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Hughes Recantation
1 IN THE DISTRICT COURT OF POTTAWATTAMIE COUNTY, IOWA
2 STATE OF IOWA, ) NO. 17892 ) 3 PLAINTIFF, ) STATEMENT UNDER OATH OF ) KEVIN DUANE HUGHES 4 VS. ) ) 5 TERRY HARRINGTON, ) ) 6 DEFENDANT. ) ------------------------ 7
8 STATEMENT UNDER OATH OF KEVIN DUANE
9 HUGHES, taken before Cynthia Craig, General Notary
10 Public within and for the State of Nebraska,
11 beginning at 11:45 a.m., on May 17, 2000, at the
12 Offices of Thomas & Thomas Court Reporters &
13 Certified Legal Video, 502 North 40th Street, Omaha,
14 Nebraska 68131.
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THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
1 A P P E A R A N C E S
2 FOR THE DEFENDANT: 3 MR. LAWRENCE A. FARWELL, PhD Brain Wave Science 4 2000 North Court Street Building 18A Fairfield, IA 52556 5 (515) 469-5649 Fax 469-6639
6 Also Present: MR. JAMES SMITH 7 President C.S.S.I. Inc. Security 8 4441 North 63rd Street Omaha, NE 68104 (402) 457-3073 9
10 CATHY GOMEZ - videographer
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THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
1 I N D E X
2 CASE CAPTION Page 1 3 APPEARANCES Page 2 INDEX Page 3 4 TESTIMONY Page 4 REPORTER CERTIFICATE Page 28 5 COST CERTIFICATE Page 29
6 DIRECT EXAMINATION: By Dr. Farwell Page 4 7
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THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
4
1 (Whereupon, the following proceedings were had,
2 to wit:)
3 KEVIN DUANE HUGHES,
4 having been first duly sworn,
5 was examined and testified as follows:
6 DIRECT EXAMINATION
7 BY DR. FARWELL:
8 Q. Mr. Hughes, I'd like to ask you some
9 questions about the night of July 22nd, 1977, at --
10 that was the night that John Schweer was murdered.
11 Do you recall having testified in a trial of Terry
12 Harrington about -- about that evening?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. You do. All right.
15 Now, on that -- in earlier -- in earlier
16 statements at that time, you had indicated that you
17 were -- you drove over there to McIntyre Oldsmobile
18 with Terry Harrington in an automobile.
19 Now, could you -- could you tell me -- did
20 you, in fact, go over to McIntyre Oldsmobile with
21 Terry Harrington on that evening?
22 A. No, I didn't.
23 Q. You didn't. You're saying that you did
24 not -- you did not meet him and drive over to
25 McIntyre Oldsmobile on that evening?
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 5
1 A. No, nobody went over there.
2 Q. Nobody went over there. And you did not
3 see him get out of a car with a shotgun in that --
4 A. No.
5 Q. You didn't see him coming, running from
6 behind a building with a shotgun?
7 A. No.
8 Q. Did you hear a shot?
9 A. No.
10 Q. All right. So that -- is it correct that
11 that entire story about Terry Harrington having been
12 involved was not actually factual?
13 A. That's right.
14 Q. Okay. Do you -- do you know -- do you
15 know who committed that crime?
16 A. No, I don't.
17 Q. Do you -- but I just want to make sure I'm
18 understanding you correctly. You're saying that you
19 don't have any knowledge of Mr. Harrington having
20 committed that crime?
21 A. Have no knowledge of it all.
22 Q. Okay. Now, you understand that in court
23 testimony you did state that Harrington had
24 committed that crime. What you're telling me now
25 that is the truth, that you don't have any knowledge
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 6
1 of Harrington having committed that crime?
2 A. That's correct.
3 Q. You're saying you did not -- you don't
4 have any knowledge of him being over near McIntyre
5 Oldsmobile --
6 A. No.
7 Q. -- is that correct?
8 A. That's what I'm saying.
9 Q. On that evening. All right. Now, you're
10 sure we're talking about the same evening? We're
11 talking about the night of July 22nd, the evening of
12 the Schweer murder?
