“Hi, Conrad,” she said as she approached her witness. “Could you please tell the jury where you were on the night of October 14?”
“I was in my car in the parking lot behind a restaurant called Bistro Cannata.”
“Did you witness anything unusual that night?”
“Yes. I witnessed a woman shoot and kill a man.”
A surprised murmur rippled through the jury box and the gallery. “Can you describe for the jury your line of sight to these two people?”
“Clear line of sight. No obstacles between us.”
“Do you recognize either of those people here today?”
“Yes,” Conrad said. He stared at Brooke Raines, who stared back at him with a look of disbelief. “The woman is right there.” Conrad pointed at the defense table.
Judge Armstrong leaned toward his court reporter. “Let the record reflect that the witness has identified the defendant, Brooke Raines.”
“And the person you saw Ms. Raines shoot was a man?” Jessie said.
“Yes.”
Jessie showed him one of the Commonwealth’s exhibits, a smiling photograph of Corbin Keeley. “This man?”
“Yes.”
The judge commented for the record again.
“Thank you,” Jessie said. “Conrad, you say you had an unobstructed view. On a scale of one to ten, with one being the least sure and ten the most sure, how sure are you that the woman was Brooke Raines and the man was Corbin Keeley?”
“Ten,” he said without hesitation.
Jessie let herself pause for a breath, and to give the jury a moment to digest Conrad’s testimony. “Could you hear anything?”
“Yes. I had the driver’s side window down. The parking lot was quiet. I heard everything they said, and I heard the gunshot. It was so loud I thought it might have burst my eardrums.”
“Objection,” Hughes said.
The judge nodded. “Sustained. Mr. Deprisco, just stick to the facts.”
“Before you tell the jury what you witnessed, I have a few other questions for you,” Jessie said. She’d reached the trickiest part of her direct examination, and she needed to tread carefully. She had just prepared the jury to hear what had really happened in the parking lot on the night Keeley died. And then she’d paused. This was the point at which she planned to reveal Conrad’s drug use—while the jury’s curiosity and attention were still strongly focused on learning what he’d seen. If she played the moment right, the jurors’ attention would glide over Conrad’s marijuana use in their eagerness to get to the answers they cared about. “I need you to explain what you were doing sitting alone in your car in a parking lot at night, with your window down.”
“I was smoking weed.”
“You were smoking marijuana,” Jessie said. “You are aware that’s a crime under the laws of Pennsylvania?”
“Yes.”
“Objection,” Hughes said. “Aside from the fact that the Commonwealth is clearly leading the witness, I have no doubt that Mr. Deprisco has been assured of his immunity in exchange for testifying today.”
“That’s a question you are free to explore on cross,” Judge Armstrong said. “Your objection is overruled, but I urge Ms. Black to take better care in forming her questions in a less leading manner.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Jessie said. “Conrad, would you please tell the jury what you saw and heard?”
“The first thing I heard was the sound of high heels clicking on pavement. I looked up and this pretty woman—the woman over there—walked around the side of the restaurant and came into the parking lot.”
“Was she walking or running?” Jessie said.
“Walking.”
“What happened next?”
“The woman walked maybe six steps into the lot, and then the man came around the building, too. He was kind of jogging, I guess. Like he wanted to catch up with her.”
“Then what happened?”
“He said, ‘Wait,’ and she stopped and turned around and faced him. He said, ‘Can we finish dinner?’ She didn’t answer. Then—”
Jessie lifted a hand, gesturing for him to pause. “Can you describe his tone of voice?”
“Objection,” Hughes said. “His tone of voice? Seriously?”
“Overruled. I’m going to allow Mr. Deprisco to answer. Go ahead, please.”
“He sounded … friendly, I guess,” Conrad said. “Like he was trying to be nice so she’d go back to the restaurant with him.”
“Did he raise his voice?” Jessie said.
“No.”
“Did he sound threatening?”
Hughes was on his feet again. “Your Honor!”
The judge nodded. “Ms. Black, I think you’ve made your point. Let’s move on.”
“Thank you, Your Honor. Conrad, after you saw Mr. Keeley follow Ms. Raines into the parking lot and try to talk to her, what did you see and hear next?”
“She was looking for something in her bag. He took another step closer to her. She pulled out a gun.”
“Go on,” Jessie said.
“He sort of froze in place, staring at her. Like he was so surprised, he wasn’t sure what to think.”
“Objection,” Hughes said. “Mr. Deprisco had no idea what the victim was thinking.”
“Sustained,” Judge Armstrong said. “Stick to the facts, please—just tell us what you saw and heard.”
“What happened next?” Jessie said.
“She aimed the gun at his head and shot him.”
Jessie glanced at the jurors and watched their faces as Conrad’s version of events settled in. “Conrad, at the time Ms. Raines shot Mr. Keeley, did she appear to you to be in immediate danger?”
“Objection,” Hughes said. “Calls for a legal conclusion.”
“I disagree,” the judge said. “Overruled. Please answer the question.”
“I don’t think she was in any danger,” Conrad said.
“And after she shot him, what did she do next?”
