Haslett's bright idea is to develop
systems to RENT to video stores. This is the most inane
conversation ever. They're totally BS’ing- Sebastian is all "I know
how copyright laws work."
Now Atif has
arrived. Sebastian introduces him to Haslett. It sounds like someone
is peeing in the background, but maybe they’re just pouring a
beverage off-camera. Sebastian and Atif sit patiently in the living
room portion of the room while Haslett and Shinkaruk take care of
business. Atif confirms to Haslett that he's “pretty sharp with the
computers." Get a stout beer- joke about opening bottle with teeth
ala jimmy.
Haslett: trust is
biggest thing in my work. You're here because I trust that man there
(meaning Sebastian). He's going to make me money (and vice versa).
(paraphrase)
He goes on to give
his basic big speech about trust. Haslett doesn't look at someone
again if he doesn't trust them, etc. etc.
Haslett continues:
you and Sebastian are in a little trouble. You guys are so close to
going to jail.
Sebastian explains
to Atif the BPD report stating that Sebastian's hair was in towel,
there was a blood stain in the garage (both guys claim to have no
clue about this), and "stained boxer shorts in laundry" (same
thing). The saliva found on Tariq’s bedroom wall was not a surprise
to them- it could have landed there during exaggerated speech.
Apparently the report said they also wanted to analyze pieces of the
wall. Haslett is back to the trust speech: "it's pretty easy for
you to go rat him out." Atif says he would never do that because
Sebastian is "so important to everything I do...I might as well rat
myself out."
Haslett: what'd
you do when you were in the house? He confirms he watched rather
than helped with the murders because he "didn't have the nerve for
it…and Sebastian was bigger and stronger." Sebastian explains how
the sister took “a little more bat work." Atif says he declined to
help because "it was a little more than I was prepared to be
confronted with." Atif says he only saw his mom's murder, and he
didn't wash up after. They're confused about what Atif was wearing.
This is where Atif says he "hucked (socks and gloves) out the
window." Sebastian tries to explain why Atif says window when he
said dumpster (we’ve seen this part before, if our trial diary
readers can recall). He is trying to smooth out inconsistencies
Atif is bringing up. Atif seems to look at Sebastian for validation
before committing to an answer. Such as when he says he was wearing
boxers during the murders...."yeah, uh, boxers," looking at
Sebastian.
Haslett: "here's
what's gonna happen...there's going to be a fire in the lab...the
hair is gonna go missing (and will be replaced by the gathered
sample)….right now they are culturing Sebastian's DNA (so the fire
has to happen within the next few weeks).” (I personally find it
utterly amazing that Atif and Sebastian, supposedly, bought this
plan….it’s preposterous.)
Now Haslett is
saying really dorky things about computer security like "there's a 1
in 6,000,000 chance of (breaking in)...that's the computer I want."
Apparently Haslett will send documents to a PO Box, and once they
retrieve the mail, they have to enter the information into the
computer and shred the papers immediately.
Now discussion has
moved on to Jimmy: the boys are assuring Haslett he's solid. He was
a “secondary participant.” Sebastian’s explaining that Jimmy already
got kicked out of his house, arrested, interrogated all night and
"didn't crack at all."
Haslett tells
Sebastian to go to lobby and page Shinkaruk. He wanted to talk to
Atif about the murders alone. At this point Jimmy was still a target
of Project Estate.
Jury leaves for
lunch at 12:15, but counsel stays to argue about a channel 34
intercept the State wants to include. James makes his case that
there's no prejudicial (to the defense) information in the
intercept. He wants the jury to hear the ridiculous small-talk the
boys engage in. Says in the past they've excluded conversations
because of things like Sebastian discussing women's bodies, Atif
making a racial slur (flurry of whispering protest from Atif to
Veronica Freitas when he hears this allegation). Song: some
information on this intercept is prejudicial to the defense, such as
playing back of recorded messages from page 1 - 12; wants to start
on pg. 13. Judge rules to allow it, in full.
Judge comes in at
1:40. Roger Davidheiser is asking for at least 48 hours to
prepare if defendants are going to testify.
Jeff says the
prosecution should assume that Sebastian will testify as their last
witness, Veronica and Marc concur with respect to their client (I
took this to mean that the defense wanted the prosecution to operate
under the assumption that both would testify simply so that it would
be their responsibility to prepare, without the defense having to
tell them for sure immediately prior to the testimony. I did not
take this to mean that they would actually testify; however, I heard
definitively later today that Sebastian will testify. I’m not sure
what Atif is going to do.)
