"The People call Lester Bailey," ADA O'Bannon said.
This was our first look at the jailhouse snitch who claimed that Lorenzo had confessed to him. Unsurprisingly, Lester Bailey had refused to speak with me when I'd tried to visit him at Rikers. He was a wiry black man, with cornrows and a dead-eyed glare. You could take the gangster out of jail, I thought as I watched him approach the stand, but you couldn't take jail out of the gangster. Although they'd dressed him in a jacket and tie, to my eyes a prison jumpsuit hung over Lester's spindly frame like an aura. I hoped a jury would take one look at Lester Bailey and decide there was no reason to believe a word he said.
"Mr. Bailey, where do you currently reside?" O'Bannon asked.
"You mean, like, where I live at?"
"Yes."
"I don't know that I'd say I live there, truth to tell, but at the moment I'm at Rikers Island."
"Why are you at Rikers?" O'Bannon asked.
"They got me up on a B and E," Lester said. "They be sayin' I was someplace I got no right to be."
"You got arrested for breaking and entering?" O'Bannon acting as much translator as questioner.
"That's right."
"And those charges are still pending?"
"I got that over me," Lester agreed.
"Mr. Bailey, do you know Lorenzo Tate, the defendant in this case?"
"Sure I do," Lester said.
"Do you see Lorenzo Tate in this courtroom?"
"Can't help but see him," Bailey said. "He's sittin' right over there in the hot seat."
"Where do you know Lorenzo Tate from?"
"I know him from Rikers," Lester said. "We was in the same cell back in the day."
"Did you have occasion to talk to Lorenzo Tate?" O'Bannon asked.
"We used to talk all the time," Lester said. "We was friendly."
"Mr. Bailey, did there come a time when the defendant talked to you about the crimes he was accused of committing?" O'Bannon asked.
"What happened was this," Lester said, leaning forward slightly, appearing eager to tell his story. "I could always tell something was weighing on him. He was always talkin' about how he wasn't a bad person. And one time I was like, 'All right, then, you so good, how come you're stuck up in here?'"
"Did the defendant answer when you asked him that?"
"He got real quiet. And he wouldn't look at me or nothing. I was checking him, just to see what was up, and I see he be crying. Wasn't like he sobbing or nothing, wasn't making no noise, just that he got these tears on his face, you know. And he said that he was there 'cause he shot a man dead."
"Did he say who he shot?"
"He told me how he was trying to cap this dude he be beefing with, but that he ended up hitting this other dude too. He say the guy who got hisself killed wasn't nobody he even knew, how he just hit him by mistake. That's what he was bugging out about."
"How is it you came to testify here today?"
"Well, see, I started thinking about how I knew about a killing now. I didn't want to end up no accessory after the event or nothing like that. So what I did was, I thought I should say something to my lawyer, see what he thought I should do. I mean, that's what you all are there for, right?"
"And what happened after you consulted with your attorney?"
Lester shrugged. "He made arrangements, you know, whatever it is you lawyers do when you do what you do, and that's how come I'm here today."
"Why are you willing to testify against the defendant?"
"It's nothing I got any joy for, you know?" Lester said, looking over at Lorenzo, doing his best to look apologetic. "But it ain't like I'm up here speaking on this 'cause of some little thing he done. I'm not no saint, but you can't just be killing people—"
"Objection," Myra said loudly, not having to stage her anger. I knew how she felt: I felt ready to hit Lester Bailey over the head with a two-by-four. "Approach, Your Honor?"
"There's no need for that," Judge Ferano said. "I'll sustain your objection."
"There is too a need," Myra barked back as I rose beside her, placing a cautionary hand on Myra's arm.
"I'll instruct the jury to disregard."
"That doesn't unring the bell, Your Honor," Myra said. "Only a mistrial would."
Now it was Ferano's turn to be angry. He waved the lawyers up to a sidebar, glaring daggers at Myra as we approached.
