TO: FILE
FR: SUSAN SELLIGMAN, INVESTIGATOR
1/10/87. A telephone interview of Mrs. Montez -- She is 65 years old, a widow, a long-time project resident (but not in same building as client), and has poor eyesight (cataracts only partly corrected by prescription lenses). She did not know Gordon before the incident, though the description she gave the police of her alleged attacker (5' 10", 165 lbs., about 16 years old, wearing jeans, black leather jacket) matched Gordon (see Tauro and Gordon interviews, below). Mrs. Montez said her attacker leaped out at her from a doorway near the corner of 108th and Madison. She thought she saw another boy in the doorway, but she cannot be sure. The boy tried to grab her pocketbook. In the process, Mrs. Montez was knocked to the ground, breaking her wrist and badly twisting an ankle. She started to scream, which apparently frightened the attacker. She lost no property as a result of the incident, but her arm is in a cast, her ankle is bandaged, and she is walking on crutches. Mrs. Montez said that, at the time of the incident, she and a Mrs. Jane Karp were returning together from a bingo game at a nearby church. Mrs. Karp called the police immediately after it happened from pay phone.
1/10/87. An telephone interview of Mrs. Karp - Mrs. Karp is also 65 years old, and also a long-time project resident. Claimed her eyesight is excellent, does not need glasses. She knew Gordon before the incident from living in her building, and is in fact one of the people who complained to project management about Gordon and his friends "loitering" and making noise in the hallway. She does not like Gordon. She is absolutely sure Gordon was Mrs. Montez's attacker. She too thinks another boy was in the doorway. Except for the positive nature of Mrs. Karp's identification of Gordon, everything else she said simply repeated Mrs. Montez's story.
1/11/87. A telephone conversation with Officer Tauro - He confirmed he had no first-hand knowledge of the events underlying the charges and that all he knows about the actual incident was what Mrs. Montez and Mrs. Karp told him. Arrested Gordon because he was evasive, matched the description, and was wearing jeans at the time of arrest. When asked why he waited three days for arrest, said that case was low priority.
1/11/87. A telephone conversation with Daniel Becker, Juvenile Defender Office, who represented Gordon. Not very helpful. Said he met Gordon 5 minutes before arraignment. Did not ask Gordon if he did it: "I never ask,' he told me. Since this was a first offense, it was a "no brainer" to ask judge for "ACD" (adjourned in contemplation of dismissal). An "ACD" is a dismissal without a finding of guilt or innocence, frequently used in juvenile court for first offender or for a minor charge. Case will be automatically dismissed in six months unless Gordon is arrested for something else.
1/11/87. When called client, Gordon answered phone--said client was out. Asked Gordon if he owned a black leather jacket; he does. He then volunteered the following alibi. Gordon said he was at home with client that night. He remembered they watched a Jets football game together that night. The game stuck in his mind because there was a club record for sacking the opposing quarterback 9 times. I asked him who was the losing team; he said Pittsburgh. When asked why he didn't tell this to Touro, he said he thought you were always supposed to insist on a lawyer if the police were questioning you; client was not home when Touro arrested Gordon.
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