“I know that. I’ve already talked to the police, too, I mean, you know, they already know what happened, okay? I haven’t called Fred. I haven’t called David,” Wendi said, referring to her criminal attorneys. “There’s no point. They can’t do anything. They won’t do anything. I know I have to wait till morning till I figure out what’s going to happen then, okay? I don’t know, I mean, will one of y’all please—Will one of y’all please come to the clinic and stay for a couple of days, please?”
Judy sighed. “Wendi, I don’t think a couple of days will do it.”
“They told me it cannot go on for more than a month. They put a date on there. The guy told me it should just be a few days. It’s not a court order or anything. It’s just that something that I agreed to by signing it, that Dad agreed to by signing it.”
“Agreed to what?” Judy asked.
“That I’d be supervised with Tristan. I signed it and Dad signed it.”
“Well, I don’t know what we’re going to do,” Judy said in a weary whine.
“Please, don’t take him. I don’t see why you can’t stay with me for just a couple of days.”
“Wendi, a few days is fine. A month is not,” Judy snapped.
“Okay. Just a few days. Okay?”
“Well, I don’t know. I can’t talk for Dad. Because I’m going to have to be the one that takes care of Shane. So if your dad will, that’s your dad.”
“I can’t believe that Shane would be that much trouble or nothing. Shane’s at day care during the day and Tristan can be at the clinic during the day, with your assistance. And then at night, Dad could take care of Shane for a couple of hours. I think he could take care of him. Please, Mama, please. I know he’s [Tristan] so upset. He’s scared and doesn’t know what’s going on.”
“Well, he has a right to be,” Judy said.
“Well, I know he does, okay? I know he does. I know how bad I screwed up. I don’t need anybody to tell me that, okay? That’s not the problem here, okay? I screwed up because of what I did. I screwed up. You know, I should’ve known. I should’ve known that it was bad. I should’ve thought about every single consequence that ever could have happened. But then, no. I thought if I put Tristan to sleep, I could go out for an hour or two and nobody would know the difference. That’s what I thought. Okay, I’m sorry. I’m stupid, stupid, stupid . . . Can you please forgive me?”
“Yeah, I can forgive you.”
“Will you try to help me?”
“Wendi, we’ve been trying to help you since day one, and you just keep crappin’ on it.”
“Mama, I went to the bar because it was a bad day. He was cranky and irritable all day long. I’m sorry . . . I should be home tomorrow. I should be at the clinic tomorrow, and I’ll call you when I get to the clinic . . . Okay?”
“Well, just call and let us know, Wendi. You better keep your mouth shut there.”
At that, Wendi dropped the sobbing, poor-me approach and turned testy. “Mama, I’ve already talked to the cops, okay? . . . I already talked to them. There wasn’t any denying anything. I pretty much told it all, you know. So, anyway . . . But I’ll let you go. How’s Tristan? Is he crying?”
“No, he’s asleep.”
“He’s already asleep?”
“Um hmmm.”
“Well, don’t worry about the clinic, ’cause I should be there before noon, and y’all don’t have to do anything, because everybody should have enough food and water until tomorrow ’cause I took care of them tonight. So, if for some reason, I’m not out by Monday morning, then you’re going to have to go let Cissy in, ’cause she can take care of everything . . . Okay?”
“All right,” Judy said in an exasperated tone.
“I love you, Mama.”
“I love you, too.”
“I really do.”
“I really love you, too.”
“When Tristan wakes up tomorrow, please tell him I love him and I’m sorry. Okay?”
“All right,” Judy sighed, ending the phone call.
When many of Wendi’s supporters picked up the newspaper or tuned into the news on the radio and learned of the arrest, they abandoned their long-held belief in Wendi’s innocence. Opinions changed overnight. Loyal clients switched to someone else to meet the medical needs of their pets. Wendi marched closer to her day in court—there would be no further postponements.
FIFTY
In a motion filed on September 25, the defense claimed that Wendi’s
constitutional rights against unreasonable search and seizure under both state and federal law were violated when law enforcement agents illegally installed and used a mobile tracking device on her vehicle on private property and tracked her movement on private land to which she had a reasonable expectation of privacy.
They moved that all the evidence obtained after the installation should be suppressed.
The defense also requested a change of venue. On October 2, the judge ruled against that motion, but set a hearing on the suppression of evidence for October 16, 2006, the day jury selection would begin in the trial of The State of Texas versus Wendi Mae Davidson.
Exactly twenty-one months from the day Wendi had filed a missing persons report on her husband, Michael Leslie Severance, the day of the trial for his murder finally arrived. The major players took their places in the courtroom. Fred C. Brigman III, Melvin Gray and Christi Manning gathered around the defense table. For the prosecution, 51st District Attorney Steve Lupton and first assistant Alison Palmer prepared to do battle. Behind the bench, Judge Tom Gossett brought the courtroom to order.
