[Marc Kadella 04.0] Certain Justice

by Dennis Carstens

  “It’s about Craig Slocum and your trial,” he began.

  “Okay, what?” Marc asked not the least bit surprised that Slocum might be trying to pull something.

  Gondeck removed a folded single sheet of paper from his back pocket. On it was a handwritten list of names and job titles. He gave it to Marc who looked it over. There were a dozen names listed.

  “So, what are these?” Marc asked.

  “They’re the names of people in the county attorney’s office who know how much Slocum hates you personally. How much he blames you for damaging his political career.”

  “So what?” Marc asked.

  “They also know the stunt he pulled to surprise you at trial,” Gondeck said.

  For the next ten minutes he explained to Marc what he was talking about. What Craig Slocum had done to abuse his power in an attempt to convict Howie Traynor and get even with Marc.

  “You don’t seem surprised,” Gondeck said when he finished.

  “I’m not,” Marc calmly replied. “I’m not the only defense lawyer who has had problems with your boss.”

  “True,” Gondeck admitted.

  “How did you find out?”

  “His secretary. She’s on the list,” Gondeck said pointing a finger at her name.

  “This is all real nice,” Marc said with a shrug. “But it’s also confidential and privileged. None of these people can be forced to testify.”

  “Maybe,” Gondeck agreed, “maybe not. This is at least unethical and probably illegal. You’re a smart guy. You’ll figure out a way to use this.”

  Marc silently looked at his friendly adversary for a while before saying, “Why are you doing this? You could get disbarred for this.”

  Gondeck drained what was left in his glass. “Because it is flat out wrong. Aside from whether or not it is legal, illegal, ethical or unethical, it is simply wrong.

  “You know me, Marc. I like to win as much as the next guy and I still believe your client is guilty. But this is bullshit. And,” he quietly continued, “this isn’t the first time. Slocum has the attitude that rules are for others and don’t really apply to him. He has that ‘ends justifies the means’ Christian hypocrite problem. Besides, like I said, you’re a smart guy, you’ll think of something and protect me.”

  “Okay and thanks for putting me on the spot,” Marc replied with a touch of lawyer sarcasm.

  He thought about the information he had been given then said, “Well, I’m not sure what I can do with it yet but I’ll give it some thought and figure out something, I hope.”

  FIFTY-SIX

  Over the weekend temperatures climbed into the upper 40’s. The snow was gone, the streets clean and clear and car washes were doing a booming business.

  Monday morning Marc arrived at the government center shortly after 7:00. Both Friday and Saturday nights, having been relieved of the stress of trial for two days, Marc had slept the sleep of the dead. Last night, Sunday, he tossed and turned most of the night before giving up shortly after 5:00 A.M.

  Judge Koch’s courtroom door was unlocked when he arrived and the media herd was not there yet. While he was arranging his table with the items he would need, the judge’s clerk, Andy Combs, came into the courtroom. They greeted each other then Combs set up his desk next to the judge’s bench.

  “You’re early,” Combs said to Marc.

  “Couldn’t sleep,” Marc replied. “Is the judge in yet?”

  “Oh yeah,” Combs replied. “She’s here every day by 6:30. Do you need to see her?”

  “No,” Marc replied, “just curious.”

  “The state calls Martin Colstad,” Harris declared after Koch gave him the go ahead.

  Colstad was the clerk for Judge Ross Peterson. It was Colstad who alerted the police that Peterson was missing and it was Colstad, along with Officer Rhonda Dean, who found the judge’s body.

  Martin Colstad and Officer Dean combined were on the stand for about an hour and a half. The trial was still in its slow boring phase. The witnesses to be heard for the next few days would offer little to the question of guilty or not guilty. They were essential to paint a complete verbal picture for the jury of the death of each victim.

  Between the two of them, Colstad and Dean explained what they did and why, how they came to search for the missing judge and what they found at his house. When he finished first with Colstad and then Dean, Ramsey passed each of the witnesses over to Marc.

  Colstad was a career government employee. He had a degree as a paralegal and worked in the Hennepin County courts for over sixteen years, the last ten as Judge Peterson’s personal clerk. Because of his position with the judge, Colstad would have firsthand knowledge of Peterson as a judge.

  Marc amiably asked a few questions to establish that fact then quickly changed to a more serious manner.

  “Isn’t it true that Judge Peterson would not be described as a pleasant man?”

  Colstad, despite watching hundreds of others testify in trials over the years was a little nervous. This question caught him off guard and he visibly shifted in his seat.

  “Objection,” Ramsey said rising to address the court. “Judge Peterson’s personality is not on trial and is irrelevant.”

  “If you will indulge me a bit, your Honor, I’ll be able to demonstrate the relevance,” Marc said.

  “I’ll overrule the objection, for now, but I expect you to get there,” Koch ruled. “The witness will answer.”

  “Well, um, yes, you could say that.”

  “Isn’t it also true that Judge Peterson was known to be more favorable to the prosecution in criminal matters?”

  “Well, I don’t think…”

  “You’re under oath, Mr. Colstad,” Marc sharply reminded him.

  “Yes, he was,” Colstad quietly agreed.

