Cut_Throat Defence

by Olly Jarvis

  His Lordship had added a very large clue for the jury as to what he thought the verdict should be in Marpit’s case.

  After being sworn to keep the jury in some private and convenient place, the jury bailiff led them away to their retirement room.

  The judge addressed the prosecution. ‘Mr Otterwood. Once the jury have returned their verdicts, I intend to sentence not only Mr Rako, but those who pleaded guilty at an earlier stage. The “unloaders”, as I call them. Are they in the cells?’

  ‘They are, My Lord, and their counsel are all in the robing room.’

  ‘Very good. I’ll rise.’

  Jack set off for the cells to check on Marpit.

  Melanie Marpit intercepted him. Everything about her showed she was pleading for reassurance. ‘It’s not looking good is it, Mr Kowalski?’

  ‘I really don’t know, Melanie. You’ve got to be strong for your dad. OK?’

  She nodded anxiously, looking around her.

  ‘What is it?’ Jack asked.

  ‘Oh, it’s just Purley’s lot, giving me the evil eye. I can handle it.’

  ‘Go and sit in the public canteen until you hear the tannoy. It’s always full in there. Come on. I’ll show you the way.’

  Carl Marpit was climbing the walls by the time Jack arrived in the cells. ‘What do you think? How was the summing up? I’ve got a very bad feeling. The jury don’t like me. What are my chances? Please, tell me straight.’

  ‘Slow down, Carl. You’ll know soon enough. I have to answer honestly. Don’t get your hopes up. It’s a fact that in cut-throat defences, where the defendants blame each other, they almost always both get convicted.’

  Marpit slumped into a chair, his body limp like a rag doll. ‘When I was a kid I used to have nightmares about getting a sentence that was too long for me to get through.’

  ‘Come on, Carl, keep it together. You’re going to have to be strong for Melanie. If she sees you go to pieces she’ll be straight back on the gear, won’t she?’

  ‘Yeah. You’re right, Mr Kowalski.’ Jack’s words had stiffened Marpit’s resolve.

  Jack could say nothing else except, ‘I’ll see you in court.’

  He didn’t want to wait for the verdict in the robing room, listening to the banter of counsel. He was too preoccupied. Didn’t feel he fitted in, anyway. He decided to go and wait it out with Melanie.

  Chapter 83

  Four o’clock. The jury had been out for four hours.

  ‘Would all parties in the case of Purley and Marpit please go to Court One immediately.’

  Melanie was reluctant to leave the comfort of her chair, afraid of what the next few minutes would bring.

  Jack cajoled her into the courtroom. Counsel’s rows had swollen in numbers with the additional silks and juniors attending to mitigate on behalf of their clients, following the verdicts. The press settled excitedly into their seats, observing the human drama beginning to unfold on the faces of family and friends in the public gallery.

  The court clerk divulged some information to Otterwood, which spread through the rest of the lawyers.

  Jack could only hear snippets.

  Katterman had created a huddle, being careful to turn his back on Jack and exclude him from any discussion.

  Paul Effiong noticed the snub, broke away and told Jack what he knew. ‘Jack. The judge is going to give a majority direction now.’

  ‘But on a case like this, wouldn’t you have expected him to wait until tomorrow? To give them more time?’

  ‘Yes, but he’s probably had a note from the jury saying they are split, so he’s decided to bring it forward.’

  ‘If that is the case, why haven’t we seen the note?’

  ‘The only jury note that counsel are not entitled to see is one which records numbers, and how they are split.’

  Jack felt a fool for not knowing that, even though Paul’s face showed no hint of surprise at his ignorance.

  ‘Sounds like we’ve both got at least one juror,’ he said, raising his eyebrows.

  ‘All rise.’

  His Lordship marched into court, keen to get on with things. ‘I intend to give the jury a majority direction. Would anyone like to address me before I do?’ he added punctiliously.

  None of the silks stood. The courtroom remained silent.

  ‘Bring in the jury, please,’ said the judge.

