Today marks exactly four months until the (scheduled) start of the October wrongful death trial.  That flurry of motions and filings we’d expected have yet to materialize, but the coming months should see the kickoff of a nasty battle over what evidence and testimony makes it to trial. 

Now that we know the proper pronunciation of ‘in limine,’ we feel like old pros (or paralegals) and are ready to jump into them.

And for you devotees of guest posts, we took “Christine’ up on her offer she made in a comment on Hoya’s essay - to do a statement analysis of Price’s portion of the ‘Anacostia Dialogues.” Statement analysis is to some an emerging (soft) science for criminal investigators, but not without its critics.  It should make for an interesting, if not exhaustive post, to come in the next week or so.

Part one of Bea’s submission generated close to 100 comments and the final chapter could elicit as many. When lobbing in a comment, if the preceeding one looks skinny, start a new thread and mention who and what you’re responding to up front.  Until the large print version of WMRW is released, that’s the best we can suggest. We now yield the floor bandwidth:

“We can all speculate as to how we would have acted/reacted under the same circumstances.  I might’ve been rattled and even overcome with grief that night, but I know that I wouldn’t stop cooperating in the days, months and years that followed.  Without a doubt some people are wrongfully convicted, but that would not be an overriding concern for me nor, I would venture, would it be for most people. 

There is no denying that that night was hell for the defendants – to see the bloody body of a murdered friend, to feel the heat of suspicion, to sit for hours in the sparse interrogation rooms with cops coming and going like car salesmen following a script to wear you down. 

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The Op-Ed Pages

Once again, taking to these pages with a guest post is longtime reader (maybe the very first), Bea.  She was one of the early trackers in this case when the only outpost was at datalounge. Few outside the immediate principals in this saga have a better grasp on the history of this case, evidence, players and the many dynamics.

This is the first installment of a piece she recently wrote. Treatise may be the more apt characterization. We thank her for her continued support, good humor and her indefatigable pursuit of justice in this case.

“Joe Price always wanted to be a hero, with a back-up plan of being rich and famous.  According to his anonymous friend here on WMRW, he was very exceedingly ambitious in high school.  At William & Mary, he stayed in the closet in part because of his political aspirations; he hammered out enough support and found enough backers, if not friends, to be elected Student Body President his senior year. According to the Facebook Page for “College Partnership for Kids,” one “Joseph R. Price” is credited as being the “CPK founder” in 1990, when he, along with other W&M students, forged a project to help elementary school kids. 

Mr. Joseph R. Price is quoted as saying “I wanted to create a way in which college students could give back a little of what they have received.”  He’s the only person quoted and given more “props” than any other W&M alum or current student in the organization, despite that he no longer appears to be an officer, member or admin of the group – I’m guessing it’s not easy to for Joe to be on Facebook these days – but it’s remarkable that he still gets top billing.

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What We Have Here, Is An Effort To Mediate

Last week, in response to a joint motion, Judge Michael Rankin signed an order to cancel the June 14 Court-ordered ADR (Mediation/Case Evaluation) that had been on the Scheduling Order since last October.

But that’s only half the story, and not as it seems that both sides in this case have a failure to communicate. Now scheduled for June 21 is a private mediation session. We learn that, “Parties are prepared to spend several hours with Judge (Howard) Chasanow in attempt to reach an amicable resolution to this matter and avoid future litigation costs and resources.”

It sounds like an impossible task.  Maybe so, but this Chasanow guy has quite a track record.

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“About pretty much everything. “

Longtime reader Hoya Loya has taken to these pages before with two thoughtful and provocative guest posts.  We welcome him back.

Last February, he tackled the thorny subject of whether there was consentual sex on the night of Robert’s murder, and opined that it was extremely unlikely.  

His first contribution here in October, 2009, was a succinct rundown on the key elements that if murder charges were ever filed, who they would more than likely point to, Dylan Ward, was his guess.

Today we share his latest thoughts, based on a fresh viewing of Defendant Joseph Price’s interrogation tapes from just hours after the murder, the “Anacostia Dialogues,” as they’ve become known. He zeroes in on a number of statements that Price made to the police that evening and questioned their veracity. 

With thouse doubts in mind, he applied a Latin phrase well known to those in the lawyer trade,and extrapolated from there on the apparent truthfulness of the larger Price narrative:

“Until very recently, I had avoided viewing Joe Price’s Anacostia interview. I had read the transcript and just didn’t have the time to watch. Big mistake. It was fascinating and possibly revealing in ways the transcript is not, as so many others pointed out when it was originally posted here at WMRW. We do know for sure that Joe is caught in at least one lie, if a white one, when he pretends Victor’s phone is his own.

That called to mind the old legal adage, one that first came to my attention as a summer associate back in 1987, when a partner asked me to research its use in legal opinions over the years. Later on, it had its moment in the sun when invoked by F. Lee Bailey regarding Mark Fuhrman in the O.J. trial: “Falsus in uno, falsus in omnibus.” Translated roughly, “If one thing it false, it’s all false.”

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Plaintiffs Amend Expert Witness List

A short, one-page filing hit the DC Superior Court clerk’s office this week, submitted by Plainfiff counsel Brett Reynolds of Covington.

In early March, Covington filed their first iteration of the expert list but new to the amended list of witnesses they expect to call at the October wrongful death trial is an old name – DC’s Deputy medical Examiner, Lois Goslinoski. 

Goslinoski was a key witness for the government during last summer’s conspiracy and obstruction trial.  We learned that her depo for the civil trial took place on May 2.

She testified during the first week of the trial and for the most part held up during a blistering round of cross by the defense team.  Highlights of her testimony and opinions follow, as well as some key dates on the calendar to keep in mind.

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Defense Continues their Depos

Under the header of bringing you last week’s news today, it seems that DC EMT Jeff Baker, was deposed at the offices of Schertler & Onorato last Friday afternoon.

Baker, as readers may recall, was a key witness at the summer conspiracy and obstruction trial and he took the stand on several occasions. 

His testimony, recalling the night of Robert’s murder, and his arrival on the scene – the EMTs Baker and his partner Tracy Weaver) arriving before the MPD, provided moments of horror and occasional levity too.  He appeared mostly steady on the stand under what seemed at times rather hostile and rapid-fire cross.

A review of his time served in Judge Leibovitz’ courtroom and this depo subpoena follows.

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And Some Relief 

You’ve all been there – doing anything you can to avoid a lenghty conference call at the office.  Yesterday, in lieu of a status hearing on the MPD Motions to Quash detectives’ deposition testimony based on law enforcement privilege, a conference call was all that occurred. 

At issue was was the MPD’s hesitancy, argued by the DC AG’s office, to have their detectives open up the Wone murder case files, for fear that it could jeopardize their further efforts and violate the sanctity of the investigative process. 

Judge Michael Rankin, did however rule, and issued an order later in the day to try and settle the dispute.  About fifteen minutes before the 1:45pm scheduled start, the court clerk told observers that the conference call option was a distinct possibility. 

The next clue that there wasn’t going to be a hearing was the surprising lack of attorneys that normally haunt the hallway to courtroom 517, and inside the room itself. 

One however did show up but he wasn’t attached to these particular proceedings.  Assistant US Attorney Glenn Kirschner, lead prosecutor for last summer’s conspiracy and obstruction trial, and for all we know, starting quarterback once again if there is ever a murder trial, did a drop by.

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