"What kind of asinine stunt are you trying to pull, asking for a mistrial in open court?" Judge Ferano fairly hissed at Myra.
"The record will reflect that I sought a sidebar and was denied. I need to make my record, whether you plan on giving me the opportunity or not."
"You're one irritation away from contempt, Counsel," Ferano said. "I don't like stunts in my courtroom."
"And I don't like it when the prosecution puts on a witness who's trying to do the jury's job for them. I move that all of his testimony be stricken."
O'Bannon started to speak, but Judge Ferano waved him silent. "I've had enough of this. I'll strike the inappropriate testimony, but we're not even close to a legitimate grounds for a mistrial. You can continue your examination, Mr. O'Bannon."
We retreated from the bench, O'Bannon positioning himself again behind the podium.
"So was it the nature of the defendant's crime that prompted you to be willing to testify against him here today?"
"You mean I'm here on account of he capped somebody?" Lester said. "True that."
"You're also hoping your cooperation here will help you in your own case, aren't you?"
"My lawyer say it ain't gonna hurt," Lester said.
"You realize any favorable treatment you might receive would be conditioned on your telling the truth in this courtroom?"
"Nobody's ever told me to say nothing except the truth up in this chair," Lester said. "That's what I've done."
"Thank you, Mr. Bailey," O'Bannon said, and then the floor belonged to Myra.
Myra stayed in her seat even after O'Bannon had returned to his. After a long moment she began clapping. She managed to get four claps in (certainly enough, I thought, to make her point) before O'Bannon stood to object. "Your Honor—" O'Bannon began, before Ferano interrupted.
"That's quite enough with the theatrics, Counsel," Judge Ferano admonished Myra. "Or should I take that to mean you have no questions for this witness?"
"On the contrary, Your Honor," Myra replied, standing quickly and striding to the podium. She had the added energy and focus that anger gave her. "I'm now very confused, and am hoping this witness can straighten me out."
"Your Honor—" O'Bannon interjected, but the judge waved him off.
"I don't want to hear anything from you but questions," Judge Ferano said to Myra. "Starting now."
"Mr. Bailey, why don't we start with the first thing that confuses me. You said before that you became friends with my client out at Rikers, is that correct?"
"It was like that, yeah."
"And yet here you are, ratting him out."
"Objection," O'Bannon said, getting quickly back to his feet.
"I'll be happy to rephrase," Myra said quickly. "And yet here you are, offering testimony that may put him in jail for the rest of his life. Tell me, Mr. Bailey, how do you treat your enemies?"
"Objection."
"Sustained."
"Would it be fair to say that you are no longer acting as Mr. Tate's friend?"
"I ain't doing nothing but telling the truth."
"We'll get to that," Myra said, her arms crossed in front of her, everything in her trying to convey her skepticism. "This isn't your first visit to Rikers, is it?"
"I ain't never denied that."
"You've been there, what, two previous times?"
"Something like that."
"Actually, you've been there three different times, haven't you?"
"You say so, I won't say you're wrong."
"So when you said 'Something like that' when I asked you if it was two times, what you meant was 'No, more'?" Myra sa
id, her sarcasm so strong I worried that for once she wasn't fully in control of it. I realized I was clenching my fists under the table; while I usually enjoyed watching Myra perform, now I was too invested in the case and, perhaps, in her, to have the necessary distance to enjoy it.
"I ain't sitting up here counting."
"You've got two pleas and one guilty verdict on your jacket, isn't that right?"
"Only one of those was for anything approaching serious."
"In the world according to Lester Bailey, breaking and entering and robbery are trivial, and armed robbery is only approaching serious?"
"Wasn't even a real biscuit on that," Lester protested.
"You've done six months at Rikers one time, a year another, then four years at Green Haven, isn't that right?"
"What you need me for if you know everything?"
"Is that right, Mr. Bailey?"
"That's the time I've done, yeah," Lester said.
