Deconstructing the "Clinton Body Count" - The Murder of Mary Mahoney

Another look at that right-wing's "Clinton Body Count" ... The murder of Democratic campaign worker and White House intern Mary Mahoney was pinned by many media "conservatives" on then President Clinton. Attractive (lesbian, a point the right-wing press failed to mention) intern, hormonal chief executive - he did it. Or did he? The assembled facts speak for themselves. Who would know more about these murders? RM Scaife, perhaps, the dedicated CIA black-propagandist who worked so hard to pin them on Clinton, who supposedly murdered scores of women to conceal his sexual predations. Eventually, rabidly pathological Carl Cooper confessed to the Mahoney murder and others. The running anti-Clinton commentary was superfluous, but that never deterred NewsMax (see below) in its bizarre mission to brand Clinton as a killer of young interns. - AC
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http://www.alamo-girl.com/03159.htm
DOWNSIDE LEGACY AT TWO DEGREES OF PRESIDENT CLINTON
SECTION: REMEMBERING THE DEAD

SUBSECTION: Mary C Mahoney
Revised 5/10/00

Clinton Body Count Coverage on the Web: 25, murdered at the Georgetown Starbuck's coffee bar over the 4th of July '97 weekend. She was a former White House intern who worked with John Huang. Apparently she knew Monica Lewinsky and her sexual encounters with Bill Clinton. Although not verified, it has been said that Lewinsky told Linda Tripp that she did not want to end up like Mahoney. - Gennifer Flowers website - Ether Zone Online

White House intern Died July 1997 - An attractive 25-year-old woman, Mahoney was a former White House intern for Bill Clinton working as the assistant manager at a Starbuck's Coffee shop in Georgetown. Gunmen entered the Starbuck's while the crew was cleaning up after closing. Mahoney's two associates, Aaron Goodrich, 18 and Emory Evans, 25, were taken to a room and shot. Mary herself had five bullets in her, from at least two different guns, most likely with silencers. A total of 10 shots were fired; none of them heard by neighbors in the densely populated Georgetown section. Mahoney was shot in the chest, her face, and in the back of the head. Even though more than $4,000 remained in the store, the police have categorized the triple murder as a robbery, even as they acknowledge the "execution style" killings. There was no sign of forced entry. One report said the cafe was still locked when the bodies were found the next morning. George Stephanopoulos, Monica Lewinsky and Chelsea Clinton were all regulars at the Starbuck's. WorldNetDaily – Western Journalism Center

Eric Butera An informant who came forward offering information regarding the murder of White House intern Mary Mahoney. He was then sent into a known crack house to make an undercover buy for the police and was beaten to death. WorldNetDaily – Western Journalism Center

[Rebuttal Former White House intern gunned down in a coffee shop. Nothing was taken. It was suspected that she was about to testify about sexual harassment at the White House. Former White House intern Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25, manager of a Georgetown Starbucks, was killed along with two co-workers (Emory Allen Evans, 25 and Aaron David Goodrich, 18) on 6 July 1997 during what police continue to investigate as a robbery of the shop. In March 1999 Carl Derek Havord Cooper (29) of Washington was arrested and charged with these murders. Yes, it is unusual that three employees were shot in the course of an alleged robbery, yet nothing was taken. However, no evidence has been uncovered to indicate that Mary Mahoney herself was the target of these killings. Perhaps the robber was scared away before he had a chance to grab the loot. Maybe one of Mary's co-workers was the real target. Why Cooper committed these killings is anybody's guess at this point, but there simply is no evidence that Mary was anything but a random victim of a violent crime. And, right away, we have come to the first big lie of the "Clinton Body Count" list: Any unexplained death can automatically be attributed to President Clinton by inventing a connection between him and the victim. Mary Mahoney did once work as an intern at the White House, but so have hundreds of other people who are all still alive. There is no credible reason why, of all the interns who have served in the Clinton White House, Ms. Mahoney alone would be the target of a Clinton-directed killing. (Contrary to public perception, very few interns work in the West Wing of the White House or have any contact with the President. The closest most interns get to the chief executive is a brief handshake or a group photo.) The putative reason offered for Mahoney's slaying -- that she was about to testify about sexual harrassment in the White House -- is a lie. This absurd justification apparently sprang from a hint dropped by Mike Isikoff of Newsweek just before the Monica Lewinsky scandal broke that a "former White House staffer" with the initial "M" was about to talk about her affair with Clinton. We all know now, of course, that the "staffer" referred to was Monica Lewinsky, not Mary Mahoney. The faithful will maintain, of course, that White House hit men rushed out, willy-nilly, and gunned down the first female ex-intern whose name began with "M" they could find. Urban Legends Reference Pages Barbara and David P. Mikkelson

Free Republic – Downside Legacy Coverage:

Mary Caity Mahoney interned for Doris Matsui. Doris Matsui was the White House official responsible for liaison with the Asian-American community, headed the Asian Pacific American Working Group (APAWG), which coordinated the activities of the White House, the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore re- election campaign with regard to Asian-Americans. APAWG, one of whose members was John Huang, came up with the plan to raise $7 million from Asian-Americans. Mary Mahoney was killed at a Starbucks. Eric Butera who was an informant in the case was beaten to death in a sting operation.

THE WASHINGTON TIMES 3/2/99 Leslie Koren and Jim Keary Freeper Plummz "…Police were questioning a man last night they believe was one of the shooters in the 1997 triple murder at the Georgetown Starbucks coffee shop, sources close to the investigation said. D.C. police, Prince George's police and the FBI arrested Carl Derrick Cooper, 29, as he returned to his home in the 1200 block of Gallatin Street NE on a warrant related to the 1996 robbery and shooting of an off-duty Prince George's County police of ficer in Avondale. Police were questioning Mr. Cooper last night at the FBI office in the 600 block of Fourth Street NW, seeking any information he might have regarding the Starbucks killings, the sources said. He had not been charged in those slayings…."

UPI 3/4/99 Freeper chuck allen "…WTOP radio is reporting that 29-year-old Carl Cooper has confessed (Thursday) to his role in the 1997 triple murder of three Starbucks coffee shop employees. Cooper _ arrested earlier this week for attempting to kill a police officer _ reportedly implicated two others in the crime, and police have begun executing search warrants for the suspects…."

AP 8/4/99 Derrill Holly "...A man accused of murdering three workers at a Starbucks coffee shop in the trendy Georgetown section of the nation's capital was charged Wednesday with a host of other crimes, including racketeering. Although the District of Columbia has no death penalty, prosecutors indicated they could seek it against Carl Derick Cooper under the federal racketeering charges. A federal grand jury returned a 48-count indictment against Cooper charging him with six armed robberies, the attempted murder of an off-duty police officer in Maryland, a bank robbery and a total of four murders. ``Today's indictment charges Mr. Cooper with leading a small but violent racketeering enterprise,'' said U.S. Attorney Wilma Lewis....."

Richard Gooding (of The Star) was not accurate with his (erroneous) reporting of Monica telling Linda Tripp that she did not want to end up like Mahoney - the testimony ultimately revealed that she said she didn't want to end up like Mary Joe Kopekne (of Kennedy fame). – Freeper Steven W.

http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/aug99/cooper5.htm ".....Cooper, who has been in custody since March in the Starbucks case, also is accused of killing a security guard in Northwest Washington in 1993 and attempting to kill an off-duty Prince George's County police officer in 1996. Like the July 1997 slayings of three employees at the coffee shop in Northwest Washington, the other violence took place during robberies, prosecutors said........The other killing cited in the indictment took place in May 1993 at an apartment building in the 1100 block of 11th Street NW. Sandy Griffin, a 39-year-old security officer, was on duty in the lobby when Cooper allegedly shot him. The indictment said that Cooper and "another known to the Grand Jury" took Griffin's pistol. …….Prince George's authorities earlier had linked Cooper to the August 1996 shooting of off-duty police officer Bruce Howard, who was accosted at a park in Hyattsville. Howard was shot in the lower back in a crime that the indictment blamed on Cooper and unnamed others. Charges were filed against Cooper in that case earlier this year in Prince George's County..."

8/4/99 United States Attorney Wilma Lewis "…..Chief Charles H. Ramsey of the Metropolitan Police Department announced today that a federal grand jury today returned a 48-count indictment against Carl Derick Cooper, of 1249 Gallatin Street, NW, charging him with leading a racketeering enterprise that, between 1993 and 1997, was responsible for six armed robberies, the attempted murder of an off-duty Prince George's County Police officer, a bank robbery and four murders, including the murder of the three employees at the upper Georgetown Starbucks Coffee shop in July 1997.

This indictment grew out of a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in to the July 6, 1997, triple murder at the Starbucks Coffee shop at 1810 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. On the morning of July 7, 1999, the day-shift manager arrived at the coffee shop and found the bodies of the three employees -- Emory Allen Evans, Aaron David Goodrich and Mary Caitrin Mahoney -- who had been on duty the night before. They were lying in rear of the office, and all three had been shot to death.

Detectives from the MPDC and special agents from the FBI teamed up to investigate the murders, and their attention ultimately focused on defendant Carl Cooper. The ensuing investigation revealed that defendant Cooper was allegedly responsible for other crimes in addition to the Starbucks murders.

Today's indictment charges Cooper with leading a small racketeering enterprise that was dedicated to enriching its members through robbery. According to the indictment, Cooper participated in eight separate racketeering acts -- robberies, attempted robberies, murders and attempted murders -- in Washington, DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania over the course of his membership in the enterprise. Each of these crimes is charged as a racketeering act under the racketeering statute and as a substantive violation of federal and/or District of Columbia criminal law.

Defendant Cooper is charged with participation in the following racketeering acts:

Racketeering Act One charges Cooper with the May 10, 1993, murder of Special Police Officer Sandy Griffin as he sat at his desk in the lobby of an apartment building at 1107 11th St., NW. According to the indictment, Cooper shot Mr. Griffin to death in the course of stealing his pistol.

Racketeering Act Two charges Cooper with the June 4, 1996, armed robbery of the Pizza Italia restaurant at 6511 New Hampshire Ave., in Takoma Park, Md. In that robbery, Cooper and two others are alleged to have entered the Pizza Italia restaurant wearing masks and gloves, and robbed the three employees as they were closing the business for the night.

Racketeering Act Three charges Cooper with the August 12, 1996, armed robbery of Christy Bennett and Bruce Howard, the off-duty Prince George's County Police officer, and the attempted murder of Officer Howard in the course of that robbery. That offense occurred in Avondale Park in Hyattsville, Md.

Racketeering Act Four charges Cooper with the September 8, 1996 armed robbery of the employees and patrons of the Velvet Touch Massage Parlor in Harrisburg, Pa.

Racketeering Act Five charges Cooper with the conspiring to commit the October 1, 1996, robbery of the Chevy Chase Bank, F.S.B., in Bethesda, Md. Although another member of the enterprise committed the actual robbery, Cooper is charged with assisting in the planning or the robbery.

Racketeering Act Six charges Cooper with the June 26, 1997, armed robbery of the Rollingcrest-Chillum Community Center. The indictment charges that Cooper walked into the community center by himself, pointed two handguns at the two employees in the office and forced them to fill a bag with approximately $5,000 in cash that he made off with.

Racketeering Act Seven charges Cooper with the July 6, 1997 attempted robbery and triple murder at the Starbucks Coffee Shop in upper Georgetown. Although he is charged with conspiring to rob the coffee shop with another person, he is the only person charged with actually carrying out the crime.

Racketeering Act Eight charges Cooper with conspiring and attempting to commit armed robberies at the Tire Town store in Beltsville, Md., and the Salon En Vogue hair salon in Hyattsville, Md. Cooper and his associates allegedly drove to those businesses with the intention of robbing them that day, but were unable to carry out their plans.

Under this federal indictment, defendant Cooper faces life imprisonment without parole if found guilty of the charges at trial. If convicted on any of the three counts charging him with murder in the course of using a firearm during a crime of violence -- which correspond to each of the three Starbucks murders -- defendant Cooper could face the death penalty. The defendant was to be arraigned on the indictment at 1:45 pm on August 5, 199, before the Honorable Alan Kay, United States Magistrate-Judge……."

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..Let's stop right here and have a more sober look. If this be a gang, where are the gang members? Not a single other person has, as yet, been named. Originally, they were telling us that the botched robbery was Cooper s distinguishing M.O., the big thing that the cop shooting and the Starbucks killing, as they have fashioned it, had in common. Now there s just the sort of man you want leading your gang. And the way Cooper let himself be maneuvered into implicating himself in the Starbucks caper doesn t remind one in the least of the shrewd and worldly Edmond, a man who managed to continue running his large drug operation for some time after he had been sent up the river…..I know it s impertinent to ask, but where is the evidence for this Cooper crime spree? We have been told nothing of any of it except some very unconvincing stuff on the Starbucks murders and the cop shooting. Is it possible that they are withholding that from us because it is even weaker than what we have been told they have on him in those two crimes. Is it possible for evidence to be weaker? The evidence against him in the 4 a.m. shooting of the off-duty policeman in a car with his girlfriend in Hyattsville, Md., in 1996, from what we have been able to gather, is that a pistol was found at the scene with fingerprints on it. Were they Cooper s? No. They belonged to someone else, whom the police were able to trace, and that man, who has not been named or charged with anything, implicated Cooper. Then this guy, who must approach Edmond in IQ, really tossed the cops a juicy bone (if the police can be believed on this; a big if) by telling them that the hapless Cooper had mentioned participating in the Starbucks killings. Yes, it s in the Washington Times of March 5, 1999. …… Just think about this for a minute. Of all the numerous crimes with which Cooper has been charged, we have been told of only one solid piece of tangible evidence, a gun with fingerprints on it, and those fingerprints don t belong to Cooper. Rather, the owner of those prints was somehow able to "implicate" Cooper and take the heat off himself, for a one-man robbery, at that. Maybe he s even smarter than Edmond. ......"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..The FBI? Wouldn t you know that they would find an excuse to get in on the act, although neither the police shooting nor the Starbucks killings violates a federal law. But the FBI is, indeed, very much into frame-ups. You can ask former Black Panther activist Geronimo Pratt in California or security guard Richard Jewell in Georgia about that……… ……"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "….. For its part, The Washington Post is less cautious about the implicated third man. Their front-page headline, below the fold, reads "Detained Man Names 2 Others in Starbucks Case." …….From this article we learn that police were still questioning Cooper 54 hours after he had been brought in for questioning, and he had still not been brought before any judicial officer of the county. "Under Maryland court rules," we are told, "police are required to present a defendant to a court commissioner without unnecessary delay and in no event later than 24 hours after arrest." ….."It's outrageous. I don t care what spin anybody puts on it. I can t think of a set of circumstances where somebody should be held 54 hours and not talk to a lawyer, said Stephen A. Friedman, legal director of the [Prince George s] county chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. It s going to become an issue in the case. The police know if he talks to a lawyer, the discussion will probably end, and they want to keep it going. People are under psychological coercion to cooperate." ……"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "……. [Cooper] told detectives he parked his car in the rear of the coffee shop and walked into the store about 9 p.m. while the employees were closing up the shop. He admitted to carrying a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver and a .380 semiautomatic handgun with him. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said the front door of the coffee shop was still unlocked when Mr. Cooper arrived and he walked in and pulled his guns. He made her [Miss Mahoney] lock the door, the source said. Mr. Cooper ordered Miss Mahoney to open the safe in the rear office of the store and, when she refused, he fired a shot into the ceiling from the .38 caliber revolver. Miss Mahoney ran from the office and Mr. Cooper caught her in the hallway and shot her with the .380 handgun and then stood over her and shot her in the face and upper body with both guns. An autopsy showed that Miss Mahoney was shot five times. Police say Mr. Cooper then turned toward Mr. Evans and Mr. Goodrich and shot them. Mr. Evans was still alive, so Mr. Cooper shot him twice in the head. When he [Mr. Evans] continued to move and moan, Cooper shot him twice more in the head to put him out of his pain, the affidavit said. …..

