“Your honor, nonresponsive,” Marc almost yelled.
“Answer the question only, Detective. Don’t pull a stunt like that again,” she sternly admonished him. Koch turned to the jury and seriously said, “The jury will disregard that statement.”
Realizing the jury could not possibly disregard what they had heard. Marc decided to use it.
“You believe he was so careful that you didn’t find any hair, fibers, blood or any DNA but at the same time he was so careless that he left the barbed wire, wire cutters and gloves in between the mattress and box spring of his bed?”
Jefferson knew he had stumbled. He looked at Harris then Judge Koch for help.
“Answer the question,” Koch said. “You opened this door.”
“Yes,” Jefferson meekly answered.
“Was a Taser device found in the apartment?”
“No,” Jefferson admitted.
“Was any evidence found anywhere that could link the defendant to any of these crimes other than State’s Exhibits B, C and D?”
“No,” Jefferson had to admit.
Having scored a helpful point from Jefferson’s faux pas, Marc moved on to Howie’s car. During the course of his arrest, the car had been impounded and thoroughly searched. Included was a complete vacuuming of every inch of the trunk and the car’s interior. The detritus scooped up was analyzed under a microscope. Marc went over every part of this process and made Jefferson admit absolutely nothing was found.
Marc made sure Jefferson admitted nothing was found in the car connecting Howie to Elliot Sanders. Even though, according to the police, Sanders had been kidnapped and moved, there was no evidence Howie Traynor had anything to do with it.
“Isn’t it true, Detective Jefferson, that a canvas bag was found near the body of Eugene Parlow?”
“Yes,” Jefferson admitted.
Marc hit a button on his laptop and a photo of the bag appeared on the courtroom’s TV set.
“On the television screen,” Marc said for the benefit of the court reporter, “is a picture of a canvas bag. Is this the bag found near the body of Eugene Parlow?”
“Objection,” Harris said. “Lack of foundation. This may be a similar…bag. We have no way of knowing.”
“I am prepared to bring in the photographer and the CSU tech who witnessed the bag and the items being photographed if necessary, your Honor,” Marc said when Koch looked at him.
“Overruled,” Koch said. “You may answer if you know.”
“Yes, it appears to be the same bag,” Jefferson admitted.
Marc pressed the laptop button again and a coil of barbed wire took the place of the bag on the TV. This slide caused a noticeable gasp from the crowded courtroom.
“On the screen is a photo of a coil of barbed wire. It has a police identification tag on it. Was this barbed wire found in the bag?”
“Yes, it was.”
The next picture was of the gloves found in the bag, followed in order by the wire cutter then the hammer and nails. Marc went through the same questions to have Jefferson identify them as being in the bag. The final photo he displayed was of the handheld Taser. Marc identified it by its product name and number. Jefferson acknowledged that this item was in the bag with the others.
“Isn’t it true, that every one of the victims of the so-called Crown of Thornes Killer was shocked by a Taser such as this?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“Was such a device ever found that could be linked to Howie Traynor?”
“No,” Jefferson again admitted.
“Detective Jefferson, let’s go back to the janitor’s closet and the roof at the apartment. Did the CSU team go over the closet looking for evidence?”
“Yes, of course,” Jefferson admitted.
“Isn’t it true they found absolutely nothing in the closet to indicate Howie Traynor had ever been there?”
“Yes, that’s true,” Jefferson answered somewhat wearily.
“Isn’t it true they found evidence, including DNA that other people had been in the closet?”
“Yes.”
“But nothing of Mr. Traynor correct?”
“Yes.”
“How about the roof? Was it searched by the CSU team?”
“Yes.”
“Was any physical evidence found on the roof to confirm Howard Traynor had ever been up there?”
“Not on the roof of his building but we did find three cigarette butts on the roof next door of the same brand he smokes and with his DNA on them,” Jefferson blurted out catching Marc completely off guard.
The courtroom exploded.
FIFTY-FOUR
Marc sat slumped down in one of the cheap plastic chairs in the jail’s conference room. He silently stared at the top of the table between himself and Howie Traynor. Howie was seated opposite his lawyer looking like a school boy waiting for the principal to bite his head off.
It had taken Judge Koch a few minutes and a serious threat to have the courtroom emptied before order was restored. The first thing she did was to order Jefferson’s statement to be stricken from the record. She then spent several minutes instructing the jury to disregard Jefferson’s answer about the cigarette butts and DNA results. All the while Marc sat staring straight ahead seething at what had just happened and trying to act as if it was not a big deal. He was also trying to decide who he was madder at: Howie for not telling him this or Tommy Harris for keeping it from him.
The judge finished instructing the jury then turned to glare at Harris. If looks could kill, Harris would have been impaled on a stake.
“Your Honor,” Marc calmly said as he rose to address her. “The defense requests a conference in chambers.”
“Granted,” Koch said. “Deputy, please take the jury out.” She looked at the wall clock then continued. “In fact, we’re going to adjourn for the day.”
“Your Honor…” Marc started to protest. Koch just verbally kicked him in the groin by making sure the jury would contemplate the last thing they heard from Jefferson, the news about the cigarette butts on the roof next door. Even though Koch had ordered the jury to ignore it, to do so was highly unlikely.
