12 Hours - 13. Chapter 13

Ben had just put Officer Martel on the stand, and he began with the usual questions.

“Can you give us your full name, please?”

“Eric Oliver Martel.”

“Have you ever been known by any other names?”

“No.”

“How old are you?”

“Thirty-three.”

“Have you had time to talk with your counsel and discuss the nature and purposes of this trial?”

“Yes.”

“And you were present at the testimony of Officer Kenneth Jarl, jr.?”

“Yes.”

“As you know, you’re under oath, and everything you say will be taken into consideration. I’m sure you’ve testified a number of times in court.”

“A handful. Yes.”

“So you understand what the oath means.”

“Yes.”

“Also, since this is being transcribed, you can’t just shake your head ‘yes’ or ‘no.’ You need to reply verbally to all the questions.”

“Yes.”

“One other thing is that we don’t want any guesses. We want to know what you remember and what you don’t. So please tell us if you don’t know or can’t remember something. That will be fine, and we’ll appreciate it.”

“Yes.”

“Also, if you have any problems with any of the questions we ask, please be sure to let us know. And if you don’t understand them, or for some reason they’re not understandable to you, please tell us.”

“All right.”

“Good. Now, are you married?”

“Yes, I am.”

“Do you have any children?”

“Yes, two. A girl and a boy.”

“Do you live in the city of Los Angeles?”

“No.”

“Do you live in the county of Los Angeles?”

“No.”

Ben smiled. “All right, where do you live?”

“In Moorpark. In Ventura county.”

“Have you lived in Moorpark all the time you’ve been a police officer?”

“Yes.”

“And have you only been a police officer for the city of Los Angeles?”

“Yes.”

“How long has that been?”

“It will be four years in September.”

“So on September 3, 1985, you’d been on the police force for three years.”

“Correct.”

“You were approximately twenty-nine when you began?”

“Yes.”

“Did you have any occupation before then?”

“Yes. I was a draftsman.”

“Is that the only occupation you had before becoming a police officer?”

“Yes, that was it.”

“Did you start as a draftsman immediately after high school?”

“Not immediately, no.”

“Did you graduate from high school?”

“Yes, I did.”

“Was that in Los Angeles or in Ventura county?”

“In Los Angeles.”

“When did you begin to work as a draftsman?”

“I started college... junior college... at Los Angeles City College the summer after I graduated. I already had a couple of advance placement courses. After I was at school there for less than a year, I was offered a part-time job doing drafting for the Board of Education.”

“So you had one year of junior college.”

“I had two years.”

“Did you get an associate’s degree?”

“No. I mainly took architectural drafting classes and a couple of art courses.”

“Did you want to be an architect?”

“No. Just a draftsman was all right.”

“Did you work for the Board of Education for the entire time after finishing your first year of college and joining the LA police force?”

“No. I only worked at the Board for a year, and then I went into the Air Force. I was in graphic arts there.”

“Where were you stationed?”

“At Lackland for my training. Then Nellis, which is in Las Vegas. Then to temporary duty in Lansing, Michigan, and then in Germany, and then I came back to Nellis.”

“And all the time you worked in graphic arts?”

“Yes. They liked my work.”

“When did you get out of the Air Force?”

“After four years.”

With an honorable discharge?”

“Yes.”

“What did you do for work after that?”

“I continued drafting... for a firm that was doing interiors on a hotel in Las Vegas. I worked there for six months-or-so.”

“Was there a reason you left?”

“It was a construction company, and they were finished with the job.”

‘What did you do after that?’

“I got a job here in Los Angeles.”

“You moved to Los Angeles for the job?”

“Yes. I temporarily moved back to Van Nuys where my parents lived.”

“Did you get your new job before you left your other one?”

“Yes. Since the hotel was being completed, they said they wouldn’t need any draftsman after that.”

“So you were laid off for lack of work?”

“I might have been. But they gave us all enough advance notice to go out and find other jobs.”

“Did you also work as a draftsman at your new job in LA?”

“Yes.”

“How long did you work for them?”

“Probably four or five months.”

“Why did you leave?”

“They were getting to ready to lay us off, so we all found other jobs.” Office Martel suddenly smiled. “Now you know why I left the whole profession.”

And he and Ben laughed.

“Where did you go from there?” Ben went on.

“Another construction company.”

“How long did you work for this one?”

“That time, almost three years. Then I accepted another job. In South Pasadena.”

“Why did you leave your company?”

“I had a better offer.”

“And how long did you work for them?”

“About a year.”

“Why did you leave there?”

