The trial: Day Two, Part I

Day One.

By the way, this is going to be a little dry. We didn't get to the entertaining bits till later. But don't worry, the defense witnesses whom I will write up later make all the stuff about VINs worth reading through.

Both lawyers made their opening statements. The prosecutor, Ms. Camares, went over the facts: Juan Rodriguez managed a towing company called "Classic Tow." The police made a surprise inspection of the lot, and found a stolen forklift, a stolen scissor lift, a wrecked Chevy Malibu with no VIN number, and a stolen Chevy Malibu with the VIN belonging to the wrecked one. The two cars also had their distinctive bumpers switched, and the stolen Malibu, which had been gold when it was stolen, had been re-painted white-- the same color as the wrecked Malibu. She also defined "chop shop"-- a place where vehicles are altered or disposed of or their identities are disguised.

At the time I heard it, this seemed a pretty good speech. In retrospect, however, it left a lot out that should have been mentioned.

The defense, Mr. Kocio, then made his opening speech. He said that of the fifteen cars found on the lot, only one was stolen, and that if it was a chop shop, more of them would have been stolen. (I found this a highly unconvincing argument.) Maria Lopez (not identified at this point by anyone) had registered both cars, which she wouldn't have done if she'd known one was stolen. The scissor lift and forklift were already on the porperty when Juan moved his business there. After the inspection, the police went to Juan's house and confiscated five vehicles, none of which turned out to be stolen. In conclusion, the police were on a fishing expedition and had it in for Juan, and there was no evidence that Juan had known the lifts and the car were stolen.

In retrospect, this also left out a lot.

[I'm not going to note all the photos, but a ton of photos of cars and car parts were introduced into evidence and ID'd by witnesses.]

The first people's witness was Mr. Gilmore, the owner of the stolen Malibu, an actor and car fanatic. This guy knew every identifying mark on his car, as he'd done a lot of fixer-up alterations to it. Estimated value of car $5000-$6000. The car was stolen some time in the night of August 23 '05. In September 21 '05, the police contacted him and had him ID his now-altered Malibu, which he described in excruciating detail, down to a dent in the hood which used to be there but had been fixed, a premium Optima battery he'd bought and installed that was missing, and flecks of silicone where he'd repaired one lens.

He said that he didn't know Juan Rodriguez, Maria Lopez, or Joanne Scurlock. (At this point the jury only knew the first, the defendant.)

The defense lawyer didn't have much to say to him, other than trying to establish, by getting him to say that he sometimes bought used parts to fix up his car, that car parts could be switched by innocent people as well as choppers.

Second people's witness was Mr. Liebert, owner of the wrecked Malibu, also a car fanatic. He also described his car in excruciating detail. He'd been in an accident in it (and still walked with a cane) and the car had been totaled. His son got an offer to buy the car as a fixer-upper, and Mr. Liebert spoke with the prospective buyer, Felipe, over the phone. At 5:00 AM some time in July '05, he got a phoen call saying that people were there to pick up the car. Liebert said that he didn't have the transfer of ownership paperwork ready, so the two men with the tow truck gave him a business card for Classic Tow and told him to drop it off later. He took the money ($250) and let them take the car.

A day or so later, he went to Classic Tow to drop off the DMV forms. No one was there, so he came back in a few hours. The lot consisted of a trailer which had a makeshift office in it, some equipment, some tow trucks, and about fifteen cars. The second time, a man whom Liebert assumed was a security guard took the paperwork and left it in the trailer-office.

On September 25, he met with the police and ID'd his wrecked Malibu. Ms. Camares showed him a photo which he first ID'd as his car, then said, "Oh, wait, that's not my car... I thought it was because it's got my '70 bumper on it, but it's actually a '71 Malibu with my '70 bumper. I know it's mine because there was a rust stain on the bumper, but this car doesn't have the rust continuing on to the body like mine did." (It was actually Mr. Gilmore's car.)

[I could not in a million years pick out my car from another car of the same color and model, so these guys impressed me.]

The police showed him some photo sheets, and he ID'd one person on the sheet as being one of the guys who picked up his car, but said he wasn't positive about the ID because it had been so early in the morning and he'd been on painkillers because of the accident. The man he ID'd, however, was Juan.

Mr. Kocio's cross-examination hit upon the shakiness of the ID, and also established that Mr. Liebert didn't recognize the defendant in court. Mr. Liebert no longer has the Classic Tow business card. It also established that there was an error on the police report, putting the price of the wrecked Malibu at $2500 instead of $250. He did not remember seeing another Chevy Malibu on the lot. [Gilmore's Malibu had not yet been stolen at that point, so I'm not sure what benefit that fact had for the defense.]

