Presumption of Innocence (David Brunelle Legal Thriller Series Book 1)

by Stephen Penner

  Yamata crossed her arms. "Can you estimate how long to took Emily Montgomery to die?"

  Kat frowned in thought. "Based on her size and the amount of blood lost, I would say not more than five minutes."

  Yamata nodded. She paused just long enough for everyone to wonder what her next question would be, so they were paying attention when she asked it. "Would she have felt the blood loss?"

  "She would've felt every spurt of blood with every beat of her heart."

  Brunelle stole a glance at the jurors to confirm at least some of them winced at the thought. They did.

  "Doctor," Yamata continued after a moment, "you've been to a large number of death scenes, is that correct?"

  "I've been to literally thousands of death scenes," Kat replied.

  "How many of those," Yamata asked, "involved a significant loss of blood?"

  "I would say most of them," Kat replied. "Gun shots, stab wounds, industrial accidents. Those can all involve a significant loss of blood."

  "And where is that blood usually found, doctor?"

  "It's usually found at the scene," Kat nodded. "Under, on, and all around the victim.

  Yamata stepped to the projector and flashed a previously admitted photo of the crime scene up on the courtroom's screen. "Was there any such blood at this death scene?"

  "No," Kat confirmed what the photograph showed. "There was no blood at all."

  "How is that possible?" Yamata pretended not to know.

  "Well," Kat explained to the jurors, "given the amount of blood loss and the location of the injury, blood would have been spurting out of her body with every one of Emily's heartbeats. The only explanation for the lack of blood is that the blood was collected as it came out of her body."

  "And then removed from the scene?"

  "Precisely."

  "Thank you, doctor," Yamata nodded to Kat. "No further questions."

  She sat down next to Brunelle and they both looked over at Welles. The defense attorney took a moment to stand up. He slowly set down his pen. He carefully smoothed out his suit. Then, facing the jury more than Kat, he asked that same damn question, almost like he was bored with it himself.

  "You have absolutely no information that connects my client to this murder, isn't that correct, doctor?"

  Kat let the smallest smile creep into the corner of her mouth. "Oh, I wouldn't say that, Mr. Welles."

  Everyone in the courtroom looked up. Welles' record of witnesses answering 'No' had been perfect up to that point. Which just made Kat's response that much more amazing.

  It surprised Brunelle. It surprised Yamata. It surprised the jury. It even surprised the judge. But most importantly, it surprised Welles.

  And it was never good for a trial attorney to be surprised.

  Brunelle knew, every trial attorney knew, that one ironclad rule of cross examination: 'never ever ask a question you don't already know the answer to.' The number two rule was never, ever ask an open-ended question. Lead, lead, lead.

  But when you're surprised, sometimes you don't think straight. Sometimes you forget the rules. Especially when everyone in a crowded courtroom is staring at you.

  "Why would you say that?" Welles stammered at the doctor.

  Brunelle saw the grimace on Welles' face as he finished the question and realized what he'd done.

  "I'm glad you asked that," Kat smiled. "Allow me to explain."

  "Your Honor, I'd like to withdraw the question," Welles tried.

  Yamata immediately stood up; it was her witness. "The witness should be allowed to complete her answer."

  Judge Quinn smiled down at the defense attorney. "You asked the question, counsel. I'm going to allow the witness to answer it."

  And she did.

  "I was there when the body was lowered down. It took three of us: me and two patrol officers. And that was working with gravity. In addition, Emily's hands had been bound behind her back prior to death, and the rope was only removed post-mortem. I know it was removed post-mortem because the rope left impressions and blanching that would have dissipated if her heart had still been pumping blood at the time of removal. Based on those two things, I know that whoever was responsible for Emily's murder was strong enough, first, to overpower her and tie her hands behind her back, and second, to hoist her body from the ceiling."

  "I fail to see how that implicates my client directly," Welles sneered. "There are plenty of people strong enough to do that."

