Black Bird by James Keene

Author:James Keene
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: St. Martin's Publishing Group

8.

Innocence

Through Most of Gary Miller’s Career as a deputy sheriff in Vermilion County, Craig DeArmond had been a familiar presence behind the prosecutor’s table, first as an assistant state’s attorney and then, for eight years, as the state’s attorney. Tall and distinguished looking, he had a Lincolnesque profile and a deep, deliberate voice. As a frequent witness for the prosecution in criminal cases, Miller had watched him in action many times. “I’d say DeArmond was a hell of a lawyer,” the deputy sheriff says. “Probably one of the best trial lawyers in the area.”

Over the years of working together, the two became friendly, if not necessarily close friends—even after DeArmond opened a private practice and, as Miller puts it, “went to work for the other side.” Still, the deputy sheriff never expected, by any stretch of the imagination, that he would be facing off against the former state’s attorney in the most important case of their respective careers. But this was to be one more consequence of bringing federal charges against Larry Hall. Since the Central District of Illinois then had no federal defender’s office, U.S. judge Harold Baker had to tap a local private attorney to represent the indigent Hall, and given the considerable challenges of the high-profile case, he chose the most qualified candidate.

If anyone on the government’s side expected DeArmond to go through the motions with Hall, they were sadly mistaken. Instead, he mounted a ferocious defense, enthusiastically joined by the defendant, his family, and their friends back in Wabash. Emboldened by his attorney, Larry reached out to the press from his Danville jail cell in February 1995. “Hall: FBI framing me” was the headline for one article, which quoted Larry saying, “I did not kill or kidnap Jessica Roach or any other girl. Unfortunately the truth will come out as another helpless girl comes out missing. And the real killer is still free to choose among the innocent people of this whole area.”

Hall also complained that the extensive press coverage—with FBI spokesmen citing steadily increasing numbers of his putative victims—would discourage any future jury from believing him. “It’s come to the point where I’m completely snowed under by the FBI’s reports and stuff,” he said. “And I feel I’m not going to have a chance.” Later he added, “I’m just basically a helpless individual. I’ve just been totally taken advantage of by the FBI.”

Between Hall’s remarks to reporters and motions filed by DeArmond, the contours of Hall’s defense strategy had already come into shape. First was to discredit—or ideally discard—Hall’s confession statement because, as DeArmond argued to the court, it was “improperly coerced.” Second was to establish an alibi. Hall claimed to reporters that “many witnesses,” principally his twin brother, Gary, would testify to seeing him at an Indiana reenactment far from Georgetown on the day of Jessica Roach’s abduction.

Miller had no doubt who really orchestrated the interviews. “DeArmond,” he says, “uses the media perfectly.” But despite his respect for Hall’s counsel, Miller had no regrets about his role in making Jessica Roach’s abduction a federal case.

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