“I said, ‘Then what happened?’ He said, ‘We broke the door of an apartment on the top floor of that building.’ I said, ‘What apartment was that?’ He said, ‘I don’t know the apartment number.’
“I said, ‘Why did you pick that apartment?’ He said, ‘We picked that apartment because we thought that nobody was home in it.’
“Then I asked him how he got into the apartment. He said, ‘Luis used the jimmy on the door, and we both pressed on the door with the shoulders, and that’s how we got into the apartment.’
“And then I said, ‘Then what happened?’ He said, ‘We went into the apartment, and Luis took a TV set and a ladies pocketbook.’ And I asked him what color the pocketbook was, and he said, ‘White.’
“And he said, ‘Luis gave me a small radio and the jimmy to take.’ And I asked him what color the radio was, and he said it was red.
“Then I said, ‘Then what did you do?’ And he said, ‘I carried the red radio and the jimmy. And we put the stuff on the roof. And then Luis went down the fire escape, from the roof, to get back into the apartment again.’
“I said, ‘Why did he go down the fire escape?’ He said, ‘Because there was another television set near the window, in the apartment.’
“Then I said, ‘Then what happened?’ He said, ‘Luis came back up the fire escape and said to me he couldn’t get in the window because of the bars on the window.’
“Then he said that he and Luis lifted the TV set to the high wall, and Luis walked over to the back of the roof and looked down the fire escape and said to him, ‘The cops! The cops!’
“‘Then what happened?’ I asked. He said, ‘I stood on the roof next to the TV set, and I saw the cop come over the roof, from the fire escape. And he had his hand out, with a gun in it. And I was afraid.’ And he said, ‘Luis hid behind the stairway wall,’ and he demonstrated a crouching position. And he said, ‘As the cop passed Luis and said to me, “Hold it, hold it,” Luis jumped on the cop from behind and put his left arm around his neck. And the cop fell forward and fell down.’ And he said, ‘Luis grabbed the gun from the cop’s hand, and he shot him in the back.’
“I said, ‘How many times did he shoot him?’ He said, ‘I don’t know, but it was many times.’
“So then what happened?’ I asked. He said, ‘I was afraid. I cut out for my apartment. I ran over the roof, and I threw the jimmy away on the way over to the apartment.’
“Then Detectives Johnson and Jablonsky brought the television set, the red radio, and the white pocketbook that had been recovered from the roof of One fifty-three Stanton Street into the room. And Hernandez identified the property.
“Then I again asked Hernandez if he knew the last name of this Luis. He said he didn’t know. I asked him where he lived. He said that he lived in Brooklyn. He thought it was on South Ninth Street because he had been up there about a week before at about three or four in the morning. He said he thought that he could point out the house to us.”
Mullaly testified that Hernandez’s entire statement was made by 6 P.M. After the police had the statement, they undertook an investigation of their files to find the last name of the person Hernandez called Luis. At approximately 9 P.M., the police discovered it was one Luis Alvarado for whom they were looking. A squad was then sent to the rooming house in Brooklyn where Hernandez had said Alvarado lived.
Ellis had the radio, the television set, and the other goods found on the Stanton Street roof brought into court. Mullaly identified them. He testified further that he saw Luis Alvarado for the first time about 1:30 A.M. on the morning of July 4th, when he was brought in by Detective Johnson. Ellis turned the witness over to Siakos.
Siakos was now permitted to read beyond the first eight pages in the notes Mullaly made on July 4th, but only up to page 14. Beyond that page was the alleged confession made by Alvarado.
Mullaly repeated his testimony on Siakos’s cross-examination with the same aplomb he had displayed earlier in the trial.
Mullaly was not only a relentless detective, Sandro thought watching him, but a superb witness as well. He might have been chosen to testify at the trial because of his ability to talk with a straight face.
Mullaly admitted that when he searched Hernandez at the station house he found ten or twelve pawn tickets. However, Mullaly said he no longer had them nor did he know who, if anyone, on the police force now had them. Mullaly said that he had looked at the pawn tickets when he obtained them, but that he had made no notes concerning them. He said Hernandez had no wallet.
Siakos started to attack vehemently. He questioned whether any investigation had been undertaken after Hernandez allegedly said he could point out the house where Luis lived. Mullaly testified that no one had been detailed to Brooklyn until 9 P.M., when the last name of the man Luis was known.
“Officer, you wanted to avoid a possible flight out of the state if this man Luis was the actual culprit, did you not?”
“It is possible, I don’t know.”
“You say you don’t know?”
“That’s right, Counselor.”
Siakos studied Mullaly. He questioned Mullaly intensely about the time Hernandez’s alleged statement had been obtained. Siakos suggested that it was not before 11 P.M. Mullaly insisted the statement was obtained by 6 P.M. Siakos turned the witness over to Alvarado’s defense.
“He did nothing to him,” Sandro whispered.
“What did you expect, for Christ’s sake? This guy is a great witness, and what is there to question him about. Let me try my luck.” Sam stood and walked toward the witness.
