Captain TALBERT. That is not the stairwell, sir, that is the second
door of the first aid station.
Mr. HUBERT. Oh, the second door of the first aid station?
Captain TALBERT. "3" it is the second door of the first aid station.
"4" to the stairwell leading downstairs to a subbasement, engineroom,
and leading from the first floor down to the basement area is a fire
escape type--that door was secured from the outside.
Mr. HUBERT. Do you know if anybody on the inside of that door could
have come from the stairwell into the basement?
Captain TALBERT. Yes, sir; it has--that particular door, I have since
learned--I didn't know it at that time, but I have since learned that
that particular door has a fire escape type latch. That bar-type latch,
and I did check and find that the first floor--not the basement, but
the first floor of the city hall had its interior door, both on the
Commerce Street, Main Street, and the hallway locked. It is a procedure
that they use over the weekend, and after 6 p.m., in the afternoon,
those doors are locked, so, anyone not in the building at the time
wouldn't have had access to this unless someone unlocked it for them.
Mr. HUBERT. Did you check those entrances at the first floor of the
municipal building on the 24th?
Captain TALBERT. Yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. How did you do that?
Captain TALBERT. As I recall, just from the--this particular time after
finishing this search, I went to the sidewalk area on Commerce, and
into the entrance that is left open for payment of water bills and the
interior door there was secure and locked.
Mr. HUBERT. So, then a person could not get into the first floor of the
city hall through that door on Commerce Street?
Captain TALBERT. Yes, sir; and in further checking around the building
I went through the police courts building and in checking the Main
Street door and then, in turn, checked the Main Street entrance, and it
was locked.
Mr. HUBERT. Main Street entrance to the municipal building?
Captain TALBERT. To the municipal building.
Mr. HUBERT. And it was locked?
Captain TALBERT. And it was locked; yes, sir.
Mr. HUBERT. Now, did you check the several entrances on the alleyway
which runs from Main to about halfway up the block and makes an L-turn
and then runs to Pearl?
Captain TALBERT. I did not check that entrance, because the thing is
locked any time after 6, and on the weekends. We can't enter that way.
Matter of fact, we have orders not to enter that way at anytime, but
sometimes we, in parking, we find it convenient to enter through that
elevator and the service elevator from that entrance, and we always
find it locked. We have to get a porter's attention by banging on the
door to get it unlocked.
Mr. HUBERT. Since we are on that subject, how would you go through that
service entrance on the alleyway into the first floor of the municipal
building?
Captain TALBERT. The service entrance has some side doors leading off
of it. I don't know whether they are broom closets, or go into rooms
or what, but into the service elevator, both sides of the elevator has
operable doors.
Mr. HUBERT. That is--so call it the Harwood side on the elevator, and
the Pearl Street side.
Captain TALBERT. This is going to the Central Expressway over here
[indicating].
Mr. HUBERT. Yes.
Captain TALBERT. And, so, the--the expressway side and the Harwood
Street side has doors that do open. Both sides of that elevator have
doors that would open, and the operator could open either one of them,
and you can come in from the entrance and exit from this Harwood Street
side. Enter from the expressway side and exit from the Harwood Street
side.
Mr. HUBERT. If it were possible for a person to gain entrance through
the service entrance into the first floor of the municipal building by
use of the service elevator, that is to say, by walking through both of
the doors of the elevator, he could then get into the stairwell of the
fire escape on the first floor, could he not?
Captain TALBERT. Yes, sir.