  "Then let me finish," Kat replied with a sharp, sweet smile. "I don't just cut open bodies. I am tasked with determining the cause of every death in the county. Often, the most valuable information comes not from an autopsy the next morning, but from the eyewitnesses the night before. As part of my investigation I reviewed every police report generated in this case. Every one. I know a young woman named Holly Sandholm witnessed the murder. And I know there's no way she was strong enough to overpower Emily or hoist her still struggling and very much alive body from the balcony by her ankles."

  Kat paused and nodded toward the defense table. "But your client, Mr. Karpati, is strong enough … and that's exactly what Holly said happened."

  Welles narrowed his eyes. "And do you always take the word of a teenage girl?"

  Anderson shook her head and laughed lightly. "Oh, no. I have a teenage daughter myself."

  The jury laughed too. Perfect, thought Brunelle.

  "I know not to believe anything until I can confirm it," Kat continued. "I'm a pathologist, a scientist. And I'm telling you that what Holly told the detectives is wholly supported by the indisputable physical evidence. So when you asked me that there was absolutely nothing connecting your client to the murder, well, the answer is no, just the opposite. Your client had the strength and opportunity to commit it, and that's corroborated by the only witness."

  Kat thought for a moment. "Well, the only surviving eyewitness."

  Welles just stared at her for several moments.

  "Wanna ask me another question?" Kat grinned.

  Welles smiled too, but a cold, hateful smile. He turned and stepped back to his table. "No, thank you, doctor. No further questions."

  Yamata jumped up to press her advantage, but Brunelle grabbed her arm. "No questions," he whispered.

  "What?" she whispered back. "but—"

  "The judge won't let us," Brunelle explained. "It's one thing if a defense attorney steps in it. It's another to let us elicit rank hearsay. And anyway, we don't need to. She killed him. Let it lay as is."

  "Any redirect examination, Ms. Yamata?"

  Yamata hesitated but only for a moment. "Er, no, Your Honor. Thank you."

  "The witness is excused," the judge announced. "We'll take our morning break now. Please reconvene in fifteen minutes."

  Once the jury filed out, Brunelle walked up to Kat as she stepped down from the witness stand. "I love you."

  "Shut up," she laughed. "I'm still mad at you."

  "I said I was sorry."

  "You also said you wouldn't do it," Kat reminded him.

  "What I said was," Brunelle raised a finger, "she wouldn't wear a wire."

  Kat crossed her arms. "Really? You're sticking with that?"

  Brunelle grinned. "Words matter."

  "And talk is cheap."

  "Okay, let me make it up to you."

  Kat shook her head. "Good luck with that."

  "Dinner. This Friday. My treat."

  Kat hesitated

  "Come on," Brunelle encouraged. "What's the worst that can happen?

  "The worst that can happen is I give you a second chance."

  "Parker's Grill?" Brunelle pressed on.

  Kat raised an eyebrow. "That pretentious, overpriced place? You can't afford that on your government salary. I should know. Make it Jordan's."

  "That's not much cheaper," Brunelle observed.

  "Hey, Sherlock," Kat tapped him on the forehead. "I just said yes."

  "You did?" Brunelle beamed. "Hey, how about that?"

  "
Yeah, Lizzy's still grounded for pulling that stunt for you," Kat explained. "So, she can stay home and watch TV while her mom gets a free dinner."

  "Hardly seems fair if it's bought by the same guy who put her up to what got her grounded."

  "Are you arguing against the date you had to talk me into?"

  Brunelle shook his head forcefully. "No, ma'am."

  Kat put her hands on her shapely hips. "Ma'am?"

  "I think I better shut up now," Brunelle said.

  "I think you're right," Kat laughed. "See you Friday, David."

  Kat strutted past Brunelle and out of the courtroom. He watched her the whole way, then turned back to his surroundings, a boyish grin still on his face. But the grin drained away when he noticed two things.

  Karpati, still at the defense table, displaying a grin of his own.

  And the word scrawled in large block letters on Karpati's legal pad:

  "LIZZY"

  Chapter 36

  The break was over soon enough and Yamata came back into the courtroom wearing a frown. Brunelle knew she had stepped out, but hadn't known where she'd gone to. The bathroom, he figured.

