A Past That Breathes

by Noel Obiora

  •••

  On Thursday morning, Judge Barney kept the jury and Helen Silberberg outside the courtroom and held a hearing on the motion to exclude evidence from the file on Rachel Johnson. Authenticity could not be established, so the file and the information in it would be excluded. Kenneth argued that authenticity need not be established, before it could be used to impeach Mr. Pare as to his knowledge of the contents and how he came in possession of it.

  “How does it impeach Mr. Pare’s credibility? It says nothing of Mr. Pare. It’s all about this witness, Rachel Johnson,” Judge Barney said.

  “I believe this was how Mr. Pare met Ms. Johnson,” Kenneth said.

  “That is just speculation, your Honor,” Amy said.

  “I agree,” Judge Barney said. “Counsel, I need an offer of proof as to how these documents are connected to this witness before you can introduce them against him.”

  “Your Honor, we can at least ask the witness if he is familiar with the documents. The scope of what is allowed for foundation, much less impeachment, is broad enough to permit that question,” Cassandra said.

  “I appreciate your erudition, counselor, but unless you tell me how you got these documents and how they relate to this witness, you are not introducing them against him.”

  “Our investigator got them from Mr. Pare,” Kenneth said.

  “Is the investigator going to testify in this trial?”

  “We had not planned on it,” Kenneth said.

  “You may need to rethink that strategy, counsel, but even then, the contents still don’t make it in, just the fact that he got it,” Judge Barney said.

  “At the very least, your Honor, if Ms. Johnson testifies, we should be able to use the documents to impeach her,” Cassandra said.

  “Go on, make an offer in that regard,” Judge Barney said.

  “The pictures in the file are clearly authentic pictures of her that she must have been aware of when they were taken, and she can be impeached as to how they found their way into such nefarious hands, if not with her consent, or that the pictures were taken for the very purpose of being used in this manner,” Cassandra said.

  “What do you say, counsel?” Judge Barney asked, turning to Amy.

  “Your Honor, I would rather cross that bridge when we get to it.”

  “Fair enough,” Judge Barney said.

  The lawyers returned to their seats.

  When the trial resumed, Judge Barney informed the jurors that the prosecution was expected to conclude its case this week. He reminded the jurors of the procedural path he had told them the trial would take. Once the prosecution concludes its case, the defense would present its case.

  After these instructions, Amy called Didi Pare to the stand. Pare walked over to the witness box wearing a custom-cut suit with a blue tie and a matching breast pocket handkerchief. Amy was glad to see that he was much better dressed, much cleaner than he had been the week before, just as the paralegals had told him.

  “Mr. Pare, what is your occupation?” Amy asked.

  “I manage musical artists, and I am an independent artist and repertoire director for several recording companies. I am also CEO of a music publishing company.”

  “How did you know Goldie Silberberg?”

  “A friend of hers contacted me to help her advance her career.”

  “And did you help her?”

  “I tried, but there were obstacles we were both trying to overcome.”

  “What obstacles were those?”

  “Well, Goldie had a great voice but no material, and there’s plenty of that type in this town. She was a very attractive woman, too, but the competition with those same qualities is fierce as well.”

  “So, the lack of materials was her obstacle?”

  “No, her ex-boyfriend gave her the material she needed, but he demanded a lot for it.”

  “By her ex-boyfriend, whom do you mean?”

  “Paul Jackson.”

  “By Paul Jackson, are you referring to the defendant in this case?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “What did Mr. Jackson demand?”

  “Goldie signed herself over to him to manage her. All her songs, which were either written or cowritten by him or based on his music, were on his publishing company, and when she sang in the studios, he held on to the masters.”

  “How did that affect your helping Ms. Silberberg?”

  “Well, he insisted he was the only one who could help her and barred her from seeking other help. I think he had actually signed her to his record label, but he didn’t have the funds to do anything with it.”

  “But Goldie came to you anyway. What happened?” Amy was primarily eliciting answers Kenneth would ordinarily inquire about to preempt Kenneth’s examination, before going to the heart of Didi’s testimony.

  “Goldie managed to get her hands on a couple of the masters she made for Paul Jackson after they broke up and got them to me. When I gave them to several of my contacts in the industry, she was an instant hit, and they all wanted to sign her.”

  “Did the defendant, Mr. Jackson, ever find out the master recordings were missing?”

  “Objection, that calls for speculation,” Kenneth said, standing up.

  “Rephrase your question counsel,” Judge Barney directed.

  “Mr. Pare, do you know whether Mr. Jackson found out that the masters had been missing?”

  “Same objection,” Kenneth said knowing he was wrong, but trying to throw Amy off her rhythm with Pare.

  “Overruled,” Judge Barney growled with an unfriendly glance at Kenneth.

  “Well, yes,” Didi said.

  “How did he find out?”

  “It took about one weekend for Goldie to get so many companies in the industry willing to sign her. So, she got angry and confronted Mr. Jackson for not doing everything he had promised her if I could get her three music contracts the first time.”

  “Objection, hearsay,” Kenneth said, standing, but Amy continued with her next question without waiting for the judge’s ruling.

