Mr. SMART. I was mainly interested in the security angle from across
the street, so forth. That was my thought.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long had you remained--how long had you been here by
the side of this armored truck prior to the time that you heard any
shots in the basement?
Mr. SMART. Oh, long enough that, when the truck backed down, Batchelor
and I found some bottles in it, anything that might be used as a weapon
that was loose in the truck. I don’t know how long that would have
been, practically all of the time that I was in the basement.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Were you standing beside the truck?
Mr. SMART. No; I was up here.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Do you want to mark up there where the truck was? Why
don’t you mark a square where the truck was?
Mr. SMART. This is strictly guesswork because I didn’t measure in feet
or anything.
Mr. GRIFFIN. This is all right. Just a rough idea. And you were
standing at the place where you were standing beside the truck?
Mr. SMART. I had been in the truck, around the truck, I had taken
some bottles over here and set them on a ledge out of the way and
I had walked back--of course, this doesn’t represent too many
feet--approximately halfway from the truck down to the end of the ramp,
and at the time that I heard the shot, I was looking out this way.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I see. What did you do at the time that you heard the shot?
Mr. SMART. What did I do at the time?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes.
Mr. SMART. I immediately rushed down to where the scuffle was going on.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, did you at any time go into the jail office?
Mr. SMART. No, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I understand that you talked to “Blackie” Harrison right
after the scuffle.
Mr. SMART. Yes, uh-huh, as soon as I got to the scene.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Was Ruby still there?
Mr. SMART. Yes; I asked “Blackie” who he was.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Did you talk with “Blackie” after that that day?
Mr. SMART. Later in the day?
Mr. GRIFFIN. Yes, sir.
Mr. SMART. I don’t recall it if I did.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Between the time that you talked with Harrison and the
time that you were informed that you should go to Ruby’s car and search
the car, what did you do?
Mr. SMART. I was told by Chief Stevenson to check all of--to put guards
on the elevators and on the doors on the first floor.
(Discussion off of the record.)
Mr. GRIFFIN. And did you do that?
Mr. SMART. I did that, and I went back to my office, resumed my usual
routine.
Mr. GRIFFIN. That is on the third floor?
Mr. SMART. Right.
Mr. GRIFFIN. How long did you remain up there on the third floor before
you were asked to do something in connection with Ruby’s car?
Mr. SMART. I couldn’t say for sure. It was some time, though, elapsed,
quite some time elapsed, and Chief Stevenson would call me on the phone
and gave me the license number of his car and told me where it was
parked, asked me--told me there was a sum of money in it, to go over
and remove it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You got out there, and I take it from your statement that
you found that somebody else had already been to the car?
Mr. SMART. No, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. You were the first one to the car?
Mr. SMART. I don’t think I said that anyone else had been to it.
Mr. GRIFFIN. I will correct the record, because his statement doesn’t
reflect it, what I said. All right. When you got to the car, was the
car locked or unlocked?
Mr. SMART. The doors were unlocked.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Now, did you have a key to the car at that time?
Mr. SMART. No, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Had you been told at that time whether or not there was a
key to the car----
Mr. SMART. No, sir.
Mr. GRIFFIN. Or whether you needed one?
Mr. SMART. No, sir; I hadn’t been told. I just assumed that the keys
were in the car, but nobody told me that.