  "Bad news," she announced in a low voice as she reached him. "Chen's had no luck scaring up any No Bloods. And he says he's done looking for today."

  Brunelle knitted his eyebrows together. "Why?

  "Triple homicide on Capital Hill. Messy. The whole major crimes unit is there. Suspect got away, so if Chen's not at the scene, he'll be on the manhunt."

  "Damn." Brunelle frowned and tapped his lips. He looked at the clock. It wasn't even eleven o'clock yet. "We're out of witnesses for today."

  Yamata nodded. "We're out of witnesses for the trial," she said. "Unless you want to start calling random patrol officers to stall."

  Brunelle shook his head. "No. 'What did you do?' 'I put up crime scene tape.' 'What did you do?' 'I kept the log everyone signed in on.' No, we want to finish strong."

  Yamata nodded. "Dr. Anderson was strong."

  Brunelle nodded, but was still frowning. "Not strong enough."

  "All rise!" Judge Quinn retook the bench.

  "Are we ready to proceed?" she asked.

  Brunelle grimaced. He forced a smile and gestured amicably up to the judge. "Well, actually, Your Honor, no. The State is having a small witness problem."

  Judge Quinn looked at the clock. "Do you want to adjourn until after lunch?"

  "I'd like to adjourn until tomorrow," Brunelle countered, then readied himself for the reaction.

  The judge just raised an incredulous eyebrow. But Welles went into full drama mode. He smelled blood.

  "Tomorrow?" he gasped. "I object. No, I do more than object. I protest. This is absolutely outrageous. The State has utterly failed to produce any evidence that my client was involved in this murder, let alone that it was done to advance his standing in a secret society of vampires. And now that they have reached the end of their case, they ask for one more day? The court should deny the request and force the State to rest its case."

  The judge raised the other eyebrow at Brunelle.

  "It's just one more day, Your Honor," he assured the judge.

  Judge Quinn rolled her head back to Welles. "What's one more day, counselor?"

  "What's one more day?" Welles repeated, aghast. "It's one more day my client is held illegally. It's one more day my client is denied his freedom. It's one more day the government uses its power to trample upon the liberties of a God-fearing, law-abiding citizen."

  When Judge Quinn seemed ready to question him on that particular description of Arpad Karpati, Welles pressed on. "We all know that as soon as the State rests, I will make a motion to dismiss the case for failing to present any evidence that connects my client to the murder. And we all know that when I make that motion, the court will grant it, and Mr. Karpati will be a free man. What's one more night, you ask? One more night is a travesty of justice, and nothing less."

  "What about Dr. Anderson's testimony?" the judge tested.

  Welles smiled sardonically. "You mean the testimony that was allowed after I withdrew my question? Well, apart from being an automatic appeal issue, her answer was rank hearsay. Although it may have been admissible to explain her scientific conclusions, the jury is not allowed to consider any statements by Miss Sandholm for their potential truth. My client was never able to cross examine Miss Sandholm, and therefore allowing the jury to consider her alleged statements as if she had actually testified would violate my client's right to confront his witnesses. I would expect the court to instruct the jury to disregard the statements for whether they are true or not, and limit their consideration only to explaining why the good doctor drew the conclusions she did. With that limited use, they also do not tie my client to the murder. And the court will grant my motion."

  The judge looked back at Brunelle. "Counsel?"

  Brunelle shrugged. "He's right, Your Honor," Brunelle conceded. "Dr. Anderson's statements were allowed to support her conclusion, not to admit Holly's statements without having her testify. But I disagree that the court would necessarily grant a motion to dismiss at this point. But either way, it's premature. We haven't rested yet and we need an adjournment until tomorrow morning."

  Judge Quinn pursed her lips and nodded. "I will give you until tomorrow morning, Mr. Brunelle."

  "Thank you, Your Honor," Brunelle replied.

  "But Mr. Welles is right," she went on. "If you have no witnesses ready, you will rest your case. And if you rest your case as it stands right now..." she frowned, "...I will grant a motion to dismiss."

  She stood up. "Court is adjourned until tomorrow morning at nine a.m."

