The Puppet Master
Page 25
“Thank you, Your Honor. Dr. Hwang, you state that the senator was sexually assaulted as well as murdered. If you can tell us, Doctor, am I correct that the sexual assault was first and the murder was second?”
“No, you have it backward, Mr. Reilly. The murder definitely came first, and then the sexual assault.”
Brooks watched Reilly feign surprise. Brooks was exasperated. Like Reilly didn’t know that. He could have asked the question based on what he knew. But that wouldn’t have made the same impact. Had the same shock value.
Reilly continued his theatrics. “Really? First the murder, then the sexual assault of the deceased corpse? Please tell the jury how you know that.”
A deceased corpse. What other kind of corpses are there? Brooks knew Reilly was overdoing this, but felt he had to cut him some slack. Aside from the fact that the jury was entitled to evaluate how reliable they felt Hwang’s testimony was, Brooks knew Reilly was pushing this sequence to refute Klein’s justifiable homicide defense. What’s justified about assaulting a dead body?
“Both from an examination of the crime scene and an examination of the victim’s body, it’s clear the victim’s death preceded the penetration.”
Reilly wasn’t ready to let go of this and move on. “Let’s break this down, one step at a time. First, please explain to the jury how your examination of the crime scene supports your conclusion that the sexual assault of Senator Wells’s body followed her death.”
“The blood on the senator’s clothing demonstrates that she was fully clothed when she was shot. Blood droplets on the floor of the foyer show that the shooting must have occurred there. The nature of the two bullet wounds suggests that death was virtually instantaneous. In the foyer. Applying certain forensic techniques, we found three sets of footprints at the scene not discernible to the naked eye. A lighter, smaller set of barefoot impressions belonged to one person, likely a female. A heavier, larger set of shoed impressions belonged to a second person, probably a male. A still heavier, identically larger set of shoed impressions leading from the foyer to the bedroom belonged to that same second person. Unless that second person put his multiple crimes on pause to consume a large meal before carrying on, the only other conclusion is that the second person carried a heavy object with him into the bedroom. No doubt the senator’s dead body. Because that’s where we found it.” Some snickers were heard in the courtroom. Brooks raised his gavel. The courtroom quickly quieted down. No one wanted to test Brooks’s threat to empty the courtroom.
“So, is it your conclusion, then, that the killing was committed in the foyer entry hall and the killer then lifted and carried the corpse into the bedroom?”
“Precisely.”
“You mentioned that your examination of the senator’s body also led you to believe that the rape followed the murder. What about your examination of the body caused you to reach that conclusion?”
“The penetration of the vaginal cavity was rough. The canal lining was torn. Had the victim still been alive at the time, there would have been bleeding. There was none. This compels the conclusion that the victim was already deceased at the time of penetration.”
“So, let me see if I understand, Doctor. The senator was shot and killed in the entryway of her townhouse. Then carried into her bedroom by the perpetrator. Who only then undressed the senator and sexually assaulted her dead body.”
“Objection, Your Honor.” Klein was noticeably upset.
Brooks, too, was not pleased. “Mr. Reilly, this is not the time for closing arguments. I don’t think I heard a question anywhere in the statement you just made. Objection sustained. The jury will disregard Mr. Reilly’s remarks.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor.”
Brooks wasn’t fooled by the apology. Like hell he’s sorry. He’s going to keep pushing the sequence of murder first and assault second every chance he gets. If I permit him to keep beating this to death. Pun intended. Klein can object all she wants. And I can sustain the objections all I want. But even I can’t unring the bell. The jury will have heard what Reilly wanted them to hear. Over and over. Unless and until I figure out a way to do more than just sustain Klein’s objections.
“Let me ask a slightly different question,” Reilly said, addressing the witness again. “How, sir, do you know the sexual assault followed the death?”
“Objection. Asked and answered.”
