*-- *-- *
-
"We call Pablo Alvarez to the stand, Your Honor."-There was a stir that went through the courtroom as that witness was introduced.-At the defense table, Laquidera looked angry enough to kill someone with his bare hands.
"You stupid son of a bitch," the defendant was heard to mutter.-"You're a dead man."-His voice rose despite his lawyer's efforts to quiet him.-"Do you hear me?-You're a dead man!"-By now, he was shouting.
"Restrain your client or he will be removed from the courtroom," the judge told the defense attorney.-But the jury had seen and heard Laquidera's reactions.
"Please tell the court your name."
"My name is Pablo Renaldo Michael Alvarez."-He spoke with confidence and self-assurance.
"Are you acquainted with the defendant, Jorge Laquidera?"
"Yes, I am."
"In what capacity do you know him?"
"He was my boss before I quit the drug smuggling outfit."
"He was your employer?"
"Yes.-One of my employers."
"Did he pay you for your services to the heroin smuggling operation?"
"Yes."
"Did there come a time when a fellow employee, Ramon Mendez, went missing?"
"Yes.-He had begun asking questions about leaving the smuggling ring.-Laquidera told him in my hearing that anyone who tried to quit would be very, very sorry.-He told him it could be hazardous to his health if he tried to leave."
"But he left anyway?"
"Yes."
"Do you know where he went?"
"I know where he was when they found him and killed him."
"And where was that?"
"At the O'Reilly place near Fordsville, Kentucky."
"How do you know that Mr. Laquidera was responsible for the death of Mendez?"
"Mr. Laquidera told all of us that he sent out to look for Mendez that they simply couldn't take a chance that Mendez would inform on the rest of the gang.-He said that Mendez knew enough to send the whole bunch of us to jail if he opened his mouth.-He said, 'Dead men tell no tales.'-He said this many times to us.-And we believed him."
"No more questions, Your Honor."
"But you left anyway, didn't you, Mr. Alvarez?-So you must not have believed that he would follow through on that threat, if indeed it was a threat."
"I knew one other young man who they said had tried to leave.-They fished his body out of the Rio Grande River with a bullet through his head.-I knew the chances I was taking, but I just couldn't continue to do what we were doing.-I would rather have been dead."
"Move to strike as non-responsive, Your Honor."
"I think he answered the question you asked.-Move on, Mr. Gordon."
"You didn't see Mr. Laquidera shoot Mendez, did you?"
"No."
In fact, you've never seen Mr. Laquidera shoot anybody, have you?"
"No."
"Now, do I understand correctly that you have admitted freely having committed the crime of smuggling heroin from Mexico into the U.S.?"
"Yes."
"So, of course, you are facing charges for this offense.-Correct?"
"No."
"No?-You have pled guilty to the crime of smuggling heroin and you will not be prosecuted for this offense.-Why not, Mr. Alvarez?"
"I agreed to testify against the gang leaders with the understanding that I will be put into the witness protection program and not prosecuted."
"Oh, so it is definitely to your advantage to try to help get my client convicted of this crime."
"Objection, Your Honor."
"Sustained."
Attorney Gordon looked meaningfully at the jury.-"I guess I'll withdraw the question.-I'm through with this witness.-No more questions, Your Honor."
"You may step down Mr. Alvarez."
“The Prosecution rests, Your Honor.”-The trial had been going on now for almost two weeks.-They had introduced all their evidence; they had questioned all their witnesses; they had built what they considered a very strong case.- Now it was time for the Defense to put on their case.
“Your Honor, at this time, we call the Defendant, Jorge Laquidera, to the stand.”-He was sworn in and took the witness chair.-They would have liked to put Faron Whitehead and some of the other members of the gang on the witness stand to give 'character witness' evidence.-The problem was they were all in a great deal of trouble and were being held without bail pending the drug smuggling trial in Laredo.-People who were accused of those kinds of crimes wouldn't make very believable character witnesses anyway.-So they let Laquidera testify in his own defense.
“Mr. Laquidera, where were you on the afternoon of February 28 of this year?”
“I was in my suite at the Executive Inn Rivermont in Owensboro, Kentucky.”
“What was your purpose there?”
“I was visiting with an acquaintance, there.”
“Who was this acquaintance?”
“His name is Faron Whitehead.”
“Did you at any time make a trip by car to or near to Fordsville, Kentucky, on that date, February 28?”
“No, I did not.-I've never been any closer to Fordsville than I am right now.-I don't even know exactly where it is.”
“Do you own or lease a black Lincoln Town Car?”
“No, I do not.-I don't have a car of any kind.”
“Did you shoot and kill a man named Ramon Mendez?”
“No. I don’t even know a Ramon Mendez and I've never shot anybody in my life.”-He started to say he had never fired a weapon of any kind but he thought they might insist on doing a gunshot residue test (GSR) and he wasn't sure how long that could remain on your clothes or skin.
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
“Does the Prosecution wish to inquire?”
“Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Laquidera, where do you reside?”
“My residence, prior to my unwarranted arrest, was at the Executive Inn Rivermont in Owensboro, Kentucky, as I stated earlier.”
“Where is your legal residence?”
“As I stated, at the Executive Inn Rivermont.”-He sneered slightly and his face was a mask of smugness.
“Very well, Mr. Laquidera.-Where did you reside two months ago?”
“Well, I’d have to think about that.-I move around quite a bit.-I guess, maybe in Texas.”
“Where, in Texas?-What city?-What address?”
