Tribes of Time, page 8
“Sheriff, I have nothing to say. I gave it to the rookie to give him some experience. I take full responsibility and will call the district Attorney to get an addendum.”
“Damn right you will, in the mean time; do not let anyone take anything out of the house until the new warrant is delivered.” With that Vernon slammed his hand on the hood, and knew he was going to have to eat some crow. He turned and walked back over to Haines and Ella. He took a deep breath to calm himself down before speaking.
“Mr. after reviewing the warrant I see that you’re absolutely right, we cannot enter the residence at this point. However, a new warrant is being drafted as we speak. I’m asking that you not remove anything from the residence.” Haines was enjoying himself with the knowledge that he had put the Sheriff in his place. He wanted to further humiliate him and exercise his superior position.
“Sheriff, with the permission of Ella I will walk you through the residence; but you’re not allowed to open any closed drawers, doors or anything that is not in plain sight.” Vernon looked at Haines as he spat a stream of tobacco juice, just missing Haines’ feet.
“If you’re gonna let me look then why all this bullshit, I don’t have time for your games.”
“Sheriff, there’s no game here. I’m just making sure that no one’s fourth and sixth amendment rights are violated; I’m sure you can understand that?”
Vernon adjusted the Stetson on his head and just looked at Haines in partial amazement.
“You from up north aint’cha boy, I can tell you’se a product of one of those Yankee schools.” Vernon stated.
The last time someone in that part of the county stood up to the Sheriff’s department in the manner that Haines was displaying, was during the Freedom Rider voter registration days.
“No actually Sheriff I’m a southerner born and bred.” Haines was not lying; he actually grew up just across the Tennessee border in Alabama. Vernon really wanted to gain access to the residence, but he didn’t want to be hampered in his investigation by not being allowed to open or look into any closed doors or compartments.
“Your offer sounds tempting, but I’ll wait for my deputy to bring out an official warrant before we enter the house.” Haines did not care if he had a warrant or not, he knew there was nothing within the house and, any evidence was long incinerated in the burn pit.
“Suit yourself Sheriff, just trying to assist you in the best manner we can and still maintain Cyrus and Ella’s rights.” Haines then walked over to the edge of the porch and sat down looking in the direction of the vehicle that contained Cyrus. He made eye contact with Cyrus and mouthed to him not to worry, and that he will have everything taken care of. Cyrus just nodded back and continued looking forward. Haines was containing the urge from making a call to secure an Attorney in the presence of the Sheriff and his minions. Eventually the Warrant arrived; Vernon walked over to Haines and presented it to him. Haines read the warrant thoroughly, and then gestured for Vernon to precede him in entering the residence.
“Okay mister, I don’t want you breathing down my neck as we search the house. Just have a seat over there and we’ll let you know when we’re finished.” Haines stood his ground and addressed the issue again with Vernon.
“Sheriff, the warrant states clearly that you are to look only in places that may or can conceal a body. It also clearly states you’re looking for soiled clothing that may contain blood and or gun powder residue. If you feel I’m mistaken, we can review the warrant again together so that we’re both clear.” Vernon’s ears were beginning to burn now and he knew he was showing that he was getting flustered with Haines.
“I’m well aware of what I can and cannot do. I will however conduct my search without any interference from you; do I make myself clear.” Vernon stated with harshness in his tone and the inflection of his voice.
“Then there should be no misunderstandings if you’re clear.” Haines retorted. He wanted to keep Vernon on edge and force him to make a mistake during the execution of the warrant. If the warrant was violated, anything found during the warrant from that point would be inadmissible under the fruit of the Poisonous Tree ruling. Haines slowly walked behind Vernon and the other Deputies, which caused them to unintentionally keep looking over their shoulders at him.
