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“was going to cover the area between the railroad tracks and the towpath in the wooded area,” while his partner would cover “the area to the left of the railroad tracks to the [Potomac] river bank.” 64 Warner proceeded to walk westward toward the murder scene through the woods adjacent to the railroad tracks for what he estimated had been “forty-five minutes” before discovering the wet, somewhat disoriented Ray Crump more than one-tenth of a mile east of the murder scene itself. 65 If Warner’s recollection was accurate, he would have come across Crump at approximately 1:25, ten minutes later than the official time stamp of Crump’s arrest at approximately 1:15.
    Under direct examination by Hantman, Warner proceeded to alter his testimony, saying that it had been 1:15 P.M . when he first saw Crump at a location one-tenth of mile east of the murder scene. Hantman appeared to be irritated with Warner for not following the script, so Warner, under cross-examination by Roundtree, eventually changed his testimony again to 1:14 P.M . (In their testimony during the trial, several detectives and police officers had already established that Detective Bernie Crooke had arrested Ray Crump on the railroad bed directly below the murder scene at approximately 1:15 P.M .)
    The government’s case was slowly spiraling out of control, yet the Roundtree defense team appeared to be missing another critical moment. Detective John Warner’s testimony was undermining the prosecution’s case. Warner told Hantman that he stopped Crump on the railroad tracks and identified himself as a police officer, and Crump took out his sodden wallet and handed over his D.C. driver’s license. Crump, Warner testified, hadn’t been running when he discovered him; “he was walking.” 66 Warner had looked at the name and photograph on the license to confirm Crump’s identity. He hadn’t needed to read the physical description—5 feet 3½ inches and 130 pounds—to realize that Crump wasn’t a match for the general broadcast, which had put the height of the suspect, according to Warner, at 5 feet 10 inches, though he wanted to maintain during the trial that he hadn’t noticed Crump’s physical description on his license. In the unlikely event that that were true, why wouldn’t he have arrested Crump immediately?
     
   Hantman:  
  Did you at any time say anything to him or did he say anything to you?  
   Warner:  
  Yes, sir. I identified myself as a police officer. I asked him who he was, and he replied, “Ray Crump.”  
    
  He took his wallet out, and when he took his wallet out, water dripped out of his wallet as he handed me his D.C. driver’s license.  
    
  I asked him then if he had heard any pistol shots. He replied no.  
    
  I said, “How did you get so wet?” He says, “Well, I was fishing from a rock, and I fell into the river and went to sleep, fell off the rock, fell into the river.”  
    
  I said, “Well, where is your fishing equipment?” He said it went into the river, too.  
    
  I said, “Your rod and everything?” He said yes.  
    
  I said, “Well, where are your fish?” He said they went into the river too.  
    
  I said, “Who were you fishing with?” He said, “No one.”  
    
  I asked him then if he would point out the spot as to where he was fishing from, I would help him, see if I could retrieve his fishing gear for him. And he says, “Yes, sir.”  
    
  And he led us back up in a westerly direction, up the railroad tracks.  
   Hantman:  
  About what time was this when you first saw the defendant standing 32 feet in front of you soaking wet?  
   Warner:  
  This was 1:15 P.M   ., sir.
   Hantman:  
  1:15?  
   Warner:  
   P.M ., sir.    67
    Warner was asking an entire courtroom to believe that in the space of literally no time at all , he had spotted