“Laredo, Texas.-1422 S. Sycamore Lane.”-He wasn't too happy admitting that but they actually hadn't left him any choice unless he wanted to lie and while he had no compunction about lying, that fact would be too easy to verify.
“Thank you.-Now, where does Mr. Whitehead reside?”
“I don’t know his address.”
“But it is in Laredo, Texas, is it not, Mr. Laquidera?”
“Yes, I suppose so.”-Some of his smugness was beginning to slip slightly.
“Is it not more than a little odd, then, that you both made such a long trip to ‘visit’ in Owensboro, Kentucky?”
“If we choose to vacation at the same place and visit, what’s so odd about that?”
“How did you get to Owensboro?”
“I don’t know what you mean.”
“By what means of transportation did you arrive in Owensboro?”
“We flew in.-I—I mean, I flew in.”-He knew that slip of the tongue was not good.
“You and Mr. Whitehead came in together?”
“No, we met later at the hotel.”-He thought about answering yes to that but if they had done any investigating they would have discovered that Whitehead hadn't arrived until several days later.
“Then, who is the ‘we’ who flew in, Mr. Laquidera?”
“I didn’t mean to say, ‘we.’-I meant to say just ‘me.’”
“I have here a flight plan that specifies there were ten people who arrived at the same time you did.-Is that not correct?”
“Just because they got here at the same time doesn’t mean they were connected t
o me.”-The smug sneer was back in place.
“Okay.-Can you explain that you, personally, made reservations for nine other people at the same time you made your own arrangements at the hotel?”
“Okay, okay.-There were ten of us.”-Another costly mistake but how was he supposed to have known they would check on who made the reservations?
“Now, was Mr. Whitehead one of those nine others for whom you made arrangements, Mr. Laquidera?”
“No, he was not.”-They probably had evidence on that, too.
“Okay.-How did Mr. Whitehead arrive in Owensboro?”
“He drove up from Texas all on his own.”
“Good.-Now what kind of vehicle was he driving?”
“I …uh….didn’t see his car.”
“Oh.-But it was a car.-Right?”
The Attorney for the Defense spoke up.-“Relevance, Your Honor?”
“I will prove the relevance very soon, Your Honor.”
“Very well.-You may continue.-Answer the question, Mr. Laquidera.”
“Well, he may have mentioned that it was a car.”
“Suppose I tell you, Mr. Laquidera, that one of the employees at the Inn reported seeing you with Mr. Whitehead in that car.-And suppose I tell you we found hair with your DNA in the front, passenger side seat of that car.-And suppose, furthermore, I tell you that a gas station attendant in Fordsville, Kentucky, remembers you when Mr. Whitehead stopped for fuel.”
“Alright, so I saw the damn car.”-Belligerence was about the only defense he had left.
“And what kind of car was it, Mr. Laquidera?”-The attorney smiled indulgently.
“I don’t remember.-It was just a black car.”
“A big black car?”
“I suppose so.”
“A big, long black car?”
“Yeah, probably.”-Damn, this was getting ridiculous.
“A big, long black Lincoln Town Car?”
“Okay, okay.-A Lincoln Town Car.”
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
The next day was filled with closing arguments from both sides.-The defense tried to poke holes in the prosecution's case by questioning if the shell casings might not have been fired at another time.-And even if his client had been in the Lincoln Town Car, there was no proof that that was the particular vehicle from which the fatal shots had been fired.-Furthermore, putting his client in the vehicle was a long way from putting the gun in his client's hands at the time of the shooting.-
"They have brought my client's character into question, almost laughably, on the word of an admitted drug dealer whose self-serving testimony has no basis in fact and no corroborating evidence has been provided.-You have no choice, ladies and gentlemen of the jury but to find my client innocent of all charges."
The prosecution pointed out that there were a very few black Lincoln Town Cars in that entire area, none of which would have had Texas license plates.-They had reliable witnesses that the man they saw doing the shooting was very similar in size and build to the defendant.-The defendant had been in possession of the murder weapon when he was apprehended as part of a gang of smugglers.-They had proven with irrefutable DNA evidence that he had been a passenger in the vehicle from which the fatal shots had been fired.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of the jury, the prosecution has proven beyond a reasonable doubt that on February 28 of this year, Jorge Laquidera did willfully, premeditatively and with malice aforethought cause the death of one Ramon Mendez.-In the interest of justice, you must find him guilty of murder in the first degree."
Then the jury adjourned to deliberate.-The next morning about eleven o’clock the bailiff reported to the judge that the jury had reached a verdict.
When everyone, including the Wroes and O’Reillys, were gathered in the courtroom, the judge asked the jury for their verdict.-The foreman of the jury read from the decision:
We, the jury, on the charge of premeditated, aggravated murder in the first degree of one Ramon Mendez, do hereby find the defendant, Jorge Laquidera, guilty as charged.-So say we all.
A cheer went up from the spectators and the judge banged his gavel and called for order.-The crowd subsided as Jorge sat back down, limp and unbelieving at the defense table.
“Mr. Laquidera, you have been found guilty of murder in the first degree.-Please rise.”-He and his attorney stood for the sentencing they knew the judge would pronounce.-“I hereby sentence you to death by lethal injection.-You are remanded to the Department of Corrections to await execution. May God have mercy on your soul.-Court is adjourned.”
*-- *-- *
“Mama,” Andy, on the way home, had on his serious face, “is that what it means when we say the pledge to the flag and we say ‘and justice for all?’”
Penny hugged her son tight.-“Yes, son, that is the best example I know for what that phrase means.-That’s what this country is all about—justice for all.”
*