Spin Out

by James Buchanan

  The whole room went quite, like funeral parlor quiet. Mrs. Smith brought her son’s hand up to her cheek. “Alex, if you know something, you owe it to Lane’s parents.” I could see her eyes misting up some. “You’ve got to tell the deputy what you know.”

  “Let me tell you what I know, right now.” Figured I could start it off for him. “You just tell me where I’m wrong, okay?”

  He swallowed and squeezed his momma’s fingers again. “I guess.”

  “Y’all, from what I hear, from what Chris said, went up on the mountain to mess around.” My knee started aching some. Since I didn’t have a chair to plunk my butt in, I hobbled back a step or two and eased up onto the other bed. Not quite sitting, but not standing neither. “Y’all just wanted to blow off a little steam and all, ain’t that right?”

  A small, “Yeah,” slipped between his clenched teeth.

  “Then from what Austin said you all came up on him. And Trey, well he decided y’all should have some fun with that boy. Now, Chris and Austin, they both said that, well Austin brought a note and a rifle up to Mount Dutton. You understand?”

  “Yeah, we, Trey, he had it in for Austin.” Saw the tears collecting in the corners of his eye a few moments before they slipped down his cheek and into his ear. “I thought he was okay, but you know they, Cooper, Chris, Lane and all were seniors.” He sniffled a bit. “And my dad owns the diner so I could get them free cokes and stuff, so they let me hang out with them. I didn’t…you know, Austin was okay.”

  “Didn’t want to be singled out like he was though, huh?”

  “No.” He huffed that one word out like the devil got up off on chest. “I never said nothing. I should have.”

  I let him get back under some control then asked, “So you’re up on the mountain and a fight started?”

  “Yeah, they’re all pushing and yelling.” He kneaded his momma’s fingers in his tight grip. “Trey went from being just mean to mad.” So far, Mrs. Smith stayed out of the conversation, mostly, and I appreciated her for that.

  Had to shift a bit to ease up my knee. The next words came out of my mouth a little strained, “See, what I don’t know, and what I need you to tell me is what happened after Austin and Chris took off.”

  Alex stared at the ceiling long enough that I thought he might have passed out. Finally though, he whispered, “He shot him.”

  “Who?” That came out over Mrs. Smith’s little cry.

  He shifted his eyes over to look at me. “Trey shot Lane.”

  “How’d it happen?”

  “The three of them, they’re yelling at each other.” Although she hadn’t let go of her son’s hand, Mrs. Smith covered her face with the other. I guessed Alex didn’t really see it, or didn’t care much at that point, ‘cause he just kept talking. “Trey said we should get in the truck and go after Austin. Lane, and even Cooper, they’re saying it ain’t no fun anymore, just let Austin go.” With each sentence out of his mouth, Alex’s pitch went a little higher. “Trey’s waving the rifle around calling us all nasty things, saying we don’t got no balls. That’s when Lane told him that he’s got a screw loose. We all knew it, but none of us ever said anything.”

  I’d heard all about Chris’ dad, beating folks down, but this was the first time I’d heard that about Trey. “What’d you mean, Trey had a screw loose?” Chris hadn’t volunteered it and Trey and Cooper weren’t talking. Still, from all I’d heard, that bit about Trey didn’t surprise me none.

  Alex shuddered. “Like, like once we came up on this raccoon that had a busted leg and Trey shot it.”

  “Put it down?” I’d done put down my share of wounded animals. Better than leaving them to suffer.

  “No,” the way he said that one word let me know what he meant even before he explained himself, “shot it so it’d scream. Took maybe five shots, he had a .22, before it died. And Trey’s just laughing like it’s the funniest thing ever.”

  I let him calm down a bit again before prompting, “I’m still listening.”

  Alex sighed. “So we’re up there and he and Lane start pushing each other around. And then, they’s fighting and fell on the ground and kept going, punching and kicking. Lane’s calling Trey a sick son-of-a-bitch and Trey’s calling him a pussy. And the rifle’s down there with them. And that’s when it happened.”