James resumes with
Haslett. He's just sent Sebastian away. Atif is saying he trusts
Haslett because Sebastian does. Atif says he'll get about $350,000
from life insurance policy, plus some more from the house. Atif says
they left the murder scene through the sliding glass door upstairs;
they wore gloves. They were thinking of breaking the lock but
didn't (interesting detail to add). He says the bat was washed and
thrown in a downtown Seattle dumpster. Atif is swearing he would
never say anything to cops about Haslett. (There’s a knocking at the
door; Haslett yells “just a minute”). Atif says it was a “necessary
injustice” that forced he and Sebastian to commit the murders. It
was necessary for what he wanted to achieve in this life; it was a
necessary sacrifice, though it “felt pretty rotten.”
Atif
answers the door finally and Sebastian comes back in. They talk
again about getting a hair sample. Sebastian will page Haslett and
say "Haslett, I found your dog" when he has a sample. James stops
the tape. Sebastian had asked "can I show you the strands I have,"
which he had with him. Haslett says he has the hairs Sebastian gave
him on 7-26-95. These aren't from his collection efforts from
7-18-95. Back to tape. Knock on door; Shinkaruk enters. Haslett
offers him a beer. Sebastian wouldn't mind having wine “if it's any
good”- asks if anyone's tried it. Then they discover there are no
glasses. They joke about Atif having not been laid in a year. Atif
says he turned 19 in February (note from Hilary: he and Donna share
a Feb. 15 birthday). Shinkaruk asks if he's tried internet sex.
They're talking about the stupidity of computer sex. Sebastian says
something about being a chick magnet. The conversation moves on to
Calgary, how they don't much like it. Then they talk about Cornell,
Atif says Carl Sagan is a professor there. Atif has taken film,
English, and philosophy. This is a pretty lame "guy" discussion in
my view. Shinkaruk asks if they’ve ever tried a Yuk-a-flux:
beverage made with a garbage can filled with fruit and booze.
Sebastian- “isn’t that like Sangria?” Now on to playboy's Ivy
League issue, and whether there're fat girls on campus at Cornell (I
don’t catch the answer, but I would assume it’s yes). In the
courtroom, the defendants are looking down at the table, not at the
screen. Atif shields his eyes from the screen briefly, perhaps in
exasperation or embarrassment.
Shinkaruk asks if
they ever come to
Victoria,
to which Sebastian replies: "why the fuck would you want to?" They
emphatically express their love for
Vancouver: "It's awesome..." Atif says the Seahawks suck.
Haslett: hockey's
where it’s at but I can't stand the Canucks.
Really banal, benign sports talk ensues. Shinkaruk wants Burns to
tell a joke for him, but doesn't want him to "fuck it up like Garlic
did." (referring to Jimmy Miyoshi, and his front-side ponytail
hairdo from the past scenario).
Sebastian obliges
him by telling the joke: there’s a guy talking to his wife, and she
says he doesn’t look so good, but he says he feels fine...it goes on
like this- people at his work, on the bus, etc. etc., all say he
doesn’t look so good but he insists he feels great. Well, as
it turns out, he's a vagina. That is the actual punch line.
Sebastian mocks the joke by sarcastically saying "that’s
(Shinkaruk's) literary humour." Atif explains he doesn't like jokes
much because they're so contrived. Shinkaruk is trying to get Atif
to explain what he does find funny, but Atif can’t really
articulate this, and Shinkaruk just doesn’t seem to get where he’s
coming from.
The guys take off;
Shinkaruk will be giving them a ride to (I think) to the ferry. The
video is still playing but the room is empty; Haslett explains this
is to make for sure that they cleared out completely. The noise of
the tape is distracting, but James talks over it. Phone rings,
Haslett answers. Then "signs off" by officially stating to the
camera that it was 5:30, 7-19-95: Project Estate.
James continues.
He’s reviewing an intercept from channel 34 the same evening. It's
from inside the Phillip Avenue house, of Sebastian and Atif talking.
Song objects and the court clerk has to read back the last
question: "why was it important to listen to their conversation
after the scenario?"
Haslett- to
determine what Sebastian and Atif were thinking/feeling, if they had
lied, were scared or intimidated, in case they would talk about the
murders, etc.
James plays the
tape. I cannot make out a single word. They're playing back
answering machine messages, and the recording of a recording is not
panning out. The jurors have transcripts. Of course, since the rule
is that they have to HEAR it for it to count, I don't see how this
is useable. I think someone called about a Michael Jackson History
movie Sebastian ordered for 39.99 (or was it just 9.99?), but I
could be way off. Nope, I'm right: they replay the messages about 4
times. You can hear occasional chatter between Sebastian and Atif
over the recordings, and I wonder if they're listening to the
messages over and over intending to block out their conversation. I
really have no idea, since I don't know what's on the transcripts.
