Opinion ID: 722394
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 2

Heading: Jefferson's Murder and the Aftermath

Text: 14 Clifton Jefferson, the gang member who had shot off King's hat and robbed him, entered the scene again in fall 1991. Jefferson approached King on the street, apologized for the robbery, and stated that he wanted to clean the slate; King responded that everything was cool and not to worry about it. Afterwards, King told Stephenson that he was glad Jefferson apologized. He believed that Jefferson only intended to rob him again, but now that Jefferson thought they were friends, King could get him. King was correct about Jefferson's intentions. In late September, Jefferson told Patrick Wallace that he was broke and planned to start robbing drug dealers again, King included. Patrick was concerned because his nephew, Robert Wallace, was King's partner and frequently accompanied King. Patrick told Robert of the plans, and Robert responded that if Jefferson robbed King, King would do him. 15 Tate, aware that King wanted revenge on Jefferson, told him that a man with whom he worked, defendant Rogers, would kill Jefferson for $2,000. The three men met to assess Rogers' sincerity. A couple of weeks later, Rogers told Tate that he could have killed Jefferson one night, but that he needed a gun. Tate relayed this information to King, who said he would take care of it. On October 12, 1991, Tate and Bingham were at King's house. Rogers came over and then King and Rogers left together. King returned alone and said that Jefferson would be killed that night. Trevor Robinson testified that Rogers came to his back door at about 10 p.m. that night and said that he planned to kill Jefferson and wanted Robinson to come along. Robinson agreed and the two proceeded to pick up Jefferson in Rogers' car. 16 Before midnight, Rogers pulled up to a nightclub and went inside, returning with King about five minutes later. The two of them talked for awhile, and Rogers came back to the car. Robinson drove the car, Rogers got into the back seat, and Jefferson sat in the front passenger seat. As they drove around talking, Robinson heard Rogers fire several shots and saw Jefferson's bloody head leaning to the right, where the passenger side window had been shattered. Rogers gave Robinson directions to an alley where they dumped Jefferson's body. Back at the nightclub, Rogers met with King. Leaving Robinson behind, the two drove off in King's car. They returned about thirty minutes later with Rogers in fresh clothes, picked up Robinson, and drove to a dumpster where they burned Rogers' bloody clothes. King then dropped them off at the nightclub where, at the entrance, Rogers handed Robinson $100 from a large wad of cash. Later that night, Robinson asked Rogers why he killed Jefferson. Rogers replied that it was a drug hit, that Jefferson had been robbing King and his boys, and that King paid him to do it. 17 The following day, Rogers and Robinson arrived at King's house where Rogers' car was parked. The three worked on cleaning the car, which was full of blood, brain matter, and broken glass. Stephenson, who had slept at King's house, witnessed the car, as did Tate and Bingham, who followed King to the car wash. At the car wash, Rogers told Tate that he had done it. He also told Robinson to ask King for some money; King then gave Robinson $1,700. Jefferson's body was also found that morning, and an autopsy determined that he died from three close-range gunshot wounds just behind the left ear. Later that day, Rogers asked Tate to hold a pile of money, about an inch and a half thick, while detectives appeared at Rogers' door. Tate returned the money when the detectives left. Bingham also saw the detectives and reported the incident to King. King said that they could not do anything to him because they had not seen him give Rogers the money. 18 Later that evening, King, Hill, and Bingham met with Rogers and several worried relatives of Rogers. Rogers talked about turning himself in, but instead agreed to try and cover up the murder. Rogers attempted to square his story with Robinson, and King later told Stephenson of the plan. King at this point told Stephenson that he had paid Rogers $2,000 for the murder and would pay Rogers' lawyer and bond; he said that so long as Rogers did not turn him in, King could not be convicted because no one saw him pay Rogers. That night, Rogers turned himself in to the police. He stated that Jefferson had pulled a gun on him as they were riding around, that they struggled, and that Jefferson was killed when the gun went off. The detective, knowing three shots had killed Jefferson, arrested Rogers. Robinson also went to the police that night. He initially reported the same false story as did Rogers, but finally told the truth when the detective disbelieved him. He did not mention King for fear of retaliation. Several days later, though, he pointed out King's house to a detective. 19 Two days after the murder, King and Tate delivered $15,000 to Rogers' aunt to pay for Rogers' lawyer. King returned with Stephenson a few days later to deliver more money to Rogers' girlfriend. An attorney was later retained for Rogers. Records from the attorney's office show that he was paid various sums over a two-week period, never exceeding $9,500 and totalling $19,500. On January 2, 1992, Rogers' aunt posted $3,000 bond and he was released. The evidence at trial showed a correlation between these various payments and activity at a safe deposit box used by King and a correlation between the events described and telephone calls made by King and other witnesses. 20 During the weeks that followed Rogers' release, Stephenson accompanied King two or three times when he delivered money to Rogers. During one visit, Rogers described to Stephenson how he had killed Jefferson. King then saw one of Jefferson's associates, Maurice Williams, standing outside the window. King said he wanted Williams killed as well, and Rogers offered some ideas on how he (Rogers) might be able to ambush Williams. 21