Keep No Secrets

by Julie Compton

  "It would just bring attention to it if I object," he whispers. "I'll deal with it on cross."

  Walker spends a few more minutes

  questioning Del Toro about how hard it is for a single dad to raise a teenage girl,

  "especially in this age where technology allows them to keep so much hidden from their parents." Del Toro waxes poetic about how beautiful Celeste is, and how he's had to protect her from the boys since she hit puberty. He talks about how much he likes Michael, and that although he'd only met Jack a few times, he once liked and respected him. He thought his daughter was safe dating the son of the DA.

  "So you weren't aware that Mr. Hilliard committed adultery a few years back?"

  "No, not until after his arrest, when the news started talking about it."

  On that last point, Walker turns his witness over to Earl.

  Earl stands, and for just a moment, he remains behind the table. His face wears concern as he makes his way closer to the witness box. He nods politely to Del Toro, who returns the gesture.

  "Mr. Del Toro, isn't it true that everything you know about what

  happened during the night Celeste spent with Michael, and then Mr. Hilliard, you know because Celeste told you?"

  "Yes, I suppose that's true."

  "You weren't present at any time, were you?"

  "I was there when she arrived home."

  "But you weren't with her during the time she spent with either Michael or Mr.

  Hilliard?"

  "No, I wasn't."

  "So your knowledge about what happened between Celeste and Mr.

  Hilliard is based solely on what your daughter told you?"

  "Yes."

  "You testified that your daughter's diary entry described what happened between her and Mr. Hilliard in the car."

  Del Toro nods. "Was that entry dated?"

  "No."

  "Did it identify Mr. Hilliard by name or in any other way?"

  "No."

  "So it's possible that it had nothing to do with Mr. Hilliard, isn't that so?"

  "I guess, but—"

  "Now, about the torn-up instructions from an at-home pregnancy test, are you aware that over-the-counter pregnancy tests can't determine pregnancy the day after intercourse?"

  "Yes, I know that."

  "Didn't you find it odd that your daughter took such a test within twelve hours or so of the time she claims Mr.

  Hilliard assaulted her?"

  "I discussed that with her. She did not understand the limitations of those tests."

  "Really?"

  "My daughter would have no reason to know about such things, sir. She is not so sophisticated, I am glad to say."

  Jack has to restrain himself from rolling his eyes.

  "But she is honest," Del Toro adds.

  "And I believe what she tells me."

  "Is that why you check her underwear when she comes home after dates?"

  A smattering of gasps and giggles rises from the gallery. Jack sneaks a look at the jury; a few seem to share the surprise of the audience, while others merely wait for clarification from either Earl or the witness. Del Toro looks horrified, not from the accusation, Jack thinks, but from his actions being so blatantly exposed.

  "I don't know what you refer to," Del Toro says defensively, and Jack knows then that Celeste's messages told the truth.

  Earl pulls out a transcript of the messages between Celeste and Michael.

  When he hands it to Del Toro, Walker starts to object, but Earl interrupts. "I'm merely using it to refresh his recollection, Your Honor." The judge waves at him to proceed. "Mr. Del Toro, have you read the document I've just handed you?"

  "Yes."

  "Can you explain what it is, briefly?"

  "It appears to be messages between my daughter and Mr. Hilliard's son. But I have never seen this—"

  "That's okay." Earl takes the document back. "Does it help to refresh your memory about what I'm referring to?

  Have you ever asked your daughter to show you her underwear when she

  returned home from a date with Michael for the purpose of determining whether she had sexual relations with him?"

  "No, I have not."

  "But you saw in those messages that she told Michael you had, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "So she's lying to one of you, right?"

  Del Toro doesn't answer.

  "Sir?"

  "She does not lie to me."

  Earl lets it drop at that. It's enough that he asked the questions.

  "You mentioned that you and Celeste's mother divorced about eight years ago.

  So Celeste would have been about eight years old?"

  "Yes."

