The Jury's Back

By Ralph Sistrunk

" An exciting story of the life of a man, from his early years as a hungry orphan, to his rewarding achievements as a successful trial lawyer.

He entertains with gusto as we experience some of his exciting cases as well as his madcap personal experiences.

The true murder case is so unbelievable and spellbinding; it transcends reality as it unravels and becomes comical and then the irony in its conclusion.

His selection of the title The Jurys Back gives real insight into the fervor associated with the conclusion of a trial.

Throughout, we feel the authors desire to inspire young people to succeed. It also provides a good test to determine if you could be a good trial lawyer."

• Language: English
• Publisher: Xlibris US
• Release date: Aug 12, 2008
• ISBN: 9781462839322

Ralph Sistrunk

Ralph Sistrunk and his wife Kathy and two Yorkies live in Jacksonville, Florida on a spectacular knoll overlooking a serene lake and the eleventh hole of the golf course he once saved from a real estate developers destruction. Their union has been blessed with five children, ten grandchildren and nine great grandchildren (and counting). Now retired from the active practice of law, he still performs pro bono, (for free) for those in need. He entertains with tireless humor and passion for life and through this book he shares his journey from a hungry orphan, delivering newspapers, to a successful trial lawyer and real estate entrepreneur. His mother would be proud.

Book preview

The Jury’s Back

Ralph Sistrunk

Copyright © 2008 by Ralph Sistrunk.

All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic or mechanical, including photocopying, recording, or by any information storage and retrieval system, without permission in writing from the copyright owner.

This book was printed in the United States of America.

To order additional copies of this book, contact:

Xlibris Corporation

1-888-795-4274

www.Xlibris.com

[e-mail]

45215

Contents

Introduction To The Book

And The Author

THE JURY’S BACK

Chapter One

Civil Suit—Murder Case

Chapter Two

How It Started—

Avenging Two Wrongs

Chapter Three

The War Years (WWII)

Chapter Four

Pursuing the Impossible Dream

The Hard Slow Trip to The Bar

Chapter Five

The Dream Come True

Chapter Six

"He who has Himself For a Client,

Has a Fool For a Lawyer"

He Burned us Out Case

Chapter Seven

Living It Up

Chapter Eight

It’s the Damn Lawyer’s Fault, Not Mine!

Divorce Legal Fee—Three Buckets of Pennies

Chapter Nine

Tug Boat Tragedy

Chapter Ten

Golf Pays Off!

Chapter Eleven

The Innocent Go Go Dancer Case

Chapter Twelve

Rest and Recreation

Motor Home Adventure

Chapter Thirteen

Don’t Believe What You Read

In a Newspaper

Chapter Fourteen

Hurricane Follows Mother Thomas II

Chapter Fifteen

Airplane Crash Cases

Chapter Sixteen

I Sank My Brand New Pontiac Convertible

Chapter Seventeen

Small Town Injustice

(Don’t Kick the Judge’s Dog)

Chapter Eighteen

Child Trespasser Case

Chapter Nineteen

Criminal Defense of Former

Law School Classmate

Chapter Twenty

Jury Selection—Russian Roulette Case

Conclusion

Acknowledgments And

Special Thanks

About the Author

by Betty McDonald

Dedication

This book is dedicated with love to my wonderful wife, Kathrine, who takes good care of me and is the best cook in the world! You should try her grits and barbequed butter beans!

I also wrote it with love for my 5 children, Robert S. Sistrunk, Sheryl Reynolds, Michael Sistrunk, Linda Gaston, and Carol James. They will receive a copy of this book as their gift for Christmas, in lieu of the $20,000, plus, cruise which we usually take each year with their spouses at my expense. Merry Christmas! (This will be like the time I got a secondhand broken sidewalk bike for Christmas.) After receiving the book you may do like I did, act like you really love it, then run around in back of the house and cry.

Introduction To The Book

And The Author

When I was a 13 year old orphan delivering newspapers on a cold winter day in Jacksonville Beach, Florida, with my shirt and trousers stuffed with newspapers to keep from freezing, I had no idea that one day I would be writing a book! And I certainly didn’t think that one day I would be a lawyer! Most of my dreams then concerned having a job making enough money to provide a nice warm place to live and plenty to eat! And here I am, an 84 year old lawyer writing a book!