  “The gun went off?” I got a little confused with that. “While they were all piled up?”

  “No. Trey got up, like jumped up and he’s got the rifle and he just pointed at Lane and blew his face off.” I thought Alex might be ready to puke. He’d gone pale and just kept scrunching his eyes shut like he didn’t want to see what he remembered. “I mean, like looking straight at him when he did it.”

  “Alex, why didn’t you say anything?” Like she’d been holding herself back the whole time and just couldn’t any longer, Mrs. Smith almost yelled, “Why?”

  “Why?” Alex did yell. “Why mom?” Boy shook in his bed. “‘Cause Trey’s standing there and he’s got blood all over him and it’s all over us and know what he says?”

  “What?” I think she and I asked it at the same time.

  “‘Damn that felt good!’ And he starts laughing and looking at us like he can’t understand why we didn’t get the joke.”

  I was prepared for a lot of stories about how the whole thing went down. That, however, made my blood go cold. “Trey just shot him, like point blank?”

  “Yeah. And I started to freak out and Cooper, Cooper, he shoves me against this tree and says, ‘We ain’t going to say nothing,’ and he’s kinda looking over at Trey like he’s scared of him or something.”

  “You think he was?”

  “I don’t know. I was, scared of them both.” He fought down a few more breaths that might have been sobs. “That’s it. That’s what happened.”

  His momma did sob. “Alex, why didn’t you tell me?” I think she figured just how much trouble he rightly was in.

  “Look, I’m going to step outside.” I eased off the bed. Managed to catch myself before I hissed out in the pain of putting even a bit of weight back on my knee. Fussed with easing myself along the bed and then scuffling to the wall. “I need to speak with you just a moment, okay?” I looked over at Kabe’s phone. “Can you grab that for me?”

  She obliged as I managed to get myself into the hall. Mrs. Smith joined me where I leaned up against the wall. “He’s been so sick since Thanksgiving.” She looked sick, like her world had just come unglued. “I just, I just figured he was worried about his friends.” Pretty much her life did just get dumped on its head. “What’s going happen to him?” Somewhere along in all of it she managed to pass me over Kabe’s phone.

  I shut the app down and stowed the phone in my shirt pocket. “I don’t know.” Tried to be as honest with her as I could. “I do know I got a couple older boys who are in a lot more hot water, so the DA is probably going to have a talk with Alex about his testimony. If I were you I might call Jorge Perez here in town or Franklin & Sharp over in Cedar. They make me sweat when I’m on the witness stand.”

  “Who are they?”

  “Criminal defense attorneys, ma’am.” I couldn’t do a lot for Alex, but I hated to see him completely ruined because of a bad choice in friends. “They’ll help work the District Attorney for you.”

  She nodded, but didn’t say anything before heading back to her son. Carla, who I guessed had seen me come out, rushed over with the wheelchair. Kabe must’ve been right there with her, ‘cause he was hot on her heels. Normally, I’d have done some bellyaching over the wheelchair, but right then I needed to sit. Kabe and Carla each caught me under my pits and eased me down into the seat.

  “Why are you giving out the names of the opposition?” Myron Simple’s voice caught me off guard. He had to have been right there with them too.

  “Sheriff. I just had a little talk with Alex Smith.” I pulled the phone outta my pocket and waggled it in the air. “Got it on the only recorder handy.” Then I passed it bac
k to Kabe. “Kabe’s going to email it to me.”

  “Actually,” The Sheriff’s voice and attitude were grim, “why don’t you send it on to me and then give me your phone.”

  Kabe made a sour face. “You’re going to impound my phone?”

  He shrugged. “Tomorrow, once I’ve made sure I can play the recording and save it, you can come by.” When Kabe handed over the cell phone, the Sheriff slipped it into his pocket. “I’ll make sure you delete it and then you can have your phone back.”

  I didn’t quite know what was going on. “I can just make sure of that.”

  “No, Joe…” About that time, Dr. Snow came down the hall. The sheriff turned his attention to the new addition to this party we seemed to be having. “Hey, Dr. Snow.” My boss sucked on his teeth a second. “Our Joe’s going to be out at least three to four months on this, right?” The right came out all insistent.