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..What can we possibly make of such a story? In the first place, we have to wonder, whether it be true or not, what on earth would have got into Cooper to tell it. After first holding out and dummying up, he then fingers Covington and perhaps someone else, and when that doesn t pan out, we are told that he starts singing like a canary...against himself. Was the man suddenly smitten with a death, or at least a life imprisonment, wish? If he was, it could hardly be greater than the death wish they first told us that Emory Evans had, and now Caity Mahoney……."Their money or your life," is what a menacing armed robber is, in effect, saying when he points a gun at you and tells you to open the company s safe. What unarmed person in his or her right mind would not in that situation respond, in effect, "I am at your service." Surely no one in the management of the Starbucks company would hold it against any employee responding in that way, and Caity Mahoney surely must have known it. I would not be surprised if they have circulated a policy statement to that effect, although it is hardly necessary. It is no more than common sense. No weekend s worth--even a holiday weekend s worth--of store receipts are worth a life, particularly when it s yours. So first they were trying to sell us on the idea that the black guy was nuts, and now they are asking us to swallow that the young female former White House intern was nuts and precipitated her own slaying and the slaying of her young colleagues.

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..Then there is the improbable story of the struggle for the keys to the safe. Didn t they tell us from day one that Mahoney would have been the one to open the safe because she was the only one who knew the combination? Now we are to believe that the safe is opened with Mahoney s keys. Finally, there is the matter of the murder weapons. There are lots of bullets for a thorough ballistics test, but, unfortunately, no guns. Not only does the putative Cooper confession tell a highly implausible tale of mayhem in Starbucks, but no one seems to know what happened to the guns. On April 27, 1999, The Washington Times reported that Cooper told police that he had promptly buried the guns on the grounds of a Catholic home for abused and abandoned children and pregnant teenagers in Hyattsville, Maryland, about two blocks from his Gallatin St. NE home in Washington, DC. In February of 1998, after losing a job, he went back to dig them up to use for more robberies, he said, but he could not find them. Prince George s and D.C. police said they searched several places on the property after Cooper s "confession" and were unable to find them, either…….. "Sgt. Gary Cunningham, a Prince George s County police spokesman, said detectives searched the mostly wooded area around St. Anns immediately after Mr. Cooper told police he had buried the guns on the site. " There were several places [Mr. Cooper] said [the guns] were, but they never found them, Sgt. Cunningham said. ……"Sgt. Cunningham said police did not notify St. Anns administrators because nothing was found on the property. ……"

Washington Post 10/21/99 Bill Miller ".....The D.C. police department and four of its officers were ordered yesterday to pay nearly $100 million in damages to a woman whose son was slain while working as an informant on the Starbucks triple slaying investigation, the largest jury verdict ever returned against the D.C. government. Terry Butera cried as the jury announced its decision, ending a two-week trial that exposed a host of police lapses...."

Washington Times, Metropolitan Section, Page C3 1/20/2000 Jim Keary "…. A lawyer for Carl D. Cooper, the accused killer of three Starbucks employees, argued that his client's confessions should be suppressed because they were coerced by police officers interrogating Mr. Cooper: ….. Mr. Kirsch said Mr. Cooper's statement to police should not be used as evidence in the trial against his client. The admissibility of the statements, which is the main evidence against Mr. Cooper, will be determined by U.S. District Court Judge Joyce Hens Green, who is still hearing arguments on the admissibility of other evidence prosecutors plan to use in the trial….."

Newsmax.com 1/23/2000 "…. "I swear on my father's grave and my son's life that I didn't do Starbucks," [Carl Derek] Cooper told the FBI shortly after he admitted his guilt to local police, according to courtroom testimony reported by the Washington Post last week. Now it emerges that Cooper told police several different stories about the Starbucks murders; once blaming an acquaintance for the killings, another time claiming he was merely a lookout. But after 54 hours of questioning, Cooper's lawyer says he buckled….. "

Newsmax.com 1/23/2000 "…. The motive in the Starbuck's massacre was supposedly robbery, though none of the $10,000 cash on hand was taken even after Mahoney and her two co-workers were felled by a fusillade of bullets. Casting further doubt on the robbery theory: five of the ten shots fired hit the former Clinton intern, including an execution bullet fired into the back of her head….. "

Newsmax.com 1/23/2000 "…. Author David M. Hoffman, who spent a year investigating Mahoney's murder, tells Globe Magazine's Tom Kuncl that the Starbucks massacre came just three days after Monica told Clinton she was going to tell her parents about their relationship. According to Monica Clinton reacted angrily, telling her, "It's a crime to threaten the President." Hoffman's claim is corroborated by the Starr Report…… Hoffman claims to have uncovered new details about Mary Mahoney's time at the White House, which, if true, suggest the White House alum could have played a key role in the Clinton sex scandal despite her own homosexuality: "For many months, Mary, an outspoken lesbian and good hearted den mother for other young White House interns, had been listening to tearful stories from them about alleged sexual passes made at them by Bill Clinton. She'd begun to tell others she planned to do something to help them." Also, reports Hoffman, "a blockbuster piece of gossip swirling through Washington (at the time of Mahoney's death) was based on a columnist's blind item that a former White House intern whose name began with the letter M was about to reveal news of a sexual relationship with Bill Clinton." …"

Washington Post 2/1/00 Bill Miller "….A federal judge ruled yesterday that prosecutors can use Carl Derek Cooper's many statements to police as evidence in his trial on racketeering and murder charges, including one in which he described killing three people at a Starbucks coffee shop in the District. The ruling by Senior U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green was a major victory for prosecutors, who have little physical evidence to link Cooper to the July 1997 slayings in Northwest Washington. It came despite vigorous protests from Cooper's attorneys, who contended that he was pressured to talk last year in four days of interrogation. ……….."

Washington Post 2/4/00 Bill Miller "….A former narcotics expert for the D.C. police department, who testified as a government witness in thousands of criminal cases, has been charged with perjury following the discovery that he had misrepresented his credentials. Johnny St. Valentine Brown Jr. was a fixture in the courts, helping prosecutors win convictions with his easy-to-understand tutorials about the drug trade. But his police career ended abruptly last summer when a lawyer on a civil case checked Brown's background and questioned key claims made by the detective in court and on his resume. Brown had told juries that he had a degree in pharmacology from Howard University and that he was a board-certified pharmacist in the District. Both claims suggested he had a special knowledge about the chemical makeup and workings of drugs. As it turned out, he had no such degree or certification from any institution, prosecutors said. .….. Brown's troubles began last summer when attorney Peter C. Grenier quizzed him at a deposition and did some follow-up digging. Grenier represented Terry Butera, the mother of Eric Butera, a D.C. police informant who was slain in December 1997 while trying to help homicide detectives solve a triple killing at a Starbucks coffee shop. Brown was to be the District's expert witness, but Grenier doubted his claims about a pharmacology degree and made calls to Howard University. That led to Brown's removal from the case. ..."

Freeper Lee 2/8/00 "…… At 1pm today I called the Federal Public Defender's Office in Washington, D.C. and asked if the court assigned Mr. Carter or if the FPD's Office assigned him. They did not know but asked me the name of the other lawyer. When I informed them that Mr. Kiersch was originally assigned as counsel to Cooper they informed me that Mr. Kiersch was a bench lawyer that they assigned to the Cooper case and they gave me Mr. Kiersch's telephone number……….. I talked to Mr. Kiersch and told him I was doing a story on the Starbuck case and he received me well. I then asked him how Mr. Carter came to be assigned co-counsel and he informed me that Mr. Carter was court appointed. I pushed the point and asked Mr. Kiersch if the Judge or the Federal Public Defender assigned Mr. Carter to the case. Mr. Kiersch clammed up and said that he could only say that Mr. Carter was court appointed and would say no more.

So some of the answers are:
1. We the People are paying for Mr. Carter.
2. It is not Pro Bono.
3. Mr. Carter was not assigned randomly - he was assigned by the court.

It is highly unusual for the court to assign 2 different attorneys to defend someone. So the next question is - WHY? I think I already know what the cover story will be: Because it is a death penalty case, in a abundance of caution, the court appointed the best counsel available……. I will be at the courthouse next week to pull the U.S. v. Cooper file and report what I find. ……"

Washington Times 2/9/00 "….The death penalty was once declared unconstitutional because it was held to be "cruel and unusual." That description is certainly debatable - indeed, it was subsequently rejected by the Supreme Court when capital punishment was reinstated more than 20 years ago. But the decision by Attorney General Janet Reno to seek the death penalty in the case of Carl Derek Cooper - the gunman charged with a triple killing at a Georgetown Starbucks coffee shop on July 6, 1997 - could certainly be described as "arbitrary and capricious." Though murders are committed in the District almost every day, many of them equally brutal, the last person executed for capital murder was Robert E. Carter - in 1957. While the Starbucks murders certainly merit the ultimate sanction against the perpetrator of those crimes, surely it's unequal justice that other killers, guilty of similar or worse offenses, face at most life in prison - often with the possibility of parole after 20 years. Those who believe in the death penalty - and there are strong arguments in favor of it - ought to be concerned about this uneven application of justice…… The disconnect between sanctions for essentially the same crime, all dependent upon whether one is charged under federal or state law, is dangerous because to any fair-minded person it does indeed seem arbitrary, capricious - even cruel and unusual, for that matter. Cold-blooded murder is cold-blooded murder - no matter how the legal system might parse it…… If proved guilty, Carl Derek Cooper deserves to die. But so do others who are found guilty of similar crimes. That is the lesson - and the warning - to be gleaned from this horrible episode….."

Washington Post 2/10/00 Bill Miller "…Attorney General Janet Reno overruled U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis by deciding to seek the death penalty against Carl Derek Cooper in the Starbucks slaying case, marking one of the relatively few times she has opted to push for capital punishment against the wishes of the local federal prosecutor's office. ……. Two law enforcement sources, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said the consensus at the U.S. attorney's office was that the Starbucks case did not have such a compelling federal interest that it called for the ultimate sanction of death. ……. " ….. CORRECTIONS 2/9/00 A02 "….An article yesterday about Attorney General Janet Reno's authorization for prosecutors to seek the death penalty in the Starbucks coffee shop murder case here incorrectly reported how many times she has given that authorization. Reno has reviewed 498 capital cases over the past seven years and authorized prosecutors to seek the death penalty in 141 cases, including the case of Carl Derek Cooper, the suspect in the Starbucks slayings. …."

Washington Post 2/10/00 Bill Miller "…..Attorney General Janet Reno overruled U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis by deciding to seek the death penalty against Carl Derek Cooper in the Starbucks slaying case, marking one of the relatively few times she has opted to push for capital punishment against the wishes of the local federal prosecutor's office……. Phillips and eight other senior attorneys joined Lewis on Jan. 20 for a formal review of the Starbucks case with Cooper's attorneys, Steven R. Kiersh and Francis D. Carter. Justice Department protocol called for Lewis then to make a recommendation to Reno. Four days after their meeting at the U.S. attorney's office, the defense lawyers met with a special Justice Department committee that screens potential death penalty cases for Reno. That panel also submitted a recommendation to Reno, which was not made public. She then decided prosecutors should seek execution. It is unclear what role Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. played in the deliberations. Holder, Lewis's predecessor as U.S. attorney in the District, did not return a call seeking comment. ….."

http://www.arkansas-online.com/prev/Clinton/zamonica29.html "….In addition, the Baltimore Sun reported that Starr has opened a third front in his legal battle with Clinton, with the grand jury sitting in Alexandria, Va., issuing a subpoena for records of Washington lawyer Francis D. Carter, whom Jordan recruited to represent Lewinsky. Carter filled that role only briefly, but he was representing the former intern when she denied having had an affair with Clinton….."

Washington Post 2/11/00 Bill Miller "…..Deputy Attorney General Eric H. Holder Jr. confirmed yesterday that his office was involved in the Justice Department's decision to seek the death penalty against Carl Derek Cooper in the Starbucks slaying case. But he would not disclose the reasons U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis's recommendation against seeking execution was overruled. "I will say that the deputy attorney general's office was involved, but I really wouldn't want to comment on what my role, if any, was in that matter," Holder told reporters during a weekly news briefing at the Justice Department yesterday. Sources familiar with the Cooper deliberations said Holder was among those supporting Attorney General Janet Reno's decision to seek the federal death penalty. Reno had the final say on the issue and acted Monday after receiving recommendations from Lewis and a Justice Department screening committee as well as input from Holder and other officials. ……"

Washington Post 2/11/00 Bill Miller "…..In 1995, Reno persuaded Holder to seek the federal death penalty against Donzell McCauley in the killing of a D.C. police officer. Holder ultimately accepted a plea bargain with McCauley that resulted in a life prison sentence with no chance of parole. At the time of the plea, Holder explained that a death penalty trial could divide the city and said that the District's long-standing opposition to the death penalty gave prosecutors reason to worry that a jury might not go along with a death sentence. …."

David Martin Web Site 2/14/00 "……But there is one more actual surveillance camera that might be important to the case. It is on the back of Fillmore School across 34th Street several hundred feet behind the Wisconsin Avenue Starbucks. It's purpose is to protect the parking area behind the school, but it stares right at the back of Starbucks in the distance. Was it installed and working at the time of the killings? If so, did anyone from the police or the press ask what it might have shown? ….."

Washington Post 2/15/00 Bill Miller "…..Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein, who as lead prosecutor drafted the court document submitted yesterday, wrote that Cooper killed the Starbucks employees as part of his long-standing effort to eliminate people who might testify against him. According to Wainstein, Cooper threatened to kill two accomplices and three other people he thought might testify against him, including an inmate at the D.C. jail who had been asking him questions about the Starbucks case. Cooper "suspected that inmate of being an informant for police," Wainstein wrote. Cooper also allegedly sent word to a man he suspected of aiding police that he or "his people" would retaliate, he said……"

NewsMax 2/16/00 Carl Limbacher "…..The lawyer representing the accused killer of former White House intern Mary Caity Mahoney played a key role in the Monica Lewinsky case, NewsMax.com has learned. The case of Carl Derek Cooper, who was indicted last March in the July 1997 gangland-style slaying of Mahoney and two co-workers as they closed up a Washington, DC Starbucks coffee shop, has been assigned to Washington attorney Francis D. Carter. A receptionist in Carter's office confirmed to NewsMax.com that Francis D. Carter is indeed Frank Carter, who became famous in January 1998 as Monica Lewinsky's first lawyer. Carter is Cooper's co-counsel in the Starbucks case, along with DC area lawyer Steven Kiersch…."