Sam showed Mullaly photographs which had previously been introduced into evidence. One, a police photo, showed that the broken door jamb of Soto’s apartment was not in the place where Mullaly said he found it. Another was a photo which showed the window in the Chevrolet closed, not open as Mullaly said he found it. Sam was attempting to cast some doubt on the evidence that the police were relying upon. Perhaps small sticks, but enough small sticks might beat the prosecution down.
Sam showed Mullaly the picture previously identified by Loughlin, the engineer, showing the rear yard behind the Stanton Street buildings and the alley leading to Suffolk Street. Mullaly said that the yard had been different on July 3rd, that there had been a fence across that backyard, blocking the way to Suffolk Street. Sam walked over to the counsel table to shuffle his notes.
“What do you make of that?” Sam asked Sandro. “He just built a fence!”
“He’s a liar. We’ll prove it,” said Sandro. “Try and get something on that Brooklyn investigation. The time is still all up in the air.”
Mullaly testified that between 6 and 9 P.M., while Luis’s last name was being searched out, nothing was done.
“There were many policemen working on this case, weren’t there?” Sam asked.
“Yes, Counselor.”
“And there were many police personnel crowding the station house, waiting for assignment during the hours between six and nine P.M.?”
“Yes, I would say so.”
“That was the reason Hernandez was questioned in the third-floor locker room—the precinct was crowded, right?”
“Yes.”
“And not one of those unassigned men was sent to Brooklyn between six and nine P.M.—three hours—just on the chance that Hernandez could point out Alvarado’s house?”
“No.”
“In Brooklyn there’s a station house near South Ninth Street, isn’t there?”
“Yes, Counselor. I think it’s the Sixty-third Precinct.”
“Did you call the Sixty-third Precinct and ask them to go over to South Ninth Street and search for Alvarado?”
“No.”
“Were you saving the cost of the gas or telephone calls? Is that why nothing was done?”
“Objection,” said Ellis.
“Sustained.”
“Wasn’t it actually that you didn’t get any information from Hernandez until after nine or ten or even el
even P.M.?”
“No, he gave the information by six P.M. We were investigating.”
“You had to work him over until nine o’clock before you got what you wanted, didn’t you?”
“No. We never touched him, Counselor.”
Their eyes locked, as if looking down would show weakness.
“Aren’t you just saying you got a statement by six o’clock so it won’t look as if you gave him the third degree?”
“I object, Your Honor,” said Ellis.
“The detective may answer. Mr. Bemer is bound by that answer.”
“No, Counselor.”
Sam had no further questions.
Ellis stood and asked Mullaly some questions on redirect. Mullaly described the fence he saw in the rear yard behind the buildings on Stanton Street. It was between ten and twelve feet high, he said, with wide horizontal planking.
Ellis called Detective Johnson to the stand, this time to continue the direct case. Johnson testified he had been one of the detectives who remained in Brooklyn in the rooming house Hernandez had pointed out, awaiting Alvarado’s return. He and the other two detectives awaited Alvarado in the vestibule of the rooming house, at the top of the stoop, just behind the front door, which was half wood and half frosted glass.
The detectives remained there until they heard loud voices in Spanish conversation outside in the street. Johnson testified he opened the front door and discovered Alvarado standing directly in front of the steps leading into the building, speaking to the superintendent. Johnson testified he drew his revolver and arrested Alvarado, searched and handcuffed him, and started walking east on South 9th Street. Johnson said Alvarado had turned to him while they were walking and asked what he was being arrested for. Alvarado had had a newspaper in his hand and said to Johnson, “Not about the cop who was killed on Stanton Street!” In reply, Johnson said he had asked Alvarado why he mentioned that crime when he, Johnson, had said nothing about any particular crime.
At the station house, Johnson released custody of the prisoner to Detective Mullaly. Alvarado was then taken to the third-floor locker room. Johnson testified he went there later on two occasions. Both times it was to accompany Hernandez. Ellis had no further questions.
Sam rose and walked toward Johnson to cross-examine. Johnson’s mind seemed like his body, hard to move.
“Did he at any time say to you, ‘What’s this all about?’” Sam asked.
“No, he did not.”
“He didn’t ask you what’s this all about after you arrested him?”
“All he said to me was, ‘Is this about the cop who was killed on Stanton Street?’ And I said to him, ‘Why do you ask me a question like that?’ And he says to me, ‘Because I read it in the newspapers.’”
Sandro walked over to Sam. “Ask about the arrest. They didn’t know Alvarado was there until after they heard the conversation in Spanish,” Sandro whispered in Sam’s ear as they bent close together to avoid having the jury hear. “Show Alvarado could have escaped without their knowing he was there. And ask him about any resistance to arrest. He’ll go along with you. He’s too stubborn to change the story.”
“This door behind which you were standing in the vestibule, before you arrested Alvarado, it was half wood and half frosted glass. Is that right?”
“This is correct.”
“And you couldn’t see through that frosted glass?”
“Only when I opened the door.” With each answer, Johnson had to hunch his hulk of muscle forward toward the microphone. Then he would sit back.
“But before you opened the door to arrest Alvarado, you only heard his Spanish conversation.”
“This is correct.”
“And you didn’t know he was there until then?”
“That is correct.”
