The Lawyer's Lawyer

by James Sheehan

  “Felton wasn’t there, so I picked the lock and went in. I found the bowie knife that Stacey Kincaid had identified. It was located in a dresser drawer in a second or spare bedroom in the apartment. Felton had denied us access to that bedroom when we were there during the investigation. That was my main reason for requesting the search warrant.

  “At that point, I knew in my own mind that Felton was the killer. I was so excited that I didn’t put anything together as I should have. What I mean is that I should have realized that since Felton wasn’t home, he must have used a different weapon in the Brock/Diaz murders. I just wasn’t thinking straight.

  “I also knew that I couldn’t use the bowie knife as evidence because it was illegally obtained. I couldn’t just close the door and walk away. I couldn’t let another murder happen knowing what I knew. So I went to the Brock/Diaz murder scene and I planted the bowie knife in the woods where I knew it would be found.”

  There it was. What Jack had suspected and what he had argued to the Florida Supreme Court was, in fact, true. The bowie knife had been planted. Jack just didn’t know that it was planted by Danni.

  “Did you ever tell anybody what you had done before your testimony here today?”

  “No.”

  “The state attorney, the coroner, Chief Jeffries—none of them knew?”

  “I didn’t say that. I said I didn’t tell them. They all knew. These were experienced people but by the time the case came to trial, the murders had stopped. They were faced with essentially the same dilemma as I was—they had bad evidence, but the killing had stopped. They weren’t going to release Felton. So they fudged it.”

  Merton’s case was bleeding heavily at this point. He had to at least try to stop the flow. “Objection, Your Honor. Move to strike the last answer as unresponsive to the question and speculative.”

  “Overruled. You’ll have your opportunity on cross-examination, Mr. Merton.”

  A change had come over Judge Holbrook ever since Merton had tried to suggest Jack had something to do with the killing of a federal judge.

  “Nobody picked up on this major problem with the evidence?”

  “Nobody discovered what had happened until Jack Tobin came along and read Felton’s file.”

  “Thank you, Ms. Jansen. I have—”

  “There’s more,” Danni interrupted him.

  “I apologize. Were you not finished with your answer?”

  “No. When Alice Jeffries was killed, I went to the scene. Sam was in his room and he was as upset as he could be. I was concerned about him. I didn’t know what he would do so I asked him to give me his gun. He then gave me his Glock service revolver and I asked him if he had other guns. Reluctantly, he took a key from his top drawer and opened a hidden door in the back of his closet. He had a room back there with a number of guns in it—”

  That was enough for Merton. Judge or no judge, he couldn’t let this woman go on. He interrupted Danni in the middle of her sentence.

  “Objection, Your Honor. Relevancy.”

  The judge thought about it for a moment. “Counsel, approach.”

  When the two lawyers reached sidebar, the judge asked Tom a question.

  “Where is this leading?”

  Tom had to come clean. “I don’t know, Your Honor. I hadn’t talked to her before she testified here today. However, I suspect she is about to tell us something very important.”

  “Well, it could also be objectionable and prejudicial. We’ve already had a little too much of that in this trial.”

  Tom knew the judge had a point, but he also knew this was an opportunity that could not be wasted.

  “Your Honor, let me make a suggestion. Let’s remove the jury and I’ll proffer the testimony outside the presence of the jury. Counsel can make any objections and you can rule on them.”

  The judge thought about it for a minute. “I’d have to remove the gallery, too. I don’t want this testimony floating out there if I deem it inadmissible.”

  Merton finally spoke up. “Your Honor, this is highly unusual and inappropriate. I have a client here, the State of Florida, and my client will be prejudiced by this last-minute surprise testimony.”

  Judge Holbrook glared at Merton. “You opened this door, Counselor. You brought in what happened ten years ago. Besides, this was your witness, you can’t claim surprise. And one last thing: Your client is justice. Remember that. A man’s life is at stake here.