I love waterways, but water and I don’t mix! I don’t consider myself dumb, but during the last years of my active practice of law, I began writing to my grandchildren giving them detailed accounts of some of the ridiculous things that I did, like driving my daughter’s small motorcycle wide open off the end of my dock into the St. Johns River.

Or telling them about how I sank my new Pontiac convertible by driving down a boat ramp at fifty miles an hour into the river thinking I was on a state road!

Or frantically fleeing from an area on an eerie, dark, foggy night in an unknown place while walking my two tiny Yorkie dogs and suddenly coming upon a sign saying: Don’t Feed The Alligators!

Or going to Miami to buy a boat and navigating it back in a hurricane with no other boats on the waterway!

My grandchildren passed these letters on to their friends who later hounded them to be given a new letter with the latest dumb thing I did.

They not only encouraged me, but hounded me to write a book about my life, which I felt would be dull and uninteresting to someone outside the family.

However, when I was shivering in the cold winter delivering Times Union newspapers, I did have a hopeless dream of becoming a lawyer because this big, powerful business cheated young newspaper carriers, having their first business dealings, by making them pay for newspapers they could not sell.

Also at 15 years old my $120 Chevrolet automobile, that I had saved 2 years to buy, was demolished by a driver of another vehicle who ran a stop sign and ploughed into it. I was properly driving on a through street. I was paid nothing by this careless driver because I was underage and had no driver’s license. I felt that my infraction had nothing to do with the accident—I was not careless.

I believed I had a calling to right these wrongs and the wrongs of others like me, but I felt I had no chance of becoming a lawyer. To become a lawyer someone had to have money for tuition, room and board at school, and other expenses while seeking a law degree. That was beyond my reach.

Also, usually lawyers came from law families, or at least had a connection with a law firm so that they could start off working with an experienced lawyer and thereby earn some compensation while learning their trade.

I had no such connection. I didn’t even know a lawyer, or anyone who did. I believed Mr. Lester, the garbage man, was the most important man I knew.

Not having funds to support myself through college, and with no connection to a practicing lawyer, I believed my dream of becoming a lawyer was a pipe dream. When you read this book you will see that through determination, hard work and a lot of luck, I made it! And you can too!

I was a very active trial lawyer. When I retired from the active practice of law, my children again entreated me to write a book about both my dumb experiences and about many of the strange, interesting, and unusual cases I had tried.

This book is completely factually accurate. The facts of the murder trial which is the first chapter of the book came from the deposition of Arthur Eugene Williams, who participated in the murder.

Only some matters, such as the date and name of the hurricane that followed ‘Mother Thomas II’ from Miami to St. Augustine, Florida and the name of the young man who lost his leg on the tug boat, I cannot remember, because of the passing years.

At the continued urging of my children I intended to write the book, but like everything else that really doesn’t have to be done, I kept putting it off, because I thought it would be too laborious and boring. I was 83 years old when I started the book and to my great surprise it has been one of the most entertaining and rewarding things I have ever done!

For one thing, I could never entertain you the reader, like I entertain myself! Writing about these past events caused me to relive them, without the pain. (Except telling about our monkey Susie’s death, made me cry again.)

Writing about the fainting, farting fellow getting his shots in the Navy in the War Years caused me to laugh so hard I had to stop writing!

Not only do I give a completely factual account of cases, but I also explain in some of the cases the strategy used to seek a jury verdict.

Why is the book entitled The Jury’s Back? Probably the most terrifying words a lawyer can hear after a jury trial, is a call to the trial lawyers from the court bailiff saying, "Come back to the courtroom, The Jury’s back!" There will be one winner, and one loser! Will the lawyer be on the winning or losing side?

There is a subtle secondary meaning of naming the book, The Jury’s Back. The jury’s verdict is the end of the trial. At 84, and counting, I have finished an exciting, rewarding period of my life. The jury’s back on this portion of my life and I feel the verdict is a good one!

Of the hundreds of cases I handled I only had the misfortune of the jury returning a verdict against me twice. I have forgotten many cases I won, but clearly remember the two I lost! And I have never gotten over the stress, strain and excitement of waiting for the jury’s verdict!

