CONFIDENTIAL INSTRUCTIONS FOR CLIENT

Gordon has consistently denied to you being anywhere near Madison and 107^th Street the night of December 14. He said did not remember exactly where he was on that evening and time. All he said was that he was "hanging out" with his friend John Clifton that evening, who was the boy who broke the window that Gordon was blamed for. You yourself had spent the evening at home alone studying for a test that you were taking the next day. Gordon had gone out after dinner and at the time you had no idea where Gordon had gone. Over Christmas the Clifton family moved out of the projects and neither you nor Gordon know where they went or how to reach them now.

After you got the termination notice you got very worried about being evicted or being forced to kick Gordon out in order to keep the apartment. You have no family in New York that could take Gordon in. Thus you had a long talk with Gordon. Gordon continued to deny flatly to you that he tried to rob anybody or knew anything about it. Although you really weren't sure in your heart of hearts that you believed Gordon, you told him that you did and tried to make yourself believe that you did. You also told him, however, that, even though he was telling the truth, the hearing officer was not likely to believe him if Gordon could not account for his whereabouts that night. You told him that you and he would have to come up with a better story, even if it meant lying. Lying was bad but being unjustly evicted was worse.

Gordon agreed and you then discussed with him what your story would be. Gordon said he remembered watching a Jets football game that weekend and thinks it was the Sunday evening he spent with John Clifton. The game stuck in his mind because there was a club record for sacking the opposing quarterback 9 times. He suggests that you two just say he was watching the game at home with you instead of with Clifton. As you two talk he remembers that the losing team was Pittsburgh. You then recalled that 60 Minutes (which you always watch) started 15 minutes late that Sunday because of the football game. Because you, of course, don't know any details of the game (you didn't watch it at all), you and Gordon agree to say that you were in and out of the living room during most of the game preparing dinner and studying in the bedroom.

You told Gordon it really would hurt you to have to lie (you had long preached the importance of honesty) and that you and he were forced into this position because of his poor judgment in hanging around with John Clifton and others like him. You emphasized once again that Gordon was jeopardizing his whole future. You think Gordon really will try to keep his nose clean. You also know, however, the pressures on 17-year-olds from their peers.

You know that the Housing Authority sometimes allows a tenant to "plead guilty" and get probation. You really don't want to do that. For one thing, you are afraid that Gordon won't be able to stay out of trouble and that any little problem while you two are on probation could cost you your apartment. You would spend the whole probation period in great anxiety. Your other major reason for opposing probation is that, as you understand it, accepting probation will require you to plead "no contest" to the charge that Gordon robbed Mrs. Montez and that is something that you do not want to do, if Gordon didn't commit the robbery. Moreover, of course, your "no contest" plea would be in the Housing Authority records and, although those records are supposed to be confidential, you cannot be sure that there won't be a leak that would hurt Gordon's future.

At the meeting with the attorney, be prepared to relate the alibi story. Be prepared also to embellish the facts provided here with other plausible information. Reread these instructions several times so that you have the story clearly in mind. Work hard during the meeting to stay in character but if necessary consult these instructions rather than risk making a factual mistake. Think through in advance the attitudes and the tone you want to project. Be prepared for the possibility that the attorney will "cross-examine" you on the alibi to test your credibility and to determine for himself or herself if you are telling the truth. Plan, in a general way, what your response will be to each possibility. Help make the experience a believable one for your attorney. If, during the interview, you feel that, under the circumstances at the moment, Simon would admit that the alibi was false, you are free to do so.