“Of course.”
“So you know that you are required by law to report a theft of a Schedule II drug, such as Oxycontin, to the Bureau of Narcotics and Dangerous Drugs, or BNDD as soon as you discover the theft, and that you’re required to report the loss formally to the BNDD within 7 days of the theft?”
“Yes, I’m aware of this.”
“And you also know that you are required to file a report with the DEA on Form 106?”
“Of course.”
“And you know that you must take these steps when any kind of a Schedule II drug is stolen or lost, no matter how small the amount?”
“Yes.” She crossed her arms and glared. “I know all this, of course. I’m in the drug business, I have to know things like this.”
“So, did you do anything that you are required to do by law?”
“No.”
“No, you didn’t, obviously. I checked the records for the DEA and the BNDD and no loss reports have been reported. Now, why didn’t you follow the law in reporting this theft?”
“I didn’t know that the drugs were stolen.” She looked smug, like that was an answer that I was just going to accept without question.
I felt like howling with laughter at that answer. “You didn’t know that your painkilling drugs were stolen? Really?”
“Yes, really.”
“Wait, didn’t you need those drugs for your pain?”
She looked at Kevin, hoping that he might save her, but he couldn’t object to any of my questions, so he remained seated and busily making notes.
“My pain got better and I just didn’t think about it that week.”
“Well then, how, pray tell, could Dr. Dunham have even stolen them off of you?”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, you’re a pharmaceutical rep. I would imagine that you know how to safeguard drugs.”
“I do.”
“And are you known to be a careless person?”
“I’m not, but-“
“So, what happened, then? Did you go and see Dr. Dunham for your refill visit, with a full bottle of pills, and then, what, put that bottle of pills on his desk and then walk off? I mean, how could he have possibly gotten ahold of those pills without your knowledge?”
“I don’t remember.”
“But you were ostensibly there to see Dr. Dunham because you needed a refill, right?”
“Right.”
“But yet you already had a full bottle of pills, so why did you need a refill right then?”
She had no good answer for that one. I could tell. “I wanted to get ahead on my pills,” she said.
“Getting ahead on your pills?” I shook my head. “You wanted to get ahead on a Schedule II drug?”
“Yes, that’s right. I wanted to get ahead.”
I shook my head. “Ms. Vance, with all due respect, your stories are getting more and more outlandish. Now, isn’t it true that the reason why that bottle of pills with your name on it were in Dr. Dunham’s office was because you sold him those pills?”
“What’s that supposed to mean?”
“I mean that you had an agreement with Dr. Dunham whereby he wrote prescriptions for Oxycontin for you, and you got the prescription filled and then sold them back to Dr. Dunham?”
I saw her fidget in her chair. She hesitated in answering the question, which spoke volumes. It looked like the wheels were turning in her mind, and she was trying to decide if she could get away with lying about this arrangement.
“Why would I do something like that?” she finally asked in a weak voice. Gone was the swaggering I’ll cut you attitude, and, in its place was a woman who was increasingly realizing that she was screwed, blued and tattooed.
“Because you needed money. Admit it, Dr. Dunham paid you $500 every week, and all you had to do was present a prescription to your local Walgreens, fulfill the prescription and then go back to Dr. Dunham’s office to deliver the pills to him. Admit that was what was going on.”
She finally lifted her chin, and attempted to get her swagger back. “I wouldn’t do something like that. I don’t need money that bad.”
“Well, let’s see. The doctor who is listed on your Oxycontin bottle is Dr. Dunham. A man who doesn’t prescribe drugs of any kind to his patients, yet he prescribed the drugs to you. You saw him every single week in his office. Why were you going to his office?”
“I had to go to his office every week to get my prescription filled.”
“Actually, you were going to his office every week to deliver the drugs that he prescribed for you, for a fee of $500, isn’t that right?”
“No, that’s not right.”