The trial: Day Two, Part I

Day One.

By the way, this is going to be a little dry. We didn't get to the entertaining bits till later. But don't worry, the defense witnesses whom I will write up later make all the stuff about VINs worth reading through.

Both lawyers made their opening statements. The prosecutor, Ms. Camares, went over the facts: Juan Rodriguez managed a towing company called "Classic Tow." The police made a surprise inspection of the lot, and found a stolen forklift, a stolen scissor lift, a wrecked Chevy Malibu with no VIN number, and a stolen Chevy Malibu with the VIN belonging to the wrecked one. The two cars also had their distinctive bumpers switched, and the stolen Malibu, which had been gold when it was stolen, had been re-painted white-- the same color as the wrecked Malibu. She also defined "chop shop"-- a place where vehicles are altered or disposed of or their identities are disguised.

At the time I heard it, this seemed a pretty good speech. In retrospect, however, it left a lot out that should have been mentioned.

The defense, Mr. Kocio, then made his opening speech. He said that of the fifteen cars found on the lot, only one was stolen, and that if it was a chop shop, more of them would have been stolen. (I found this a highly unconvincing argument.) Maria Lopez (not identified at this point by anyone) had registered both cars, which she wouldn't have done if she'd known one was stolen. The scissor lift and forklift were already on the porperty when Juan moved his business there. After the inspection, the police went to Juan's house and confiscated five vehicles, none of which turned out to be stolen. In conclusion, the police were on a fishing expedition and had it in for Juan, and there was no evidence that Juan had known the lifts and the car were stolen.

In retrospect, this also left out a lot.

[I'm not going to note all the photos, but a ton of photos of cars and car parts were introduced into evidence and ID'd by witnesses.]

The first people's witness was Mr. Gilmore, the owner of the stolen Malibu, an actor and car fanatic. This guy knew every identifying mark on his car, as he'd done a lot of fixer-up alterations to it. Estimated value of car $5000-$6000. The car was stolen some time in the night of August 23 '05. In September 21 '05, the police contacted him and had him ID his now-altered Malibu, which he described in excruciating detail, down to a dent in the hood which used to be there but had been fixed, a premium Optima battery he'd bought and installed that was missing, and flecks of silicone where he'd repaired one lens.

He said that he didn't know Juan Rodriguez, Maria Lopez, or Joanne Scurlock. (At this point the jury only knew the first, the defendant.)

The defense lawyer didn't have much to say to him, other than trying to establish, by getting him to say that he sometimes bought used parts to fix up his car, that car parts could be switched by innocent people as well as choppers.

Second people's witness was Mr. Liebert, owner of the wrecked Malibu, also a car fanatic. He also described his car in excruciating detail. He'd been in an accident in it (and still walked with a cane) and the car had been totaled. His son got an offer to buy the car as a fixer-upper, and Mr. Liebert spoke with the prospective buyer, Felipe, over the phone. At 5:00 AM some time in July '05, he got a phoen call saying that people were there to pick up the car. Liebert said that he didn't have the transfer of ownership paperwork ready, so the two men with the tow truck gave him a business card for Classic Tow and told him to drop it off later. He took the money ($250) and let them take the car.

A day or so later, he went to Classic Tow to drop off the DMV forms. No one was there, so he came back in a few hours. The lot consisted of a trailer which had a makeshift office in it, some equipment, some tow trucks, and about fifteen cars. The second time, a man whom Liebert assumed was a security guard took the paperwork and left it in the trailer-office.

On September 25, he met with the police and ID'd his wrecked Malibu. Ms. Camares showed him a photo which he first ID'd as his car, then said, "Oh, wait, that's not my car... I thought it was because it's got my '70 bumper on it, but it's actually a '71 Malibu with my '70 bumper. I know it's mine because there was a rust stain on the bumper, but this car doesn't have the rust continuing on to the body like mine did." (It was actually Mr. Gilmore's car.)

[I could not in a million years pick out my car from another car of the same color and model, so these guys impressed me.]

The police showed him some photo sheets, and he ID'd one person on the sheet as being one of the guys who picked up his car, but said he wasn't positive about the ID because it had been so early in the morning and he'd been on painkillers because of the accident. The man he ID'd, however, was Juan.

Mr. Kocio's cross-examination hit upon the shakiness of the ID, and also established that Mr. Liebert didn't recognize the defendant in court. Mr. Liebert no longer has the Classic Tow business card. It also established that there was an error on the police report, putting the price of the wrecked Malibu at $2500 instead of $250. He did not remember seeing another Chevy Malibu on the lot. [Gilmore's Malibu had not yet been stolen at that point, so I'm not sure what benefit that fact had for the defense.]