Corrupted (49 page)

“What's that?” Judge Patterson leaned over the dais, squinting.

“Objection, relevance!” Martinez leapt to his feet. “Your Honor, this is a blatant attempt to gain sympathy for the defendant by introducing his c
hildhood toys
! Should I begin to introduce Mr. Grusini's toys? He had toys, too!”

Judge Patterson shot Martinez a warning look. “Mr. Martinez, I won't have you grandstand in my courtroom.” Then the judge turned to Bennie. “Counsel, what possible relevance does this have?”

“Your Honor, it is completely relevant, and I was just about to connect it to the murder at issue. Perhaps if I could first authenticate it, then move it into evidence, I could make its relevance plain.” Bennie noticed that the jury leaned forward, peering at the toy, and Computer Guy's face lit up with animation, evidently a fellow Lego fan.

“Please do.” Judge Patterson leaned back in her chair.

“Jason, would you please identify this toy for the jury?”

“That's Richard the Strong.” Jason picked up the toy, turning it this way and that in his hands.

“Why was Richard the Strong important to you as a child?”

Jason hesitated, blinking. “I don't know, I just liked him.”

“He was a protector, wasn't he? Isn't that why you identified with him?”

“Objection!” Martinez shouted, his tone newly snarky. “She's leading the witness, and are we really going to discuss the significance of a childhood toy, in a murder trial?”

“Your Honor.” Bennie faced Judge Patterson. “I'm entitled to explore Jason's state of mind on the night of the murder. I think this toy is key to his state of mind at that time. If Mr. Martinez would let me ask one more question, I think I can explain the relevance of this exhibit.”

“One more question, Ms. Rosato.” Judge Patterson kept her eyes narrow, but Bennie changed tacks, improvising out of necessity.

“Jason, please tell the jury what happened on the night in question, from the moment you went into the alley.”

“I went in the alley because I admit, I was mad at Richie and I wanted to talk to him. That's why I went to him in the bar, too. I wanted to tell him it was the anniversary of my dad's death and he didn't even care, he didn't care about anybody but himself.”

“So what was Mr. Grusini doing when you entered the alley?”

“He was, well, he was just done urinating against the wall.”

“Then what happened, Jason?”

“I went up to him to tell him what I thought of him and all of a sudden, he hauled off and hit me, he punched me in the face, and I fell backwards, and when I woke up, he was lying there in the alley, and Richie's throat was all cut and bleeding.” Jason grimaced, his horror clearly authentic. “There was a knife in my hand and blood all over me, on my forehead, and my eye was killing me where he hit me, and I don't know what happened.”

“Jason, you didn't kill Mr. Grusini in self-defense, did you?”

“No, I didn't kill him, at all,” Jason answered, as the jurors blinked or shook their heads in confusion, and the packed gallery burst into loud chatter.

“Order, please!” Judge Patterson banged her gavel on the desk, trying to settle everyone down.

“Objection, Your Honor!” Martinez's voice rang out, angry. “
What
is going on here? Did defense counsel just change her theory of the case?”

Bennie moved quickly, taking advantage of the chaos. She crossed to her laptop, hit a button, then grabbed the TV remote on the fly, coming back to the dais. “Your Honor, there's no basis for objection. I'm merely eliciting from my client the facts—”

“Hold on, Ms. Rosato.” Judge Patterson fixed her glare on Bennie. “I agree with you, there is no basis for objection. But I also agree with Mr. Martinez, that you appear to be changing your theory of the case.”

“Your Honor, I was wrong about my initial theory, and I am now attempting to elicit what really happened.”

“I knew it!” Martinez threw up his hands, making the most of the moment for the benefit of the jury. “I
knew
that was a lawyer's theory! Your Honor, she misrepresented her case to the jury and Your Honor should—”

“Your Honor!” Bennie broke in. “I learned the truth only late last night, and if the prosecutor would allow me to ask a question—”

“Counsel, quiet, both of you!” Judge Patterson grabbed the gavel and banged it again. “Ms. Rosato, we will proceed with your case, but only in an orderly manner. First, are you seeking to move the admission of the Lego toy into evidence? Mr. Martinez is objecting to its admission, on relevance grounds.”

