against you.”
“Yes, sir.”
“This court is satisfied that Mr. Daniels is aware of his rights in this matter, and is voluntarily waiving same,” Judge James said, and made a gesture which Steve Cohen correctly interpreted to mean that he could now place the appropriate documents before Mr. Daniels.
He walked to Daniels’s table, laid a bound legal folder before Daniels, and handed him his pen. Daniels quickly scrawled his signature on them.
“May I approach the bench, Your Honor?” Cohen asked.
Judge James waved him to the bench. Cohen handed him the legal folder. James looked at it for a moment, then signed it.
“You understand, Mr. Cohen, that the Commonwealth of Pennsylvania must take Mr. Daniels into custody within ten days?”
“Your Honor, Sergeant Matthew Payne, of the Homicide Unit of the Philadelphia police department-and other Philadelphia police officers-are present in this court, and prepared to take custody of Mr. Daniels within the time prescribed. ”
“Then that would seem to conclude this matter,” Judge James said, and stood up.
“All rise!” the man in the two-tone brown uniform ordered.
Everyone stood up.
Judge James left the courtroom.
Sergeant Kenny began to place Daniels in the prisoner restraint system. When he was finished, Kenny and the state trooper led him shuffling back through the satellite courthouse and put him back in the rear seat of the Daphne police car.
Then the convoy left the satellite courthouse complex, went back to U.S. Highway 98, and turned left onto it. Three miles farther along, it turned left onto a two-lane macadam road, and half a mile down that turned into the Fairhope Municipal Airport.
There the convoy drove onto the parking tarmac and up to a Cessna Citation. There was an almost identical Citation on the ramp, and half a dozen other business aircraft.
Mickey O’Hara jumped out of the Lincoln and ran up the line of cars to be in place when Daniels was taken from the Daphne police car.
He was there in plenty of time to see the little ceremony.
The attorney general of Alabama got out of one black Mercury and walked toward the Daphne car holding Daniels. The driver and the state troopers moved quickly to stand behind him.
Steve Cohen walked up to the car. He had ridden with O’Hara in the Lincoln. Matt Payne and Joe D’Amata took up positions behind him. Chief Yancey, several of his officers, and Detectives Martinez and McFadden stood to one side.
At a nod from the man in civilian clothing, one of the state troopers opened the door of the police car and helped first Sergeant Kenny and then Mr. Daniels out.
“Mr. Daniels,” the man said. “I’m Baxley Williams, Attorney General of the State of Alabama. And this is Sergeant Matthew Payne, a Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, police officer, who has a warrant for your arrest.”
Daniels did not reply.
Williams turned to Matt.
“You may now take custody of the prisoner.”
Matt put his hand on Daniels’s arm. Sergeant Kenny took his hand off.
Cohen signaled D’Amata with a finger. D’Amata took handcuffs from his belt, went to Daniels, and put them on him.
“Sergeant Kenny, you want to help me with this?” D’Amata asked.
Kenny began to remove the prisoner restraint system.
When he had finished, D’Amata said, “Come with me, please,” and led Daniels toward the Cessna Citation.
Matt walked quickly to the airplane, got there first, and went inside.
When Daniels came into the cabin, Matt showed him where he was to sit, the rearmost seat, usually occupied by the steward. Then he took handcuffs from his belt, added one cuff to Daniels’s left wrist, and snapped the other around the aluminum pipe work of the seat.
D’Amata watched.
Steve Cohen came aboard, followed by Mickey O’Hara.
“Let’s go,” he said.
Matt walked forward and knocked on the cockpit door. A man in a blue shirt with first officer shoulder boards opened it.
O’Hara took his picture.
“Any time,” Matt said.
The copilot walked through the cabin and operated the door-closing mechanism.
O’Hara took his picture.
Before the copilot could get back to the cockpit, there was the whine of an engine starting.
Joe D’Amata went to Homer Daniels.
Mickey O’Hara took their picture.
“The law says you cannot be restrained during takeoff, flight, or landing,” D’Amata said. “The law also says I have the authority to use what force is necessary to ensure that you remain in custody. What I’m going to do now is take those cuffs off you. What you’re going to do is fasten the seat belt. If you even look like you’re thinking of getting out of that seat, I’m going to shoot you. Do we understand each other?”
Daniels nodded.
D’Amata took the cuffs off.
The Citation started to move.
From where he was sitting, Matt could see everybody waiting for them to take off.
He didn’t think they could see him through the darkened windows of the Citation, but he waved anyway.
The Citation taxied down the runway, turned around, and immediately began the takeoff roll.
Matt could see that at least half the law enforcement officers on the tarmac were waving goodbye at them.
When he stopped looking out the window, Mickey O’Hara took his picture.
There weren’t quite as many people, or representatives of the Fourth Estate, on hand to meet the Citation at the Northeast Philadelphia Airport as there had been when Stan Colt’s Citation had arrived. But almost.
The Hon. Alvin W. Martin was there, sitting with a group of prominent officials and citizens at tables in the Flatspin Restaurant whose windows provided a view of aircraft using the main runway.
These included Police Commissioner Ralph Mariani- who was there primarily because he heard over Police Radio that the mayor was headed for the airport-and First Deputy Commissioner Dennis V. Coughlin-who was there because he wanted to be.
Sitting with them was Mr. Chadwick Thomas Nesbitt III, Chairman of the Executive Committee of Nesfoods International, who was there at the invitation of the mayor who intended to thank him publicly-that is, before the assembled TV and still cameramen-for his generous public-spirited offering of the airplane. Beside Mr. Nesbitt III was Mr. Chadwick Thomas Nesbitt IV, a vice president of Nesfoods International, who was there because he had called the Nesfoods International aviation department and asked to be informed of the arrival of the Citation.
When word was passed that the Nesfoods Citation had just requested landing and taxi instructions, Mr. Nesbitt IV was engaged in conversation with Mr. Stan Colt, the film actor, who had somehow acquired a zipper jacket with the legend PHILADELPHIA POLICE DEPARTMENT on it.
Also sitting in the VIP section of the Flatspin, so to speak, were the proprietor, Mr. Fred Hagen; Mr. Brewster Cortland Payne II, Esq., and Amelia M. Payne, M.D. The latter two had been informed of the arrival time by Commissioner Coughlin. Mr. Payne was there as a proud parent. Dr. Payne was there both because she wanted a look at an interesting example of mental disorder and also because she wanted to see her little brother’s moment of triumph.
The Hon. Eileen McNamara Solomon had also found time in her busy schedule to be in the Flatspin, primarily
