A Past That Breathes

by Noel Obiora

  “Ten minutes or so.”

  “Did they tell you what they were going to do about it?”

  “No, they said they would get back to me.”

  “They never asked if you had already called the police to inform them about your discovery?”

  “I don’t recall. I think I told them I was throwing up and I thought they said they would call the police.”

  “Isn’t it true that they did not ask if you had already called the police because you told them you had called the police?”

  Conrad sat looking at Kenneth as though the question had been rhetorical. It was not a look of one who did not hear the question, but of one who was waiting attentively for the next question. His hands were on the wooden frame in front of him on the witness box where the jurors could see them, and he was neither fidgeting nor flexing or moving his fingers. If anything, he seemed more confident than he had been throughout Amy’s examination.

  “Mr. Wetstone,” Judge Barney interjected. Conrad Wetstone turned toward the judge as if he were surprised to see the judge sitting there. “You may answer the question.”

  “No, I don’t think I told them that I had already called the police. Maybe they assumed it, maybe they decided they would call to make sure it was done right. I don’t recall,” Conrad responded. Everything he said came from Amy’s suppositions of the possible reasons why he might not have called the police.

  Kenneth examined him extensively on telephone records that showed he also called Rachel Johnson and Monsieur Arnot before he called the police, but Conrad insisted he had told the police he spoke to those two, even though he did not mention that he did so on the telephone. He could not remember the details of what he talked about with Rachel and Monsieur Arnot for twenty minutes and responded that he did not recall a lot of questions concerning the conversation.

  Kenneth walked over to the exhibit he had placed on the easel and adjusted it as though he were trying to steady it. He also brushed off the edges as though he were cleaning dust from them. Then he took a step away from it and examined it as if it were a work of art.

  “Let me draw your attention to the exhibit showing the floor plan for Footsie’s apartment.”

  “Is that an accurate depiction of the apartment where you found Footsie’s body?”

  Conrad observed the blueprint briefly. “Yes,” Conrad said.

  “When you got to the apartment that day, how did you get inside?”

  “I used my key. The manager has a key to all the apartments and the rental agreement allows us to go in to make necessary repairs.”

  “Did you notice anything wrong with the lock on the door to enter the apartment?”

  “No.”

  “It wasn’t broken or tampered with at all?” Kenneth asked.

  “No, as far as I could see, it wasn’t tampered with or broken.”

  “So, it is safe to say that prior to the time you got to her apartment and found her body, no one had broken into her apartment?”

  “Objection, calls for speculation,” Amy said.

  “Counsel, Mr. Wetstone is not testifying as an expert on burglaries, I will sustain the objection…” Judge Barney said.

  “Mr. Wetstone, do you have any idea how anyone might have gotten into the apartment without a key or without breaking the lock on the door?” Kenneth asked.

  “No, I don’t,” Conrad said.

  “When you open the door to the apartment and step into the apartment looking forward, what’s to your left?”

  “A wall.”

  “More accurately, a wall between the coat closet and the passageway, is that correct?” Kenneth inquired.

  The video man turned on the screen on the television and showed a wall through a door.

  “Looking at the video, does that show the wall you are talking about?”

  “Yes.”

  “And what’s to your right?”

  “The kitchen.” The television screen showed a kitchen as well, and Conrad looked at it and nodded to Kenneth, but Judge Barney instructed him to give a verbal response and he said “yes.” The television screen subsequently showed each part of the apartment, but once Conrad confirmed it on the blueprint, it held steady. Kenneth and Cassandra had decided that having the video move around as they spoke to Conrad would distract from his testimony, but to preserve the right to use it in their summation, they decided to introduce it during his examination.

  “And separating you from the kitchen will be a low wall on which is the kitchen counter, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  Every time, Conrad answered, he looked first at the screen.

  “So, once you are at the door, entering, there is nothing shielding you from the person in the kitchen because the wall between the kitchen and the passageway is about four feet high, right?” Kenneth indicated on the easel as he spoke.

  “Yes.”

  “You walk into the apartment about seven feet from the door, still looking forward, you are standing here.” Kenneth marked an “X” on the exhibit. “What’s to your left?”

  “A passageway to the guest bedroom.”

  “And what’s to your right?”

  “The counter ends there, and you have about a four-foot space between the counter and the wall in front of you that leads into the living room and the kitchen area.”

  “Directly in front of the kitchen here is the living room, right?” Kenneth asked as he marked the kitchen area “K” and the living room with an “LV.”

  “Yes,” Conrad agreed.

  “You walk across the kitchen and living room area as you are coming in from the entrance to the apartment, and you are standing in front of a door. Where does that door lead to?”

  “The master bedroom and the adjourning master bathroom,” Conrad said. He looked at the screen to see a shot of the door and the living room from the kitchen area.

  “Now, let me stop here for a moment. When you came into the apartment, was the door to the master bedroom open or closed?”

  “I don’t recall,” Conrad said, looking puzzled.