I am a good lawyer because I never accepted a case I felt did not have merit, and I was true to my client in that I spent as much time as needed (and more) preparing my case for trial. A lawyer that isn’t a hard worker can never be a good lawyer, regardless of talent.

Picking a jury is all important. For those readers who think they would be a good lawyer I refer you to the Russian Roulette case which appears in the last chapter to determine if you would be skillful in picking a jury. (Hence a good lawyer)

The spur that pricked the sides of my intent was the belief that this book could encourage young people who really want to become a lawyer, but don’t think they have a chance to do so, to work hard and achieve this noble goal. I believe, since I became a lawyer, and a good, successful lawyer, then they can too.

By reading about my life they can learn that an ordinary person can accomplish extraordinary things if they have the desire and are willing to make sacrifices and work hard enough to achieve their goal.

So read, and enjoy, especially all of you who think you would be a great lawyer! (I have never met a person who didn’t think that!)

Some think that practicing law would be easy. Many think that even a caveman can do it!

THE JURY’S BACK

(You Think You Would Have Been

a Great Lawyer)

By: Ralph E. Sistrunk

Chapter One

Civil Suit—Murder Case

George Paul Cook was a big man, six feet one inch tall, wide of shoulders and girth with big hands, weighing approximately 245 pounds and possessing a naturally aggressive manner. He was in the grocery business, operating one of the first convenience stores in Tallahassee, Florida. He was alleged to have dealt only in cash in all of his business dealings. He could appear to be gentle and thoughtful only when it served his purpose, but it was strictly for show. George Paul Cook was a mean, cruel bully.

Cook came to Jacksonville on June 30, l962 and telephoned Arthur Eugene Williams, his long time pipsqueak friend, and told him to telephone Bill Arnold and tell him to meet them at the Union Hall because he wanted to talk to him. It had been more than two weeks since he had warned Arnold that he must come up with $6000 in seven days or he was going to kill him!

Williams said, Paul, why can’t you talk to him on the phone instead of me, or go by his house to see him.

He won’t talk to me, because I threatened to kill him if he didn’t pay me the $6000 we sponged off John Collins in the poker game. He’s afraid of me, and well he should be, but you can get him to agree to meet us at the Union Hall, just to talk. Tell him we just want to talk; we are not going to hurt him. I will be by your house to pick you up in ten minutes.

William James Arnold, known as Bill Arnold, had lived in Jacksonville, Florida for many years. He was an easy-going, large boned man in his early 40s, about six feet four inches tall, weighing approximately 230 pounds. He was so mild mannered he wouldn’t kick a dog if it was biting him, nor could he fight his way out of a paper sack. He was a fairly well known petty gambler who could do anything imaginable with a deck of cards. He could deal five cards face down to four players and one hand for himself and know each card he had dealt and also remember every card in each of the hands!

Paul Cook had set up a rigged poker game with John Collins, the brother of a Tallahassee legislator, together with Bill Arnold and Arthur Eugene Williams. They fleeced Collins out of $6000 and divided it equally between the three of them.

Collins had suspicions that he had been taken by the three and told his brother about the poker game and his big loss. His brother, who had influence in Tallahassee, had the three poker players investigated and learned that Arnold was a card shark and cheat. He contacted the Leon County Sheriff, W. P. Joyce, and the sheriff came to Jacksonville where both Arnold and Williams lived and went to Arnold’s home.

He told Arnold that both Williams and Cook had admitted that they had been involved in a crooked poker game in which Collins had been cheated out of $6000. The Sheriff said, Cook said that you, William James Arnold, had set the game up and were the one that had fleeced Collins out of his money.

The Sheriff told Arnold that he was going to bring criminal charges against him unless he came clean and told him how the game had been set up. He told him if he wanted to stay out of jail he had to tell him everything!

Arnold exclaimed, What they told you is a damn lie, Sheriff! This was all Williams’ and Cook’s idea. I didn’t even know Collins until I was introduced to him by Cook. Arnold revealed to the Sheriff the whole scheme which he said was set up and orchestrated by Cook.

