[Marc Kadella 03.0] Media Justice

by Dennis Carstens

  At that point, Hart removed the disk from the evidence bag and placed it in the DVD player wired to the television. While the BCA agent, Linda Johnson filmed and handled the technical part, Porter performed and narrated what they were doing. The entire movie lasted a little more than thirty minutes. The relevant part, the reason for doing it, was the filming of Porter in the water.

  Wearing knee-high rubber boots, the young woman carried a cinder block with a piece of rope attached to it and tied to the ankle of a doll. These items, through this witness, were all marked and entered into evidence. What the film supposedly proved was that a woman the size of Brittany Riley could carry these objects by herself. Porter waded into the water and dropped the cinder block and doll in the exact same spot where Becky was found, the pole that the CSU people had placed in the river marking the spot was still there.

  When the film was finished, Hart stood and asked, “At this time your Honor, the state requests that the defendant stand next to the witness for a comparison of their size.”

  “Mr. Kadella?” Connors said.

  “No objections, your Honor,” Marc replied. He then whispered to Brittany to go up to the witness stand and stand next to Porter but be very careful not to say a word.

  Porter stepped down into the well and the two young women stood side-by-side. They could have been sisters and Hart had them stand there so the jury could get a good look.

  “Your Honor, I would like the record to reflect that the witness and the defendant are the same height and size.”

  “So noted. You may return to your seat, Ms. Riley,” Connors politely said.

  “I have no more questions,” Hart said.

  “Mr. Kadella?”

  “I have no questions but I reserve the right to recall her.”

  “Very well,” Connors said. He looked at Porter and said, “Keep yourself available. You can go for now.”

  “The prosecution rests, your Honor,” Hart informed him.

  Marc stood up and made the obligatory request that the case be dismissed for failure of the prosecution to present sufficient evidence to support the charges. Connors quickly denied it. Marc then assured him he would be ready to begin his case at 1:00 and Connors broke for lunch.

  SIXTY-TWO

  Arriving back at the courtroom following the lunch break, Marc was pleased to find Jeff Modell, his office paralegal, seated at the table. As Marc and Brittany passed through the gate Marc asked Jeff, “All set?”

  Without answering his boss, Jeff smiled at Brittany and offered to take her coat. As he did this, Marc reached toward Jeff with his overcoat thinking Jeff would take it too. Instead, Jeff turned his back to him just as the coat slipped out of Marc’s hand to fall crumpled on the floor.

  Jeff hung up Brittany’s coat and turned back to the table, ignored Marc and his overcoat and quickly sat down next to Brittany.

  “Don’t worry, I’ll get it,” Marc said to Jeff as he bent down to pick up his coat.

  “Okay,” Jeff said without taking his eyes off of Brittany or his right hand from the back of her chair. “How are you doing?” Jeff asked Brittany.

  “Okay,” she smiled at the obviously smitten young man.

  “You’ve got some fans out there,” Jeff said referring to the pro-Brittany marchers in front of the building. During the week their numbers had grown to over one-hundred. Sheriff Cale was a very displeased man because he had to waste eight to ten deputies to keep the two sides separate. The yelling back and forth was causing concern about the possibility of a clash between them.

  “It’s nice to know not everyone thinks I’m a monster,” she replied.

  “Hey! Yoo-hoo,” Marc quietly said waving a hand to get Jeff’s attention. When he finally took his eyes off of Brittany and looked at Marc, Marc asked, “Are you ready?”

  “Oh, yeah. Sure. All set and in the order you gave me.”

  “Pay attention.”

  Marc turned around and saw Maddy watching Jeff with a big smile on her face. At that moment, Tony Carvelli and Vivian Donahue reached the front row to sit with the defense supporters. Marc wheeled his chair back to the rail to say hello and chat with them.

  “How ya’ doing, counselor?” Tony asked.

  “Okay,” Marc shrugged. “Hello, welcome back,” he said when he spotted Brittany’s aunt, Charlotte Daniels, sitting with the Rileys.

  A minute or so later, the judge came out, took the bench and when everyone returned to their seats, told Marc to call his first witness.

  Marc stood and said, “Your Honor, the defense calls Lennon McCartney.” The sound of this name, being what it was, caused an immediate buzz through the gallery. A moment later, a woman carrying a leather folder and wearing the dark green pants and tan shirt uniform of an agent of the Minnesota Department of Natural Resources came through the door. She was a fairly tall, fit, and attractive woman with medium length brown hair worn in a ponytail. After being sworn in, she took the stand gave her name including spelling both names, her address and occupation.

  Judge Connors, who had indicated to the court reporter to go off the record, asked her, smiling, “Lennon McCartney? Really? Mom a big Beatles fan?”

  “Mom and Dad. Dad already had the last name and Mom came up with the first name. Most of the time I like it. It’s certainly different and gets people’s attention.”

  Connors told the court reporter to go back on the record and informed Marc he could begin.

  Marc had her begin with her education and work record. She told the jury her history with the DNR what her job description was and the geographic zone in which she worked and patrolled.