"So you're what we could call a repeat customer at this, right?"
"Ain't like I'm no customer," Lester said. "But I been there."
"You know how the game is played, don't you?"
"Ain't none of this a game to me," Lester said. "You go sit out on Rikers, see if you still be talking about a game."
"You're aware that people at Rikers often claim that another inmate has confessed to them, come testify at trial like you're doing here, and get a better deal for themselves as a result, right?"
"Objection," O'Bannon said.
"I'll allow it."
"I know it helps you to help them," Lester said. "Everybody know that."
"And that's why you pretended to befriend Lorenzo Tate, isn't it?"
"I didn't pretend nothing."
"You were planning all along to snitch him out, weren't you? Regardless of whether or not he ever told you anything incriminating."
"That's all coming up out of your own head."
"Mr. Bailey, you are a three-time loser, a career criminal facing time on yet another crime. Why should anyone in this courtroom believe anything you say?"
"I ain't going to deny I been in trouble," Lester said. "But that ain't got nothing to do with this. I'm just here to tell the truth."
"You and the truth have never even met, Mr. Bailey," Myra said, and as she said it I relaxed: while I was sure her anger was genuine, I was also sure she had it under her control, that she'd been using it to set up this moment. "Allow me to introduce you. The truth is, everything you've said here has been a lie, a self-serving lie, and worse than that, a betrayal of a man who's never done you any harm."
"Objection," O'Bannon said.
"Withdrawn," Myra said. "I think I've heard enough from Mr. Bailey."
31
THE PEOPLE call Yolanda Miller," ADA O'Bannon said, bringing on the prosecution's star witness.
Even dressed for court Yolanda looked a good deal worse for wear than the first time I'd seen her in the spring. She'd gone from thin to skinny, sharp-angled, and jumpy. As Yolanda took the stand I noticed Devin Wallace in the spectator seats of the courtroom, but Yolanda did not even glance at him as she stepped through the well of the court. I leaned over to Myra and pointed Devin out. He was not on the prosecution's witness list, presumably because he was still not cooperating with them.
"Before we get to the events of April 6, Ms. Miller," O'Bannon began, "we have to talk about some more recent things. Have you ever been arrested?"
"That's right."
"How many times have you been arrested?"
"Three," Yolanda said flatly, no trace of embarrassment at having to talk about this in public. Her third and most recent arrest had been only a couple of weeks earlier; the DA's office had sent us the police report shortly before jury selection.
"All in the past year?"
"Yes."
"What have you been arrested for?"
"Two times for copping, one time for fighting."
"And what were you fighting about?"
"We was fighting over drugs."
"Ms. Miller, have you become addicted to drugs?"
"I got a need now, yeah," Yolanda said quietly, looking down at her hands, which were clasped together in her lap.
"And was that the case on April 6?"
"No. This all happen after that."
"You started doing drugs after April?"
"I started with the rock after that."
"And was that a coincidence?"
"How you mean?"
"What I mean is, did you start doing drugs because of what happened on April 6?"
"Objection," Myra said. "Speculation."
"Sustained," Judge Ferano said.
"Have you been offered anything in exchange for your testimony today in relation to the charges that are pending against you?" O'Bannon asked.
"I was offered what?"
"I'm sorry for being unclear. Put more simply, have you made a deal with my office concerning your testifying here today? Are you getting anything as far as your own criminal charges go?"
"Nothin' like that, no," Yolanda said.
O'Bannon then shifted gears, asking Yolanda about the night of the shooting. He led her through her going out to the deli, spotting Devin across the courtyard, and then seeing Wallace and Lipton getting shot as she started to approach them.
"What happened after you saw and heard Mr. Wallace and Mr. Lipton get shot?"
"I was looking around, you know, trying to find out what was going on," Yolanda said. "That's when I see Strawberry running toward me."
"When you say you saw Strawberry, do you know that person's actual name?"
"Lorenzo Tate."