George Paul Cook was a Tallahassee thug who later bragged to a cellmate that he could open any safe in Florida if given forty minutes alone with it. Cook had purchased a shady respectability in Tallahassee by owning and operating some of the first convenience stores there. He even made modest donations to known Tallahassee charities to add a false luster to his name.

Arnold begged the Sheriff not to put him in jail because he was the father of two minor children who were in his sole care, their mother having died a few years earlier. Arnold gave the Sheriff a statement concerning Cook and Williams and his own involvement in the crooked poker game. He said he would pay back his $2000 share of the winnings but would have to do so a little at a time since he had already spent his part.

The sheriff had a better idea. He knew that Cook had the resources to pay all of the money without having to rely on Arnold’s time payments, which he believed would probably not be forthcoming. He also knew that Cook had a very shady past which he would not want revealed to the community.

He returned to Tallahassee and summoned Cook to his office. He invited him to have a seat and Cook had no idea the reason he was asked to come to the sheriff’s office.

The Sheriff said, Cook, you cheated John Collins out of $6000 in a crooked poker game and I want to know whether you wish to pay the $6000 back today or go to jail?

The Sheriff didn’t want to bring a criminal charge. He just wanted to get the money back, which would be a feather in his cap. But he didn’t want any of the three participants in the crooked game to know that he did not intend to bring a criminal charge. Even with Arnold’s testimony it would have been difficult to convict Cook and Williams.

I have no idea what you are talking about Sheriff, exclaimed Cook!

You are telling me that you, Arthur Eugene Williams, and William James Arnold did not cheat John Collins out of $6000?

Of course not! Whatever gave you that idea?

Maybe you would like to read this statement that I took from a well known petty gambler, William Arnold, in Jacksonville, Florida yesterday. The sheriff handed Cook the three page statement.

Why that lying son of a bitch! If there was any cheating, he was the cheater. I had no idea that the game was rigged! I lost $200 in the game myself!

"Well if that is your story I will ask the State’s attorney to present this matter to the Grand Jury and you know that an indictment will be handed down and the newspapers will have fun with this! I just wanted to give you a chance to get out of this mess by simply paying back what you, Williams and Arnold stole from John Collins.

If you bring me a cashier’s check payable to John Collins by noon tomorrow, that will be the end of the matter; no criminal charges will be filed. If not, you’d better be prepared to put up at least $15,000 bail. Arnold will spill his guts to the Grand Jury and Mr. Collins will testify concerning the matter and what chance do you think you will have?

Cook left the Sheriff’s office fuming! He walked quickly to his car, drove to the nearest service station, filled it up with gas and headed for Jacksonville, Florida where both Arnold and Williams lived.

He first drove to Williams’ house and told him, That G.D. Arnold has squealed on us and the Sheriff says if I don’t repay $6000 by tomorrow at noon he will submit the matter to the Grand Jury. He has Arnold’s sworn statement and that bastard didn’t leave out anything. There was no way in hell that they could prove we cheated Collins unless you or Arnold ratted on me.

Williams stiffened as though he had been struck across the mouth crying, They could break my arm and I wouldn’t squeal.

Get in the car! We are going to see that G. D snitcher and make that son of a bitch pay the whole $6000 or I’ll bust his head! bellowed Cook.

Williams had been a pipsqueak friend of Cook for years and when called upon had always done his bidding without question. He was deathly afraid of Cook. He got in Cook’s car and they drove to Bill Arnold’s house. They knocked on Arnold’s front door and a nervous Arnold let them in. Arnold cringed when Cook made a threatening gesture as if to strike him.

The only reason I told them about the game was the Sheriff said that you and Williams had admitted everything and told him it was all my idea, protested Arnold.

Well, weren’t you a smart bastard! The last thing that we would do would be to admit anything, you dumb asshole. The Sheriff knows that I must pay the $6000. He knows I can’t take a chance of being convicted because of your dumb ass confession. So you are going to pay me the whole $6000 or we will put you in your grave, snarled Cook.

Please Paul don’t hurt me. Right now I don’t even have enough to pay my share. I have already spent my $2000 and I can only raise about $200. I swore to the Sheriff that I would pay my share to Mr. Collins, so much a month, whined Arnold.