“And at that time he was talking to the superintendent?”
“That is correct.”
“And the superintendent was in the building prior to Alvarado’s arriving? You saw him in the building earlier in the evening?”
“That is correct.”
“He didn’t arrive with Alvarado?”
“He was in the building earlier.”
“When you first saw Alvarado, where was he?”
“He was just starting up the stoop.”
“Did you identify yourself to Alvarado?”
“Yes, I did.”
“Did he run away?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he pull out a gun?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he fight you?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he resist you?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he identify himself?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Did he attempt to give a false name?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he yell at you?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he curse you?”
“No, he did not.”
“Your witness,” Sam said as he returned to the counsel table.
Ellis had no further questions. He recalled Detective Mullaly to continue the narration of events after Alvarado was taken to the locker room for interrogation.
In his calm, assured way, Mullaly testified that he brought Alvarado up to the third floor because all the offices were still too crowded downstairs.
Sam rose and made an application that any statement Alvarado allegedly made to the police be excluded from evidence as being coerced by violence or fear. Ellis indicated to the court that this was not the point at which any voir dire was necessary. The judge allowed Ellis to continue.
Mullaly testified that Alvarado had given his name, age, and the fact that he did not have a job. Alvarado allegedly also told Mullaly that he had been alone in the movies on 42nd Street on the day of the murder, although he wasn’t able to recall the title of the movie. Alvarado said he couldn’t remember the name of the picture because he was “on the nod”—a state of sleepy, narcotic euphoria—having taken a shot of heroin in the men’s room. Alvarado denied being with Hernandez that day.
Mullaly testified that Hernandez was then brought up to the locker room to confront Alvarado. According to Mullaly, after some urging to repeat what he had said earlier, Hernandez had said to Alvarado, “You killed the cop, you killed the cop.” Alvarado jumped from his chair and said, “You killed the cop, you killed the cop.” Mullaly had had Hernandez removed at that point. Mullaly testified that Alvarado then admitted seeing Hernandez on July 3rd, that Hernandez had driven to Brooklyn to show Alvarado his new car, that they rode around the block in Brooklyn, and that Hernandez had then left.
Mullaly testified that Alvarado had denied being in the car any longer than a few minutes, an hour at the most, and all that while in Brooklyn.
Mullaly had Hernandez brought into the locker room again, and asked him to repeat again what he had said to Alvarado. Hernandez said to Alvarado, “You shoot the cop, you shoot the cop on the roof.” At that point, Mullaly said, Alvarado jumped up and screamed curses in Spanish at Hernandez. Hernandez screamed Spanish curses right back. They lunged for each other and had to be restrained. Hernandez was removed, and, Mullaly testified, he attempted to calm Alvarado down. He said he asked Alvarado if he wanted to tell what really happened the afternoon before. Alvarado said he wanted to talk.
“All right, Your Honor. At this point, I think it is time for the voir dire,” Ellis announced to the court.
“You may inquire, Mr. Bemer. And again, I trust the jury understands the procedure the court is adopting in this case. The voir dire is to determine the voluntariness of the alleged confession of Alvarado. Not what was said, but the methods of obtaining the statement, if any.”
Sam interrogated Mullaly, who testified that Alvarado had not been asked any, not one, question directly concerning the death of the policeman. Without being asked a question, after the two confrontations with Hernandez, Mullaly testified, Al
varado freely and openly told the entire story of Lauria’s death.
Mullaly denied taking movie-ticket stubs or anything else from Alvarado’s pocket. Alvarado had about two dollars in loose change, Mullaly said.
“We’ll recess for lunch at this time, members of the jury. Do not, however, discuss this case,” intoned the judge. The jury filed out; the prisoners were returned to the detention cells. All the spectators and lawyers and court officers left the courtroom.
“Any further questions of the witness, Mr. Bemer?” the judge asked, as court resumed.
“No, Your Honor.”
“Please proceed. Call your first witness on the voir dire, Mr. Bemer.”
“May I approach the bench, Your Honor?”
“All counsel, please.” The lawyers stepped to the bench.
“Your Honor, we are willing to put the defendant Alvarado on the stand, although we are certainly not obliged to do so,” said Sam. “However, I want it strictly understood that Alvarado’s being on the stand now does not open the door for the district attorney to delve into portions of the defense at this time.”
“Now, Your Honor,” Ellis protested, “once the defendant is on the stand, I can ask him about anything relating to his credibility.”
“He can delve into all the immorality, past record, viciousness, if any, he wishes, Your Honor,” replied Sam. “Anything which deals with credibility. However, I object to any invasion of the defense prior to our being able to present it in its proper order, because that would be so prejudicial as to deny the defendant a fair trial.”
“All right. You’ll go along with this, won’t you, Dave?” the judge insisted.
“If you say so, Judge.”
“Proceed.”
Alvarado was called to the stand. The jurors watched as this man, described as a cold-blooded murderer, was sworn as a witness. They sat, waiting. Alvarado testified, in response to Sam’s questions, that he had, on three separate occasions, been convicted of using narcotics, and that he had served three jail sentences. He said that he had never been arrested for any charge of violence before.
PART 35 Page 36