  The jury weaved its way into the box. They looked different now, animated. Sleeves were rolled up, faces reddened. Their collective demeanour suggested a recent history of fierce debate.

  The clerk stood up. ‘Would the foreman please stand.’

  An elderly lady, wearing a smart two-piece skirt and jacket, obeyed.

  ‘Have you reached verdicts – in relation to either defendant – on which you are all agreed?’

  ‘No.’

  The judge took over. ‘Thank you, members of the jury. I now direct you that I can take verdicts on which at least ten of you are agreed, but please try to reach unanimous verdicts if you can. Please go with the jury bailiff.’

  Jack glanced over at Marpit in the dock and gave a supportive nod. His face was ashen. Melanie scrambled out, escaping the intensity of the courtroom.

  Paul offered a word of advice before Jack trundled off. ‘Don’t go far, Jack. Most juries come back very quickly after a majority direction, one way or another.’

  As he got out of court, Jack saw Lara striding towards him through the hordes of people.

  ‘Verdicts?’ she asked.

  ‘Majority direction.’

  He could see her relief at not having missed the verdicts. ‘Where were you?’

  Her expression was serious. ‘Come on,’ she said, pulling Jack into a conference room. ‘Sit down.’

  She opened a file, producing a lengthy handwritten witness statement. Jack could see that she had also made photocopies. She sat down and slid one across the table to Jack. ‘It couldn’t wait. Paula Hughes, Nurse Hughes, agreed to see me. I took a full statement there and then.’

  Jack’s eyes widened as he read the material. After he’d finished he sat back in his chair, dumbfounded. ‘Lara, I am so sorry. I don’t know what to say.’

  ‘It’s OK. It’s a good thing. I always felt there was some unfinished business. I just never knew what it was. It was weird. Now I know.’

  ‘Have you been to the police?’

  ‘Yes. I gave them a copy. They’ve gone to see her now.’

  ‘Are you going to speak to him?’

  ‘I’ve thought about that,’ she said, her eyes beginning to water. ‘I don’t want to soil my hands with him. Instinct tells me Dad would have wanted him to be confronted by another barrister. Will you do it?’

  He replied at once. ‘With pleasure.’ The shock was turning to anger. He jumped up, grabbed a copy of the statement and strode off.

  Chapter 84

  Jack burst through the door of the advocates’ canteen. Everyone from his case was there, including counsel representing the co-defendants. Barristers in other trials were waiting for their juries to come back. They were still wearing their bands and wing collars; ready to go at a moment’s notice.

  John Otterwood lowered his coffee cup in surprise at the suddenness of Jack’s entrance.

  Lionel Katterman, seated at a table in the middle of the room, was attacking some poached eggs on toast. Jack noticed that he had left his crusts on the side of the plate.

  Jack shouted out, ‘Who remembers Michael Panassai?’

  It got everyone’s attention.

  ‘What’s wrong, Jack?’ asked Otterwood, puzzled by the anger in Jack’s voice.

  Graham Purdy, an elderly barrister from Deansgate Chambers, lowered his newspaper and peered over his spectacles at Jack. ‘Nice chap, Michael. Remember him well. Bloody nice chap.’

  There were five or six barristers from Paramount, but no one wanted to reminisce.

  ‘Does anyone know how he died?’ asked Jack.

  ‘Car crash,’ said another
elderly Paramount barrister. ‘He was drink driving. Killed the wife as well.’

  Jack turned on him. ‘That’s where you’re wrong!’

  ‘Hang on Jack, calm down lad,’ said Otterwood, trying to prevent a scene.

  Katterman intervened, remaining seated, ‘I don’t think now is the time or the place to rake over a man’s past like this. He was a fellow member of the Bar, when all’s said and done. Come on old chap, you can see how it’s upsetting John here.’

  ‘Lionel, you’re so thoughtful,’ said Jack sarcastically. ‘I just thought everyone ought to know the truth.’

