Officer Sisak arrives at court. (Photo: Don Carpenter/Mobile Broadcast News)
The tenth day of the Jordan Miles trial opened up with yet another lengthy sidebar meeting between Judge Cercone and the attorneys for both sides.
Officer Sisak quietly sat in his chair reading his book on bee-keeping, as former Jordan Miles friend Ryan Allen and his court-appointed attorney quietly whispered in each others ears as they sat in the court gallery.
Ryan Allen would finally take the stand at 9:55 a.m. to a barrage of bullying questions from defense attorneys James Wymard and Robert Leight.
“Did Jordan Miles tell you what he had on his person on January 12, 2010?” Wymard would ask.
“I can’t recall.” Allen replied.
In his 40-minute-long testimony, Allen would maintain that he couldn’t recall what Miles had told him, what he told the FBI in their investigation, as well as what he told a grand jury convened in 2010 to investigate the incident between Miles and officers.
Despite being handed copies of his statements, Allen couldn’t recall a single detail aside from acknowledging that he remembered meeting with the FBI.
When asked by Wymard if he gave conflicting statements to the FBI to disqualify himself as a witness, as Miles had testified the previous day, Allen said no, and maintained he was there to tell the truth.
The truth is, Ryan Allen couldn’t remember anything, according to his testimony.
Allen would deny that he had told Jordan Miles about giving conflicting statements to the FBI.
Robert Leight in his questions to Allen focused whether Allen simply didn’t want to be viewed as a snitch in the eyes of his friends. “I’m just here to testify to what I remember, and to tell the truth,” Allen would tell a frustrated Leight.
Robert Leight would engage Allen about his secret grand jury testimony, the contents of which are not known to the public or in any of the court documents entered into evidence.
Allen’s testimony would be the same from his appearance in the first trial.
Next up would be Monica Wooding, Jordan’s former neighbor.
She answered questions from the defense about her conversation with Officer Sisak in which she asked if he knew “Poncho”, another undercover Pittsburgh Police Officer from years past.
She would testify she heard no cries for help and saw a gun clip in her yard the next morning.
During cross examination, Joel Sansone would show Ms. Wooding a Glock .40 magazine clip and a Glock 9mm magazine clip, asking her if either looked like the clip in her front yard back in 2010. Wooding would identify the 9mm gun clip, prompting objections from the defense, to which Sansone would reply that officers Ewing and Saldutte both carried Glock .40s, and Sisak had a Glock 9mm on him the night Miles was beaten.
Previous testimony reflects that the FBI had questioned Officer Saldutte about the possibility of Sisak losing his gun clip on January 12, 2010, as well as his flashlight, Taser, and handcuffs. Sisak’s Taser and handcuffs were ultimately found, but his flashlight never was.
As soon as Wooding identified the gun clip, you could see a chill running down the officers’ spines.
Jordan’s lawyers, Sansone and Giroux, had planned to introduce Wooding’s gun clip testimony since last Thursday. Jordan Miles was all smiles following Wooding’s testimony and the lunch break.
After lunch, the defense called Jordan Miles’ supervisor from CVS to the stand. Jordan’s boss would testify that Jordan is a remarkable person, as well as well deserving of his recent promotion to shift supervisor.
Special Agent Sandra Bush of the FBI took to the stand to testify as to what Ryan Allen told her, but was not allowed by Judge Cercone on the grounds that it was hearsay. She went on to testify that some of Jordan’s FBI statements were based on what officers had said to him after he was already in handcuffs.
Officer Ewing would once again take the stand for the defense to deny any wrongdoing by himself or any other officer. “That never happened. I can’t say that enough,” he angrily replied when asked if Miles was beaten after he was already subdued.
Ewing would vent his frustration that this case has taken 4 years to analyze and resolve a three minute altercation.
Ewing would also admit that this case was part of his decision to quit the force and become an officer in McCandless Township.