“There was a rock on the ground. She picked it up and threw it at the wall of the building. Then she used her phone.”
As Jessie had anticipated, this revelation brought a roar of excited voices from the gallery. Judge Armstrong banged his gavel until his courtroom settled back into polite silence. During the brief moment of chaos, she looked at the jury and saw the expressions of shock she’d been hoping for. Conrad’s testimony had the potential to turn the whole case around.
“Brooke Raines threw the rock, not Corbin Keeley?” Jessie said.
“Yeah. She threw the rock.”
“You’re absolutely sure about that?”
“Absolutely.”
“Why do you think she would do that?”
“Objection!” Hughes practically screamed.
“Thank you,” Jessie said. “I have no further questions.”
26
Judge Armstrong looked to Hughes. The defense attorney seemed so eager to cross-examine Conrad Deprisco, he was practically vibrating in his chair. Jessie winced inwardly, but managed to keep her concern from showing on her face. Hughes was going to come at Conrad hard—doing so was his only hope of salvaging his client’s defense. She hoped the kid could handle it.
“Mr. Hughes,” Judge Armstrong said. “Your witness.”
Hughes approached the witness stand and glared at Conrad with an expression that was equal parts disbelief and disgust. Conrad seemed to shrink into himself. He looked away from Hughes and stared at an invisible spot in the distance. From the prosecution table, Jessie tried to catch his eye, but the kid only stared into space, not looking at her.
“Mr. Deprisco,” Hughes said, “my name is Aidan Hughes. I’m the attorney representing Brooke Raines, whom the Commonwealth alleges committed a crime when she shot Mr. Keeley on the night of October 14. Your testimony seems to support the prosecution’s theory of this case, but I have to say, it was pretty shocking for my client and me to hear—and for the jury, too, I’m sure.”
&
nbsp; He paused, probably hoping Conrad would say something to fill the silence. Jessie had not had much time to prepare him, but one thing she had done was warn him about avoiding certain lawyer tricks. Only respond if you are asked a question, had been one of those tips, and judging by his silence, he’d taken it to heart.
Hughes shrugged. “Okay, Mr. Deprisco, let’s get down to it, then. You admitted, a few minutes ago, that you were abusing an illegal drug on the night in question, correct?”
“I was smoking weed—”
“It was a yes or no question. The answer is yes?”
“Yes.”
“How much weed were you smoking?”
Conrad looked uncertain. “It was a joint. Maybe half a gram?”
“You only smoked one joint?”
“Uh, well, no, I guess I smoked two.” Conrad ran his fingers through his hair, and the carefully combed strands reverted to the tousled mess Jessie remembered from their meeting at his house.
“Which is it, Mr. Deprisco? One joint or two joints?”
“Two.”
“Where did you get the marijuana?”
“A friend.”
“Did your friend give you the marijuana or sell you the marijuana?”
“He sold it to me.”
Hughes turned to the jury and arched an eyebrow. A few of the jurors shook their heads with disapproval. “So he’s your drug dealer, not your friend, correct?”
“I mean, he’s both.”
“Does he sell drugs to other people, or just you?”
“Other people.”
“So he is a drug dealer, right?”
“I guess so.”
“Did he sell you just the marijuana you smoked that night—the two joints you described as containing about half a gram of marijuana each?”
“No.”
“How much marijuana did he sell you?”
“Objection,” Jessie said. “It’s already been established that Mr. Deprisco smoked two joins during the night in question. Further details are not relevant.”
Judge Armstrong nodded. “I agree. Sustained.”
“Mr. Deprisco, are you being compensated in any way for your testimony today?”
“Compensated? You mean, like being paid? No.” Conrad crossed his arms over his chest and straightened up. Jessie recognized defensive body language and knew it would not play well to the jury. If only she’d had a few days to better prepare him.
“Did the Commonwealth promise not to file criminal charges against you for your drug-related offense in exchange for your testimony?”
“No,” Conrad said, his voice a little too loud. “I mean, it wasn’t ‘in exchange.’ Ms. Black said I didn’t have to worry about the marijuana.”
Jessie felt a muscle in her jaw twitch as she struggled to maintain a neutral expression. Hughes said, “You didn’t have to worry about it. That’s nice.”
“Objection,” she bit out.
Hughes lifted a hand before the judge could rule. “I’ll move on. Mr. Deprisco, you testified that after you bought marijuana from a drug dealer and you drove to the parking lot behind Bistro Cannata and you smoked two joints, you saw my client, Ms. Raines, run into the parking lot. Is that correct?”
“Objection,” Jessie said. “Mr. Hughes is misrepresenting the witness’s testimony. He very clearly stated that he observed Ms. Raines walking into the lot.”
“Walking,” Hughes amended. “My apologies, Your Honor. Mr. Deprisco was very specific on that detail, almost as if he’d been coached on its importance.”
“Objection!” Jessie said.
“Sustained,” the judge said. “The jury will please disregard counsel’s color commentary.”
Jessie fumed. Hughes was methodically discrediting her witness, and doing a good job of it.
