Opinion ID: 786204
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: August 6, 1980 — Soffar's Second Statement

Text: 44 Beginning shortly after 9:00 a.m. the morning of August 6, 1980, Williamson mirandized and interrogated Soffar for approximately 50 minutes in a tape-recorded conversation during which Soffar relayed more details of the same basic scenario, i.e., that he drove to the bowling alley and that Bloomfield did the robbery and shootings alone. 17 At approximately 10:00 a.m., Soffar was taken to a line-up arranged for surviving witness Garner's viewing. Garner failed to positively identify Soffar. 18 Soffar was then mirandized and interrogated again by Williamson and Ladd, for approximately 1 hour and 15 minutes before giving his second statement. 19 45 At 2:44 p.m. on August 6, 1980, Soffar signed the second written statement prepared by Ladd. This statement was identified as State's Exhibit 109. As with State's Exhibit 108, the second statement was not introduced into evidence by the State, but was used during the guilt phase of his capital murder trial. In his second statement, Soffar told the same basic story as he had in his first statement, adding the following details. The night before the robbery-murders, it was Soffar who kicked in the glass side door of the bowling alley to commit the burglary. 20 The next day, Bloomfield picked him up at 1:00 p.m. and they hung out together for the afternoon. That evening they drove back to the bowling alley at 9:00 p.m., but since there were a lot of people there, they just parked the car and drank beer until most everyone had left. Again, Soffar stated that he pulled the car up in front of the doors while Bloomfield went inside of an unlocked front door. Bloomfield was approached by two people and then another, and he made these three lie down on the floor right in front of the door. Bloomfield motioned to someone else to come over and then Soffar heard the first shot. He could see the feet of the people on the floor. He then heard another and then several other shots. Bloomfield came running out of the bowling alley with the gun in one hand and the lady's stocking he had put over his face when he entered in the other hand. Bloomfield told him that someone pulled a gun on him so he did what he had to do. Soffar added that they went to buy drugs that night from an individual named Pops, and that several weeks after the robbery-murders Soffar told Pops about the deal at the bowling alley. He asked Pops if he heard about it and that Latt [Bloomfield] and I had done it. 46 At some point after signing his second statement at 2:44 p.m., Soffar was visited by, and he spoke privately with: his mother, Zelda Soffar; his uncle, Carl Lander; and his aunt, Celia Nathan. 21 Ms. Nathan informed Detective Ladd that the family was in agreement that Max should cooperate with the police. At approximately 4:00 p.m., Detectives Williamson and Ladd checked Soffar out of the jail and took him in a patrol car to the crime scene. They pulled into the parking lot, but did not go inside of the bowling alley. At approximately 5:30 p.m., the detectives drove Soffar to an area south of Houston where he identified Lawrence Bryant, a.k.a. Pops, as the person from whom he and Bloomfield had allegedly purchased drugs the night of the robbery-murders. At approximately 7:30 p.m., the detectives then took Soffar to Galveston where Soffar pointed out a convenience store Bloomfield had allegedly robbed. Soffar was checked back into the jail at 10:55 p.m. 22 47 During the time Soffar was riding around with Detectives Williamson and Ladd, the police released Bloomfield from custody, citing a lack of any corroborating evidence to justify charging him in the robbery-murders. 48