“So, it’s essentially a fingerprint, but for a firearm?” Talon translated.
“Exactly.”
“Even if you can’t identify a specific firearm as the source of the bullets,” Talon continued, “can you narrow it down at all based on general characteristics?”
Pfleger nodded. “Yes. Different manufacturers produce their barrels in different ways. Some have four grooves; some have five or even six. Some twist to the left, some twist to the right. So, at a minimum, I can say that a given bullet was fired from, say, a barrel with four lands and grooves with a left twist. Then there are certain models of firearms that have four lands and grooves with a left twist. Those are possible sources of the bullet. Any model with more or less grooves, or the opposite twist can be excluded.”
“Okay,” Talon nodded along. “So, how would you positively identify that a particular firearm fired a particular bullet?”
“I would need to test fire the firearm myself,” Pfleger explained to the jury. “Then I could compare the bullets that I know I fired from the firearm with the bullets provided to me for examination. If they match, I know it’s the same firearm. It’s kind of like taking the fingerprints of a burglary suspect. You may be able to get fingerprints off the window, but you need to compare them to a known person’s fingerprints to make a match.”
“Can you do that in every case?” Talon followed up.
“No.” Pfleger shook his head.
“Why not?” Talon asked.
“The firearm isn’t always recovered,” Pfleger explained.
“Oh, okay,” Talon said. “Like, the suspect threw it in the river or something?”
“Right.”
“Were you able to identify a specific firearm as the source of the fired bullets in this case?” Talon asked. She knew the answer, but she wanted the jurors to know it too.
“Uh, no,” Pfleger admitted.
“Why not?
“No firearm was ever submitted to me for test firing,” Pfleger explained.
“No one asked you to do it?” Talon confirmed.
“Correct.”
“And who would ask you to test fire a known firearm to see if it was the source of fired bullets?”
“Usually the lead detective,” Pfleger answered. “Or the prosecutor.”
“But no one ever asked you to do that in this case?”
“No.”
Talon took a moment to let that all sink in.
“You said earlier,” she circled back, “that even without a specific firearm to test fire, you could still narrow down the list of possible firearms based on the number of lands and grooves and the direction of the twist. Is that right?”
“Yes, that’s right.”
“The list of firearms which could have fired the bullets in this case,” Talon said, “does it include the .40 caliber Smith and Wesson Model 22?”
Pfleger nodded. “Yes, it does.”
“And the Smith and Wesson 22 is one of the standard-issue firearms for officers in the Tacoma Police Department, isn’t it?”
Pfleger nodded again. “Yes, it is.”
Talon nodded as well. “Thank you. No further questions.”
Talon turned and headed back to her seat. She had basically just accused Cecilia of hiding evidence. It was difficult for a prosecutor to prosecute a defendant when she had to defend herself.
But Cecilia was too smart to take the bait. When Judge Kirshner asked her if she wanted to conduct any re-direct examination, Cecilia stood up calmly and informed the Court, “No, Your Honor. No further questions for this witness.”
And that left just one more witness for the State’s case-in-chief. The cop who took Luke’s alleged ‘confession.’
CHAPTER 45
“The State calls Detective Danny Wolcott to the stand.”
Cecilia announced her last witness with that second wind that comes from knowing you’re almost done with a huge, complicated, weeks-long task. Her smile seemed to extend the entire length of her body.
Talon was hoping Wolcott would look the part she needed for her counter narrative, namely the Bad Cop. The kind of cop who would beat a confession out of a suspect in a darkened room with a single light bulb hanging from the ceiling. But that wasn’t what actually happened. Luke’s confession wasn’t beaten out of him; it was tricked out of him, by someone he thought he could trust.
Wolcott was short, bald, and overweight, with a thick mustache and a disarming smile, even as he made his way up to the judge to be sworn in. He looked like a favorite teacher or a funny uncle. If he had any rubber hoses, it was to make balloon animals with them.
