12 Hours - 14. Chapter 14

“Getting back to training officers,” Ben asked Officer Martel, “did they give you examples of how to make arrests?”

“We went over theoretical situations.”

“Can you tell us about one of them... that you think might apply?”

Ben glanced at Amanda, to see if that was again ambiguous. She simply nodded, encouraging him to go ahead. As did Dorothy. Meanwhile, Officer Martel started to answer. “I remember one example in particular. ‘If you observe someone robbing a gas station, what do you do if you’re just passing by.’”

“What would you do?”

“First you pass by. Then you go down and make a U-turn... and put out your broadcast, requesting assistance or help... whatever’s required at the time. Then you pull into a position of advantage and try to apprehend the person as easily as possible.”

“Were you given any specific training on how to make an arrest that results from a traffic stop?”

That was the question Ben had wanted to ask all along, but he couldn’t jump onto it. This time, there was no objection.

“Well, it depends if the person refuses to sign the ticket.”

And Amanda interrupted. “I have to object to that.”

But Officer Martel went on. “Or it could be a hundred other things.”

Amanda explained. “Your honor, a traffic stop could be a burglary. Or a stolen car. Or driving under the influence. Or a citation. There are so many areas.”

Again, Ben tried to clarify. “I’m specifically referring to a traffic citation.”

And Officer Martel asked, “If the person refuses to sign the ticket?”

“Yes.”

“Or just to issue a ticket?”

Amanda looked at Dorothy. But Dorothy shook her head, and Ben continued. “That would be even better,” he said.

“Just to pull someone over,” Officer Martel explained, “you activate your red lights and have them pull into a safe position. We park our car properly, get out, approach the person, ask for the driver’s license and registration, and once we get that, we’ll explain why the person was stopped.”

“And then do you issue the ticket?”

“If I determine it’s necessary. Yes. I’ll issue a ticket.”

“Do you do anything after that?”

“Occasionally, we run the person for warrants.”

“Why would you run someone for warrants?”

“To see if the person has any.”

“You do it on your own discretion?”

“Yes.”

“How long does it usually take?”

“It depends on if the frequency is busy, or if it’s not. Usually about thirty seconds if we get the frequency right, and if the system isn’t slow.”

“Is that an average time or only if everything comes together?”

“If everything’s perfect.”

“What’s a more average time? Do you know?”

“More like two or three minutes.”

“Do you remember how long it took that night?”

Amanda interrupted. “I’m not sure that’s relevant.” And she looked to Dorothy.

“It might be,” Dorothy decided, “if it affected the treatment of Mr. Herrick or Mr. De Wijk. Do we have any evidence of that?”

Amanda and Ben looked at each other and then shook their heads. Dorothy noted, “Let the record show that as a ‘no.’”

“In any case, I don’t remember,” Officer Martel explained, trying to be of help.

Dorothy, Amanda, and Ben all smiled at him. Then Ben went back to his questioning, headed in a slightly different direction. “Officer Martel, have you reviewed any documents before coming into court today... to refresh your memory?”

“Today?”

“Any day, actually.”

“Yes. One. Ken... Officer Jarl... and I reviewed our arrest report last night. Before we were going to testify.”

“Had you reviewed it previously?”

“Yes. I believe last January. When you filed a claim against the department.”

“And you were here this morning when Officer Jarl testified.”

“I already said that. Yes.”

“Did you also talk with Officer Jarl about the arrest?”

“Yes. That’s why we reviewed the report. To remind ourselves.”

“Can you recall what you remembered of the incident before, and what you learned after reading the arrest report?”

“It was pretty much the same. I remembered most of it.”

“Can you tell us briefly what you recalled about the incident?”

“I remember we were going westbound on Ventura, between Carpenter and Radford, and I saw a car make a U-turn. It pulled away from the curb and made a U-turn right in front of us... like it didn’t even notice we were there. And it was sometime after midnight.”

“Is this what you recalled before reading the arrest report?”

“Yes.”

“And after?”

“As I said. Nothing changed.”

“Please go on.”

“We followed the car to Ventura Place. That’s almost like a Y. It branches off from Ventura Boulevard. And the car went down Ventura Place and failed to stop for a stop sign at Ventura Place and Laurel Canyon.”

“Do you recall if you activated your lights before or after the car turned on Laurel?”

“We made the right turn, following the car, and then turned on our red lights.”

“What else do you remember?”

“We pulled the car over, and I walked up to the driver. And he got out.”

“Do you recall if you asked him to get out?”

“Yes. I asked.”

“What happened next?”

“I asked him to step to the sidewalk. And I remember the passenger getting out and talking to us in a loud voice.”

“Do you remember what he said?”

“Just a couple of things. Like, ‘What are you stopping us for?’ And, ‘How come he’s getting out of the car?’”

“Was ‘he’ Mr. Herrick or Officer Jarl?”

“I don’t remember.”

“Were those Mr. De Wijk’s exact words?”

“Maybe not exact. But those are some of the things he was talking about.”

“What else do you recall?”

“They were both standing on the sidewalk, facing the street, and I went to search the driver.”

