Are we really innocent until proven (?) guilty?
It is 1991
Desmoines Iowa
I am 18 years old
And
I am on trial for 1st Degree Robbery
Facing 25 years
in the State Penitentiary
He takes the stand
We will call him Robert
He is the State’s Witness
The Victim
Robert was an American Black Man
I am Caucasian
He points me out to the jury
He tells them
I turned around with a small silver revolver
I pointed it directly at him
And I said
“Give me your f****** money ni****”
That is not what happened
I was living with my girlfriend
The corner of 9th and Penn Ave
My mother lived in Yankton South Dakota
I had just returned from visiting her
I had been gone a week
Upon my return
My girlfriend
She asks to talk to me
She tells me that her ex-boyfriend
He had stopped by while I was gone
She explains
He had tried to put the moves on her
It was the 90’s in Desmoines Iowa
Acid was the drug of the time
And it was easily purchased in Desmoines
It was sold on paper sheets
Whether you wanted one dose or multiple
Grays Lake
You could buy it there
And that is just what they had done
They
My two friends
Art and Rick
That
And
They had gotten their hands on
Some liquid morphine.
So
There we were
Sitting out on the front steps
Penn and 9th
Tripping acid
All of a sudden
We seen him drive by
Al
The ex-boyfriend
Quickly we devised a plan
We would get him high
Then
We would take care of him
We yelled out to him
Had him pull in
Offered to share our drugs
All he had to do
Was drive us around
You have to have some history here
Rick Art and I
We go back
What I mean is
We have been through some things together
Street things
I knew without asking
Art had a knife
And a small dog choke collar
The choke collar
It had a large spark plug socket attached to it
The collar was Art’s favorite weapon
And he used it efficiently
The knife was backup
Rick
If you noticed
He was always drinking a soda pop
And not just any soda pop
The orginial Mountain Dew
That came in the long glass bottles
More than once
I was there
Witnessed one of these bottles
As it striked
Wielded by Rick
Landing on an unsuspecting jawline
And then there was me
Inside my coat pocket
I had a pool ball
Not just any pool ball
It was the 8 ball
And I had it in a sock
I have never been
One of the one puch guys
They hit you once
Fight is over
You are knocked out
But
My 8 ball in a sock
It changed that completely
So
After some hesitation
Suspicion losing the battle
The desire for free drugs
Once again a victor
Here we all were
Al Art Rick
And myself
In the car Al was driving
And we are all high
Al was nervous
It was easy to tell
He doing everything that he could
To try and offset the numbers we had against him
Driving all over Desmoines
Promising parties
More drugs
Women
But everywhere we he took us
Nothing
As a last ditch effort
I presume
Al drove through the hood
6th Ave
This is where we meet Robert
He was walking down the street
Al yelled out to him
Asking for cocaine
Robert replied
A question of his own
Could we get him marijuana
Al said yes
Instructs Robert to get in
Passenger side
My side
On autopilot
Caught off guard
I open my door
Lift the seat
Let him in the back
Directly behind me
Robert informs us
He was just in a car
It had gotten pulled over
By the police
He got away
This gives Robert both
Credibility and Suspcion
We all seen that car
As we were driving down the road
It was indeed
Surrounded by the cops
The fact that two guys were being handcuffed
But
He got away
Almost too much
For my delirious mind to handle
Robert and Al
They start to converse
Making a deal
Al was making his side of the story up
I figured that this diversion
It was somehow
Al’s way out
He knew that we were going to get him
But we were stuck
His car
Police just down the street
We had to let it play out
Minutes later
Al pulls into an apartment complex
Reaches under his front seat
And to my astonishment
Pulls out the weighted half of a pool stick
He turns around
Facing Robert
Threatens to put it
Upside his head
If he doesn’t give him his money
Al instructs me to
Search his pockets
My plan
Obviously out the window
But
I want no part of this
And I say so
I tell Al that he can search his pockets
I open my door
Lift my seat
Tell Robert to get out
As Robert is walking away
He forms his hands and fingers
Like a gun
Points it at me
And pretends to shoot
I had just saved this dude
WTF
I yell out
F*** You
Next time I will take your coat
Get out of here
I turn to Al
Take us home
Take us home now
I signal to Art
He comes around the backseat of Al
A knife to his neck
He too
Tells Al
Take us home
Here is where it goes haywire
Al is scared
Running redlights
Turning in circles
Driving wild through gas station parking lots
More red lights
Now
The cops are behind us
We are being chased
Al pulls right back into the same apartment complex
Everybody jumps out of the car
Rick and Art
They hit the fence
Jump it
Head toward the Desmoines River
Me
I
I run into the apartment building
I am close to home
Think I can make it
I will just go out the other side
Getting in was easy
Once there
I ran into a problem
You had to punch in a code
To access any floor
Once again
I was stuck
New plan
Take off my coat
My weapon
The sock at pool ball
Go back outside
I would be a bystander
A witness even
I would explain that I just seen them
Running the other way
I proceed toward the door
I am met by the police
I am taken outside
I am identified
My coat found
My weapon too
I was charged with 1st Degree Robbery
Right before we entered this courtroom
My attorney came to me
He had a plea bargain
Offered by the state
If I plead guilty to 1st Degree Theft
They would drop the Robbery Charge
I would go to prison for 90 days
Then Probation
5 years
I declined
I did not rob Robert
I saved him
I was Innocent
Until PROVEN GUILTY
There was no way
I would be found guilty
Something that I didn”t do
Robert finished speaking
It was my turn
I took the stand
Swore to tell the truth
Nothing but the truth
And that is what I did
It was up to the jury now
151 minutes later
The jury was back
Gulity
Labeled racist
Categorized as violent
Sentenced to prison
10 years
Dennis Cockerham
More from Dennis
Love, Addiction, Incarceration
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