The Shakespeare Incident

by Jonathan Miller

  This was home? Denise threw away the plastic of the McDonald’s salad. A piece of lettuce was stuck to the floor. What had she got herself into? She did have her wooden staff, in case she needed to defend herself, but it was still dissembled in the gym bag in the Lexus’s trunk.

  Chapter 15

  Friday, July 10

  Denise awoke before dawn to Cordelia’s phone call. “What’s going to happen in court today?” Cordelia asked. She repeated the phrase “What’s going to happen?” three more times before Denise had fully awoken.

  “I don’t know yet.”

  “I need him out! Now!”

  “I know. I’ll do my best.”

  “So, is he getting out?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Downstairs, Caliban the concierge had set up the hot breakfast. There was a waffle machine, and scrambled eggs. Other than a handful of wayward Oklahoma tourists who had taken the southern route to California, most guests sported tan uniforms marked simply “Federal Agent” without specifying the agency. A man in a blue polo shirt and khakis had the name of a chic sunglasses firm on his breast pocket. He was pitching his wares to one of the agents.

  “Your troops should be wearing my glasses that protect against radioactivity,” the pitchman said. The agent tried on a pair of stylish wraparound shades.

  “We’ll take four thousand,” the agent said.

  Everyone was staring at Denise. What in the world was this petite young part-Asian woman, traveling all alone, dressed all in black, doing at the Holiday Comfort hotel in Lordsburg, America?

  At a far table, one Oklahoma tourist muttered that she must be a victim of human trafficking who had escaped and was on the run. His companion thought she was a spy for the North Koreans here to smuggle people across the border. The sunglasses salesman even took off his shades to check her out.

  “Why are you here again?” Caliban asked as he cleared her cereal bowl.

  “A case,” she said. “At the courthouse. I work for a lawyer.” She almost flashed her ID again, but he had moved onto bringing more coffee for an agent.

  Denise noticed a very pregnant woman in a red power maternity suit enter the breakfast room. The woman waved at her, but Denise had to get to court and hurried back toward her room.

  Did the woman in red say her name? Denise was already out the door.

  Outside in the lot, the Lexus was untouched. Caliban had done his job as night guard. The car started right up, and she drove the few short blocks past abandoned buildings to “downtown” Lordsburg. It was down all right, but not much of a town.

  The Hidalgo County Courthouse itself was a block off Main Street on Shakespeare Street. It was presumably named after the nearby ghost town and not the bard since there was nothing Shakespearean about the street—or this town. The architecture was out of the fifties and not the 1600s.

  Unfortunately, there was no parking on Shakespeare Street today. It was lined with pick-up trucks and old Chevys. Denise had to drive around the block again on Main and then Motel Boulevard and back again. Court days must be a big deal around here.

  She had taken an English class at Albuquerque Academy which focused on Shakespeare. She played with Shakespearean puns as she surveyed the streets filled with abandoned buildings. Laws’ Labors Lost. A store, a store, my kingdom for an opened store. This was the avenue of our discontent. The quality of mercy was not strained here, there was no mercy.

  After parking and walking past a few more deserted buildings, she finally arrived at the courthouse itself. It was a two-story building made of bricks that belonged in the Australian outback. Hopefully, this wasn’t a kangaroo court.

  Denise entered the courthouse and walked up the steep staircase to the lobby area. The elevator was for OFFICIAL USE ONLY. She walked right through the unmanned metal detector. She beeped even though the detector was unplugged. Everyone in town was crunched inside the courtroom itself. It was a full docket that day—divorces, child custody and even wrongful deaths. One court fits all.

  “Is anyone here the counsel for the State in Denny Song’s case?” she asked around. There were a few well-dressed people in the room who could be lawyers. Not one of them answered.

  A team of power-suits entered. Denise recognized Jane Dark, her nemesis from mock trial days. Jane Dark was pregnant and dressed in a red suit. Jane Dark was the woman at the hotel.

