July 20, 1995 - Part 3
July 20, 1995 - Part 3
(11:45:46) Senator DODD. Now, let me very quickly ask you here and thenyou've used the words "seal," "secure," "lock," there may be others. These are terms of art in your business Ms. BRAUN. You are correct. Senator DODD. -isn't that correct? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator DODD. If someone says seal that scene, that crime scene, there are a certain amount of things you immediately think op. Ms. BRAUN. Right. Senator DODD. I suspect that goes to what Mr. Rolla was saying, that is, the tape around the area to protect whatever evidence and so forth. You, of course, are operating at this point preliminarily on the notion that this is probably a suicide; is that correct? Ms. BRAUN. Yes, sir. Senator DODD. So your reactions in terms of how you deal with these matters are different than if you had drawn a preliminary conclusion that this might have been a murder; correct? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator DODD. So sealing has one set of notions involved in it and securing has another, I presume, or is it the same as sealing? Ms. BRAUN. It's interchangeable. Hindsight is 20/20 and I've also, since I've become a supervisor, learned you have to ask a lot of questions and make sure people understand what your meaning is. If I had to do it again today, I would make sure that our meanings were the same. Senator DODD. But you used the word "lock" earlier. What you are really getting at here is Ms. BRAUN. I think I used the word "closed." Senator DODD. "Closed," "locked," what you are thinking about, I'm trying to get at that, Depending on what you are looking at, it's not-you're not-again, as Mr. Rolla said, this is more of a request, this is seeking cooperation? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. senator DODD. You are not trying to protect evidence here, necessarily in the sense you would be if this were a murder? Ms. BRAUN. That's correct, 178 Senator DODD. It's just merely seeking cooperation in a sense? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator DODD. So what you were really looking at here was that, the room be closed, that there not be a lot of traffic in it, that there not be a lot of people going in and out and disrupting things and so forth potentially Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator DODD. Isn't that what you are really getting at here? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. Senator DODD. Which is different than sealing, the notion-the" word "seal" has been used over and over and over again. What you. were driving at was something very different than sealing? Ms. BRAUN. Yes, I wanted to keep the office intact, the way it! was when Mr. Foster left it, and to keep people from rummaging through it. Senator DODD. I see my time has expired here. I don't know if I have time to give back to counsel at all. Was that my full time? The CHAIRMAN. Oh, yes. Senator DODD. Oh, I'm sorry. The CHAIRMAN. Senator Faircloth, I've asked could you yield 30 seconds to Senator Shelby? Senator SHELBY. How about 10, sir? The CHAIRMAN. About 10 seconds, and I'd ask for a minute, if you might. Senator FAIRCLOTH. Go right ahead. The CHAIRMAN. Thank you. Senator Shelby. Senator SHELBY. You were allowed in the office, not you, but the Park Police investigating team was allowed in Mr. Foster's office," but you were not allowed to look at anything; is that correct? Mr. HINES. That is correct. Senator SHELBY. That's correct. In other words, Mr. Nussbaum, in his infinite wisdom, controlled what was what in the office, what you could do? Mr. HINES. That is correct. Senator SHELBY. So this investigation, would you consider its tial part like a sham? Mr. HINES. Pardon me, sir? Senator SHELBY. Was it a sham of an investigation then? Mr. HINES. I wouldn't call it a sham, but I would say that we would have liked to 7 Senator SHELBY. Would you have called it an investigation? Mr. HINES. We would have liked to have looked at those docu- ments, at some of those documents ourselves. Senator SHELBY. It was totally an incomplete investigation, wasn't it? Mr. HINES. Yes, it was. Senator SHELBY. Thank you. Thank you for yielding, Senator. II The CHAIRMAN. If I might, Sergeant Braun, if you had been per- mitted access to the office, is it fair to say that you would looked through Mr. Foster's briefcase? 179 Ms. BRAUN. I would have probably started with Mr. Foster's desk, looking in the obvious place, on the top of the desk to see if there was a note or any information left there like his journal or his diary. The CHAIRMAN. After looking through that, after you found none, and you saw his briefcase-you would have noticed his briefcasewould you have looked in that? Is it fair to assume good investigative procedure would have dictated that you look into that briefcase? Ms. BRAUN. Yeah. Probably the procedure, though, that I would have used would have been in concert with Mr. Foster's secretary, who would know how he keeps his papers, where he keeps his papers, and I would have asked her for certain documents and where he kept them. If she handed me the briefcase to look in, I would have looked in the briefcase. The CHAIRMAN. If the briefcase was in the room next to the desk, would you have looked at it?