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State of Texas
In
Re Linda arty
ounty
of Harris
AFFIDAVIT OF CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY ROBINSON
I,
Christopher Anthony Robinson, state that the following is true
and correct to the best of my
knowledge:
1 I testified at Linda Carty s trial on February 13 and 14,
2002.
2 When I was arrested in connection with this case, I was
interrogated by the Houston Police
Department several times.
3 Each time the police interviewed me, before they turned on the
tape recorder, they would talk
to
me and tell me what I was to say first, or at least what their
version of events was, then they
would put the tape on.
4
The DA and the Police (particularly Detective Novak) told me
repeatedly that the only reason why
I had been caught and was in this trouble was because Linda
Carty had snitched to them and
told them everything. They kept telling me they already knew
everything about what happened
and that everyone had snitched
on
me. They really wound me up about this and, as a result , I
got
angry with Linda. Also, there is a general code on the street
that you do not rat on your friends,
but Linda was not our friend and it ended up that it fell to her
to take the heat. This was especially
so because the District Attorneys seemed only interested
in
blaming Linda and getting the death
penalty for Linda.
5
While I was incarcerated
in
County Jail, Carliss Williams, my half-brother Zebediah Comb,
my
cousin Armand Combs, Toby Caldwell and I were held
in
such a way that we were able to talk to
one another.
6 We all spoke and were able
to
discuss what we would say and what we would not say. I told
Carliss Williams, Zebediah Comb, Toby Caldwell and Armand Comb
not to say anything.
7
When I had been
in
County Jail for about two or three weeks the District Attorney
came to visit
me. The District Attorneys who came to visit me were Connie
Spence and Craig Goodhart.
8 I had eight or nine interviews with Connie Spence and Craig
Goodhart where they made it really
clear what I had to say
in
Linda Carty s trial.
9 Spence and Goodhart would come and get me from my cell and
take me
in
the elevator to a room
upstairs with a
big
window looking onto the outside. They d buy
me
drinks and snacks from the
vending machine.
10) Spence and Goodhart recorded me on a tape recorder for some
of these meetings . I don t think
the first ones were recorded, but some of the later ones
were.
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11) They would use a little silver recording device about 3 - 4
inches long. During the meetings
where they did record me, they would keep it out on the table
nearly the whole time. I do not think
it was on the table for
every
meeting. Connie Spence would switch the silver recording
device
on
and off as we were talking.
12) Spence and Goodhart took a lot
of
notes during the meetings. They took notes
on
yellow legal
pads.
13) Connie Spence and Craig Goodhart threatened me and
intimidated me, telling me I would get the
death penalty myself if Linda Carty did not
get
the death penalty. They told me I had to testify at
Linda s trial to avoid the death penalty, and they made it clear
what it was I had
to
say.
14) Spence and Goodhart had a version of events in their minds
and they were alternating between
coaching me and threatening me to get me to say their version .
My testimony had
to
satisfy what
they wanted; and what they wanted was Linda to get the death
penalty. They both edited out
things they did not want me
to
say, and edited in things they did.
15) For example, I told Craig Goodhart and Connie Spence that I
had not seen Linda Carty putting a
bag over Johanna Rodriguez s head but they were persistent
in
telling me that the jury must think
that Linda Carty killed Johanna Rodriguez.
16) Craig Goodhart and Connie Spence spent a lot of time
rehearsing my testimony with me. They
consistently told me what they believed happened -i.e., Linda
Carty killed Johanna Rodriguez
by
putting a bag over her head. It didn t seem to matter what my
eyes had actually seen, they were
always pushing me to change things around and add more.
17) One example of this would be as mentioned above the fact
that I had not seen Linda putting a
bag
ov r
Johanna Rodriguez s head, but they really wanted me to
testify
in
a clear way that I
had
seen Linda killing Rodriguez by holding a bag over her head.
18) Another example was adding a detail that Linda had
instructed us to kill all the guys
in
the
apartment during the lick. The truth is Linda didn t instruct us
to kill all the guys
in
the apartment.
This was a detail that got included at trial through the various
rehearsals with the District
Attorneys.
19) Another example would
be
the fact that Linda never instructed anyone to tape up
Johanna
Rodriguez, but this was ultimately what I said at trial.
20) Another example would be how they wanted me to say I d seen
Linda bathing the baby, but I
never s w Linda bathing the baby; this was entirely invented by
the District Attorney.