“Not so. Before, I asked about the sequence. Murder first. Sexual assault second. Now I am asking the witness to tell the jury how he knows that is in fact the correct sequence.”
“Your Honor,” Klein responded, “the witness already answered that as well. Mr. Reilly should not be allowed to ask that same question again.”
Brooks could see that Klein was frustrated. Klein knows she’s going to have a tough time convincing the jury of the justification for assaulting a dead body. But enough’s getting to be enough.
“Mr. Reilly, I think the witness did answer this question. I’m going to give you a little more leeway. Don’t abuse my generosity.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. I do think the jury is entitled to know with perfect certainty just what examination of the body the witness is referring to.”
“The witness may answer.”
“I am referring to an examination of the vaginal linings and surrounds.”
“Please elaborate,” Reilly continued.
“Enough!” Brooks exploded. “I don’t need to wait for an objection from Ms. Klein. I get the picture and so does the jury. We don’t need any more graphics. Move on, Mr. Reilly. Or I’ll assume you have no more questions for this witness.”
“Very well, Your Honor. I have here several pictures of the body and the scene I would like to have admitted into evidence as People’s Exhibit B. I have copies for you and Ms. Klein.”
“Okay, let’s see them. Hand one set to my clerk and one set to Ms. Klein.” After a few moments, Brooks said, “Any objections, Ms. Klein?”
“Yes, Your Honor. I think the pictures are intended to incite the jury and are unnecessary.”
“Well, I’m okay with the pictures of the scene,” Brooks responded. “They show the blood markings in the entryway and the forensic markings of the footprints. I think the jury should have the opportunity to see that. However, I think the pictures of the deceased, particularly the female parts of her body, are unnecessary and are likely to incite beyond their probative value. Exhibit B will be admitted into evidence solely as to the photographs of the scene.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Reilly responded.
Brooks held his tongue. What a sanctimonious ass. What’s he thanking me for? I just kept out what he really wanted to get in. He knew I would, but he also knows the jury will imagine what those photographs look like. I can’t prevent that. Reilly didn’t get to be the DA for nothing. “Do you have any further questions for this witness, Mr. Reilly?”
“Dr. Hwang. Do you have an opinion as to whether the killer was personally acquainted with the senator?”
“Objection, Your Honor. Beyond the witness’s expertise.”
Brooks thought about the objection. Technically, Klein’s right, but I’d like to know the answer to that question myself. “Overruled. Mr. Reilly established at the outset of the witness’s testimony that he has been studying crime scenes for more than twenty years. I’ll allow the question.”
“I don’t believe the killer knew his victim.”
“Why do you say that?”
“Because the evidence shows he kicked in the front door of the townhouse to gain entrance. If he knew the senator, he could simply have knocked on her door and she would have opened it.”
Reilly had only one more line of questioning for Dr. Hwang. To establish that Dr. Hwang had made contemporaneous written notes of his work on this case and that he did that as a matter of his regular practice. Only notes contemporaneously made in the ordinary course of one’s work are considered reliable enough to be seen by the jury in their deliberations. �
��I have just one more item for this witness, Your Honor, if I may. I would like to admit into evidence as People’s Exhibit C Dr. Hwang’s notes made contemporaneously during the course of his investigation of the crime scene and the body.” Reilly showed copies of the witness’s crime scene notes to both Brooks and Klein.
“Objection, Your Honor. The notes cover numerous matters on which Dr. Hwang has not been examined.”
“Sustained. Exhibit C will not be admitted into evidence. To avoid any subsequent exhibits already marked by counsel from having to be renumbered, Exhibit C will continue to be referenced in the record without any accompanying content other than the words ‘Not admitted.’”
“Your witness, Ms. Klein,” Reilly stated.
Klein rose to begin her cross-examination of Dr. Hwang. Brooks stopped her. “Just a moment, Ms. Klein. It’s past the time for our afternoon break. Do you have an estimate of how long you will spend cross-examining Dr. Hwang?”
