by Robert Scott
Jeff Rubenstein, who was a defense lawyer, and had been a prosecutor, thought that Tapson’s chances of getting a jury to reduce Nancy Garrido’s sentence to twenty or thirty years only stood about a 5 percent chance of happening. But under the circumstances, Tapson didn’t have many other options.
And Golden Gate University criminal law professor Nancy Rugberg said, “I could imagine if I were a prosecutor in the case, as long as I could get a satisfying lengthy sentence, I might want to suggest to the victim the best outcome would be a plea bargain rather than put her though more emotional anguish.”
Just how Carl Probyn felt about all of this was expressed in remarks soon after he heard Stephen Tapson’s comments. Carl stated, “I made my wife promise me that if we catch these people, that they would not cut a deal. Because the woman always says, ‘I was coerced’ and they always cut a deal.” Carl added that he made Terry promise that the woman in this case, Nancy, would not get a plea deal. It was Nancy, after all, who had grabbed Jaycee, used a stun gun on her, and forced her into the car.
Carl related about Jaycee’s and her daughters’ present situation, “This is nothing like what people think it is. We’re not having barbecues every Sunday and it’s all back to normal.”
As far as people who lived on Walnut Avenue near Antioch were concerned, they were not in favor of any kind of plea deal for Nancy Garrido. Helen Boyer told a reporter, “I don’t think they should go any lighter on her. She was in on it, she helped with it, and she gets what she deserves. It’s worse than murder because they wrecked that girl’s life.”
Johnny Unpingco was even more intransigent in his remarks. “People like that deserve the death sentence! Murder, that’s something you could possibly justify in self-defense. But to actually keep someone captive and keep them in the yard as long as they did, that’s sick. He ruined their lives.”
If Stephen Tapson’s comments to the press caused a stir on February 28, 2011, it was DA Vern Pierson who did so at another hearing on March 17, 2011. And, as usual, the fireworks were not in the courtroom, but outside. DA Pierson released a statement to the press about Tapson’s remarks concerning mercy at the El Dorado County DA’s Office.
Pierson began by stating that Tapson had questioned his lack of compassion for Nancy Garrido, since she confessed on her own free will at the detectives’ office in January. Pierson added, “Perhaps my alleged lack of compassion comes from my awareness of many disgusting facts concerning Nancy Garrido’s personal involvement in this case.”
Pierson noted once again that it was Nancy Garrido who had leapt out of the vehicle to grab Jaycee off the street on June 10, 1991. And Nancy had even used a taser on the girl. Pierson then asked what kind of person would marry a convicted rapist in Leavenworth Penitentiary and later videotape children in parks so that Phillip Garrido could watch the videos to satisfy his sexual pleasures.
And then Pierson dropped a bombshell about heretofore unknown information. “In 1993, Nancy Garrido was in the back of a van luring and videotaping a five-year-old child to bend over in front of the camera. Nancy Garrido was not an unwilling participant. She was actively videotaping a five-year-old child for the express purpose of providing her rapist husband with sexually perverse entertainment.”
Pierson added that Nancy Garrido had videotaped young children even before the 1991 kidnapping of Jaycee Dugard. He summed up his statement by expressing, “I do not think Nancy Garrido deserves my compassion.”
Perhaps caught off guard by this press statement, Tapson later blurted out to a news reporter, “Jeez, Vern (Pierson). I didn’t know you were that pissed off at me!” And then recovering his composure, he said to another reporter, “I’m waiting for something from heaven to save us all.”
Always displaying an ironic sense of humor, Tapson told one journalist, “The offer came down to one hundred forty years and eight months for Nancy. And due to my superior negotiating skills it’s now one hundred eighty years to life.”
Lost in all the uproar, due to Vern Pierson’s revelations, were some comments by Phillip Garrido’s lawyer, Susan Gellman. Gellman rarely said anything outside of the courthouse to reporters, but she did this time. Gellman related, “Let’s just say for the sake of argument that nothing happened on this case. Phillip Garrido is still on parole to the state of Nevada, so he would be spending the rest of his life in prison in any event.”
