Blowing Smoke?

On February 14, opposing counsel in the Wone civil case exchanged Valentines.  Well, not really, let’s call them salvos.  Meeting the designated Court deadline to exchange Lists of Fact Witness, both sides filed their paper on Monday.  Today – the three near-identical lists submitted by the defense for Price, Ward and Zaborsky; next week we’ll publish the plaintiff list.

The seven page defense lists are chock full of names familiar to any case watcher; many of the investigators and other witnesses from the summer conspiracy and obstruction trial.  MPD Detectives Norris, Whalen, Xanten, Brown, Kasul, Wagner and Waid among others.

Some new names surface too: Robert’s brother Andrew, several friends (we think) of the defendants, mother to the Price and Zaborsky kids, Kim Musheno, other Swann Street residents, contractors, a bunch of attorneys including lead plaintiff counsel and former colleague of Robert’s at Covington, Ben Razi, and lastly, a bold face name, former Cov rainmaker and current Attorney General, Eric Holder.  No kidding.

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Spagnoletti Responds to Razi on 5th Amendment

Two weeks ago, the Plaintiffs filed their Motion to Compel Deposition Testimony. 

Covington was not getting the answers they wanted from defendants Price, Ward and Zaborsky.  In fact, they weren’t getting any answers they argue, to even the most seemingly innocuous depo questions.

Ben Razi argued that the defendants were unnecessarily hiding behind 5th Amendment claims, and that, according to their filing, “At this late stage, Defendants face no reasonable prospect of criminal prosecution.” 

Not so says Schertler-Onorato’s Robert Spagnoletti, in which he reprises his role managing the constitutional issues, much like he did during the criminal proceedings.

In a 105 page Memorandum of Points and Authorities in Support of Defendants’ Opposition to Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel, he states very bluntly that the possibility of his clients being charged with criminal counts related to Robert Wone’s murder, “…is an ever-present and real threat.”  

He goes on to illustrate why he feels the Plaintiff, “…fails to appreciate how deposition testimony could be used against the Defendants in a subsequent case.”   Further criminal charges may  include “homicide.”

And buried deep inside the text are a few headlines:  The Government was trying to cut a deal with one of the defendants “..in the days following the conclusion of the criminal trial,” hoping that he’d flip on his (former?) housemates/roommates/lovers/whatevers.

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Defense Requests Deposition from Lead Detective Bryan Waid

Do you remember Bryan Waid? The Defense certainly hasn’t forgotten him.

In the MPD interrogation videos, otherwise known as the  Anacostia Dialogues, MPD Detective Bryan Waid was the most sympathetic of the questioners on the morning of August 3rd.  He allowed long period of silences between his questions to Joe Price; allowing Price to give his unvarnished version of events from the previous evening.

He was not accusatory, the way Detective “Come-to-Jesus” Wagner was, nor was he disbelieving the way Detective Norris was.  Detective Waid went the good guy route;  seeking to get the full version of events according to Price.

On the stand at the criminal trial, Detective Waid was the same calm, reassuring presence, but it was his testimony that was devastating.

He admitted that part of the reason for his nice guy routine was to maintain a relationship with the defendants so that he would be able to follow up and ask additional questions as the investigation unfolded. He recounted how the backyard where the unknown intruder would have scaled the 9-foot retaining fence, only to land in a raised wall of garden plants was completely untouched.  He noticed how the heavy pollen on top of the fence was completely undisturbed, and the spider webs on the branches of the trees were unbroken.

All of this testimony, along with photographs taken that night, satisfied Judge Lynn Leibowitz enough to conclude beyond a reasonable doubt that an unknown intruder did not enter the home at 1509 Swann Street the night of Robert Wone’s murder.

Maybe this is why the Defense in the civil suit wants to get in touch with Detective Waid again.  Read more »

What Are We Not Asking That We Should?

If there was a list of people you might not expect to turn up on this site, Donald Rumsfeld might be near the top. We expect he would be just as surprised to pop up here as well.

But the former Secretary of Defense, now author, is back in the spotlight as he flogs his memoir “Known and Unknown.”  And it’s that famous quote that inspired the title that has got us thinking anew about how we look at solving this case.

Among his many contributions to history, it may be something Donald Rumsfeld said – not did – that will be most cited.  Speaking at a press briefing on Iraqi WMD on Feb. 12, 2002, Secretary Rumsfeld said this:
“There are known knowns; there are things we know that we know.
There are known unknowns; that is to say there are things that we now know we don’t know.
But there are also unknown unknowns – there are things we do not know we don’t know.”
What this zen koan meant in the context of Iraq is still unclear – with the possible exception of Mr. Rumsfeld’s mind.  But like any piece of poetry, it raises a challenge in a different context – that of Robert Wone’s murder.  Namely: what don’t we know that we don’t know? Read more »

January Hymn:  The Status Hearing Transcript 

The final exhibit attached to the Plaintiff Motion to Compel is the transcript from the December 8 status hearing, the last that Judge Brook Hedge was to preside over before she turned the reins and gavel over to her colleague Michael Rankin.

Those attending the proceding will remember the day, unseasonably cold weather and long, long lines to get into the Moultrie Courthouse.  The near hour-long wait delayed the start of the hearing because counsel themselves were on line waiting to get through the security checkpoints and mags.

The hearing itself lasted exacly one hour, but the agenda was packed and the arguments heated.  Debated were the gag order, defense motions to dismiss counts of the complaint, and finally, the Plaintiff Motion to Compel deposition testimony. 

We left Moultrie thinking that all those issues were squared away.  Only this week did we learn that there has been more defendant depo hanky-panky, according to Team Covington.

The transcript that follows is a good read and showcases the talents and strengths of the many attorneys on the case: Covington’s Razi, familiar face Robert Spagnoletti, the new guy on the Ward team, Ralph Spooner, and the trio of Bret Buckwalter, Frank Daly and Sean Edwards for defendants Victor Zaborsky and Joe Price.   Also on hand that day was Chip English who argued on behalf of the Media Intervenors, of which we were a party to – or more accurately, the instigator.

The sixty-page read also gives readers the chance to see just how good (or bad) we are taking notes and getting quotes at these hearings.  Readers will also note far more misspellings and typos in the official transcript than seen here on any given day:  Mr. Ravi , just to name a couple. 

And there are no electronic records of DC Court proceedings why exactly?  Oh yeah, the official reporters (a DC Courts sanctioned, for-profit monopoly) has it covered. 

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What We Have Here, is a Failure to Communicate

Wasn’t it just the other day that we remarked how slow the paper chase in the Wone case was going?  

There had been no new filings since early December, and little or no activity according to the Court database. 

Late yesterday afternoon, a four page filing trickled in.  OK, we have a little post for Tuesday, we thought. 

Then a few minutes later, another filing came in.  That one tipped the scales at 150 pages.  So today’s post won’t be that little after all.

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Judge Brook Hedge’s Lasting Legacy?

Our jobs just got a little bit easier. 

In fact, anyone in DC or beyond who wants to track the paper chase of either Superior Court criminal or civil cases, has a better tool to do so. Unveiled recently is a new and improved, lickety-split improvement to the online database of DC cases.  Huzzah, Huzzah!

While the old system was serviceable, downtime and slow response hampered the search functions and results.  Kiss those days goodbye and say hello to the Information Age. 

The interface is much more user-friendly and the speed of the search results are vastly improved.

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