Twisted Justice, page 22
Maria nodded. He could see flashes of pink in her cheeks. She was more nervous than he’d ever seen her, inside the courtroom or out. “Let’s talk about that witness. Warner. The man who claimed that you confessed to the murder. Have you ever seen him before?”
“Never.”
“You’re certain?”
“Positive. I have a good eye for details. Faces. If I’d seen him, I’d remember.”
“But you have been in jail.”
“After I was arrested on this charge, they locked me up. Took a while before I was released on bail.”
“But you didn’t talk to that man. Mr. Warner.”
“I talked to few of the other incarcerated men. I had few opportunities, actually, and even when I did have a chance, I kept my mouth shut.”
“Was there a reason for that?”
“Of course. I’m an attorney, remember? I’m all too familiar with jailhouse snitches and prosecutors’ unfortunate tendency to rely on them, particularly when they have no solid—”
“Objection,” Garfield said, springing to her feet. “The witness answered the yes-or-no question.”
“Sustained.”
Maria tried again. “Have you seen prosecutors employ snitch testimony before?”
“All too—”
“Objection. Relevance. What may have happened in the past has no bearing here.”
Judge Hembeck thought longer this time before replying. “Sustained.”
“Your honor,” Maria said, “I will suggest that given Mr. Pike’s years of service as a defense attorney, he’s an expert on this subject. Therefore, he should be allowed to offer expert testimony.”
“That’s preposterous,” Garfield said. “War stories are not expert testimony.”
“I disagree,” Maria said calmly. “Who around here would know more about snitch testimony and when prosecutors resort to it than my client?”
“And I object to the term ‘snitch,’” Garfield replied. “Mr. Warner offered credible testimony based upon personal experience.”
“He snitched to get himself out of jail.”
“Okay, stop,” the judge said, waving her gavel. “No more speaking objections. If you must offer your opinions, approach the bench first.”
“I’m sorry, your honor,” Maria said. But Dan doubted it.
The judge continued. “I will allow the witness to speak on a limited basis about his personal professional experience, as I would any witness. I don’t think he needs to be certified as an expert to permit that. But I will not allow him to speak on specific cases that he has no knowledge about. And I have little tolerance for unsubstantiated attacks on the prosecutor’s office or the law enforcement system. Do I make myself clear, Ms. Morales?”
“You do, your honor. Thank you.” She turned back toward Dan. “Have you encountered snitch testimony before?”
“Yes. It was common in the Belasco administration, though I must say that some prosecutors refused to use it because of its inherent unreliability. It’s become a last resort for some prosecutors—and some inmates. Warner admitted that he’s done this before.”
“He testified that the prosecution did not promise him anything.”
“They don’t have to. Warner knows how the system works. If his testimony gets the prosecution a conviction, he’ll be rewarded.”
Garfield again. “Objection, your honor. You instructed counsel to avoid attacks on the prosecutor’s office.”
“So I did.” Hembeck gave Maria a sharp look. “Did you hear that part?”
“Yes, your honor. But with all due respect, that is how the system works, and I can’t believe the court likes snitch testimony any more than we do. If I paid someone to testify, I’d be disbarred. But snitch testimony is just another form of paid testimony. And prosecutors do it with frightening frequency.”
“And that is the end of this conversation,” Judge Hembeck said, pointing her gavel. “If you want to write an op-ed piece for the paper, please do. But my courtroom is not your soapbox. This conversation is over. Move on.”
Fine. She’d made her point. Made it quite well, in fact. He hoped the jury got it.
“Mr. Pike, did you in fact have a conversation with Mr. Warner?”
“No. Never saw him. Never spoke to him. Wouldn’t have spoken to him if I had seen him. I’m not stupid enough to speak to someone like that. He’s dangerous. Completely amoral. Thinks any lie is justified if it benefits himself.”
Garfield shot up again, looking seriously angry. “Object to the witness offering psychological profiles. He’s not that kind of expert.” Her voice dropped. “Or any other.”
“Sustained. Counsel, you’ve been told to move on.”
“And I will, your honor.”
“The whole idea is crazy,” Dan said, not waiting for another question he knew would draw an objection. “Do I seem like I would get all bug-eyed gloating about killing another attorney? That witness has watched too many episodes of Law and Order.”
The judge slammed down her gavel. “Mr. Pike! You know how courtroom procedure works. You will remain silent until you hear a question. And then you will answer the question. And that is all you will do.”
“Yes, your honor.” He tucked in his chin contritely. “My apologies.”
“Mr. Pike,” Maria said, “could you please describe the circumstances surrounding that audio recording the jury heard? Repeatedly.”
“Of course. It was all a joke. Maybe not a funny one, in retrospect, but of course, we didn’t know Belasco was about to be murdered. Belasco was interfering with a trial I was handling. Camila was with me on my boat. As you heard, she initiated a joke about taking Belasco out, which was funny at the time because that’s about the last thing in the world she would ever do. I played along. That’s all it was. Two people being inappropriately silly.”
“Did you know you were being recorded?”