13 A. To be frank with you, I don't know what
14 date it was or actually as far as what date it was
15 or anything else as far as that there goes. But now
16 that you're bringing it back, as much I've been
17 coming to thinking about it now, it was July 22nd,
18 but I was -- none of us was over there that night.
19 Q. None of you were over there? You were not
20 there yourself?
21 A. I was not there myself.
22 Q. And Harrington wasn't there, to your
23 knowledge?
24 A. He was not there. As far as I know, he
25 wasn't there. That I know of, he wasn't there.
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 7
1 Q. All right. Where did that -- where did
2 that story come from? What led to your telling that
3 particular story?
4 A. We was together mostly. I've been knowing
5 Terry practically all my life, but we just -- at
6 that time there, we was hanging around a lot, me and
7 him and Curtis McGhee, we was hanging around a lot
8 and a lot and going and looking at cars and
9 everything else and was taking cars at that time.
10 And that's where that story came from.
11 Q. What led you to accuse Mr. Harrington of
12 that crime?
13 A. Like I said, we was together and
14 everything else at the time, and his name and Cub's
15 name, that's the names that I gave them.
16 Q. You gave to whom?
17 A. To Pottawattamie police -- detectives
18 rather.
19 Q. From -- are you talking about Omaha police
20 or are you talking about the Council Bluffs?
21 A. Council Bluffs police.
22 Q. So the Council Bluffs police were the
23 first people that you told that story to?
24 A. Yeah.
25 Q. Okay. Now, were you -- were you under
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 8
1 arrest at the time, that you told that story about
2 Harrington?
3 A. I believe I was. I can't believe -- I
4 don't know if they -- they read me my rights, so I
5 don't know what that was. So I don't know -- I
6 wasn't -- I don't believe I was charged with
7 anything as to right then and there, as far as that
8 there goes.
9 Q. Did you have reason to believe that you
10 might be charged with that crime yourself?
11 A. Oh, they told me that I was going to be --
12 we was all being charged with it.
13 Q. You all means who?
14 A. Me, Terry Harrington and Curtis McGhee.
15 Q. And who told you that?
16 A. Detectives.
17 Q. And this was with -- now, was this --
18 let's see. You spoke with Officer Putnam and Wiese
19 of the Omaha police and Officer Larson and Brown --
20 A. Well, I think Larson -- they was the
21 Pottawattamie police. That's who I talked to.
22 Q. Okay. So he's -- he's the first one that
23 you told the story to about Harrington having been
24 involved in the crime?
25 A. Yeah.
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 9
1 Q. And what led you to make that kind of a
2 statement?
3 A. I just said, I just told you that there
4 before. I said that we was -- he -- we was together
5 a lot and they was the people that I brought up.
6 Q. You had previously talked about Dennis
7 Jackson, Steven Frazer and Anthony Houston having
8 been involved in the crime?
9 A. Yes, I did. That's because we -- me,
10 Anthony Houston, Terry Harrington, Curtis McGhee --
11 we all went up to Fremont together, okay? Prior to
12 that there, me, Stevie Frazer and Dennis Jackson
13 went up there to Fremont together, and it was all
14 about cars.
15 Q. Uh-huh. But we're -- you're not talking
16 about the night of the murder. You're talking about
17 other times?
18 A. No, no, no, it's the other times, other
19 than that there.
20 Q. Okay. Did you get a reward?
21 A. No.
22 Q. So you were -- you were in custody and you
23 think you believe you had been arrested for that
24 particular crime, or was it for something else?
25 A. No, when I was -- I was already
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 10
1 incarcerated -- I was already in -- waiting to go to
2 sentencing on an another charge: Theft by unlawful
3 taking.