“It’s the perfect scheme in the state of Missouri, isn’t it? After all, Missouri is the only state in the nation that doesn’t have a prescription drug monitoring program, so there was really no stopping this program that the two of you cooked up, was there?”
“We didn’t have a program,” she said.
“Yes, you did. Dr. Dunham didn’t steal those drugs from you. There was no way that he stole those drugs from you. There was no way that you would just not notice that he stole them from you. You would have noticed that, and if you didn’t report the drugs stolen, you would have been breaking the law. So, as I see it, the only way that bottle of pills with your name on it got into Dr. Dunham’s office was if you gave them to him. Admit it.”
She cocked her head. “I plead the Fifth,” she finally said.
I smiled, knowing that that particular answer was as good as her admitting that what I was pressing her on was right.
I nodded my head. “You take the Fifth,” I said. “So, isn’t it true that you would do anything for money? Including, but not limited to, delivering a tainted pill to somebody.”
“Okay, then, I think it’s well established that you were hard-up for money on July 13, the day that Dr. Dunham died. You were drowning in gambling debts, you were facing criminal prosecution in the state of Nevada, and, perhaps the worst thing of all, you were going to be banned from the Las Vegas Hilton. All because you owed that casino $50,000. Isn’t that right?”
“Yes, I said that that was right earlier.” She was back to being her defensive self.
“Isn’t it true that Robert Dunham paid you $50,000 to deliver some tainted Oxycontin to Dr. Dunham right before he died?”
She looked at the ceiling, knowing that she probably was going to lie about it, but not knowing what Robert Dunham was going to say about this.
She made a calculated risk and chose to tell the truth. Guess she figured it was going to come out, sooner or later, so why risk a perjury charge?
Yet, she lied. Of course. “No.” That was all she said.
“Oh? I would like to admit into evidence what I’ve marked as Exhibit B. Could you please look this over and tell me what this is?”
She looked at it, and I could see the wheels turning. “These are my bank records,” she said. “How did you get ahold of these?”
“The power of the subpoena,” I said. “Now, I’m going to go and show the jury this, too, but on July 10 of last year, there was a large deposit made - $50,000. Could you tell me the name of the entity or person who made that deposit?”
She took a deep breath. “Robert Dunham.”
“Oh, yes, Robert Dunham. While we’re at it, I’ve also highlighted weekly transactions for $500, could you tell me who transferred those to you?”
“Dr. Dunham, but I told you I plead the Fifth on that.”
“I understand,” I said. “So, Dr. Dunham paid you $500 a week, every week, and then Robert Dunham paid you $50,000 on October 10. Now, why did Robert Dunham pay you $50,000, just three days before Dr. Dunham’s death?”
“I needed money, and he gave it to me.”
“He did? Out of the goodness of his heart?”
“I don’t know if he gave it out of the goodness of his heart, but he knew my situation, so he gave me the money to get out of it.”
“Wow,”
I said. “That’s very generous. I guess that means that you and Mr. Dunham were close, then?”
“Well, no.”
“No? What was the nature of your relationship with Robert Dunham?”
I had her there. If she tried to lie, it was going to come out, unless she and Robert Dunham practiced their theories beforehand so that they could get their stories straight.
Somehow, though, I figured that this was not the case. I had a feeling that Sharita and Robert didn’t try to get their stories straight, because they probably figured that they weren’t going to get nailed on the stand.
Sharita certainly didn’t figure on my having her bank account information, that was for sure.
“He was on the Board of Directors for my company, Osiris,” she said.
“Oh. I see. Ms. Vance, isn’t it true that, prior to July of last year, you wouldn’t have been able to have picked Robert Dunham out of a line-up?”
“I knew who he was,” Sharita said.
“You knew who he was. So, you weren’t close, then?”
“I knew who he was.”
“I see. So, you weren’t close, yet he just gave you $50,000?”
“Yes.”
“I guess you paid him back, then, or you’re making payments?” I said.
