“Objection, assumes facts not in evidence. How did the Sutherland kids know when he changed his Will?” Marc said.
“We’ll verify this later with another witness, your Honor,” Heather replied.
“I’ll overrule the objection, for now, subject to a later connection, but you’d better deliver, Ms. Anderson. You may continue, detective,” Carr ruled.
“Changing his Will,” Max continued, “made me a little curious, so I told them I would look into it. I talked to the medical examiner and read the autopsy report. Everything looked okay. Natural heart attack.
“Then Bob told me he wanted to exhume his dad’s body for a more thorough autopsy and Mackenzie refused.”
This statement was clearly hearsay and Marc considered objecting to it. Having already made one objection, an ill-advised one at that, he decided it was too early in the trial to look like he was trying to keep things from the jury. He had anticipated Max saying this and decided to let it go. Heather would be able to get it in some other way even if Carr sustained the objection.
“Then after Bob was shot and killed…”
“Your honor!” Marc practically yelled coming out of his seat.
“Stop right there,” Carr angrily ordered Max. “We’ll take a short recess. I’ll see counsel in chambers. Detective, you stay right where you are.” Carr indicated to the court reporter to come with and they all filed out back to the judge’s chambers.
When the court reporter indicated she was ready Carr began the discussion.
“What did I tell you about this?” Carr asked. “Did I not make myself clear there would be no discussion about Bob Sutherland’s death?”
“He just blurted it out, your Honor. It wasn’t said as a result of my questions,” Heather whined even though she was lying. The two of them had rehearsed this several times.
“Mr. Kadella?” Carr asked Marc.
“Mistrial, your Honor. Right now every member of that jury is wondering how Robert died, who shot him and why we’re keeping it from them. Unless one or two of them remembers reading about it in the news, we can’t simply pretend it didn’t happen.”
While Marc was saying this, Heather was thinking: Thank God Shayla took care of him yesterday afternoon or Carr would bite my ass for this.
“Ms. Anderson?”
“An instruction to ignore it from you should be sufficient, your Honor.”
Carr thought it over for a moment then said, “I’m not inclined to grant a mistrial this early.”
“Then allow me to voir dire the witness. The jury now needs to be told what happened and I should be the one to do it.”
“Granted,” Carr quickly agreed.
“Your honor, that’s hardly necessary,” Heather tried to object.
“I’ve made my decision,” Carr said. “Do you want a few minutes to prepare?” he said to Marc.
“No, I know what I want to do,” Marc replied.
“Ladies and gentlemen,” Carr began addressing the jury after the break. “You heard something from this witness that you should not have heard. I’m sure you are now curious about the death of Robert Sutherland. I’m going to allow Mr. Kadella to conduct a brief questioning of the witness to explain it.”
While Carr was telling the jury this, a thought occurred to Marc that he might try.
“Mr. Kadella,” Carr said to Marc.
“Thank you, your Honor. Detective Coolidge, let’s get it out in the open, shall we? Mackenzie Sutherland shot and killed her stepson, Robert, didn’t she?” Marc could almost feel the intake of air as each juror sat up straight and inhaled with this news.
“Yes,” Max said.
“It was thoroughly investigated, was it not?”
“Yes,” Max admitted.
“By you in fact?”
“Yes, I was the lead investigator.”
“On the day of the shooting,” Marc began not being specific about the exact date because he could not remember it. “He, Robert, called my client and asked to meet her at her home, is that correct?”
“Yes,” Max said. “His phone records verified he called her that day.”
For the next fifteen minutes, using short questions specifically designed to require only a yes or no answer, Marc walked Max through the details of the shooting and the day Robert threatened her at the lawyer’s office. He paid special attention to the fact that Mackenzie was very cooperative with the police, tried to hide nothing and a video of her interrogation was made.
Max had little choice but to admit all of this was true.
“Isn’t it true that when the investigation was completed, the determination was made that Mackenzie Sutherland acted in self-defense and the death of Robert Sutherland, while obviously tragic, was a justified shooting?”
“Not by me,” Max defiantly answered.
Momentarily startled, Marc was not sure how to continue. He then asked,
“It wasn’t your decision to make, was it detective?”
“No, I thought it should have been presented to the grand jury right away.”
“Because Robert Sutherland was a long-time, good friend wasn’t he?”
“Objection, argumentative,” Heather said.
“Overruled,” Carr said. “You started this now we’re going to finish it.”
“In fact, it was eventually submitted to a grand jury, was it not?”
“Yes.”
“It was presented to the grand jury not because the attorney handling the case thought it should be but for political purposes, isn’t that true?”
“I don’t recall,” Max lied.
Marc looked at the judge and said, “Your Honor, I would like to continue my questioning regarding this subject by calling Heather Anderson.”
All through Marc’s exam of Max Coolidge, the entire courtroom had been quiet as a grave. When Marc asked to have Heather put on the stand, a buzz broke out loud enough to get the judge to gavel for silence. When everyone settled down, he listened to Heather vehemently object then called the lawyers up to the bench.
