In 1985, I was practicing law with Irv Nodland in Bismarck. One morning I received a call from Tom Tuntland asking if he could come and see me. I told him to come over. I had never met him before that morning. Even then, all those years ago, when a lawyer wanted to see me, it was one of three things:
DUI;
Divorce; or
Disciplinary Complaint.
Sometimes it was all three. Tom did not say why he was coming over, he just said that he was. He came to my office, introduced himself and sat down. And then he asked:
“Are you a Democrat?”
“Excuse Me?”
“I heard you were a Democrat”
“I don’t know, most days, I guess. Why?”
“Do you know Nick Spaeth; the Attorney General?”
“I know him not because I’m such a good Democrat, I play hockey with Nick every Thursday night, so I do know him pretty well. Why?”
“I need to hire you to go talk to him.”
At that moment, I knew it was not a DUI, I knew it was not a divorce, and I knew it was not a disciplinary complaint. But Tom had still not said why he was there. Primary criminal jurisdiction is in the Counties. The state’s attorney investigates and prosecutes the cases. The Attorney General’s Office has jurisdiction over criminal cases if the local state’s attorney has a conflict. The case is then transferred from the County to the Attorney General’s Office for investigation and possible prosecution. The most common conflict is when the target of the criminal investigation is a local lawyer.
But I looked at him and said:
“I still don’t understand why the AG is involved in this?"
“Well, it’s a Ward County Case. Do you know Tom Schoppert?”
“Oh shit, not another Schoppert case. Dear Lord.”
“What did Schoppert do now?”
“Well, it’s not exactly about Schoppert.”
“Who’s it about?”
“They say it’s about me.”
“You?”
“Yep. Me.”
“Why don’t we start from the beginning here… and you tell me what happened.”
“Schoppert and I were defending a drug conspiracy case in Ward County. Apparently, some colorful language was overheard after the Preliminary Hearing.”
“Really, what kind of colorful language?“
"You know, the standard fair. The judge is a moron, the prosecutor is an asshole, the confidential informant is a liar. The usual stuff.”
“Lawyers talk like that all the time. Whoever overheard that language knows that.”
“Well, it’s a little bit more than someone just overhearing it. There’s a transcript.”
“A transcript??”
“When Schoppert and I were talking at counsel table, the microphones were still on, the judge and court reporter overheard the conversation back in chambers, they made a transcript.”
And then Tom pushes the transcript across my desk, and I read it. Here is what it says: “The Court: The Court closes the record in case no…., State of North Dakota versus J.G. and J.G. at 3:00 p.ml. on March 4, 1985. We are adjourned. Thank you everyone.”
“Mr. Schoppert: What should we do with this snitch?”
“Mr. Tuntland: Let’s just slit his f****** throat.”
There are times when reading words in print appear more harsh than the spoken word. This would be that time.
“Is this accurate?”
“Did you say this?"
Tom started ducking and weaving a little bit and then he said:
“I don’t know, but it sure sounds like me.”
“Just so I understand, Ward County recused themselves because Schoppert is from there. The case is now in the Attorney General’s Office for a criminal investigation of you (Tom Tuntland) for Terrorizing, a Class C Felony.”
And Tom Tuntland, always being the smartest one in the room… he corrects me.
“No, technically I think it’s Conspiracy to Commit Murder, a Class A Felony.”
“Holy shit. Let me call Nick and see if I can see him.”
I got in to see Nick Spaeth, later that afternoon, he had a copy of the transcript, he read it out loud to me. And then he started laughing.
“All Lawyers talk like that, tell Tuntland to be more careful, and I’ll see you at hockey on Thursday night.”
The investigation was officially closed. And so, ended the Criminal Conspiracy to commit murder investigation against Tom Tuntland. I called Tom and we met at Peacock Ally for beers. Tom called Ralph Vinje to join us. Ralph came down and drank beer with us. And as it turned out, that was the first meeting of the Outlaw Bar. A renegade band of trial lawyers, mostly DUI lawyers who tried hundreds and hundreds of cases across North Dakota.
Tom Tuntland, Ralph Vinje, Tom Schoppert, Ron Reichert, Brian Nelson, Darold Asbridge, Mike Hoffman, and myself.