“No, Your Honor, I'll withdraw my request to admit it into evidence.” Bennie didn't really need it admitted, only shown to Jason, to bring those emotions back to him.

“Second, are you changing your theory of the case and abandoning your self-defense claim?”

“Yes, and what really happened in the alley will be proven right now.” Bennie was determined to get at the truth, and the only way to do it was through cross-examination, even if it was of her own client, in open court.

“Thank you.” Judge Patterson faced Martinez. “Mr. Prosecutor, please take your seat.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Martinez sank into his chair.

“Ms. Rosato, please proceed.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.” Bennie clicked the remote on the television, bringing the videotape of Yearling Street back onto the screen, with the shadowy figure. “Jason, I would like to refer to Defense Exhibit 23, the videotape that was the subject of Detective Gallagher's testimony today. Did you hear Detective Gallagher's testimony regarding the identity of this person?”

“Yes.”

“Jason, you heard Detective Gallagher agree that this person appeared on Yearling Street right after Mr. Grusini was murdered, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“And you also heard Detective Gallagher testify that he initially thought the person had committed the murder, did you not?”

“Yes.”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Martinez said, tentatively. “The question has been asked and answered.”

Bennie faced the judge. “Your Honor, I'm entitled to press my client.”

“Overruled.” Judge Patterson nodded, and Bennie didn't miss a beat before she turned back to Jason.

“Jason, did you hear Detective Gallagher testify that the police tried to find out who this person was, but they were unable to?”

“Yes.”

“Jason, you know who this person is, don't you?”

“No.”

Bennie's gut wrenched. “Jason, I remind you that you're under oath. You have to tell the truth. Please, who is this person?”

“I don't know who that is.” Jason's jittery gaze fled from the TV.

Martinez rose. “Objection, Your Honor, she's harassing the witness.”

“It's my witness and my client.” Bennie had started down the path and there was no turning back. The reporters wanted a courtroom drama, and they were going to get one. “Your Honor, I'm entitled to question my client any way I see fit, when it's in his best interests to do so. The prosecutor has no standing to assert my client's interests, as against me.”

Judge Patterson arched an eyebrow. “Ms. Rosato, this is certainly unconventional, but you are correct. Overruled, Mr. Martinez.”

Bennie faced the stand, trying to control her growing frustration. “Jason, would you please tell the jury who that person is?”

“I don't know who it is.”

“Jason, you were in the alley with that person, weren't you?”

“No.”

“Jason, tell the truth!” Bennie shouted, desperate.

“I
am
telling the truth!” Jason shouted back.

Martinez jumped to his feet. “Your Honor, objection! This isn't direct examination, this is cross-examination! She's cross-examining her own client!”

Bennie whirled around to face Judge Patterson. “Your Honor, I'm now exercising my right to call Jason as a hostile witness, so I may cross-examine him.”

Judge Patterson blinked. “Your
own
client?”

“Yes.” Bennie doubled-down. Jason had been worried about Martinez cross-examining him, but he had never worried about his own lawyer. “It may be unusual, but it's entirely within the rules. This young man is on trial for murder, and I'm going to get the truth out of him, one way or the other.”

“Fair enough, the objection is overruled.” Judge Patterson shook her head, and Bennie couldn't tell if her reaction was admiring or nonplussed, but didn't care.

“Jason.” Bennie advanced on the witness stand. “I represented you a long time ago, in the juvenile action regarding the fight in the cafeteria, did I not?”

“Yes, you did.” Jason looked shaky.

“And you know that it's very important to tell the truth in any court proceeding, do you understand that?”

“Yes.” Jason seemed to grow pale, his face draining.

“Jason, you know there was someone else in that alley with you, don't you?”

“No, there wasn't.” Jason began to waver, but Bennie felt her own anger growing, not only at him, but at herself.