The witnesses waited in the wings. The state alone had subpoenaed more than sixty-five people to testify. Among that number were members of Wendi’s own family. The witness list for the defense was still clothed in secrecy.
Members of the jury pool passed through the security facilities in the lower floor of the courthouse. The panel of 130 citizens of Tom Green County moved into a courtroom adjoining the trial chamber to go through an initial screening by another judge. District Court Judge Tom Gossett explained that Wendi had a right to be present at that proceeding as disqualifications and exemptions were heard and people were weeded out of the pool. Wendi and her attorneys declined their right to be there.
“All right,” the judge began, “since this is a motion-based or a mobile tracking device that was done, I believe, without a search warrant and without authorization of the court, I think in the interest of time, it will probably be best if the state acknowledge that the burden shifts over to the state.”
“We are pleased to assume that burden at this point, Your Honor,” Assistant District Attorney Alison Palmer acknowledged.
“Are you ready to proceed then?”
“Yes, sir,” Alison Palmer said and called her first witness, Air Force Special Agent Arch Harner. “How did you become involved in the investigation?”
“Greg McCormick from my office notified me that we had received a report from our security forces section on Dyess Air Force Base that Michael Severance had been reported missing.”
“Who reported him missing?”
“To my understanding, it was his wife.”
“Who was his wife?”
“Wendi Davidson.”
“Do you know Wendi Davidson?”
“I do.”
“Do you see or hear her in the courtroom?” the prosecutor asked.
“Yeah,” Harner said, pointing to the defense table. “She’s right there.”
“May the record reflect that the witness has identified the defendant?”
“Very well,” the judge said.
“Agent Harner,” Alison Palmer continued, “in the course of looking for Michael Severance, did you all have occasion to apply for permission to use a mobile tracking device?”
“We did.”
“Do you do that all the time?”
“Rarely.”
“How often have you applied for permission to use a mobile tracking devic
e?”
“In my career, this is the first time.”
“All right. What happened that led you to want to apply for this device?”
“We had suspicion to believe that Ms. Davidson or her family may know his whereabouts. And we wanted to use the tracking device to help us focus our search for him.”
“Had you exhausted other resources in attempting to find Mr. Severance?”
“We conducted extensive interviews of people that had known him.”
“Had you searched various properties?”
“Yes, we had.”
“So what did you have to go through to acquire an authorization to place a mobile tracking device?”
“The first step I needed to do was, we had to brief our—my higher headquarters in a field investigations region, and we had to tell them our intention to place these tracking devices. Their advice was to contact our technical services folks—the people who maintain control of the tracking devices, to see if they had any available. In this instance, we found out, there were some available, so the next step would be to brief our OSI staff judge advocate, the OSI legal office, to brief them on the scope of our investigation and our intentions.
“They approved—they approved the scope of what we wanted to do and then . . . we learned from our region and from the lawyers that we needed the region commander’s approval to install these tracking devices. We applied for that approval and received it.”
“At this time, you are applying for the mobile tracking device, what sort of investigation is going on?” Alison Palmer asked.
“We had a missing persons operation, and a deserter investigation.”
“A deserter investigation?”
“Yes, ma’am,” Harner said with a nod.
“So there wasn’t a criminal, you know, a state criminal case pending, or really being investigated at that point?”
“No state criminal case, ma’am.”
“At that point the only information, the only good hard information you had, was that you had a missing person?”
“That’s correct.”
Alison Palmer asked, “Who told you about the possibility that Michael Severance was a deserter?”
“Wendi Davidson.”
“So Wendi Davidson advised you of what led you to believe that Michael Severance may have deserted his post?”
“She mentioned to investigators that he had mentioned how easy it would be to disappear to Canada, and he may have gone to Canada.”
“Did she talk about whether he enjoyed being in the military or not?”
“She said that he did not enjoy it and was not looking forward to deploying, and that he had intended to leave the service.”
“In fact, he had an upcoming one scheduled, is that correct?”
“That is.”
“So was that some of the things she said to lead you to believe he may have deserted?” Alison Palmer asked.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“So the best information you had was that Michael Severance was a missing person?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Any investigation that foul play may have been, or any belief that foul play may have been involved, would just be—It was speculation, it was a possibility, but no sound evidence to support it, is that correct?”
“That’s absolutely correct,” Harner confirmed.
Alison Palmer turned her questions to the actual placement of the devices. “What vehicles were you given authorization to place mobile tracking devices on?”
“I was given authorization to place tracking devices on three vehicles: two trucks and a car.”
“And who did these belong to?”
“The Davidson family.”
“And who had the car?”
“Wendi Davidson.”
“Who had the trucks?”
“Lloyd and Judy Davidson.”
“Can you describe the car for us?” Alison Palmer asked. “It was a Chevy Camaro, and it was red.”