  “At some point while you were in the apartment, you went into her bedroom, which was the master bedroom, did you not?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “So when you went into it. Was it open or closed?”

  “I think it was closed.”

  “You are not sure?”

  “It was closed.”

  “Where is the master bedroom on this exhibit?” Kenneth asked, though it seemed obvious from the exhibit.

  “Right inside,” Conrad said, pointing. Kenneth marked where Conrad was pointing “MB” and confirmed it with him.

  “You walk from the bedroom door to the far wall opposite it, turn right and there is a small passageway to the bathroom, is that correct?” Kenneth indicated on the easel with a pointer as he spoke and placed a “B” mark on the exhibit to indicate a bathroom.

  “Objection, your Honor, is there a point to this exercise?” Amy asked.

  “There better be,” Judge Barney retorted. Some jurors chuckled. “Counsel, still foundation?” Judge Barney asked Kenneth.

  “Still foundation, your Honor,” Kenneth said.

  “Get to your point soon, will you?”

  “Mr. Wetstone, what else is in the passageway between the bedroom and the bathroom?”

  “A small closet built into the wall on your right, and nothing on the wall to your left.”

  “You came into the apartment to do some repairs?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was broken?”

  “Excuse me?” Conrad asked.

  “What did you find was broken and in need of repair?”

  “I didn’t so much go to repair it as to take a look at it.”

  “You just admitted right now that you came in to
do some repairs.”

  “Well, she told me to look at it, and if it was something I could repair I would do it, but mostly I just inspect and call someone in.”

  “What did your inspection reveal?”

  “She complained about the garbage disposal. It wasn’t working properly and the sink was clogging.”

  “Where was this garbage disposal?”

  “It was under the kitchen sink built into the counter in the kitchen.”

  “So, you walk into the apartment, go about seven feet toward the wall facing you, turn right toward the living room, pass the counter, and the kitchen is immediately there to your right. Is that correct?” Kenneth indicated the movement on the floor plan exhibit as he spoke.

  “Yes.”

  “You immediately turn into the kitchen by turning to your right, and the counter and the sink are right there?”

  “Yes.”

  “And the master bedroom is behind you?”

  “Yes, sir.” It was the first time Conrad had addressed Kenneth as “sir.”

  “So, what were you doing in the bedroom?”

  “Pardon?”

  “You walk into the apartment to inspect the sink garbage disposal in the kitchen. You don’t have to go through the master bedroom to get to the sink. In fact, you have no business whatsoever in the master bedroom. But you go through the master bedroom into the bathroom anyway to see if Ms. Silberberg was dead? Someone told you she was lying dead there and you went to check on her, isn’t that true?”

  “No!” Conrad exclaimed.

  “What were you really doing in the bedroom when you discovered her body?” Kenneth persisted, raising his voice.

  There was a short pause before Conrad answered.

  “I also wanted to check the water pressure in the shower.”

  “Footsie complained about that as well?”

  “Not specifically, but when I’m calling someone to do something in one apartment, I take any opportunity to see if any other apartment can use the same service, so the contractor doesn’t have to come back for the same thing,” Conrad explained.

  “So, you checked all the showers in the building for water pressure?”

  “No.”

  “Mr. Wetstone, you said earlier that when Footsie would travel, she would tell you that if someone needed to use her apartment, you could let them, provided they stayed away from her bedroom. Isn’t that true?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “But you came to her apartment with only permission to look at her kitchen, and even though her bedroom door was closed, you went in there anyway, knowing she doesn’t like anyone else in her bedroom that she has not given permission to.”

  “I was only doing my job.”

  “Mr. Wetstone, didn’t you say that Footsie had not been staying at this apartment for a while, in fact, she was away in London for about three months, and never stayed there?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “Why was she worried about a garbage disposal she had not used for over a month and wasn’t using because she was staying somewhere else?”

  “I don’t know, that’s what she told me. Maybe Rachel told her about it, I don’t know.”

  “Why didn’t Rachel tell you herself?”

  “Objection,” Amy said standing.

  “Overruled.”

  “Maybe because it wasn’t her apartment,” Conrad said.

  “Okay. How long did you take to inspect the sink garbage disposal?”

  “About seven minutes.”

  “How long did it take you to check the water pressure in the guest bathroom?”

  “What?”

  “You checked the water pressure in Footsie guest bathroom as well, did you not?”

  “No…I didn’t.”

  “You just said that when you go to check a problem, you check all the other facilities. Why didn’t you check the shower in her guest bathroom?”

  “I found the body before I could.”

  “Mr. Wetstone, someone told you that Footsie was lying in her bathroom dead, and you went up there to check if it was true, right?” Kenneth said.

  “Objection! Objection!” Amy said over the latter part of Kenneth’s statement.

  “What is your objection counsel?” Judge Barney asked Amy.

  “Counsel assumes facts not in evidence. This question has been asked and answered, and counsel is being argumentative,” Amy responded.

  “It is appropriate impeachment,” Judge Barney said to Kenneth’s surprise. “You may answer the question,” he said to Conrad.