Cook grabbed Arnold by his shirt and almost lifted him off his feet growling, I have got to pay the $6000 tomorrow and you are going to pay me the $6000 or else! I will give you one week to get up the $6000 or I will bust your head! Cook stormed out of the house and slammed the door, leaving a frightened and shaken Arnold.

Approximately two weeks later on Saturday, June 30, l962, at the demand of Cook, Williams got Arnold on the phone and told him that Cook wanted to talk to him down at the Union Hall. Arnold asked, Why don’t you two come by here and talk?

Williams answered, Cook said he is not comfortable talking to you there, but all he wants to do is to get things settled; he swears he is not going to hurt you if you meet him at the Union Hall. Cook is a dangerous man, so you’d better meet us.

Arnold told Williams he would meet them in 20 minutes.

When Cook picked up Williams he was told that Arnold agreed to meet them at the Union Hall. Cook said, We will get there first and when he arrives you jump in the front seat with him and tell him to go out Hendricks Avenue and I will find a place to talk—probably go to some restaurant where he will feel safe and comfortable. When Arnold drove his car in front of the Union Hall and stopped, Williams jumped in the front seat beside him.

Arnold cringed when he looked back and saw Cook in the car behind them!

Williams assured Arnold that Cook was not going to hurt him, but he just wanted to determine how the money was going to be repaid. They drove out Hendricks Avenue and Cook pulled in front of Arnold’s car and indicated for him to stop. Cook got out of his car and told Arnold to come get in his car, he wanted to talk to him—he wasn’t going to hurt him. Arnold got in the front passenger seat with Cook and they talked for a few minutes and Cook opened his door and yelled back to Williams and told him to drive Arnold’s car and follow them.

It was beginning to get dark.

Cook drove to a deeply forested, sparsely inhabited area near Jacksonville known as Mandarin, where there were a few old homes with orange groves and people from the City of Jacksonville often drove out to buy very fresh citrus fruit. Cook knew the area well because Williams’ brother lived nearby and he knew no one would see or disturb him while he ‘talked’ to Arnold.

He drove down a deserted dirt road about a quarter of a mile from Williams’ brother’s house and pulled up under an old oak tree. From the thin ruts in the dirt road it was obvious that nobody had been in this vicinity for a long time.

Upon stopping, both Cook and Arnold got out of the car and Cook pulled out a pistol and said I don’t want to have to skin your head old man but you owe me $6000 and I have given you time to pay up and you have done nothing.

Arnold begged, Paul, don’t hurt me. I am doing everything I can to get up the $6000 and I will have it if you give me some more time.

You are a lying son of a bitch Arnold; you don’t have any intention of paying me this money. I gave you time, replied Cook.

Williams implored, Don’t hurt him Paul, I can’t stand violence.

You stay out of this or you will get it too, growled Cook and gave Williams $10.00 and told him to get them something to drink and fill his car with gas.

Williams returned with two Pepsis and water for Arnold. At that time Cook had Arnold by the throat and was shoving him against an old oak tree.

Williams pleaded with Cook, to stop and let’s all go back to town.

Cook told him to shut up or he would get it too. After a short period of continued threats and pleading by Arnold, Cook pushed Arnold into his car and the three of them drove back to U.S. 1 to a service station and he sent Williams in for cigarettes and more cold drinks. He made sure he parked the car out of sight of anyone in the station.

Cook drove back to the secluded place and Williams asked if it was all right if he went to see if his brother was home. Cook allowed him to go. His brother was not home and when Williams returned Cook still had Arnold pushed up against the oak tree and he had a nylon rope in his hand.

Cook told Arnold, I have got to put this rope around your neck Bill.

Arnold pleaded, Please don’t choke me Paul!

Williams begged, Don’t kill him Paul!

Cook said, I am going to have to choke you a little bit Bill. Williams looked away and Cook pulled the rope violently and when Williams looked back Arnold was lying, apparently unconscious, across Cook’s knees.

Cook said, Damn, I believe he is dead. I didn’t mean to kill him. Well, it can’t be helped. Come help me load him in the trunk of his car.

Oh my God, Oh my God, Williams moaned, What can we do!?

Shut up, and calm down; I will kill ten men before I will do time for this!, snarled Cook.