NewsMax 2/16/00 Carl Limbacher "….. In December 1997 White House fixer Vernon Jordan enlisted Carter to help Lewinsky respond to a subpoena in Paula Jones case. Jordan had personally cleared Carter with the President, according to Michael Isikoff's book, Uncovering Clinton: "Jordan told Clinton about Lewinsky's subpoena and promised to get a lawyer. He mentioned the name Francis Carter. 'You think he's a good lawyer?' Clinton asked. Jordan assured him Carter was." Jordan personally escorted Lewinsky to Carter's office to work out the wording of an affidavit in which she denied a sexual relationship with Clinton......Three years before Lewinsky's name became a household word, Mary Caity Mahoney worked as an intern in the Clinton White House. Reportedly, several of her colleagues confided in her about incidents of sexual harassment by the President, a situation which she had vowed to remedy...."

NewsMax 2/16/00 Carl Limbacher "…..Just days before the Starbucks killings, Lewinsky informed Clinton that she was going to tell her parents about their relationship. "It's a crime to threaten the President," Clinton angrily responded, according to the Starr Report……… the more famous of the two Clinton interns did make repeated references to fears she might be killed in conversations recorded by Sexgate whistleblower Linda Tripp. "I would not cross these people for fear of my life," Lewinsky told Tripp in December 1997, explaining why she could not tell laywers for Paula Jones the truth about her relationship with the President. Just days after she made that statement Lewinsky was referred to Vernon Jordan, who then sought out Mr. Carter...."

NewsMax 2/16/00 Carl Limbacher "…..Last week Attorney General Janet Reno took the extraordinary step of seeking the death penalty for Cooper, even though Washington, DC currently has no capital punishment statute on its books. The last execution in the District took place in 1957. In doing so Reno overuled local US Attorney Wilma Lewis, making the Starbucks massacre one of the few cases in which Reno has pushed for capital punishment over the objections of a local federal prosecutor…….. The case against Cooper is believed to be weak, resting primarily on a confession that was obtained by police after 54 hours of interrogation, which he recanted shortly thereafter. Prosecutors are expected to argue that Cooper's motive in the Starbucks killing was robbery, yet Mahoney was shot execution style with the key to the safe in her hand. The safe reportedly held $10,000 -- none of which was taken……"

NewsMax 2/16/00 Carl Limbacher "…..Another legal link between Monicagate and the Starbucks massacre emerged last week, when DC criminal defense lawyer William Martin spoke out in support of Reno's decision to seek Cooper's execution. Martin also has Monicagate ties -- as the lawyer for Lewinsky's mother, Marcia Lewis, who was under investigation by the OIC in 1998. Martin told The Washington Post that he didn't think jurors would be affected by Reno's decsion to treat the Starbucks murders as a capital case……"

Washington Post 2/15/00 Bill Miller "…..Carl Derek Cooper, the suspect in the Starbucks triple slaying, threatened to kill five people he viewed as potential witnesses against him as well as the two chief investigators on the case, according to federal prosecutors who outlined a host of new reasons for seeking the death penalty against him. In a 35-page document filed in U.S. District Court yesterday, prosecutors provided the most comprehensive explanation yet of the Justice Department's controversial decision to seek capital punishment. They said Cooper's criminal activities reached well beyond the sweeping allegations contained in a 48-count indictment against him last summer, and included numerous uncharged robberies, shootings and threats. Prosecutors said that Cooper's long history of violence shows he would remain dangerous even in prison, and that his "consistent lack of remorse" shows he has a low potential for rehabilitation. ……. D.C. police and the FBI kept Cooper under surveillance for months before his arrest, taping hours of his telephone conversations. According to yesterday's court papers, one tape--made the day before his March 1, 1999, arrest--caught Cooper discussing a desire to kill James Trainum, a D.C. homicide detective. Cooper allegedly said he could kill Trainum's family, wait for the detective to arrive home, and then, "Hey honey, I'm home . . . pow, pow, pow." Prosecutors said Cooper also discussed killing the lead FBI agent on the investigation, Brad Garrett. ……."

Freeper Burkeman1 summary 2/18/00 "…… Recently the initial lawyer for Monica Lewinsky, one Francis Carter, was assigned to be counsel to Carl Derek Cooper, who has been charged with the Starbucks killings. Lee- a freeper has took it upon himself to invesitgate the circumstances under which Mr. Carter came to be the attorney for Cooper. In an unusual move Janet Reno is seeking the Death Penalty for Cooper. No one in DC has been executed since 1957. He has authorized me to post the above findings to date. We look forward to his further reports……….

…..Further- we should take caution here. So far we have a strange triple murder of whom one of the victims was a former White House intern. Carter's connections to Jordan, Monica, and the WHite House are of interest and a legitimate news story. Not because they point to De Facto evidence of some sort of conspiracy on the part of the WHite House but because it is a high profile case in the DC area with connections to the White House. We should keep in mind other possibilities. Perhaps Carter's appointment was politically motivated and comes from either Justice or the WHite House. Perhaps the reason could be altruistic, to ensure that he recieves a fair trial. Perhaps there is no connection at all. Or perhaps the WHite House, in a fury that one of their own was so viciously murdered wants to ensure a death penalty. I am merely trying to point out that the information above could mean many things and we should attempt to avoid speculation in only one direction and force ourselves to see alternatives- in direct confrontation from our preconceived notions. That being said- The coincedences are very interesting indeed! ….."

Freeper Burkeman1 summary 2/18/00 "…… ……The corruption of the DC police is a widely known but little discussed fact. Several years ago a DC cop was caught on television gunning down a crazed homeless man with a knife taped to his hand, in broad daylight, in front of the White House. The Homeless man (white by the way) did not have a hostage, was surrounded by cops, and was merely waiving his arms about and ranting when he was shot. The officer in question (black by the way) was thirty paces away when he fired. There was little public outrage and the Cop suffered little in way of repurcusions. ……… The DC police force is overwhelmingly African American. Think that had anything to do with the lack of public outcry? In fact, on more than one occasion the DC police force has been caugt on tape delivering beatings to suspects that make the Rodney King beating video look like love taps. but since it is Black cops beating the hell out of black suspects little is said by the media. Certainly- Janet Reno won't start an investigation of the DC police force for "civil rights" violations like she has in New York. ……"

The New York Times 2/20/00 John Files "….. Federal prosecutors are pressing for the death penalty against a man charged with murdering three employees at a Starbucks coffee shop here in July 1997, clearing the way for the city's first death penalty case in nearly 30 years. In an outline issued this week, the prosecutors said they wanted to press a capital charge because the defendant has a history of violent crime. They said he shows no remorse and poses a continuing threat. Carl D. Cooper, 30, has been charged with the three killings in the affluent Georgetown section of the city. The bodies of Emory Allen Evans, 25; Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 24; and Aaron David Goodrich, 18, were found by another Starbucks employee……. Attorney General Janet Reno decided to seek the death penalty for Mr. Cooper with advice from Wilma A. Lewis, the United States attorney for the District of Columbia. A death penalty review panel at the Justice Department concurred. ……"

The New York Times 2/20/00 John Files "….. The case moved to federal court in August with a 48-count indictment against Mr. Cooper, charging him with crimes from 1993 to 1997. His trial is to start on May 2 in United States District Court in Washington. The last person executed in the city was Robert E. Carter, 28, an unemployed laborer electrocuted on April 27, 1957, for killing an unarmed, off-duty police officer. The last trial in a capital case was in 1972. The city repealed the death penalty in 1980. Residents voted overwhelmingly in the 1992 election to reject a provision that would have reinstated the death sentence….."

The New York Times 2/20/00 John Files "…..Eleanor Holmes Norton, the city's delegate to Congress, wrote to Ms. Lewis: "The Cooper case is essentially a local homicide matter with federal charges tacked on. If the District had a local prosecutor, she could not ask for the death penalty. The application of the harshest and most controversial penalty in our law should not depend on whether the U.S. attorney or a locally chosen prosecutor litigates the case. Where the local jurisdiction of taxpaying citizens is deprived of a local prosecutor, the U.S. attorney has a special obligation to respect local law." Ms. Norton said in an interview that "serious equal protection questions are raised" when a high-profile case is chosen for the death penalty. She said it was disturbing that with about 300 homicides in the city in a year, most of them in poor neighborhoods, federal officials chose to elevate a case from the "most glamorous part of Washington." ….."

Freeper longshadow 2/22/00 "…..According to yesterday's court papers, one tape--made the day before his March 1, 1999, arrest--caught Cooper discussing a desire to kill James Trainum, a D.C. homicide detective. Cooper allegedly said he could kill Trainum's family, wait for the detective to arrive home, and then, "Hey honey, I'm home . . . pow, pow, pow." Prosecutors said Cooper also discussed killing the lead FBI agent on the investigation, Brad Garrett. Question: how is it that this street scum criminal is familiar BY NAME with the lead DC and FBI investigators on the Starbuck's case? Have you ever heard of any other punk criminal that bothered to learn the names of the lead investigators assigned to investigate one of their crimes? Very hard to believe, or else Cooper isn't what they've made him out to be.... "

Freeper longshadow 2/22/00 "…..Let's see if we've got this straight.... Cooper ran a small-time robbery ring, and committed "at least six armed robberies" that "were part of a pattern". Ok so far, until we read: ……. Assistant U.S. Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein, who as lead prosecutor drafted the court document submitted yesterday, wrote that Cooper killed the Starbucks employees as part of his long-standing effort to eliminate people who might testify against him. …… So if Cooper killed potential witnesses as part of a "long-standing effort to eliminate people who might testify against him", where, pray tell, are the dead bodies from all of his other armed robberies (at least six, we're told) where he killed the victims to prevent them form testifying? The absence of such victims (or at least the absence of a report of them) stretches credulity to the limit. Also, if the armed robberies were part of a "pattern", why is he described as the head of an armed robbery "ring" if he does his robberies "solo"? It would seem from the information in this article that the "solo" Starbucks robbery doesn't fit the MO of Cooper as a head of an "small robbery ring", nor does the murder of the victims appear to fit the real pattern of Coopers six armed robberies, as there is no mention of murder victims from his other robberies. There is something truly bizarre going on in this case, if the news reports are at all accurate. ….."

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….My trip to the U.S. Courthouse in Washington, D.C. concerning the Starbucks murders was quite reveling. The first step in my search for information was to conduct a computer search for U.S. v. Cooper. I could not find the case in the database so I asked one of the clerks who told me he has not heard of the case.zz I then called Mr. Kiersh (Cooper's co-counsel) who gave me the case number, 99CR266. I returned to the clerk's office and requested the Cooper file by citing the case number. The clerk found it and handed it to me in 2 volumes. The clerk also informed me that there was quite a lot of sealed information in addition to the case files he gave me. It was apparent from the condition of the Cooper files that not many, if any, have reviewed the files. This seemed strange to me because of the press coverage so I asked the clerk how many times had the Cooper files been check out for review. He told me I was the first he has given it too. …."

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….Please note that there other clerks in the criminal section of the Clerk of the Court. Another clerk might have provided the file for review but compared to other files in the clerks office, it appeared that the Cooper file received little or no review. This is really strange being that ABC, CBS, NBC, FOX, WNBC, WJLA, WTTG, Washington Post, Washington Times, New York Times, just to name a few, have broadcast or written news articles about the Cooper case. Of interest to me were the charges filed against Cooper. Cooper was charged in a 48 count indictment with:

Participation in Racketeering (Federal)
Racketeering Conspiracy (Federal)
First Degree Murder while Armed (Washington DC)
First Degree Murder Felony while Armed (Washington DC)
Interference with Commerce by Threat or Violence (Federal)
Use of a Firearm during a Crime of Violence (Federal)
Carrying a Pistol Without a License (Washington DC)
Unlawful Possession of a Firearm by a Convicted Felon (Federal)
Armed Robbery (Washington DC)
Violent Crime in Aid of Racketeering (Federal)
Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence (Federal)
Carrying a Pistol Without a License (Washington DC)
Conspiracy to Defraud the United States (Federal)
Bank Robbery by Force or Violence (Federal)
Robbery of Property or Money greater than $100.00 (Federal)
Receipt of Money Stolen From a Bank greater than $100.00 (Federal)
Conspiracy to Interfere with Commerce by Robbery (Federal)
Attempted Interference with Commerce by Robbery (Federal)
Second Degree Burglary While Armed (Washington DC)
Attempted Robbery (Washington DC)
Murder in the Course of Using a Firearm During a Crime (Federal)
Use of a Firearm During a Crime of Violence (Washington DC)

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….Please note that most of these charges carrying more than one count. Irregardless the guilt of Cooper, the above charges should give us pause. In days past jurisdiction of a criminal act was a matter of law and not manufactured. In the Cooper case it appears that the U.S. Government manufactured the charges to gain jurisdiction. What was Cooper really charged with? It appears from the court records that Cooper aided and abetted in some robberies in Maryland, Pennsylvania, and Washington DC. In addition he shot a Maryland policeman while the policeman was having elicit sex in the backseat of a car. …."

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….Court records do not indicate that any of these actions were related nor is there an indication that any of these actions were planned in any intentional way. So how did they make a federal case out of this? Simple, they charged Cooper with Racketeering - a federal crime. But Racketeering presupposes a plan, a pattern, a conspiracy and, an action by more than one person. Who did Cooper conspire with? Other than being a petty criminal, what was the pattern of this racket? Where are the indictments of the other Racketeers? You get the point….."

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….The Feds can charge Cooper with bank robbery and possession of a firearm by a felon but, invoking the commerce clause of the Constitution is a bit much for a petty criminal even if this petty criminal is facing murder charges. In this case, the most casual observer could rightfully conclude that the manufacturing of the jurisdiction is outside the bounds of any legal authority and is meant to foster political gain or governmental cover-up. It seems that Americans forget that the reason we lay upon the prosecutors of this country supreme authority without accountability is so they will "do justice". …"

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….On August 5, 1999 Steven Kiersh made his appearance as Cooper's Attorney which was the same day as the arraignment. On September 8, 1999 at a status hearing Judge Joyce H. Green noted that the Cooper case was complex and on that day Francis D. Carter appeared as Cooper's co-counsel. In reviewing the court records and the docket it appears to me that much has been done since Carter was assigned. I do not know the quality of Carter's work but the quantity is obvious. It appears that Carter made a motion for the government to supply Cooper with the results of 23 separate investigations of other people they conducted concerning the Starbucks murders. Most of this is under seal but in the motion Carter did question the veracity of the governments position that the 23 separate investigations into the Starbucks murders had nothing to do with Cooper. Cooper's defense attorneys also filed a motion to dismiss the RICO charges which was denied. In addition they filed motions to suppress which were also denied. These are just a few of the motions filed so far by the defense that are part of the 16 page docket statement. …."