  He had the room’s full attention now. ‘There was a Circuit Ball, all those years ago. Michael Panassai and his wife were over the limit. They were going to get a taxi home. But a good friend of theirs offered to drive them, because he said he hadn’t been drinking. So he drove Michael’s car. But he was showing off, being an arse as usual, and he crashed it in a country lane. Michael was very badly injured. His wife died at the scene.’

  Jack paused, his voice beginning to crack with emotion.

  His audience was intrigued.

  Jack cleared his throat and continued. ‘Thinking only of himself, this so-called friend lifted Michael out of the passenger seat and put him in the driver’s seat. He made off from the scene, leaving his friend to die.’

  ‘How do you know this?’ said Otterwood. There was a note of anger in his voice.

  Ignoring him, Jack walked slowly over to where Katterman was sitting and looked down at his now panic-stricken face. ‘That friend was you, Lionel, wasn’t it?’

  Katterman took a few seconds to gather himself. He kicked back his chair and jumped up. Towering over Jack, he pushed him in the chest and demanded, ‘Get this wretch out of here. He disgusts me. Hasn’t anyone told him a cut-throat stays in court? Michael’s daughter is Marpit’s solicitor.’

  ‘This has nothing to do with our case.’ Jack replied, as two very junior Paramount barristers awkwardly took hold of his arms.

  Paul Effiong leapt to his feet. ‘Get your hands off him! What do you think you’re doing? He is a barrister, an officer of the court, and so are you!’

  Katterman’s young henchmen came to their senses and released their grip on Jack, faces flushed with embarrassment.

  Otterwood was standing now, assuming a judicial role. ‘Jack, that’s a hell of an accusation to make. What’s your evidence?’

  ‘I wouldn’t say this lightly.’ Jack pointed at Katterman accusingly. ‘He hung around at the hospital like a bad smell. He didn’t give a shit about his so-called best friend. He wanted to make sure Michael didn’t grass him up as the driver. The problem was, they had a baby daughter, Lara. If Michael accepted being the driver, to cover for his friend, it would negate Michael’s life-insurance policy, because he had been drinking. And Lara would get nothing.’

  Jack pushed his finger into Katterman’s chest. ‘So, as Michael was dying, you promised, in exchange for him taking the blame, to bring up his daughter, be a father to her. You conned him with your best advocacy, didn’t you? You had a week to work on him. And once Michael had died, that was it. Job done. You didn’t even visit Lara once. Her grandmother died a few years later. She grew up in care.’

  All eyes were now on Katterman.

  Otterwood’s voice became less aggressive. ‘But how do you know all this, Jack?’

  ‘Michael told a nurse – Paula Hughes. She was responsible for his care. She’d overheard a lot of it anyway – Lionel trying to talk Michael into it. Lionel was worried she might rat on him so he charmed her, then seduced her. She fell in love with him. She was only nineteen. A single parent. He even persuaded her to ring up and change the funeral arrangements from a burial to a cremation.’

  ‘Why?’ asked Otterwood.

  ‘Because in his hurry to get away from the scene, he left his dinner jacket on the back of the driver’s seat. Michael had been dressed in that jacket for the burial. It was evidence against Katterman. So Paula arranged for it all to be burnt. Then he dumped her, and made various threats. He said he knew lots of criminals and he would have her child murdered if she said anything.’

  Katterman started to back away from Jack. ‘I’m not listening to this,’ was all he could say.

  Jack looked Katterman right in the eye, for the first time.

  ‘Can you see, Lionel, all the faces of the barristers in this room?’

  Katterman couldn’t help but stare nervously around, hypnotized by Jack’s dominance.

  Jack said, ‘You are the master of reading people. You can see that they all know what I’m saying is the truth. Can’t you?’

  Katterman was silenced.

  ‘You’re finished, you bastard.’

  Everyone was thunderstruck.

  The sound of the tannoy broke the silence. ‘All parties in Purley and others to Court One immediately.’

  Jack was still robed.

  He left the room without another word.

  He was ready for anything.

  Chapter 85

  Jack was the first barrister to go into court.

  The Court Clerk mouthed to him, ‘Verdicts.’

