“How are you going to make the connection between the drugs and the waiter?”
“Each of our witnesses from the party testified that you seemed fine, remember?”
“Sure,” Maddy answered.
“I have another one to testify that Rob told him he was taking you home because you weren’t feeling well. Arnold Beyer. Remember him?”
“No, and why didn’t you tell me before?”
Marc glanced over at her and said, “Tony talked to him this weekend and I forgot to mention it, sorry. I’ve had a lot on my mind.”
“Is he on our witness list?”
“Yes, he is. Just in case, I put the names of all the employees of CAR on our witness list.
“I think I can make the connection between the drugs and the waiter through Tony. Putting you on the stand is a bad idea. Do you want to testify?”
Maddy thought about the question while staring through the windshield. Finally, after more than a minute, she said, “Yes, no, maybe, I’m not sure. I’m sure the jury would like to hear from me and deny I did this. I’m worried about what they will think if I don’t.”
“Then the answer is no, you’re not getting on that stand. We will deal with what the jury might think with jury instructions.”
The next morning, Marc’s first witness was his expert criminalist, Jason Briggs, a man Marc had used before with very good results. A criminalist is basically an independent CSI type investigator. Briggs was in his early fifties, although he looked older because of his bald head, gold-rimmed glasses and diminutive frame. He earned a Baccalaureate Degree in Forensic Science from Northwestern and a Masters from Boston University. Briggs then spent ten years with the Chicago police department and six more in the Chicago office of the FBI. He had watched many people of lesser ability making a lot more money as independent agents and over ten years ago he decided to go that route himself. Because of his reputation from the CPD and FBI, he immediately tripled his income and worked less doing it.
Briggs job was essentially two-fold; first to show the jury evidence that a third person was in Robert Judd’s bedroom and second, to go over the investigation by the Crime Scene Unit of the MPD and cast doubt on their thoroughness.
Briggs skillfully used his photos and the photos taken by the CSU team to explain why he believed they missed some things. He also used the CSU team’s written report, the autopsy and medical examiner’s report to lead the jury around the bedroom and visualize the attack. By doing this, he was able to prove that Judd was not lying helplessly in bed. He was on his feet facing his attacker. The purpose was to give Marc the testimony to use, in his closing argument that this six foot four inch, two hundred and fifteen pound man was not likely stabbed fourteen times by a smaller person such as a woman.
Both the M.E. and the prosecution’s CSU witness testified the first stab wound occurred while he was lying in bed. The difference was in how the blood spatter was interpreted. The claim by the CSU blood spatter expert was weak and there was no reason to believe the claim Judd was lying down except that it fit in better with the prosecution’s claim that Maddy first stabbed Rob Judd while he was on the bed. Briggs used the same CSU photos themselves to show he was on his feet facing his attacker. Plus, there were multiple defensive wounds on his hands. The prosecution would argue the first stab wound did not kill him. The M.E. also testified to this. The defensive wounds on his hands came after the first stabbing when he got to his feet. Briggs gave the jury a very plausible reason to believe Judd was already on his feet when he was first stabbed. It could easily come down to which expert would the jury believe.
Jason Briggs was on the stand through the normal lunch hour until well past one o’clock. Marc had assigned Maddy the task of keeping an eye on the jury. If they looked bored or restless, she was to let Marc know while he examined Briggs. Amazingly, not once did any of the jurors show any symptoms of mental fatigue. Jason Briggs, being a professional witness, was not only informative but came across as candid, personable and even a little charming. Like a favorite uncle people respected and liked to listen to.
The weak part of his analysis was the third person in the bedroom testimony. He used two photos of blood-spatter to point out two places that could be the shape of a human’s shoeprint caused by the blood spray. It was not solid let alone definitive but the argument for reasonable doubt could be made.
Following a late lunch break, Gondeck went after Briggs like a shark to blood. Apparently, Gondeck had decided to treat this witness as nothing more than a professional, paid, witness-for-hire.
