Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "That is not what I asked. Did you receive a name?"
Marcus Reed: "Yes."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "What was it?"
Marcus Reed: "Maya Reynolds."
Mitchell wrote the name on his notepad.
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you receive a photograph?"
Marcus Reed: "No."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "A physical description?"
Marcus Reed: "A general description."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "What was the description?"
Marcus described a woman of approximately Natalie's height and build, with dark skin and dark hair. He said he had been told she might be carrying a folder and could be wearing professional clothing.
Mitchell stopped writing.
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Do you understand how broad that description is in a courthouse?"
Marcus Reed: "I was told she was expected in that area."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Expected by whom?"
Marcus Reed: "I don't know."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Was there an arrest warrant?"
Marcus Reed: "I wasn't told there was one."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did anyone tell you that you had legal authority to detain the person?"
Marcus Reed: "I was told to identify her and stop her from leaving."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Those are not the same thing."
Marcus shifted in his chair.
Marcus Reed: "I believed there was a reason for the instruction."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Believing that there was a reason does not establish what the reason was."
Marcus looked toward the door.
Marcus Reed: "I didn't make the assignment. I was sent to do a job."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Then help us determine what that job actually was."
For several seconds, Marcus said nothing.
Mitchell allowed the silence to continue. He did not fill it with suggestions or offer Marcus a version of events that might be easier to defend.
Finally, Marcus began explaining the events that had led him to the courthouse.
He said he had received a message earlier that morning from a person he knew through police work. The message referred to a woman who might appear near a courtroom and suggested that she was connected to an ongoing matter. Marcus claimed the information was not delivered through the usual dispatch process, but he had interpreted it as credible because of the person who sent it.
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Was the message sent through an official department system?"
Marcus Reed: "I received it on my phone."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Your department-issued phone?"
Marcus Reed: "My personal phone."
Mitchell looked up.
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Why was an operational instruction sent to your personal phone?"
Marcus Reed: "It wasn't described as an official assignment. I was asked to check something."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "You told me earlier that you were given instructions to stop someone from leaving."
Marcus Reed: "That's how I understood it."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Those are two different statements, Officer Reed."
Marcus's face reddened.
Marcus Reed: "The message was vague. I was trying to establish whether the person was there."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "And when you encountered Judge Brooks, what did you do to establish her identity?"
Marcus Reed: "I asked her to move."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "That does not answer the question."
Marcus Reed: "She didn't immediately do what I told her."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you ask her name?"
Marcus Reed: "No."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you ask whether she was Maya Reynolds?"
Marcus Reed: "No."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you show her any document explaining why you were approaching her?"
Marcus Reed: "No."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you tell her that you were looking for someone connected to an investigation?"
Marcus Reed: "I told her to stay away from the courtroom."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Did you explain why?"
Marcus looked down.
Marcus Reed: "No."
The lieutenant closed his notebook for a moment.
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Then we need to understand why you escalated the encounter before establishing that the person in front of you was the person described in the message."
Marcus Reed: "She was standing exactly where I expected the person to be."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "That establishes location. It does not establish identity."
Marcus Reed: "She was carrying a folder."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "Many people in a courthouse carry folders."
Marcus Reed: "She matched the description."
Lieutenant Aaron Mitchell: "A general description of a woman with dark hair and dark skin, carrying a folder, is not sufficient by itself to identify a specific person."
Marcus's shoulders sank slightly.
For the first time, the weakness of the instruction became impossible to ignore even from his own account.
He had received an informal message from an unidentified source, interpreted it as an operational directive, entered a courthouse, and confronted a woman who fit a broad description. He had not asked for her name, verified the information, or established a lawful basis for using force.