The Echo from Dealey Plaza by Abraham Bolden

Author:Abraham Bolden
Language: eng
Format: epub
ISBN: 9780307407375
Publisher: Crown/Archetype
Published: 2008-03-03T16:00:00+00:00

Chapter 12

BEFORE THE JURY was brought into the courtroom, the lawyers argued in front of Judge Perry regarding his charge to the jury. Again, the judge showed his determination to bring in a guilty verdict by the prejudicial language he wanted to use in his instructions, but for once George Howard was able to keep the judge in check. The attorneys agreed on these final matters, and the jury filed into the courtroom for the final phase of the trial.

Richard Sikes began his closing statement by reciting the charges against me. He told the jury that the government had proved its case “one hundred percent” and that the combined testimony of the government witnesses “leaves no other conclusion than that Agent Bolden conspired with Frank Jones to sell a government file to Joseph Spag-noli. There's no other explanation as to how Jones had the information.” He added that each time Jones and I had met, I gave him some more information about the Spagnoli case. His voice thick with disdain, he added it all up for the jury. “When Spagnoli called Mr. Martineau on the 13th, who was it that heard about the call? It was Bolden. The minute that Bolden heard that Spagnoli had just called on May 13, he called Frank Jones and warned him.

“And when Bolden was arrested by the Secret Service and Martineau asked him about the excerpt, what did Bolden say? I'll tell you what he said. Bolden blurted out, ‘If you believe I did it, you can check my typewriter.’ And when he was back in the Secret Service office, under questioning by Agent Jordan, what does Bolden say when 155 asked about the dyeing of Sandra's hair? ‘I didn't even know that they were going to dye her hair red,’ Bolden blurted. Who said anything about red?

“The government has met its burden,” Sikes concluded. “I request that you return a verdict of guilty on all three counts.” (In addition to the main charge concerning the sale of the file, there was an obstruction-of-justice charge and a conspiracy charge.)

One could easily believe that Richard Sikes honed his courtroom theatrics by watching lawyers in movies, but George Howard seemed to be infused with the spirits of the Sunday preachers from the black churches of America. When his turn came, he stood slowly and walked to the jury box, where he placed both hands on the railing and turned his eyes toward heaven.

“Cain slew his brother, Abel,” Howard began. “He slew Abel because he was jealous of Abel's relationship with God, not because Abel was guilty of anything. Agent Bolden was given the summary report by Agent Russell and instructed to read the report and give it to Agent Cross. What does my client do? He reads the report and does what he was instructed to do. He gave it to Agent Cross, and Agent Cross has admitted that he received the report. The report has not been found. Jones is the only person who says

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