In one particular e-mail, Bollard explained that Enrique, his co-counsel in Mexico, had been warning the lawyers that while the magistrates in Mexico were beyond the reach or influence of Luster’s powerful friends and family, the court support staff could be reachable and could cause considerable “mischief.” He went on to remind Beth and me that we had already seen examples of this, especially in the case of the late-night announcement by the court typist which included misstatements attributed to our lawyers that caused considerable confusion.
Bollard said that Enrique was concerned about additional incidents of “mischief,” including misplaced files or notifications which could delay the process or disrupt them altogether. Unfortunately, Bollard reminded us that this is a sad reality in the court system in Mexico. His suggestion to counter against this happening was to have Enrique use someone from his office to “babysit” the file and the court functionaries until such time as the hearing could take place and a ruling was made. Bollard knew that Enrique had been paying Enrique’s staff to fly to Guadalajara and do this non-stop, but he was once again asking us for an additional payment of $35,000 to keep this vigilance going. He believed our “adversary’s” efforts to interfere would soon be stepped up, as the matter had been formally assigned to one of the two appellate panels.
For us, this meant this was a case of the Luster family money against ours until this could all be sorted out. To be clear, the Luster family’s pockets were much deeper than mine. Money was getting tight. That’s when I started asking questions, which is how I gather information in everything I do from bounties to my fight for freedom. Still, I was worried if I didn’t supply everything my attorney asked for, he’d throw his hands up, walk away, and abandon my case.
The lawyers kept telling me it could take years to go to trial. I was facing four years of hard time if I was found guilty. There’s no “time served” credit whatsoever when you’re waiting for a trial in Mexico, so even the ten days I’d already spent in jail there wouldn’t count against a new sentence. If I was convicted, I’d start serving from day one. There was no doubt I was far better off in the comfort of my own country than I would have been surrendering.
The final blow came when Bollard asked me for that additional thirty-five thousand dollars to pay Enrique to hire clerks to watch over all of my court files so no one could steal them. This request made no sense. What were they going to watch over, my empty file folders?
When this call came in, I was deeply involved in a bounty hunt and couldn’t face dealing with another threat or more drama. I couldn’t deal with the request, so I called my accountant and told him to just pay the money. When I’m on a hunt, I’ve got the eye of the tiger. Bollard’s requests were so distracting to me that I was really losing my edge. I couldn’t let anything get in the way of capturing fugitives, but it was becoming nearly impossible for me to do my job like I used to.
The accountant was concerned I wasn’t making clear choices, so he called Beth to tell her what was happening. Beth hit the roof when she heard I had okayed another payment to Bollard. Unbeknownst to me, she had already asked the accountant to slow down his payments so she could look into the validity of Bollard’s requests. She and I got into one of the worst fights we’d had in years.
CHAPTER 3
Lucy Pemoni
Beth was positive something wasn’t right. She instinctively thought things were not going well with my defense in Mexico. Whenever there was a press conference, Beth would stand by my side, acting the part of my supportive partner, but she no longer trusted anything happening with this case. Her female intuition was telling her something I suspected but didn’t want to believe.
I made a decision to make a change of who should be representing me and my sons. But I realized I needed to be very careful about how to do this, as switching attorneys on any case can be detrimental. I realized it was time for me to get actively involved in the day-to-day proceedings of my case. Beth had been handling the brunt of it for so long, I owed it to her and the rest of my family to become present in the matter.
I discussed the situation with James Quadra and he told us that it was his recommendation to find highly qualified counsel in Mexico to evaluate the status of the case. We basically wanted a second opinion regarding the legal work that had been done. The network was reluctant for us to change the entire team as well. Everyone was nervous and not sure what to do. They asked if we could just shift our representation in Mexico to look at the case and evaluate the work that was being done. Quadra said he’d personally fly down to Mexico and check things out so he’d have a complete assessment together when we all met. This was huge because the network trusted James Quadra and agreed to let him investigate and see what was going on.
Quadra researched the best criminal defense lawyers in Mexico and then flew to Mexico City. One lawyer Quadra spoke to was a legal powerhouse named Alberto Zinser. He was very handsome, well connected, and quite debonair. When Alberto entered a room, you knew he was there. His co-counsel, Eduardo Amerena, was also at the meeting. Alberto relied heavily on Eduardo’s expertise. He was the “get it done” guy, while Alberto was the presence and power. If you engaged Alberto’s services, the message was clear: “We are not messing around.” They weren’t immediately aware of our case, however when Quadra mentioned “The Dog” they shook their heads in recognition of my story, which had become urban legend south of the border.
The three lawyers decided the best course of action would be to analyze our case so they could see firsthand what had gone down so far.
After several days of research, Quadra set up a teleconference with the lawyers and the executives at A&E to give them his assessment.
He explained that the only real hope we had left to win was to push the statute-of-limitations argument, which was our best legal shot at freedom. However, Quadra was clear that our case had to be presented in a very decisive manner or we could lose that argument, too. If that happened, we’d be screwed.