“Obviously not.”
“Do you know who recorded the conversation?”
“Someone who, once again, was trying to frame me, obviously.”
“Objection,” Garfield said. “We’ve been over this.”
“But this is different,” Maria insisted. “That listening device wasn’t planted by accident. It was already in place before the conversation occurred. That does strongly suggest that someone was out to get my client.”
Judge Hembeck pondered a moment before answering. “I’ll allow it. This time.”
Maria continued. “Mr. Pike, do you know who sent those anonymous emails to the police?”
“No. But again...” He glanced at the judge and smiled. “It was not someone who wanted me to have a long and happy life.”
Maria brought the examination to its conclusion. “Mr. Pike, did you murder George Belasco?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Did you conspire to kill George Belasco?”
“No. I would never do such a thing.”
“Were you in that back alley on the night of the murder?”
“No.”
“Did Harriett Clooney see you near the alley?”
“No. She was mistaken. The stocking cap probably prevented her from making a reliable identification.”
“Did you hire someone to kill George Belasco or to help you kill him?”
“Never.”
“Thank you.” She glanced at Garfield. “Your witness.”
Chapter 40
Garfield wasted no time. She strode before Dan and planted herself directly in his line of sight. “Mr. Pike, you have considerable experience with the criminal justice system, don’t you?”
Really? That was her hardball? “I’ve been a defense lawyer for more than a decade.”
“But your experience with the legal system...and the penal system...began long before that, didn’t it?”
“I’m not sure what you mean.” Out the corner of his eye, he could see Maria poised to object. But like him, she wasn’t sure yet where this was going.
“Mr. Pike, your father was also arrested for murder, wasn’t he? And convicted?”
“Objection,” Maria said. “This is grossly improper.”
“To the contrary,” Garfield said calmly, “this is essential and necessary.”
“No, it’s potentially defamatory and completely irrelevant.”
“I would ask the court’s indulgence,” Garfield said. “This is leading to a line of questioning that bears directly on the case at bar.”
“How?” Maria said. “His father’s case happened years ago. She’s trying to embarrass him.”
Or perhaps to suggest that murder runs in the Pike DNA, Dan mused. And to shake him up. Get him unsettled, not thinking straight. The more stressed he was, the greater the chance he would say something he shouldn’t.
“If you’ll recall,” Garfield said, “Ms. Morales dug into the witness’s past to accomplish her ends, despite being instructed not to do so by the court. I don’t see how she can complain when I do the same.”
The judge nodded. “Sauce for the goose. Overruled.”
Proving once again how dangerous it was to hack off the judge.
Garfield addressed Dan. “Still waiting for an answer. Your father was convicted of murder, right? In fact, he died in prison.”
Dan spoke through clenched teeth. “True.”
“And ever since then, you’ve represented criminal defendants.”
“I’ve dedicated my life to making sure no more innocent people are convicted. I know how that destroys families. Destroys lives. I don’t want anyone else to go through what my family did.”
“Is it the innocent you’re helping? You have a reputation for being able to get anyone off. You’ve represented a fair number of drug dealers, right?”
“Accused dealers.”
“How about Emilio Lopéz? Was he innocent?”
Damn. “Of the drug charges.”
“And after you got him released, he was involved in a gangland slaying. Six people died. Including at least one innocent bystander.”
Several jurors pulled back their heads, obviously appalled.
“Waiting for an answer, Mr. Pike. True?”
His jaw remained tight. “True.”
“It would seem you’re not so much dedicated to the innocent as you are dedicated to the money. Perhaps, to use familiar words, you’re a complete sociopath who thinks it’s acceptable to do anything so long as it benefits him.”
“Objection,” Maria said.
“Sustained.” But of course, the damage was already done.
Garfield withdrew a small silver object from a plastic evidence bag. “Mr. Pike, can you tell the jury what this is?”
“It appears to be a...flask.” Something fired in the nether reaches of his brain. But he couldn’t put it together fast enough...
“Would you like to tell the jury why this is significant? Or shall I?”
“I’ll let you.”
“Do you recall the case in which you represented Mayor Camila Pérez, who was also charged with murder?”
“Of course.”
“And she subsequently became your...girlfriend, right?”
“Yes...”
“She’s the one you’re talking with on the audio recording.”
“Yes.”
“And you got her off the hook, right?”
“The jury found her not guilty. Because she was not guilty. And the true—”
“Please answer the question, as the judge instructed you. Isn’t it true that a crucial piece of evidence went missing during that case?”
This is that flask? The truth slammed his chest so hard he felt like he was having a stroke. This cross-ex was a runaway train, but he was much too slow to stop it. “Yes.”
“What evidence went missing?”
He stared at the evidence in his hand. “A silver flask. Found at the scene of the crime. A bakery.”
“A vital piece of evidence that disappeared under mysterious circumstances, dealing a severe blow to the prosecution and contributing to the acquittal of your client. Who is now your lover. Mr. Pike, the flask you now hold was found during the search of your office.”
“I don’t believe that.”