  “Okay, Mr. Wylie, I’m going to let you make your proffer.”

  He called the bailiffs over. “I want the jury removed and I want the gallery removed. Put the gallery in another courtroom and stay with them. I don’t want anybody walking in here. In fact, lock the doors when you leave. But first, let me make a few remarks to the jury.”

  Everybody returned to their respective places while Judge Holbrook addressed the jurors.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, we have some legal issues we need to address so I’m going to ask you to step out into the jury room. It should only be a few minutes.”

  As one bailiff marched the jurors out, two other bailiffs started removing the gallery. In a few minutes, the courtroom was again empty except for the judge, court personnel, the lawyers, Jack, and Danni.

  When the jurors were gone but before the gallery was totally empty, Danni stole a glance at Jack, who met her eyes. She pursed her lips in a slight smile to let him know she felt good about what she was doing. Jack gave her an ever so subtle nod. Nobody in the courtroom noticed except Robert Merton, who leaned over to his pretty assistant. “Find Chief Jeffries,” he said to her. “Ask him if there was ever anything between Jansen and Tobin. Get as much detail as you can. And make sure the guard at the door knows you’re coming back so you can get in.”

  The woman gave him a look as if to say, I can figure that out. I’m a lawyer, you know, not some ornament to make you look better in front of the jury. She didn’t verbalize her feelings, however. She quickly left the courtroom.

  “What are we doing, making a proffer?” Jack asked Tom when Tom returned from sidebar.

  “Yeah. I don’t know what she’s going to say though.”

  “I’m sure it’s going to be good. I can’t believe the judge is letting you do this.”

  “I can’t either. He’s done a complete one-eighty since Merton’s big gaffe.”

  “Mr. Wylie, are you ready?” the judge asked.

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “You may proceed.”

  Tom walked to the podium and addressed Danni on the witness stand.

  “Ms. Jansen, you were telling us about a secret room in Sam Jeffries’s house when Mr. Merton made his objection. Can you continue where you left off?”

  “Yes. Sam had a secret room in the back of his closet and he had a number of guns in there. There were five semiautomatics, not including the Glock he had given me, a rifle with a scope, several shotguns, and an AK-47. I specifically noticed and mentioned to him that he didn’t have any revolvers and he told me he didn’t like them.”

  “Why is that so important?”

  “Because I was never sure about things. Jack told me that he thought Felton had a gun, a small pistol, and Sam told me there was no gun, that Jack had set the whole thing up. I didn’t know what the truth was so I just came in here and testified to what I knew. Then when I decided to tell the truth about what happened ten years ago and I specifically recalled what I had done, I thought there was a possibility that I could again find out for sure what happened in this case.”

  “I’m not sure I understand,” Tom said.

  “Ten years ago I assured myself that Felton was the killer by breaking into his house and finding the bowie knife. Early this morning I went over to Sam Jeffries’s house, waited until he left, and broke in.”

  “What did you find?” Tom asked.

  “I knew where the key to the secret room was so I got it and opened the door. There in the room, along with the other guns, was a small revolver, a 22 caliber Ruger. I k
new Sam didn’t like revolvers, so I was sure in my own mind that this was Felton’s gun.”

  “Did you dust it for prints?”

  “I did. It was clean. I figure Sam wiped it clean once he decided to frame Jack. That way, if anybody ever found the gun, although I don’t know how they would, it would just be another gun in his collection.”

  “Where is the gun now?”

  “I left it with the head of security at the courthouse entrance. I explained to him who I was and that this gun was potential evidence in this case.”

  “Is there anything else that you want to add?”

  “No.”

  “I have no further questions, Your Honor.”

  As Tom finished, Merton’s assistant came back into the room. She whispered something in Merton’s ear that made him smile.