“My cross-examination of Dr. Hwang will probably take us through the balance of the afternoon, Your Honor.”
“Alright, then, Mr. Reilly, if you have any other witnesses here, you can let them go for the day. Just make sure they are back and ready to go first thing in the morning. Fifteen minutes, ladies and gentlemen of the jury. Dr. Hwang, you’re free to step down and use the facilities, walk around, stretch your legs. But please don’t talk with anyone about the case during the break.”
* * *
KLEIN WAS RELIEVED. SHE desperately needed the fifteen minutes to organize her cross-examination. And she couldn’t have cared less if Hwang spoke to anyone on the break. Unless to someone who somehow knows what I’m going to ask him on cross-examination.
CHAPTER 97
Tuesday, August 4, 3:15–4:00 p.m.
DR. HWANG RETURNED TO the witness chair following the afternoon recess.
“Good afternoon, Dr. Hwang,” Klein began her cross. “It’s nice to see you again. You do quite a bit of this kind of testifying for the prosecution, don’t you?”
“Good afternoon, Ms. Klein. Yes, I do. It’s part of my job.”
“Indeed, it is. Part of your job. As you just put it. To testify for the prosecution. But you didn’t mention that to the jury earlier when Mr. Reilly asked you to outline your job description.”
“Enough, Ms. Klein,” Brooks interrupted. “Please stick to your questions and not your closing argument.”
“Dr. Hwang, you said that you examined both the senator’s body and the crime scene. Other than the senator’s, did you find any fingerprints on the body?”
“No, we didn’t.”
“Did you find any DNA evidence on the body?”
“No, just the senator’s own DNA.”
“Do you have any explanation for this?”
“My assumption is that the assailant was a very bright and careful person. Very capable. He knew how to leave behind him what we in the profession refer to as a clean crime scene.”
“I see. Maintaining such a clean crime scene, then, is nothing a mentally deranged person would be capable of achieving.”
“Objection,” asserted Reilly. “There was no question there. Besides, it’s argumentative and beyond the witness’s forensic expertise. The witness is not a psychiatrist.”
“Objection sustained. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you will disregard Ms. Klein’s statement.” Touché, Klein! What’s good for the gander is good for the goose. The jury will have gotten the point in spite of the fact that I had to sustain Reilly’s proper objection.
“And, by the way, no weapon either, right?”
“That’s correct.”
Brooks watched Klein looking at her notes. “Any other questions for this witness, Ms. Klein?”
“Just one more question, Your Honor. Dr. Hwang, do you not think it’s possible the assailant wanted to cover up that he knew the senator and was admitted into her home by kicking in the door? Perhaps as he was leaving the scene?”
“That’s absurd. No, I don’t believe that.”
“Why not? Why do you say that premise is absurd?”
“Because I just don’t believe that. You asked me what I believed and I told you. Some beliefs are based on experience and aren’t necessarily something that can be tangibly demonstrated. That’s my opinion based on my experience.”
It was all Brooks could do not to break out in laughter. That’s precisely what experts say when they have nothing to back up an opinion. If I see that, the jury probably will too. And Klein will argue that in spades at the closing. That one clever enough to manage a clean crime scene might also be clever enough to kick in a door to cover up an acquaintanceship with the victim. Whether someone as emotionally wrought as Norman could pull all of this off certainly bears on reasonable doubt. It will be interesting to see how the shrinks soon testify on this. Stealing a glimpse at the jury, Brooks could see that Klein had indeed accomplished her goal of showing the jury what a hired gun for the prosecution Hwang really was.
“Thank you, Dr. Hwang. No more questions, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Reilly?”
“No more questions, Your Honor.”
“Thank you for your time, Dr. Hwang. Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we’re adjourned for the day. We’ll resume tomorrow morning at eight thirty sharp.”
CHAPTER 98
Tuesday, August 4, 4:00 p.m.