  Didn’t even let the doctor answer. “No.” No way I’d be sitting on my can that long. “I’m coming back as soon as I can. Light duty for a bit then back on track.”

  “You know, Joe,” Dr. Snow’s tone didn’t shut me down, but it did say I might be moving too fast, “depending on what happened to your knee, you might need surgery on it. You should take some time off.”

  “Yeah.” The sheriff nodded, like he approved of that idea. “I’d say, total disability on Workers’ Comp, at least three months of it.”

  “What?” I snorted. “I don’t need that.”

  He pulled an envelope out of the inside pocket of his coat and then dropped it in my lap. The logo of the POST Counsel was stamped right next to the return address. “It came in today. I brought your copy.” He jammed his hands into his pockets and stared at Dr. Snow. “At least three months, then light duty might be an option.”

  I was so shocked by the first part of it all that I hadn’t even really considered what the ruling might be. I fingered the envelope. Couldn’t even look up as I asked, “What does this say?”

  “Go home.” I guess the Sheriff weren’t going to tell me. “Wrap yourself up in someone you care about and read it.” Lord, no, they probably pulled my POST for good. “Look.” He must’ve read my mind, ‘cause he reassured, “It ain’t good, but it ain’t bad. Better than I expected. I’ll send the comp claim form home with Kabe when he comes to pick up his phone tomorrow, okay?”

  The moment I’d seen that seal, my heart tried to do belly flops onto my liver. I managed to spit out something near coherent, “I don’t want to lose my job.” Utah didn’t have any protection for folks who went out on a work injury. “You know they could fire me if I go out on disability.”

  “Joe, I’m going to give you the name of a couple of lawyers who do right by their clients. The ones the County Supervisors hate to see. There’s nothing in the state law that says they got to keep you on, but the Fed stuff applies to us. Plus, I can see the headlines, Deputy injured while chasing fleeing suspect fired ‘cause he can’t work.” He brayed out a laugh. “I’m sure those political suck ups would shit their shorts at that.” He shook his head, any little hint of amusement having died before it really began. “But if they do something to you…I got every nasty email and copies of all the handwritten notes they ever sent me about you all saved up in case you need them. It’ll be such a mess they’ll never dig themselves out of that manure pile.”

  My hands shook so bad the paper rattled against the cast. “It ain’t about that fight.” It wasn’t. Not at all. “I don’t want to lose my job.” Pretty much, except for Kabe, I didn’t have nothing else.

  Myron looked off down the hall for a moment. Everyone else seemed suddenly intent on studying the pattern in the floor tiles. When he swung his attention back to me, my boss’ face was hard. “Joe, you’re gonna have that fight whether you want it or not. I’m telling you, I think you can win it.” Then he blew out his breath and shrugged. “And if it comes down to it, there’s three departments in Utah, including the State Troopers, that, when and if it plays out like that, I can get you on. I don’t want to lose you any more than you want to leave Garfield County, but you don’t ever have to stop being a cop. You understand that, right?”

  “Yessir.” Somehow I managed to breathe. “I understand.”

  “Joe, you got my home phone. Use it. You understand?”

  “I don’t want to bother you none.”

  “I wouldn’t have given it to you if it were a bother.” He punched my bicep, the right side that didn’t hurt. “You call me. You call Jess. Heck, you call Nadine and she’ll slap the rest of us around for you. Most of us have your back. The ones that don’t, well I don’t know why I still have them around as deputies.”

  “Sir…” I didn’t know what to say right then.

  “Go home, Joe. Worry about getting better right now.” That playful punch turned into this strong grip on my shoulder. “Don’t worry about long term. That’s me, Myron, talking, not your boss. Okay?”

  I didn’t know what the heck to say. “I guess it ain’t but what it is, huh?” I folded the envelope up and stuck it in my shirt pocket.

  “Nope,” he confirmed.