Quadra told A&E that we all ought to meet in San Francisco with Bollard to determine our next steps. Bollard agreed to meet us in San Francisco. The meeting was set for May 23. Quadra’s plan was to show the network how deeply in trouble the stars of their top show really were.
We thought this would help the network feel more comfortable about our desire to switch lawyers. How we presented our story had to be carefully orchestrated and executed if we were going to succeed in convincing them that maybe it was in our best interest to make some drastic changes.
CHAPTER 4
Courtesy of A&E
It had been a crazy couple of years for Beth and me, but at least things with our case were finally beginning to look up. I was still mourning the death of my daughter, Barbara Katie, who was killed in 2006 in a terrible car accident in Alaska, where she had been living with her baby daughter. Barbara Katie died the day before my wedding to Beth, so celebrating our upcoming first anniversary on May 20, 2007, didn’t feel that festive to me. I will always share that blessed day with the sadness that filled my heart after Barbara Katie died.
As a way to dodge my inevitable pain, Beth and I decided to take a romantic road trip up the coast of California, which would get us to San Francisco in time for our big meeting with Bollard, Quadra, and the team from A&E. A break from shooting the show and dealing with the case was definitely in order, so Beth planned our first vacation alone since we became husband and wife to celebrate our anniversary. It had been years since we could leave the island without getting permission, because the Andrew Luster case had still been hanging over our heads there. My every move was being tracked, especially when I traveled.
Beth and I rented a Hummer H2 to take the drive up the coast from Los Angeles to San Francisco. Two minutes into the trip I noticed the front bumper guard was loose so it made a jittery noise the whole time. To make matters worse, the wind was gusting at speeds of up to fifty mph along the coastline, so the noise got louder as we drove. Beth turned on the radio to
try to drown out the constant clanking, but it didn’t really help.
There are parts of Highway 1 that get very narrow, especially along the water, which made driving a Hummer on these roads treacherous.
“Duane, look at the seals!” Beth screamed with utter delight as she saw a family of seals playing on the rocks below the narrow cliff I was trying to navigate.
“I can’t look right now, Beth.” I didn’t want her to know I was nervous. I have an awful fear of heights, and I was afraid to look down.
“Oh, Duane, honey. Look how pretty this is!” Beth was enamored of the majestic sight of the glistening blue Pacific crashing against the rocky shore. I could see cliffs for miles ahead of me. Admittedly, I wanted to look, but I simply couldn’t without steering us right off the edge.
OK, I have to let you in on a little secret. My entire family thinks my driving is terrible. If you watch my show, you might notice I’m hardly ever behind the wheel. So now that you know this, it’ll make sense that while Beth was oohing and ahhing over the scenery, I realized her knuckles were white from holding on for her life.
“Weeeee. This is so much fun, Big Daddy,” Beth squealed with joy, all the while quietly hoping I didn’t drive us to our death.
When we got to a safe place to stop, I decided to pull over. My nerves were shot and I needed a smoke.
We made our way to our first stop, Santa Barbara, where we spent the night at Bacara, a beautiful hotel that was set way back off the road. All of the porters and doormen were wearing top hats and white gloves. The only time I’d ever seen men wearing white gloves was during a crime scene investigation. Beth explained that the staff dressed that way because it was a fancy hotel and wearing gloves like that was considered very formal. I’ve never been the type of guy who needed glitz and glamour, but my wife loves staying in fine hotels, so I usually just go along for the ride. Since this was supposed to be a celebratory trip, I did my best to enjoy it.
It wasn’t hard. Our accommodations were gorgeous. There was a grand piano and a fireplace in the living room and another big fireplace in the bedroom. The place was romantic and inviting in every way.
Outside, I could smell oil burning from the refineries off in the distance. I was standing on the patio taking in the scenery when I suddenly saw a deer eating in the woods about thirty feet away. There’s something about being in the center of nature like this that I find especially calming. I have a special connection with animals and nature that’s hard to describe. It’s a trait that I share with my daughter Bonnie Jo, who loves the outdoors even more than I do.
Later that afternoon I met a man from the hotel who showed me how to feed the falcons that were all around the property. I even got one of the birds to fly up to our balcony and eat right out of my hand. Just before sunset, Beth and I took a walk along one of the nature paths around the perimeter of the resort. It was freezing and the wind was blowing hard. Long hair and wind don’t mix. However, we were able to run back to our room and get warm…if you know what I mean.
Even though we’d been married a year, it still hadn’t really sunk in that Beth was my wife and I was her husband. The Bible says that if you’re going to live with a woman, God will give you a divine blessing if you commit to her forever and take her as your wife. Beth and I had been together for fifteen years when we decided to make it official. The time had come for us to make that commitment to each other. Our youngest children had begun to ask us why we weren’t married. And Beth was being referred to as my “life partner” or “sidekick.” Those descriptions weren’t fair to her, either. In my heart, I always knew Beth would be my forever wife. It was time to make it official.