CLIFF NORMAN THOUGHT ABOUT what he had seen and heard today. Klein seems to be doing a great job. Bet the jury thinks so, too. She’s got them wondering how someone as messed up as I supposedly was could have managed all that evidence so well. Klein’s a smart lady. Glad she’s on my side. Wish I could discuss this with her. And with Paige. But I just can’t take the chance.
* * *
LOTELLO HAD JUST RECEIVED another blow by blow from Barnet. This Klein seems to be pretty good, Beth. Barnet thinks she’s got the jury thinking it could be just about anyone who killed Wells. And quite possibly not Norman. Can’t wait for Foster to get back in town tomorrow. Especially to find out if he knows anything about Hollister or Thomas. I also wonder what the deal is between Thomas and Reyes. Could the president actually be in on this somehow? I only have a couple more days at most to pull this all together. Not there yet, Beth. Not by a long shot.
CHAPTER 99
Tuesday, August 4, 5:00 p.m.
AP Online News
Rachel Santana
FIRST DAY: PROSECUTION 0, NORMAN 1
TO THIS WRITER, THE prosecution didn’t accomplish a thing today. All we have is what we already knew. Senator Wells was murdered and then raped in her home on the night of February 5. DA Vincent Reilly spent most of the day trying to show that the killer was unknown to Wells. As was the defendant, Cliff Norman.
Norman’s counsel, Public Defender Leah Klein, turned Reilly’s star witness, Raymond Hwang, chief medical examiner of the District of Columbia, upside down. Forcing him to admit that the killer, smart enough not to leave behind any fingerprints or DNA, could also have been smart enough to distort evidence that Wells may have known the perpetrator and let him into her home. It’s not likely she would have let the disheveled Norman into her home.
If Reilly doesn’t make a better connection to Norman tomorrow, Klein may not even have to put on a defense case. This case could be over before it has hardly started.
CHAPTER 100
Wednesday, August 5, 8:30–9:45 a.m.
THE JURY, COUNSEL, AND Norman were all in their seats. Brooks entered the courtroom from his chambers and took the bench exactly at 8:30 a.m. “Good morning, everyone. Any more witnesses, Mr. Reilly?” Brooks had the same witness list as counsel and certainly knew that Reilly had more witnesses. This was just his way of subtly suggesting to the jury that he was just one of them, watching things as they unfolded. Nothing could have been further from the truth.
“Good morning, Judge. The people have three more witnesses they will call in their case-in-chief.”
“Very well. Please proceed.”
Lucius Randall, dressed in some kind of officer’s uniform that Brooks didn’t recognize, was sworn in and seated.
“Good morning, Officer. Are you employed as a security officer at the Capitol building?”
“Yes, sir. I am.”
“How long have you been employed in that capacity?”
“For just over two years.”
“So, you were a security officer at the Capitol building back in January 2013.”
“Yes, I was.”
“Do you recall if you were on duty on the morning of Friday, January 23, 2013?”
“I was.”
“I don’t recall what I was doing on that date. Would you please tell the jury how it is that after all these many months you remember being on duty at that particular time?”
“I remember very well because of an unusual incident that occurred that morning.”
“What was that incident?”
“From the rotunda on the ground floor of the building, where I was stationed, I heard a commotion going on just outside the front of the building. It sounded like someone was out there shouting. I went out to see what it was. I saw the defendant, Mr. Norman, parading up and down in front of the building, shouting at the top of his lungs. But at no one in particular. I approached Mr. Norman and informed him I would have him arrested if he didn’t move along. He just ignored me. So I called the police. He was still there shouting when they arrived. They took him away.”
“I see. I guess I would have remembered that, too. By the way, do you happen to recall what Mr. Norman was shouting?”
“I do, because he kept saying the same thing over and over.”
“Please tell the jury what Mr. Norman was shouting … over and over.”
“Mr. Norman kept shouting, ‘It’s all your fault. You did it. You killed Ryan. I’m going to get even.’”