  "And you moved to Missouri this past summer?"

  "Yes."

  "Where did you and Celeste live before that?" Earl asks the question with the innocence of someone who doesn't know the answer, but, of course, he does.

  "I lived in Puerto Rico following the divorce."

  "And Celeste?"

  "She lived with her mother."

  "You didn't have custody?"

  "We shared custody. She lived with me in the summers. She wanted to stay in Florida during the school year so she didn't have to leave her friends."

  Earl returns to the defense table and pulls a paper from a file. Del Toro repositions himself, sits taller.

  "Isn't it true that subsequent to your divorce and move to Puerto Rico, your ex-wife was in prison on two different occasions for drug charges?"

  A flurry of whispers sweeps the

  courtroom. Jack glances at Walker. He sits motionless at the prosecution table, intent on maintaining an expression devoid of emotion.

  "Yes, that's correct."

  "With whom did Celeste live while her mother was in prison?"

  "Her abuela came to live at Celeste's mother's house so Celeste could remain in her same school." His voice has lost its earlier assurance.

  Earl looks down at his paper, back up again. "Are you referring to Celeste's maternal grandmother? The one with Alzheimer's?"

  Del Toro looks to Walker for help, but Walker maintains a stone face. Jack suspects the DA from Harrison County didn't do his research.

  "Sir?" Earl prods.

  "Yes, but it was early stage."

  "Did anyone else stay at the house with Celeste and her grandmother?"

  Del Toro takes such a deep breath that his torso visibly rises and falls. "Yes, my ex-wife's boyfriend. A man named

  Torrence Nash."

  "Do you happen to know Mr. Nash's nickname?"

  "No."

  "The nickname Torpedo doesn't ring a bell?"

  "No," Del Toro says, adamant. Jack believes him.

  "Sir, you mentioned you came to Missouri for a job. But how did it come about that Celeste came with you instead of remaining in Florida?"

  "She asked to."

  "Did her mother object?"

  "Not really." His tone is bitter and sarcastic now, and Jack suspects the divorce wasn't amicable. "I think she was glad to have her freedom."

  "Just a few more questions, Mr. Del Toro." Earl pauses. Jack waits for the one-eighty he knows Earl is about to do.

  He wants to catch Del Toro off guard.

  "On that Sunday following the night in question, before you collected the trash, did Celeste leave the house?"

  The tactic works. Del Toro narrows his eyes as he tries to get his bearings.

  "No," he says, "not that I know of."

  "Did any friends come over?"

  "No."

  "Then can you explain, if she didn't leave the house and no one came to her, how she might have come into possession of a pregnancy test?"

  Del Toro stares at Earl. He's obviously just considered this incongruence for the first time.

  "Sir?” Earl says. “Can you answer, please?"

  "I . . ." Del Toro shrugs helplessly, and Jack feels empathy for the man. "I don't know."

  The judge calls a
recess, but Jack and Earl remain at the table after the courtroom empties so they can talk in relative peace.

  Except for the judge's clerk, the court reporter, and a bailiff by the doors, they're alone. Earl scoots his chair to face Jack. Like a quarterback calling his team into a huddle, he hunches over and motions for Jack to do the same.

  "So Celeste took a pregnancy test, and when her dad found it, she knew the wrath she'd endure if she didn't come up with an excuse for having it. Without thinking it through, she fingered you instead of Mike. Problem is, all we have so far to support this theory is her father's inability to explain why she already had a pregnancy test in her possession. But it will at least raise some doubt in the jury's mind."

  "It doesn't make sense, though," Jack counters. "I mean, maybe it did to her at the time, but for her to go through all this just to prevent her dad from finding out she and Michael are having sex?

  Because once Mike takes the stand, it'll all be out in the open, right? He won't lie about that, I know he won't, because he already admitted it to me. There's gotta be a larger motivation for her to endure all this. Question is, how do we find out what it is?"

  Earl sits back and scans the courtroom.