“Jason, you need to tell this jury who else was in that alley!” Bennie shouted, feeling herself lose control.

“There was no one else! There was nobody in that alley but Richie and me!”

“You're lying! You weren't framed, you're protecting somebody! You're protecting that person on the video! Who is this person? I
know
you know who this is!” Bennie pointed to the screen. She could see the jury react, looking back and forth. She could hear the gallery shift and murmur.

“I don't know, I don't know who it is!”

“Yes you
do
!” Bennie hollered back, desperate. Her strategy was blowing up. Her cross-examination was backfiring. She had violated her own rules. Jason knew the truth but he wasn't going to give it to her. Her defense was going to hell in a handbasket. She exploded, throwing up her hands. “You're protecting someone, aren't you? Just like you protected your mother! Just like you protected Gail! You're Richard the Strong, Jason! You're a protector, not a killer, isn't that right? You know who it is!”

“I don't, I don't know who she is!”

“
She
? How do you know it's a
she
?” Bennie exploded. “Jason, who is
she
?”

“Objection!” Martinez shouted, and chaos broke out again. The reporters chattered, the jurors' mouths dropped open, and Judge Patterson reached for her gavel.

Bennie ignored everyone. “Jason, you spent the best part of your life in jail, do you want to spend the rest there, too? You didn't belong there then and you don't belong there now!
Who
is she?”

“Counsel!” Judge Patterson's eyes flared. “I will
not
be defied in my own courtroom!”

“Your Honor, I can't stop now!” Bennie cried out, but suddenly she became aware that the gallery behind her was in an uproar. She turned around to see what was going on, just as someone shouted:

“It's me! I'm the one on the TV! He's protecting
me
.”

 

CHAPTER SIXTY-TWO

Bennie whirled around, astonished to see a tall woman in a flowered shift standing up in the second pew. She looked to be in her thirties, with determined blue eyes, chin-length brown hair, and a small mouth. She'd been sitting with Paul Stokowski, whose mouth had dropped open in astonishment. Paul tried to pull her back into her seat, but she wrenched her arm away and began moving out of the packed pew.

“Judge, my name is Linda Stokowski! I need to tell what happened! I was in the alley—”

“Miss, refrain from saying anything further until I dismiss the jury!” Judge Patterson gestured to her courtroom deputy, who was already hurrying toward the jury box. “Jurors, please return to the jury room forthwith. I apologize for the inconvenience.”

The excited jurors jumped up from their seats, and the courtroom deputy hurried them from the courtroom and slammed the heavy door behind them. A horrified Paul Stokowski was on his feet, reporters scribbled away, and the sketch artist turned around, rapidly drawing Stokowski's wife Linda, in motion.

Meanwhile Bennie had hustled to the second pew and extended her hand. “Linda, this way, please.”

“Wait one minute, Bennie!” Martinez jogged to Bennie, but she had already grabbed Linda by her slender arm and was leading her through the bar of court.

“Members of the public and the press, leave forthwith.” Judge Patterson frowned as the grumbling reporters took their belongings, shuffled out of the pews, and left the courtroom. “Members of the victim's family, you may remain, but you are cautioned not to disrupt this proceeding.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Declan called back, but Bennie couldn't be distracted, ushering Linda through the bar of court.

“Your Honor, I call Linda Stokowski to the stand,” Bennie called out, on fire.

Martinez faced the judge. “Your Honor, Ms. Stokowski isn't on the defendant's witness list! She can't be called to the stand!”

Bennie pressed Linda toward the stand. “Your Honor, obviously, the defense had no notice of this woman's existence, so she couldn't have been on our list.”

Martinez blocked Bennie's path. “Your Honor, there's already a witness on the stand!”

“Counsel, stop right there!” Judge Patterson banged her gavel. “Allow me to run my own courtroom. I won't have a mistrial at this point, nor will I have my record spoiled in the event of an appeal. Do you understand, both of you?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” Bennie answered, in unfortunate unison with Martinez, who had grabbed Linda's other arm, like a legal tug-of-war.