CHAPTER 11
CASTIGATION
T
he cruiser containing Cyrus pulled out of the driveway and slowly drove down the dusty lane towards town. Cyrus was sitting with his head cranked backwards, slowly watching his home dissipated in the background. Eventually he righted himself in the seat and looked forward through the Plexiglas screen separating him and the Deputy driving. The ride was relatively short, but a million questions were racing through his head, that it appeared to be an eternity. When they arrived at the Sheriff’s station Cyrus was led through the Sally Port and into the processing room. He was escorted through the heavy steel core doors into an area that looked like a fishbowl. There were three men inside of the enclosed control room. Cyrus was walked up to a window and was addressed by the Sergeant inside.
“Do you know why you’ve been arrested?” the Sergeant asked.
“Not rightly Sergeant, they said something about missing people.” Cyrus responded.
“Well sir, you’re being arrested for suspicion of Murder.” The Sergeant said without looking up from his panel board. The Sergeant then instructed Cyrus to follow the Deputy and do as he instructs. Cyrus walked into a smaller room with a wall mounted camera overhead, and some other machine that looked like a photocopier. After he was uncuffed he was instructed to stand against the wall on a pair of yellow feet painted on the floor. He was then instructed to look forward at a red dot on the wall. He was then instructed to give both right and left profiles before being asked to change out of his personal clothes into a red jump suit. Cyrus having lived in the area knew that the Sheriff’s Department color coded their prisoners. White was for petty offenses, Orange for non-violent crimes; whether they were felonies or misdemeanors crimes. Red was the color assigned to those arrested for murder or attempted murder. Cyrus was then walked down a hallway with steel doors, which had slits in the middle. As he was being walked down the corridor, he peered through the open slits; and saw cold vacant eyes looking back at him. No one said a word as they proceeded down the hallway to a single cell. Cyrus was then placed inside and informed that when the Sheriff returned, he’d be given an opportunity to give a statement. Cyrus already knew he wasn’t going to give a statement, and that he’ll wait to hear from Haines. He just stepped inside his cell and thought of Ella as the door clanged behind him. Meanwhile, Vernon was back at Cyrus’ house turning it upside down looking for any scrap of evidence he could use to tie Cyrus and Haines to the disappearance of his compatriots. He did not find any evidence inside, and was walking down the hallway towards the back door heading to the barn. As he passed old family photographs of Cyrus’ family, he stopped at the picture of Cyrus and his father; when Cyrus was about 5 years old. He stared intently into the face of Cyrus’ father and remembered back to the last time he had seen him alive, and even though unspeakable things were being done to him; he would not give his tormentors the satisfaction of hearing him cry out in pain. Vernon was but a little boy himself, but the visage was indelibly stricken into his memory. Vernon gained his composure and continued out the back door to the barn and asked Bougalaise how the search was going so far.
“To be honest Sheriff, it ain’t going well at all.” Vernon looked around the barn and kicked around in the dirt with the tip of his boots before he responded to Bougalaise remark.
“Dammit! These boys aren’t smart enough to do a crime like this and leave no trace, keep looking.” Vernon walked out towards the burn pit to collect his thoughts and to make himself look useful while the others continued searching. He stopped at the edge of the burn pit and looked down into it, not really thinking anything. All parcels of land in the area have a burn pit to get rid of small garbage items and yard waste. As he stood on the side looking in, it came to him that evidence could have been deposited inside. His heart raced as he turned around and yelled for some Deputies to come, and bring shovels.
“Hey y’all come over here and start digging in this burn pit!” He yelled at two Junior Deputies within earshot of him. Vernon then looked around for a branch to sift through the top layers of ashes. The Deputies went to the forensics van and grabbed shovels and a white five gallon bucket each, then ran over to Vernon’s location.
“I want y’all to clear this pit one inch at a time and sift through it for anything you think might be used as evidence.”
“Yes Sir Sheriff, how far down should we go?” one of the Deputies asked as he planted the shovel for his first turn of ashes.