“No.” She wasn’t going to try to lie, because she was probably afraid that I was going to bust out a document that showed that she wasn’t paying him back.
“No. So, it wasn’t a loan, then?”
“No, not a loan.”
I nodded my head. “Not a loan. Well, then, he certainly was generous, then, wasn’t he?”
“Yes, I guess he was.”
“Ms. Vance, let me remind you about the penalties for perjury. In the state of Missouri, when you lie on the stand during the trial for a murder case, it’s a Class A felony. That’s a minimum of 10 years in prison. Now, why did Robert Dunham pay you $50,000 on July 10, which was three days before Dr. Dunham died of a drug overdose?”
I thought she was going to take the Fifth again, but she surprised me. I guess my admonishing her about perjury being a Class A felony in Missouri when its committed during a murder trial scared her.
“He paid me to deliver some Oxycontin to Dr. Dunham,” Sharita said.
The jury gasped, and I heard them start to chatter a little bit.
I smiled, knowing that she was changing her game. I could almost see in her mind that she was going to roll on Robert Dunham the second she could. It probably was going to work, too - Robert Dunham was the one who instigated this whole thing, after all. She was just the messenger.
She crossed her arms and pursed her lips.
“He paid you to deliver Oxycontin to Dr. Dunham. $50,000. Now, isn’t true that he specifically paid you to deliver those drugs to him because these drugs were tainted?”
“Listen, I don’t know anything about the drugs being tainted. I only know that he was concerned about his brother. He knew that his brother was dry, and he was in serious withdraw, so he wanted me to deliver him drugs.”
“Oh, I see. He paid you that much money just to deliver regular Oxycontin?”
“That’s right.”
“And you didn’t know that the drugs were tainted?” I asked.
She rolled her eyes. “I told you, I have no clue what was in the pills that I delivered that night.”
“But Ms. Vance, you know that somebody isn’t going to pay you $50,000 to deliver a drug for no reason, don’t you? Common sense. If somebody is paying you a lot of money to deliver a drug, there’s a reason behind it.”
“I don’t know.”
“Ms. Vance, have you ever heard of the term willful blindness?”
“Yes, I’ve heard of that.”
“Define it for me, as you understand it.”
“It’s when you don’t know something because you don’t want to know,” she said.
I nodded my head. “Like when you’re paid $50,000 to deliver a drug to a person and don’t ask why it is that you’re delivering it and what that drug really is. That’s willful blindness.”
Kevin stood up. “I don’t hear a question,” he said.
I turned my head towards Kevin. “Okay, here’s my question.” I turned to face Sharita. “Ms. Vance, are you aware that willful blindness, under the law, is the same as knowledge?”
Her eyes got wide. She had walked into a series of traps and she was just now realizing it. “What does that mean?”
“That means that, in this case, if you delivered a tainted drug to Dr. Dunham, and you didn’t ask why you were delivering it because you didn’t want to know, you can still be charged with a crime as if you had actual knowledge of the event. Do you understand that?”
The implications of that were clear to her. I just let her know that if she delivered tainted drugs to Dr. Dunham, she was guilty of murder, whether or not she actually knew that the drugs were tainted.
She took a deep breath. “I take the Fifth on that, too, then.”
“So, you aren’t going to go through anymore testimony about delivering drugs to Dr. Dunham on behalf of Robert Dunham, then?”
“That’s right. I won’t. I know my rights and I don’t have to answer anymore questions about that topic.”
I nodded my head. I just hoped that the jury knew the implications of her taking the Fifth on this topic. “I have nothing further for this witness.”
She rapidly stood up, but the judge asked her to remain seated.
“Ms. Vance, you need to remain seated in case Mr. Williams has any cross examination questions.” He looked over at Kevin, who apparently was busy scribbling notes during my exchange with Sharita. “Mr. Williams, any questions?”
