I returned to the courtroom the day after Rebecca Carbone's testimony, ready to cross-examine Linda Allard. Rebecca had been punished for being connected to Michael and the murders. She became a victim of the “Carbone prejudicial spillover effect.” Linda, on the other hand, had the benefit of the “Nicole sympathy spillover effect,” given that she was victim Dickie Robertson's girlfriend and more importantly, the mother of his daughter, Nicole. Unlike Rebecca Carbone, Linda required the use of kid gloves.
Linda was the key to helping me prove our assertion that Paul Combs was lying. Even though she was a prosecution witness, I knew her testimony would help us. She could testify that Dickie said he was doing the drug deal with other people and that he never mentioned a Hollywood bodybuilder named Gil.
But first, we'd have to listen to her sad recounting of the last night she spent with Robertson, the night before he was murdered. Linda took the stand and was sworn in. Jim Lewis approached her politely and proceeded to question her. Throughout their lengthy dialogue, Linda and Jim were effectively cleaning up Robertson's image. Together, they created the vision of a retiring drug dealer who wanted to settle down and take care of his little girl and her mother.
Linda started to cry as she looked over at her 14-year-old daughter, Nicole. “He promised me this was it. This was going to be his final deal and then he was going to get out of the business. He said he wanted to use some of the money from this last job for Nicole's future.”
“Did you believe some of the money was going to be earmarked for you and Nicole?” Jim asked.
“I guess so,” she said, taking a long, deep breath. Then she said, “The last morning I saw him, I felt uneasy. I don't know if it was women's intuition or what, but something wasn't right. I think he felt something, too. He told me he loved Nicole and me, and that we meant everything in the world to him. I said, ‘stop!’ because he made it sound like we were never going to see him again.”
Jim took a moment to allow Linda, who was now crying, to regain her composure. “Thank you, Ms. Allard. That's all I have for you,” he said deferentially. “Mr. Contini now has some questions he'd like to ask you.”
That was my cue. Gil leaned forward and turned to his left as I squeezed behind him on my way toward Linda. He said quietly as I passed, “Show Lewis what time it is.” That was Gil's way of reminding me to drive home the point that Allard's story had been well documented in sworn statements to the police. We really didn't need anything more than her words to the police just after the murders to get some serious mileage on cross.
What she told the police in 1983 was critical for the impeachment of Combs because she could single-handedly expose his pathology. The jury had just heard Combs’ incredible denial that he had put a gun to her head. Now, they would hear from the far more credible Linda Allard that Paul Combs put a gun to her head and forced her to take him to the new house she had just bought with Dickie. It would show Combs to be the liar I believed he was.
My intent was to repeatedly cover in detail yet another statement Linda gave to police in 1989. This repetition was necessary so the jury would know that her story was credible, precisely because it had been consistent from the time she spoke to the police until now.
“I won't be long, Ms. Allard,” I said as I smiled.
“Is it true you told Detectives Mike Kallman and Joe Damiano on April 25, 1989 that Paul Combs put a gun to your head?”
“I don't remember the exact date…”
“Let me refresh your memory,” I said kindly. “The police report reads, ‘On Saturday morning, Allard stated she was at her mother's house, at which time she was contacted by Paul Combs. Allard stated that Combs was accompanied by unknown subjects. Combs told Allard they were looking for Robertson all night long and that they had tried to beep him on several occasions with negative results. Allard stated that Paul Combs repeatedly asked her, ‘would he f*** us over?’ referring to Robertson ripping Combs off. Allard also stated that Paul Combs stated, ‘we'll have lost a lot of f***ing money if he doesn't show up.’”
“Pardon the cursing, Ms. Allard,” I said as the sound of self-conscious laughter came from some of the spectators. I saw one of the jurors elbow the person next to him. “That language was used in the police report,” I said as I waved the report for effect. “Do the words I'm reading sound right to you? Is that what happened?” I asked.
“Yes,” she said, nodding.