  “Were you present during this confrontation?”

  “Overruled,” the judge said anyway.

  “She made sure I was present to confirm that those masters hadn’t really been sent out before I did it.”

  “What happened after Goldie confronted Mr. Jackson?”

  “He just insisted he had sent the masters out, but afterward…after I had left them, Goldie called me from the hospital, and she was pretty bruised up.”

  Before Kenneth could object to the suggestion that Goldie was in the hospital, Cassandra placed her hand on him to stop him.

  “Did she tell you who beat her?”

  “Objection, mischaracterizes the witness’s testimony as to being beaten. Counsel is now testifying,” Kenneth said.

  “Overruled,” Judge Barney said as though he was swiping away an irritant fly.

  “No, she did not, but she was very afraid—” Didi started to say when Kenneth rose again to object.

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

  “May we approach, your Honor?” Cassandra inquired.

  Amy, Kenneth, and Cassandra approached the side of Judge Barney’s bench with the court reporter and spoke in hushed tones.

  “Your Honor,” Cassandra said, “once the witness conceded that he did not know how the victim was beaten, the rest of his answer becomes irrelevant and speculative to the point of undue prejudice in this proceeding.”

  “But we haven’t even heard the rest of it, counsel. What the witness does know about circumstances surrounding the beating is directly relevant to this proceeding because the People’s theory is that the victim was going to leave the defendant, that is why he killed her,” Amy said.

  “Your Honor, this might
be a prior bad act of someone other than the defendant. It’s perilous for the witness to speculate about it to any point that may directly or indirectly implicate my client,” Kenneth said.

  “Your objection is noted for the record, counsel. Will there be anything else?”

  “No, your Honor, thank you,” Cassandra said, returning to her seat. Kenneth followed her.

  “Mr. Pare, you were going to say something about Ms. Silberberg’s beating when you were interrupted,” Amy continued.

  “Yes.”

  “Please go on.”

  “Goldie was very afraid to say anything about how she was beaten or who beat her. I gave her assurances of security and protection, but she didn’t budge.”

  “So, did Goldie Silberberg return the masters that got her signed?”

  “No, she said they made a contract and Mr. Jackson was going to let her have the songs she needed for the new deal, including the ones she wrote.”

  “Ms. Silberberg told you this while she was still in the hospital?”

  “Yes.”

  “When you said Mr. Jackson was going to let her keep the songs she wrote, did you mean that he kept her songs as well?”

  “Yes, as part of their deal, she had signed over the songs she wrote to his publishing company. So, they weren’t just her songs. She was sharing ownership with his publishing company. Most of the music was his also, she wrote mostly the lyrics. He let her have all the songs with her lyrics and agreed to let her find another manager.”

  “Did she find another manager?”

  “She asked me.”

  “You became her manager. And what happened?”

  “Paul backed out of the deal. Goldie already had the songs they agreed on for the deal, so all he could do was hold on to the other masters, and threaten to sue,” Didi said.

  “And what was Goldie’s response to that threat?”

  “After she came out of the hospital, I believe, she swore never to see him again.”

  “To your knowledge, did she keep that oath?” Amy asked.

  “No,” Didi said. “He also had signed her to play at his club for a long time, and Goldie loved performing, especially to Black audiences. She felt that Black audiences let you know exactly how they feel about your performance, so their endorsement was authentic.”

  “So, she went back to perform at Cool Jo’s Café, but did they date as well?”

  “They did not date.”

  With every passing testimony, Didi Pare appeared to be Amy’s strongest witness. Pare said he was helping Goldie find a lawyer to keep Paul away from her. Amy confirmed that Goldie was going to meet Paul the night before she died and ended her examination on this last revelation.

  Kenneth wanted to end his examination of Didi Pare on his most convincing note. He wrote his last question down on a sheet of paper and kept it apart from the list of the questions he had written down. From time to time, he glanced at that last question. It was shortly before the lunch recess, and Kenneth knew exactly what his line of questions before lunch recess was going to be.

  “Mr. Pare, would you mind if I refer to Ms. Silberberg as Footsie in my exchanges with you?”

  “No, of course not. She liked the name.”

  “Footsie told you she was going to cut off Mr. Jackson for good. Is that right?” Kenneth asked.

  “Yes.”

  “And if that had happened, you would have become her manager as well as her agent and her publisher, is that correct?”

  “Yes, I was already her agent, and she had made me manager in every practical respect anyway.”

  “In fact, if Footsie left Paul Jackson, you would be doing exactly what Paul was doing for her as manager and agent.”

  “I was doing that already.”

  “And if Paul Jackson goes to jail, you will continue to manage Footsie’s music and royalties, including songs cowritten by Paul Jackson, but if Mr. Jackson is acquitted, he remains an obstacle, as you put it, does he not?”

  “It makes no difference to me either way. Paul Jackson’s contract to manage Goldie personally died with Goldie. My contract was with Goldie and the recording company. It survives her, and Goldie’s family has given me authority over Goldie’s musical estate.”