And then she stated a very important point. A journalist wanted to know why all of this was taking so long in pretrial motions. Gellman said that even though the outcome looked obvious to one and all, she still had to give her client the best representation possible. The law demanded that. To do otherwise could have serious consequences. An appeals court could later look at everything she did for her client, and if she came up short, the whole process would have to begin with a new lawyer for Phillip Garrido. Everything would be back to square one, and she did not want that to happen.
And so it went, with what Judge Phimister called a “glacial-like pace.” Yet, he too knew as Gellman did that everything had to be beyond a later overturning of his decisions by an appeals court. So he erred on the side of caution and gave Gellman more time to gather facts about the case.
If Susan Gellman was usually tight-lipped about the case, the opposite was true of Stephen Tapson. In a very unexpected move, he commented to reporters, not about what his client Nancy Garrido was going to do at the next hearing, but what Phil Garrido was going to do. Tapson said before the April 7 hearing, “Unless some hitch develops, I’m 99 percent sure Phil will plead to the sheet and possibly be sentenced at the same time if the judge has figured out the correct number of hundreds of years.” In other words, Tapson expected Phil to plead guilty to all charges and be sentenced that very same day.
Tapson said he was basing this on discussions he had heard between Gellman and DA Vern Pierson. As far as his client Nancy went, Tapson said he was not going to accept any plea deal that gave her a hundred plus year sentence. He was still holding out for a forty-year sentence.
Concerning Tapson’s statements, neither Gellman nor Pierson had any comments. But Katie Callaway Hall certainly did. She told a reporter for the Sacramento Bee, “We all knew he was guilty, and in that sense now we can go forward and he can be sentenced and the ordeal can be over. I can put it away.” As far as Nancy went, Katie said, “I have a feeling Nancy’s just trying to save her own butt at this point. I don’t think she’s going to be thinking of Jaycee.”
Tapson, as usual, made some more colorful comments about Nancy’s case. He told a reporter for the Mountain Democrat, “I made a comment about her walking on the beach with a walker. Now it’s looking more like a scooter.”
If Tapson was still trying to whip up support for a more lenient sentence for Nancy, it wasn’t working. At a rate of about nineteen-to-one, comments by ordinary people to the Sacramento news station Channel 13 in Sacramento were very hostile toward Nancy. One comment was, “Rot in hell, Nancy and Phillip!!!!!” Another was “Paste ‘child molester’ tags on their cells for all their neighbors to see.” And a third person stated, “Hopefully angry prisoners have access to them and the prison guards don’t do their job.”
On April 7, 2011, the gallery was packed at the Placerville courthouse where Phil and Nancy were to appear, in expectation of Phil announcing that he was pleading guilty. In the background, fifteen television film crews had their large cameras up and operating. When the couple was escorted to the jury box, to await the proceedings, Phil mouthed the words, “I love you,” to Nancy, who teared up at his gesture.
Proceedings began, and Judge Phimister asked how Phillip Garrido pleaded to the charges. To everyone’s surprise, Susan Gellman answered for her client, “Not guilty.”
As soon as the hearing was over, Stephen Tapson stepped outside to be greeted by a throng of reporters. He declared, “I’m sorry guys. I’m the one who unleashed the yellow jackets at the picnic.” He added that Susan Gellman must be secretly chortling at his
unfortunate earlier comments.
Gellman was not chortling. In fact, she was angrier than anyone had ever seen her after a court hearing. Gellman told the mass of reporters, “He (Tapson) shouldn’t have been speaking for Phillip. Who does that? Who says those kinds of things?”
Gellman added, “We’re doing our job, or at least I’m doing my job, which is to zealously advocate for my client. That’s what I’m doing. Phillip will probably spend the rest of his life in prison. But that doesn’t mean I roll over and play dead.”