  Took us a while to get squared away and out of the hospital. Kabe drove me on home and helped me settle on the couch downstairs. A few people came on by with food and such…not like the pack that would have come if’n I hadn’t been kicked out of the LDS. Still, there’s folks that are good because it’s in their hearts to do kindness to their fellow man. One of them had been the night nurse who didn’t say nothing when Kabe slept on that awful bed-chair thing in my room last night—even though hospital policy said he weren’t supposed to. Once he’d headed into the bath to take a shower and wash off two days of grime, I hauled up the stones to actually open the ruling and read it.

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  Chapter 27

  Statement of Decision

  Peace Officers Standards and Training

  Disciplinary Review Counsel

  Facts as found by the Counsel: Joseph Price Peterson is an active duty sheriff’s deputy in Garfield County, Utah and currently holds a valid POST certification.

  Kabe Varghese is currently serving a two year probationary sentence for Federal trespass and possession of a controlled substance charges, of which, seven months have been served. He previously served two years of incarceration at the low security Federal Correctional Institution in Lompoc, California.

  By his own admission, Deputy Peterson engaged in a sexual relationship with Mr. Varghese and did so knowing that Mr. Varghese was on probation at the time.

  Deputy Peterson acknowledged his inappropriate relationship with Mr. Varghese to his supervising officer and has acquiesced to the disciplinary sanctions imposed at that level, to whit, a period of suspension without pay, a loss of grade inclusive of pay, rank and seniority commensurate with a suspension equaling one year. Further, he was assigned to administrative duties for a period of approximately four months, only recently being returned to full patrol duties.

  Mitigating Factors: Deputy Peterson admitted his relationship with Mr. Varghese to his Sheriff and to this Council. He has not sought to make excuses or shift blame, but fully accepts responsibility for his actions. Further, Deputy Peterson voluntarily complied with disciplinary actions imposed by his department. He has cooperated with all levels of investigation.

  Deputy Peterson has no prior record of discipline by this council or any other agency, save for an infraction for disturbing the peace.

  Mr. Varghese indicated on the record that his relationship with Deputy Peterson is, “the best thing that ever happened,” to him. There is support for this assertion in the record. Pursuant to the Council’s request, the federal authorities provided the probation record of Mr. Varghese. There are indications in those records that Mr. Varghese’s compliance with, and attitude about, his probationary requirements shifted markedly in a positive direction at around the time his relationship with Deputy Peterson began. He transitioned from what his probat
ion officer noted as a “charity” job with family to outside employment and, although he still resides with his family, he began contributing a reasonable sum to the household maintenance. He has obtained an OMC and is working on an EMT with excellent scores in his classes. He is also maintaining successful grades in distance learning classes to complete a degree started prior to his incarceration. There is indication in the notes that much of this seems greatly influenced by the friendship with Deputy Peterson. There is also indication that if Mr. Varghese keeps on this path for another three to five months, the probation officer would recommend shortening his probation pursuant to an Early Termination Agreement with the courts should Mr. Varghese seek same.

  Aggravating Factors: the relationship continues.

  POST’s mission is to promote the public’s confidence in law enforcement by investigating and, when merited, disciplining officers due to complaints and allegations of misconduct. We encourage integrity, honor and trust by encouraging voluntary compliance with all statutes, regulations and ethics guidelines by law enforcement personnel.

  The POST Counsel feels that it should point out that the sexuality of the officer in question is not a factor in this decision; it is solely based on the active duty status of Deputy Peterson and the victim’s status as a probationer.

  Having reviewed the evidence before the Counsel and considering all facts, the Counsel hereby rules as follows:

  The counsel hereby adopts the terms of discipline imposed by the Garfield County Sheriff department. Further the counsel rules as follows, Deputy Joseph Price Peterson shall receive a term of actual suspension (of pay and position) of his POST certification for the term of three months. During the term of his suspension, he is instructed to complete, at his own cost, six hours of courses in the subject areas of Moral Standards and the Code of Ethics with any accredited Utah Police Academy. Proof of completion of said courses is to be provided to the counsel prior to the lifting of any actual suspension.

  It is so ordered.

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