Miller's Tale

Defense attorney J. Tony Serra moved to strike testimony of all three from the record, and Judge Golden said he was inclined to do so. Williams, the judge said, hadn't even established that there was a crime Lincoln was accused of -- he had neglected to lay the most basic foundation to his case. His presentation plan shot down and rebuked in front of a packed courtroom, Williams looked dismayed.

Showing mercy on the crestfallen Deputy D.A., the judge said he would delay ruling on Serra's motion to give Williams a chance to salvage the testimony by laying a foundation later. Some observers commented that it was as though Williams had flunked Prosecution 101, because it is customary to begin your case with a strong witness.

Williams reportedly has submitted his resignation effective with the end of this trial. According to the the Press Democrat of August 15, District Attorney Susan Massini confirmed the resignation, but denied it has anything to do with the Lincoln trial. Massini reportedly said the reason is Williams' chagrin at being passed over for a promotion. Anderson Valley Advertiser reporter Mark Heimann was the first to reveal August 7 he had information from a reliable source about the resignation. Heimann said that day he asked Williams for comment on what was then a rumor, and Williams reportedly replied, "I don't have any comment for you about anything."

The weekly AVA had appeared the previous day with Heimann's report on the first week of the trial, and Williams was likely to have seen it. The article slams Williams as incompetent and presenting a weak case against Lincoln, and says D.A. Susan Massini should have prosecuted the highly charged and closely watched case herself. Instead, the AVA opined, she chose to protect her career by sacrificing the young Williams.

On the second day of the trial, July 30, a sick juror caused Judge Golden to suspend testimony and excuse the jury for the day. The judge turned to matters to be considered out of the jury's presence. Giving stern warnings to members of the public, he noted that on opening day there had been reactions to the courtroom events. He warned that anyone making "a noticeable reaction" will be permanently excluded from the trial.

Serra raised the issue of green ribbon pins worn by members of the family of slain deputy Bob Davis and by Sheriff James Tuso, who sat with them in front row seats nearest the jury box. "No manifestations of support for either side are allowed," said the judge. He later prohibited the wearing even of American Indian Movement and Round Valley Indians for Justice T-shirts in the hallways as well as the courtroom itself. The basis for this is that each of these groups had taken a position on the Lincoln case, and had conducted rallies supporting Lincoln.

When court resumed on Thursday, July 31, Williams called his star witness, Deputy Dennis Miller ÷ besides Bear Lincoln, the only other survivor to events on Little Valley Road that left two men dead.

No surprises appeared in Miller's testimony; it shuffled along exactly in synch with opening statements from the District Attorney. But introduced as evidence was the tape recording made by Miller's pocket recorder during the confrontation. Williams played a dub of the tape for the jury on a large boom box. Just 44 seconds long, the short recording ended with a six-round burst of automatic gunfire, and the tape cut off simultaneously with the sixth shot.

During cross-examination, Serra tripped up Miller several times on the accuracy of his memory, revealing contradictions in earlier statements by the deputy.

Also striking was the image painted of the two deputies, who had never worked together and were heavily armed with pistols, rifles and shotguns. Miller admitted this was more armament than two normal officers would have, but "neither Davis nor myself were normal officers."

As the cross-examination neared its end on August 4, Serra began to turn up his intensity and passion, again concentrating on the trail of blood leading down the path. This was the shocking revelation introduced in opening arguments by Serra -- that the blood appears to have belonged to Davis, implying that the deputy chased eyewitness Bear Lincoln as he fled. There is no way within Miller's story that that could have happened.

Miller said he was only recently told that the blood was "possibly attributed" to Officer Davis, but had no explanation why Davis' blood could be found a great distance down the trail. The deputy again insisted that Davis was only out of sight for a few seconds.