Nothing ever seemed to play out as planned when it came to the Garridos’ case. Less than three weeks after pleading not guilty in court on April 7, 2011, things were brewing behind the scenes in El Dorado County. On Monday, April 25th, the DA’s office contacted Stephen Tapson and Susan Gellman about a possible plea deal for Nancy Garrido. What followed was three days of intensive negotiations.
Vern Pierson made it clear to Tapson and Gellman that a plea deal for Nancy was contigent upon Phil pleading guilty to all counts and not launching any appeal about his sentence. Gellman said later, “It was pretty clear that this was the best we were going to get.” And what Phil Garrido would get in the deal was 431 years of prison time. Both Phil Garrido and Susan Gellman were already convinced that even if he went to trial, it was highly unlikely that a jury would be any more lenient with him. All he could do now was try and be part of a deal that would somehow help Nancy.
On Thursday, April 28, 2011, it appeared as if a deal was finally about to be finalized. Even Judge Phimister was taken off guard by the approach of a final decision. Phimister said, “Details were still being hammered out in the 35 minute hearing, I only had an hour myself to review the plea agreements.”
What the DA’s office was offering was 36 years to life for Nancy Garrido. She would be eligible for parole after 31 years, which would make her 86 years old at that point, should she live that long.
Nancy sobbed quietly as she pleaded guilty to her charges. Finally a bailiff handed her a tissue, which she clutched in her shackled hands. By comparison, Phil was composed and unemotional as he pled guilty to all his charges. In fact he even corrected Judge Phimister on one point about an aspect of his 1976 conviction for the kidnapping and rape of Katie Callaway.
All of this had happened so suddenly that only a handful of reporters were on hand for the landmark decision in the case. After the pleas were done, Vern Pierson addressed the small gathering of reporters in front of the courthouse. Pierson said that Jaycee’s willingness to testify if called upon to do so allowed the DA’s office to take a hard line against the Garridos. Pierson added, “Jaycee’s courage and willingness to confront her abductors directly led to the defendants’ plea and life sentences. She’s very relieved her daughters would not have to testify.”
In fact, a short statement by Jaycee was also read to the media. It stated, “I am relieved that Phillip and Nancy Garrido have finally acknowledged their guilt and confessed to their crimes against me and my family.”
Pierson also let it be known that he had asked Jaycee if she wanted to speak at the June 2nd sentencing of Phil and Nancy Garrido. As of April 28th, Pierson said he did not know the answer to his question.
Along with Jaycee, Katie Callaway Hall had a statement about the pleas of guilty by the Garridos. Katie’s statement declared, “I am extremely happy that my ordeal with Phillip Garrido finally comes to a close. I know that the El Dorado District Attorneys Office is making sure that this time, Garrido will not be able to talk his way out of prison and past the parole systems.”
Pierson was asked by a reporter if he thought Phil Garrido had any remorse for what he had done. Pierson replied, “Personally, no, I do not. But that is for someone else to judge.”
As usual, Stephen Tapson was not at a loss for colorful statements. He said to reporters, “I told you from the get-go Nancy said just do the best you can. ‘I don’t want Jaycee and the kids to go through the actual trial.’ Obviously you don’t want to plead your client to a life sentence. But that’s the best I could get and that’s what she was willing to do. In her view now she has made peace with God. She wants to get on with life or what’s left of it. Obviously she knows she committed a serious wrong. I believe she is genuinely sorry for what she’s done.”
Susan Gellman had nothing to say after the court hearing in front of the courthouse. But she did talk to a reporter from KCRA television station later. Gellman said that that Phil and Nancy asked for one more face to face meeting with each other before formal sentencing. After that they would never see each other again. Gellman related, “They seem to be at peace with that. They seem to be at peace that they will see each other at a different time.” By that, they probably meant in the afterlife.
One of the lead El Dorado Sheriffs Office detectives, who was in constant contact with Jaycee and her family, didn’t buy the argument that Phil and Nancy Garrido were taking a plea deal to spare Jaycee and the girls from going through a trial. This detective told a journalist after the hearing, “One thing that irritates me beyond belief is the idea that is being reported that the Garridos pled guilty because they care so much about Jaycee and the girls. That the Garridos were willing to fall on the sword to save Jaycee and the girls the torture of having to go through trial.
