N.H.I...Part 2

by Clifford Mosby

In the last issue of The Dagger, I explained that some people in law enforcement often used a secret whispered code "N.H.I.," which means "No Humans Involved." This is primarily used when referring to Black on Black crime or crimes involving "low life, street people."

I told you of the story of John R. who was on trial for murder in Torrance Superior Court. That trial ended in a hung jury. At the time of the printing of the last issue, the District Attorney's office had to make a decision whether to retry the case. This is a follow up to that article. Since this story was written exclusively for The Dagger, I will not do a detailed recap of the first article, but simply refer you to the last issue for the specifics.

You will recall, however, that in the first trial, there were no prosecution witnesses. Ronald G., who reluctantly testified at the preliminary hearing prior to the first trial, could not be found for the first trial and the transcript of his preliminary hearing testimony was read to the jury at the trial.

You will also recall that at the time of the preliminary hearing, he was confined to a wheelchair after having been shot in an unrelated incident following the murder. Ronald's two cousins could not be found for the preliminary hearing or the trial.

This last April, one of the cousins (Duane) was found by the District Attorney after he was arrested for involvement in an unrelated drive-by shooting murder. With Duane secure in their custody, the decision was made to retry John R. and have Duane testify for the prosecution.

The District Attorney's office was required to inform the defense that they had Duane in custody. I visited the Los Angeles County Jail to interview him, but he could not be found within the system. Hiding a witness from the defense is a common tactic used by the prosecution when they have a witness in custody. They will usually book him under a phony name or John Doe, so that the defense cannot find him in the system and interview him prior to trial and, thus, must start trial unprepared. Sometimes the prosecution will move the prisoner-witness from jail to jail so that the computer booking information will read "in transit" and thus the defense will be unable to locate him for a timely interview.

All of the above was true in this case. I was still unable to locate Duane in the jail system and interview him until the actual day of trial. The District Attorney's tactic had worked, they had fulfilled their legal obligation to tell the defense that the witness was in custody and they had used clever tactics to insure we would not be able to get to him. On the first day of trial, Duane had been transported to the lock up area of the Torrance Courthouse. In every courthouse, there is a central lockup area for all in-custody defendants. They are held there until they are taken to a specific courtroom within the building. Male and female in-custodies are separated and kept in different lock up areas. Snitches and inmates requiring special consideration are also segregated for safety and security reasons.

I was allowed in the lockup area to interview Duane after the Deputy District Attorney and her investigator had visited with. I found him to be vague and noncommittal. I had a concern that the District Attorney had offered him a deal on his drive-by murder case in exchange for providing testimony that would help convict John R. Usually the DA will let a person in Duane's position know that they can make it hard or easy for him depending on his cooperation.

This would be standard operating procedure for the DA. However, two days later, a most unusual thing happened. Duane was accidentally put in the same holding tank with John, allowing the two men to meet. The defendant on trial for his life, accused not only of the murder of Vera, but also of the attempted murder of Duane himself.

The last time Duane would have seen John was when he was taken from the shower at gunpoint, bound by hand and foot, placed on the kitchen floor in a row next to Vera, Ronald and his cousin and subsequently shot at by John as he ran for his life! And now here he is, the only witness against him....in the same cell...alone!

When Duane was called to testify, he gave bogus information and identified the killer as not fitting John's description. It appeared as if he had double-crossed the District Attorney. This infuriated the DA, and she let the jury know that the two men had accidentally been locked up together and was giving testimony that was contrary to information he provided in his interview with her.

In this retrial, there was only one Black juror, a middle-aged female. The only other Black person who was on the original jury panel was a young Black woman, John's age. The DA used one of her challenges to have that potential juror excused. The prosecution re-read the testimony of Ronad G., and also played the 911 tape that Ronald made after Vera's murder. On that tape, Ronald G., in panic, can be heard saying "He did it! Baby Psycho killed Vera!" They then called a police gang expert to testify regarding John's moniker of "Baby Psycho."

The defense recalled the two female witnesses who again testified that John was with them at a party and not at the murder scene. A beautiful red headed radio station manager laid foundation testimony that her station had sponsored the party that John allegedly attended with the two female witnesses at the time the crime was happening. I testified that I had taken some photographs of the crime scene.

The jury was out for five days. This was three days longer than the last trial. They asked that Ronald's testimony be re-read and they asked to hear the 911 tape again.

As a defense investigator, my job is easy. I merely gather the facts. I do this in an honest and professional way. The attorney uses the information I provide, according to his trial strategy. The witnesses testify, The judge referees the trial. The jury decides. Sometimes a client will tell me if he really did commit the crime. John always professed his innocence. I have an opinion as to whether John did it or not. I never express or share my opinion on cases that I work.

John was found guilty of first degree murder during the course of a robbery. At age 21, from this day to eternity, he will spend the rest of his life in prison.

Oh, by the way, unlike the previous trial where there were no spectators, this time there WAS an audience. No, not John's mother, grandmother or other family members. No, not John's friends or even his homeboy gang members. No, not one of the victims or even a member of Vera's family. This time, the audience was two groups of junior high school students on a field trip to the Torrance courthouse. They appeared to be White and Asian children from middle income families and an existence far different from John and Vera's.

They sat transfixed as they listened to testimony that spoke of gangs, drugs, illegal cellular telephones, gambling, robbery, kidnapping, auto theft, escape and execution-style murder.

The trial turned into a Crime and Murder 101 class for junior high students. I am sure that many of those children will forever remember the graphic details they heard in this trial. They will identify with John and his slight unassuming stature and his extremely young appearance, sitting within arms reach of each of them. I wondered if any one of the students would someday return to this very courtroom either as a judge or a defendant or a victim or something in between. I wondered what decisions they would make about their own lives.

I wondered if any of these children was the child of a law enforcement person, a person who may have used the term N.H.I., and if so, I wondered if he knew what his child heard in court, if he would still feel...that there were no humans involved

Clifford Mosby is a licensed private investigator in Los Angeles

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