“I’d say no more than two feet more or less, anything deeper is weeks old already and of no value to this investigation.” Haines was still sitting on the porch with Ella and was watching the Sheriff talking to his Deputies, but he could not make out what they were saying. He could see the look of concern on Ella’s face as the men began digging in the burn pit. Haines looked around to see how close the Deputy was who was assigned to watch over them during the execution of the warrant. The Deputy was about 10 feet away and was texting on his phone, not paying too much attention to them; but he would look up periodically to see if they had moved from their seats. Haines leaned over slightly in Ella’s direction and spoke under his voice.
“Miss Ella, no need to worry yourself sick about them, they won’t find anything over there.” Ella broke her gaze from the working men and looked at Haines.
“Didn’t y’all burn clothes over there earlier?” she asked Haines
“Yes we did, but we removed all metal buttons and zippers from the clothes. We also wrapped them in the bailing plastic.”
“What does that mean?” Ella asked not knowing the significance of the bailing plastic.
“The bailing plastic is commercial grade and burns hotter that regular plastic, it also melts into hard clumps. So if the clothing didn’t burn completely, it will be impossible to see what’s encased inside.”
Ella felt a little better about them digging around in the pit, but her stomach was still churning into a knot knowing Cyrus was down at the Sheriff’s station. After about four hours of scouring the Davies residence and surrounding property, Vernon called his men off and instructed them to meet back at the station for debriefing and assignments according to their positions. He knew he needed to get the uppity nigra in and question him regarding the disappearance of his family and friends. He knew it would be better to ask him to voluntarily come in rather than take him in involuntarily. He knew Haines was versed in criminal proceedings and did not want him to invoke his right to counsel before he could establish his involvement. He took a moment to gather his thoughts before approaching Haines. Vernon refreshed the cud of tobacco leaf in his cheek before going over to see Haines and Ella.
“Ella, I’m rightfully sorry ‘bout the inconvenience we’ve caused you, but it’s something that couldn’t be avoided.” Vernon said as he adjusted his Stetson off of his brow.
“Sheriff, you’se known Cyrus all your life, I don’t know what y’all think he did; but you know’se he ain’t done nobody wrong.” Vernon really didn’t know how to respond to that question truthfully.
“I’ll assure you that if Cyrus had nothing to do with this he’ll been home soon enough.” He said this looking in Haines direction, as if to put him on notice.
“Aw’right Sheriff, I’ll be waiting for my Cyrus to be comin’ home.” Vernon then asked Haines if he could have a word with him and motioned for him to step away from the porch.
“Mister, I don’t reckon you’d be willing to come down to the station to have a word with me, would you?”
“I’d be more than willing to come down to the station Sheriff; it would give me an opportunity to see that Cyrus is being treated appropriately.”
Vernon did not like the innuendo Haines was making that Cyrus was being mistreated at his jail.
“What would make you say something like that mister, we have a clean record with no civil rights violation of prisoners.” Vernon quipped back in response to Haines tort.
“I never said you did, I said I want to make sure he was being afforded all of the rights given to an individual presumed innocent until proven guilty i.e. right to counsel and the right not to incriminate himself.”
“If he’s innocent then he wouldn’t need counsel, now would he?” Vernon retorted.
“That’s exactly what I mean. Just because someone asks for counsel does not mean he’s guilty. Only a less informed person would talk with you without counsel if he’s looked up for a serious crime; wouldn’t you say Sheriff?”
Vernon was definitely through with this interloping uppity nigra talking to him like an equal. Vernon did want to play quid pro quo with Haines; otherwise, he might lose the opportunity and have him renege on his offer to voluntarily come in for questioning.
“I’ll follow you to the station Sheriff; just let me know when you’re ready to leave.”
“No need to drive, I can have one of my Deputies drive you.” Vernon responded to Haines question.
“Thanks for the offer Sheriff, but I would rather drive myself. After all, I am not under arrest if I’m not mistaken?”
