Sentencing to follow –

Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, but Dibor Roberts and her supporters may need to prepare for it.  

[Editor’s Note: Sedona Red Rock News County Reporter Greg Nix filed this blog entry at the end of the second day of the trial of Dibor Roberts Thursday, May 15. It has just been reported that a Yavapai County jury returned today, Friday, May 16, with a verdict of guilty on both felony counts. Roberts has been convicted of resisting arrest and unlawful flight. In an unusual move, Roberts is scheduled to be sentenced later today. Stay tuned to this Web site for further updates.]

Defeat is a bitter pill to swallow, but Dibor Roberts and her supporters may need to prepare for it.
Thursday, May 15, the second day of trial, did not start badly for Roberts with prosecution witness Colin Bass’ testimony rarely, if ever, matching up with the testimony of Yavapai County Sheriff’s Office Sgt. Jeff Newnum. 
Bass’ claims that he directly assisted Newnum in handcuffing Roberts, that Roberts was flailing her arms and being combative, and that Roberts attempted to back up or drive forward with her car were not confirmed by Newnum’s own testimony.
Stephen Renard, Roberts’ attorney, argued after the prosecution rested its case that the state failed to carry its burden. Renard argued there was no evidence that Newnum told Roberts she was under arrest, and by Newnum’s own testimony, that she ceased resisting after being told she was under arrest. 
The motion was denied.
As Roberts took the stand in her own defense, the jury appeared to initially warm to her as she recounted her past of being raised by Catholic priests and helping the poor and needy in her home country, Senegal, Africa. 
The jury appeared more attentive, their faces softened, but Roberts may have shot herself in the foot by her later behavior on the stand.
As her testimony progressed, Roberts, under cross-examination, became combative, intransigent, and angry. The soft looks on the juror’s faces began diminishing. 
Her account of the incident seemed reasonable — that she was trying to get to a lighted area, that she thought she had communicated with Newnum by waving her arm towards Cornville. 
Roberts said that when Newnum pulled in front of her she had to slam on her brakes so as not to rear end him and then Newnum was out of his vehicle shouting, “Open the [expletive deleted] door!”
Roberts’ credibility may have become suspect in the minds of the jurors when she claimed the Yavapai County Grand Jury transcript of her earlier statements was incorrect.  Prosecutors also played a recording of Roberts and Newnum talking after she was handcuffed and sitting in the back of the YCSO car.
On the tape, Roberts can be heard saying to Newnum, “I just want to go to the light,” and Newnum replies, “I’m sorry I didn’t understand that,” never sounding angry or mean in the recording, even when he asked her why she fought him.
Another credibility gap surfaced when Renard asked Roberts if she was nervous about testifying and she said, “No, I’m not nervous.”
That statement may have helped explain her combativeness and disagreement with the grand jury transcripts, but instead only played in to prosecutor Glenn Hammond’s goal of making Newnum the more credible of the two.
Hammond may get his conviction simply by getting the jury to boil it down to the argument of  “angry black woman” v. “respectable white officer.” 
Superior Court Judge Michael Bluff allowed Hammond to question Roberts about filing a claim of discrimination against YCSO.
The fact that a lawsuit is planned only added support to Hammond’s argument, which implied Roberts is after pecuniary gain.
I grew up in the South so running the “angry black woman” strategy is nothing new and generally works for getting convictions.  Trying it in Yavapai County, it may work or it may not. We’ll find out.
One thing is for sure, Roberts’ supporters didn’t do much to help her out — muttering under their breath, clearing their throats loudly at comments from Newnum and Bass, hissing, and generally making a ruckus in the court room. 
A number of jurors flashed irritated looks at Roberts’ supporters throughout the day.  
I can’t read the jury’s mind, but the looks on their faces when the day ended appeared to be one of grim determination, that set of the jaw and the narrowing of the sights — people with a mission. 
Now, it all comes down to Renard’s closing arguments, to be presented Friday morning, May 16. That’s a weight to be carrying because Roberts’s goal of working as a registered nurse could be in jeopardy.