One Cut by Eve Porinchak

Author:Eve Porinchak
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Simon Pulse

MIKE VERSUS JASON

MIKE

MIKE MCLOREN TOOK THE WITNESS stand on Wednesday, April 17, as the state’s star and only witness to the crime. The entire case hinged on his credibility and how the jury perceived him. Dressed in a dark gray suit, crisp white shirt, and red tie, Mike appeared to have aged quite a few years in the previous eleven months. His dark hair was slicked back, showcasing his glassy eyes and dark circles beneath them.

While recounting the story, McLoren admitted that he had smoked marijuana with his friends on the afternoon of May 22, 1995. He also expressed his anger at his girlfriend, Stacey, because when she left she took “all the stuff that was good,” referring to the “kind bud” or potent “endo.” That was why he was taking out his aggression on the punching bag when Micah, Tony, Brandon, and Jason showed up. Mike’s story was something of a disaster. Although he remembered that Micah took the lead and entered the fort ahead of the other boys, he could not answer the question about who threw the first punch.

When Michael Latin asked him what happened first inside the fort, McLoren remembered Micah saying, “Gimme the keys, fool.”

“What words did you hear after Micah said, ‘Gimme the keys, fool’?”

“ ‘You want shit with Gumbys, ese?’ ”

“Ese? Is that a word you’ve heard before?”

“Yes.”

“Gumbys. Is that a word you’ve heard before?”

“Yes.”

“Did that statement have an effect on you?”

“A little bit.”

“What effect did it have on you?”

“Intimidated me a little more.”

“Why?”

“Because it’s a gang. You know? Gangs are problems!”

“Do you know what ese means?”

“It’s a Mexican slang term. It’s used before a fight ensues.”

It was the exact wording Judge Mira had used in the pretrial hearings regarding the gang issue. There is no doubt that prosecutors Semow and Latin prepped McLoren to use those same words.

Then McLoren gleefully described how he overpowered Micah Holland, threw him down on the bed, then jabbed him repeatedly with elbow blows to the back of his head. The problem for Micah at this point in the trial was that the jury was now looking at a sixteen-year-old boy who, in the eleven months prior to the trial, had gone through a major adolescent growth spurt. The young boy who Mike McLoren beat up had stood just over five feet tall and weighed barely more than one hundred pounds. Now sitting in the courtroom was Micah Holland approaching manhood, half a foot taller and more than twenty-five pounds heavier. It would have been impossible for the jury members to fathom the inequity of the fight.

Mike could place Micah, Brandon, and Jason inside the fort. When asked about Tony Miliotti, he said, “Tony was like in the doorway. He wasn’t in it [the fort], but he wasn’t not in it. He was in the doorway.” He couldn’t recall if Tony had touched anybody. When asked if he was scared when the three boys entered his fort asking for the keys to his marijuana drawer, he answered, “No.” When asked “Why?” McLoren said, “Because I had Jim.

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