Oh please Paul, come on let’s just leave him here. Let’s get away!, begged Williams.

No, I will put him where he will never be found. Here is what we will do. We will put his body in the trunk of his car. You will drive his car to Tallahassee and I will follow you. When we get there we will take his body out in a boat I have at home and weigh it down and sink it in the Gulf. Then you drive his car back to Jacksonville, park it on Jacksonville Beach and the tide will come in and get it and they will think he decided to go swimming and drowned. No one will know the difference. Now if you ever mention I had anything to do with this you will get the same thing, you understand, snapped Cook.

Oh Paul, don’t worry I won’t tell! muttered Williams.

Although Arnold was not a fighter, he was still a very large man. Williams was a short, skinny, frail man approximately 5 feet 7 inches and weighed about 135 pounds. It was extremely dark in the area with only the dim light of a waning moon filtering through the leaves of the trees. Williams opened the truck of Arnold’s car and the two of them had a difficult time attempting to shove the body into the cramped trunk space.

It almost ruptured Williams trying to lift his part of the body. Williams lifted Arnold’s legs while the 6 foot 1 inch 245 pound Cook lifted the remaining 6 foot 4 inch torso of Arnold. They had to bend the legs back almost over his head to make him fit in the trunk of his car.

In the dark, and having a difficult time stuffing the large still limber body into the trunk space, they unknowingly bent the license tag so that it protruded over the nozzle opening of the gas tank with part of it caught under the trunk lid when it was slammed down.

With Williams driving Arnold’s car and Cook following behind the two set off 166 miles to Tallahassee to carry out Cook’s plan of submerging the body in the Gulf of Mexico.

Williams had driven only about five miles when he noticed that Arnold’s vehicle was very low on gas, so he slowed down and stopped Cook. When Cook walked up to Arnold’s car Williams told Cook that Arnold’s car would not make it to Tallahassee on the gas in the tank. Cook gave Williams $10 and told him to stop at the little filling station ahead which was the only one in Mandarin at the time.

While Williams drove Arnold’s car to the station for gas Cook drove by and stopped on the side of the road a half block away waiting for him.

There was no self-service. Williams did not want the attendant to look at him so he looked away and in a muffled voice said he wanted $5 worth of gas. The attendant went back to put the gas in, but found that the opening to the gas tank was obstructed by the tag that had been bent in the process of putting the body in the trunk. Williams was impatient and very nervous and wanted the attendant to get the gas in the tank and let him get away with as little attention as possible. He did not want the attendant to remember him later.

After a few moments the attendant came up to the driver’s side and said to Williams, Give me your keys. I have got to open your trunk!

The blood drained from his face and he felt as though his hair was standing straight up. He began to shake violently. For a moment he could not speak! Wha Wha What do you mean, you’ve got to open the trunk?!!!, he gasped.

Your tag is bent over the gas opening and I need to open the trunk to get it free because part of the tag is caught under the trunk lid! replied the attendant.

Williams managed to stammer out that it wasn’t his car and that he didn’t have the keys to the trunk.

Well I will see if I can bend it so I can put the gas in, said the attendant as he went inside and got a long screw driver to bend the tag and was finally able to pull the tag from under the trunk lid and fill the tank.

Williams was so nervous that he ‘flooded’ the carburetor trying to get Arnold’s car started. The attendant, seeing his problem, told him to let it sit for a moment and don’t hit the accelerator and it would start. Williams paid no attention and continued to press the accelerator up and down and push on the starter. Just as it seemed that the battery was going to be drained and quit, it sputtered to a start, and Williams sped off passing Cook.

Cook had to drive fast to catch the panicking Williams and blew his horn several times to get him to stop. When he walked up to Arnold’s car Williams was sitting white faced, violently holding onto the steering wheel as if he thought it would get away, and shaking uncontrollably! Cook told him to calm down that they were going straight to his house in Tallahassee and everything would be fine! He told him not to drive over the speed limit because in his condition he could not afford to be stopped by the police. Cook told him that if he saw Cook’s right hand signals on he wanted him to turn to the right; the same to the left.

Williams only nodded he understood—he had not regained his ability to talk!

They had to pass over the Fuller Warren fifteen cent toll bridge en route