belong to a group, is dangerous or not dangerous? The reason I wasn’t sent out there wasn’t necessarily that they were dangerous-though they might be, I don’t know-but the reason was because the purpose of an investigation is to get information. What do you think those people are gonna tell me when I get out there on the white man’s reservation? You think they’re gonna open their souls and tell me their secrets? You believe that, then you’re no cynic,” says Herman. “You gotta either be terminally stupid or the reincarnation of Mahatma Gandhi.”
This brings the roof down around Tuchio’s ears. Even the judge is laughing.
Tuchio clears his throat, looks around a little, and waits for the laughter to die, but it doesn’t. He looks at Herman and considers whether there might be another tack to take. Finally he just shakes his head.
“No further questions.” You can barely hear it as he walks back to the counsel table.
28
When Harry and I arrived at the courthouse just after eight in the morning, groups were already starting to form outside. The carnival atmosphere was gone, driven off by tension in the air, like an approaching army, a sense of siege, a feeling that the moment had arrived.
Even with the secrecy imposed by the judge’s guillotine, Plato Quinn’s gag order looming over all our heads, the press has now punctured the seal. Fragments of information concerning the infamous letter are beginning to surface, stories running on cable news and the networks.
By the time we get to the courtroom, Ruiz, the clerk, is busy waving all the lawyers down the hall toward the judge’s chambers. When we get there, Quinn is standing in the middle of the room leaning against the front edge of his desk, watching the television. He puts a finger to his lips to keep us quiet as we file in.
“…news that a copy of the letter was found, what undisclosed sources are now referring to as the ‘Jefferson Letter.’ It is being described by unnamed sources as a document of ‘immense historic importance.’”
It is one of the cable channels. The reporter holding the microphone is staring intently into the camera as he stands in front of the Capitol building in Washington.
“The trial of Carl Arnsberg, a reputed neo-Nazi, for the murder of author Terry Scarborough has been ongoing now for nearly five months. The trial has been hotly covered by the media both here and abroad. Scarborough’s best-selling book Perpetual Slaves, based on the historic language of slavery in the Constitution and dealing with modern race relations, has been an international bestseller for nearly a year. The book sparked racial violence in at least five cities during the forty-seven days that Scarborough was on tour, before he was murdered.
“It was reported last week, and confirmed by court testimony yesterday, that an item of evidence missing from the scene of Scarborough’s murder, and presumably taken by the killer, has surfaced and had somehow been delivered to the law offices of Madriani and Hinds in Southern California. Madriani and Hinds are the lawyers representing the defendant, Carl Arnsberg.
“However, the information disclosed late last night that the item of evidence in question may be the reputed Jefferson Letter places a whole new dimension on the trial.
“Members of Congress are now weighing in. With reports that the letter may contain damaging information regarding African slavery at the time of the American Revolution, information never previously revealed, there are deep concerns in Congress and in the White House that disclosure of this information could spark renewed and broader racial violence.
“This is Howard Chamrow reporting from Washington.”
They cut back to the studio.
“Tom, do we have anything more on this?”
“This story seems to be growing by the minute. According to wire-service stories, the Congressional Black Caucus is now demanding immediate federal action to investigate whether or not the reports are accurate and, if in fact there is a Jefferson Letter, that it be secured by the FBI to make sure that it doesn’t get lost or destroyed.
“And there were also reports, though these are older, that there may be some connection, though it’s very vague, between some kind of a letter, though it’s not clear that it’s the Jefferson Letter, and a member of the United States Supreme Court, Arthur Ginnis. But as I say, those reports were filed last week. They’re very sketchy, and we haven’t heard anything more about this since, so it may have just been rumor. I’m hearing, according to one source, that Justice Ginnis, who is off the Court on sick leave right now, is a history buff and is considered something of a scholar on Jefferson’s papers, so it may be that someone simply contacted him at some point to check this out and that may be his only connection. We’re just not sure.”
With this last little bit, Quinn looks over at me, a mass of wrinkled eyebrows.
I’m having the same thought, wondering if perhaps the video of Scarborough and Ginnis over the table and Teddy Nons’s transcript of their conversation are all just part of a bad dream.
They switch to another story, and Quinn turns off the set.
“Close the door,” he says.
Five of us are in the room. Tuchio and Harmen, his assistant. Harry, myself, and Quinn.
“First question,” says Quinn, “is who leaked the information? Unless somebody raises a hand in the next second or so, I am going to assume that it was nobody in this room.” He waits for a few beats, looks at each of us and says, “At least that’s good news.
“Next order of business, I want to secure the letter, have it locked up in a safe place. Since it’s already been examined by forensics, is there any objection to working with a copy off the evidence cart from now on?”
I look at Harry. He shrugs. We all agree.
“Good. Then I’m gonna lock it up. I’ll have the county treasurer put it in their vault in a locked box.”
“As long as the evidence is preserved,” I tell him. “In the event of an appeal or retrial.”
“I’ll make sure of that,” says the judge. “Next,” he says. “How many of you have copies of the letter?”
I raise my hand. Tuchio raises his.
“You each have one?”
“As far as I know,” says Tuchio. “Nobody else in my office has one. I don’t know about the crime lab.”
“Find out,” says the judge. “You, Mr. Madriani. Do your forensics people have one?”
“I don’t know.”
“Find out,” he says.
“I want every copy that was made of that letter secured by you, Mr. Tuchio, and you, Mr. Madriani. I want them locked up in a safe. I don’t want your staff reading it, and if they already have read it, I don’t want them talking to anyone about it. Find out,” he says. “Do I make myself clear?”
Nothing but nodding heads in the room.
“When you leave here, call your offices immediately. Have them locate every copy that was made. Then I want to know, by three o’clock this afternoon, how many there are. And make sure you get them all.
“And I’m holding you responsible. If the crime lab has copies, if your forensics experts have copies, get ’ em back. I don’t want to see anything more regarding the contents of that letter on television, and I don’t want to read about it in the newspapers, not until I decide whether what’s written on those pages is gonna come into evidence or whether it’s not.” He looks at his watch.
“Is there some question about that?” I ask.
“About what?” he says.
“About the contents of the letter coming into evidence?” I say.
“It’s something we’re going to have to talk about,” says Quinn. “I think it’s pretty clear to all of us at this point that we don’t have much time. Pretty soon I have a feeling that I’m going to be up to my hips in federal agents, U.S. Attorneys, and federal court orders, so the sooner we can wrap this trial the better.
“Are you ready with your witnesses?” He looks at me.
I nod.
“Good, then let’s get movin’,” he says.
Tuchio and Harmen are out of their chairs, moving toward the door. Quinn is wrestling with his robe, struggling to get it on, running over me, as I try to get in his way.
“Your Honor, before we leave, I have to know whether I’m going to be allowed to introduce the contents of that letter into evidence and, if not, what your legal basis is for denying admission.”
