Opinion ID: 2295861
Heading Depth: 3
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Siege 8th floor

Text: Appellants, at gunpoint, ordered all the hostages who had been collected in the second and fifth floor rooms to the eighth floor, where they were held for the remainder of their 39-hour ordeal. Appellants moved the women out first, ten at a time, and then moved the men, four to five at once. The gunmen stood the men against the wall and tied their hands behind their backs. Khaalis called Sidney Clearfield to the front of the line. According to Clearfield, Khaalis said he didn't like the way I was looking  and he punched me in the stomach. Another appellant asked if he could hit Clearfield, too, but Khaalis said, No. I am going to give him my special karate punch, and Khaalis hit Clearfield again in the stomach. When the more than 100 hostages had been taken to the eighth floor, appellant subjected them to further physical assaults and personal indignities. They were ordered to lie face-down on the cold, bare cement floor of a large auditorium-like room undergoing renovation. Each hostage was ordered to grasp the ankles or legs of the person above him. Appellants made several attempts to count the hostages. At first, they ordered the men and women to count off. Then appellants began counting off the hostages by twenties. The final figure was 103 hostages. The women were separated from the men into one area of the large room on the eighth floor. Khaalis ordered other appellants to tie the hands and feet of the men, either with neckties or telephone wire. One of the gunmen ordered the men to empty their pockets. After approximately half an hour, appellants permitted the men and women to sit up. The hostages remained on the eighth floor from midday of March 9 until approximately 2 a. m. on Friday, March 11. Several testified that they were forced to work for appellants  stacking desks and filing cabinets against the windows, painting the windows so that the police would not be able to see into the room, and setting up barricades of desks, cabinets, ladders, and other debris in the staircases. Others elaborated on the numerous physical and verbal assaults. [6] Still others testified about the indignities caused by appellants' initial refusal to permit hostages to use the bathroom. [7]