At that point, Dorothy interrupted, turning to Officer Martel. “Perhaps you should clarify what type of search you were doing.”

Officer Martel nodded and turned back to Ben. “We were searching for weapons. It was late at night, and we didn’t know these two men. We’d never seen them before.”

Ben asked, “Did you search them both?”

“Not just then. I was searching the driver, and I remember Officer Jarl was standing at the front of the car. To the right front of the car.”

“Are you talking about your car or the one you stopped?”

“Their car. And I remember the passenger was still being loud, and suddenly he just took off, at a fast pace, starting toward Officer Jarl. And he was yelling, ‘What the hell do you think you’re doing?’ So I called to him to ‘Stop!’ But he didn’t. He just continued and had his hands out in a grabbing motion in front of him. And when he failed to stop, I placed a chokehold on him and took him to the ground.”

“You did? Not Officer Jarl?”

“I took him to the ground. And I rolled him over and put the handcuffs on him. Then I took the driver and walked him to the police car. And I had him facing me, with my back toward Officer Jarl and the passenger. And I filled out an FI card on the driver.”

“What’s an FI card?”

“Field interview card.”

“What’s on it?”

“The usual details. Name. Address. Age.”

“Did that get filed with your police report?”

“The details are incorporated.”

“What happened after you filled out the card?”

“I ran him for warrants, and it came back that he had a misdemeanor traffic warrant of some kind.”

“Then what did you do?”

“Put handcuffs on him. And Officer Jarl and I placed both men in the rear seat of our car.”

“And?”

“We took them to the station.”

“Please tell us what happened at the station... if anything.”

“We just went into the station, and I went back and got the warrant abstract... so I could show the driver what he was being arrested for and double check whether it was his or not. And I heard some scuffling in the hall, and when I returned, I saw that the passenger was on the floor, and I helped Officer Jarl put him in a holding tank. Then I went back to the report room and started writing my reports.”

“Did you handle the booking?”

“No. But soon after, I saw there was something smeared on the holding cell wall. And it smelled so bad in there, the jailer said, ‘Throw him in the shower!’ So I took him out. The passenger. And I walked him to the jail section, and they marched him back to the showers, and I guess he cleaned up.”

“Was that the last time you saw either the passenger or the driver?”

“Yes. Except in court.”

“In court for the jury selection?”

“Yes.”

“You didn’t remember him that day, did you?”

“No. In fact, I had to ask you who the man in the corner was.”

“Is that everything you remember before you and Officer Jarl reviewed your police report last night?”

“And before Officer Jarl’s testimony this morning. Yes.”

“Have you remembered more since?”

“Well, more details are coming back. I mean, this was nine months ago.”

“For example?”

“I remember when I put the passenger on the ground, he was yelling and screaming a lot.”

“Anything else?”

“Well, just before us stopping them, the passenger kept ducking in the front seat.”

“And?”

“When we took them to the station, the passenger tried to kick Officer Jarl.”

“Were you present during this attempted kicking?”

“No. I only heard about it this morning.”

“Was there any other way that the police report and Officer Jarl’s testimony refreshed your memory?”

“No. Not really.”

“When you say ‘not really,’ what do you mean?”

“Well, again, little things. Like Officer Jarl’s background and a few things I didn’t know about him. And his thinking at the time.”

“But it didn’t change your memory of the arrest to any huge degree?”

“No.”

“Okay. Now to back up and go over the arrest a bit more carefully. At the time that you said you saw Mr. De Wijk’s car make a U-turn, were you driving or was Officer Jarl?”

“I was.”

“Do you recall whether you both saw the car make this U-turn?”

“I think we did. Yes.”

“Did Officer Jarl say anything to you?”

“No.”

“Can you tell me the first thing you said to each other after you thought you saw the U-turn?”

“I saw the U-turn, and then the car started to go off, and I said, ‘Let’s follow him.’”

“Did Officer Jarl say anything to you after that?”

“I don’t remember our exact conversation.”

“Do you remember the substance?”

“Yes, he said something like, ‘OK. Let’s see what happens.’”

“After that, did you say anything?”

“Well, then they failed to stop for the stop sign, and we said, ‘Let’s stop him before there’s an accident.’”

“Do you remember if there were any stores or landmarks you could use to pick out the point where this U-turn supposedly began?”

“If I remember correctly, there was a bookstore near there. And a bar.”

“Do you know the name of the bar?”

“No.”

“Do you know the name of the bookstore?”

“No.”

“Was there anything before that night that called your attention to the bar or the bookstore?”

“No.”

“Were there any parking lots in the immediate vicinity of the bar or the bookstore?”

“Do you mean public lots? I don’t know about them, but many of these businesses have parking behind them. For patrons.”

Ben simply nodded. “Now do you actually remember the ducking movements of the passenger? Or did you only read about them in the police report and hear about them this morning from Officer Jarl’s testimony?”

“I recalled them after I reviewed the report. And I heard more today.”

“Can you tell us exactly what you saw and where you saw it? And did these movements happen right before you stopped the car or before the supposed failure to stop for the stop sign?”