Briggs’ many years and multiple trials worth of experience allowed him to handle this attack smoothly. No matter what side he testified for, and he had testified many times as a prosecution witness, the other side always used this tactic. Attack the messenger as a paid witness. At the end, it would come down to whether or not the jury believed him and found reasonable doubt.
“How’s Gloria Metcalf dong? I feel terrible about what happened to her,” Maddy asked Tony.
The four of them, including Jason Briggs, were having dinner at Jason’s hotel.
“She’s fine. She’s on a cruise ship and will dock in Rome in a few hours. Vivian and I decided to get her out of town until after the trial is over to keep her away from the boys at CAR Securities. She’s having a leisurely cruise around the Mediterranean.”
“Have you talked to her? She’s okay?” Marc asked.
“She’s having the vacation of her life,” Tony said. “How did today go?”
“Good,” Marc replied. “We got what we wanted, what we needed, into evidence. It’s always building your story one piece at a time. Perry Mason is the only one who got the guilty guy to break down on the stand. The rest of us just stumble along.”
“I’m sorry I couldn’t do better with the footprints in the bedroom,” Briggs told Maddy.
“You did fine,” Maddy answered with a smile. “We’ll be okay.”
“Hey,” Marc said turning to Carvelli. “I just remembered, have you found out anything more about Rob Judd’s background or being in Witsec?”
“Nothing more on his background,” Carvelli replied. “I checked with a couple sources with the Feds and they tell me nothing shows up about him with Witsec.”
“Hmmm, well, okay,” Marc said. “Onward we go.”
FORTY-TWO
The next day Tony Carvelli was called to the witness stand following the afternoon break. During the morning session Marc had Dr. Nathan Lockhart testify about drawing blood and getting a urine sample from Maddy. Next up was the lab tech who took entirely too much time in the limelight. Instead of looking at the jury the way he had been told, he could not resist performing for the camera in the back of the courtroom.
It took the better part of two hours to get through it but Marc finally steered him to his conclusion; Madeline Rivers was drugged at the Fourth of July party the night before the murder. In his opinion, based on his professional judgment, the ‘roofies’ would have rendered her incapable of attacking Robert Judd and stabbing him fourteen times.
Marc then called a CAR employee, Arnold Beyer. Beyer basically verified what the lab tech had said. Beyer had sat at the table with Rob and Maddy while eating, as the other CAR employees testified, and Maddy was fine. Later he spoke to Rob when they were leaving who told him Maddy was not feeling well. He also testified seeing her obviously distressed. So much so that Rob had to help her walk.
Marc asked him about Maddy’s alcohol intake. Beyer said he saw her drink a couple of small glasses of beer over three or four hours, hardly enough for her to be intoxicated.
Jennifer Moore did the cross-examination and got him to admit it was possible she took some drugs both before they came to the party and after he saw her during dinner. Beyer admitted he did not watch her all night so it was possible she could have drugged herself and drank a lot more than what he saw. It came across as a little weak.
For credibility purposes, Marc and Tony spent the firs
t half hour going over Tony’s police career. Before this, Marc had never discussed these things with his P.I. friend. Unknown to Marc, Anthony Carvelli had a very distinguished career with the MPD. He had been the recipient of numerous awards for bravery, life-saving and best of all, twice awarded the Investigator of the Year honor.
When they moved into Carvelli’s investigation on behalf of Maddy, Marc tossed him a couple of easy questions and then let him go.
“I believed the source of the drugs must have been from one of the caterer’s people,” Tony said when he got to that part of his investigation.
“Why do you believe she didn’t take the drugs herself?”
“I’ve known her for years,” Tony answered. “She rarely drinks alcohol and I’ve never had reason to believe she does drugs. No, in my opinion, somebody…”
“Objection,” Gondeck said. “He’s not qualified to give an opinion about how she came to have drugs in her system.”