  “No,” Conrad said.

  “You went up to Footsie’s apartment at about eleven thirty on Friday morning, perhaps carrying a toolbox, perhaps not. You got into the apartment using your master key to fix a clogged sink garbage disposal that Footsie had complained about, and possibly check the water pressure she never asked you to check. Is that correct so far?”

  “Yes, sir.”

  “You check the sink garbage disposal for five to seven minutes, and what was wrong with it?”

  “Nothing, I couldn’t find anything wrong with it.”

  “It was fine?”

  “Yes.”

  “Then you went to the master bedroom and the master bathroom to check the water pressure?”

  “Yes.”

  “Besides the master bathroom, there is another bathroom in this apartment, but you didn’t check the water pressure in that bathroom, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Wetstone, did you tell the LAPD detectives that you also went to Footsie’s to check the water pressure in her bathroom?”

  “No.”

  “Why not?”

  “They didn’t ask and I was giving them the reason I had permission to go into the apartment in the first place. The water pressure was extra, I was just trying to help.”

  “Oh, I have no doubt that you were trying to help, Mr. Wetstone. And when you went to check the water pressure in her master bedroom her door was closed. It might even have been locked.”

  “It wasn’t locked.”

  “But you did not know that until you tried the handle and found out that it wasn’t locked, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, when you found the door closed at the time, why didn’t you just go and check the guest bathroom instead of violating her privacy by attempting to open a door that might be locked?”

  “The problem with the water pressure in the other apartments was in the master bathroom, that was why I went to check the master bathroom, but I see what you mean. I didn’t think of it then.”

  “Why did you turn on the air conditioner in Footsie’s apartment?” Kenneth asked.

  “Pardon?” Conrad said, and Amy objected.

  “Rephrase the question counsel,” Judge Barney said.

  “The air conditioner in Footsie’s apartment, was it on when you came into the apartment?” Kenneth asked.

  “I believe it was already on, yes,” Conrad said.

  “Why didn’t you tell the police that, when they interrogated you,” Kenneth asked.

  Conrad said he did, and Kenneth examined him further on what the weather was that morning. If he thought it was odd that the air conditioner was on in January, even for Los Angeles. Conrad said he thought it was odd, and Kenneth suggested again that he never told the police about the air conditioner being on.

  “It took two hours to call the police because you and your friends were trying to figure out what to tell the police?”

  “Objection!” Amy shouted.

  “Sustained,” Judge Barney said.

  Conrad Wetstone remained on the stand until the end of the day. He explained why he was at home the day he discovered Goldie’s body and why he had not gone to Goldie’s apartment earlier. Kenneth
asked him the condition he found Goldie’s bed, whether it has been used for sex, and Amy’s objection was sustained. Kenneth tried to suggest that Conrad may have seen items of a sexual nature and the objection to that was sustained as well. Yet, Kenneth felt he had planted enough of a seed in the minds of the jurors with those unanswered questions.

  At the end of his testimony, Conrad had scratched and patted his hair into disorder, his shirt was pulled into a bulge at the front, his eyes were red from being rubbed during his examination. He was not alone in his distress. Reverend Brown was developing a headache that appeared to grow in intensity as Amy rose to ask Conrad additional questions to rehabilitate him on areas she felt necessary. Nancy and Reverend Brown stood up to leave the courtroom. Both Kenneth and Amy turned to observe the slight disturbance in the audience and saw them.

  “It’s time for our afternoon recess,” Judge Barney informed the court as Wetstone made his way out of the courtroom. “I would like the attorneys to stay behind for a few minutes after everyone else has left.”

  Kenneth, Cassandra, and Amy nodded and stood with Paul as the jurors rose to leave. When the parties were alone with Judge Barney, he told them that the court of appeals had ruled on Cassandra’s emergency writ. The ruling directed the court to hold a hearing to show cause why the defendant should not introduce evidence of sexual activity in his defense.

  The court of appeals had agreed with the argument that the failure by the police to identify and eliminate all those who may have been involved in the alleged sexual activity cast doubt on their investigation of Mr. Jackson. Therefore, it was relevant impeachment evidence for the defense. Further, there was no presumption of prejudice when sexual activity is introduced in a trial that is not for a sex crime. However, the court of appeals directed Judge Barney to show cause by holding another hearing to let Cassandra make the arguments she made in her writ that were not previously presented to Judge Barney, so the district attorney could rebut them.

  “The ruling came this afternoon during the lunch break, so I assumed your copies were waiting for you in your offices. But since today is the last day of the week, I want you to start thinking of what I want you to do on Monday morning because of this ruling,” Judge Barney said. “I want all of you to appear on Monday morning prepared to present additional evidence on whether sexual activity should be admitted in the trial. If the police can identify the participants in the sexual activity at Ms. Silberberg’s apartment as a means of excluding the evidence by showing that they were not relevant to the crime, I will consider it. If the forensic expert maintains it is irrelevant, I want to know his reasons as well.”