 With the direct being
done by defense attorney Jeff Page, Cline
talked about his family, his relationship with his ex-wife and his
children, how he met Jody Alberts, and how he had come to date her
and know her son, Lucas. Page staged his questions in order to
establish that Cline had a good relationship with his ex-wife and
children, had joint custody, and spent a lot of time with his kids.
Page quickly moved on to Cline's relationship with Dave Gleason,
who testified last week for the prosecution. He asked if Gleason and
Cline were co-workers and whether they were close friends. He also
asked if Gleason was someone Cline could confide in, if they texted
each other often and if it was common for them to use profanity in
their conversations. Cline indicated that the answer to all the
questions was "yes."
Page asked Cline to describe the layout of his apartment and then
went directly to the subject of the pet rats.
He asked Cline why he chose rats. Cline explained the first pet
was a gerbil, but it didn't live very long. The second was a hamster
and it, too, died. A co-worker had rats, and she told him they were
easy to care for, so he got rats. Page asked if the rats where
strictly his pets and Cline said no, his kids enjoyed them as well.
Page then asked Cline to talk about his relationship with Jody
Alberts. Through Page's questioning, Cline gave a history of his
relationship with Alberts.
Cline and Alberts met in early June and were introduced to each
other by Gleason. On the Fourth of July 2009 they started dating. At
that time, Cline did not know Alberts had a child, but soon after,
they were introduced.
Cline referred to the progress of his relationship with Alberts,
saying it was "fast and furious." They spent time together daily,
and Lucas Alberts was often a part of that. Cline said that Alberts
was a single mother, and her son was with her almost all of the
time. He described Lucas as "a sweet boy, very attached to his
mother."
Page asked if Cline had spent time alone with Lucas prior to Aug.
22. Cline said he had. He had Lucas at his apartment and took him to
the school playground once, where he fell off the steps of a slide
and bruised his face between his eye and ear.
Page asked Cline how he responded to that. Cline said Lucas had
cried, so he comforted and calmed him, and then called Jody Alberts
to tell her of the accident.
Page asked if Lucas was a normal child, and Cline said he was but
recounted a time when he had watched Lucas running and how funny he
looked. "We (Alberts and Cline) were walking quickly and he had to
run to keep up. He ran flapping his hands. It was funny."
Cline was also asked if he had ever picked Lucas up from day
care, Cline said he had by himself on a couple of occasions. Page
asked where the day care was, and Cline said it was in McLean. Page
commented on the distance between McLean and Lincoln and asked if
Jody Alberts had asked Cline to make that trip, or if had he
volunteered. Cline said he had volunteered, and Page asked
why. Cline said it was because he wanted to spend time with Lucas
and get to know him better.
Page asked if Cline was in love with Jody Alberts. He said he
was. Page asked if he had told Jody that and he said "yes." Page
then asked how he felt about Lucas, and Cline replied, "I loved
Lucas."
Prompted by Page's questions, Cline described what happened on
the evening of Aug. 22, 2009.
Cline was to baby-sit with Lucas and went to Jody's apartment to
get him. The boy was asleep when Cline arrived but awoke before his
mother left. About a half-hour after she left, Cline took Lucas to
his apartment.
At the apartment he put a movie in for Lucas and sat down in a
chair near the rat cages. He had shampooed his carpets that morning,
and he noticed there was rat bedding on the carpet. He got up, moved
the cages and began picking up the bedding mess.
Lucas had gone to the kitchen, and Cline could hear a cabinet
door. He called to Lucas, who then left the kitchen, re-entered the
living room and stumbled into the cages in the middle of the floor.
Cline recalled the boy's upper lip bleeding and taking him to the
kitchen to clean him up and comfort him. He said that Lucas cried,
but the bleeding stopped, he stopped crying and asked for something
to eat. Cline fed him pancakes, which he ate the majority of.
Page asked Cline if he noticed the dent on the rat cage, Cline
said that he did. Page wanted to know if the dent made him angry at
Lucas. Cline responded, "Absolutely not." Page asked about the blood
on the newly cleaned carpet -- Did that make him angry? -- and again
Cline said "no."
Cline was asked if he informed Jody Alberts of the accident. He
said Jody called while Lucas was eating, and he told her what
happened.
Cline was also asked about the text messages to David Gleason and
if his use of expletives in referring to Lucas had been intended as
derogatory comments. Cline said, "Absolutely not."
Page asked how Lucas acted after the accident, and Cline called
him "normal." Page asked if he had vomited or been unsteady. Cline
indicated he had not and that Lucas had played outside afterward.
Page asked, "Did you think you should take him to the emergency
room?" Cline said, "No." Page then asked, in retrospect, "do you now
think you should have taken him?" At that point, Cline broke down
briefly. Crying, he answered, "Yes, absolutely."