Carr looked at Marc who said, “The jury needs to hear from her that Rob’s death was self-defense. The detective made it clear he had doubts. I want her under oath admitting she did not.”
“Your Honor…” Heather started.
Carr held up a hand to stop her and said, “No, I’ll put a stop to this right now. Return to your seats.”
“Detective, I’ll give you another chance to clear this up. Did Heather Anderson, the attorney for the state handling the case of the death of Robert Sutherland, express any doubts to you that his death was anything other than self-defense?”
“No, your Honor, she didn’t,” Max meekly admitted.
Carr addressed the jury and explained to them that the shooting of Robert Sutherland was self-defense. That he, the judge himself, had reviewed the case and was satisfied that Robert threatened her life, Mackenzie acted in self-defense and was, in fact, innocent. Finally, he ordered the jury to ignore Robert’s death because it had no bearing on the present trial. When Carr finished, he ordered a short break.
Marc was left wondering how many of the jurors believed that Robert Sutherland threatened Mackenzie because Robert believed she killed his father. Would this have an influence on them?
FORTY
“Where were you with the investigation of William Sutherland’s death at this point, detective?” Heather asked after the break.
“Nowhere,” he replied. “In fact, there was no investigation. We didn’t have enough evidence for a court order to exhume the body…”
“How do you know that?”
“We went to court, the judge turned us down and Mrs. Sutherland would not agree to it.”
“What did you do next?”
“I received an assignment to go to Chicago and escort a fugitive back to Minnesota that the Chicago police were holding for us…”
Max went on to explain his trip to Chicago and meeting with two Chicago PD detectives. Max explained to the j
ury that he told the detectives about the Sutherland case. They then told him about a very similar case in Chicago a few years before. Max testified that, out of curiosity, he researched the Chicago case the detectives referred to him. He found many similarities and a picture of the deceased’s widow who bore a distinct resemblance to Mackenzie Sutherland. Later, they would in fact verify that the two women, Frances Cartwright and Mackenzie Sutherland, were the same woman.
“How did you determine that they were the same person?”
“We ran a picture of each of them through several facial comparison computer programs. They came back with an eighty-five to eighty-eight percent likelihood of a match. Probably not enough for proof beyond a reasonable doubt but maybe enough to convince a judge to sign an order for a second autopsy of William Sutherland.”
“What did you do next?”
“We were about to go to court to request the order to exhume William Sutherland but Mackenzie Sutherland agreed to it so we no longer needed the court order.”
“Let’s back up, detective,” Heather said. “What similarities did you find, if any, concerning the deaths of Mackenzie Sutherland’s husbands?”
“Both were wealthy men in their sixties with no prior history of heart problems that we knew about. Both had families dependent on them for their financial well-being and both changed their Will leaving the entire estate to their current, much younger, wife,” Max flatly said while looking directly at the jury.
While this was being said, Mackenzie, having been thoroughly prepared for this, sat impassively listening to the testimony. Marc had coached her about this on several occasions; to show as little emotion as possible. Of course, the media would misinterpret this. After today, she would not only be known as the Black Widow but also the Ice Queen.
“After the body was exhumed, what did you do next?” Heather asked.
Marc heard this and shifted his feet under his chair so he could quickly stand. If the cop tried to testify about anything specifically that was found in the autopsy Marc would object to it. Coolidge was not a medical examiner. The testimony about what was found during the autopsy would have to come from the source. It may seem trivial but reports can get lost, witnesses die or become unavailable. Anything can and has happened to prevent key evidence from being introduced at trial.
“Based on what we were told was found in the autopsy, we obtained a search warrant for the Sutherland home and cars,” Max answered.
Apparently Heather had anticipated Marc’s possible objection and had prepared Max for it. He told the jury, without saying what they found, that something significant was discovered during the autopsy. Without being prompted by a question from Heather, Max continued.
“We conducted the search of the house and impounded the car. We also took a laptop that we later were told belonged to Mackenzie Sutherland and a personal computer belonging to William.
“Based on what was found on William’s computer, I believed we should immediately arrest Mrs. Sutherland for his death.”
Marc could have objected since there was no testimony about what was found during the autopsy or the computer search. Marc believed Max would say this and decided ahead of time to let it go. He was an experienced police detective and his opinion would likely be allowed. Heather could easily get Max to testify that his opinion was based on his many years as a cop. Sooner or later this evidence was going to come in. At this stage of the trial, over something that was going to come in anyway, Marc did not want to look like he was trying to hide something from the jury.
“What did you do instead?”
“We continued to investigate and obtained more information about Mackenzie Sutherland. During the investigation into Robert’s death we learned about William Sutherland changing his Will a short time before he died. He just about completely disinherited his two sons and his daughter and left almost everything, including the company, Sutherland’s grocery store chain, to Mackenzie.
“She insisted, and the lawyer who wrote the new Will told us, that Mackenzie knew nothing about William changing his Will.”
“Was this true?”
“We obtained information from the lawyer who wrote the new Will that it was Mackenzie who insisted William change his Will.”