I looked over at Kevin, who just shook his head. “No, your honor.” He knew he was screwed, and he wasn’t about to make the damage any worse. There was no rehabilitating Sharita at this point.
Judge Watkins looked at Sharita. “You’re excused. However, I would like to advise you not to go too far. I have a feeling that the authorities are going to want to ask you some questions.”
Sharita started to shake, and she stood up and rapidly walked out of the courtroom.
I sat down, feeling pretty satisfied with my exchange with Sharita. I felt that I drew blood, a lot of blood from Sharita.
But the best was yet to come.
“Counselor,” Judge Watkins said, addressing me. “Call your next witness.”
“The defense calls Robert Dunham.”
Chapter 32
I decided that Harper was going to question Mr. Robert Dunham. The reason for this was because I did my research on him and found that he was a misogynist in the highest order. He had had many sexual harassment claims against him over the years, along with many sexual discrimination claims that he had settled for millions of dollars.
When I found out that he had so many claims against him, and that he had to personally pay millions over the years, I discovered the true reason why Robert Dunham was so desperate that he would have had his own brother killed – he had to pay out millions for the multiple sexual harassment and discrimination claims.
In other words, he needed the money from his stake in Osiris. He needed it desperately. If he didn’t continue to receive his monthly dividends from that company, he was going to have to – gasp! give up his yacht on the Caribbean and might have to sell off a house or two. For shame!
Harper called Robert, and he appeared in the courtroom. He was around 50, tall and thin and walked with a stoop of his shoulders. He was dressed down, in a pair of jeans and a long-sleeve t-shirt and he looked like somebody who was trying to play down his wealth intentionally. I had a feeling that that was the case – he seemed like somebody who was going to be manipulative in that way. Just from what I read about him, I knew that the guy was devious.
Robert took one look at Harper, who was stunning, as usual, in her grey pantsuit and heels that boosted her from 5’8” to just under 6’, and I knew that she was going to thro
w him off his game. He seemed, from my research, to have a weakness for beautiful women, and Harper was certainly that.
Robert took the stand, raised his hand and was sworn in. Then Harper approached him.
He appeared to almost drool when she stood right in front of him. Her scent was intoxicating, even to me, and her graceful walk, with her head held high, attracted the attention of every male within striking distance.
She was going to play this guy like a bass violin. And I was going to relish it.
“Mr. Dunham,” Harper said. “You’re the brother of the deceased in this case, correct?”
“Yes,” he said, talking into the microphone. He looked Harper in the eye and bit his lower lip. “That is correct.”
Harper cocked her head ever-so-slightly, and then walked closer to Robert. “Did you have a good relationship with Dr. Dunham?” she asked.
He nodded his head. “I did. He was my brother and we were close.”
She smiled slightly. “Permission to treat as hostile,” she sweetly asked the judge.
“Permission granted. Please proceed.”
Robert looked at Harper when the judge gave her permission to treat him as hostile. “What does that mean, treat me as hostile? I’m not hostile. I’m the friendliest guy that you’ll ever meet.” He raised an eyebrow and smiled at Harper. “The friendliest guy.”
Harper looked back at me and raised her eyebrows. I smiled, knowing what her look was telling me. It was an can you believe this guy? type of look, and my silent answer was, I know, right?
Harper chose to ignore Robert’s subtle come-on. “Mr. Dunham, isn’t it true that Dr. Dunham had an affair with your wife, Naomi, 10 years ago?”
“Yes,” he said.
“And that affair actually caused a divorce, isn’t that right?”
He rolled his eyes, seeing that Harper was going to take no prisoners and was not going to fall for his non-existent charm. “Yes.”
“And you and Naomi had five children, isn’t that right?” she asked.
“Yes.” His posture was becoming more and more defensive. Like Sharita before him, he glared at Harper and crossed his arms in front of him.
“And those kids were all under the age of 10 when you divorced Naomi, isn’t that right?”
Until Proven Guilty Page 20