Continuing with the events of the evening, Cline said he bathed
Lucas, then took him for a ride in his Ford Expedition. He said
Lucas loved to ride in the SUV and referred to it as "my Ty's
truck."
They drove to Fifth Street Food Mart, then out to Polecat Hill to
look for deer or turkey. They then went to Jody Alberts' apartment,
where Cline got Lucas ready for bed. He remembered that Jody Alberts
called and she heard Lucas say "nite-nite" over the phone.
Page asked how Jody responded when she heard about the
accident. Cline said that she had told him, "Calm down, children
fall."
Cline also indicated that he was concerned about the marks on
Lucas' face, as by bedtime they looked worse than they had at the
time of the fall.
Cline was also asked if he had left Lucas alone in the apartment
and returned to his own home. Cline responded, "No, I would never do
that."
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Cline indicated that Jody Alberts returned home around 12:40 a.m.
on Aug. 23 and slept on the couch.
Cline said he was asleep in Jody's bed. When morning came, he was
awakened by Jody's voice.
He said she sounded panicked. She was calling Lucas' name as well
as Cline's and saying, "What happened, what's wrong?"
When Cline left the bedroom and went to Jody, he saw that Lucas
was limp and unresponsive, and he was thinking to himself, "What is
going on?"
Cline said Jody handed the child to him. Lucas took a deep breath
and clenched his left fist but was otherwise unresponsive. He
recalled Jody Alberts saying, "What did you do?" Cline said he
couldn't believe what he was hearing; he was shocked.
Jody dressed and took the boy to the emergency room. As she left,
she told Cline to leave her keys.
Page asked Cline if he went to the hospital, and Cline said he
did not because he didn't believe he would be welcome there.
Page then asked if Cline drank alcohol that morning and he said
"yes." He said he felt he was living in a horrible dream. He went to
the refrigerator to get a Coke, saw a bottle of rum and added about
4 or 5 ounces to his soda.
Cline said he then went home. He indicated that he was panicked
and confused and felt he was being blamed. He said, "I felt
trapped. I needed air. I went for a walk."
When he returned from his walk, he took a long shower, then lay
down and said he may have fallen asleep. He said he never heard the
police knock and announce but did hear them inside his home and
heard the officer call upstairs, saying, "Show yourself."
Page asked if Cline cooperated in the search of his apartment and
the police interview. Cline said he did, because he had nothing to
hide.
Cline was asked if he sent a text to Gleason saying he was going
to shoot himself. Cline said he did. "I was devastated over the
whole situation," he said.
Page then asked if he told Gleason via text that he was scared he
had done something wrong. Cline confirmed and Page asked what he had
done. Cline said, "My inaction."
Cline was asked if he tried to contact Jody Alberts. He said he
did but got no or very little response.
He was also asked how he learned of Lucas' death. Again Cline
became emotional and said that he was told by his father and
brother.
During cross-examination, Assistant State's Attorney Jonathon
Wright honed in primarily on the text messages sent to Gleason by
Cline.
Wright asked about the expletives Cline used and whether it was a
term he normally used when frustrated. Cline said, "Yes." He later
said he also used it on different occasions as well.
Wright asked if Cline was frustrated over the blood on the
carpet. Cline responded, "It didn't bother me. It is a rented
apartment. I didn't care."
Wright moved through his questioning and came to a conclusion
that Cline's concern voiced in the text messages to Gleason was for
himself and not the child. Cline denied that.
Wright went through each text to Gleason. In each case, he read
the text and asked Cline to indicate what part of the message
expressed concern for Lucas. None were identified.
The last text referred to the police as "[expletive] cops, won't
let me leave." Wright asked if he was frustrated when he used that
word. Cline said, "Yes." Wright asked where in the message he
inquired about Lucas, and Cline indicated that he did not ask.
Wright then said, "All the texts are about you, correct?" Cline
said, "Yes." Wright went on to the text sent on Aug. 23 at 9:35 p.m.
that ended, "I'm worried." Wright said, "You were worried about
you." Cline responded, "That's fair."
Wright also asked if Cline offered to take Jody and Lucas Alberts
to the hospital or if had called 911. Clint responded "no" to both.
Cline indicated he felt Jody Alberts did not want him with her at
the hospital.
In redirect, Page asked if Cline tried to contact Jody Alberts on
Sunday morning. He said he had but got no response. Cline indicated
he felt then that he was being blamed for the accident.
Page asked if Cline felt like Jody wanted him to come to the
hospital, and Cline said he did not.
Finally Page asked, "Did you think Lucas Alberts was on the verge
of dying that night?" and Cline answered, "No."
At the end of Cline's testimony, the defense rested their case.
Jay Elmore for the defense once again asked for a directed verdict,
and it was once again denied by Harris.
Wednesday morning both sides will present their closing
arguments, and then the jury will go into deliberation.
[LDN]
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