“Did you? Or did you think it might be better not to have any witnesses to what you were about to do?”
“I thought it would be safer for the passengers,” Falcon repeated.
“During your testimony, I believe you said that after you forced everyone to leave the coach, you later left the coach yourself and came up behind the defendant and the two who were with him. Is that right?” Gilmore said.
“That is right.”
“You shot two of them, did you not?”
“After they shot at me.”
“So you say,” Gilmore said sarcastically.
“Objection, Your Honor, the driver and the shotgun guard both testified to the same thing,” Joe Kincaid, the prosecutor, said.
“Sustained. Jury will disregard defense attorney’s last remark,” the judge said.
“Mr. MacCallister, did Mr. Garon shoot at you?”
“No, he did not.”
“Did he make any threatening act toward you?”
“He was threatening the driver and—”
“Your Honor, please instruct the witness to answer the questions I ask.”
“Witness will respond to specific questions asked,” Judge Hawkins ruled.
“Mr. MacCallister, I ask you again. Did Mr. Garon make any threatening move toward you?”
“He did not.”
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
“Redirect, Mr. Kincaid?” the judge asked.
Without standing, Kincaid asked, “Did Jim Garon make any threatening moves toward the driver or the guard?”
“Yes, he did,” Falcon replied.
“And your initial response, even before the two deceased fired at you, was to prevent them from shooting at the driver, the guard, or both?”
“It was.”
“Thank you. No further questions, Your Honor.”
“The witness may step down.”
Gilmore called Garon to the witness stand. Garon was sworn in; then Gilmore approached him.
“Mr. Garon, on the first of this month, did you, Andy Parker, and Poke Waggoner confront the Pagosa Springs coach on the Pagosa Springs road?”
“Yeah, we did,” Garon replied.
“Was it your intention to rob the coach?”
“No, we wasn’t goin’ to rob it.”
“What was your intention?”
“We was needin’ a ride, that’s all.”
“But there was gunplay, was there not?”
“Yeah, well, this MacCallister fella come up behind us with his gun drawn, and the next thing you know, he shot and killed Andy and Poke.”
“Did Andy and Poke shoot at MacCallister?”
“Yeah, but what I think they done was shoot back at him. Only, not bein’ professional gunmen like MacCallister is—”
“Objection, Your Honor, to the defendant referring to Falcon MacCallister as a professional gunfighter,” Kincaid called.
“Your Honor, may I respond?” Gilmore said. He returned to the defendant’s desk and picked up three paperbound novels. “I hold in my hand the book
“They are novels, Your Honor,” Kincaid said.
“But they are all about Falcon MacCallister, who is a real person.”
“Objection overruled,” Judge Hawkins said. “Reference to Mr. MacCallister as a professional gunfighter may stand.”
“You may continue with your statement, Mr. Garon.”
“I lost my place,” Garon said.