  "Oh, I can crack her, no problem, once she takes the stand. The real question is, how do I do it without the jury thinking we're ogres?"

  Walker calls his next witness, Officer Thornton. Officer Thornton explains how he took the initial report when Celeste and her father came into the station on Sunday night. Walker takes him through the timeline (the alleged assault occurred around 2:00 a.m., she came into the station at 7:12 p.m.), Celeste's demeanor (upset, numb, scared), and the procedures followed (collected hair samples, and skin particles from under her fingernails, asked her to submit to the rape exam, which she declined).

  Even though his testimony is important to the State's case, Thornton is a minor witness, and Walker keeps the direct short.

  Jack knows Earl will follow Walker's lead and ask a minimal number of

  questions on cross. Juries generally respect the police force, so unless a good reason exists to challenge an officer's testimony, they appreciate a defense lawyer who respects it, too.

  "Officer Thornton, Ms. Del Toro waited almost eighteen hours to report the alleged assault, is that right?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Do you know why?" Earl asks, even though he already knows the supposed answer from the police reports.

  "My understanding is that she was afraid, you know, given Mr. Hilliard's position as DA. She apparently didn't tell her father what had happened until around four that evening. She said he's the one who insisted she report it."

  "And yet she still had some of Mr.

  Hilliard's skin under her nails, you said?"

  "Yes, sir."

  Earl nods as if in deep thought.

  "You've investigated many rape cases.

  In your experience, do victims often bathe extensively after being assaulted?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "Why?"

  "They usually say they felt unclean. It's like they're trying to wash off the assault."

  "Does that make it difficult to collect evidence?"

  "It can, yes."

  "So if a victim were to wash her hands, would you have difficulty collecting evidence from under her fingernails, such as the assailant's skin particles, because it was washed away?"

  "Like I said, it can make it difficult."

  "Did you have any difficulty finding Mr. Hilliard's skin under Ms. Del Toro's nails?"

  "No, sir."

  "Did you ask her if she bathed after the alleged assault but before coming to the station?"

  "Yes, I did, sir. She stated she did not bathe."

  "Did she even wash her hands?"

  "She stated she did not."

  "You testified that Ms. Del Toro refused the rape exam. Did she tell you why?"

  "No, sir. We don't ask that question."

  Earl, of course, knows that, too.

  "So you have no evidence of Mr.

  Hilliard's semen being inside her vagina, correct?"

  As many times as Jack has asked this question of a witness, he still cringes now.

  He's glad Claire isn't here to hear it.

  "That's correct, sir."

  "Thank you, Officer." Earl nods again.

  The officer returns a tight-lipped but warm smile. Most of the force know Earl well and respect him regardless of which clients he represents.

  Walker rises for redirect.

  "Officer, with respect to victims of rape washing themselves, in your

  experience, do victims of statutory rape respond the same way?"

  "No, sir, not usually."

  "And why's that?"

  "Well, with statutory rape, there's an element of consent. It's not valid, of course, but the victim generally has a different mindset about it."

  "Thank you, Officer. That's all."

  Walker's nod is akin to a bow. When he pivots to return to his table, he doesn't try to hide his satisfied smirk from Jack and Earl.

  Throughout the day and into Thursday, Walker questions the investigators who talked to Claire and Michael and the forensic expert who searched Jack's car.

  He questions the child abuse investigator who interviewed Celeste, and the officer who spoke to Michael's basketball coach regarding Jack's access to Celeste's backpack. He questions the coach himself.

  He questions the officer who booked Jack and photographed his arm. He questions the lab technicians who handled the forensic evidence and determined that the hair inside Celeste's bra belonged to Jack and the hairs in Jack's car and on his coat belonged to Celeste. He establishes the chain of custody for each piece of physical evidence. And even though Jack understands more than anyone how Elias selected which bits of evidence to highlight and which to skim over or not even mention, he still finds it unbearable to remain impassive as he watches the case being built against him. The sum of the parts could easily be a conviction in the hands of the right—or from Jack's point of view, wrong—jury, especially if Celeste performs well on the stand.