"What, if anything, was the defendant carrying when he ran past you?"
"He got a gun."
"How did you recognize Lorenzo Tate?" O'Bannon asked.
"I seen him around the Gardens," Yolanda said. "I seen him with Devin too."
Myra tensed beside me, pushing her chair back from the table, preparing to jump to her feet at the first indication that Yolanda was going to make a connection between Lorenzo and Devin's drug dealing. The judge caught her movement, then looked sternly over at O'Bannon. Because of the judge's Molineux ruling, any mention by Yolanda of Lorenzo being a drug dealer and we would potentially have a mistrial on our hands.
"You'd seen the defendant with Mr. Wallace?" O'Bannon said neutrally, obviously realizing the line he was approaching.
"Sure, I'd seen them," Yolanda said.
"How many times had you seen the defendant before the night of the shooting?"
Yolanda shrugged. "Maybe five."
"Did there come a time when the police had you look at a photo array in this case?"
"The lady detective brought me some pictures to look at."
"What happened when the detective showed you these pictures?"
"I told them I didn't want to pick Strawberry out by no pictures," Yolanda said. "I told them I know him better in person."
"Did they then arrange an in-person lineup for you?"
"Once they got him, yeah," Yolanda said. "Then they set that up."
"What happened at that lineup?"
"I pointed out Strawberry."
"How long did it take you to point him out?"
"Didn't take me no time," Yolanda said.
"When you say it didn't take you any time, was it a few seconds, a few minutes . . . ?"
"Five seconds, maybe. Wasn't no longer than that."
"There's no doubt that Lorenzo Tate is who you saw run past you with a gun in his hand after Mr. Lipton and Mr. Wallace were shot?" O'Bannon continued.
"I seen him," Yolanda replied.
"Thank you, Ms. Miller," O'Bannon said. "Nothing further."
"Good afternoon, Ms. Miller," Myra said to begin her cross, Yolanda just nodding in reply, her arms folded across her chest, her whole demeanor going hostile.
"I just need to clarify some of your earlier answers," Myra said. "You said you have three pending criminal charges agai
nst you, is that correct?"
"I already say that."
"And those are all for drug-related crimes, right?"
"One was 'cause I was beatin' on this girl," Yolanda said. "But that was on account of drugs too."
"And all of these charges are from after the night of April 6, is that right?"
"That's right."
"And did I understand you correctly earlier; was it your testimony that you didn't use drugs before that night?"
"This is all after Devin got capped."
"It's your testimony that you didn't use illegal drugs prior to April 6?" Myra tried again.
"Ain't that what I said?"
"You tell me," Myra replied evenly. Unlike with a witness like Lester Bailey, where she'd been extremely aggressive from the start, with Yolanda on the stand Myra was keeping her voice even, her tone polite, even when she asked a tough question. It was Yolanda's own hostility that we wanted to let take center stage.
"Like I already say, this all start after that."
"So would it surprise you to learn that Latrice Wallace has already testified that she saw you under the influence of illegal drugs prior to April 6?"
"I ain't got no idea why she'd say that," Yolanda said.
"Is it your testimony that Ms. Wallace was lying when she said that?"
"You got to ask her why she say what she say."
"I'm asking you," Myra replied. "If she said she saw you high on drugs before that, would she be lying?"
"I ain't going to call her a liar," Yolanda said. "But what she say ain't true neither."
"Fair enough," Myra said, smiling slightly. She'd gotten us what we wanted, established an area of disagreement between Latrice's and Yolanda's testimonies. "So you're awaiting trial on all three of these charges, right?"
"That's right."
"And the same office that has called you as a witness today will be prosecuting you on those charges, correct?"
"I guess so."
"You guess so?" Myra shot back. "Isn't that true?"
"They got different lawyers handling my cases."
"Do you just mean that there are different assistant district attorneys prosecuting your cases than the prosecutors who are having you testify in this case?"
A Cure for Night Page 18