“They didn’t start until after we activated our red lights. When we turned right on Laurel Canyon from Ventura Place, we activated our lights, and at that time, I remember Officer Jarl saying, ‘The guy is starting to move in the front seat.’ So I glanced at him, and I could see the passenger was bending up and down. I saw him duck down two or three times, and he went out of sight.”

“When you say ‘ducked down,’ can you describe it?”

“He made a bending forward motion, and he went out of view. Then he’d come back up for a second, and then he’d bend forward again.”

“You were seeing all this through their back window?”

“Yes.”

“Do you remember what kind of a car it was?”

“No. I don’t recall.”

“Did these movements mean anything to you in particular?”

“Yes.”

“What?”

“It makes us a little more alert. To be cautious. Obviously there’s... at least, to us... something else going on besides a simple traffic stop. We don’t know if he possibly just stole the car. Or if he’s hiding a weapon. Or he’s doped. Whatever it could have been.”

“So you felt more suspicious about the situation?”

“Sure. For a simple traffic violation, normally, people don’t start ducking and bobbing around.”

“Did Officer Jarl make any further comments about it?”

“No. We stopped talking.”

“Now did anything else happen, or did you say anything else to each other, up to the time you activated your red lights? Other than what you’ve told us so far?”

“Not that I recall.”

“Who activated the lights?”

“I don’t remember. The switch is between us on the dash.”

“And after you activated them, did you say anything to each other before the stop?”

“No.”

“Do you recall what the lighting was like after you turn onto Laurel Canyon? On the street or around you?”

“It was really, really dark out, and there were just the typical overhead standards. About once every block. Or every other block.”

“Now did you say anything to each other after your car and the other one had stopped?”

“Just the typical stuff. Like, ‘Be careful.’ Because the guy was bobbing.”

“Was the driver doing anything unusual?”

“No.”

“Now when you stopped the car, how did it come to a rest? And how did your car come to rest?”

“Well, we’re always out into traffic about eighteen inches or two feet. And I stopped probably five or six feet behind the car in front of us.”

“Why are you out into traffic?”

“That way, when I make my approach to walk to the driver of the car, it would be difficult for a car to sideswipe me.”

“Did both you and Officer Jarl approach the car at the same time? From different sides?”

“Yes. We always make our approach together.”

“And as you approached, did both the driver and passenger get out?”

“No.”

“Did anyone get out as you approached?”

“No.”

“When you got to the car, did anybody get out?”

“I asked the driver to get out.”

“Why?”

“I wanted to talk to him about his erratic driving. And I noticed his eyes were bloodshot, and I could detect a faint odor of alcohol in the car. So I wanted to talk to him about possibly driving under the influence. Also, it’s a little safer if the driver got out, since the passenger was going up and down. If there were any weapons within his immediate reach, he wouldn’t be able to get to them.”

“By ‘he’ you mean the driver?”

“Yes.”

“When you asked the driver to get out of the car, did anyone else say anything to anybody?”

“Well, the passenger started getting loud. His voice was starting to raise, and I could tell his speech was thick. And he just started shouting at us.”

“Can you recall what he said?”

“Yes. He was saying, ‘What are you guys stopping us for?’ And ‘Why are you getting him out of the car?’”

“Did you answer his questions?”

“Not at the time, no. Because I was on the other side of the car. Also, I didn’t want to engage in a verbal argument over nothing.”

“Do you know if Officer at Jarl answered his questions?”

“I don’t believe at that time.”

“Now as I understand it, the driver got out of the car. Is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And as he was getting out, did the passenger exit?”

“Yes.”

“At the same time?”

“Maybe a couple of seconds afterwards.”

“And you left the immediate vicinity of the driver’s door as he got out?”

“Yes. I backed up to give the driver space. So he could open his door and get out. And when he started to do that, the passenger’s swung open his door, and he just jumped out.”

“At that point, was Officer Jarl standing near the passenger’s door?”

“Yes. He was on the passenger’s side towards the rear.”

“Was he doing or saying anything?”

“I believe when the passenger jumped out, Officer Jarl asked him to step to the sidewalk.”

“You say, ‘I believe.’ Do you recall whether you heard anything or not?”

“I know that he gave him some instructions. Because the passenger walked over to the sidewalk.”

“So the passenger did follow instructions?”

“I believe so.”

“And while this was going on, what were you and the driver doing?”

“We were also walking to the sidewalk.”

“Was anything being said between you and the driver at that point?”

“I was asking him some common questions. Like, ‘Have you got a drivers license?’ “Registration?’ Just routine type questions.”

“Anything else that you recall?”

“No.”

“Do you recall whether he had a drivers license?”

“No, he didn’t. He didn’t have one.”

“Didn’t have one at all?”

“Not that I recall. No.”

“Did you arrest him for not having a drivers license?”

“No.”

“Did they have the registration to the car? Either one of them?”

“Not that I recall.”

“Did you arrest them or cite them for not having the registration?”

“No.”

“Do you know if Officer Jarl arrested or cited either of them for not having the registration or not having a license?”

“Not that I know of.”

“Is there anything else you said to the driver before you got to the sidewalk?”

“No.”