Our first year of marriage went by so fast. Nothing really changed between us. Life was pretty much the same as it had always been. We were knee-deep in raising our children, running our bail bonds business, shooting our show, and fighting the charges in Mexico and the United States. The stress of the case was taking a toll on us. The timing of this trip couldn’t have been better, as we would be totally relaxed and ready for a much anticipated meeting at the end of our journey.
When we got to San Francisco, I wanted to go back to Golden Gate Park, where I got arrested when I was sixteen. Beth wasn’t very interested in doing that, but she was really excited about seeing The Phantom of the Opera later that night. Even though I grumble whenever she drags me to those types of events, I usually end up enjoying the experience. That show brought tears to my eyes. I loved the music and every minute of the musical.
Our meeting was set in Quadra’s office the following day. A&E’s lawyer, Beth, and myself were all seated in the conference room. Bollard came by himself.
As planned, we let Bollard talk first. He tried to convince us that everything was going as expected. Quadra began asking Bollard several questions on a couple of matters that he had explored.
It had become obvious to Bollard that we had sought the advice and opinions of some other experts when suddenly the conference room doors swung open with the dramatic flair of Zorro arriving to avenge the death of his father, and we heard:
“Hello! I am Alberto Zinser! Am I in the right place?” Alberto spoke with the greatest accent. He sounded like a Spanish matador. He was accompanied by Eduardo Amerena, who was silent, yet equally powerful.
I could tell that Beth wanted to jump up and start clapping when Alberto made his very impressive entrance. Zorro had arrived to save the Dog! All I could think was Olé!
Bill Bollard almost swallowed his head when he set his eyes upon Zinser, a legal legend in Mexico.
Zinser introduced himself to Bollard and began to have a dialogue in Spanish. Now…I had heard Bollard make dozens of calls to Mexico over the couple of years he represented me. He spoke what I believed was fluent Spanish. He looked at Quadra several times while he was speaking, as if he understood everything he was saying. I only picked up a few words here and there because Alberto was talking so fast. I could tell he was saying something about prison, a release, and so on.
Bollard shook his head, nodding, pursing his lips and then he answered Zinser…in English. It was painfully clear to me that my lawyer didn’t speak fluent Spanish and was having a difficult time keeping up.
Bollard began explaining the situation to Zinser. “I can’t get the judge to make a decision, and the team of people I have down in Mexico aren’t really working, and…” Blah, blah, blah was all I heard while Bollard kept talking.
Alberto Zinser stopped Bollard by slamming his hand on the conference room table and saying, “You see? This is pissing me off. You are telling lies about my country. You are making liars of my people and they are not. And this is pissing me off.” I glanced over at Beth, who looked like she was courtside watching the finals at the U.S. Open, her head darting back and forth as this exchange was taking place. Her Cheshire cat grin was hard to ignore.
Next, Quadra suggested we get Bollard’s Mexican co-counsel Gandara on the phone. He thought Gandara might be able to help us understand or figure out the next course of action since he was on the front line. We wanted Bollard to tell our “consultants” from Mexico what was going on, so we didn’t miss any important details.
Quadra, Zinser, and Amerena started asking Gandara questions, one after another like a rapid-fire machine gun. Eduardo and Alberto were speaking in Spanish, so it was hard for us to follow the conversation, but they later told us they were asking simple procedural questions about the judge, the case, filings, deadlines, and other things Gandara should have absolutely been aware of if he was on top of the case. I don’t know if he was startled by their call or had been sipping margaritas by the seaside, but my new team was not satisfied with Gandara’s answers to most of their questions.
It appeared we had not been told the whole story and had been billed for hours of work that didn’t move the case along.
In the Bible, there’s a verse in Hebrews that says “God will give you the shaking that comes on your spirit when things are not right inter
nally.”
For the first time in years, I was able to catch my breath because I felt I no longer had to worry about my lawyers. I finally felt that I had three lawyers working for me, and that was a good feeling—really good.
The meeting was successful since about halfway through it, A&E’s lawyer asked to see Beth and me in the hallway. “I want you to know that A&E is behind you if you want to replace your legal team.”
We went back into the meeting. We were stone-faced so we wouldn’t let on what we knew was about to go down. We asked Bollard if he wanted to break bread, have some lunch as a way to extend the olive branch. We were never the type of people to tear someone down to the point of no return. I try to embrace everyone. Bollard declined lunch but asked if he could have a few moments alone with Beth and me before we took a break.
After everyone left the room, he began his speech on what a big mistake it would be to replace him. He asked us to have faith in what he and his team were doing.
“We’re almost at the finish line. You need to stay with us.” He repeated his request several times until I finally said, “We’ll take that under advisement.”
A lot of water had flowed under this bridge.
After Bollard left, I decided that Beth and I would fly home to Hawaii and meet with Leland and Tim to make a final decision. Within a few weeks, we decided to dissolve our professional relationship with Bollard and Gandara and to retain Quadra, Zinser, and Amerena to take over our legal representation in our fight for freedom. From the moment that decision was made, a heaviness that I had carried for years was lifted off my chest. I could breathe again. I had been suffocating and didn’t even know it.
CHAPTER 5
Where Mercy Is Shown, Mercy Is Given (2010) Page 3