4 Q. Okay. And --
5 A. They came over and got me from the
6 correctional center in Omaha and took me over to
7 Pottawattamie police station.
8 Q. This was Officer Larson and Officer Brown?
9 A. Yeah.
10 Q. Did you speak with Mr. Hrvol there too?
11 MR. SMITH: I was going to ask you a
12 question. You were already charged. Were you
13 charged with a crime that -- to do with car lots
14 prior to that?
15 THE WITNESS: No, this ain't have nothing
16 to do with it.
17 MR. SMITH: It had nothing to do with the
18 car lots?
19 THE WITNESS: No, no, no. This was for
20 unlawful taking -- unlawful use of a credit card --
21 that's what it was.
22 MR. SMITH: Okay. But then by the same
23 token, they involved you guys in the taking of these
24 cars too then; is that right?
25 THE WITNESS: Yeah, yeah. They said they
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 11
1 went out and talked to some people and witnesses
2 said that we was taking a whole lot -- we was taking
3 cars.
4 BY DR. FARWELL:
5 Q. Who said that?
6 A. This was what detectives told us.
7 Q. Officer Larson and Brown --
8 A. Yeah.
9 Q. -- of -- okay.
10 And did they -- did they tell that you
11 were charged or would be charged or might be charged
12 with this particular murder?
13 A. Yes.
14 Q. Okay. And what did they -- what evidence
15 did they say they had for that?
16 A. I guess -- man, it's been so long ago, I
17 can't -- they just said they had witnesses -- that's
18 what they said. They kept saying they had
19 witnesses.
20 Q. They had witnesses that you'd been
21 involved?
22 A. That said -- no, they had witnesses that
23 said that we was involved and we was the one that
24 done it.
25 Q. Uh-uh. We means who; you and who else?
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 12
1 A. Me, Terry and Curtis McGee. That's what
2 detective -- the detective said.
3 Q. I see. Did they tell you that Harrington
4 or McGhee had accused you of the murder?
5 A. Yeah.
6 Q. Who --
7 A. The detectives, right there that you
8 talking about.
9 Q. Officer Larson and Officer Brown?
10 A. Yeah.
11 Q. Of the Council Bluffs?
12 A. I sat in an office with Hrvol.
13 Q. Joseph Hrvol?
14 A. Yeah, him, and Brown and Larson all were
15 at the Pottawattamie County Jail.
16 DR. FARWELL: That's H-R-V-O-L.
17 BY DR. FARWELL:
18 Q. Yes. And they told you that Harrington
19 had accused you of that murder?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. Did they show you documents that they said
22 were statements from him accusing you?
23 A. They said that if I wanted -- the office
24 we was in, I guess they -- they didn't have the
25 paperwork in there, but he said he could run to his
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 13
1 office and get it if I wanted to see it. So did we
2 actually ever see it? No, I didn't see it.
3 Q. They told you there was -- that they had a
4 sworn statement from Harrington that accused you of
5 the murder?
6 A. Both of them, Curtis McGhee and Terry
7 Harrington, yeah.
8 Q. And at that point, how old were you?
9 A. Sixteen. I wasn't even 17 years old yet.
10 I was 16.
11 Q. And they told you you were facing a murder
12 charge?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. And at that time then, you made up the
15 story about --
16 A. Yes.
17 Q. -- Harrington and Curtis McGhee having
18 committed -- or at least having --
19 A. Yeah.
20 Q. -- gone out of the car and come back
21 running from around from the building -- that whole
22 story?
23 A. Yes.
24 Q. And that whole story was not true at all?
25 A. Not true at all.
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 14
1 Q. Did Mr. Hrvol and Officers Larson and
2 Brown take you over to the scene of that crime?
3 A. Yes, they did.
4 Q. And what happened there?
5 A. Took me around it -- took me around the
6 place, and then they told me to stop right where
7 you -- where you think -- where y'all stopped at in
8 the car, and I just had them pull over to the side
9 in front of the place. I said, right here.
