Chapter 49
Skip Forsakes Expert Legal Advice
On Monday, December 19, we met with the lawyers Steve recommended – two different sets of lawyers. We’d first stopped at the NYC headquarters of the ACLU about handling a class action law suit to stop police profiling for stop-and-frisks (arising out of our Oklahoma City bust) – saying we knew a friendly judge who would be happy to spill the beans.
In the afternoon all six of us (minus Huck) were back on the Jersey side of the Hudson River heading to the office of the Constitutional Rights Center. Suddenly Sally pointed, “Hey, there’s the airport exit! – Really close by if this next meeting doesn’t make me feel safe, everything feel safe.”
Leaving the Lincoln Tunnel, Rocky had made a joke about the heavy toll we paid to get into the City (the heavy burden we were carrying) but getting out was free: “Last chance everybody – our ‘Get out of jail free card.’ Keep heading straight back to Minnesota. Don’t give Steve the chance to bungle this – and we all end up locked up before nightfall.”
Steve used the lack of laughter to say, “Time to get serious,” and began briefing us on what to expect. Occasionally twitching his mustache, he told us the lawyers we were off to see were very experienced with politics, terrorism, constitutional rights stuff. They’d handled cases representing Tom Hayden in the Chicago 8 trial, Native Americans at Wounded Knee, the Weather Underground in the Brinks Armored Car Robbery. More recently, they had been successful suing the U.S. government to stop unlawful surveillance and to check executive power in the “Global War on Terrorism.”
“They’ve negotiated deals where – before you turn yourself in – the government agrees not to prosecute you, or agrees to get you a reduced sentence, so we should be okay. I don’t think anybody, except maybe Skip, has done anything that could lead to charges at this point.”
We had been careful to plan what we told the Rights Center lawyer to just put Skip in the middle of all this, and have the rest of us be like Patty and Sally who knew nothing until the ride up to the City.
With a final tug at his moustache, Steve finished: “One thing they’re going to tell us is that everything we tell them is confidential and will be held in strict confidence – except if we start blabbing about this to other people, or tell them we’re about to go out and commit some crime – then they have a duty to stop us.”
“Well, is it a crime just to hold on to our information, keep what we know from the authorities?” Skip asked.
“Good question for the lawyers – that’s a gray area,” Steve replied.
Sitting in our second less-than-opulent conference room of the day, Skip, holding his St. Paul Saints baseball cap in his lap, did all the talking, keeping all names out of it, except his own. Before he was too far into the story, one of the lawyers (there were two of them) said, “Hold on a minute. There has to be an attorney – client relationship established in order to make what you tell us confidential, and if you say things in front of these others, you lose that right of confidentiality.”
Sally, dressed for the first time in the one business suit she brought along (in case of flying we guessed) broke in: “We don’t know anything about this. Maybe the rest of us should just leave you two alone with Skip.”
“That’s probably a good idea,” the other lawyer said, “but Steve, you’re an attorney, right? If you want to stay, and tell us you’re acting as Skip’s lawyer – that would be okay.”
So we all left the room, except Skip and Steve, and couldn’t wait to learn what transpired after we left. Meanwhile, Sally already knew the flight schedules out of Newark to MSP International.
An hour later, Skip and Steve emerged, and we gathered outside for a recounting. Steve started: “Look you guys, it’s not good. They advised Skip to immediately call the FBI, said they’d walk over with him right now to the FBI office at the Courthouse. Skip will tell you his thoughts in a minute. My advice is that the Land Yacht go back to Huck’s and his musician buddies, and just go on with being Rumpkins. Forget all the murder mystery and terrorist stuff. Forget you ever heard anything about any of it. AND DON’T TALK ABOUT IT!”
Skip said he was pondering his next move – that he appreciated all the advice – but was going back to Philadelphia with Steve on the next train. “Phyllis is okay with having us back, but you guys should stay close by – Huck’s place is only an hour away straight up I-95.”
Rocky said, “I’ve been best buddies with Scotch [his nickname for Skip] since 1972. I’m not abandoning him now. I don’t know enough about it all yet. I’ll make sure my buddy gets to the authorities if it becomes necessary. I’m going back to Philly with Scotch and Steve.”
Our doctor, Max, said his ex-Lisa might be implicated indirectly through her brother Ken, and felt the best way to look out for her was by going back to Philly as well.
Skip, Steve, Rocky, and Max then headed back to Philadelphia on the Metro Liner. Patty said, “Sally, your choice, ride with me up to Huck’s or drop you at the airport?”
“My curiosity has got the best of me – this exceeds any past harnessing of my imagination. I can’t leave now.”