“None of that is true. The truth is, that the evidence we have against the Garridos that would be presented to the public if there was a trial is devastating for them. It would show the world how sick and twisted they really are. If there is no trial, the public never hears about most of the disgusting details of their crimes.”
CHAPTER 38
“BEYOND HORRIBLE!”
On June 2, 2011, the El Dorado County Superior Court in Placerville was once again filled to capacity. At 9:00 A.M., the proceedings began with Phil and Nancy Garrido being escorted into the jury box, along with their lawyers. A few preliminary matters were addressed by Judge Douglas Phimister, and then both Tina Dugard, Jaycee’s aunt, and Terry Probyn, Jaycee’s mother, were suddenly at a lectern, ready to address the court with victim impact statements.
Both women were very emotional and filled with rage at Phil and Nancy Garrido, who sat about twenty feet away from them. While Nancy looked at the women through tears, Phil only stared at the floor. Tina Dugard spoke in part about the grief and suffering inflicted by the Garridos on her entire family. She said, “My mother died of a broken heart because of you! Jaycee was the center of her world.” Tina then declared that no words that Phil or Nancy could ever say would be enough to absolve them of their guilt and depravity concerning their mistreatment of her niece.
Terry Probyn next stood before the lectern and glared at the Garridos. Terry said that on May 3, 1980, a beautiful baby was born, and she was named Jaycee. Of Jaycee, Terry said that she was a kindhearted and compassionate soul. “I lived and breathed for that baby.” Whenever Jaycee had a hard time sleeping, Terry would sing the song “You Are My Sunshine” to her. The last line of that song was “Please don’t take my sunshine away.” And, of course, that’s exactly what happened on June 10, 1991, when Jaycee was eleven years old.
Terry said that her world was turned upside down, and she ranted, raved, cursed, and thought she would go insane. She wondered if Jaycee was frightened, cold, and hungry. She also wondered how God had allowed such evil to occur.
Turning directly to Nancy Garrido, Terry declared, “It was you, Nancy, who took her. I hate you both! I’m sickened that she had to suffer because of you!” Terry added that Jaycee would be ashamed to think that Nancy ever loved her.
Regarding Phil, Terry said that he was self-serving and despicable. Then she said that her energy from now on would be spent helping any mother and father who had a child missing. It would be her quest for the rest of her days. As for Angel and Starlit, Terry said, “They know what you did to their mother. They realize your backyard was a prison and understand your filthy, despicable secret. They are aware that they have been deceived, and I am here to tell you t
hat there is no love lost.”
Additionally, Terry read a short statement from Shayna. Because of the Garridos and their actions, Shayna had been forced to miss sharing birthdays, proms, parties, and family events with Jaycee. Shayna’s statement declared: I hope you live a very long life in a cold dark place. You will slowly rot in prison. You’ll never be able to manipulate anyone again. If you spent all of eternity in hell, it would not be enough. There is no salvation for you!
Then Terry read from a statement prepared by Jaycee. Her daughter began by saying why she chose not to be in court: I have chosen my mom today because I refuse to waste another second of my life in your presence. Then Jaycee stated that Phillip was wrong in all his beliefs, and that what he and Nancy did was “reprehensible.” Jaycee stated that they always justified what they did; but in the end, it was always someone else who suffered because they could not control themselves.
As for Nancy specifically, Jaycee wrote that there was no excuse for her actions. What she did was to trick young girls for his evil pleasure. Jaycee declared that no God would ever condone her actions. As for Phil: Words were your tools of choice, and you wielded them with brutal force. Then she wrote, I hated every second of every day of eighteen years because of you and the sexual perversion you forced on me.
Jaycee added that they could both save their empty words about how sorry they were. She hoped they both spent as many sleepless nights as she had. She related that she was angry because they had stolen her life and the lives of her family and friends: I have wonderful friends and family around me now. Something you can never take away from me again. You do not matter anymore.