“Then please permit me to continue for just a moment. The police report also states, ‘Allard stated that both she and Robertson feared Paul Combs. Allard advised that Paul Combs began to interrogate her regarding Robertson. Paul Combs then became upset and produced a 9-mm semiautomatic pistol, pointed the firearm at Allard's head and demanded that she take him to the Griffin Road house. Allard stated that she refused, at which time Paul Combs and the aforementioned associates forcibly abducted her and forced her to give them directions to the Griffin Road house. Allard advised that she complied as she feared for her life.’
“Now Ms. Allard, is it a fact that you told police that Paul Combs produced a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol and pointed the firearm at your head and demanded that you take him to the new Griffin Road house?”
“Yes.”
“How did you know it was a 9-millimeter semi-automatic pistol that he put to your head, as opposed to a.38?”
“Because my father has a gun collection and I know what certain guns are.”
“Were you extremely frightened when you had a gun to your head?”
She looked around the courtroom to see if Combs was there and then said, “I knew Paul… of his reputation… and he made me feel afraid.”
“All right, regarding his reputation, is he extremely violent?”
“He was serious. He didn't fool around.”
“Did he forcibly take you?”
“Yes.”
“Isn't it a fact, ma'am, that because of who Paul Combs was, you felt you needed to cooperate?”
“Yes, I felt the need to cooperate.”
“And isn't it a fact that he told you, ma'am, and I quote, ‘it would be smart for you to cooperate’? Do you remember that?”
“Yes.”
“And if Paul Combs told this jury yesterday that he never put a gun to your head, he would be lying, right?”
“Objection, Your Honor,” barked Lewis.
“Objection sustained. Next question,” ruled Tyson.
Linda started to cry. Hearing the cold reality of the police reports underscored the horror of the events at that terrible time surrounding her boyfriend's murder. She looked at the jury as she said tearfully, “Dickie promised me this was it. He was going to get out.”
Linda then looked up at me and glared. It was obvious she didn't appreciate being used by the defense to muddy the waters. She knew our questions were designed to destroy Combs and create the reasonable doubt needed to save Gil. Just as disconcerting, she knew we weren't interested in the cozy Norman Rockwell-like image of the recovering drug dealer yearning to settle down by the hearth with his girls. That was Lewis’ visual, not ours.
“Ms. Allard, do you remember going to a party at Dwight Tolpher's house with a lawyer, Archie Ryan, on the night after the murders and saying that Colombians shot Richard Robertson in the head?”
“I remember telling people at the party, because that's what I thought then.”
“Do you recall, ma'am, telling the police that Robertson told you he felt safe when he met about the drug deal at Tommy Adams’ house? Did you tell the police that he said there was a family atmosphere, with a woman and a child, a money-counting machine and a million dollars in cash?”
“Yes, but…”
“Isn't it also a fact, ma'am, that despite everything he told you about Tommy Adams’ house, the family atmosphere, the woman and child, the money-counting machine and the million dollars in cash, and all this stuff, he never mentioned Gil Fernandez? Isn't that true, ma'am?”
“True.”
“Thank you, ma'am. I have nothing else.”
Linda Allard was important in the state's overall equation. They wanted to humanize Dickie and let the jury know that he was a decent guy who wanted out of the drug business. They also wanted to show he had a good heart, was a good father and that he wanted to provide for Nicole's future. And all of that may have been true.
As far as the defense was concerned, however, she was important not for what she had to say about her family, but for how effectively she helped decimate the “dead-men's talk” that Paul Combs was peddling. After hearing from Linda about her frightening kidnapping ordeal, the jury had to dismiss Combs’ assertion that he never put a gun to her head. After all, she had nothing to gain by making up the whole Combs affair. And he had everything to gain by denying it. We also reasoned the jury would have to seriously consider rejecting his other claim: that Robertson told him about two Hollywood bodybuilders, named Gil and Tommy.
My closing argument was already running through my head: “Ladies and gentlemen, if Combs would lie right to your faces about putting a gun to Linda Allard's head, then what else would he lie about?”