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….I did not glean from my research whether Carter is just window dressing to thwart the possibility of winning an appeal or the real thing. Time will tell but, given the way the government has done business so far, an eye needs to be kept on Carter. Carter is being paid $125.00 per hour plus expenses and so far has charged around $5,000.00. I could only get 20 pages of the record copied because of policy in the court. I did order the coping of the entire second volume (at considerable expense). This copy will be mailed to me in a week or so and I can then review in detail its contents. If the group is still interested I will report back my findings. It is quite obvious that the press is not in the least doing its job in this case. They did not view the files - they just became a parrot for the government. Their "so called" investigative efforts are now under subpoena by the defense....all of it....news papers and TV, both national and local.

Freeper Lee 2/22/00 "….I give the subpoena's little chance as the press is in bed with the government and they have thrown off the covers of justice. To show their ineptitude, by not reading the Cooper file they missed Cooper's Written Statement Regarding the Shooting of Officer Howard which is on page 16 of Judge Green's Memorandum Opinion and Order, dated February 1, 2000 - which states"

"On March 2, 1999, commencing at approximately 4:40 p.m., Cooper wrote a statement detailing the following account. On a date he does not remember, between midnight and 4:00a.m., he was walking home after being dropped off by a person he refused to name. As he was walking through the woods, he noticed a parked car containing a man and woman having sexual relations. He walked up to the car to be "nosey" and noticed a wallet in the back pocket of the man who was laying on the front seat with his pants down. As Cooper approached the vehicle, the woman in the car saw him and screamed. The man rolled off the woman and yelled at Cooper to take the money but not to hurt them. Cooper pulled out his gun, a 9 millimeter his wife purchased for him. The man "started going crazy" and Cooper responded that he wasn't going to hurt anybody and he just wanted the money. The man was "sooooo panicky" that Cooper started getting nervous and almost left the scene. The man finally agreed to give Cooper the money and reached down into his pants (which were still around his ankles). As Cooper leaned into the car, the man punched him in the face. The man was able to "turn the gun around" and took a shot at Cooper while the gun was still in Cooper's hand. The bullet missed Cooper but shot a hole through the car window. Cooper regained control of the gun and let the woman out of the car. When the woman got out of the car, the man "jumped across the seat: and started "beating the s___ out of me [Cooper] and trys [sic] to take the gun."

There was some wrestling and the gun went off and the man fell to the ground yelling that he had been shot. Cooper was afraid but knew the guy was all right because he was able to talk and evaluate the situation. Cooper had another gun, a .32 caliber pistol that he purchased on the street for $30 approximately five months earlier. The gun fell out of his pocket when he was wrestling with the man in the car. Cooper ran home after the man was shot. He did not call911 because there were police cars swarming all around. He did not learn until the next day the man in the car was a police officer who had called for pack up assistance." That could have been a feature in just about any newspaper. Just think of the headlines: Cop shot while trying to shoot. Back seat adventure by police results in shooting. Fellow Officers respond to back up a policeman with his pants down…. "



http://www.washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/aug99/cooper5.htm ".....Cooper, who has been in custody since March in the Starbucks case, also is accused of killing a security guard in Northwest Washington in 1993 and attempting to kill an off-duty Prince George's County police officer in 1996. Like the July 1997 slayings of three employees at the coffee shop in Northwest Washington, the other violence took place during robberies, prosecutors said........The other killing cited in the indictment took place in May 1993 at an apartment building in the 1100 block of 11th Street NW. Sandy Griffin, a 39-year-old security officer, was on duty in the lobby when Cooper allegedly shot him. The indictment said that Cooper and "another known to the Grand Jury" took Griffin's pistol. …….Prince George's authorities earlier had linked Cooper to the August 1996 shooting of off-duty police officer Bruce Howard, who was accosted at a park in Hyattsville. Howard was shot in the lower back in a crime that the indictment blamed on Cooper and unnamed others. Charges were filed against Cooper in that case earlier this year in Prince George's County..."

8/4/99 United States Attorney Wilma Lewis "…..Chief Charles H. Ramsey of the Metropolitan Police Department announced today that a federal grand jury today returned a 48-count indictment against Carl Derick Cooper, of 1249 Gallatin Street, NW, charging him with leading a racketeering enterprise that, between 1993 and 1997, was responsible for six armed robberies, the attempted murder of an off-duty Prince George's County Police officer, a bank robbery and four murders, including the murder of the three employees at the upper Georgetown Starbucks Coffee shop in July 1997.

This indictment grew out of a joint investigation by the Metropolitan Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation in to the July 6, 1997, triple murder at the Starbucks Coffee shop at 1810 Wisconsin Avenue, NW. On the morning of July 7, 1999, the day-shift manager arrived at the coffee shop and found the bodies of the three employees -- Emory Allen Evans, Aaron David Goodrich and Mary Caitrin Mahoney -- who had been on duty the night before. They were lying in rear of the office, and all three had been shot to death.

Detectives from the MPDC and special agents from the FBI teamed up to investigate the murders, and their attention ultimately focused on defendant Carl Cooper. The ensuing investigation revealed that defendant Cooper was allegedly responsible for other crimes in addition to the Starbucks murders.

Today's indictment charges Cooper with leading a small racketeering enterprise that was dedicated to enriching its members through robbery. According to the indictment, Cooper participated in eight separate racketeering acts -- robberies, attempted robberies, murders and attempted murders -- in Washington, DC, Maryland and Pennsylvania over the course of his membership in the enterprise. Each of these crimes is charged as a racketeering act under the racketeering statute and as a substantive violation of federal and/or District of Columbia criminal law.

Defendant Cooper is charged with participation in the following racketeering acts:

Racketeering Act One charges Cooper with the May 10, 1993, murder of Special Police Officer Sandy Griffin as he sat at his desk in the lobby of an apartment building at 1107 11th St., NW. According to the indictment, Cooper shot Mr. Griffin to death in the course of stealing his pistol.

Racketeering Act Two charges Cooper with the June 4, 1996, armed robbery of the Pizza Italia restaurant at 6511 New Hampshire Ave., in Takoma Park, Md. In that robbery, Cooper and two others are alleged to have entered the Pizza Italia restaurant wearing masks and gloves, and robbed the three employees as they were closing the business for the night.

Racketeering Act Three charges Cooper with the August 12, 1996, armed robbery of Christy Bennett and Bruce Howard, the off-duty Prince George's County Police officer, and the attempted murder of Officer Howard in the course of that robbery. That offense occurred in Avondale Park in Hyattsville, Md.

Racketeering Act Four charges Cooper with the September 8, 1996 armed robbery of the employees and patrons of the Velvet Touch Massage Parlor in Harrisburg, Pa.

Racketeering Act Five charges Cooper with the conspiring to commit the October 1, 1996, robbery of the Chevy Chase Bank, F.S.B., in Bethesda, Md. Although another member of the enterprise committed the actual robbery, Cooper is charged with assisting in the planning or the robbery.

Racketeering Act Six charges Cooper with the June 26, 1997, armed robbery of the Rollingcrest-Chillum Community Center. The indictment charges that Cooper walked into the community center by himself, pointed two handguns at the two employees in the office and forced them to fill a bag with approximately $5,000 in cash that he made off with.

Racketeering Act Seven charges Cooper with the July 6, 1997 attempted robbery and triple murder at the Starbucks Coffee Shop in upper Georgetown. Although he is charged with conspiring to rob the coffee shop with another person, he is the only person charged with actually carrying out the crime.

Racketeering Act Eight charges Cooper with conspiring and attempting to commit armed robberies at the Tire Town store in Beltsville, Md., and the Salon En Vogue hair salon in Hyattsville, Md. Cooper and his associates allegedly drove to those businesses with the intention of robbing them that day, but were unable to carry out their plans.

Under this federal indictment, defendant Cooper faces life imprisonment without parole if found guilty of the charges at trial. If convicted on any of the three counts charging him with murder in the course of using a firearm during a crime of violence -- which correspond to each of the three Starbucks murders -- defendant Cooper could face the death penalty. The defendant was to be arraigned on the indictment at 1:45 pm on August 5, 199, before the Honorable Alan Kay, United States Magistrate-Judge……."

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..Let's stop right here and have a more sober look. If this be a gang, where are the gang members? Not a single other person has, as yet, been named. Originally, they were telling us that the botched robbery was Cooper s distinguishing M.O., the big thing that the cop shooting and the Starbucks killing, as they have fashioned it, had in common. Now there s just the sort of man you want leading your gang. And the way Cooper let himself be maneuvered into implicating himself in the Starbucks caper doesn t remind one in the least of the shrewd and worldly Edmond, a man who managed to continue running his large drug operation for some time after he had been sent up the river…..I know it s impertinent to ask, but where is the evidence for this Cooper crime spree? We have been told nothing of any of it except some very unconvincing stuff on the Starbucks murders and the cop shooting. Is it possible that they are withholding that from us because it is even weaker than what we have been told they have on him in those two crimes. Is it possible for evidence to be weaker? The evidence against him in the 4 a.m. shooting of the off-duty policeman in a car with his girlfriend in Hyattsville, Md., in 1996, from what we have been able to gather, is that a pistol was found at the scene with fingerprints on it. Were they Cooper s? No. They belonged to someone else, whom the police were able to trace, and that man, who has not been named or charged with anything, implicated Cooper. Then this guy, who must approach Edmond in IQ, really tossed the cops a juicy bone (if the police can be believed on this; a big if) by telling them that the hapless Cooper had mentioned participating in the Starbucks killings. Yes, it s in the Washington Times of March 5, 1999. …… Just think about this for a minute. Of all the numerous crimes with which Cooper has been charged, we have been told of only one solid piece of tangible evidence, a gun with fingerprints on it, and those fingerprints don t belong to Cooper. Rather, the owner of those prints was somehow able to "implicate" Cooper and take the heat off himself, for a one-man robbery, at that. Maybe he s even smarter than Edmond. ......"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..The FBI? Wouldn t you know that they would find an excuse to get in on the act, although neither the police shooting nor the Starbucks killings violates a federal law. But the FBI is, indeed, very much into frame-ups. You can ask former Black Panther activist Geronimo Pratt in California or security guard Richard Jewell in Georgia about that……… ……"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "….. For its part, The Washington Post is less cautious about the implicated third man. Their front-page headline, below the fold, reads "Detained Man Names 2 Others in Starbucks Case." …….From this article we learn that police were still questioning Cooper 54 hours after he had been brought in for questioning, and he had still not been brought before any judicial officer of the county. "Under Maryland court rules," we are told, "police are required to present a defendant to a court commissioner without unnecessary delay and in no event later than 24 hours after arrest." ….."It's outrageous. I don t care what spin anybody puts on it. I can t think of a set of circumstances where somebody should be held 54 hours and not talk to a lawyer, said Stephen A. Friedman, legal director of the [Prince George s] county chapter of the American Civil Liberties Union. It s going to become an issue in the case. The police know if he talks to a lawyer, the discussion will probably end, and they want to keep it going. People are under psychological coercion to cooperate." ……"

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "……. [Cooper] told detectives he parked his car in the rear of the coffee shop and walked into the store about 9 p.m. while the employees were closing up the shop. He admitted to carrying a .38-caliber snub-nosed revolver and a .380 semiautomatic handgun with him. A law enforcement source familiar with the investigation said the front door of the coffee shop was still unlocked when Mr. Cooper arrived and he walked in and pulled his guns. He made her [Miss Mahoney] lock the door, the source said. Mr. Cooper ordered Miss Mahoney to open the safe in the rear office of the store and, when she refused, he fired a shot into the ceiling from the .38 caliber revolver. Miss Mahoney ran from the office and Mr. Cooper caught her in the hallway and shot her with the .380 handgun and then stood over her and shot her in the face and upper body with both guns. An autopsy showed that Miss Mahoney was shot five times. Police say Mr. Cooper then turned toward Mr. Evans and Mr. Goodrich and shot them. Mr. Evans was still alive, so Mr. Cooper shot him twice in the head. When he [Mr. Evans] continued to move and moan, Cooper shot him twice more in the head to put him out of his pain, the affidavit said. …..

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..What can we possibly make of such a story? In the first place, we have to wonder, whether it be true or not, what on earth would have got into Cooper to tell it. After first holding out and dummying up, he then fingers Covington and perhaps someone else, and when that doesn t pan out, we are told that he starts singing like a canary...against himself. Was the man suddenly smitten with a death, or at least a life imprisonment, wish? If he was, it could hardly be greater than the death wish they first told us that Emory Evans had, and now Caity Mahoney……."Their money or your life," is what a menacing armed robber is, in effect, saying when he points a gun at you and tells you to open the company s safe. What unarmed person in his or her right mind would not in that situation respond, in effect, "I am at your service." Surely no one in the management of the Starbucks company would hold it against any employee responding in that way, and Caity Mahoney surely must have known it. I would not be surprised if they have circulated a policy statement to that effect, although it is hardly necessary. It is no more than common sense. No weekend s worth--even a holiday weekend s worth--of store receipts are worth a life, particularly when it s yours. So first they were trying to sell us on the idea that the black guy was nuts, and now they are asking us to swallow that the young female former White House intern was nuts and precipitated her own slaying and the slaying of her young colleagues.

http://thebird.org/host/dcdave/article3/990831.html "…..Then there is the improbable story of the struggle for the keys to the safe. Didn t they tell us from day one that Mahoney would have been the one to open the safe because she was the only one who knew the combination? Now we are to believe that the safe is opened with Mahoney s keys. Finally, there is the matter of the murder weapons. There are lots of bullets for a thorough ballistics test, but, unfortunately, no guns. Not only does the putative Cooper confession tell a highly implausible tale of mayhem in Starbucks, but no one seems to know what happened to the guns. On April 27, 1999, The Washington Times reported that Cooper told police that he had promptly buried the guns on the grounds of a Catholic home for abused and abandoned children and pregnant teenagers in Hyattsville, Maryland, about two blocks from his Gallatin St. NE home in Washington, DC. In February of 1998, after losing a job, he went back to dig them up to use for more robberies, he said, but he could not find them. Prince George s and D.C. police said they searched several places on the property after Cooper s "confession" and were unable to find them, either…….. "Sgt. Gary Cunningham, a Prince George s County police spokesman, said detectives searched the mostly wooded area around St. Anns immediately after Mr. Cooper told police he had buried the guns on the site. " There were several places [Mr. Cooper] said [the guns] were, but they never found them, Sgt. Cunningham said. ……"Sgt. Cunningham said police did not notify St. Anns administrators because nothing was found on the property. ……"



Freeper Lee research from U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia 2/1/00 U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER "…..