  “Objection, relevance,” Ramsey tried again.

  “I’m getting there, your Honor,” Marc said in rebuttal.

  “Overruled,” Koch said again as Ramsey sat down.

  “Isn’t it also true that he was known as a law and order judge who gave out harsh, stiff sentences to guilty defendants?”

  Ramsey started to rise but Koch held out a hand and said, “Keep your seat, Mr. Ramsey. I see where he’s going.”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Colstad reluctantly admitted.

  “During the ten years you clerked for him, did the judge receive death threats from people he had sent to prison?”

  “All judges do,” Colstad said.

  “Nonresponsive, your Honor,” Marc said while continuing to stare at Colstad.

  “Answer the question, Mr. Colstad,” Koch firmly admonished him.

  “Yes, he did,” Colstad agreed.

  “How many?”

  “Oh, I don’t know the exact number,” Colstad answered.

  “When the judge did receive a threatening letter, you notified the police didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  Marc reached into his briefcase and removed a stack of paper that looked like copies of letters. He placed the two-inch thick stack on the table and asked again, “How many did he receive?”

  Colstad looked around the room hoping for a reprieve from answering. When one was obviously not forthcoming he said, “Over four hundred.”

  This answer caused a minor stirring in the courtroom which brought one sharp, loud bang from Judge Koch’s gavel.

  “Isn’t it also true that not a single one of the more than four hundred threatening letters Judge Peterson received was written by my client, Howie Traynor?”

  “I, ah, don’t believe so,” Colstad answered.

  “Is that a yes, Mr. Colstad? None of those letters was written by Howie Traynor?”

  “Yes, that’s true,” Colstad agreed.

  “Judge Peterson had a lot of people wanting to do him harm, didn’t he Mr. Colstad?”

  “Argumentative,” Ramsey objected.

  “Sustained. You made your point, Mr. Kadella. Move it along.”

&nb
sp; Having obtained what he wanted from Peterson’s clerk, the obvious admission that others wanted him dead also, Marc ended his questioning.

  Marc had only a few questions for Rhonda Dean. These were designed to fortify the fact that there were differences in the way Peterson’s body looked than the others. Since the M.E. and CSU people would have to testify, Dean’s corroboration would verify that the body was found with no blood on it or mangled fingers and toes. The greater details of how he died would come later.

  When Dean finished, Koch called for a short break. The judge and jury left the courtroom and the spectators filed out into the hall.

  “How did you get copies of those letters?” Howie asked Marc referring to the papers Marc was putting back in his briefcase.

  “I didn’t. I was bluffing,” Marc said and winked at Howie.

  The rest of the day was used up by minor witnesses for each victim. After Judge Peterson, the prosecution continued with the victims in order. The next witnesses were the man who discovered the body of Eugene Parlow’s lawyer, Cara Meyers. He was followed by the police officer who was first on the scene. While the photo of Cara Meyers was displayed on the TV screen, each described what they did. The idea was again for the prosecution to build their case brick-by-brick. The Cara Meyers witnesses finished after lunch and before the afternoon break.

  “Your honor, we’re running a little ahead of schedule and our next witnesses are not here,” Harris quietly admitted. The lawyers were arrayed at the judge’s bench.

  “Do you have anyone else lined up to go this afternoon?” Koch asked.

  “No, your Honor. We didn’t expect to finish with these until later today. We anticipated a longer cross-examination by Mr. Kadella,” Harris said in a weak attempt to lay the blame on Marc.

  “Nice try,” Marc said.

  “Very well,” Koch said. “We’ll adjourn for the day. But you’d better be ready to go first thing in the morning.”

  “More gruesome details from the Crown of Thornes case,” Melinda Pace began the show by saying.

  The first half of her show was taken up with a live Q & A between Melinda and Gabriella Shriqui. The value of the news was somewhat minimal but it did give Melinda an opportunity to display a picture of each of the victims. Of course, Melinda gave the audience the usual warning to get the kids away from the TV because of the graphic nature of the photos. This is, of course, designed to be sure to get everyone’s attention by letting the audience know something really juicy was coming.

  The use of the photos caught Gabriella completely off guard. She had no idea that Melinda was going to do this. Plus, Gabriella was extremely curious about how Melinda got her hands on these pictures. Melinda would never admit she paid a thousand dollars in cash out of her own pocket to a source in Slocum’s office. It was a source who sold them with the full knowledge of Craig Slocum himself.

  Later that evening, during the 6:30 rerun of Melinda’s show, Howie Traynor showed no emotion when the pictures filled the jail’s TV screen. Several of the other guests in the room made admiring comments while stealing short, quick glances at the celebrity inmate.

  The finale of Melinda’s show, as usual, was a quick story of her selection for “Today’s Dumbest Criminal.” The county inmates sat enraptured by what they considered the best part of the show.

  “From Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Melinda began, “We have today’s featured story.

  “Jacob Canfield attempted to rob the Tulsa County Bank. He held a gun on the teller, a twenty-one-year-old woman by the name of Anna Sanchez, while she stacked the money on the counter. Instead of making Ms. Sanchez put the money in a bag for him, our would-be bank robber placed the gun on the counter so he could use both hands to stuff the money in his pockets. Anna, brave girl that she is, picked up the gun and pointed it at today’s idiot.

