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“Yes, your honor.” Maurizio gets up from the table as Foley returns to his.
Maurizio directs his questions to Roycroft. “Is it true that you provided a statement to police officers on the day of the attack at the courthouse?”
“Yes,” he answers confidently.
Maurizio hands a paper to him. “Is that a copy of the statement you provided to the police on the day of the attack?”
“Yes,” he says, nodding as he looks over the statement.
“In that statement, did you tell officers that youcould not recognize any of the attackers?”
“Yes, but…”
“And in that same statement,” Maurizio continues over him, “did you tell the officers that the reason you could not recognize any of the attackers was becauseall of themwere wearing masks?”
“Yes,” Roycroft says. “But as I said, I was still in shock. And the drugs from the surgery.”
Maurizio didn’t interrupt him again this time. He let him speak.
“Are you saying that your statement was not accurate?” Maurizio asks.
“Yes, I already said that.”
“And did you say that part of the reason this testimony was inaccurate was because you were still in shock and could not remember it clearly?” Maurizio asks.
Roycroft pauses.
“Either you remembered it clearly,” Maurizio says, “or you weren’t telling the truth. Did you say this statement was inaccurate because you couldn’t remember the incident clearly?”
“Yes,” he finally answers. “But it was because…”
“Did you say that shock from the incident was a possible reason your memory was inaccurate?”
“Yes…”
“And did you provide your new statement,” Maurizio looks at his notepad, “17 days after the attack on the courthouse?”
“Yes,” he answers slightly more confidently. “After I saw a picture of Mateo Barone, I remembered seeing him fire his gun at me.”
“Was that the same time you remembered there was an attackernotwearing a mask?”
Roycroft pauses. “Yes,” he answers without confidence.
“It was 17 days before you remembered that you saw the face of one of the attackers?” Maurizio asks.
“I believe so,” he answers.
“You believe? You don’t remember?” Maurizio asks.
“That was when I remembered,” he clarifies. “And that was when I contacted the police.”
“Thank you, Mr. Roycroft.” Maurizio says. “No further questions you honor.”
Maurizio returns to sit next to me. Roycroft takes his crutches and laboriously makes his way back to his seat in the gallery.
Maurizio did a good job setting up for his witnesses later. He highlighted the doubts and inconsistencies in Roycroft’s own testimonies. When he brings in his experts, he intends to prove just how unreliable the witness statements are. Even Roycroft was admitting that his own memory was influenced by the shock of the attack. Maurizio plans to show that his second statement is just as unreliable as Roycroft claims his first statement is.
I’m anxious to see if the prosecution calls any other witnesses.
