Chapter 56
DaSilva called Santiago Garcia, the impound clerk, as his next witness, but was quick with his line of questioning, mainly addressing whether Garcia had followed standard protocol. So Beau Lee was quick to follow up when it was his turn to cross-examine.
“Officer Garcia, you attest that you followed standard protocol, correct?”
“Yes, sir.”
“So you recorded the suspect’s vehicle when it entered the impound lot? There was no deviation?”
“I was not working when the vehicle came in, but I would suspect the procedure was carried out the same way as when any vehicle is impounded as part of a police investigation.”
“Well, you certainly could’ve had access to the footage of the video that showed when it came into the impound lot?”
Officer Garcia leafed through his folder and scanned several pages of photographs. “No, for some reason, there were no video footage or photographs showing the intake of that vehicle.”
“Isn’t that convenient? Because if we had that video or at least photos, the members of the jury would be able to see whether the license plate was damaged when it arrived at the lot.”
“Objection,” DaSilva said.
“Sustained,” answered the judge. “Move on, Mr. Cooper.”
“Understood, Judge,” Beau Lee said. “Officer Garcia, we don’t have the video footage of the vehicle arriving at the lot, but we do have the video footage of Officer Jackson Dunham and Officer Chaz Rossi arriving at the lot a few days later.
You are aware that these officers visited the lot, correct? ”
“Yes, sir,” Garcia said reluctantly.
“Your Honor, at this time, the defense moves to enter the video footage from the impound lot from November 13, 2008, which was eight days after Mr. Montrose was shot during a traffic stop.”
The judge permitted the video with a nod and Beau Lee handed the video tape to the clerk.
“You were working the day Officers Dunham and Rossi arrived at the lot, correct?”
Garcia nodded and said, “Yes. Officer Rossi said they needed to search the vehicle.”
“Were they accompanied by detectives, or did they have a warrant?”
“No, they came alone and didn’t have a warrant.”
“Yet you allowed them to search the vehicle?”
“Yes.”
“I see,” Beau Lee said. “And you weren’t with them while they searched the vehicle?”
“No, I’m not allowed to leave the entrance of the impound lot when I’m on duty,” he explained.
“Could you not have found another officer to accompany them?”
“No other officer was available at the time.”
“How long did they stay on the lot?”
“About twenty minutes.”
Beau Lee gathered that Garcia had nothing to hide. This wasn’t about him. For the most part, he seemed practiced and ready for every question Beau Lee had asked thus far.
“That would leave plenty of time for them to have tampered with evidence without anyone knowing.”
DaSilva screamed, “Objection!” He looked genuinely shocked at Beau Lee’s audacity.
Beau Lee responded, “Your Honor, I’m merely asking the witness, since he wasn’t there, if he knows what these two officers did while they were unsupervised with this crucial piece of evidence, which could show that they were lying about not being able to read this tag.”
“Mr. Cooper, you will wait for my ruling, and you will not give speaking objections in my courtroom,” the judge said, exhibiting little restraint.
Her patience was wearing thin. “The objection is sustained, based on its call for speculation that is unfounded. The jury will disregard those questions.”
“I have but one final question, Officer Garcia,” Beau Lee said, knowing it was best to move on. “Isn’t it peculiar that out of all the vehicles that are videotaped and photographed when they’re impounded, that this would be the one vehicle that mysteriously has no record of being admitted?”
There were some questions Beau Lee just had to ask. A jury can disregard on paper, but it would color their assessment of the rest of the trial and the other information they’d be provided.
“Objection! Speculation!” DaSilva said.
“I will withdraw the question,” Beau Lee said, knowing it would happen. “But I’m curious, what happened to the vehicle? My understanding is that it was sent to dismantling.”
“Yes,” Garcia said. “It was dismantled in error.”
“How could a thing like that happen?”
“It was incorrectly tagged,” Garcia said. “It was given a pink tag, which indicates vehicles that have reached the maximum amount of time they could be on the lot. They’re either sent to auction or, if they’re deemed salvage, they’re sent to a dismantler.”
“And Mr. Montrose’s SUV was tagged as a salvage vehicle?”
“Correct.”
“Who would have been responsible for tagging these vehicles?”
“Multiple people in our department have the authority, but usually it’s the lot superintendent.”
“Is that who tagged Mr. Montrose’s SUV?”
“No,” Garcia said.
“Who did?”
“I did, sir.”
“And why you?”
“The superintendent wasn’t available, and I was told to update the vehicles. Somehow the suspect’s vehicle was logged incorrectly and received the pink tag.”
“Yes…somehow,” Beau Lee said. “No further questions.”