Hughes said, “You saw my client, Ms. Raines, enter the lot?”
“Yes,” Conrad said.
“After that, you saw Mr. Keeley pursue my client into the parking lot. Correct?”
“I don’t know if he was pursuing her.”
“He was following her?”
“Yes.”
“And moving in her direction?”
“Yes.”
“And, I believe you testified, closing the distance between them?”
“Yes.”
“So he was pursuing her, right?”
Conrad ran his fingers through his hair again. “I guess so.”
“And then you saw and heard them argue.”
“They talked.”
“Did they seem to be agreeing with each other? Or expressing affection for each other?”
“No.”
“Did it seem more like Mr. Keeley wanted one thing, and Ms. Raines wanted a different thing?”
“Maybe, yeah.”
“He wanted her to stay, and she wanted to leave?”
“I think so.”
“So they were arguing, or having a disagreement or a debate of some nature, right?”
“I guess.”
“And then something happened and Ms. Raines shot Mr. Keeley, correct?”
“It was like I said.” Conrad’s voice cracked on the word, and his gaze swept the courtroom with a hunted, almost fearful expression. “She took her gun out of her purse, aimed, and shot him—”
“How much time passed, approximately, between the moment Mr. Keeley pursued Ms. Raines and the moment she shot him?”
“I don’t know.”
“You don’t know? Is that because your perception of time was impaired by the marijuana you’d been smoking?”
“Objection,” Jessie said.
Hughes looked at the judge and spread his hands. “Your Honor, I’m trying to understand why the witness is unable to approximate the time as requested.”
Armstrong nodded. “Answer the question, Mr. Deprisco.”
“I wasn’t impaired. I guess it was a few seconds.”
“A few seconds. You guess. But you testified that you didn’t think Ms. Raines was in any danger, didn’t you?”
“Yes.”
“It was nighttime, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Was there a lot of light in the parking lot?”
“Not really, no. A few lamps.”
“It was actually pretty dark, wasn’t it? Hard to see?”
“I could see.”
Hughes cast a skeptical look at the jury, then returned his focus to the kid. “Was it easier to see, harder to see, or the same, as if it were daytime?”
“Well, harder than if it was daytime, obviously. But I could see—”
“Was there smoke in your car?”
“Smoke?”
“You testified earlier that you lowered the window of your car, right?”
“Yes.”
“Did you lower the window of your car to let out the smoke from the marijuana joints you were smoking?”
“I guess.”
“So there must have been smoke in the car, right?”
“Yes.”
“Are you sure Mr. Keeley didn’t throw a rock at Ms. Raines?”
“I’m sure.”
“But you agree it was nighttime. There wasn’t a lot of light in the parking lot. There was smoke in your car. And it was harder to see than it would have been during the day. And everything happened in the space of a few seconds. But you are still telling us, and asking us to believe you when you tell us, that you could tell with absolute certainty that my client, Ms. Raines, was not in any danger, and that Mr. Keeley did not throw a rock at her?”
“Yes. I know what I saw.”
“How many years have you been smoking marijuana?”
“Objection, relevance,” Jessie said.
“Your Honor, if you give me a second, the relevance will be clear.”
“Okay,” the judge said. “Please answer, Mr. Deprisco.”
“About two years.”
“So it’s fair to say you are an experienced marijuana user?”
“Yes.”
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br /> “Based on your two years of experience using marijuana, wouldn’t you agree that one of the effects of marijuana is that it alters your perceptions?”
“Objection,” Jessie said. “The witness is not an expert on the effects of marijuana use.”
“I’ll rephrase,” Hughes said. “Is it your testimony today, under oath and under penalty of perjury, that after smoking two marijuana joints, your vision, sense of time, attention and focus, and other senses were not in any way whatsoever impaired?”
Conrad hesitated. His eyes flicked from Hughes to Jessie. He swallowed hard.
Jessie felt a sinking feeling in her stomach. It didn’t matter what he said now. He was physically unraveling in front of the jury.
“Please answer the question,” the judge said.
“I don’t know,” Conrad said. His voice had dropped to a mumble that was almost inaudible.
“You don’t know if you were impaired?” Hughes said.
Conrad licked his lips.
“Objection,” Jessie said. “Asked and answered. The witness said he doesn’t know.” At this point, the best she could do to help him was to try to force Hughes to move on.
“Sustained,” the judge said.
“Sure, Your Honor. I’m almost done. Just a few more questions. Mr. Deprisco, did your parents know you were in a parking lot smoking marijuana that night?”
“No.”
“You didn’t tell them?”
He shook his head. “No.”
“When you saw the shooting, did you call the police?”
“No.”
“Did you tell your parents?”
“No.”
“In fact, you didn’t tell anyone about what you had seen until Ms. Black and Detective Graham visited your house, correct?”
“Yes.”
“So you weren’t honest with your parents about that night?”
“No.”
“And you weren’t honest with the prosecutor or the police about that night, either, until they caught you. Correct?”
Conrad nodded miserably.
“Were you dishonest with the police and prosecutor? Yes or no?”
“Yes.”
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