“Doesn’t Wendi Davidson’s red Chevy Camaro have on it, at that time at least, any Air Force Base insignia or attachments?”
“To my recollection, yes, it did . . . It had a Dyess Air Force Base sticker . . . on the windshield.”
“. . . What does that mean, if you have an Air Force base sticker on the car?”
“The sticker identification card allows you access to Dyess Air Force Base, allows that vehicle to access on Dyess Air Force Base,” Harner explained.
“And with that you were given—are you able to avail yourself of all the benefits of the Air Force base?”
“Without that sticker on your car or a guest pass, you cannot bring that car onto the base. You cannot drive onto the installation.”
“So someone with a sticker can just get onto the installation anytime?”
“That’s correct.”
“. . . Now, off base, does that sticker carry with it any inhibitions or any agreements of what a person could do because the sticker is on their car? Off base, it doesn’t really have a lot of effect?”
“That’s correct, ma’am.”
“Okay. So let’s talk about the placement of the mobile tracking device—just the one on Wendi Davidson’s car. Lloyd and Judy Davidson are not complaining about the placement of the devices. Regarding Wendi Davidson’s car, was the mobile tracking device placed inside the vehicle? Did y’all have to enter into the vehicle to place the tracking device?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Was it placed on the exterior of the vehicle?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Was the vehicle damaged in any way in the placement of a tracking device?”
“No. No, ma’am.”
“Was any of the energy of the car used to generate energy for the tracking device?”
“No, ma’am.”
“So it operates independently of the vehicle?”
“That’s correct, ma’am.”
“And was it attached in such a way that removal would have harmed the car?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Okay. When was the tracking device placed on Ms. Davidson’s, the defendant’s, vehicle?”
“On the twenty-sixth of February, at forty minutes past midnight.”
“Okay. And where was the vehicle when the tracking device was placed?”
“It was parked in front of the veterinary clinic.”
The prosecutor asked how the device operated, and Harner explained, “First of all, it works with a Global Positioning System. Once the device is placed and turned on, it mans the logging, geo-coordinates of that device. It’s not like a real-time tracking. What we do is, at a later point, we have to come in the vicinity of the vehicle and download data from where the tracking device has been.”
“So you are not able to turn it on and then go sit in your office and just monitor a computer and watch wherever the tracking device goes?”
“That’s correct.”
“What all information can you get from this tracking device?”
“You can determine time and location.”
“Okay,” Alison Palmer said. “Does it tell you who is driving the car?”
“No, it doesn’t.”
“Does it tell you anything much about the place where the car goes? In other words, there is no video capability?”
“That’s correct.”
“So it can give you even less information than if you had been able to have the manpower at that point to dedicate someone to follow this car around?”
“That’s correct.”
“In fact, if you had the manpower to dedicate someone to follow this car around, and that person had a cell phone, you would have more advanced technology and more help . . . than by using this tracking device.”
“Yes, ma’am, that would be ideal,” Harner said.
On cross-examination, Fred Brigman asked, “And how many deserter cases have you worked on in your career?”
“I don’t know the number, sir. Sever
al.”
“Well, a lot?”
“I wouldn’t say a lot, no, sir, but several cases.”
“Of those cases, how many involved a staff sergeant?”
“At Dyess Air Force Base, none. That is, to my recollection. I believe I recall an NCO going AWOL when we were in Japan, but I can’t say that specifically.”
“. . . Let me ask you this: Mike Severance—did he fit the profile of a deserter?”
“Not necessarily,” Harner admitted. “But his wife did say that he had been talking about it.”
“What did his other family members say?”
“They said it wasn’t possible.”
“They said it wasn’t possible that he deserted?”
“They said it would be uncharacteristic for him.”
“Early on, you thought there was foul play, didn’t you?” the defense attorney accused.
“It was among the many possibilities that we considered.”
“In fact, in just about every report that I have seen between the time that you all got involved, January eighteenth up until this application for a mobile tracking device was filed, you all referred to Mike Severance as a victim in your reports, didn’t you?”
“I didn’t, not to my recollection,” Harner denied. “I mean, I may have speculated in my notes, but I don’t recall referring to him as that.”
Brigman presented the witness with copies of notes. Some were written by the agents who’d interviewed the Severance family in Maine. The descriptive word “victim” ran throughout their reports. Harner insisted that he could not explain what other people had written.
The defense attorney then turned to Harner’s own notes and asked, “You checked to see if he had gotten a cab, is that right? You checked to see if . . .”
Harner cut him off. “What these—I can explain what these notes are, sir. Those notes weren’t as if I was going to be interviewing like that. Early on in an investigation, we will come up with an investigative plan and consider all the possibilities, game out different scenarios, different possibilities. We start with everything and then work our way down. We consider all the possibilities and then look at what we do know and try to eliminate the impossible by proving what happened.”
“Okay. So you look at everything early on?”
A Poisoned Passion Page 22