Wolcott took the witness stand and Cecilia began her direct examination.
“Could you please state your name for the record?”
“Daniel Wolcott,” Uncle Teacher answered.
“And how are you employed, sir?’
“I am a detective with the Tacoma Police Department,” he answered. Then, anticipating Cecilia’s next question, he added, “I’ve been a detective for twenty-one years and was a patrol officer for six years before that.”
“Thank you,” Cecilia replied. “Detective Wolcott, were you involved in the case we’re discussing here today?”
Wolcott nodded. “Yes, I was.”
“And how were you involved?”
“I interviewed the suspect.” Wolcott nodded toward the defense table. “Lucas Zlotnik. The defendant.”
“Did you also go to the scene?” Cecilia asked.
Wolcott shook his head. “No, I went directly to headquarters, met the transport officers there, and took custody of Mr. Zlotnik.”
“Did you speak with him alone?” Cecilia asked.
“Yes,” Wolcott answered. “Sometimes I’ll bring a junior detective with me, kind of for training, but it was pretty busy that night. Everybody was out in the field.”
“Do you sometimes bring another detective,” Cecilia followed up, “so you can play good cop/bad cop?”
Wolcott laughed. “No. That doesn’t actually work. We do good cop/good cop. I’m a police officer. My job is to help people. That includes suspects of crimes. I can’t expect them to help me if I’m not willing to be kind to them.”
Talon could see why Wolcott was such a successful interrogator. He just seemed like the kind of guy you could trust. No wonder Luke confessed.
“Okay, then,” Cecilia moved on. “So, prior to speaking with the defendant, did you advise him of his constitutional rights?”
“Absolutely,” Wolcott assured. “I never start an interview until after I’ve read the person their rights, even if they’re just a witness.”
“Great,” Cecilia acknowledged. “And did the defendant agree to speak with you?”
“Yes, he did.”
“Did you make an audio-recording of his statement?” Cecilia asked.
“Yes, I did.”
Cecilia took a moment to walk over to the section of the bar directly in front of the bailiff, where all of the exhibits were laid out. She selected a CD in a paper sleeve and handed it to Wolcott.
“I’m handing you what has previously been marked as Exhibit One,” she said for the record. “Please examine the marking on that disc, Detective Wolcott, and tell me whether it appears to be related to this case.”
Wolcott extracted the CD from its envelope and took a moment to look at the face of the disc. “Yes,” he said. “It appears to be an audio-recording of the interview I conducted with Mr. Zlotnik.”
“How do you know that?” Cecilia asked.
Wolcott pointed to the writing on the disc. “It has the case number, the suspect’s name, my name, and the date. And at the bottom it says, ‘Suspect Interview’.”
Cecilia looked up to Judge Kirshner. “Your Honor, the State moves to admit Exhibit One.”
“No objection,” Talon offered. Any objection would have been overruled anyway.
“The State moves to publish the exhibit,” Cecilia followed up.
�
�You want to play it for the jury?” Kirshner translated.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Cecilia said.
“Any objection, Ms. Winter?” the judge asked.
“No objection, Your Honor,” Talon responded. After all, why should she be afraid of the so-called confession? She’d already told the jury it was a lie. And her expert would say the same thing. The jury might as well hear it, if only so they can choose to disregard it.
Cecilia walked over to a small laptop computer on her counsel table, connected to a set of speakers. She pressed the side of the computer and a disc tray popped out. She dropped in Exhibit One, and pressed the tray back in. A few mouse-clicks later, the audio-recording started and everyone in the courtroom leaned forward to listen:
Danny Wolcott (DW): Alright. This is Detective Danny Wolcott of the Tacoma Police Department and I am taking the statement of Lucas Zlotnik. Did I say that right? Zlotnik?
Lucas Zlotnik (LZ): Yeah, that’s right.
DW: Okay, great. Okay. So, this is the statement of Lucas Zlotnik. The time is approximately 1724 hours. And Lucas, do I have your permission to record this?
