THE PROSECUTION OF GARRETT SMITH: TRIAL BY KABUKI THEATER
Kabuki Theater is a traditional Japanese play in
which the actors wear flashy costumes and masks. In American politics, Kabuki has become a metaphor
for “posturing” or a “performance in which nothing substantive is done.” The mask symbolizes a suggestion that the audience,
or public, is being deceived.
In the case of State v. John Garrett Smith, Vancouver Police
Department’s Detective Sandra Aldridge built her case on a foundation of “Kabuki
Theater”. There is no better way to control
a narrative and manufacture an airtight case than to author multiple reports to
substantiate your own. That is exactly
what Aldridge did.
VPD Officer Ly Yong was first to arrive at the Smith home at
11:27 PM on June 2nd, 2013. According
to case records, Yong was heavily involved in locating, arresting and
transporting Smith to jail in the early morning hours of June 3rd,
and was not cleared from booking until approximately 3 AM.
By 7 AM, Detective Aldridge had arrived at work, been
assigned the Smith case, and had allegedly reviewed a six-page single spaced
police report submitted by Officer Yong complete with crime scene photos. The report
demonstrated an unusually detailed knowledge of the events leading up to and during the altercation that night and included commentary on Mr. and Mrs. Smith's relationship and history. In a later taped deposition interview, Officer
Yong stated that she had very limited communication with Smith’s wife or
step-daughter that night.
By 9 AM on June 3, Detective Aldridge was at the jail conducting
an unrecorded interrogation of Garrett Smith with no witness or lawyer present.
She chronicled her observations and belief of Smith’s guilt, heavily weighted
with opinion statements, in a 9-page police report as a companion piece to the
one alleged to have been written by Officer Yong. The third in the trilogy of
police reports was submitted weeks later in the name of Aldridge’s immediate
supervisor, Sgt. Andy Hamlin with 7 single-spaced pages of detailed narrative credited
to, but not written by, Sgt. Hamlin.
While Detective Aldridge built a cohesive drama in three
parts to enter into record as the corroborating testimony of three law
enforcement officers, the fabrication created a bumpy road during deposition
interviews and at trial. Sgt. Hamlin and Officer Yong were not able to accurately
testify to what had been written on their behalf by Kabuki performer, Detective
Aldridge. The Prosecuting Attorney called Aldridge back to the stand 7 times
during trial –more than any other witness for prosecution or defense—to “rehabilitate”
testimony made by her colleagues that conflicted with the narrative she had
provided in each of their names.
This is just one of a long list of behaviors in the State’s
case against John Garrett Smith that raises ethical questions. It may be common practice for officers to
write police reports for other officers.
Public records disclosure revealed that Detective Aldridge has authored
a probable cause statement for another officer before. She sent it completed
and ready for his signature through email after which he thanked her for the
favor. However, the example here demonstrates
an escalation of dishonesty that qualifies as subornation of perjury and fraud upon the court. This bad act, and others, effectively deprived Garrett Smith of his right to a fair trial.
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