Tom Tuntland tried so many cases, he couldn’t keep track.
These were all good lawyers, some of them great lawyers. Bold, bright, creative, fearless. But Tom Tuntland was the smartest of them all.
Once a year, Tom and I would go out to the State Toxicology Lab and take the deposition of the State Toxicologist. First Dr. Rao, and then later, Aaron Rash. We went there to learn more about the scientific underpinnings of their alcohol testing equipment. The Intoxilyzer which tested for breath-alcohol and the Gas Chromograph Mass Spectrometer which actually tested the blood for the presence of alcohol. My role was to ask the questions and generally suck up to the Toxicologist. Tom’s role was to analyze the science. Truthfully, he understood the science better than the toxicologist.
A couple of weeks later, we would get the deposition transcripts. Tom would go through them with a fine-toothed comb. We would then meet, on a Saturday afternoon in the Langer Room at the Peacock Alley. The Langer Room is that small dining room in the back of the restaurant. At that time, there was a Blackboard on the back wall of the Langer Room.
We would sit at the dining table and listen to Tom. And he would be at the blackboard with a big piece of chalk in his hand, scribbling on the blackboard, and he would try to explain the science to a room full of dumbasses. That was not an easy task, but Tom was a good teacher and some of the science sank in. We were looking for two things.
1.) To find a flaw in the system to create a reasonable doubt; and
2.) To be able to communicate that reasonable doubt to the jury.
Surprisingly, or not surprisingly, we became quite successful at winning these jury trials. These DUI trials were tried in every county in North Dakota, and we were on the road a lot. To ease the burden of traveling from Wahpeton to Williston or from Bismarck to Bowbells, Tom would make us Mixed Tapes, or actually mixed CD’s. He loved music. I don’t mean he liked music. He LOVED music. He did not just listen to music; he absorbed it like he did the science at the State Toxicology Lab. And he wanted us to love his music. Tom graduated from Garrison H.S. in 1963. And Tom must have been the choreographer, the conductor, and the director of all music programs at Garrison High School. Because he recorded tapes for almost every song that was ever played in 1963.
Music of Class of ‘63
Disk No. 1
23 Songs
Music of Class of ‘63
Disk No. 2
23 Songs
Music of Class of ‘63
Disk No. 3
23 Songs
Music of Class of ‘63
Disk No. 4 – 25 Songs
Disk No. 5 – 25 Songs
Disk No. 6 – 26 Songs
Disk No. 7 – 25 Songs
Disk No. 8 – 26 Songs
Disk No. 9 – 24 Songs
Disk No. 10 – 25 Songs
Disk No. 11 – 24 Songs
Disk No. 12 – 25 Songs
And then Tom got an MP3 Player, and he could download more songs on one disc.
Music of Class of ’63 MP3
Songs 1 – 100
Songs 101 – 200
Songs 201 – 300
Every High School had one class song, but the Garrison High School of 1963 had 594. 594 songs from just one class in High School. Tom knew the words to everyone. And it did not stop at Graduation. There is more:
Willie Nelson, Best Songs, Vol. 1 and Vol. 2.
Willie Nelson’s 2nd Best Songs Vol. 1 & 2
Closet Red Neck Vol. 1 & 2
Christmas Tunes – 2014
New Years Tunes – 2015
Kenny Burrell’s Midnight Blue
Does anyone other than Michelle even know who Kenny Burrel is? Tom Tuntland knew. Tom loved music.
(Close Music)
Old people are often accused of looking backwards with rose-colored glasses. That may be true. I am not sure. And there comes a moment when we realize that our past has become greater than our future.
Now when I look back at those years and all that has gone by, sometimes in the quiet of the night, I sit alone looking out the window, and I can see those lawyers. That Outlaw Bar, that renegade band of brothers. Ralph, Reichert, Schoppert, Darold, Brian Nelson and Mike. All of them good lawyers, some of them great. But the one I see most clearly is Tom Tuntland. I see him standing at that Blackboard in the Langer Room waiving that piece of chalk like a baton directing his own band, playing his own music. Tom was a cut above all the rest because he was the one who put the music to the science and made it sing in all those courtrooms. And when Tom stood up in a North Dakota courtroom to speak for his client…
He truly was the Maestro.