LZ: Yeah.
DW: Okay, thanks, Lucas. Is it Lucas or Luke?
LZ: Uh, Luke, I guess.
DW: Okay, great. Luke. Alright then, Luke. We’ve been talking a little bit about what happened today at the Cash-Town U.S.A. Do you remember that?
LZ: Yeah, sure. I remember.
DW: Okay, great. So, why don’t we just kind of start from the top? You know Miguel Maldonado, right?
LZ: Uh, yeah.
DW:And how do you know him?
LZ:I dunno. He’s a friend, I guess.
DW: A friend. Right. Great. Okay. Is he like your best friend, would you say?
LZ: I dunno. I mean, I don’t really have— Sure, yeah, he’s my best friend.
DW:Okay, great. And so, today you and Miguel drove over to the Cash-Town U.S.A. on Thirty-Eighth, over by the mall, right?
LZ:Yeah.
DW:And who was driving?
LZ:Uh, I was driving. We took my car. I picked him up.
DW:Okay, great, great. And whose idea was it to go to the Cash-Town U.S.A. again? I think you said it was Miguel’s idea, right?
LZ:Yeah, sure. It was Miguel’s idea.
DW:Okay, and what was the plan?
LZ:Uh, I’m not really sure what you mean.
DW:Why did you go to the Cash-Town store? What was your plan for going there?
LZ:Oh. Uh, yeah, well, it wasn’t really my plan.
DW:But you knew about it, right?
LZ:Uh…
DW:Right? You knew what the plan was, right?
LZ:Uh, yeah. I mean, sure, I guess so. Like I said, it was more Miguel’s plan.
DW:Okay, but you knew about it. So, what was the plan then? Was it just to cash a check or was it something different?
LZ:Uh, something different, I guess.
DW:Something different, you guess. Alright. And that something different, that was to rob the place, right?
LZ:Uh. Um. Yeah.
DW:And like you said, it was all Miguel’s idea, right? Not yours?
LZ:Yeah, it wasn’t my idea.
DW:In fact, he just wanted you to wait in the car, right? Not go in with him, just wait outside in the car until he came out again.
LZ:Uh, yeah. I waited in the car.
DW:While Miguel went inside, right?
LZ:Right.
DW:And he said something to you when he got out of the car, didn’t he?
LZ:Uh, yeah.
DW:What did he say again?
LZ:He, uh, he just said something like, ‘I’m going to make a withdrawal’ and then patted his coat pocket.
DW:And you assumed that meant he had a gun, right? In his coat pocket?
LZ:I, uh, I never saw any gun.
DW:Right. No, of course not. But he patted his coat pocket like he had a gun there, right?
LZ:Sure.
DW:And he could have a gun there, right? I mean it was a big enough pocket or whatever, right?
LZ:I, uh, I guess so.
DW:So, I mean, you kind of knew he had a gun then, right?
LZ:I never saw any gun.
DW:Sure, sure. But the plan was to rob the place, and you were supposed to wait in the car, and he made a joke about making a withdrawal and then patted his coat pocket where he could have had a gun, right? So, I mean, you kind of knew he had a gun, right?
LZ:If you say so.
DW:It doesn’t really count if I say so, Luke. You have to say so. You knew he had a gun, right?
LZ:Sure. I knew he had a gun. But I never saw any gun.
DW:Okay, sure. Great. You’re doing great, Luke. We’re almost done.
LZ:Okay. Good.
DW: Right, right. And so it’s clear for the recording, you didn’t know Miguel was going to shoot anybody, right?
LZ:Right.
DW:And you didn’t know anyone was going to die, right?
LZ:Right. Totally.
DW:Right. And you certainly didn’t want anyone to get shot or die, right?
LZ:No, of course not.
DW:You just knew Miguel was gonna rob the place and you were supposed to wait outside in the car. Right?
LZ:Uh…
DW:Right?