“You’re right mister, just follow me into town.” Vernon knew once he had gotten Haines into the station his intentions were to trip him up and charge him along with Cyrus. He didn’t know how he was involved, but he knew Haines was knee deep as turtle shit in it. He felt that Cyrus wasn’t sophisticated enough to have done this alone nor would he have had the fortitude to attempt it.
“Miss Ella, would you mind if I borrowed Cyrus’ truck to go into town to check up on him and speak with the Sheriff.”
“Please do. Go check on Cyrus for me, I ain’t worried ‘bout that old truck.”
Ella cusped Haines’ hand as she handed him the keys and gave him a little squeeze; as she peered pleadingly into his eyes. Haines motioned for Vernon to lead the way as he walked towards the trucked parked in the lane. Vernon asked one of his Deputies to ride along with him in his cruiser as they drove back into town. While driving into town Haines dialed one of his fraternity brothers who’s a Managing Partner in a powerful legal firm in the District of Columbia area. He knew he needed top ranked representation for himself and Cyrus. Haines waited a few rings before his friend answered, the receiver picked up.
“Hey Roderick, its Haney.”
“Hey professor, when are we going to see you again, it’s been what two years since you visited.”
“Well Roderick, it may be some time before I have that possibility; that’s why I called.”
Haines, Jason Abercrombie and Roderick Sprewell were like the three Musketeers during their college days and crossed the line at the same time for Alpha Phi Alpha fraternity. All three had remained close friends, and would meet up as a group every other year to maintain those bonds of brotherhood.
“Why such a dismal tenor Haney, the project losing funding?” Roderick knew the past couple of years have been tumultuous for Haney, and that the project had consumed a large part of his life.
“I wished it were as simple as that, I’m actually calling for legal advice and maybe representation.”
The other end of the phone grew silent for a few moments before Roderick spoke. He had never received a call from Haney asking for legal representation, if he had legal trouble, the University provided any legal advice he may have needed. This request got him very concerned for his friend and brother.
“Come on now Haney, this is me. Whatever you need I’m There for you.”
Haines didn’t know where to start or how to start for that matter.
“Rod, I got into a serious bind down here in Tennessee on my way to a conference. I didn’t know who else to turn to.”
“If you’re in legal trouble, I had better been the first person you called, how can I help?”
Haines knew he only had about 10-15 minutes to lay out the entire scenario for Roderick before he pulled into town, so he just gave the bare facts. He explained how he was broken down along the highway, when he heard screams coming from the tree line; and he exited his car to investigate. Haines related how the robed Klansmen were standing around Cyrus and that they were in the process of lynching him when intervened. He detailed how the shootings had transpired and that he had no other choice but to fire upon the men to save himself and Cyrus.
“Damn, Haney!” was all that Roderick could think of to say in response to what he was just told by Haines. In all the years that he’s known Haney, he did know him to be a violent man. The only time he saw Haney fight was during a college intramural basketball game against the Omega’s and that was really just a shoving match on the floor over an intentional foul. After a few moments the litigator took over and he regained composure.
“I have a deposition later tonight, but I’ll catch a flight out first thing in the morning. Don’t say anything until I get there.”
“There’s one more thing Rod, the man I saved is a poor farmer with limited resources and will need representation as well; can you help him too?” Haines said pleadingly.
“Of course, he’s the whole basis of this incident. Don’t worry you can make it up to me later.”
Both men said their goodbyes, and Haines felt confident now meeting with Vernon at the Sheriff’s station. He just needed to speak with Cyrus, and inform him that legal representation had been secured and not to provide any statements whatsoever. Vernon’s vehicle pulled into his reserved stall fronting the Sheriff’s office. He stepped one foot out of the vehicle and spat on the ground before fully extricating himself. Once he had stepped away from the vehicle, he looked down the avenue looking for the truck carrying Haines. After about a minute or two the truck pulled to a stop directly behind Vernon’s.