  Kenneth now began exploring the relationship Didi had with Goldie’s family, and the managers’ rights to royalties, but none of these appeared to damage Amy’s case. This testimony took Didi Pare’s examination close to the lunch recess. Just before the lunch recess, Kenneth approached the witness stand carrying a large envelope.

  “Mr. Pare, at the time Footsie died on January 6, 1995, who exactly was her manager? You or Paul Jackson?”

  “For all intents and purposes, I was.”

  “What does that mean?”

  “Objection, argumentative,” Amy said.

  “I simply want him to explain if all intents and purposes means that Paul Jackson could be manager in any other capacity not included in his qualifying statement.”

  “Rephrase your question, counsel,” Judge Barney said.

  “Mr. Pare, was Mr. Jackson Footsie’s manager in any capacity at the time she died?”

  “No, he was not.”

  Kenneth opened the large envelope and brought out the music contract Amy had given him, and as he did so, Cassandra requested permission to approach Judge Barney to give him a copy and left a copy on Amy’s table as she walked by.

  Amy heard herself sigh, and started to bring her hand to her face, but quickly stopped herself and rubbed the back of her neck instead. Her chest felt heavy and her bowels felt like they were knitting knots of her intestine. She was convinced that Helen Silberberg and Rabbi Kollman were boring holes in her back with the disappointment they felt for her betrayal and struggled not to look at them. She fixed her eyes on Mr. Pare who was reviewing the document he was given.

  “Is that the music contract you signed for Ms. Silberberg with the recording company?” Kenneth asked.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Please tell us who this contract says is her manager.”

  Didi was quiet for a moment and appeared to be going through the document.

  “Mr. Pare, is this the first time you are seeing this document?”

  “This particular copy, yes. I’m just making sure it is the same contract I have seen before.”

  “Take your time,” Kenneth said.

  “The contract lists Mr. Jackson as her manger,” Didi said.

  “Thank you,” Kenneth said and, turning to the judge, inquired if it was a good time to take the lunch recess. “Good enough,” Judge Barney replied.

  On their way back to the Intercontinental Hotel, Kenneth told Cassandra that he had been playing for time to get Didi to return after the lunch recess.

  “That was pretty obvious, counsel.”

  Big had waited for Kenneth and Cassandra in the lobby of the hotel. As soon as they were in the elevator at the hotel, Big began to speak about the case.

  “You gotta ask Mr. Pare about that Rachel lady,” Big said.

  “Judge Barney already said we can’t use that file you gave us with him,” Kenneth said.

  “I don’t mean use the file, just ask him about her.”

  “Why?” Kenneth asked.

  “He’s trying to help us,” Big said.

  “Are you kidding me, with that testimony he gave this morning?” Kenneth asked.

  Big held his explanation until they were all safely in the hotel suite. Nancy was waiting with their lunch. “Didi knew Paul beat Goldie up, but he’s not saying that because he don’t want to hurt our case. He showed up at Cool Jo’s with bodyguards and shit and said he would destroy Cool Jo’s Café then call the police if I didn’t let him in. So, I did. He drew up the agreement that got Goldie’s songs from Paul’s publishing catalogue to keep the police out o
f the shit. And he gave me the information on Rachel.”

  “We don’t want to go back to the beating, especially now that we know who did it,” Cassandra explained to Big as though he were one of the defense lawyers.

  “Okay. That’s cool,” Big said. “How about we ask Didi if he’s sleeping with Rachel?” Big asked.

  “Do you know what he’s going to say to that?” Cassandra asked.

  “No,” Big said. “But I can guess.”

  “Why do you want us to ask it?” Kenneth asked.

  “I think he wants to help,” Big said.

  “How would it help? If he is going to lie, that is not necessarily a good idea,” Cassandra said.

  “We’re not asking him to lie, though,” Big protested. “I thought we just ask him the question, and let him decide how he’s gonna answer it,” Big said. Cassandra could not fault Big’s response and shrugged her shoulders again.

  “Big, the reason we gotta know the answer to the question we ask him before we ask it, is that we don’t know what the other side has on him. That way we don’t walk into the district attorney’s trap,” Kenneth explained. Much to Kenneth’s surprise Big agreed and brought out a compact disk with Goldie’s single song release. It was a radio station promotional copy and had the cover of the full record with the title “Footsie” on it.

  “At least ask him about this,” Big said.

  Kenneth could not hide his enthusiasm. “Now you’re talking.”

  “Where did you get that?” Cassandra asked.

  “From a friend,” Big said and excused himself to leave. It was clear to Kenneth that he had offended Big, but he could not tell what he had done to do so.

  “That question might not really hurt, the one about if he slept with Rachel,” Cassandra said.

  “Of course, I’m going to ask it,” Kenneth said.

  •••

  Kenneth resumed his examination of Pare after the lunch recess.

  “You said a friend of Footsie’s introduced you to her?” Kenneth asked Didi Pare.

  “Yes, she sent me a demo tape and asked if I could meet with her and I agreed,” Didi explained.

  “What was her friend’s name?” Kenneth asked.