Crash Into Me_ A Survivor's Search for Justice - Liz Seccuro [71]
ALEX DOWNING: My full name is Joseph Frederick Alexander Downing, III.
QUAGLIANA: Where do you live?
DOWNING: I live in Richmond, Virginia.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Are you married?
DOWNING: Yes.
QUAGLIANA: What’s your wife’s name?
DOWNING: Valerie.
QUAGLIANA: Do you have any children?
DOWNING: I have a step-son who’s sixteen.
QUAGLIANA: How are you employed?
DOWNING: I’m employed by a publisher.
QUAGLIANA: How long have you been employed by them?
DOWNING: A little over fourteen years.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Do you know Mr. Beebe?
DOWNING: I do.
QUAGLIANA: Okay, and how do you know him?
DOWNING: Originally, when we met he was friends with my wife for it could have been a year or two before I met him, perhaps, probably shorter than that—through my wife.
QUAGLIANA: Okay, and has he been staying with you while he’s been released on bond?
DOWNING: Yes, ma’am. Other—
QUAGLIANA: At your home in Richmond?
DOWNING: Yes, ma’am.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. What kind of person is he?
DOWNING: I know Will to be very caring, very trustworthy, interested in others. He likes animals. I’ve got eight cats, so that’s important to me.
QUAGLIANA: Okay, and that’s including over a period of time when—let’s say, you’ve had a full house. You have somebody who is not a member of your family living with you for a little over a year, correct?
DOWNING: Correct.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Has he provided help and support to you and your wife in the past?
DOWNING: Yes, I mean, it—we do that a lot for each other. That could be from I have to drop my car off because it’s getting worked on to I need a ride to somewhere across town to, you know, my wife had to leave. Her grandfather is pretty much on his death bed in Texas and she couldn’t be here today and I didn’t have cash for a cab at four A.M. to get to the airport and, I mean, it’s just whatever I needed, Will was there.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. How would you describe the level of Mr. Beebe’s commitment to staying sober?
DOWNING: If there’s a percentage higher than a hundred, that’s what I would call it, and I know that he knows, like I do, that that’s what has to be done in order to stay there.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Have you ever observed him do or say anything that caused you to question in any way his commitment to his sobriety?
DOWNING: Absolutely not.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Is it just the opposite?
DOWNING: Yes.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. While he was in your home over the past, I guess it’s been about fourteen months, is that—does that sound right?
DOWNING: I think it was close to a year before he was allowed—almost a whole year before he was allowed to go to take care of his mother in Florida.
QUAGLIANA: Okay. Did he abide by all of the conditions of his bond?
DOWNING: Absolutely.
QUAGLIANA: Okay, and let me pull you back just for a second. How important is Will’s help to other people in maintaining his own sobriety and his outlook on life?
DOWNING: It’s absolutely critical. There is no other way to describe it.
QUAGLIANA: Thank you. Those are my questions.
THE COURT: Questions, Mr. Worrell?
WORRELL: Yes, sir.
CROSS-EXAMINATION BY CLAUDE WORRELL
CLAUDE WORRELL: Mr. Downing, Mr. Beebe lived with you up until the time he went to Florida, is that right?
DOWNING: Yes, sir.
WORRELL: Had he lived with you previous to that?
DOWNING: No.
WORRELL: You would describe yourself as being Mr. Beebe’s friend, is that right?
DOWNING: Correct.
WORRELL: You’ve been friends for how long?
DOWNING: I would say approximately twelve years. I don’t remember the actual first meeting, but it would be a good ballpark.
WORRELL: During that twelve-year time period, Mr. Beebe had been sober, is that right?
DOWNING: Correct.
WORRELL: You said you met him through your wife?
DOWNING: Yes, sir.
WORRELL: In the course of your wife’s meeting Mr. Beebe—well, let me ask you this. How did she meet Mr. Beebe?
DOWNING: To be honest with you, I’m not sure. Probably from a fellowship group to which we all belong.
WORRELL: Is that a church fellowship or some other kind of fellowship?
DOWNING: No,