“Well, they had an unexpected layoff. That’s the story of my life. But they didn’t want to lose us, so they found us other jobs, working for a different company.”

“And how long did you all last there?”

“My team stayed for a year-and-a-half.”

“What happened then?”

“Well, before they left, I came to the department.”

“But you weren’t about to be laid off again?”

“No.”

“But you quit anyway?”

“By then, I had other plans.”

“When did you first apply to the department?”

“About three months before I was hired.”

“Why did you apply for a job as a policeman, instead of something in graphic arts?”

“Well, during the time I was shifting from one job to another, I was also going to school. Nights. Weekends. Whatever I could fit in. And I’d graduated from there and wanted to use that kind of work.”

“Where did you go to school?”

“Cal State Northridge.”

“What was your major?”

“Psychology.”

“Did you take any courses in police work?”

“It was my minor.”

“And you graduated from Cal State Northridge about four years ago?”

“Yes.”

“And applied to the police department at that time?”

“Yes. Because I knew it would take about three months to get on the job.”

“Did you want to be a police officer before you started majoring in psychology at Cal State?”

“Not entirely.”

“When did you decide to be a police officer?”

“Probably a couple of years before I graduated. As I said, I wasn’t going full-time. I was working as well. So it was stretched out over six years. It was kind of a family joke. I got married in there somewhere, too.”

“A busy man.”

Officer Martel again smiled, plus he nodded. Then he remembered he needed to speak and said, “Yes.”

“Can you tell me what started your interest police work?”

“Yes. I was taking a class, and there was an investigator for the LAPD who gave a speech about the department.”

“Was there anything specific about the speech that caught your interest?”

Officer Martel grinned. “Well, to be honest, he talked about the benefits.”

“Permanency, as it was.”

Again, they both laughed, and some members of the jury came with them.

“And there was the social work,” Officer Martel continued. “I liked that.”

“This was during your time at Northridge?”

“Yes. It was in a psych course.”

“Have you done any educational work since you got out of college?”

“Yes. I went back to Northridge and got a minor in substance abuse.”

“Did that get you an extra degree?”

“No. I didn’t have time for that. It just completed my requirements for a second minor.”

“I see.”

“Then I took a couple of courses at Moorpark College. Two more classes in substance abuse.”

“All while working for the department?”

“Yes.”

“Did you receive any credit for these courses?”

Officer Martel hesitated. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“Sometimes teachers take courses and get credits towards educational requirements.”

“No. These were for my own benefit.”

“Did you have any physical, mental, or emotional disabilities prior to becoming a police officer?”

“None.”

“During the time since you’ve become a police officer, have you developed any physical, mental, or emotional disabilities?”

“None.”

“Have you been treated for any physical, mental, or emotional problems during the almost four years you’ve been with the department?”

“None.”

“Did you go through the standard training course at the Police Academy?”

“Yes.”

“How long is that?”

“Sixteen weeks.”

“Did you have any courses or any in-service training in regards to the ethics of being a police officer?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me what those were, please?”

“It was a pair of training books.”

“Did you read them?”

“Yes.”

“Were they required reading?”

“Yes. But I would have read them anyway.”

Ben smiled. “I had that feeling.” And they both smiled. Then Ben went on.

“Other than those books, do you know of any written documents setting forth any ethics required of a police officer, either on or off the job?”

“There are some in our manual.”

“Can you point me to the sections?”

Officer Martel smiled. “I’m afraid not. No.”

“You disappoint me.”

And several people in the courtroom laughed warmly along with Ben. Officer Martel was proving to be a favorite.

“But you have you read them?” Ben continued.

“Yes.”

“Do you recall what they are about?”

“They focus on our conduct on duty and off.”

“Can you cite an example?”

“Well, they mainly say we shouldn’t conduct ourselves in any behavior that would bring discredit on the Los Angeles Police Department.”

“Do they define what ‘discredit’ means?”

“More or less. Yes.”

“Can you tell us what it means to you?”

“Specifically, not to get into any altercations. Things of that sort.”

“Anything else?”

“Not to commit any crimes or misdemeanors. Or drunk driving. Or getting drunk in public. Or voice any extreme political opinions.”

“You sound like you’re quoting,” Ben said, amused.

“I have a good memory.”

“While you were at the Academy, did they give you any special instructions or training on how to arrest people?”

“When you say, ‘how to arrest people,’ you make it sound simple. There are so many different parts.”

“I understand that. Let’s narrow to arresting someone on a street.”