21) The District Attorney really wanted me to testify that Linda
Carty was the ringleader, but I couldn t
really do that truthfully. It was Josie Anderson who was the one
who put everything together. It
was Josie who sold the idea to us and she was the one who was
buddies with everyone. It was
her plan and if the plan had fallen like she said it would, she
would have got a cut of the money
and the drugs .
22) One of the most rehearsed areas of our testimony was the
section where I was meant
to
testify
that I saw Linda bent over the trunk, holding the bag
ov r
Johanna Rodriguez s head
in
the car
and whether I had seen Johanna Rodriguez dead
in
the car at that point .
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23) Spence and Goodhart were adamant that I testify that I had
seen Rodriguez dead at this point
in time. I kept telling Craig Goodhart that I had not seen
Johanna Rodriguez dead in the car
on
the night of Tuesday May 15, 2001, so I could not know if
Johanna Rodriguez died in the car that
night. I repeatedly told Goodhart and Spence that I did not
think Rodriguez was dead and that,
in
fact, she was breathing. Both Goodhart and Spence kept telling
me you know she was dead or
she was dead, she was dead . In the end this whole section
became so distorted from the truth
that, at the trial, I just said what Goodhart and Spence wanted
me to say.
24) Goodhart kept telling me the story needed to be that I had
seen Linda putting a bag over Johanna
Rodriguez's head and that immediately afterwards I observed
Rodriguez dead, not breathing and
motionless
in
the car.
25) At trial I testified that I saw Linda Carty killing Johanna
Rodriguez with a bag over her head. In
fact, I did not see Linda Carty putting the trash bag over
Johanna Rodriguez's head .
26) At trial I testified that I saw Linda with [h]alf her body
in the trunk, like, one leg on the ground and
one leg
in
the trunk, like up''. The truth is, I did not see this . This
was a detail that was added by
Spence and Goodhart
as
part o the rehearsals.
27) Finally, because Spence and Goodhart were adamant that I say
that immediately after I had seen
Linda putting a bag over Johanna Rodriguez's head I observed
Rodriguez dead, not breathing
and motionless in the car, I testified to this at trial.
28) At trial, I said that when I ripped the bag open she wasn't
breathing . Goodhart asked
me
(d]id
you see her begin to breathe when you ripped the bag
o
her head? , and I answered no Sir .
Goodhart asked me (s]he didn't move, did she? and I answered no,
Sir . But this was not true
and Goodhart knew that it was not true.
29) The truth
is
, I did see Rodriguez
in
the trunk
o
the car
on
the night
o
Tuesday May 15,
2001
or
the early hours
o
Wednesday May 16, 2001. But, she was definitely alive.
30 At some point in the night, I cannot say for sure at what
point exactly. I opened the trunk and saw
Rodriguez with a bag over her head. I ripped the bag open and o
her head. When I ripped the
bag I saw Rodriguez visibly do a big inhale. She was definitely
breathing.
31 I did see Johanna Rodriguez dead in the trunk o the car
on
the following day. It was when
we
were using Lysol to clean the car for prints. It was during the
following day of Wednesday May
16, 2001. The trunk was opened again at some point and I saw
Rodriguez then; I believe she
was dead at that point because she was not moving and she looked
dead.
32) I do not believe Linda Carty intended for Johanna
Rodriguez
to
be killed. No-one ever intended
for Johanna Rodriguez to die. There was never a plan to kill
anyone. I think this was an accident.
33) Spence and Goodhart repeatedly told me that I was the key
witness and that what you will say
will nail Linda . But, there were only fragments of things I
knew. Despite this. I had to say their
version and it was critical to Spence and Goodhart that I knew
the whole story. I needed to be
able to say the whole story
in
a continuous way. When we were rehearsing I would say the
story
back to them, they would stop me and add something in. or take
it out then make me keep going.
They would stop me by saying wait, wait, this
is
what happened and then correct what I said .
Then I would get back into the flow. Spence and Goodhart wanted
me
to
have an answer for
everything, so if I did not know an answer. they would give
me
one.
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34) I was very scared at Linda Carty's trial. My fear came from
the threats and statements made
by
the District Attorneys, Craig Goodhart and Connie Spence. For
years I
just
didn't want to talk
about this case ; but this is the truth of what happened.
I have read this affidavit. I affirm that it is true and correct
to the best of my knowledge, and I so state
under penalty of perjury .
~ W d J ; " v
CHRISTOPHER ANTHONY ROBINSON
Signed and sworn before
me
on t i s ~ day
o f ~
J f e i V \ . J i e.f
.
2014.
My commission expires
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