reservation . He knew all the kids . He broke the case . He knew the girlfriend , Carrie . And he knew Corey .
He walked into the Chief ’ s office and sat down and started talking with Corey . Small talk , mostly , easy conversation . Trusted friends just talking with each other . He did , however , remember to turn on the tape recorder and read Corey his Miranda rights .
Corey folded like a cheap suit . He confessed ... sort of .
“ That means you ’ ll tell us what happened with Jared ?”
“ I .... I want a lawyer .”
“ What ?”
“ I ... I want a lawyer .”
“ You want a lawyer ? If that ’ s how you want to play it , fine with us . We got you cold .”
Deputies Hulst and Briske left Corey in the chief ’ s office and walked out to the reception area . They telephoned the Burleigh County State ’ s Attorney Sandra “ Sandy ” Patrick .
“ Is anyone there from McLean County ?”
“ Yes , Deputy Two Hearts .”
“ Give him a try .”
Tag team . Bad cop , good cop . Always works . Deputy Ruben Two Hearts from McLean County had found the body . He was standing in the reception area , smoking a cigarette , when Deputy Hulst hung up the phone .
“ Ruben , do you want to give it a try ?”
“ Sure , I know Corey , he ’ ll talk to me .”
Deputy Two Hearts is an old , rural-county deputy . Native American , but his mother was Irish . Along with the abandoned coal mines , McLean County partly encompasses the Fort Berthold Indian Reservation .
After two years in the Army , Ruben Two Hearts became a cop . Actually , he really was a peace officer . Ruben has the ability to navigate in and around all the political and legal challenges of a reservation community . But Ruben also lived in Wilton , off the
“ What happened was , me and Jared went out shooting that old . 22 of my dad ’ s . And I was shooting at a hawk , and Jared suddenly jumped out in front of me , and I accidentally shot him . He went down , but then he got up and was crazy mad , and he came at me . He attacked me , and I shot a few more times . Isn ’ t that selfdefense ?”
“ Well , Corey , that ’ s above my pay grade . Someone else will decide that . I ’ m sorry to tell you , but you ’ re under arrest for the murder of Jared Schmitz . Now , you ’ re going to go with those fellows from Burleigh County . I ’ ll call your mom and let her know you won ’ t be home for supper .”
Corey was then arrested , handcuffed , and taken to the Burleigh County jail . Like every other young defendant , Corey had no money . He was a high school graduate with a sporadic work history . There were no jobs at the mine . So his grandma retained and paid me .
We country lawyers , we don ’ t do white collar crime . There are no white collars in rural North Dakota . The criminal docket is sex , drugs , and alcohol . Blue collar crime .
When we are retained in these criminal cases , it is common to meet the whole family , not just the client , but mom , dad , grandpa , grandma , brothers , sisters , everyone . Sometimes my office looks like a bingo night at St . Michael ’ s Parish .
Typically , mom and dad or grandma and grandpa pay the fee . I take calls from all family members . I listen to their advice , hear their concerns , hold their hands , eat supper at their house . I tell these families , “ Until this case is over , your son is my son . I will protect him as my own .”
Corey spent two weeks in jail before we bonded him out . Ten percent of $ 100,000 , $ 10,000 cash .
Grandma posted the bond , too . Corey went home to his mother ’ s . He never left the house .
Several weeks later he came to my office . It was the day before the preliminary hearing . I walked him through the evidence . It was pretty overwhelming . I thought we could get the confession suppressed , but it was still a hard case . Even without the confession , they had the gun - his gun , fingerprints , tire tracks , a dime-store alibi that collapsed immediately , opportunity , and they had motive
12 THE GAVEL