The Fence - Dick Lehr [160]
I thank my sons for their help and interest along the way—Christian for his expertise on hip-hop music and Nick for his careful reading of the manuscript. My daughters, Holly and Dana, are, quite simply, pure joy, and they made sure I didn’t become an obsessive recluse during the research and writing.
My wife, Karin, was an inspiration throughout, listening to all the stories that are part of a project like this—about the people, the reporting discoveries, the obstacles, the highs, the lows, the breakthroughs. She read each chapter as it was written, with a keen eye, and was indispensable in creating the writing room day-to-day to keep the book moving.
Now that this one is done, it’s time for Temenos.
AUTHOR’S NOTE ON SOURCES
Since 1997, I have written a number of in-depth newspaper and magazine articles for the Boston Globe about the Cox beating, Mike Cox, Kenny Conley, and Robert “Smut” Brown. In a city where politics, sports, and crime are king, the mistaken and horrific beating of Mike Cox by his fellow cops became a major story, a tragedy that was at once unprecedented and unforgettable. While the brutality may have resulted from a series of misjudgments and mistakes, what happened afterward turned the case into something more—a symbol of an intractable police culture. The failure to bring the beaters to justice became a drama featuring tribalism, abuse of power, race, and policing in a post–affirmative action America. Cities and towns all across the United States confront at times the toxic mix of police brutality and corruption; the Cox case, unlike any other, dramatically illuminates the powerful gravitational pull on a cop to lie. The blue wall of silence held fast even when it meant standing silently as the beating of one brother went unsolved and another was sentenced to serve time in federal prison.
The Fence is a work of nonfiction. The characters are real. No one’s name has been changed. The book is based in dozens of interviews with participants and thousands of pages of testimony and other materials that are part of an official record that includes court trials, local and federal investigations, and labor arbitration proceedings. Listed below are those sources. Either by letter or other means, I sought to interview key people involved in the case. Most, but not everyone, cooperated. Fortunately, I was able to draw on the sworn testimony and official statements of those who declined to be interviewed.
The scenes and dialogue are based on the recollection of at least one participant. For grammatical purposes, I occasionally altered the verb tense in a quotation. Where there was conflict regarding an event or someone’s words, I was guided by the weight of the evidence—what seemed most plausible and reliable based on the reporting and interviews I conducted, along with the testimony, government records, and court rulings.
NOTES
Please note that full forms are given in the appendices that follow.
PROLOGUE: JANUARY 25, 1995
SWORN TESTIMONY AND STATEMENTS BY: Donald Caisey (Cox ACU); Kimberly Cox (Cox trial deposition, Daley arbitration); Michael Cox (Cox IAD, Suffolk GJ, Cox trial deposition, Burgio arbitration); Craig Jones (Suffolk GJ, Cox trial deposition, Daley arbitration); Gary Ryan (Suffolk GJ, Federal GJ, Daley arbitration); Isaac Thomas (Cox IAD, Cox ACU, Suffolk GJ, Burgio arbitration); Thomas “Joe” Teahan (Daley arbitration); Richard Walker (Suffolk GJ, Federal GJ, Burgio arbitration); David Williams (Cox ACU, Suffolk GJ, Williams arbitration).
INTERVIEW: James Rattigan: Oct. 27, 2005.
OTHER: Tour of emergency room at Boston City Hospital, Dec. 14, 2006. Tour and Suffolk County Property and Deed Records for 52 Supple Road, Dorchester. Tour of Woodruff Way, Mattapan, multiple visits.
RECORDS: Audiotape