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DIRECT EXAMINATION by Mr. Norman: Q
Now,
Mr. Melia, inviting your attention to November the 27th last
year, a Monday, sometime in the morning, were you in your office of
Room 62 at City Hall? A
Yes, I was. Q
On
that particular day did you have occasion sometime in the morning,
after 9:00 o'clock, to see a person who later became known to you, or
whom you recognized, as Mr. Daniel White? A
Yes, sir, I did. Q
Tell
the members of the jury what time this was, to the best of your
recollection? A
At approximately 10:30 I noticed a white male passing my window in a light tan suit on the
McAllister Street ramp. A few minutes later I noticed what I believed
to be the same person passing by this window again. Q
What
did the person appear to be doing? A
Pacing. Q
Now, did you see, or did you become aware of any other circumstance
which involved this particular same person whom you initially had
observed? A
At approximately 10:30 I heard the window in the adjoining laboratory
being opened. There were only two people in our office at that time. I heard someone jump to
the floor and then running through the adjoining room. I looked up and caught a
glance of a man in a suit running past the doorway of my office into
the City Hall hallway. Q
What
did you do? A
I got up from my desk and
called after him, "Hey, wait a second." Q
Did
that person wait or stop? A
Yes, they did… he came back in from the hallway back into-back into the
laboratory, back into my office. . . Q
Do you see that person here in this courtroom today? A
It's Dan White. Q
Was there some discussion had between you and Mr. Dan White? A
Well, as I said before, I called after him and said, "Hey, wait a
second." He came back in and said to me, "I had to get in. My aide was supposed to
come down and let me in the side door, but never showed up." I had
taken exception to the way he had entered our office, and I replied,
"And you are?" And he replied, "I’m Dan White, the City Supervisor." He
said, "Say I’ve got to go," and with that he turned and he ran out of
the office. CROSS-EXAMINATION Q
Have
you seen City Hall personnel entering through that door? A
Yes, I have. Q
All right. Specifically, have you seen Supervisors enter through that
door? A
Quite common.
This is their parking area. Q
Those persons
generally have keys to that door, is that correct? A
Yes, they do. Q
Did
he explain to you that he was waiting for his aide who hadn't shown up? A
Yes,
he had. Q
Do
you think that you saw him pacing out there about five minutes? Would
that be fair? A
Approximately. Q
Had you ever seen anyone else enter or exit through that window or
those windows along that side? A.
Yes, I had. Q
In
fact, that's fairly common, is it not? A
It was common for individuals that worked in our office to do that. Q
It was a window that you
could step through with some ease. It was large enough, is
that correct? A
Yes. Q
Were
you alarmed when you learned that a Supervisor crawled or walked
through that window? A
Yes, I was. Q
All right. Once you saw that it was Dan White, he did identify himself,
did he not? A
Yes, he did. Q
And
that was after you had called to him? A
Right. I called for him to wait. Q
He
did wait. In fact, he returned to your office? A
He returned to my office. Q
And at that point he identified himself as Dan White? A
Yes, he did. Q
That
window prior to November 27th, 1978 was unlocked and generally kept open for
ventilation, is that fair? A
That's accurate, right. Q
You
mentioned that he appeared to be in somewhat of a hurry. Did he say he
had an appointment with anyone? Was going to see anyone in particular? A
The last words that he said was, "Hey, I got to go." Q
I have nothing further. Thank you. |