………After the extradition hearing, Cooper was transported, without the presence of counsel, to Maryland by PG County Detective John Piazza ("Det. Piazza" or "Piazza") and Det. Fulginiti. Both Piazza and Fulginiti, who were instructed only to pick up Cooper and bring him to PG County, were present in the courtroom at Cooper's extradition hearing. Neither Fulginiti nor Piazza were involved in the investigation of the Officer Howard matter or the Starbucks murders. Cooper was in handcuffs and leg cuffs when he was placed in the car. Piazza drove the vehicle, with Cooper sitting in the front seat next to him, and Fulginiti sitting in the back directly behind Cooper. Fulginiti testified that Cooper appeared to be physically fine and did not complain of any pain or sickness. Without any prodding by the officers, Cooper started talking almost immediately after he got in the car. Piazza commented to Fulginiti that he was going to take New York Avenue back to Maryland and Cooper suggested an alternate route, which they took. Cooper told the officers that S/A Garrett and Det. Trainum were trying to get him to admit he was involved in Starbucks and that he was initially going to take a polygraph and changed his mind. He then asked if there was any way PG County could hive him a polygraph test. Fulginiti advised Cooper that neither he nor Piazza were involved in the case. (Footnote 14) Fulginiti inquired if Cooper was hungry - it was just after noon

……On March 2, 1999 at 8:48 p.m., Cooper gave a statement concerning his involvement in several robberies. The first incident he discussed was a robbery at an Italian pizza shop on New Hampshire Avenue in the District of Columbia. Cooper stated he stole a car and James and Haley (James' girlfriend) drove off in it and returned an hour later advising had robbed the Italian pizza shop on New Hampshire Avenue across from Pops & Sun. James was angry with Cooper because the car was smoking and not running well. Cooper did not know that James and Haley intended to rob the pizza shop; he thought they were driving to Pennsylvania. Cooper did not see James with a gun and he did not receive any money from the robbery.

……The next incident Cooper discussed was a bank robbery in Maryland. James and Haley were at Cooper's house and advised they were going out. They did not say where they were going. Later on, James told Cooper he had dressed up like a woman and he and Haley robbed a bank in Maryland with the assistance of James' "play sister" Nicki, who was a teller at the bank. James gave Cooper $1,000 from the proceeds of the bank robbery as a thank you for letting James and Haley stay at his house. When Cooper heard about the bank robbery he evicted James and Haley from his house and they never came back. Cooper did not see a gun and did not know where James got female clothing. James advised Cooper he dumped the clothing in the trash before he got on the Metro. Cooper claims James got the idea to dress up like a woman from a movie involving four female bank robbers.

……..Cooper next discussed the robbery of a massage parlor in Pennsylvania. Cooper, James, Haley, Earnest and two others were in Harrisburg, Pennsylvania and neighboring areas visiting strip clubs and drinking free beer. They were driving in two cars, one stolen and one owned by Earnest. The group ended up at a massage parlor some time after dark. Cooper does not remember what time of the year it was, but remembers it was not cold outside. They knocked on the back door of the massage parlor and when the manager answered, James pulled out his "long handgun that said 8 millimeter on the side" and proceeded to rob the place. Nobody else in the group had a gun. Cooper was the lookout and declined James' request for him to frisk everyone. James frisked the owner and "freaked out" when he found a gun, accusing the owner of planning to shoot him. A female employee at the massage parlor accused James of biting her breast and this caused some friction between James and Haley. James kept the owner's gun and money, and stole a pair of tennis shoes. Cooper said he gave these statements because he wanted to "com clean" and "show cooperation." (Footnote 18)

……..After discussing the robberies, Cooper initiated a conversation about Starbucks and talked about taking the CVSA test. Fulginiti called in Sgt. McCann to talk to Cooper. Fulginiti testified that during the time he was with Cooper, he never raised his voice or threatened Cooper, never used any force or exhibited his weapon (which he did not bring into the interview room), and never made any promises other than in response to

…….At approximately midnight, McCann read Cooper his rights and Cooper executed a written Miranda waiver. (Footnote 19) McCann gave Cooper the CVSA test. The results were interpreted by both McCann and Fulginiti, who independently of the other concluded that Cooper showed signs of deception in his answers to the following questions: "Did you shoot the people at Starbucks?" and "Do you know who shot the people at Starbucks?" McCann testified that Cooper, when advised of the test results, started to breathe heavily and began to sweat. (Footnote 20) Cooper sat on the floor, and put his hands over his face. McCann told Cooper he thought it was interesting that Cooper and one of the victims at Starbucks both knew a man named Keith Covington. Cooper thought for a moment, composed himself, andput the blame on Covington, stating that it was an inside job and he, Cooper,

…..Det. Harding, who was present in the interview room during this time, testified that Cooper began to shake, unbutton his shirt, and was visibly upset. Prior to that time, he had appeared alert, calm, injury-free and sober.

…….On March 3, 1999 at 1:12 a.m., cooper gave a written statement concerning his involvement in the Starbucks murders. He claimed that Keith Covington ("Covington"), approached him a month before the murders with the idea of robbing the Starbucks in Georgetown. Covington had a friend who worked there and would assist from the inside. Covington approached Cooper because Cooper "knew about robberies, [ ] was excellent behind the wheel of a car, and [ ] could keep [his] mouth closed." Cooper became interested when he learned it would be an inside job performed on the weekend when there was a lot of money in the store. Cooper agreed that he would drive the getaway car and sit in the car while Covington committed the robbery. The plan was that Covington's friend would let Covington in the store, play the victim, and then get the other employees to cooperate. Covington would then escape with the money and the friend would get his share later on. Cooper contacted Earnest and told him the plan, but then quickly regretted it because Covington and Earnest did not know each other. Cooper then told Earnest that it was a stupid idea and never brought it up again. Cooper went to the Starbucks on a Sunday morning to "check it out not knowing that the robbery would go down that night." At around seven or eight that Sunday evening Covington Knocked on Cooper's door and told him it was time to commit the robbery at Starbucks. Cooper was already dressed in black and Covington was wearing "dark blue knit sweat pants, boots, and a plaid shirt/jacket." Cooper did not bring a gun because it was an inside job and he didn't think he would need it. Cooper drove his mother's car to the location and parked it up the street. The original plan was to steal a car, but as they rode around looking for one "Covington was nervous and anxious," so he agreed to use his mother's car as long as it was parked up the street from the Starbucks. He and Covington talked for awhile about being in prison and about how much money they were going to get from the robbery. At no time did Cooper see a mask or a gun on Covington. Cooper stayed behind in the car while Covington went into the Starbucks. After approximately five minutes to a half hour of being inside the Starbucks, Covington ran down the street, jumped into the car and told Cooper to pull away. Cooper did not hear any shots or see anything. Cooper sped away and asked Covington what happened and where the money was. Covington looked at Cooper "with a frowned up face and said he couldn't get it." Cooper then dropped Covington off and never spoke about the incident again. He learned about the murders on the news the next day. He claims he was afraid to say anything because Covington know where he and his family lives, and Covington and his friends are know for violence and drug dealing.

…….After Cooper gave the first Starbucks statement, he went to sleep at approximately 3:30 a.m. cooper slept until approximately 2:20 p.m., when McCann and Harding resumed the interview. Cooper was asked if he was hungry, but he responded that he was too upset to eat because he knew he was in a lot of trouble. (Footnote 21) Cooper was shown a photograph of an individual whom he identified as Covington. McCann and Harding advised Cooper that they believe Cooper was inside the Starbucks, and that they would be looking for Covington and needed to know the truth. They also mentioned that they thought Cooper's fingerprints had been found inside the Starbucks. (Footnote 22) Cooper admitted he was inside the Starbucks but claimed he did not shoot anybody. Cooper was again given Miranda warnings, and he signed a written waiver. He then wrote the second statement concerning the Starbucks incident.

……….On March 3, 1999, commencing at 3:29 p.m., cooper wrote the following statement. Cooper said he "stole" his wife's gun, a 9 mm handgun currently in police custody, and had it in is possession at the time. Covington had two guns in his possession. He said he and Covington walked in the front door at the Starbucks, and Covington put a gun to his friend's head, told him it was a robbery, and the friend let them into the store. The friend told the other "two white employees" to cooperate. While Covington kept an eye on the employees downstairs, Cooper went upstairs to make sure …nobody else was in the store. When he returned, he found Covington and the female employee arguing while Covington's friend was in the back with the other employee. The female employee did not want to give Covington the keys to the safe. While they were shouting at each other, Cooper kept an eye on the door. While he was looking out the door onto the street, he heard two shots. He turned around and no longer saw the female employee. Covington's friend came running into the room. Covington took him to the back room and disappeared from Cooper's sight. Cooper then heard four more shots. Cooper never fired his gun in the store. Covington then ran into the room and he and Cooper ran out the door and into the car. Cooper was afraid the entire time because he though Covington might shoot him. Nothing was said in the car. Covington had some blood on him and Cooper was concerned that it would stain his mother's car. After he dropped off Covington, Cooper went to a car wash and vacuumed and cleaned the car. He went home and took a shower and did not discuss the incident with Covington or anybody else. He claimed violence was not his style, there was nothing he could do for the people in the Starbucks, and he was sorry for their deaths.

……Det. Harding then advised Cooper that Earnest had told police that Cooper was involved in a 1993 murder of a security guard, Sandy Griffin, in the District of Columbia. Cooper dipped his head a little, and agreed to talk about that. Harding read Cooper his Miranda rights and Cooper executed a written Miranda waiver. Cooper gave a verbal accounting of the Sandy Griffin murder, and then prepared a written statement.

……On March 3, 1999 at 9:10 p.m., Cooper commenced a written statement concerning the murder of Sandy Griffin. He stated that about five or six years ago, before he was married, he and Earnest planned to rob a security guard of his gun. The security guard was stationed in an apartment building licated near 11th Street N.S. in the District of Columbia. (Footnote 23) Cooper waited until the guard was distracted by the telephone. He went inside the lobby and approached the guard stating "nigga don't move, all I want is the gun." The security guard had the pone in his left hand and he placed his right hand on the revolver and cocked it while it was still in the holster. Cooper was scared and told the guard not to move. The guard removed the gun from his holster and Cooper, fearing for his life, fired his own gun and shot the security guard in the head. The security guard fell to the floor, dropping the phone and the gun. Cooper picked up the guard's gun, a .38 revolver, and ran out with Earnest in tow. The two men ran to the car and Cooper advised Earnest that the guard tried to kill him. Cooper said he sold the guard's gun within a week for $300 to some guys on the street (he later recanted this fact in the statement concerning Monte Goodman's murder). The gun Cooper used to shoot the guard, a .32 revolver with tape on it, was later "dropped by me [Cooper] in a PG shooting case." Cooper stated it was Earnest's idea to get the gun and Cooper picked the victim.

……….McCann saw Cooper again at approximately 12:50 p.m., read Cooper his Miranda rights and Cooper signed a written waiver. Cooper was advised that Covington had been arrested and was adamantly denying involvement in the Starbucks murders. While Covington acknowledged he knew one of the victims in the Starbucks case, McCann felt that Covington could not have been involved in Starbucks because at the time he was recovering from severe gunshot wounds to the stomach. Cooper then said "sit down Joe. Let me tell you." Tr. (1/13/00) at 159:4-5. Cooper advised that Covington was not involved in Starbucks and that Cooper acted alone. McCann testified that Cooper appeared relieved and resigned to the fact that the truth was coming out. Harding read Cooper his rights and Cooper signed a written Miranda waiver. He then wrote his third and final statement concerning Starbucks.

……..Cooper gave a third written statement about the Starbucks incident on March 4, 1999, commencing at 4:35 p.m. In this statement he claims Covington did not participate at all. Cooper planned to rob the Starbucks about one month earlier. He told Earnest of his plans without going into detail. One Sunday morning he went to the store to make sure Starbucks was doing a lot of business. Cooper believed that businesses open on Sunday do not deposit their cas until Monday morning. He decided to rob the Starbucks that Sunday evening. He paged Earnest but was unable to reach him. He decided to go alone because it was getting late and he did not want to miss his "window of opportunity." He was wearing black jeans, a black t-shirt with a white design of a person's face, white gym socks, black Timberline boots, no gloves and no mask. He drove his mother's car to the scene and parked it a block away. He entered the Starbucks through an open door, pulled two guns (a .38 and a .380), and announced he was robbing the place. A white female identified herself as the manager. There were two other male employees, one black and one white. Cooper attempted to force everyone into the back room where the safe was located but the female employee would not comply so he fired a warning shot into the ceiling. The female attempted to run. Cooper caught her near the door and fought with her to get the keys. The female attempted to grab the .380 pistol (the .38 was in Cooper's waistband) and it went off. Cooper stated "everything else [way] like a dream" and he just started shooting. He shot the woman two or three times with the .380 and then once with the .38. The white man tried to run but Cooper shot him. The black man was injured and Crying. Cooper said he had to stop the man's pain so he shot him two more time in the head. He left the store without any money because he realized what had happened and he just wanted to run. He buried the guns in a plastic bag outside St. Anne's Infant Home. He wasn't sure if he had blood on his clothes but he tasted the girl's blood in his mouth so he washed his clothes to be on the safe side. He took his car to the car wash. A while later, after he lost his job at Wang, Cooper tried to retrieve the buried guns because he was "thinking about doing robberies again to make money," but could not find them. Cooper claims he lied about Covington's involvement because he did not want to go jail. He was worried because he "killed three people and I'm afraid of jail."

……After giving the final Starbucks statement, Cooper tok a shower and changed his clothes. He was questioned further about the whereabouts of the guns used in Starbucks, but Cooper gave several different stories. At approximately 2:00 a.m., Cooper was brought to processing so he could be presented before the Commissioner. McCann and Harding both testified that throughout the entire time in PG County (from March 2 through March 5, 1999) Cooper received plenty of sleep, food and drink, and opportunities to use the bathroom facilities. Cooper never asked for a break or mentioned he was tired. He never complained of being sick, except to say once he felt nauseous because of the trouble he was in. He was not cuffed or restrained in any way, there was no use or threat of force. He never mentioned a lawyer, and was eager to talk. McCann testified that Cooper was intelligent, never appeared confused about the discussions they had, and was highly articulate.

…….On March 16, 1999, Cooper waived his right to a removal hearing in Maryland and agreed to be transported back to the District of Columbia to answer murder charges in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. S/A Garrett picked up Cooper in PG County and brought him back to the FBI Washington Field Office. (Footnote 25) As he went through the booking process, Cooper started talking about his experiences at PG County Jail and compared his positive experience with PG County jail to his negative experience with DC Jail. He discussed the situation involving the murder of Montee Goodman. Garrett advised Cooper the procedure from that point forward - that he would be taken to the central cell block, presented before a judge the next morning, and ultimately he would be appointed a lawyer and have a preliminary hearing. Cooper told Garrett that he knew what a preliminary hearing was. Cooper then advised Garrett that in PG County he "admitted to everything under the sun, whatever they told me to say I said. They didn't advise me of my rights." Tr. (1/12/00) at 88:16-19. Cooper said his statements will be suppressed and that he "know [s] a little bit about the law." Id. At 90:3-4. Cooper stated that PG County wanted him to "confess to everything to hurt the careers of Detective Trainum, [S/A Garrett and Mr. Wainstein]." Id. At 90:20-23. He said McCann showed him a notepad containing false comments from all his confederates. Cooper also stated that everything he said about the Starbucks murders had been "embellished." Id. At 91:2-7. Cooper denied his involvement in the Starbucks case and said the police would have to prove the evidence to him before he admitted to anything. (Footnote 26) Garrett then presented Cooper with a waiver of Miranda rights form, but Cooper refused to sign it, writing instead "Decline sign form. Requested a lawyer at 3:47 p.m.." Cooper was not questioned further and was presented the next day in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia.