  Shortly before the lunch break on Thursday, Walker informs the judge that he expects to call only four more witnesses before resting his case. The judge releases the jury but asks the parties to wait "for housekeeping matters."

  "Mr. Walker, who are your remaining witnesses?" he asks.

  "Janie Cramer, Michael Hilliard, Claire Hilliard, and the victim, Celeste Del Toro."

  "And who is Janie Cramer?" The judge reads the witness list from over the top of his glasses.

  "A friend of Ms. Del Toro's. She'll testify about the victim's infatuation with Mr. Hilliard."

  "What the—?" Jack starts to mutter, but Earl places his hand on Jack's arm.

  "Your Honor," Earl says, "perhaps I should wait until I hear the questions, but I don't see how anything Miss Cramer might say wouldn't be hearsay."

  "I assure the Court that Miss Cramer's testimony won't be hearsay, Judge."

  "Very well. Do you anticipate finishing with all four witnesses by the end of the week?"

  "I do, but, of course, much will depend upon the length of Mr. Scanlon's cross."

  "Of course. I'll see you gentlemen after lunch, then. Court is at recess."

  Janie Cramer's testimony proves to be so ridiculous and clearly beyond what Walker expected that Earl practically turns her into a witness for the defense during his cross. The "evidence" of Celeste's supposed crush on Jack consists of Janie's assertion that all the girls in Michael and Celeste's group of friends thought Jack was "smokin'" and Celeste made no secret of how much time she spent at the Hilliard's house, and by extension, with Jack. "Everyone" knew what Jack had done "with that attorney who looks like Celeste" and Janie claimed Celeste had a bet going with some of the other girls that she could "bed" him by the end of the year. Although Jack knows Celeste isn't nearly as innocent as her father believes, he also believes Janie's testimony must be a gross exaggera
tion.

  He wishes for eyes in the back of his head so he can see the reaction of Celeste's father to this new picture of his daughter.

  Earl needs only to ask a few questions to capitalize on it.

  "Janie, do you have reason to believe Celeste was sexually active?"

  "Objection." Walker stands and glares at Earl. "How is this relevant? I'm sensing a blame the victim approach here."

  Earl's nostrils flare. His thirty-plus years as a prosecutor shape everything he does; he considers blaming the victim in rape cases verboten, no matter which side he represents.

  "Not even close, Your Honor." Earl keeps his voice calm. "Mr. Walker first raised this issue in his direct of Mr. Del Toro and in his opening argument. He argued that my client took advantage of a naïve, inexperienced girl. Yet now he puts a witness on the stand who claims that same girl made it a goal to have

  intercourse with Mr. Hilliard. I think it's appropriate for me to explore the level of sexual sophistication of Ms. Del Toro in order to rebut the claims of naivety made earlier."

  "But whether she's sexually

  experienced is irrelevant," Walker argues.

  "What's relevant here is whether the defendant took advantage of her. Even if she were sexually experienced and consented to intercourse with him, it's still rape because the consent isn't valid under our laws. Our statutes make clear that sex between an adult man and a sixteen-year-old girl, however consensual"

  —he says the word "consensual" with disdain— "constitutes rape because of her age and the imbalance of power between them."

  "Of course we don't dispute Mr.

  Walker's interpretation of the law, and it's disingenuous of him to suggest we do.

  But he just put on testimony that Ms. Del Toro boasted of being able to lure Mr.

  Hilliard into a sexual situation. Whether or not he presented that testimony on purpose" —Earl's tone is even, but any lawyer in the room understands he just suggested that Walker lost control of Janie on direct, to the defense's benefit—

  "the fact is, he presented it and thus made her sexual experience relevant. The higher charge here is forcible rape, and Ms. Del Toro's state of mind prior to the night in question is certainly relevant to whether any interactions between her and Mr.