At this point, Amanda interrupted. “I’d have to object to that as being ambiguous. As Officer Martel said, ‘There are so many parts.’ For example, ‘What the suspect is doing.’”

Ben replied, “Let’s assume a crime is being committed, and you see it. Does your manual give instructions about how to proceed?”

“It depends on the type of crime,” Officer Martel pointed out. “Is it a violent crime? Or combative? Or passive?”

“Does the manual have a list of classifications for arrests? And what you’ve been taught about handling each of them?”

Again, Amanda pointed out this was ambiguous, and Dorothy agreed, saying, “It seems an officer may have learned from a manual, or from training, or from experience.”

“Can you explain where you got the training for a particular classification?” Ben asked. “That would be helpful to us.” By “us,” he included the jury.

But Officer Martel was still confused. “Do you want me to give an example?”

Ben tried to clarify. “Without asking directly about one, I’m trying to narrow the classifications for the various kinds of arrests, then have you tell me what you’ve been taught. That may also involve where you learned it or who you learned it from, as Judge Washington mentioned. But I understand how broad that is,” Ben admitted, nodding to Amanda.

Amanda smiled, while turning again to Dorothy. “Your honor, I admit that information might be useful. But even in an extremely narrow classification, there might still be special conditions, and I think it would be impossible for an officer to cover or predict them all.”

Dorothy smiled at both Amanda and Ben and seemed willing to let the two of them work the problem out.

Trying further, Ben asked Officer Martel, “Do you have the classifications roughly broken down?”

“Not per se. Not like, ‘This is a felony. This is a misdemeanor. And this is a citizen’s arrest.’ And there are different ways to handle each. Because it also depends on the person and how the person is acting at the time.”

“I see. Could you give us one of the various ways that ‘how a person acts’ would change an arrest in one particular situation?”

Before Officer Martel could answer, Amanda spoke up. “I’m afraid that’s still ambiguous. If a person’s running from a bank, it really has nothing to do with the fact that it’s a bank. It could be a convenience store.”

Ben turned to Amanda. “I’m just trying to get to Officer Martel’s training and background. I think we’re entitled to learn about that.”

Dorothy pointed out, “It still may come from a manual, from training, or from experience.”

And Amanda added, to Ben, “I know you’re trying not to lead Officer Martel, but perhaps you’re not giving him enough specific information. For example, there are categories where certain crimes could be committed in his presence or not, so he’d only see certain aspects. He could see someone running from a bank without knowing there’s someone in that bank taking hostages. There are so many variations that I don’t see how he could possibly explain.”

Ben returned to Officer Martel, as they all tried to clarify this for the jury. Then he repeated, “You did receive training on how to arrest people?”

“Yes.”

“Primarily, where did you get it?”

“Mainly, out on the field.”

“From whom?”

“My training officers.”

“Who were your training officers?”

“Well, they changed every month, and there were two to each car.”

“You’ve had two training officers with you every month since the time you’re finished at the Police Academy?”

“No. You’re assigned to a basic car, and at that time, there are two training officers assigned to each car.”

“OK.”

“And every month, they switch you to a new car, and you get a couple of new training officers.”

“And these officers ride with you?”

“Yes. One at a time.”

“Every time you’re out in a car, one of them is riding with you?”

“Unless one of them is sick or takes an unplanned day off. They plan the schedule a month ahead.”

“Have you ever acted as a training officer?”

“Not yet.”

“Do you know if Officer Jarl has acted as one?”

“Not that I know of.”

“On September 3, 1985, was there a training officer in the car with you?”

“No.”

“Why not?”

“Because there are only two people assigned to a car, and Officer Jarl and I were assigned to the same car. And once your probation is up, there’s no need for a training officer. So you can ride with anybody.”

“So only during your probation are you required to have a training officer in the car?”

“Yes.”

“How long were you on probation?”

“Eighteen months. Until the end of June 1984.”

“So there’s approximately four months of Police Academy training, and a year-and-a-half more of training on probation.”

“Yes.”

“Then on September 3, 1985, you’d been off probation for a little over a year.”

“Fourteen months.”

“Do you know how long Officer Jarl had been off probation... if he was? I assume he was, if you weren’t his training officer.”

“Almost two years, I believe.”

“Is there seniority for officers in a car after they’re off probation?”

“Yes.”

“Can you tell me how that works?”

“The person with the most seniority, even if it’s by a week, has the final decision. The final word. If there’s any type of decision to be made.”

“So Officer Jarl had authority over you during any time that you were riding in the same car.”

“Correct.”

“And that was true on September 3rd, 1985?”

“Yes.”