7/18/97 Washington Blade http://www.washblade.com/meta/obit/archives/970718_1.htm "…..Mary Caitrin "Caity" Mahoney, 24, a founder of the Baltimore Lesbian Avengers, died Sunday, July 6, 1997, at the Starbucks coffee shop on 1810 Wisconsin Avenue, NW, in Georgetown…….. Mahoney was one of a core group of six women who founded the Baltimore Lesbian Avengers, a political activist group, in February 1995, according to her best friend, Mary Hall of Baltimore, Md…… Mahoney's activism spanned many arenas, including founding a women's issues discussion group at Towson State University in 1993; sitting as a board member of the 31st Street Bookstore in Baltimore, a Lesbian/feminist cooperative; and working on Bill Clinton's presidential campaign as well as interning for the Clinton White House when he was newly elected……"

7/18/97 Washington Blade http://www.washblade.com/meta/obit/archives/970718_1.htm "…..In 1994, Mahoney and others raised more than $1,000 for Baltimore's Pride festival while participating in a musical spoof of The Sound of Music known as The Camp of Music. In the musical, Mahoney played Gretel -- the youngest of the "VonCamp" children…… Mahoney was born July 22, 1972, in Baltimore. From the sixth grade on, she attended the McDonogh School near Pikesville, Md., where she graduated in 1991. She did a year of studies at Ithaca College in New York state, a semester at Fordham University in New York City, and then two years at Towson State University in Maryland, where she received a bachelor's degree in women's studies in the spring of 1995. While studying at Towson, Mahoney worked as a shift supervisor at Cafe Diana, a Baltimore Lesbian/feminist coffee house from September 1993 to June 1995. During the summer of 1995, she worked as a cook at the City Cafe, a Gay-owned coffee house in Baltimore. In September 1995, Mahoney moved to Washington, D.C., and took a job with Starbucks…….Mahoney's hobbies and interests included her cat, Marlu; Lesbian and women's rights; politics; and jogging……"

Carrie Johnson Legal Times 9/20/99 "……Fifteen minutes. That's how long the whole operation was supposed to last. Informant Eric Butera would walk into the house, buy a few rocks of crack cocaine, and trot back to the car that held a detective from the Metropolitan Police Department. No big deal: Police send informants into the lion's den to collect information every day. Except this time, things weren't so routine. Butera wound up crumpled on the sidewalk looking like "a bag of trash," one witness says his brain swollen from the kicks and punches of three drug dealers. His heart stopped. He was dead, with his police escorts nowhere to be found………. By 1997, Butera had become a visitor at 1015 Delaware Ave., S.W., where he would buy and smoke crack cocaine. There, in July 1997, Butera overheard dealers and other drug users talking about a recent crime in a Starbucks coffee shop. The murders of three young workers days earlier, on a high-rent block in Georgetown, shocked city residents and embarrassed police, who had few strong leads in the case. When Butera finally came forward in November to Anthony Patterson, a homicide detective who was leading the investigation, the police bit. They decided to set up a drug purchase at the house to test Butera's reliability as an informant and, hopefully, secure a warrant to search the place for clues. On Dec. 4, 1997, Butera met Patterson at Borders Books in Northwest Washington, where they chatted amiably about jazz CDs. After a quarter of an hour, they met Detective Brigidini and Sgt. Breul, who accompanied Butera to the drug house……"

Carrie Johnson Legal Times 9/20/99 "……Brigidini dropped off Butera a block away from the house at 9:21 p.m., while Breul and Patterson waited in another car at Third and K streets, S.W. According to witness accounts, Butera brushed off a pair of drug dealers in his efforts to get to 1015. But when he knocked on the door, no one answered. On the way out, Butera again passed the rival dealers, who punched and knocked him down, robbing him of a watch and $80. Another man, Renaldo "Bruiser" Mathis, grabbed onto a nearby fence and stomped on Butera's head as he lay on the ground…….."

Carrie Johnson Legal Times 9/20/99 "……Lead plaintiff's counsel Grenier, a partner at D.C.'s Bode & Beckman, charges that the police fouled up the drug buy at every turn. He says, for instance, that there was no clear time and place where Butera would rendezvous with the police after buying the drugs. Grenier and James Bradley, a retired 25-year veteran of the force who is serving as an expert witness for Mrs. Butera, say they are astounded that the homicide detectives apparently never informed the members of the local First District police squad about the buy. If they had checked, according to police records, the detectives would have learned that officers had visited 1015 Delaware the night before, at 6 p.m., for a drug bust making it highly unlikely the operation would be back up and running the next day. Moreover, according to Butera's legal team, Butera was left alone for 40 minutes too much time to leave an unarmed informant in the drug-plagued neighborhood, which had been terrorized by violent gangs called the K Street Crew and the L Street Crew. Bradley, the MPD veteran who now works as an investigator, faults the police for not using a wiretap or other surveillance equipment. Says Grenier of the so-called police foul-ups: "If he [Butera] wasn't a marked man already, he was now. All the police had to do was yell "stop, police' because none of these guys had weapons." He is also disturbed by comments the police made the night of Butera's murder. According to a transcript from Sgt. Breul's interview with the MPD's Internal Affairs Division, Breul said, "I recall rolling down my window and joking with Detective Patterson. I said, "Why don't you roll down the window in case we hear any gunshots or screams?"….."

http://www.zolatimes.com/v2.29/cry.html 2/29/99 "...It's the new power politics of the crybaby. When the temper tantrum doesn't work, dissolve into tears. …….. But, more recently, after the American people failed to cower in the familiar manner of White House staff sycophants, at a September 9 press conference with congressional Democrats who had just come from a breakfast meeting with the President, a new strategy of public deception had come to the fore. A reporter asked the question: "Did he cry?" Not, mind you, "Did he commit perjury, obstruct justice, or abuse power?" But, rather, "Did he cry?" …… Did you cry when the 36 boxes of the Starr Report were being unloaded on Capitol Hill? I sure hope so. You see, you are convincing no one with your sorry acting. If you are truly sorry, what are you still doing in the White House? ……. It was the Star, after all, that broke the Gennifer Flowers story. It was the Star that broke the story of your Machiavellian advisor Dick Morris and his enjoyment of a prostitute with attractive toes. The Star reported the news while the networks were reporting your lying spin. ……"



http://www.zolatimes.com/v2.29/cry.html 2/29/99 "...

July 4, 1997: The Drudge Report says Newsweek's Michael Isikoff is on the trail of a second Paula Jones--this one inside the White House. Drudge doesn't identify the woman.

July 4, 1997: Monica Lewinsky has a "very emotional" visit with the President. The President scolded her: "It's illegal to threaten the President of the United States."

July 7, 1997: The Starbucks Massacre. Former White House intern Mary "Caity" Mahoney and two co-workers are killed execution style at the Starbucks Coffeeshop in Georgetown. Both Monica Lewinsky and George Stephanopolous are regulars there. When this event occurred, only the White House was aware it had an "intern problem."

July 15, 1997: Just after Monica Lewinsky returns from an overseas trip, the President has her come to the White House to discuss Linda Tripp and Newsweek.

July 28, 1997: Drudge reports that Kathleen Willey is the woman Bill Clinton sexually harrassed inside the White House. Speculation about a Starbucks connection subsides on the Internet.

Dec. 5, 1997: Paula Jones' legal team notifies the White House that Monica Lewinsky is on their witness list.

Dec. 6, 1997: Nearly 5 months to the day after the still unsolved Starbucks Massacre, Eric Butera, an informant working with DC Police on the Starbucks case, is beaten to death while working at their behest on an unrelated drug case.

Jan 21, 1998: The Washington Post identifies Monica Lewinsky as a former White House intern implicated in a sexual relationship with the President.

http://www.zolatimes.com/v2.29/cry.html 2/29/99 "...And now some excepts from the March 3, 1998 issue of Star Magazine: ‘Mahoney was gunned down, execution style for no apparent reason last summer at a Starbucks coffeehouse near the White House - a place where Monica, 24, and other Clinton interns frequently hung out…….. STAR has also learned that Monica and confidante Linda Tripp - who secretly taped Monica's claims of a White House affair with President Clinton - frequently talked about being in danger……."You don't think they're going to kill us?" Tripp said a number of times in recent months to another friend of hers….. But it was the shocking slaying of the other former White House intern that has raised the most disturbing questions yet in the scandal. Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 25, campaigned full time for Bill Clinton in the 1992 race and then arrived in Washington in January of 1993 with a coveted summons to be one of the President's first interns……… Caity was singled out for the most horrendous fate - as if she'd been the killers' prime target. Of the ten shots fired, she was hit five times at point blank range, including at least once in the face. The final bullet was delivered to the back of her head after she'd already fallen. In one hand, in a death grip, Caity clutched the keys to the store's safe, which held the weekend's receipts of more than $10,000. D.C. cops were mystified by the apparent lack of motive in the crime. The safe hadn't been opened. The cash registers were undisturbed. The store hadn't been ransacked. None of the victims' personal belongings had been touched. "No one knows whether Monica ever confided in Caity about her relationship with the President," says an insider. "But they talked a lot. And now Caity is dead." …’

http://www.zolatimes.com/v2.29/cry.html 2/29/99 "...What I want to know, Mr. President is this: Did you cry for Caity Mahoney?

9/30/97 Washington Post Brian Moar Linda Wheeler "….. D.C. police acknowledged yesterday That homicide detectives failed to Seize a pair of shoes that belonged To a potential suspect and that had A dark stain immediately after the Triple slaying at the Starbucks coffee Shop in July. But officials said the Shoes were seized later and held no evidence related to the shootings. The shoes belonged to a former employee of the Starbucks on Wiscon- sin Avenue in Northwest Washington's Burleith neighborhood. He was ques- tioned shortly after the shop's assistant manager and two other employees were found shot to death July 7 during what police have said may have been a robbery attempt. A source familiar with the investi gation into the Starbucks killings said that a day or so after the inter- view, an evidence technician men- tioned that he had seen a stain that could have been blood on the former employee's shoes. Black-and-white photographs also showed the stain…….. After the technician made his report, investigators obtained a warrant to seize the footwear, a pair of white gym shoes, from the man's home. Subsequent tests performed by the FBI showed that the stain was not blood. ….."

http://washingtonpost.com/wp-srv/local/daily/march99/cooper6.htm "…….A break in the case came last year when the television show "America's Most Wanted" repeated an episode about the slayings, law enforcement sources said. A woman who was dating someone who knew Cooper called D.C. police with a valuable tip: Cooper had told her boyfriend that he was the Starbucks killer. …… The woman agreed to wear a wire for D.C. police and recorded her boyfriend's comments about Cooper's involvement. Prince George's police were simultaneously investigating Cooper in the shooting of an off-duty police officer. The two police departments worked with the FBI to build evidence against Cooper. ……"

Freeper Libertas "…..Mary Caity Mahoney interned for Doris Matsui. Doris Matsui was the White House official responsible for liaison with the Asian-American community, headed the Asian Pacific American Working Group (APAWG), which coordinated the activities of the White House, the Democratic National Committee and the Clinton-Gore re- election campaign with regard to Asian-Americans. APAWG, one of whose members was John Huang, came up with the plan to raise $7 million from Asian-Americans. …."

Alamo-Girl Note: See also the Downside Legacy Ron Brown section for Barbara Wise to Doris Matsui relationship

http://www.click2asia.com/b/m/b=apapol2/d/channel/people/index.html "……In January 1993, Doris Matsui was appointed by President Clinton to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison. Her current position entails participating in discussions on critical domestic policy issues, with a special focus on education, children, families, and the non-profit sector. Praised for her efforts to enhance economic and social empowerment in her community, she received the University of California Rosalie Stern Award for outstanding volunteers service to the community. A well-recognized leader and spokesperson for causes ranging from the arts to global relations, Matsui is a particularly strong advocate for family and children's issues….."

http://home.hiwaay.net/~craigg/g4c/caity-News.htm "……Mahoney first moved to Washington after campaigning on the East Coast for Bill Clinton during the 1992 presidential campaign. She was one of the first interns to work at the Clinton White House. "She had this wonderful way of loving life, and she was very eager to be helpful," said Doris Matsui, the office's deputy director. ….."

Alamo-Girl Note: The source of the rumor that Monica Lewinsky said she didn’t want to end up like Caity Mahoney appears to be from the "Strategic Weekly Briefings" by Craig Karpel 1/23/98. I’m not sure which Craig Karpel this would be: Craig Karpel, author of the book The Retirement Myth, published by Harper Collins

Craig Karpel, Publisher of the Colby Intelligence Letter

Craig Karpel, The Karpel Group.

Freeper Archy "….There was a Craig Karpel through the 1970s-early 1980s who freelanced a number of investigative articles for numerous men's magazines, including Penthouse. Given the associated death with Penthouse model Judy Gibbs and that Craig Karpel's previous writing on such politically arcane subjects as a Bilderburgers' meeting in Europe in a venue where that would be usually be considered pretty dry stuff, which included Vernon Jorden anectdotes among other details, I'd suggest he's the one……"

http://24.142.63.193/forum/a83856.htm Strategic Weekly Briefings 1/23/98 Craig Karpel "… According to my sources, when Monica Lewinsky first met with Vernon Jordan in November 1997 she told him she didn't want to end up like Caity Mahoney. Jordan professed not to know whom Lewinsky was referring to until she identified Mahoney as the former White House intern who was murdered last summer in a Starbucks. The Starbucks murders were big news in Washington because, as D.C. Council member Jack Evans put it, "To have a triple homicide anywhere in the District of Columbia is an unusual event. To have a triple homicide in Georgetown is extraordinary." I would add that a massacre isn't supposed to happen in a Starbucks; cafe latte is supposed to happen. My sources tell me that Jordan gently told Lewinsky not to let her imagination run away with her and assured her that she was in no danger of being murdered on orders from Bill Clinton or anyone associated with Bill Clinton. According to my sources, Lewinsky wasn't convinced. When she later met with Jordan in the back of his limousine, Lewinsky is said to have tearfully told him that Linda Tripp believed Vincent Foster didn't commit suicide, and that neither she nor Tripp wanted to end up like Foster. Jordan is said to have sighed and told Lewinsky she shouldn't believe everything Tripp says, and that Tripp had to be moved out of the White House because she was a troublemaker. According to my sources, Lewinsky is now consumed with fear that, having been flushed into the open by Tripp, she has already, so to speak, "killed herself." ……"

Associated Press "…..The Georgetown Starbucks coffee bar where three workers were found slain on July 7 will reopen as a memorial to them and other victims of violent crime, the chairman of the Seattle-based company said yesterday. Howard Schultz made the announcement following a memorial service at Georgetown University for Mary Mahoney, 24; Aaron Goodrich, 18; and Emory Evans, 25. ……. "

Freeper Lee 2/24/00 "…..This is the MEMORANDUM OPINION AND ORDER by U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green on 2/1/00 …… The 48-count indictment charging defendant, Carl Cooper ("Cooper"), with various racketeering acts of robbery, murder, conspiracy and firearms offenses was filed on August 4, 1999, and a jury trial has been scheduled for April 10, 2000…….. Currently before the Court are Cooper's four motions to suppress statements, wire interceptions, physical evidence and photographic identification. On January 12, 13, 18 and 19, 2000, the Court heard testimony from four government witnesses and one witness called by the defense on the motion to suppress statements, and from one government witness on the motion to suppress photographic identifications. As is his constitutional right, Cooper did not testify or provide an affidavit. In addition, the Court heard argument from counsel on all four motions. Based on the pleadings filed by the parties, the argument and testimony given in open Court, and all matters considered, for the reasons discussed below, each of the four motions is denied……."