Up to this point, the jurors and spectators had been intently listening. This early in the trial everyone was still paying close attention. With the statement that Mackenzie had William change his Will, a significant buzz swept through the room and all heads turned toward Mackenzie. Again, having been prepared for this, she did not even flinch.
Judge Carr rapped his gavel a couple of times and order was quickly restored. In the second and third rows behind the prosecution’s table, four different courtroom artists were seated. All four continued to watch the emotionless Mackenzie while drawing her profile. The pictures of the Ice Queen/Black Widow would be all over the news that night and in the papers the next day.
The remainder of Max’s direct exam was spent on the arrest, another search of the Crocus Hill house and the mundane details of preparing the case. Max had made another trip to Chicago but had to admit he found no evidence of wrongdoing on Mackenzie’s part for the death of Wendell Cartwright.
Max told the jury while he was in Chicago that he interviewed the ex-wives and children of Wendell Cartwright and what his death had done to them. During a pretrial motion hearing Marc had argued to keep this out. Since they were scheduled to testify themselves there was no need to have Max do so. Judge Carr ruled he would allow a little of it but would not allow Max to specifically quote any of the ex-wives, staying barely on the admissible side of the hearsay rule.
Heather had wanted the death of Wendell’s son, Phillip, to be admitted. She hoped the jury would blame Mackenzie for driving Phillip to an overdose death. Judge Carr ruled that the information was too prejudicial and offered nothing to prove how William Sutherland died. The ex-wives were all on the prosecution’s witness list and could tell their sad tale of destitution themselves. Would the whining of dilettante ex-wives find a sympathetic ear in the jury box? Marc was skeptical.
“How bad did we get hurt?” Maddy quietly asked Marc.
The direct exam of Max was over and Carr had called for a halt for the day. Marc would start first thing in the morning with his cross examination of Coolidge. Marc, Maddy and Mackenzie were still seated at the defense table.
Marc thought about Maddy’s question for a moment before answering. He stared off into space, slightly nodded his head, looked at Maddy and said, “We got hurt. Especially that business about lying about William’s Will.”
When he said this the façade of the Ice Queen broke for a moment, Mackenzie cringed and softly said, “I’m really sorry.”
“Sssssh,” Marc quickly, seriously said. “Don’t ever say that again. Besides, there’s a long way to go. I’m looking forward to getting Cooper Thomas on the stand.”
Gabriella Shriqui’s show, The Court Reporter, was normally aired at 4:30 each weekday afternoon. The station decided during Mackenzie’s trial to go live at 6:30 each evening following the 6:00 P.M. newscast then replay that show the next day during its normal 4:30 time slot.
During a production meeting for the show there had been a huge fight about whom Gabriella was to use as guest talking-head experts.
Gabriella’s predecessor, Melinda Pace, had frequently used a former federal prosecutor and a criminal defense lawyer. The prosecutor, Steven Farben, would give his take on the day’s trial news and the defense lawyer, Andrea Briscomb, would then give hers and normally in that order. The problem was these two knew each other, had tried cases against each other and they despised each other. They could barely stand to be in the same room at the same time.
Station management, the General Manager Madison Eyler and Gabriella’s boss, Hunter Oswood, insisted that Gabriella use the two of them as her expert commentators. Gabriella, who knew both lawyers and wanted nothing to do with either of them, almost resigned over the issue. Ma
nagement insisted on using them because the market research found the show’s audience liked the adversarial interaction between them. The matter was resolved by the promise of a nice cash bonus for Gabriella based on the show’s ratings.
A live show, of course, did not leave much room for error and no time for editing. If either of her guests took an inappropriate shot at the other ― it had happened a few times before ― it went out live. Probably one of the reasons why the audience liked these two overblown egos.
Gabriella introduced her guests and for the next half-hour, mediated their comments. Since all they had to analyze were opening statements and Max Coolidge’s testimony, both were decidedly pro-prosecution. They spent most of the show dissecting the opening statements of both lawyers. Each “expert’’ explaining what he or she believed they did wrong and how much better they could have done it. They then talked about the damage done by Coolidge’s direct exam and Marc’s shortcomings, especially the times he missed an opportunity to object to a question. The last few minutes of air time were spent discussing Mackenzie’s conduct.
“Ice Queen is right,” Steve Farben said. “She practically gives off a wind chill factor.” The second part of that comment Farben had thought up himself. Stroking his own significant ego, he was quite proud of himself for coming up with something so clever, or so he thought.
“I’m sure Kadella instructed her to be calm and impassive,” Andrea Briscomb said. “But I also think you’re right. She does seem to be that way naturally.”
“How much of a stretch is it to believe she is a Black Widow who can mate and kill?” Farben said.
What was not revealed to the audience was the fact that neither lawyer had spent even one minute actually sitting in the courtroom. They were basing their comments on notes, reports and drawings of others who had been in attendance.
The show ended on that note and, after her guests had left, Gabriella was in her office with the show’s producer, Cordelia Davis. Cordelia was a very efficient, African-American woman who had been with the show much longer than Gabriella. Cordelia went back to the days when Melinda Pace was the host and Gabriella was thankful every day to have her managing the show.
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 209