  Jack handed the statement back to Lara, who was already seated. He touched her arm. ‘It’s done.’

  It was a tight squeeze. The additional counsel forced their way onto the benches.

  His Lordship came into court before the jury. ‘I should make it clear now that when the jury return their verdicts, I require absolute silence from the public gallery.’ He glared at its occupants. ‘Anyone expressing any opinion, in whatever way, will be removed. Thank you. Let’s have the jury… no, just a moment, Jury Bailiff. We are missing Mr Katterman!’

  Paul Effiong stood up. ‘I will represent Mr Purley’s interests, My Lord.’

  ‘Thank you, Mr Effiong,’ said the judge, with some curiosity.

  The jurors emerged solemnly, averting their eyes from the dock. Always a bad sign.

  The court clerk addressed them. ‘Would the foreman please stand.’

  She obliged.

  ‘Have you reached majority verdicts in relation to both defendants, on which at least ten of you are agreed?’

  ‘We have.’

  ‘Do you find Anthony Purley guilty or not guilty?’

  ‘Guilty.’

  There were gasps from the public gallery, which diverted the attention of many. All counsel remained facing forward.

  ‘Do you find Carl Marpit guilty or not guilty?’

  Jack could hardly breathe.

  ‘Not guilty.’

  More gasps.

  Jack closed his eyes. He had just won his first trial. And not just any trial. There was no feeling like it.

  A loud thud came from the dock. Marpit had fainted. The prison officers helped him up.

  Purley was staring at the ceiling. As hard a man as he was, he was nevertheless finding it difficult to hold back the tears.

  The judge accepted the verdicts with good grace. ‘Mr Marpit, normally I would impose a sentence of four months imprisonment for the Bail Act offence.’ He paused to reflect. ‘However, due to the time already served on remand for the drugs matter, of which you were acquitted, that seems a little unfair. So I will impose an absolute discharge. You are free to go. Mr Kowalski, go and attend to your client.’

  ‘I’m grateful, My Lord.’

  ‘And Mr Kowalski, your decision to remain in this trial cannot have been an easy one to make. It was evidently the right one. This court is very grateful to you.’

  Jack bowed slightly, choked by the approval. ‘My Lord.’

  He slipped quietly out of court, followed by Lara, as John Otterwood, QC, rose to his feet to outline the facts in relation to the defendants who had pleaded guilty.

  Chapter 86

  The concourse was empty, apart from Carl and Melanie in a tight embrace.

  Jack and Lara’s smiles turned to laughter, astounded at the size of their achievement.

  Melanie Marpit leapt on
to Lara and hugged her. Jack quickly put out his hand, to prevent Carl from doing the same.

  ‘Mr Kowalski, I don’t know what to say. There’s nothing that will come close to telling you how grateful I am.’

  ‘We were just doing our job. That’s the system.’

  ‘Well, I bloody well believe in it! Or at least in you two – that’s all I can say.’

  ‘Anyway, don’t stand around here,’ said Lara disentangling herself from Melanie. ‘Why don’t you get going while everyone else is still in court? Come on, Jack, I need a drink!’

  They said their final goodbyes to their former client and went up to the robing room.

  The place was deserted. Jack pulled his wing collar off. For the first time he saw a barrister staring back at him in the mirror.

  ‘Looking good, Kowalski,’ teased Lara.

  He shoved everything into his blue wig bag. ‘Grab that,’ he said, as he nipped off to the gents’.

  Jack stood at the urinal and laughed out loud. It was only just beginning to sink in. While he was washing his hands, a noise came from one of the cubicles – a muted, snivelling sound. He bent down and tried to see under the gap. An expensive pair of black brogues: Katterman’s. Jack stood up. He raised a hand to knock on the door, then stopped himself.

  Lara was waiting at the lift. ‘All right?’

  ‘Never better.’

  Chapter 87

  This time the concourse outside Court One was full. Everyone was spilling out. Friends and family were sobbing. Reporters were racing off to the main entrance to do their pieces to camera. Journalists were finding quiet corners from which to email their copy.