Opinion ID: 2534147
Heading Depth: 1
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: The Testimony of Gail Goldman [4]

Text: Goldman shared a one-bedroom apartment in Fresno with defendant, Cullumber, Buchanan, and two other men. According to Detective Doug Stokes, Goldman told him about a venetian blind that had been in the hall closet that was ... taken by the suspect, Dickey, ... into a bedroom and that the cord was removed from that venetian blind and then the venetian blind was placed back inside the hall closet. However, when she testified, Goldman said it was Cullumber who took the venetian blind out of the closet and went into the bedroom with it. Later, she testified, the blind had been replaced in the closet, but the cord was missing from a blind in the bedroom. At approximately the same time that Cullumber was engaged with the venetian blind, defendant walked into the kitchen and opened a drawer containing knives and other silverware. [5] According to Detective Stokes, Goldman told him defendant removed a knife from the drawer and left the kitchen with it. Again according to Detective Stokes, when he came to the apartment investigating the murders, he showed Goldman a knife. She told him, I have a knife exactly like that knife, or they are twins. After the activity just described, Goldman testified, defendant and Cullumber left the apartment. They had no money, Goldman believed, when they left. If Cullumber had money, he spent it on drugs; before defendant left he asked Goldman for money to buy cigarettes. However, when they returned, Cullumber gave Goldman $40 or $50 in cash, saying it was in partial payment of what he owed her. Cullumber then packed his clothes and left. Sometime thereafter, while Goldman and defendant were watching the news on television, they saw a story about this crime. Defendant became upset when he learned Mr. Freiri was dead and that Mrs. Caton, while near death, was still alive. He told Goldman to come into the bedroom, that he wanted to talk to her. Buchanan followed them into the bedroom. Defendant told them he had accompanied Cullumber to the home of Mrs. Caton. On the one hand, defendant said that Cullumber had assured him nothing was going to happen. On the other hand, defendant admitted he had gone with Cullumber [t]o help [him] get the money. With Mrs. Caton present, defendant looked for money in her bedroom, where Cullumber told him it could be found. When defendant stepped out of the bedroom and saw Mr. Freiri slumped over in a chair, he knew something had happened. Cullumber went berserk. He came into the bedroom and started beating up on his grandmother. Defendant and Cullumber found $700, which they split. Defendant was crying, like he was sad, when he confessed to Goldman and Buchanan. Later, when defendant learned Mrs. Caton had died, he wasn't as depressed as he was before. While he was confessing, defendant said maybe he should turn himself in. Goldman advised him against it. When Detective Stokes first asked Goldman whether she knew anything about these crimes, Goldman denied that she did. Defendant was a good friend of hers, she still liked him, and she did not want to do anything to get him into trouble. She did not want to tell on anyone, especially someone she liked as much as she liked defendant. Buchanan told her he was going to turn defendant in for the reward. By contrast, Goldman testified at the preliminary hearing only because she had been subpoenaed. During a break, Goldman told the prosecutor she wanted to make sure defendant knew she was not the one who turned him in. She was afraid for her life. I always felt that if you would inform on somebody they would kill you or have you killed. Defendant said he was not concerned that someone would betray him, because if they did, they wouldn't do it again. On the other hand, Goldman thought that her relationship with defendant was such that it would take an awful lot to make him hurt me. Goldman had had 20 surgeries on [her] stomach, and depending on how much pain she was in, she used speed ball cocaine and heroin or other street drugs to kill the pain.