July 29, 1994 - Part 4
July 29, 1994 - Part 4
(15:45:30) I doubt that any of us would want to find ourselves in a position like what you had to go through in trying to gain information at such an incredibly delicate time, but you were doing your job. And as I understand it, as you were interviewing Sheila Anthony, Webster Hubbell pushed you and effectively ended that interview. Is that correct? Ms. BRAUN. Yes. I was talking, I believe it was to Shelia An- It was one of the sisters, and I bad just basically started a conversation, trying to kind of build rapport to try to get information about Mr. Foster's state of mind prior to the suicide, and I virtually had just started the conversation when Webster Hubbell came up and moved me to the side with his arm, and then be took Sheila Anthony off the couch and into his arms, and walked away from me. co I do not know whether that was a function of grief, if be was comforting her or, I had not gotten far enough into a conversation to say, that be was trying to prevent me from getting information. her Senator MACK. I would suspect he probably was trying to comfort Justice her, which is a very understandable emotion. But is title at the Department, Associate Attorney General, says to me, he clearly understood what you were there to do. So, I am not questioning his motive. But let me ask you this question. Is this the first time that you have teamed up having to go make a notification? Mr. ROLLA. Together, yes. 84 Ms. BRAUN. Together, yes. Senator MACK, Individually, "have you -had to go to homes before to inform loved ones of a death in the family? Ms. BRAUN. I have done notifications before, both in person and over the telephone. This was John's first notification. Senator MACK. It was your first? Mr. ROLLA. This was my first death notification, yes. Senator MACK. Well, then let me just address my questions to you, Ms. Braun. I will tell you what my own feeling is, and then you tell me whether it might be accurate or not. I sense that when police officers come into someone's home, that there are two emotions that are being dealt with there. One is grief. The other one is who is in control, And I would think that in most circumstances, when police officers come into a home, there is a sense that the police officers have information they need to gather, and they are relatively in control of the situation. Is that a fair assessment? Ms. BRAUN. That is a fair assessment. Normally, of course, you are delivering a big blow to these people and you have to allow Some time for them to deal with the information that you have just given them. But after a period of time, they calm down and you can speak to them, and generally there's no problem in getting answers to questions. Senator MACK, I get the impression from the materials that we have looked through that both of you were kind of disregarded, pushed to the side, and that your ability to carry out your responsibilities was not given much consideration by the people in that house. Ms. BRAUN, I am not going to disagree with you, Senator. I kind of feel like we were being very understanding, maybe too understanding, and we did not overly assert ourselves either. The CHAIRMAN. Ms. Braun, would you pull the mike just a little bit closer. I just want to make sure that everyone has a chance to hear you. Thank you. Senator MACK. Mr. Rolla, did you have any thoughts about what you saw happen to Ms. Braun? Mr. ROLLA. No, I did not see it. She told me about U. Senator MACK, What was your reaction to it? Mr. ROLLA. Well, it was rude. Cheryl was angry because it was rude. Our action was that we were there and under the circumstances people act differently when you tell them bad news. And, you are right, the police are the good guys but we're basically intruders that brought terrible news, tragic news into your home. That is why I said it would be better without all the other people there, because people would calm down and they'd look to us for comfort, and we could -et some information At that point, they had enough other people there for comfort. There were close friends, relatives, and they did not need us, and they did not really want to deal with us or the situation at the time. That is what my feeling was.