10 Q. But you didn't actually pull over there in
11 the car that night? You just made that up?
12 A. No, no.
13 Q. And did they talk to you about the time of
14 the crime and that having been important?
15 A. Yeah, they talked about the time. I can't
16 remember what time they said, so I couldn't even and
17 go tell you what time -- what time they said it
18 happened or what time the man was supposed to got
19 killed. I couldn't tell you that there, because I
20 don't -- can't remember the time.
21 Q. Did you -- did you make up a story that
22 fit in with the times they were telling you about --
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. -- the crime?
25 A. Yeah, yeah, yep.
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 15
1 Q. Initially, according to court testimony,
2 you said something about a pistol and then later you
3 said something about a .410 shotgun and then you
4 later you changed it to a 12-guage shotgun. Why did
5 you change your story? Did they give you
6 information to let you know it was a 12-gauge
7 shotgun that actually committed the crime?
8 A. Yeah, they said it was a shotgun. I can't
9 remember if they told me that was it a 12 gauge or
10 .410 or whatever. I can't remember that there. I
11 can't remember them telling me that there.
12 Q. You initially had said it was a pistol and
13 then they told you it was a shotgun; is that what
14 you're telling me?
15 A. I believe so. I believe so.
16 Q. Did -- who told you this -- this whole
17 story -- to make up this whole story?
18 A. Didn't nobody tell me the story.
19 Q. You just made it up?
20 A. Yeah.
21 Q. And you made up the story because you
22 yourself were accused?
23 A. Yeah.
24 Q. And you didn't want to have that murder
25 rap, so -- did they tell you that you'd get off if
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 16
1 you gave them evidence against someone else?
2 A. They told me that I -- yeah, I wouldn't be
3 charged with it.
4 Q. Okay. Did they tell you -- let's see.
5 You had several -- several cases pending
6 against you at the time, according to court
7 testimony. Did they tell you those would be dropped
8 if you testified?
9 A. I didn't have no -- I was already -- I had
10 already -- when they started talking to me, I was
11 out on bond. The only case I had against me -- the
12 only case I went to the penitentiary for was theft
13 by unlawful taking. It was unlawful use of a credit
14 card.
15 Q. Uh-huh.
16 A. That was it. I got 18 months. That was
17 it. I don't have -- I didn't have no other cases.
18 DR. FARWELL: Anything else you want to
19 add?
20 BY MR. SMITH:
21 Q. Number one is, on the -- like I say,
22 basically what they did, they led into a lot of the
23 stories. Did they show you where the gentleman was
24 killed at or anything, when they took you over
25 there?
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 17
1 A. No, they didn't -- they didn't show me --
2 they didn't show me that there -- I didn't see that
3 there until when the court was going on, they had
4 big pictures of. Took it from, I guess, up in the
5 sky or something like that. But I never knew where
6 he got killed at or where he got shot at.
7 Q. But when they you over there to McIntyre's
8 that time --
9 A. No, we never got -- we never got out of
10 the car or nothing. They just took me over there,
11 said where did y'all pull over at, and I said right
12 here, and they pulled right in front of the place
13 right here. And he said, well, what direction did
14 y'all take off after y'all from there, and I said we
15 went that there way and came back over the South
16 Omaha Bridge Road, and that was that.
17 Q. So they didn't let you get out of the car
18 or anything?
19 A. No, we didn't get out of the car or
20 nothing, no, no.
21 BY DR. FARWELL:
22 Q. Now, did Officer Larson and Brown leave
23 you in the car and then -- or did someone -- some of
24 the officers leave you in the car and then disappear
25 around the corner the way that you were saying the
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 18
1 suspects had and then reappear running from around
2 the other building? Did they sort of run through --
3 reinact the crime in a way?
4 A. I can't remember. I can't remember when
5 they took me over there, did they get out of the car
6 or not. As far as I -- I don't think they did. I
7 think we just went to the corner there and they
8 said -- they run from behind this here building here
9 and they just pointed it from the car. I don't -- I
10 can't remember for sure if they got out or not.