“No, Mr. Kadella, that’s enough for today. I’ll see the lawyers in chambers.”
The three lawyers stood to follow her out while the media mob flooded through the exit. Howie was led away by the deputies without a word between himself and his lawyer.
“I want a mistrial,” Marc said while the judge hung up her robe and before the lawyers had taken their seats.
“What do you have to say for yourself, Mr. Harris?” Koch asked.
“Why wasn’t this information given to the defense?”
“We just found out ourselves, your Honor,” Harris whined in protest. “During the break I took a call in the hallway from the BCA. I haven’t even seen the report yet.”
“How did Jefferson find out?” Marc snarled.
“I guess, I, ah, told him,” Harris sheepishly admitted. “How could I know that would come up?”
“You only hoped it would,” Marc said.
“Mr. Ramsey, did you know about this?” Koch asked.
Harris’ assistant said, “No, your Honor. Like Mr. Kadella, I’m being treated like a mushroom.”
Koch turned her head back to Harris and said, “If I find out you’re lying, I will make it my life’s business to have you disbarred. And Craig Slocum, if I find out he’s involved.
“Now, as to a mistrial,” she continued. “I’m not inclined to grant one but,” she continued turning to Harris again, “you will not mention this again and the DNA results or any testimony about this again. Do I make myself clear?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Harris said.
“Judge,” Marc said, “that’s not good enough. My defense was based on the belief they had no evidence putting my client on that roof. Now I find out that’s not true and they kept it from me.”
“It’s my call and that’s it. Appeal away. We’ll pick up to
morrow morning.”
Marc looked up at his client and said, “I just spent an entire day scoring points for us and creating reasonable doubt. Then it all blew up in my face because the jury now knows you were up on that roof and used the plank bridge to go over to the building next door. Or, at least that is what it looks like and what they believe. Just like the cops say you did. Our whole case hinged on the cops being your alibi and now…”
He heavily exhaled while staring at a silent, impassive Howie Traynor. “I needed to say that to vent a bit. Let’s move on.”
Marc looked at Howie, spread his hands apart and asked, “Is there anything else? Anything you need to tell me? Why were you up on that roof?”
“I knew I was being watched and I went up there to check on them. I had to go to the building next door to see the cops in the alley,” Howie answered. “There’s nothing else, I swear.”
Marc pushed back his chair making a loud scraping noise on the floor. He stood and said, “Okay, I’ll see you in the morning.”
Howie took his usual seat in front of the television. Ever since his problem with the idiot in the bathroom, no one tried changing the channel when Melinda’s show was on the air.
The Court Reporter was shown live in its normal time slot of 4:00 P.M. Because of the extraordinary interest in Howie’s trial and the ratings the crass, opinionated Ms. Pace generated, it was repeated at 6:30. Fortunately, Howie was usually back from court each day by then to catch the rerun.
Melinda was finished with the report by Gabriella Shriqui from in front of the Government Center. Gabriella had related the day’s events including Owen Jefferson’s outburst about the cigarette butts.
When the show came back from a commercial break Melinda turned to her guest. Denise Flagler, the former prosecutor was back to give her expert opinion of a trial she was not watching.
“I must admit,” Melinda began, “I wasn’t sure if the jury would believe Traynor sneaked out to kill these people the way the police said he did. Using a wooden plank to go to the next building seemed like a bit of a stretch.”
“Juries aren’t stupid, Melinda,” Flagler said. “With the DNA of Howie Traynor found on the victims and the revelation that the police found proof he was on the roof of the building next to his apartment, I think his goose is cooked.”
“What about the judge telling the jury to ignore the testimony about the cigarettes found on the roof?” Melinda asked.
“They’re human,” Flagler said looking directly at the camera. At that precise moment, Flagler was delighted she had spent two hours having her hair done and face painted. She looked great and knew it. “The jurors are not going to be able to ignore it. They’ll say they did but it was a very powerful moment.”
While this was being shown on the jail TV, several of Howie’s neighbors stole quick glances at him. Howie ignored them and continued to watch the show with an impassive expression. When it was over he left the room without saying a word about it.
The next morning Judge Koch was late coming to the bench. She was delayed because she had to deal with an “emergency” motion on a civil case she was handling. It was a dispute between an insurance company and a corporate customer of the insurance company. To make sure that the lawyers billed enough time for this hearing which was no emergency and could have waited a month or two to be heard, there was a total of seven lawyers in Koch’s chambers. Afterwards, she took fifteen minutes to allow her exasperation to go away and it was past 10:00 A.M. when she entered the courtroom. She did not want her annoyance with the “emergency” hearing to affect the trial.
“Good morning, Detective Jefferson. I have just a few more questions,” Marc began. “I’d like to be clear about something. Isn’t it true that you believe Howie Traynor committed these murders because of some need for revenge?”
“I suppose you could put it that way, yes,” Jefferson replied.
“Do you have a different motive?”
“No, I don’t,” Jefferson admitted.