  Ms. Dark was Native American and had her long black hair tied back in the Navajo tsai, hairstyle. Dan Shepard had once called it the “power tsai.”

  Denise’s heart skipped a beat and not for a good reason. She’d known this princess of darkness when Dark had prosecuted her late cousin Marley for a shoplifting case. Before that, Ms. Dark’s mock trial team should have beaten Team Turquoise.

  There was a rumor that Dark had had an affair with a Supreme Court Justice and was now pregnant with his child. Had she been exiled to the end of the earth in Lordsburg? Or worse, had Jane Dark deliberately asked for this assignment as a way to get back at Denise? She would know about Denny. She knew about everything.

  “Ah, Ms. Song,” Jane Dark said in a faux English accent that tried to mask a Western New Mexico drawl. “So good to see you again. We got your entry yesterday, but we’ve had some trouble verifying that you are indeed admitted to practice law in New Mexico. We’ve made a few calls and sent out a few emails to your mother, supposedly your ‘law student supervisor,’ but we haven’t heard back yet.”

  Denise heart skipped another beat. “Why are you here?”

  “I was sent for,” she said in a sotto voice. Didn’t Rosencrantz or Guildenstern say that in Hamlet?

  Jane Dark had two big dossiers. One marked DENNY SONG and the other DENISE SONG. “Maybe we should call your old mentor, Professor Kang, to find out why you failed out of an accredited law school. You never went back there, did you?”

  “I’m still admitted to an accredited online course and…”

  “But since we’re up against a deadline, we’ll stipulate that you’re an attorney for the purposes of today’s hearing, even if we can’t reach your mommy.”

  “Thanks, I guess.”

  “If you weren’t here, we’d have to release him. I guess you might as well stay for the hanging, I mean the hearing.”

  Dark laughed at her own joke. Denise was confused, they wouldn’t release Denny because he didn’t have a lawyer? No, this was Jane Dark’s way of stirring the pot, as Cordelia had overheard.

  It worked. Cordelia had walked in and now wormed her way into the conversation. “So, if we fire her, Denny gets out?”

  Dark stirred the pot even further. “No, young Miss Song has already entered her appearance as a clinical law student under the supervision of an attorney, so we’ll have to go forward with the hearing, or it will be deemed waived and he remains in custody for the duration. You understand that because of budget cuts, the Public Defender Office can’t always provide attorneys in certain remote parts of the state like this one, especially if the victims are law enforcement and everyone has a conflict. It could take months before he gets someone else. If ever.”

  Denise sat down; her eyes lowered.

  “Quiet please, court is in session,” a bailiff said. She recognized Caliban. He did everything in this town. He even had his boomerang with him.

  A big man with a badge brought Denny in. Denise recognized him as the sheriff from their brief encounter on the west end of town. He was still wearing his sunglasses even indoors.

  The sheriff wagged his finger at her. “Slow the hell down in my county,” he said. He turned back to Denny. “Don’t shoot any of my other troops, Denny!” the sheriff said before roughly pushing Denny down in the front row with some other inmates. The three cops—Antonio, Beatrice and Claudio—the alleged victims in the case, also sat in the front row. Each sported fresh bandages and crutches arranged over ill-fitting sui
ts. They eyed Denise with anger.

  “Where do I sit?” Denise asked Caliban. “Which is the defense side?”

  There wasn’t even enough room for a defense “side” in this cramped courtroom. The tables were actually perpendicular. While Roswell had been humid, a hot, dusty wind flowed through the opened windows in this courtroom. This was the outback all right.

  “All rise.”

  The judge was indeed Shahrazad Sanchez, her tattooed arms showed through the openings in her robes. New Mexico needed judges so desperately in this part of the state, the Administrative Office of the Courts must have waived the requirement that she have five years of practice. The judge looked lost in her billowing robe.