Graham thought about it for a moment then said, “No, he’s known the defendant for many years. He can give his opinion about this, if that’s where you’re going, Mr. Carvelli. Overruled.”
“I believe somebody slipped them into a drink she was served.”
“What did you do next?”
“I obtained the name of the catering service and got a list of their employees who worked the party,” he answered, careful not to draw a hearsay objection by admitting Maddy saw the guy’s picture in the paper.
“I then proceeded to quietly start checking them out. It didn’t take long for me to discover that one of the staff who worked the party was missing.”
“Who was that?” Marc asked.
“One of the waiters, a young man by the name of Kirk Jankovic.”
“Did you find him?”
“Sort of,” Tony answered.
“What do you mean, sort of?”
“He’d been murdered a few days after the party.”
This revelation caused an explosion in the courtroom. Gondeck practically jumped up on top of the table to yell his objection. The media and spectators rumbled like a herd heading for water and it took a gavel-pounding Judge Graham almost two minutes to restore order.
“Recess. In my chambers, now,” Graham said to the lawyers.
A minute later, Graham turned on Marc, “What the hell is this about?”
Marc, looking as innocent as possible, merely shrugged and said, “One of the wait staff,” he said, “who just happened to be the one who served my client,” he continued turning to Gondeck and Moore, “disappeared and was found murdered. We found out about it. If they didn’t,” he said referring to the prosecution, “that’s not my problem.”
“It clearly taints the jury and has no probative value on the issue of guilt or innocence, your Honor,” Jennifer Moore said. “So what if he slipped her something? She still could have done it.”
“I’m not done,” Marc said.
“Well, Ms. Moore, you make a good point and you can certainly argue that in your closing. But,” Graham said then turned to Marc, “I am a little troubled. Is it your theory she was drugged and set up? If so, where’s the connection?”
“The police found an envelope in his apartment with a thousand dollars in cash in it. His roommate has no idea where he got it,” Marc replied.
“He could’ve gotten it in tips,” Gondeck said.
“And you can make that argument,” Graham told Gondeck. “I’m going to let it in. The jury can infer whatever it wants to.”
Back in the courtroom, Carvelli testified about the money found in the waiter’s apartment and his questioning of the roommate. Obviously whatever the roommate told Tony was hearsay but Gondeck did not object. Knowing Marc could easily bring the roommate in to verify what he told Carvelli about the cash, he decided to let it slide.
Gondeck did the cross-examination of Carvelli and did an excellent job. Tony had no choice but to admit the entire thing about the waiter’s murder and cash was nothing more than speculation and conjecture.
“So, Mr. Carvelli, you admit that Mr. Jankovic’s death may have absolutely nothing to do with the case against the accused is that correct?”
“Yes, that’s true,” Tony admitted.
“Merely a coincidence?”
“Yes, could be,” Tony agreed.
This series of questions had been anticipated by Marc and his officemate, Barry Cline, when they had prepared Carvelli. Marc was also ready for redirect.
“Redirect, Mr. Kadella?”
“Yes, your Honor. Mr. Carvelli, do you believe Mr. Jankovic’s death was a mere coincidence, as the state suggests?”
“No, I do not.”
“Why not?”
“Because of my experience as a police officer, detective and now a private investigator. In fact, ask any cop with more than a year’s experience and they’ll all tell you in police work there’s no such thing as a coincidence.”
Gondeck started to rise to object, thought better of it and sat down. When Graham asked if he wanted to re-cross examine he hesitated for a moment then passed. He had obtained about all he was going to from Carvelli.
Another piece of reasonable doubt had been put in place.
As soon as the doors of the elevator were closed, a smiling Maddy Rivers practically jumped on Marc. She squeezed him as hard as she could and kissed him smack on the lips. She then turned on Carvelli and did the same thing.
“I haven’t felt this good in months,” Maddy exclaimed pumping both fists. “I think we hit a home run today!”
