False Accusations by Jacobson, Alan (great novels of all time .txt) 📕

just to prove the truth or falsity of the rape allegations. Witnesses will have to be brought in. It’ll be, in effect, a mini-rape trial—and, therefore, the jury is going to be involved in making collateral decisions, when the issue is simply a matter of whether or not she was guilty of using Madison’s car to run down and kill two people. Therefore, it’s completely inappropriate to allow this evidence in, according to sections 1101 and 352 of the California Evidence Code.”

Calvino extended an open hand. “Let me see this video Mr. Stanton made.”

Denton fished through his attaché case and produced the DVD. The judge inserted it into his PC and watched it. Two minutes later, as it ended, Calvino sighed.

“Counselors, I’ve heard and seen enough. What I’m going to say is going to make one of you pleased and the other pissed as hell. Truth be told, I don’t really care one way or the other,” he said, looking both of them in the eye. He turned to the stenographer and nodded for her to resume her transcript. “I will say this: you both make compelling arguments, and another judge may see this in a different light. Keep that in mind, Mr. Warwick, for appeal. But I feel that there’s sufficient relationship between the various incidents to link them together toward establishing motive.”

Calvino looked over at Warwick. “Had your client not told everyone and their uncle in that market what she was going to do, I might be ruling differently. However, she said what she said because of the extortion-rape issue, and this was obviously not the first time that she’s engaged in this type of behavior. It’s her MO, counselor, and I believe there’s enough foundation to go forward. I am not going to exclude this evidence.”

Denton breathed a sigh of relief as the court reporter slapped away at her steno keys; Warwick did his best to hide his frustration, but his downcast expression spoke volumes.

Additional pretrial motions were made, fought over, and either granted or rejected. Denton and Warwick sparred repeatedly, with Calvino serving as arbiter in his reputedly restive manner. With the trial scheduled to be followed heavily by the media, both sides were gearing up for the onslaught of public interest usually accompanied by the magnifying glass that Warwick despised, and under which Denton thrived.

Madison’s preparation with Denton lasted four hours, and delved into private corners of his life that even he did not realize he had. The prosecutor explained that if he had this information, then Warwick might have it as well. He had to be ready for just about anything, Denton cautioned.

Later that evening, Madison reiterated his complaint to Hellman that attorneys left a bad taste in his mouth, present company excluded.

Hellman smiled. “You haven’t seen me from the other side’s perspective. I’m no better than any of them.”

CHAPTER 61

CHANDLER SAT reclining on the playroom lounger, Coke in hand, watching the New York Mets lose to the Florida Marlins in the ninth inning. “Unbelievable,” he said as he took his last swig from the can. He slammed his fist down as the replay showed the thundering four-hundred-fifty-foot home run land on the Shea Bridge well beyond the outfield wall. He squeezed his fist hard, crushing the aluminum can. At one of the folds, there was a sharp point that dug into his pinky. He pulled the crumpled container off his hand, examining the punctured flesh where the metal had stuck him.

As Gary Cohen, the Mets’ sportscaster, announced that the Marlins had pulled out a miraculous come-from-behind victory, Chandler noticed something where the aluminum had creased. He stared at the can for a long moment, then turned it over and around, several times.

Denise walked into the room with Noah. “They lost?” she asked, staring at the score. “They were ahead ten minutes ago.”

Chandler was not listening; he was on the phone.

Denise popped a DVD into the player for Noah, then looked at the notes Chandler was scribbling on his pad as he spoke.

He thanked the person on the other end of the phone, and hung up.

“What are you doing?”

Chandler underlined something on the page. “Following up on something.”

Denise looked at him. “Work? It’s Sunday night. Can’t it wait until morning?”

“This isn’t work. Something on Phil’s case.”

“What is it?”

Chandler hesitated. “I’m not sure.”

CHAPTER 62

THE JURY SELECTION process took three days. Attempting to empanel an impartial group of twelve people who had not seen or read any of the news reports proved more difficult than originally thought. Fortunately, however, much of the pretrial publicity centered around Phillip Madison as a suspect—so, if anything, the bias against Madison was the sticky point for Denton, since the doctor was his prime witness.

Denton’s questions during voir dire, the preliminary examination used by the court and attorneys to select a suitable panel of jurors, were therefore directed toward identifying bias against Madison. As Denton saw it, the worst scenario would be ending up with jurors who still harbored ill feelings toward him, because they would then be less inclined to believe him when he was called as a witness.

The jury that both attorneys ultimately agreed on consisted of seven women and five men. Along ethnic lines, there was one Asian, five African-Americans, one Hispanic, and five Caucasians. Denton liked the mix, while Warwick accepted it with trepidation; he was concerned about the prominence of both the female and African-American representation on the jury, being that the victims were both black, with one being a single mother. Trying to avoid an environment of excessive pity for the victims, he also wanted to buffer his client from misdirected disgust leveled by the jury against the suspect who was accused of the crime. The jury should not convict simply because his client was the one chosen and charged by the prosecutor—and because someone had to pay for the heinous crime that was going to be presented to them.

The jury empaneled and pretrial motions disposed of, Judge Calvino gestured toward