“I have an officer ready to testify in detail about finding this flask in a secret hiding place inside the wall of your private office.”
“That can’t—”
“Isn’t it true that the flask you’re holding is the one that went missing?”
The buzz in the courtroom almost drowned out his response. “I don’t...have any idea. But I didn’t—”
“I will submit, Mr. Pike, that you deliberately stole this evidence so you could win your case and protect your lover.”
“That’s not true. I had no way to—”
“You can deny it all you like, but the flask was found in your office. You are the sociopath—and compulsive liar—who believes he is above the law. Even the law against murder.”
“Objection,” Maria said.
Both continued speaking simultaneously, and between that confusion and the growing noise from the gallery, it became impossible to follow what was happening.
Garfield took advantage of the confusion. She kicked her voice up several notches. “Mr. Pike, I will submit that you are a clever, completely amoral man who thinks he can do anything. Even lying and tampering with evidence. You did it in your lover’s case and now you’re doing it in your own. Because you committed this murder!”
“That’s not true. I never—” He tried to be heard, but no one was listening. The judge pounded her gavel for order, but it was almost useless. After several more moments of pointless pounding, Hembeck called for a ten-minute recess so everyone could calm down.
He knew Maria would do her best to smooth things over after the break, to rehabilitate him. But he also knew it would be impossible. Garfield made him look like a cheat and a liar. A murderer.
And that’s what the jury would remember.
Chapter 41
In the consultation room, Dan tried to stifle the growing panic that threatened to incapacitate him. “How did they slip that flask onto the exhibit list without us noticing?”
Maria looked crushed. “Blame me. How would I know that a missing piece of evidence from long ago would become relevant here?”
“We should have seen it coming.”
“There are literally hundreds of items on the prosecution exhibit list.”
“Deliberate misdirection. We’re sunk.”
Maria gripped his arms. “Don’t panic. Garrett says the mermaid will be a great witness.”
“Will she make the jury forget that I was a terrible witness?”
“We can hope.”
He noticed she didn’t attempt to persuade him that he wasn’t a terrible witness. “Any idea where Garfield got that flask?”
“They say it came from your office. They have a sponsoring witness.”
“Bull. I bet Sweeney has been sitting on it ever since the prior case.”
“Honestly, it doesn’t matter. Right now, we have to focus on using this new witness to turn things around.”
“She doesn’t know who killed Belasco. How could she? She was out at sea when it happened.”
“She can still help.” Maria attempted something like a smile. “I do have one pleasant surprise.”
He arched an eyebrow. At this point, he couldn’t even imagine.
“A surprise visitor.” Maria left the room. And a moment later—Camila entered.
Without a word, he threw his arms around her and buried his face in her shoulder.
It was a long time before either spoke.
“I have...really missed you,” he murmured.
“Likewise. How are you holding up?”
He stifled his first response. “The hardest part for me is over. I’ve already testified. And bombed.”
“The trial isn’t finished.” She squeezed him tighter. “I think maybe I should hang around. I don’t have anything pressing this afternoon.”
“No. The future senator does not need to be seen with the likes of me.” He kissed her again on the side of the neck. “Thanks. But we can’t both go down because of this.”
“I’m not going down. Have you seen my approval ratings? I’m perceived as the victim of a conspiracy. We need to convince everyone that you’re a victim, too.”
“I tried. When I was on the stand. Didn’t work.”
“But still—”
“You had an ironclad alibi. I don’t.”
She frowned. “We should’ve told them we were boinking on your boat at the time of the murder.”
He gave her a surprised, but amused look. “That would’ve been a hard alibi to float. Since you were surrounded by a dozen people at the time.”
“Well, I move fast.” All at once, she pressed her lips against his. “I’m worried about you,” she said after.
“I’m a little concerned myself.” He paused. “But Garrett is bringing us a surprise witness. A mermaid, apparently.”
“That sounds promising.”
“We can hope.” He hugged her again, and realized he was having a hard time letting go. He didn’t want to let go. “Thanks for coming. Now get out of here.”
“But—”
“Assuming I’m allowed out tonight, let’s rendezvous back at the boat.”
“And...” She swallowed. “If you’re not?”
He looked deeply into her eyes. “Water my plants.”
* * *
Dan could barely contain himself as he returned to the courtroom. He knew all eyes were on him. They were still evaluating, contemplating, deciding who to believe.
Maria addressed the court. “The defense calls Elena Alvarez to the witness stand.”
When Elena was first brought to the hospital, the doctors said she suffered from exhaustion, dehydration, and several serious injuries. She seemed to be in shock or some irrational mental state, probably brought about by all she had experienced, both before and after the boat crash that left her stranded in the Gulf near the Floridian shore. Her mental state seemed stronger now, but putting her on the stand was still completely unpredictable.
At the hospital, Elena told him she wanted to testify. He would’ve understood if her experiences left her terrified, unwilling to speak, but it was just the opposite. She relished the opportunity to strike back. She had looked him in the eyes and said, “I want to do this. Not for myself. For Izzy.”