  The judge exited to her chambers and the attorneys packed up their belongings. Welles flashed a confident smile at Brunelle and Yamata, both of whom failed to offer any smile in return. Instead they walked into the hallway and waited in silence for the elevator.

  When it came, they were the only ones on board. As the doors closed, Yamata asked, "Now what?"

  Brunelle shook his head. "I don't know."

  But, in truth, he did.

  Chapter 37

  "You have to testify," Brunelle said. He tried to make it sound more statement than plea.

  "You know I can't," came the reply. "And you know why."

  "What I know," Brunelle answered, "is that if you don't testify, he walks."

  A shrug. "That's your problem, not mine."

  Brunelle frowned and nodded. He put his hands in his pockets and turned to leave. "You keep telling yourself that," he said. "Especially when the next girl dies."

  Chapter 38

  The clock read 9:04. Judge Quinn was giving them extra time, Brunelle knew, but he also knew time had pretty much run out. Yamata came back in the courtroom from the hallway for the sixth time in as many minutes. Still no witnesses in the hallway, but this time Chen stepped in behind her. Any hope Brunelle might have had in seeing him was extinguished by Chen's shrugging shoulders and shaking head.

  "Sorry, Dave. I got nothing."

  "You look like hell," Brunelle observed. Chen had obviously been up all night. Brunelle hoped he'd found the other killer, but he would have preferred him finding a witness. Still, he knew his friend had done everything he could. "Not your fault, Larry. Maybe I can convince her not to dump the case."

  "All rise!"

  It was 9:05.

  Quinn took the bench and her gaze immediately found Brunelle. "Is the state ready to call another witness?"

  Brunelle stepped forward from the door to the attorney area. "Unfortunately, the State has no further witnesses, Your Honor."

  He couldn't help but glance at Welles who was already standing up and displaying his asshole smile.

  "Ordinarily, Your Honor," Welles trumpeted, "I would ask the state to rest in front of the jury. However, under the circumstances, that would seem to be a waste of time. As soon as Mr. Brunelle formally rests, we will move to dismiss the case. Your Honor has already indicated the likelihoo
d of that motion being granted. Perhaps we could bring the jury out afterwards to explain what happened."

  Judge Quinn looked to Brunelle. "Do you want to rest in front of the jury or not?"

  Brunelle scanned the court room. The Montgomerys were in the front row. Duncan was in the back row. Edwards was by the door. And no one was coming in that door.

  Still, insisting on resting in front of the jury would buy him some time. It would take several minutes for the bailiff to march them in, have Brunelle say the magic words "The state rests", and march them out again. Maybe he could use that time to manufacture an argument against dismissal.

  "I'd like to rest in front of the jury, Your Honor."

  Quinn frowned but nodded. "So be it." Then she instructed the bailiff to fetch the jurors.

  They filed in and took their seats. Judge Quinn looked down at Brunelle.

  "Does the state have any more witnesses?"

  Time was up. Brunelle looked around the courtroom. He tried to ignore the knot in his stomach. He'd let down the Montgomerys. He'd let down Duncan. He'd let down Yamata. He'd let down Chen and in a way even Edwards.

  But he'd fought the good fight. He hadn't given up. Sometimes you give your best and still lose.

  "Your Honor." he sighed, "the State re—"

  The door to the court room smashed open.

  "Is this room 120?" demanded the shapely brunette in the doorway.

  "Faust," whispered Brunelle.

  "Fuck," hissed Karpati.

  "Finally!" announced Faust. "You wouldn't believe how much trouble I had finding this stupid courtroom."

  Brunelle smiled and shook his head. "The state calls Debra Thompson to the stand."

  "Objection!" Welles even hit the table as he jumped to his feet. If yelling 'objection!' was like telling the jury 'ouch'—and every trial lawyer knew it was—then hitting the table was like crying on top of it and asking for your mommy. "The State was about to rest."

  "Close only counts in horseshoes, Mr. Welles," the judge replied with the slightest grin. She turned to Brunelle. "Was this witness on your witness list, counsel?"