  “Let’s do the pre-trial detention hearing first,” she said, looking down at her phone for guidance. “Why don’t you sit at counsel table, young lady?”

  Young lady? She was the same age as the judge.

  “Appearances please,” the judge asked, eyes back on the phone.

  “Jane Dark for the great state of New Mexico. Sheriff JC Diamond will be sitting at counsel table with me as the case agent.”

  “Your honor, Denise Song for the defense. I am a clinical law student practicing under the supervision of Attorney Jen Song pursuant to Rule 5-110.1 under the Rules of Criminal Procedure for the District Court. Here’s Form 9-901 which shows the designation.”

  Denise handed the form to Caliban the bailiff. Jane Dark held up her hand, indicating Caliban should stop.

  “Your honor,” said Jane Dark. “There is some question about the legitimacy of her law student supervisor as we couldn’t locate that person anywhere in America. But we will stipulate to her ability to practice under these circumstances, as all other attorneys under contract in this jurisdiction have excused themselves because they know the officers in question. Time is of the essence here.”

  Denise looked around. All the other people in nice clothing had suddenly cleared the courtroom.

  “We’ve had a great deal of difficulty getting attorneys to come all the way out here since the budget cuts on travel,” the judge said. “We might be forced to improvise and use Ms. Song, clinical law student or not.”

  She glanced back at the phone for guidance and then looked at Denny. “Mr. Denny Song, do you agree to let Ms. Denise Song represent you in her capacity as a law student under the supervision of this attorney, Jen Song. Pursuant to Rule 5-110.1?”

  The lights flickered. “I do,” said Denny.

  “Then, Ms. Dark you may proceed with the hearing for your petition for pre-trial detention. Mr. Song you are charged with three counts of attempted murder, one count of aggravated assault on a peace officer.”

  “Your honor, I am raising competency in this case,” Denise said.

  “Now is not the time to raise competency,” Jane Dark said. “This is only a question of pre-trial detention—whether he stays in custody during the pendency of the case. The issue of whether he’s competent is immaterial at this point.”

  The judge scratched a nose stud as she looked out the window.

  Dark pantomimed that the judge should bang the gavel and the judge complied. “We will address competency at another time,” the judge said. “Ms. Dark, you may now proceed with the motion for pre-trial detention after that uncalled-for interruption.”

  Jane Dark approached the podium. “Your honor, we call Sheriff JC Diamond to the stand. And please remember that the burden of proof to detain someone during a pre-trial detention hearing is only clear and convincing evidence.”

  “Isn’t it beyond a reasonable doubt?” Denny asked.

  Denise said nothing. Basically, Jane Dark only needed to be clear to be convincing at this hearing.

  The sheriff wore a suit and a turquoise bolo tie that matched his silver and turquoise star badge. He did take his sunglasses off, and it looked like he hadn’t slept in days. With minimal prodding from Jane Dark, he went quickly through how he seized the property legally which made Denny a trespasser. He talked about Denny shooting the officers in cold blood.

  Jane Dark smiled. “And your dog, what’s his name and breed?”

  “Earl. He’s a German Shepherd.”

  Dark produced a blown-up picture of the dog. Everyone in the courtroom sighed and muttered “Good boy.”

  “Was Earl in danger?”

  “Yes.”

  “That’s a lie! I wouldn’t shoot the dog! He wasn’t an alien!” Denny shouted.

  Jane Dark ignored him. “Pass the witness.”

  Denise would give it the old college try. “You said he had a blank stare on his face when he allegedly came at you?” Denise asked.

  “He did.”

  “You’re not a psychiatrist, are you?”

  “No.”

  “You don’t know if he was in a psychotic state, or maybe a fugue state, do you?”

  “No. I don’t even know about no fugues.”

  “You don’t know if he indeed believes in aliens, do you?”

  “No.”

  “If he believed in aliens, and was acting to protect himself, he might not be able to form specific intent, wouldn’t he?”