  “Rather than surrender, Jacob turned and sprinted toward the door. Anna fired a couple of shots and one of them hit him in, well folks, I’ll be blunt, his butt. As he was going down from being shot, Jacob did a header into the unbreakable glass of the front door. He knocked himself out, gave himself a concussion and compressed neck. The Tulsa police found him unconscious on the floor while Anna stood over him still holding the gun.

  “The report is he’ll be out of the hospital in a few days. He’ll probably hire a lawyer to sue the bank and contact the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the bank for violating his civil rights for excessive use of force. Would anyone be surprised? As for me, I am just sorry that this guy will someday father children and pass his genes along.”

  FIFTY-SEVEN

  Friday morning and Marc was again going through his ritual after parking his car. He opened the briefcase on the passenger seat and removed a yellow legal pad. While he remained seated in his car he read through the notes he had made in anticipation of today’s testimony.

  True to his reputation, Tommy Harris did a competent, if not spectacular job of putting enough testimony into evidence to satisfy each element of each charge. The one exception being the kidnapping of Elliot Sanders.

  For the past three days, Harris and Ramsey put on a parade of witnesses. Included were the people who found each body, the first responder, police officers and a CSU tech to testify about their procedures.

  Harris saved the best for last. The medical examiner who performed the autopsies had to testify about the cause of death for each victim. The prosecution was also allowed to put more grisly photos in front of the jury. The M.E. explained the wounds from their throats being slit to the crushed fingers and toes when they were tortured. The real purpose of this gruesome display was to insight the jury with enough revulsion to get them to make somebody pay for this.

  The medical examiner who conducted the autopsies, Clyde Marston, had to admit Peterson died from a heart attack. Marston insisted it was caused by the pacemaker being overcharged by the Taser and it was not natural causes. Marc also got him to admit that whoever did it, did not intend to induce a heart attack. This admission likely removed first-degree premeditation for the death of Peterson and probably second-degree murder as well. Given the list of murder charges Howie Traynor faced, this was a minor victory at best.

  The number one issue facing the jury was still: who did this? All of the other issues, including the other first degree premeditated murder charges were still there. There were no eyewitnesses and no confession but the jury could easily infer premeditation from how the crimes were committed. The case would come down to whether or not the jury unanimously believed Howard Traynor did them. One conviction for first degree murder and Howie dies in prison.

  Marc completed his last minute review of what he believed was coming today. The prosecution had timed their case perfectly. It was Friday and Marc saw them finishing their case this afternoon with their psychiatrist.

  Marc was previously provided with a copy of the doctor’s report. His name was George Christie and of course, he came with impeccable credentials. Dr, Christie was head of the Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University. He was also an acknowledged leading expert in the field of sociopathic mental illness.

  Christie had been given all of Howie’s medical records back to his birth. According to his report, the doctor would testify that Howie Traynor was a sociopath from birth and as such his particular psychosis was untreatable. Therefore, his conversion to Catholicism and alleged transformation to a model citizen was a total scam.

  Marc was too late to enter the courtroom through the front door. The hallway was already too crowded with the media and curiosity seekers. Instead, Marc used the security intercom and a deputy allowed him to enter through the back hallway.

  When he did he was surprised to find Harris and Ramsey already seated at their table.

  “We need to see the judge,” Harris said while Marc hung up his coat. Without waiting for a reply, Harris started toward the door leading to the chamber’s hallway.

  Marc watched Harris with Ramsey trying to catch up then said, “Is it okay if I
come with?”

  Paul Ramsey turned his head to Marc, smiled and lightly laughed. Tommy Harris completely ignored the sarcastic question and marched through the door.

  Marc caught up with the two prosecutors as they were taking their usual seats in the judge’s chambers. Before he could sit down Harris started in on the reason for this meeting.

  “Judge, we want to reopen the issue of the cigarettes found on the roof of the building next door to Traynor’s apartment.”

  An alarm went off in Marc’s head and he said, “I want this on the record, your Honor.”

  Koch, seated behind her semi-cluttered desk, looked at Marc and said, “I agree.”

  Koch called her clerk in and they all waited for almost ten minutes while the trial’s court reporter came in and set up his equipment. When he was ready he let Koch know it. The judge then made a statement about the time and place of this in camera hearing.

  “You may proceed, Mr. Harris,” Koch told Tommy.

  “Thank you, your Honor,” Harris began hiding his disappointment that a complete record was being made. “We believe we should be allowed to submit testimony about the three cigarette butts with the defendant’s DNA. The test was delayed through no fault of the prosecution.

  “I have two affidavits to submit from the head of the BCA lab and the technician who conducted the test,” Harris continued as he handed copies of both documents to Marc and Judge Koch. “Apparently there was some problem we were not aware of. We want to put the technician Burt Orland on the stand. He is on our witness list. I also have copies of case law, your Honor, to back up our position,” Harris said handing copies of the cases to Koch and Marc.

  “Mr. Kadella,” Koch said to Marc.