…….Mr. Cooper was arrested by FBI agents outside of his home in the District of Columbia on March 1, 1999 pursuant to an arrest warrant issued by Commissioner Gray F. Byrd of Prince George's County, Maryland ("PG County"). The arrest warrant was based on Cooper's alleged involvement in the 1996 shooting and robbery of PG County police officer Bruce Howard. Cooper made verbal statements to FBI agents while in their custody from the time of his arrest until his extradition hearing the following afternoon in the Superior Court of the District of Columbia. After the extradition hearing, Cooper was transported to PG County where he gave several verbal statements, and seven written statements (plus a correction) to PG County police officers. He was then returned to the District of Columbia where he gave additional verbal statements to the FBI agents. He seek to have all of his statements suppressed

……Witnesses for the government included FBI Special Agent Bradley Garrett ("S/A Garrett" or "Garrett"), PG County Detective Richard Fulginiti (Det. Fulginii" or Fulginiti"), PG County Sergeant Joseph McCann ("Sgt. McCann" or "McCann"), and PG County Detective Troy Harding ("Det. Harding" or "Harding"). The defendant called FBI Special Agent Stephanie Yanta ("S/A Yanta" or "Yanta"). The Court has observed the demeanor and heard the testimony of these witnesses, and finds each of the five to be highly credible and extremely persuasive. (Footnote 1) The testimony of these officers was thoughtful, unhesitating, calm, and fully consistent with not only the officer's own individual prior memorializations, but also with each other's testimony

…….On March 1, 1999 at approximately 6:20 p.m., Cooper was in his automobile with his five-year old son in front of his house in Northeast Washington when Agent Garrett and FBI Special Agent Bob Oxley ("S/A/ Oxley" or "Oxley") pulled up next to Cooper and, after Cooper exited the vehicle, placed him under arrest. (Footnote 2) According to Garrett,

…….The individuals who question Cooper are experienced law enforcement officers. S/A Garrett testified he has been with the FBI for fifteen years, with the last ten in the District of Columbia office. Prior to that time, he was a federal probation officer for ten years. Sgt. Fulginiti testified he has been with the PG County Police Department for seventeen years. Sgt. McCann testified he has been with the PG County Police Department for eight years. Det. Harding testified he has been with the PG County Police Department for ten years, and was a Greenbelt City police officer for six years prior to that. S/A Yanta has considerable less experience than the other officers - she testifeied she has been with the FBI since March 1998 - however, she observed and took notes from a television monitor and speaker set up in a nearby room and, except perhaps to introduce herself, did not speak to Cooper.

…..Although Cooper was arrested solely on the PG County charge, the FBI was part of a joint task force consisting of federal, District of Columbia, and Maryland authorities. According to the government, it became apparent early in the investigation into the defendant's enterprise that he and his confederates were responsible for crimes in the District of Columbia, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Once the investigators recognized the cross-jurisdictional aspect of the enterprise, they contacted law enforcement officers in the affected jurisdictions and engaged in a cooperative effort to investigate those crimes.

….every effort was made not to handcuff Cooper in front of his son. There was no force used during the arrest, and Cooper did not resist in any fashion. In fact, Cooper later thanked Garrett for being "low-key" about the arrest. The media was present when Cooper was arrested, although it is not clear who contacted them.

…….Cooper was transported to the FBI Field Office in Northwest Washington by Garrett and Oxley, where he was questioned from approximately 8:20 p.m. until 3:24 a.m. Several individuals, including Detective James Trainum from the Metropolitan Police Department ("Det. Trainum" or"Trainum"), S/A Yanta, Sgt. McCann, Assistant United States Attorney Kenneth L. Wainstein ("AUSA Wainstein"), and United States Attorney Wilma A. Lewis, observed all or a portion of the interview through a television monitor and speaker in a nearby room. With the exception of AUSA Wainstein, none of these individuals entered the interview room. Cooper could not see these individuals, nor was he advised they were there. It was S/A Yanta's responsibility to take notes of the entire interview..

……..S/A Garrett testified that Cooper's restraints were removed when he entered the room. As part of the booking process, Cooper was asked some preliminary information concerning his family and employment history and criminal background. He advised the agents he was concerned about the effect his arrest would have on his job. During this booking process, Cooper volunteered that he had conferred with a lawyer who advised him that all the evidence against him was circumstantial, and he stated he wanted to take a lie detector test.

…….At approximately 9:00 p.m., Garrett told Cooper he was being charged with the 1996 shooting and robbery of an off-duty police officer in PG County. After Cooper denied his involvement in that incident, Garrett told Cooper he wanted to talk about Starbucks. Cooper wanted to talk, and signed a written Miranda waiver, which Garrett had also read verbally to Cooper. Garrett testified that Cooper did not hesitate in any manner when he reviewed and signed the Miranda waiver, nor did he express any concern about what he was doing. Cooper denied involvement in the Starbucks case, claiming murder was "not his style."

……. In late fall of 1998, Det. Trainum and Garrett were in a vehicle near Cooper's house when Cooper pulled up in a car alongside them and asked why the were harassing him. Garrett replied they were working on homicides in the area and just happened to be near Cooper's house. There was some discussion of a polygraph test, Garrett told Cooper he was not prepared to give him the test, and Cooper drove off.

......... Cooper admitted past involvement in robberies and narcotic sales, and when asked why his name kept coming up in connection with Starbucks, he claimed it was because of his reputation in the community as a robbery consultant. Cooper stated people are motivated to name him because of the reward being offered, and also because informants could make deals to help themselves.

…….Cooper acknowledged that he has in the past gone with his family into the Starbucks store where the murders occurred. He did not recall being in the store the weekend the murders happened and, when asked by Garrett why his fingerprints were found inside the store after the murders, he had no explanation. (Footnote 5) Cooper said he went to the Starbucks about two weeks after the murders and put flowers on the memorial. He stopped going because too manyh people were accusing him of committing the murders and he did not want to be perceived as a criminal returning to the scene of the crime. Cooper stated that he never knew anybody who worked for Starbucks and that he would never commit a crime in Georgetown because of the large volume of people and police on the streets. Cooper stated that two individuals who were his close associates came to him for advice on robbing the Georgetown Starbucks. Cooper said he counseled these individuals against robbing that Starbucks.

…… Cooper was concerned about being perceived as a snitch and possibly getting killed. S/A Garrett testified that up to this point in the interview, Cooper was "upbeat, positive, very verbal, you know, wanting to express, you know, his thoughts and ideas and beliefs very freely and voluntarily."

…….Cooper's fingerprints were not found at the Starbucks store, Garrett testified he used this information because he believed Cooper would accept as true a statement that his prints were found on the scene. He believed this because Cooper had mentioned to another individual during a law enforcement intercepted telephone conversation that Cooper thought the police had his fingerprints from Starbucks.

………At approximately 11:24 p.m., Cooper became emotional, cried, appeared "defeated," and said he wanted to go to PG County to "get this over with." ……. This "despondent phase," as S/A Garrett termed it, lasted no more than five minutes, and is "common in people who want to admit what they've done."…….. Garrett talked some more to Cooper and asked him if he still wanted to take a polygraph. Cooper responded "I just want to go back. I'm in it for life. I'm in dirt. Every time somethin' goes down, I'm in it. I'm destined to do dirt. I quit. I know what I've done. I'm constantly trying to defend myself, defend my name." ……He then denied his involvement in both the shooting of Officer Howard and the Starbucks murders, claiming "talkin' to you [Garrett] isn't gonna help me out. I'm tired. I'm tired of the bulls___. I can't do right. I didn't do this s___, I didn't do the P.G. s___"…… Garrett continued to talk to Cooper, asking him what it would take "for [Cooper] to tell us what you've done in the last six (6) years.

……. Wainstein spoke to Cooper in the presence of S/A Garrett. He answered Cooper's questions concerning conspiracy and explained the "laws of conspiracy" and "how conspiracy is defined in the federal system. "Tr. (1/12/00) at 203:5-11. (Footnote 11) AUSA Wainstein then left the room. Garrett left the room shortly thereafter and Metropolitan Police Detective Tony Patterson came in to talk to Cooper about taking a lie detector test. Cooper stated he did not want to take the test because he was being "spiteful" and nobody wanted to listen when he was ready to talk. He said his life was over and he would get nothing out of taking a polygraph. The interview ended a 3:24 a.m. and Cooper was taken to the Central Cell Block……..Garrett testified that AUSA Wainstein was in the interview room for no more than five minutes. However, Yanta's notes, and her testimony, not that AUSA Wainstein was in the room form 1:29 a.m. through 1:51 a.m., a period of 22 minutes.

......,,Garrett testified he never raised his voice to Cooper except to emphasize a particular point he did not understand or that needed clarification. He stated Cooper was appropriate and polite with all the detectives except for the one time when he briefly became despondent. Cooper was on the first name basis with the detectives. H call S/A Garrett by his first name and S/A Oxley by is nickname "Ox". They called him"Carl." Cooper was in good physical condition, never complained about being in pain except a brief mention that his stomach was bothering him, and did not appear to be suffering from any mental or emotional problems. Garrett testified that Cooper seemed tired, or perhaps just worried, at the end at the interview, hanging his head and leaning over in the seat. No threats, promises, or suggestions on what to say were made to Cooper, no force was used and no officer ever displayed a weapon to Cooper. Cooper never expressed fear. Cooper never asked for a lawyer, and never requested to discontinue the interview. He was given bathroom breaks and food and drink. Garrett testified that Cooper was very articulate, had an excellent vocabulary, and was very responsive, focused and able to keep up with conversation. Cooper has had some college education at a junior college in Montgomery County. Cooper di not ask for, and was not offered the opportunity to use the telephone or to speak with any family member during this time.

Washington Post 3/6/00 "…… Senior U.S. District Judge Joyce Hens Green ruled last week that prosecutors have a sufficient foundation to support their decision to try Carl Derek Cooper as the leader of a robbery ring that operated in the District, Maryland and Pennsylvania. Defense lawyers Steven R. Kiersh and Francis D. Carter had asked Green to throw out the racketeering charge, arguing that the crimes were "performed by individuals acting on their own in an utterly chaotic manner." The racketeering charge is a key part of a 48-count indictment against Cooper in the slaying of three employees at a Starbucks and other offenses. …."

Freeper archy "….. Matsui and the elders of the Horiuchi family were probably connected through the Washington DC chapter of the Japanese-American Citizens League [called by a slightly different name in DC- don't recall it right off the top of my head] and thereby in Democratic fundraising efforts. Lon Horiuchi, the FBI death squad sniper who shot Vickie Weaver at Ruby Ridge and was one of the tank drivers at Waco was, among other things, a West Point graduate. It would be interesting to know who Lon Horiuchi's congressional sponsor for his West Point appointment was...."

Washington Post 3/1/00 "…… Defense attorneys filed court papers yesterday asking a federal judge to prevent prosecutors from seeking the death penalty against Carl Derek Cooper on charges stemming from the triple killing at a Starbucks coffee shop in the District. Defense attorneys Steven R. Kiersh and Francis D. Carter contended that prosecutors improperly turned a D.C. murder case into a federal case by tying the killings to an alleged racketeering enterprise. D.C. law does not provide for capital punishment. "The plain and simple truth is, according to the government's theory of prosecution, the Starbucks murders were committed by a lone gunman acting by himself/herself," the defense attorneys wrote in a 112-page filing. "The evidence contradicts any suggestion that the Starbucks murders resulted from an enterprise." …."

From GOP Handgun Raffle Raises Hackles(AP Report): "...about 10 protested the raffle in drizzly weather outside the banquet hall where the breakfast event was held. They included the parents of 18-year-old Aaron Goodrich, shot to death during a Starbucks coffee shop robbery in the District of Columbia in 1997, and 13-year-old John Price, who was killed by a playmate in an accidental shooting in 1998. …."



Doris Matsui

[See also Barbara Wise on Remembering the Dead]

Freeper reply on a Mahoney article from the Washington Post: http://24.142.63.193/forum/a138255.htm … Freeper Muawiyah wrote "....Doris Matsui should have known young Lon Horiuchi from her relationship with the older Lon Horiuchi in the JACL (Japanese American Citizens League). This does not neatly tie the Ruby Ridge scandal in with the Mahoney murder, but it certainly indicates Ms Matsui has seen more than her fair share of friends and associates affected by murder, mayhem and federal level intrigue. ...... None of the JAs in leadership positions have come forward to argue on behalf of this fellow. Maybe they have been "warned off". Is it possible the Mahoney murder was a "message" directed at Mitsui, who has access to the JA leadership in this country. The message would be that even she can't protect anyone, so don't even try………. BTW, I am not trying to link these two situations, but with Ruby Ridge we find Bill Clinton's good friend Gary Spence defending Weaver and Harris. He could as easily demand the truth about why Horiuchi was sent to this site and who sent him. Interesting that he does not, and he is one individual who knows more about the situation than just about anyone in America…….. Without JACL and other JA leaders coming to the fore, we all have to ask why not……. I believe this is the first time in history the JA community, and its political leaders, have failed to come to the assistance of a JA accused of this sort of crime - namely, a crime committed acting under the orders of the US Government……."

http://www.colshan.com/government/govt_matsui.htm "….Senior Advisor & Director of Government Relations and Public Policy……
Doris Matsui was appointed by President Bill Clinton to serve as Deputy Assistant to the President and Deputy Director of Public Liaison for the White House in January of 1993. Previously, she was among the eight board members of President-elect Clinton’s Transition Team. ……..In her capacity as Deputy Assistant to the President, Ms. Matsui facilitated policy development and discussion across all the major White House executive offices including, among others, the Domestic Policy Council, the National Economic Council, the Office of Management and Budget, the Vice President’s office as well as other relevant agencies and departments. She organized and conducted White House policy briefings for national and regional groups in order to educate and inform as well as to elicit public feedback on new initiatives and communicate new developments………Ms. Matsui brings extensive international experience, having participated in the Asia Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) in Seattle (1993), Jakarta (1994), and Manila (1996), assisting the Administration’s efforts to educate and engage the business sector on the President's trade and international development priorities with APEC. She accompanied President Clinton on the official State visit in 1996 to Japan, where she made a presentation to nonprofit corporate leaders. In addition, she participated in the President’s State visit to China in 1998 as a member of the official delegation. ……."

http://www.us-japan.org/dc/index.html

"…..The Japan-America Society of Washington (JASW) is a 501(c)3 nonprofit, nonpartisan educational and cultural organization of individuals and institutions with an interest in Japan and U.S.-Japan relations. Founded in 1957, it serves as the primary forum in the Mid-Atlantic region for promoting understanding between Americans and Japanese through its cultural, public affairs, and educational programs….."