  “I have no idea.”

  “Competency is not an issue for the purposes of this hearing,” Dark reminded the court.

  Still looking out the window, the judge now played with one of her five ear studs on her right ear. “Move it along counsel.”

  Denise asked a few more questions and then sat down. After the state rested, Denny tapped her on the arm.

  “Call Cordelia,” Denny said. Denise hesitated, but she had to do something.

  Cordelia didn’t wait, she just got on the stand.

  Denise went to the podium. “Ma’am, have you ever seen him be violent prior to this incident?”

  “No, I have not.”

  “Where could he live if he was released?”

  “Well, the sheriff seized our property, but I got another place in town, the Last Palm hotel, just down the road from here on Shakespeare Street and he could live with me.”

  “Do you consider him to be a threat to the community?”

  “No, I do not. He loves Lordsburg. He just has issues with some of the umm... authorities. They didn’t believe him back then; they don’t believe him now.”

  “Could you describe his demeanor on the night of the incident?”

  Cordelia stared.

  “How was he acting?” Denise asked.

  “He was normal at first, and then we heard this screeching sound and some lightning, and he went into a daze, like a zombie robot.”

  “So, Denny Song wasn’t in his right mind?”

  “Objection your honor,” Jane Dark said. “The defendant’s mental state is not at issue in this hearing. Only whether he should be detained.”

  The judge didn’t even look over. “Sustained.”

  Denise ran out of gas. “Pass the witness.”

  Using a dossier marked “Girlfriend,” Jane Dark hit all of Cordelia’s past contacts with law enforcement and made Denise regret calling her.

  “Any other witnesses?” the judge asked.

  Denny rose. “Let me testify!”

  “You should let him take the stand,” Jane Dark said. “I’d love to cross-examine him.”

  Denise winced. “Your honor, my client will get to tell his side of the story, but now is not the time nor place. He has things that he needs to say to the court in private. Things of national, international and interplanetary importance.”

  “Your honor, that may be,” Jane Dark. “But that is not relevant today. We’ve more than proven that there’s no alternative to detention prior to trial.”

  The judge must have received guidance from her phone. “He will be held in custody pending the completion of his trial.”

  “For how long?” De
nny shouted.

  “I need him out!” Cordelia added. “Do something, Denise!”

  “Your honor,” Denise said. “According to case law we can submit a motion to reconsider pre-trial detention under Rule 5-401 as long as we bring in new information, unavailable to us now. There’s considerable information that we don’t have access to.”

  “What information?” The judge looked even more lost.

  “We can get witnesses,” Denise said. “I guess.”

  “Who are you going to subpoena, the aliens?” Jane Dark said. “I don’t think our subpoenas are good outside the solar system.”

  Dark walked right up to the bench. “Your honor, we’re taking this case to grand jury next Friday. They will determine whether the case moves forward with a ‘true bill.’”

  “So, we can do the arraignment on Monday, July 20th?” the judge asked. “That’s the next time I’m scheduled to be here.”

  “That should work,” Jane Dark said.

  “Assuming the grand jury returns a true bill,” Denise said. Both Jane Dark and the judge rolled their eyes. Of course, the grand jury was going to return a true bill and indict Denny on all the charges.

  “Anything else, counsel?” the judge said. “I mean counsel and clinical law student.”

  “Your honor, we need to clear up the issue of Ms. Song’s ability to practice in this matter,” Jane Dark said.

  The judge nodded at her phone. “Then Ms. Song, you have till arraignment on the 20th to clear up your admission status and we can reconsider conditions of release at that time.”

  “And one more thing your honor,” Jane Dark added. “There’s the possible felony offense of Ms. Denise Song practicing law without a license. Not to mention fraud. My investigator will be researching her conduct over the last year to potentially charge Ms. Song, personally, with numerous violations of law. We might be doing two criminal arraignments on the 20th and not just one.”