  “There will be no need for you to cross-examine this witness, Mr. Merton,” Judge Holbrook said, “because I’m ruling this testimony inadmissible. This evidence has been obtained by the commission of a crime and Ms. Jansen is a former police officer. More important, however, I find this testimony has little probative value. Ms. Jansen’s belief that this gun was Thomas Felton’s is nothing more than her own speculation. There is no evidence whatsoever linking this gun to Thomas Felton.”

  Robert Merton was a good attorney, almost a great attorney, because he understood human nature, particularly the skeptical, jaded side of human nature. So far, Danni Jansen’s testimony before the jury had been believable. She had made a dent in his case and he wasn’t sure how to handle her on cross-examination—until this moment.

  “Your Honor, I’m going to withdraw my objection to this testimony.”

  The judge looked shocked, as did Tom and Jack.

  “Are you sure you want to do that, Counselor? Are you sure you want to allow that gun into evidence?”

  “Your Honor, the Court has reminded me that my client is justice. If the defense wants to put this evidence on as truth, I think the jury should be allowed to evaluate it in that context.”

  The judge didn’t say anything for a moment or two. He just gave Robert Merton a bewildered look as if to ask, What the hell are you doing?

  “Very well,” he said finally. “The objection being withdrawn, you are free to proceed, Mr. Wylie. Since this has taken a little more time than we anticipated, I think we should break for lunch. Who knows, perhaps we’ll have different ideas after the lunch break.”

  Jack and Tom had to share a Snickers over lunch.

  “I didn’t get to the candy store last night,” Tom said.

  “I’ll just take it out of your fee,” Jack told him. “Interesting turn of events here.”

  “Very interesting.”

  “I can’t believe Danni got on that stand and confessed to two crimes—to save me.”

  “I’ve got to say I was not a Danni fan no matter what you and Henry said about her, but today she stepped up to the plate in a big way. And I understand why she did what she did. She had to stop Felton any way she could, and she had a strong feeling that Jeffries was setting you up and that he was going to get away with it.”

  “Why did Merton drop his objection?” Jack asked.

  “I think I know,” Tom said. “Danni’s testimony about what happened ten years ago was very believable. A jury could understand after that testimony why you decided to represent Felton. They could let you go without ever determining that Sam Jeffries did anything wrong. This gun testimony, even though it’s true, requires the jurors to believe Danni over Sam Jeffries and makes Jeffries a criminal. Jeffries is well thought of in this community and he is the ultimate victim in this case. Making Jeffries look like a criminal is going to be a hard thing for them to do and that’s what Merton is banking on.”

  “But it’s the truth. Why would Danni lie? Why would she subject herself to criminal prosecution?”

  “That’s Merton’s hurdle—finding a motive for Danni’s having lied. I’m sure he’ll come up with something. He’s a very resourceful fellow. We could pull the plug on him though.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I don’t have to ask another question. I don’t have to put the proffered testimony before the jury. That way, Merton could only cross Danni on what she already testified to—and that’s basically planting the knife ten years ago.”

  “What’s our advantage in that?”

  “If the jury believes her, they see you in a different light. They don’t have to determine that Jeffries is a criminal. It’s still a risk, but you and I both know that you win in this game hitting singles and doubles. Trying for a home run, like Merton did when he cross-examined you, can get you in a lot of trouble.”

  “What do you recommend, Tom?”

  “Let’s play it safe. Let’s throw Merton a curve ball. We’ll leave the gun stuff out.”

  “I can’t do that. I hear everything you’re saying, Tom, and I agree with you for the most part. But Danni put her life on the line by breaking into Sam’s home and then by testifying about it. I can’t just throw that away because it’s good strategy.”

  “This isn’t about Danni’s feelings, Jack. We want to get you out of jail. You can spend the rest of your life with her if you like.”

  “What’s that supposed to mean?”

  “It’s pretty obvious to me that you love this woman. I think Henry and Ron would tell you the same thing if they were here. I just don’t want your feelings for her to cloud your judgment as a lawyer because this is your decision to make.”

