Sunday, January 18, 2009

Exhibit 3, attachment A, p.5 Something Fishy Going On?

In Warren's motion for an evidentiary hearing, a reference is made to "Exhibit 3, attachment A, p.5." Poster "kbp" correctly identifies the document as
This one.

I have been reviewing the document and found this fascinatingly vague presentation, that on first blush, pins the time for investigating Rozita Swinton's hoax "Sarah" call as April 13th, 2008, but actually, it does not.

"On April 13, 2008, I was contacted by Sergeant Hugh Velasquez (1514D) regarding information he had obtained from Sergeant Sean Mandel. Sergeant Mandel told Sergeant Velasquez he had been contacted by the Texas Rangers in regard to their investigation into the Yearning for Zion (YFZ) Ranch. Sergeant Mandel related Texas Ranger Brooks Long had advised he had two cellular telephone number listings from the Colorado Springs area (719-351-0913 and 719-243-2866). Sergeant Mandel was aware that the phone number, 719-351-0913, that was possibly related to the reporting party for the YFZ Ranch incident in Eldorado, Texas, was also identified in a prior CSPD case report."


Note that the writers are Terry E. Thrumston and Amy Mullaney, Assistant District Attorney, for El Paso County (Colorado Springs) Colorado. The speaker is Terry E. Thrumston, This is found on pages 11 & 12 of the Adobe Acrobat facsimile of the document, Thrumston's report ends on page 11, or on the 8th page of the original.

So this is what happens here. Terry Thrumston is relating a story told to him by Hugh Velasquez, which was told to him by Sean Mandel. This occurs on April the 13th. Let's be real clear what this means. On April the 16th, Amy Mullany swears out a warrant based on internal (and probably reliable) hearsay within CSPD (Colorado Springs Police Department).

She takes the statement of Statement of Detective Terry E. Thrumston (Badge #984D) (one degree of separation) and attaches it to an arrest warrant on the 16th. Thrumston in turn has taken this from Sgt. Hugh Velasquez (two degrees) who receives it from Sgt. Sean Mandel (three degrees), who is apparently, no longer with the department. It should be noted that at two degrees of separation, a date is attached. Detective Thrumston says he got the report from Velasquez on the 13th.

It does not say when it was that Sgt. Brooks Long contacted CSPD, or Sgt. Mandel who apparently has moved on to another cushier job in State Government, and is no longer with CSPD. So no date of contact is established. And the warrant is promptly sealed by Amy Mullaney. It is unsealed later and mentioned in the motion posted to the High Profile case of Warren Jeffs at the Mohave County site. The motion is made on and redacted, and posted to that site 01/16/2009 though it is dated for the 13th. I checked Mohave County's site early Friday afternoon. There was no such posting. I went home, it was there. It was dated for the 16th at that time. It now shows up as being posted by it's filing date, Tuesday, and the document is dated for a week prior to it's actual posting date, a week earlier, on the 9th.

Mainly what I am trying to point out is that a degree of sensitivity exists about what's in this motion, and in what is contained in the formerly sealed "Exhibit 3, attachment A. p5. As of yet, I don't know what all of Exhibit 3 is, unless it is the motion itself. In attachment A. is the basis for the claim that Texas contacted Colorado on the 13th. Reading attachment A though, there is no such claim. The first official record is said to be the 13th, on the 16th, when Detective Terry Thrumston makes his statement, that is by now third hand information. I had previously thought that Sean Mandel may have been promoted out of the department but I have received an email reply from another Sean Mandel, and they are not one in the same.


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3 comments:

kbp said...

"As of yet, I don't know what all of Exhibit 3 is, unless it is the motion itself."

As I read the motion, the Arrest Warrant and it's attachments is Exhibit 3.

Hugh McBryde said...

Sean Mandel is now a Lieutenant.

Hugh McBryde said...

It has now been pointed out to me that the Affidavit doesn't exactly say that Ranger Long and Sean Mandel had a conversation either.

We have here a construction that is three times removed from Sean Mandel, worded to make us think the "event" occurred on the 13th, and that the "event" was contact with between Long and Mandel, and that it was the first contact between the departments.

It may have been, but rarely is a statement worded so carefully to imply something, without actually saying it, for the purposes of stating something that could have been stated very plainly.

I'd lay odds that the intent of the statement is misdirection, to make us think we've heard an answer so that we won't ask a question. That question is, "When did someone in Texas contact Colorado with respect to the phone numbers used in making the calls supposedly coming from "Sarah" inside YFZ?"

This appears to be an answer to that question, and isn't.