“And he is charged with the murder of Cara Meyers, a woman he had never met because it is possible he wanted to confuse the investigation, to throw you off the track, so to speak?”
“Essentially, yes.”
“And the single hair that was found on her body, you admitted it was possible it could have been planted is that correct?”
“Yes,”
“You believe it was possible he committed the other murders because they were involved in his original trial twelve years ago?”
“Yes.”
“Detective Jefferson, are you aware I was his lawyer for that trial?”
“Objection,” Harris interjected, “irrelevant.”
“Sustained,” Koch ruled.
Even though the objection was sustained as Marc expected the question still hung in the air. The message was loud and clear. Marc is alive and well and willing to represent him again.
“Isn’t it true that Rhea Watson prosecuted both Eugene Parlow and Aaron Forsberg?”
“Yes, she did.”
“And you knew this didn’t you?”
“Yes,”
“Isn’t it true that Judge Ross Peterson presided over the trials of both Eugene Parlow and Aaron Forsberg?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Isn’t it also true that Cara Meyers was Eugene Parlow’s lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“And Julian Segal was Aaron Forsberg’s lawyer?”
“Yes.”
“And they were both murdered by the Crown of Thornes killer and I’m still alive?”
“Objection!” Harris jumped up and yelled.
“Withdrawn,” Marc said. “Are you aware that Judge Robert Smith the likely first victim in Beltrami County, was one of the appellate judges for Eugene Parlow, Aaron Forsberg and Howie Traynor?”
“Objection,” Harris said again.
“Your Honor, I’m merely asking if the witness is aware of this,” Marc said.
“Overruled. The witness will answer.”
“Yes, we knew that.”
“Do you believe beyond a reasonable doubt that Howard Traynor is guilty as charged?”
“Objection,” Harris jumped to his feet again. “That is strictly for the jury to determine.”
“Your Honor,” Marc countered by saying, “the witness is a decorated, veteran, homicide detective. He can give his opinion.”
Judge Koch thought it was an odd question for the defense to ask. She would never allow the prosecution to ask it but if the defense wanted Jefferson to give his opinion, it was their risk.
“Overruled. The witness can answer.”
“Yes, of course I do,” Jefferson said looking directly at the jury.
“Because even though he was under round-the-clock surveillance by private detectives and the Minneapolis Police Department, it’s possible he could have slipped away, several times, evaded the surveillance, committed horrible, bloody crimes then slipped back past the surveillance again without ever being seen. It’s possible he did that, isn’t it?” Marc asked managing to keep any trace of sarcasm out of his voice.
Jefferson’s reaction to the question was exactly what Marc hoped for. He paused at least ten seconds before answering. While he sat silently on the witness stand the courtroom was absolutely still and the question hung in the air.
“Yes,” Jefferson finally agreed.
“A lot of things going on in this case that hang on the word ‘possible’, isn’t there, Detective Jefferson?”
“Your Honor, objection,” Harris said again jumping out of his chair. “Argumentative.”
“Sustained,” Koch said. “The jury will disregard that last question.” All the while Marc sat quietly staring at Owen Jefferson.
“One last question, your Honor,” Marc said without moving his eyes from the witness.
“Detective Jefferson, you are certain that Howard Traynor is guilty beyond a reasonable doubt yet, isn’t it true that Eugene Parlow was under surveillance until
his death and Aaron Forsberg is still under surveillance by the police?”
A slight murmur went through the crowd while Jefferson, Harris and Ramsey all wondered how Marc knew this.
“Yes,” Jefferson quietly admitted “Because…”
“Nonresponsive,” Marc said.
“Answer just the question as asked,” Judge Koch reminded him which caused Jefferson to admit it again.
“I have no further questions at this time, your Honor. I request the right to recall.”
“Granted,” Koch ruled. “Mr. Harris, do you wish to redirect?”
“Yes, your Honor,” Harris answered.
“Let’s break for lunch first,” she ordered.
The afternoon session also started a little late. It was almost 1:30 by the time Tommy Harris began his redirect-examination of Owen Jefferson. The basic purpose of a redirect-examination is to try to correct or rehabilitate statements made by the witness during the cross-examination. It is not supposed to be an opportunity to bring out any new facts. These should have been handled during the original direct-examination.
During Marc’s cross-exam of Jefferson, both Tommy Harris and Paul Ramsey made notes of statements to try to correct. Harris spent all afternoon basically going over the most important points Marc elicited from Jefferson that were favorable to the defense.
While Harris was doing this, Marc amused himself by listening carefully and objecting whenever he could. Almost all of the objections, at least a dozen, fell into one of two categories. Either “beyond the scope of the cross-examination” or “already covered during the direct-examination”. Every one of them was sustained and with each one Harris became a little more flustered.
By the end of the day Harris did manage to get it out of Jefferson that the police believed Howie had an accomplice. They also believed it was either Eugene Parlow or Aaron Forsberg. When Harris finally finished, Marc was given an opportunity to recross-exam Jefferson.
“Let me be sure I understand you, Detective Jefferson. Parlow and Forsberg were under surveillance because you believe it was possible that Howard Traynor had an accomplice?”
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 173