JUDGE JOYCE HENS GREEN

http://www.dcbar.org/about_bar/jhg-lege.html

"….A 1951 graduate of the George Washington University National Law Center, Joyce Hens Green spent 17 years as a private practitioner before joining the bench in March 1968, where she has served for the past 31 years: 11 years at the D.C. Superior Court, and 20 years as a federal judge at the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia and the U.S. Foreign Intelligence Court. In 1979 she was named "Woman Lawyer of the Year" by the Women's Bar Association of the District of Columbia, and since then has received an Honorary Doctor of Laws from George Washington University, the Intelligence Under Law Award from the National Security Agency, the Edmund J. Randolph Award from the U.S. Department of Justice, and the Agency Seal Medallion from the Central Intelligence Agency….

BR: How did your appointment to the federal bench come about?

JHG: That was 1979, after I'd spent 11 years on the Superior Court. My name was one of those sent to the White House by the D.C. Judicial Nomination Commission that President Carter had set up; I was teaching a short seminar at Harvard when I learned that the president had nominated me.

BR: Had you ever met President Carter prior to that?

JHG: No.

BR: Why do you think he chose you?

JHG: I don't know. I didn't have any political connections in either the Johnson administration or the Carter administration. So I've never known who to thank for making all this happen. I'm delighted and grateful the appointments were made -- but I can't tell you how they came to be.

BR: One of the cases that landed on your docket was the notorious BCCI bank fraud case. Was that a difficult case to handle?

JHG: These were enormously fascinating cases, and they are not over yet. I was assigned the criminal case against the BCCI corporate entities as well as a number of individuals. It was believed that BCCI had illegally acquired a controlling interest in First American Corporation, the holding company of the largest bank in the area at the time. The court appointed liquidators who were given control of BCCI entered a plea of guilty as to the BCCI corporations, agreeing that the former management of BCCI had perpetrated the largest and most complex bank fraud in history.

One aspect of that plea agreement was that BCCI would forfeit its assets in the United States to the United States Government. I appointed two trustees -- one to liquidate First American's assets, and the other to liquidate the other assets. This liquidation process is still going on. The total figure now in excess of $1 billion, far more than anyone ever expected to be recovered.

The liquidation has required substantial work. In addition to monitoring the activities of the trustees, I have adjudicated hundreds of claims by third parties, who alleged that the property the government had seized was not part of the BCCI network of assets. The RICO statute established a procedure for handling these kind of claims, but there was very little precedent to rely on. And these claims raised all sorts of novel issues related to commercial law, banking law, the law of foreign sovereign immunity and so on.

I also was assigned five civil cases that were related to the liquidation of BCCI. Four of the five cases have been resolved, and the fifth has just been tried. In the largest case, more than $400 million in settlements had been achieved, and trial was scheduled for October 1998 against the four remaining defendants, including Clark Clifford and Robert Altman. The parties had been trying to resolve the matter for a long time. About a month before trial, I was asked to try to settle the case. My involvement coupled with a looming four to six month trial broke the logjam. As it happened, Mr. Clifford passed away just a month later. I favor settlement in a lot of cases; if there ever was a case where settlement was appropriate, this was it. …."





Bradley Garrett, Special Agent FBI

[Mahoney Murder, Cooper Indictment] 8/4/99 United States Attorney Wilma A Lewis (press release) "….. The officials specifically cited Detective James Trainum of the MPDC and FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett for their exceptional and sustained efforts in leading the investigation that produced today's indictment…."

http://www.lineofduty.com/blotter/sep99/092199jj.htm Fairfax, Virginia 9/21/99 "…. Fairfax County police, confident they have an accurate drawing of the suspect in a triple homicide in McLean in May, have sent more than 370 e-mails to acquaintances of slaying victim Fuad K. Taima in hopes of attracting a lead that will provide them with a name for their suspect's face. Taima, 63, wife Dorothy M. Taima, 54, and son Leith, 16, were found shot to death in their Broyhill Street home May 28. Homicide Detective Robert Murphy said this morning that police had ruled out any domestic-related motive in the shootings and that with the help of the FBI, detectives continue to focus on Fuad Taima's business dealings with Iraq…… Taima had returned from a business trip to Baghdad on May 17 in which he had helped arrange a deal for Valmet Automation Inc. to provide monitoring equipment for the oil pipeline between Iraq and Turkey. FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett said today that he has interviewed Valmet employees who were involved in the transaction and has spoken to possible witnesses overseas, but neither he nor Murphy have yet traveled out of the country on the case. But Taima was a frequent user of e-mail, so detectives from the police computer forensics unit obtained Taima's electronic address book and sent out 378 e-mails to Taima's correspondents on Sept. 3. Garrett said that "over a dozen" responses had been received so far and that they had provided some information for investigators to track. "Do we have the scope narrowed down greatly? No," Garrett said, "but it's narrower than it was." ……"

http://www.lib.virginia.edu/area-studies/SouthAsia/SAserials/Dawn/1997/22Nov97.html Dawn 11/22/97 Shaheen Sehba "….FAIRFAX, Virginia, Nov. 18: The local court which tried and sentenced Mir Aimal Kansi to death released the evidence in his case for the media and a cursory look establishes that the confession signed by Kansi was written by the FBI agents…….. The evidence, besides the confessional statement, included the AK-47 gun, pistols and ammunition used in the CIA killings, pictures of the crime scene, reports of the specialists and scanning tests done on Kansi and copies of applications made by Kansi to buy firearms and seek asylum in the US. Interestingly, the documents reveal that Kansi's signatures on the confessional statement were totally different from what he normally signed on the asylum application or the forms he filled to buy the gun and two pistols. The statement, signed by Kansi on board the aircraft while on way from Pakistan to the US, was written by an FBI agent, in capital letters on two small lined papers. It was written in pure legal language and said: "I, Aimal Khan Kasi, also known as Mir Aimal Kansi, freely and voluntarily provide this statement to SA Bradley J. Garrett and SA Sean Joyce of the FBI. No threats or promises have been made to me. I can read, write and have a master's degree in English……The signatures of Kansi on this statement read Aimal Kasi while in all other papers which he signed on his own free will, he has written Mir Aimal. The confession was admitted as evidence in the case, despite objections by the defence but later when the defence could have pointed out the discrepancies, they never mounted any defence for Kansi and concentrated only on the post-guilty phase to try to save him from death penalty, which they ultimately could not….." [another confession in dispute…]

http://venus.soci.niu.edu/~archives/ABOLISH/rick-halperin/jan98/0143.html "….Kasi, of Quetta, Pakistan, fled home a day after the shootings. He was captured by FBI agents and their Pakistani counterparts in June 1997 and confessed on the flight back to the United States. His comments in court Friday fit with the motives attributed to him in trial testimony by his 1 of his FBI captors, Special Agent Bradley Garrett. In imposing the death sentence, Brown said the jury had been fully justified in rejecting defense evidence of brain damage offered in mitigation of the crime. He said the evidence had been called into question by prosecution experts. Brown set Sept. 15 as the execution date. But Kasi is unlikely to be put to death for at least 4 or 5 years if he pursues all avenues of appeal, according to William Geimer, head of the Virginia Capital Case Clearing House, which helps defense attorneys in such cases at the trial level. ……"
http://www.apg.army.mil/tenants/902dmi/TERRORSM/Pakistan.htm "…..The prosecutors who won the verdict against Kasi on Monday presented testimony strongly suggesting that his motivation for killing the two CIA employees was anger at U.S. foreign policy in the Middle East. No evidence at the trial showed that Kasi was a member of any organized group. His case was conducted as a murder pure and simple, not a matter of terrorism. But one of the FBI agents who arrested Kasi, Bradley Garrett, testified that the defendant had told him he was particularly furious over the bombing of Iraq in the Persian Gulf war, the treatment of Palestinians by Israel and the perceived power of the United States and the CIA over Islamic countries like Pakistan….."

http://pirate.shu.edu/~jenninju/InternetLawFall1999/EMAILCASES.htm "….In December 1991, Mr. Roger D. Dietz, a resident of California, reported to FBI Agent Bradley Garrett that he believed a number of subscribers of America Online were using the service to transmit and receive visual images portraying child pornography. Approximately two days later, Mr. Dietz gave FBI Agent Rowland a disk containing some of the visual images he had observed. Mr. Dietz also sent an e-mail message to America Online officials reflecting the screen names and communications of those subscribers he thought were transmitting pornographic images. Agent Garrett opened an investigation and contacted America Online in an effort to ascertain the identities of those involved with child pornography. America Online advised Mr.Garrett that he would need a search warrant to obtain e-mail transmissions by its subscribers. ……. Following discussions with America Online officials, Agent Garrett began to prepare an affidavit and application for a search warrant. Believing he could provide probable cause to search the America Online computers for pornographic materials, Agent Garrett decided to seek authority to seize electronic transmissions made by the subscribers who [**7] were assigned the screen names which Mr. Dietz had furnished to him. On 10 December 1991, the Federal Magistrate for the Eastern District of Virginia issued a search warrant for America Online computers based on the information in Agent Garrett's affidavit………Anticipating that a warrant would be issued, officials at America Online used the information which Mr. Dietz had provided them to program software which automatically extracted the information which Agent Garrett was seeking from their computers. Consequently, the desired information had been withdrawn from their computers even before the warrant was executed. When the warrant was presented to America Online, their officials turned over to Agent Garrett between 12,000 and 14,000 pages of e-mail messages and 39 high density computer disks containing visual transmissions. ……"



Washington Post.com 4/25/00 Bill Miller "….. Carl Derek Cooper came to court today to plead guilty to a 48-count indictment accusing him of killing three people at a Starbucks coffee shop and numerous other crimes, deciding against taking his case to a trial that could have ended with a jury urging his execution. ….. Under terms of the plea, Cooper was to be sentenced immediately to a term of life in prison with no chance of parole. The agreement came just one week before Cooper was to stand trial in U.S. District Court in what would have been the first death penalty case in the District in nearly 30 years. The last execution of a D.C. prisoner took place in 1957……."

Washington Post.com 4/25/00 Bill Miller "…Although D.C. law does not provide for the death penalty, federal law made it an option in the Starbucks case. In February, Attorney General Janet Reno decided to seek capital punishment, going against recommendation of U.S. Attorney Wilma A. Lewis, who believed that prosecutors should have sought life without parole. Reno's decision generated much community opposition, with D.C. Delegate Eleanor Holmes Norton (D) and others noting that D.C. voters rejected the death penalty in a 1992 election. …… The D.C. Council passed a resolution reaffirming its opposition to the death penalty, and organizations such as Amnesty International USA and the National Coalition to Abolish the Death Penalty urged Reno to reconsider. …… But once Reno made her decision, prosecutors built a case for execution. They said Cooper was accused of a series of crimes dating to 1993, and that he routinely turned to violence when victims resisted. The indictment charged him with seven incidents, including the 1993 slaying of security guard Sandy Griffin in Northwest Washington, several robberies or planned robberies of stores and businesses, and the shooting of Bruce Howard, an off-duty Prince George's County police officer at a park in 1996……."

Washington Post.com 4/25/00 Bill Miller "…Defense lawyers Steven R. Kiersh and Francis D. Carter approached prosecutors about the possibility of a plea bargain in recent weeks, after getting a clearer picture of the evidence that faced their client. But it wasn't until Monday that Cooper signed the paperwork that set the stage for today's dramatic proceedings, and he still had the right to back out right until the last moment when he announced, "guilty."…."

Jim Keary and John Drake 4/26/00 THE WASHINGTON TIMES "…..Carl D. Cooper yesterday was sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole after pleading guilty to murdering three workers in a Georgetown Starbucks coffee shop during a botched robbery in 1997. Cooper, 30, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to 47 federal charges, including the murder counts. In exchange for his guilty plea, federal prosecutors did not seek the death penalty……… Cooper originally was charged with 48 counts, but prosecutors dropped a theft charge because it was a duplicate of another charge…….. Two investigators - Metropolitan Police Detective James Trainum and FBI Special Agent Brad Garrett - whom Cooper had vowed to kill after his arrest, sat about 15 feet away……… Attorney General Janet Reno decided to seek the death penalty in the federal case, although U.S. Attorney Wilma Lewis had not requested capital punishment if Cooper was convicted………. "

Clarence Williams THE WASHINGTON TIMES "…… Accused Starbucks killer Carl D. Cooper is scheduled to plead guilty to all charges today in a deal that includes a government agreement to drop its death penalty request, sources close to the investigation said………. Mr. Cooper pleaded not guilty to all charges in a 48-count federal indictment issued last August. A federal grand jury charged him with the slayings of three Starbucks employees, a security guard and racketeering. Mr. Cooper is charged with the July 6, 1997, killings of Starbucks employees Mary Caitrin Mahoney, 24; Emory Allen Evans, 25; and Aaron David Goodrich, 18. He admitted to police he walked into the coffee shop at 1810 Wisconsin Ave. NW alone and, armed with two handguns, killed the three during a botched robbery. Only a conviction on federal charges could call the death penalty into play in the District, which banned capital punishment after its last execution in 1957......."

Associated Press 4/25/00 Candace Smith "……A man accused of killing three workers at a Starbucks store in the nation's capital pleaded guilty Tuesday to escape a possible death sentence. Carl Derek Cooper, 30, was to go on trial May 2 in the District of Columbia's first capital punishment case in some three decades. Although the district outlawed capital punishment in 1981, Attorney General Janet Reno agreed to let federal prosecutors seek the death penalty. But in a plea agreement, Cooper struck a deal for life in prison without parole. He was expected to be sentenced Tuesday night. ……… Cooper pleaded guilty to a 47-count indictment that also included the 1993 murder of Sandy Griffin, a security guard in a district apartment building and the attempted murder of a Prince George's County, Md., police officer. Bruce Howard was off-duty when Cooper tried to rob him in a park in Hyattsville, Md. in 1996. ......"