LZ:Yeah, sure. Right.
DW:Okay, great, Luke. Really great. Thank you.
Cecilia stopped the recording. “Thank you, Detective Wolcott.” She ejected the disc from the laptop. “No further questions.”
But Talon had some questions. She stood up and approached the witness.
“Let’s back up a little from what we just heard, okay, Detective?” she began. “That recording, it’s only a part of the entire conversation you had with my client, isn’t that correct?”
Wolcott nodded. “Yes. We talked briefly before turning on the recorder.”
“Briefly,” Talon repeated. “Oh, okay. But you didn’t record any of that allegedly brief conversation, did you?”
“No, ma’am,” Wolcott admitted.
“You could have, though, right?” Talon asked. “I mean, you had the recorder with you, right? You could have just turned it on as soon as you started talking to him, correct?”
“Well, you see—” Wolcott started.
“No,” Talon cut him off. “It’s a yes or no question. You could have recorded the entire conversation, but you didn’t, isn’t that correct?”
Wolcott nodded. “That is correct.”
“And the reason you didn’t record it,” Talon asserted, “was so no one would hear you feeding him details of the event so his confession would seem more credible.”
It was quite the accusation, but Wolcott had an answer ready. “No, ma’am. Sometimes suspects don’t actually talk to me. Or they tell me some crazy story that’s obviously made up. I don’t turn the recorder on until I know the suspect has something useful to say.”
“Useful?” Talon repeated that word too. “Useful in obtaining a conviction?”
“Useful in holding someone responsible,” Wolcott spun it a little differently.
“And it’s especially useful,” Talon pressed him, “if the suspect says exactly what you told him to say before you turned on the recorder, right?”
“I’m not sure what you mean,” Wolcott hedged.
“I mean,” Talon explained—to him and to the jury, “that Luke said what you told him to say and that’s why it was useful. Isn’t that right?”
“No, ma’am. I did not tell him what to say,” Wolcott insisted.
“Well, you told him some things about the case, right?” Talon asked.
“I’m not sure,” Wolcott answered. He was starting to look uncomfortable. Still the favorite teacher, but the principal found something on his computer.
“You told him someone was shot to death inside the Cash-Town U.S.A., right?”
“Uh, I think I probably did tell him that,” Wolcott admitted.
“Sure, you did,” Talon said. �
�Because you told him he was a suspect in a murder, didn’t you?”
“I’m not sure if I told him that exactly,” Wolcott answered.
“In fact,” Talon continued, “you told him he was a suspect in a murder investigation, and he could go home if he just admitted he knew it was going to be a robbery, but he didn’t know Miguel was going to kill anyone. Isn’t that right?”
“I don’t believe I said that,” Wolcott responded.
“Well, why don’t we just listen to the recording?” Talon suggested sarcastically. “Oh, that’s right! You don’t record the parts where you pressure the suspect to give the confession. You don’t record the promises you make or the lies you tell. You just get everything all wrapped up with a nice little bow, then turn on the recorder to make it seem like the suspect just confessed of his own free will.”
“No one forced your client to say what he said,” Wolcott defended.
“No, but they tricked him, didn’t they?” Talon shot back. “Didn’t you?
“The conversation we had before I turned on the recorder was very brief,” Wolcott insisted. “Just long enough for me to confirm your client was willing to talk to me and had information useful to the investigation.”
“Really quick, huh?” Talon asked.
“Yes,” Wolcott said. “Very brief.”
“No details about the event?” Talon asked. “Just confirmation that he’s willing to talk to you and that he has information worth listening to?”
“Exactly,” Wolcott relaxed a little bit. He had a few beads of sweat on top of his bald head.
“How did you know about the joke Miguel made?” Talon asked.
“Pardon?”
“If you didn’t talk about the details of the event, how did you know Miguel made a joke about making a withdrawal?”
Talon Winter Legal Thrillers Box Set Page 62