  “You’ve been straight with me all the way through this trial, Tom, even though I don’t agree with all of your assessments. And you stuck with me when I made decisions you didn’t agree with. As a lawyer, I know how hard that is. But I’m going to ask you to do it one more time. I want Danni to testify to everything. That’s what she came here to do, and it’s the truth. I’ll live with the consequences.”

  “Okay, Jack. I just hope Merton is not as good as I think he is.”

  Chapter Sixty-Eight

  Judge Holbrook re-convened the proceedings at one o’clock. Neither the gallery nor the jury was in the room.

  “Do we have anything else to discuss before we bring everybody back here?”

  “No, Your Honor,” said Merton.

  “No, Your Honor,” said Tom.

  “Just for the record, Mr. Wylie, you are going to ask questions about the proffered testimony, specifically about Ms. Jansen’s breaking into Chief Jeffries’s home and finding a gun and her belief that the gun belonged to Thomas Felton.”

  “Yes, Your Honor,” Tom replied.

  “And you have no objection to that testimony, Mr. Merton?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Okay,” said the judge, obviously a little exasperated. “Let’s bring in the gallery first and the witness. Then when everybody is seated, we’ll bring in the jury.”

  It took fifteen minutes to get the gallery seated and a couple more for the jury. Eventually, everybody was seated and ready.

  “Mr. Wylie, you may proceed.”

  Tom went to the podium and proceeded to ask Danni the same questions he had asked that morning. She told the jury in a straightforward fashion how she broke into Sam’s house, found the gun, and why she believed it was Felton’s gun. Robert Merton did not raise an objection. When Tom was finished, the judge turned to Merton.

  “Cross-examination, Mr. Merton?”

  “Yes, Your Honor.”

  Merton walked to his favorite spot close to the witness but between the witness and the jury so that his questions could be statements to the jury and they could see the witness behind him answering the statements.

  “So let me get this straight, Ms. Jansen. You broke into Felton’s home ten years ago, took the bowie knife, planted it at the last murder scene, and told nobody about that until this morning—is that right?

  “That’s correct.”

  “The burning question for me, as I’m sure it is for everyone here, is why—why now?” />
  “I didn’t want to see an innocent man go to jail.”

  “You didn’t want to see an innocent man go to jail. You testified last week for the prosecution; you knew they were prosecuting this man for murder—did your feelings change between last week and today?”

  “Frankly, yes. I thought about it some more and I decided to tell the whole truth.”

  “Did you talk to anybody about this between your testimony for the prosecution last week and your new testimony this week?”

  Danni hesitated—not a good thing when you were on cross-examination. “Yes. I spoke to Henry Wilson.”

  “You spoke to Henry Wilson. Did he help persuade you?”

  “He helped. The decision was mine.”

  “Now before you testified last week, you spoke to me on several occasions and you never told me, the state attorney for this county, that you had planted evidence in the Felton case, correct?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “So you talked to Henry Wilson, you made your decision, and then you woke up this morning and decided to break into Sam Jeffries’s house, that’s what you want this jury to believe?”

  “It’s the truth.”

  “The truth.” Merton picked up the Ruger that Tom had introduced into evidence. “The truth is that you, me, anybody can buy this exact gun at Walmart, Kmart, or even better, at some obscure gun show that blows through town.”

  “That’s correct.”

  “The truth is that this gun is clean, meaning there are no prints or any other evidence to connect this gun to Thomas Felton?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “The truth is that anyone could make the claim that they got this gun from Sam Jeffries’s house and there would be no way to disprove it.”

  “Not everybody would know about Sam Jeffries’s hidden gun room.”

  “A little gem to make your story more credible? And you want the jury to believe that the key to that room was in the same place that it was ten years ago, correct? And that just allowed you to walk right in?”

  “I don’t want them to believe anything. That’s where it was. Otherwise I couldn’t have gotten the gun.”