|
"When a cop pulled
him over to the side of the road
Just like the time before and the time before that.
In Paterson that's just the way things go.
If you're black you might as well not show up on the street
'Less you wanna draw the heat."
from "Hurricane" by
Bob Dylan and Jacques Levy
|
Minutes after the Murders
- "When the police
arrived, Alfred Bello described the car to one of the officers,
telling him it was a white car, new, highly polished, with New
York or Pennsylvania license plates (blue with orange or yellow
lettering). He also told him "about a geometric design, sort
of a butterfly type design in the back of the car." He also
told the officer he saw two black males, giving a description
of their clothes."
-
from
prosecutor's brief
|
|
Don't
miss this
"Meanwhile
far away in another part of town, Rubin Carter and a couple of
friends are drivin' around..."
Don't
miss Cal Deal's map of Paterson, showing routes, key landmarks,
and where Carter's car was stopped. Was it "far away," and "another
part of town" like the song says?
|
|
"John, you been drinking?"
-- Denzel
Washington, as Hurricane Carter, in the movie The Hurricane, to Garland Whitt,
the actor playing John Artis, when the two were pulled over by
a policeman (scene shown at top of page)
"No."
Artis testified that he had been
drinking heavily that evening.
|
|
THE THIRD MAN
IN THE CAR
"The Judge made Rubin's
witnesses drunkards from the slums"
from
the song, "Hurricane"
Police believed
that "Bucks" Royster, the third man in the car, was not involved
in the murders but was used as a convenient alibi. However, because
of his drinking problem, he was not a very credible witness for
the defendants at the trial.
|
|
"When
they returned (to the murder scene), Capter called Bello over
and asked him to look at the car, at which time, Bello said:
"That's
the car."
At
that point, the two occupants, Rubin Carter and John Artis,
were taken out of the car. Capter testified that the only reason
he had brought the Carter vehicle to the Lafayette Grill was
because of the description which had been given him by Bello."
-- Prosecutor's brief--
|
|
| Around
12:34 a.m. on July 17, 1966, a call went out to all police squads
to look out for a white car with two "colored" occupants. Sgt.
Theodore Capter and his partner saw a white car speeding through
Paterson. They raced down another street, planning to cut it
off before it got out of town, but when they got to the highway
(where they had a clear view down the highway), there was no
car to be seen. They returned to town, where they saw and stopped
Rubin Carter's white car at 2:40
a.m.
20-year-old
John Artis was behind the wheel and
Rubin
"Hurricane" Carter
was lying
down in the back seat.
A third
man, "Bucks" Royster, (a well-known local barfly) was sitting
up front beside Artis. Sgt. Capter checked the car's registration
and let them go. Artis and Carter dropped off Royster shortly
afterward. Meanwhile, the two policemen travelled to the Lafayette
Bar & Grill where they got a better description of the
car from eyewitness Alfred Bello. (see opposite). As
Capter later testified,
"I looked
at my partner and he looked at me and we took off looking
for the car again."
|
That's not how Rubin Carter tells
it in his biography, The 16th Round.
He quotes
from Capter's cross examination, but leaves out a question
from his own lawyer -- and implies that Capter only stopped
Carter's car because it carried two black men. That's not
what Capter said at all.
|
|
Carter's
version of the evidence [with
his additions in italics]
|
Actual transcript
|
| Raymond
Brown (Carter's lawyer): ....the second time you stopped
the car at Broadway and East 18th, did you have to stop them?
Were they being run down? |
Brown:
The second time you stopped the car at Broadway and East 18th,
what was the posture of the car? Did you have to stop them?
Were they being run down? |
| Sgt.
Theodore Capter: They were stopped [while] waiting
for a traffic light. |
Capter:
They were stopped waiting for the traffic light. |
| Brown:
Nothing unusual? |
Brown:
Nothing unusual? |
| Capter:
No. The only thing [with two colored males in it now],
it fit the description that I received at the scene of the crime. |
Capter:
No. The only thing, it fit the description that I received at
the scene of the crime. |
| (omitted
from Carter's version) |
Brown:
The description you had was that it was a car and when the
brakes were applied it caused the rear lights to light up in
a butterfly fashion? |
| |
Capter:
Yes. |
|
"Awwww,
shit! Hurricane. I didn't realize it was you."
Compare these
different (inaccurate) versions of the scene when Sgt Capter
and his partner stop the Hurricane's car for the second time.
Carter and his sympathizers claim Sgt. Capter didn't know it
was the Hurricane he had pulled over. This is false -- Capter
was specifically looking for Carter's car.
Later versions add the embellishment that another policeman
instead of Capter directed the arrest, as though the frame-up
is already beginning. This is also false.
|
| From
The 16th Round by Hurricane Carter (1974) |
"Awwww
shit! Hurricane," (Capter) said, shaking his head. "I didn't realize
it was you." But before he could say anything else, patrol cars
had come from everywhere but out of the sky. I never saw so many
shotguns and pistols in my life.For a long moment I just stared
at Sergeant Capter. I was disgusted. I didn't think he would do
this to me. Although he did seem to be embarassed about it...
he told us to fall in behind his car, and to follow it. |
From
Lazarus
and the Hurricane by Chaiton and Swinton
(1991) |
"Awwww,
shit Hurricane. I didn't realize it was you!" Suddenly patrol
cars appeared from every direction, converging on Rubin and John
(Artis) like spokes on a wheel. Rubin just stares at Capter, disgusted.
Capter is embarassed, but says nothing when a bull-faced officer
approaches and orders them to remain in their car and to follow
his vehicle. Rubin... sees the shotguns pointing at him. |
| From
Hurricane by James Hirsch (1999) |
"Awww,
shit, Hurricane, I didn't realize it was--" (etc.).... But before
(Capter) could finish, four other squealing police cars arrived
at the intersection. Someone else took charge and.... Capter stepped
away. |
Capter's
testimony was that he was specifically looking for Carter's
Dodge and that he took charge of apprehending Carter and Artis.
|
| From
Sgt. Capter's testimony |
We
started to go down East 18th Street. Just as we entered the intersection
of East 18th and Broadway, we were right behind the car I stopped
before; the New York car, the '66 white Dodge. That fitted the
description, so I pulled them over to the curb. In the meantime,
I called in and told them I was stopping this car at that location.
Then I told the driver (Artis) to pull in front of 431
Broadway to let the traffic proceed. In the meantime, the other
(police) car came and we turned him around and told him to follow
us. |
When
Rubin Carter's own lawyer cross-examined Sgt. Capter, there
was no mention of another cop directing the arrest.
|
From Capter's
cross-examination by Carter's lawyer, Raymond Brown
|
- Q. You
had no resistance from these people (Carter and Artis)
at any time, did you?
- A: No,
sir.
- Q: You
never had to put them under arrest?
- A: No.
- Q: In
fact, when you went up to them at Broadway and 18th, you just
told them to follow you. Is that right?
- A: I
asked them to turn the car around and follow the squad car.
- Q: You
said, "Turn your car around and follow the squad car"?
- A: Yes.
|
|