11 Q. All right. But you -- and you just told
12 them that'd run from behind that building?
13 A. Yeah.
14 Q. But you didn't see anybody run from behind
15 that building in real life?
16 A. No, no.
17 Q. The night of the crime?
18 A. No.
19 MR. SMITH: When they convinced you of the
20 fact that there was a murder over there, and in
21 other words, they led you to believe that if you
22 testified against Harrington and them, then you
23 would be free of that particular crime; is that
24 right?
25 THE WITNESS: Right.
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 19
1 MR. SMITH: And when you say that you
2 were -- when you -- when all three of you were in
3 jail at the time, then they put in the room together
4 at certain times?
5 THE WITNESS: Just that one time that I
6 can remember that we went in the gym together and
7 they said we was supposed to stay separated. And
8 they put us in the gym together one time. And
9 that's when I told you we had talked and everything.
10 That's when we was in there for that time. That was
11 about like 45 minutes to an hour.
12 MR. SMITH: They had told you -- as a
13 matter of fact, Harrington said that he had told
14 that you he had done it and you --
15 THE WITNESS: Yeah, yeah, they said -- I
16 told them that, well, from my understanding, from
17 what they telling me -- detectives telling me, is
18 that y'all said I'd done it and they was telling
19 me -- they said that you said that I done it, and
20 Cub was saying -- Curtis McGhee saying the same
21 thing.
22 BY DR. FARWELL:
23 Q. When you say the three, you mean you --
24 A. Curtis McGhee and Terry Harrington, yes.
25 Q. Who was the person told you that
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 20
1 Harrington had signed a statement that said you'd
2 done it?
3 A. I can't remember which one of them it was.
4 I mean, I was sitting in there in front of all three
5 of 'em.
6 Q. All three of them were Hrvol, Larson and
7 Brown?
8 A. Yeah. I can't remember which one that
9 said it. You know, I mean -- I think Hrvol was the
10 prosecutor and the other two detectives. So, I
11 mean, we was -- they all was sitting up there and
12 they was all sitting in the same room behind a big
13 ol' desk, you know, talking to me, you know, like
14 I'm sitting here talking to you now. So I can't
15 pinpoint or say which one said it. I can't remember
16 who said that.
17 MR. SMITH: In other words, they had you
18 in an interrogation room at that time?
19 THE WITNESS: Yeah. I can't remember who
20 said it, you know, and which person said it. I just
21 know them three was there.
22 BY DR. FARWELL:
23 Q. Uh-huh.
24 A. You know.
25 Q. Did they tell you what -- what story to
THOMAS & THOMAS COURT REPORTERS AND CERTIFIED LEGAL VIDEOS OMAHA (402) 556-5000 FREMONT (402) 721-7292
MR. HUGHES - DIRECT (BY DR. FARWELL) 21
1 tell?
2 A. No, they just -- they more or less just
3 told me what they had for the facts -- just told me
4 they had witnesses.
5 MR. SMITH: Did they lead you into an any
6 stories though, is what he's he trying to get at.
7 THE WITNESS: No. Like I said, you know,
8 they just kept saying that they have witnesses and,
9 oh, they said that they had took the pellets from
10 out of Terry's coat or something like that and had
11 it sent to the FBI up in Washington DC and the
12 ballistics came back and it was the same powder
13 as -- and that's all I know as far as that there
14 goes, I mean, as far as telling me what evidence
15 they had as far as that there goes.
16 MR. SMITH: If you said something to them
17 and they didn't like what you said, did they kind of
18 make change your story? In other words, like, if
19 you --
20 THE WITNESS: I mean.
21 MR. SMITH: They ask you a question and
22 the question was relating -- say, if you said at
23 first it was a pistol and then they turned around
24 and said oh, no, don't you mean a shotgun? Did they
25 do one of those kind of a --
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