“Easy, tiger,” Marc said. “This isn’t over…”
“I know, I know,” Maddy said. “I do think we scored today.”
“Probably, but you never know. I hate to rain on your parade…”
“Then don’t,” Maddy said as she looped an arm through one of Marc’s and one of Tony’s. “Let me enjoy the moment. Maybe I’ll sleep tonight.”
Before the trial Marc had prepared a list of more than a dozen character witnesses to testify on Maddy’s behalf. Obviously, the jury would get bored listening to that many witnesses extolling the virtues of Madeline Rivers. Instead, he pared the list down to just two people.
The first one up the next morning created almost as much buzz, especially among her media brethren, as the murdered waiter bombshell. Gabriella Shriqui, the well-known, very recognizable host of a popular local TV show, came into the courtroom and onto the witness stand.
Gabriella’s testimony was actually a bit of a risk. She could and did testify about how well she knew Maddy and what a terrific person she was. Of course, with Gabriella’s well-known celebrity, this was likely to carry some weight with the jury. Especially her emphatic claim that Madeline Rivers did not use drugs.
The risk was two-fold. First was the fact Maddy had shot and killed someone to save Gabriella’s life. Gondeck would try to use this to show Maddy as a trigger-happy killer. Marc easily took most of the steam out of this by having Gabriella fully explain the circumstances. The man Maddy shot was an obsessed co-worker and child serial killer. He was holding a knife on Gabriella and wildly threatening to use it. If Gondeck wanted to try to twist that to make Maddy look bloodthirsty, Marc would wish him luck. The second issue was more problematic. Having saved her life, did Gabriella feel she owed Maddy something? Again, rather than allow the prosecution to go after this, Marc dealt with it and brought it out himself. Gabriella could and did deny that it influenced her but a jury could easily believe otherwise.
Gondeck’s cross-examination covered all of the areas Marc anticipated. Being an experienced prosecutor, he was able to show, in an unobjectionable way, his skepticism. It was very effective and Gondeck had enough to at least argue that Gabriella was obviously biased.
Gondeck finished and the court took a short recess. Before anyone could get through the hallway exit, the door opened and Marc’s next witness came in. Even the people who did not know who she was instinctively stepped aside to let her pass.
�
�Excuse me, thank you,” Vivian Donahue pleasantly repeated as she strolled up the center aisle to the front row behind the defense table.
Marc looked over at Gondeck who was glumly watching Vivian. When he noticed Marc, he gave him a little sneer then scratched the side of his face with his middle finger.
Marc stood up, stepped over to Gondeck and whispered, “I’m looking forward to you trying to cross-examine her and then see if you can keep your job. Go ahead, go after her, piss her off and see how it works out.”
“Thanks, I appreciate your concern,” he whispered back.
Marc used up the rest of the morning session with Vivian. With a character witness like her, he had to be very careful not to flaunt her wealth in front of the jury. Instead of focusing on that and the family’s political clout, he focused on her philanthropy. By the time they finished, she came across as a wealthy Mother Theresa, at least enough to give the jury the impression she did good things for people with her money. Plus, and this part was truly genuine, Vivian herself gave off the impression as someone who could enjoy a beer and hotdog at a ball game. Someone the jury could like despite her wealth. And of course, Maddy was the daughter she wished she had.
Seeing his career flash before his eyes if he went after this woman too hard, Gondeck completely passed on any cross-exam. He wasn’t going to get much out of her anyway so why try?
When Vivian was excused she went straight to Maddy and gave her a well-rehearsed, sincere hug before taking her seat in the front row next to Carvelli.
Graham recessed for lunch and before he was off the bench, Marc turned to Carvelli and said, “Go get him.”
“I got two guys on it including your old pal, Jake Waschke,” Carvelli said.
“Come on,” Marc replied, “don’t say that like that.”
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 249