  “Is the area along the river where the remains of Becky Riley were found in your patrol area?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Do you routinely patrol this area?”

  “Yes, at least once a week. It’s an open fishing and hunting spot along the river so I keep an eye out for illegal hunting and fishing there and several other places along the river. I also keep track of the river level, how high or low the river is to monitor flooding.”

  “Did you patrol this area during the months of August and September of last year?”

  “For most of it. I took a couple of weeks of vacation in mid-September.”

  “Tell the jury what your normal routine would be at this spot on the river.”

  She explained that she would check any hunters or people fishing for licenses and the amount of game or fish taken. Most of the time, during the week, there would not be anyone there for her to check. Those were the times she would walk the shoreline measuring the height of the river.

  “I have to ask, Agent McCartney,” Marc began. “If you routinely walk the shoreline measuring the water level how is it you failed to find the body of Becky Riley?” This question had been thoroughly prepared so the witness would not be blindsided by the prosecution with it.

  “As you probably recall, we had a lot of snow the previous winter and rain in the spring and early summer. The river’s water level was unusually high and the foliage growth, especially the cattails along the river bank, was quite thick. Where the body was found, it would have been farther out in the river than it was when it was found. I’m not even sure you would have seen it even if you had been looking for it which, of course, I wasn’t.”

  Marc asked for and received permission to approach the witness. He picked up a stack of photos and handed McCartney the first one.

  “Agent McCartney, I’m showing you a photo marked for identification as defense Exhibit A. Do you recognize it?”

  “Yes,” she answered. At that moment, Jeff clicked a key on his laptop and the same photo appeared on the TV screen.

  “Is Exhibit A the same as the photo on the television screen in the courtroom?”

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Describe for the jury what this picture is.”

  “Objection,” Vanderbeck said. “Foundation.”

  “Sustained.”

  “Who took this
picture?” Marc asked.

  “I did,” McCartney replied.

  Marc looked at Connors who, being satisfied, told him to proceed.

  “What is it?”

  “It’s a photo of the spot where the body was found. You can see the pole the police placed in the water to mark the spot. It was taken, on October 31, Halloween. The date is in the lower right-hand corner.”

  For the next half hour, Marc stood next to the witness box handing Agent McCartney a series of photos of that area of the river. He went through the same routine with her marking and identifying them and comparing each to the picture Jeff put up on the TV. They were a series of pictures she had taken as the water level of the river rose and then receded beginning in the spring until early autumn. Each one had a measuring device, usually a metal rod stuck in the ground, to show the rising and falling levels.

  “I’m showing you defense Exhibit K. Do you recognize it?”

  “Yes, it was taken on August eighth. You can see the date.” At that point, she opened her leather folder and checked it. “I took that photo on August eighth and then I came back on the twelfth and according to my notes, the river had already receded almost a foot.”

  During her testimony, there was absolute silence in the courtroom. It was evident to everyone where Marc was going, with the possible exception of Lowell Vanderbeck.

  “Your Honor,” Vanderbeck stood and said before Hart could stop him. “I fail to see the relevance?”

  Connors looked at Marc who said, “We’re getting there, your Honor.”

  “Overruled.”

  Marc handed her another photo, went through the routine record building questions and asked her to identify it while Jeff put it on the TV screen.

  “It’s the photo taken on August twelfth.”

  “Is that the same pole marking the same spot as Exhibit K?” Marc asked as he walked over to the TV.

  “Yes, it is.”

  “Agent McCartney, what is this brown, dirty area on the phot marked Exhibit L a foot or so to the left of your measuring pole?”

  “That is the top of a depression where the water had eroded the river bank.”

  Marc looked at Jeff who put another photo up alongside Exhibit L showing the full eroded area, one of the photos she had already identified and had been entered into evidence.

  “Is this the same area after the water level went down, the same eroded area as Exhibit L?”

  “Yes, it is. I took that picture on October first after returning from vacation.

  A third photo of the same spot went up on the screen alongside the first two.

  “Do you recognize this photo?”

  “Well, yes. It’s a picture of the scene where the body was found.”

  “Did you take this picture?”

  “No, I did not.”

  “Can you read this, please?” Marc asked pointing to a marker on the photo.

  “State’s Exhibit 6.”

  “And do you recognize this?” Marc asked pointing to the object in the photo.

  “Yes, it is the pole the police placed in the water to mark the spot where the little girl was found.”

  Marc walked back to the witness stand and handed her another photo. They went through the identification routine and Marc stood back and let her explain to the jury what it was.

  McCartney and Marc’s criminalist, Jason Briggs, had tied a rope to a post at the high water mark along the shore. It was set into the ground at the top of the eroded area. They then tied the rope to the pole in the watermarking the spot where Becky was found. In the photo taken by Briggs with McCartney’s camera, was Agent McCartney, standing in the river next to the pole to demonstrate how high the water was on August eighth, about the time Becky was put in the river. The water level would have been up to McCartney’s chest.

  “Agent McCartney, I would now like you to come off of the witness stand.”