Are they a deciphered version of the boys' conversation, or of the
messages? No way to know. Bored, I look around and notice that
lady's hat is pink satin today! Pretty! Sebastian is laughing
uncontrollably about one of the messages. Atif giggles as well. No
idea what's being said. Lots of giggling. Now one of them is on the
phone. This is hopeless without a transcript. Done. Haslett says
next contact with Sebastian was a voicemail on his pager, as per
their discussion about hair samples. It was the "I found your dog
message." He left a second one the same day (7-24?) confirming he
found his dog. 7-26-95 was the 12th scenario, at the Landis Hotel.
Break.
Back in at
3:23. James recaps that Haslett received pages from
Burns. Haslett called back and left a message that he wanted to
retrieve his dog, then also left one on Sebastian's cell phone.
3 pm phone conversation (7-25-95) tape
is played:
Haslett
is arranging a “4:00 tomorrow afternoon” meeting. Haslett will stand in front
of Landis hotel at 1234 Hornby, in the heart of downtown
Vancouver (off
Granville St.). He has reserved room 621, an apartment-style unit
in the hotel.
Haslett points at
a large blown-up diagram/blue-print of the hotel where he meets with
Jimmy and Sebastian. He included Jimmy to talk more with him about
his level of involvement. Atif drove the other two boys there in a
Mustang, but Haslett didn't invite him up. Shyrell distributes
copies of a red folder containing the Landis Hotel room blueprint to
the jury. It also includes photos (Exhibits in the 530's) of the
hotel's entrance (taken 8-03, after his pre-trial preparation and
testimony). Photo #3 is the hallway into room 621. Not sure where
this is going. Haslett is using a pointer to indicate how all the
photos relate to the aerial floor-plan blueprint of the room. There
are photos of basically of every possible angle inside the unit, 13
in all. At one point in the scenario, Haslett leaves the two boys
together alone to talk. The room was not set up as if he'd been
staying there. Why no video of this? Song objects, sustained on
account of Haslett saying "I can’t say for sure but..."
James tries to
rephrase but it doesn't work this time either. He leaves it at: you
believed you were going to have an evidentiary conversation and
that’s why there was audio recording devices? Yes.
Sebastian gave him
hairs in a Save on Foods bag. Haslett gave the samples to another
officer at 5 pm that same day. This morning Haslett opened the bag
for the first time ever, just to check and make sure the hair hadn't
turned to dust.
Exhibit 538: A CD
Burns brought for Haslett was also turned over to the other officer.
Haslett initiated
the 7-26 conversation, starting with the computer, moving to trust.
Haslett hadn't seen Jimmy since the second Royal Scott scenario.
Jimmy was extremely non-verbal, appearing very leery of Haslett and
answering questions. He nodded and shook his head, not talking.
Sebastian told Jimmy to tell Haslett what he knows, and Jimmy
replied to Sebastian: "you tell him for me." He’s definitely not
wanting to talk.
Haslett directed
his questions to Jimmy, but he continued to mainly use non-verbal
communication. Haslett said to Sebastian to tell Jimmy what all he
(Haslett) already knew then got up and left the room. He sat in one
of the bedrooms for several minutes. Song objects and is sustained
several times when Haslett wanders off the question. Haslett asked
Jimmy if he knew who killed the Rafays and he nodded towards
Sebastian.
James finally
plays the intercept (with transcript on screen, thankfully) from
Landis Hotel, 7-26-95.
Haslett: this is the type of place my computer will be
permanently set up.
Gives his trust speech to Jimmy, who's all "mmm...mmm…" then says in
regards to the murders "I got a little bit involvement in it...we
talked about things before." Then he says "I'm just saying
there's nothing to rat about" and Sebastian replies "he's just
being clever." When Haslett asks "how long in advance did you know
about the things in the States." Sebastian gives Jimmy an
encouraging "it's ok," then Jimmy says "well then you talk for me
then." Sebastian explains to Jimmy that he knows he can trust Jimmy
with his life, after all he's been through for him (arrested,
getting kicked out), but that Haslett needs to know that as well.
Haslett asks Jimmy
if he knew about the murders in advance, and Jimmy says "um, I don't
know." Then he goes mute and Sebastian does the talking, explaining
that he's hesitant because it's an "uncomfortable thing."
Haslett- “you're
sitting here like a little fucken whipped puppy dog."
Haslett keeps pushing "how long did you know about this in
advance?'' then saying "see, I don't give a fuck, I just want to see
that they're trustworthy." Jimmy is CLEARLY still hesitant.
Sebastian tries to encourage him to talk. Jimmy wants Haslett to
explain WHY he wants to know. Haslett: for trust. Jimmy isn't buying
this, but doesn't know how to handle it.
Tape concludes at
5:25 pm,
7-26-95
The jury leaves.
The State says it is resting tomorrow morning; Defense needs
Thompson to come in and testify as they get underway. |