  When she did, Marc had her pick up the cinder block found in the river with Becky tied to it. The brick weighed almost forty pounds and when she got it, she just held it with her right hand down at her side and faced the jury.

  “Agent McCartney, place your left hand on yourself where the water level was on August eighth.”

  She placed her left hand just below her breasts which made it obvious the cinder block would have been completely underwater.

  “In your opinion, could you have carried that cinder block that far into the river and dropped it off?”

  “Objection, your Honor. Calls for speculation.”

  “Overruled, you may answer.”

  “I don’t think so. Carrying something this heavy underwater would be very difficult.”

  “How about if you were also carrying a thirty-pound child in the other hand?”

  “Objection…’

  “Sustained. You’ve made your point.”

  Marc took the cinder block and made an exaggerated effort to put it back.

  “Your Honor,” he said turning to the judge while McCartney remained standing. “I would like to have Ms. Riley stand next to the witness for a comparison.”

  “Objection,” Vanderbeck said.

  “Overruled. Go ahead.”

  Brittany walked up to them and the two women stood side-by-side facing the jury. McCartney was at least three inches taller and twenty to thirty pounds heavier. The image and message were quite clear. It was highly unlikely someone Brittany’s size could have carried that cinder block and Becky that far into the river.

  Vanderbeck conducted the cross-exam for the prosecution which began after the break. The state’s attorney did about as good a job as anyone could have, actually impressing Marc. He had McCartney on the stand for almost two hours trying to find a way to crack her story. Having been grilled the same way by Marc’s officemate, Barry Cline, McCartney was calm and almost casual in dealing with it. Of course, she also had truth on her side. You don’t have to keep track of lies when you don’t tell any.

  The best Vanderbeck could do was get her to admit it was possible to heft the cinder block up onto a shoulder and carry it into the water that way. It was at least something he could argue in closing.

  Marc was kicked back on his couch in his apartment when The Court Reporter came on that evening at 6:30. He watched with amusement as Melinda Pace and the former fed prosecutor, Steve Farben, argued with defense attorney Andrea Briscomb. Briscomb was arguing that Marc had kicked a large hole in the state’s case with the afternoon’s testimony. Melinda and Farben still believed a conviction was coming because Kadella didn’t come close to proving she didn’t do it.

  “He doesn’t have to prove she didn’t do it,” Briscomb countered.

  “A baby is dead. There’s plenty of circumstantial evidence pointing at the mother. In a case like this, the jury is going to want someone to pay for that,” Farben argued.

  “Yes, I admit that’s probably a good point,” Briscomb conceded.

  Melinda, as usual, got in the last word. “Besides, who’s to say she didn’t have help? Someone could have been helping her. It certainly makes sense.”

  Once again, the phone lines at the station lit up congratulating Melinda for not being fooled. Tricky defense lawyers should not be able to get away with confusing the jury with sideshow nonsense. This was still ninety percent the public’s sentiment.

  SIXTY-THREE

  “Your Honor, the defense calls Dr. Jason Briggs,” Marc said, calling his next witness. Despite the fact that Judge Connors had not announced that testimony would be taken this Saturday, word had leaked out and the gallery was full again. Marc’s witness was led in, sworn and took the stand.

  Briggs was almost a professional witness. He had testified in over a hundred trials and was fully prepared by Marc for this one. Like all experts, they started his testimony by building a record of his qualifications. Then the two of them spent a few minutes explaining to the jury what a criminalist did. Essentially, he was a forensic scientist. He was a crime scene and evidence investigato
r.

  Marc received permission to approach the witness and brought a stack of photos with him. These were the same photos of the scene at the river he had gone over with the DNR Agent McCartney the day before. For the trial record and before they could be admitted into evidence, Marc had to have the ones Briggs had taken authenticated by him and verify that he had taken them. Jeff Modell was in attendance again and as Marc went over each picture, Jeff took the opportunity to put them up on the television screen again. Marc took his time to give the jury another good look and Briggs testified that he was the one who took each picture.

  They then moved on to the cinder blocks and rope. Briggs admitted the cinder block found in the water attached to Becky Riley’s skeleton was an exact match in composition to the ones taken from the Rileys’ garage. He also admitted the rope attached to Becky’s ankle matched the rope from the garage.

  “There is a problem with the rope attached to the victim’s ankle,” Briggs said.

  “Explain that to the jury, please.”

  “The cut marks don’t match.” At that point, Jeff put a magnified photo of the river rope up on the screen. “The cut marks on the ends of the rope taken from the river do not match the cut from the one found in the garage. The cuts on both ends of the rope from the river match each other which could only happen if it was cut using the same instrument, a knife or scissors of some kind. I compared the cut marks on the river rope with every knife and scissors at the Rileys’ and found none that made that exact cut. But I did find a knife at the Rileys’ home that definitely left the cut mark on the end of the rope taken from the Rileys’ garage.”

  Marc held up a knife, received permission to approach the witness and gave it to Briggs. A couple of quick questions and he identified it as the knife he tested that matched the garage rope.