03_Cornered Coyote

by Dianne Harman

  “I have no comment,” Jordan replied as he tried to get by them. “How’s Maria holding up?” Every step forward took considerable effort as he struggled to make his way through the swarm of reporters. “Are you going to marry her?” By the time he got to his car, he was exhausted. “Did she really get four million dollars?”

  “I told you I have no comment. Good evening.”

  Jordan drove home, walked to his wine rack and opened a bottle of his favorite cabernet sauvignon. He poured a glass of the dark red wine, turned on the television, and gasped when he saw himself on the screen. The reporter stated that the Maria Brooks trial was attracting nationwide interest and then he quoted some of the damning parts contained in Marsha’s opening statement. Jordan began to wonder if Maria was going to get a fair trial.

  CHAPTER 35

  “Ms. Sinclair, call your first witness,” Judge Adams said.

  Marsha stood and said, “The People call Tammy Ryan.”

  “Please state your name,” the clerk said.

  “Tammy Ryan.”

  “Raise your right hand. Do you solemnly swear that the testimony you are about to give will be the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”

  “I do.”

  “Miss Ryan, do you know the defendant, Maria Brooks?”

  “Yes. Maria and I were friends in high school, although she was Maria Rodriguez then. We went to the same church and were in some of the same classes at school.”

  “Do you remember the last time you saw Maria?”

  “Yes. It was at church. I was helping out in the back room of the office where people donated clothing. Maria came in and said she had a job interview at a big company and didn’t have anything to wear. Judy, the woman in charge of donations, gave her a lot of clothes. We talked for a few minutes about her interview.”

  “Did she tell you the name of the company?”

  “Yes.”

  “What was the name of the company?”

  “Moore Scientific Laboratories.”

  “Did you ever go to her house?”

  “Yes. I went there several times.”

  “Would you tell the court what you observed about her family and the home you visited?”

  “Maria was the oldest of eleven children. The family lived in a small two-bedroom house in the barrio in Santa Ana. Her mother was a housekeeper and her father was a gardener’s assistant. I remember that her brother was killed in a drug deal.”

  “Would you say that the family was poor?”

  Brian jumped to his feet. “Objection. The question calls for an opinion. This witness has not been qualified to testify as an expert witness.”

  “Sustained,” Judge Adams said.

  “Did Maria ever tell you she wanted to get out of the barrio?”

  “Yes.”

  “What did she say?”

  “She said she wanted to be rich and get out of the barrio. She said she’d do anything to get out of the barrio. In fact, I remember a mantra she would often repeat which she told me her mother had taught her.”

  “And would you tell the court what that mantra was?”

  “Yes. I’m pretty sure it was ‘Get a good job. Find a rich man. Get out of the barrio.’ ”

  “Did she get out of the barrio?”

  “I heard she did.”

  Once again Brian rose to his feet. “Objection, Your Honor. That is hearsay.”

  “Sustained.”

  “Thank you Miss Ryan. No more questions. Counselor, your witness.”

  Brian stepped from behind the defense table and stood in front of Tammy.

  “Miss Ryan, where did you live in relation to where Maria lived?”

  “I lived on the street behind her.”

  “Is the street that you lived on considered to be in the barrio?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you ever tell anyone that you wanted to be rich and get out of the barrio?”

  “Probably.”

  “Isn’t it true that almost everyone who lives in the barrio wants to become rich and get out of it?”

  Marsha rose to her feet. “Objection. Question calls for speculation.”

  “Sustained,” the judge said.

  “Miss Ryan, where do you live now?”

  “I live in Redondo Beach.”

  “Is it a fair assumption to say that you got out of the barrio?”

  She looked down at her hands and softly said, “Yes, I suppose so.”

  “No more questions, your honor.”

  * * * * *

  The next witness Marsha called was Dan Jones. After he was sworn in, she asked, “Mr. Jones, do you know Maria Brooks?”

  “Yes.”

  “How did you come to know her?”

  “Jeffrey Brooks and I worked together at Moore Labs. He introduced me to Maria, a woman he had met while they both worked there. They fell in love and got married. I was the best man at their wedding. Later, I was Maria’s boss.”

  “Would you say that you and Jeffrey Brooks were good friends?”

  “Yes. We often met for a drink after work. I was a scientist like Jeffrey. We discussed things we were working on and office gossip.”

  “Did Jeffrey have any mental problems?”

  “Objection,” Brian said. “The question calls for an expert opinion and the witness has not been qualified as an expert.”

  “Sustained.”

  “All right,” Marsha said. “Did you ever see Jeffrey Brooks do anything that caused you to question his mental stability?”

  “Never.”

  “One day at work did you happen to find a vial of the anti-aging hormone in Maria’s purse?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please tell the court how that happened.”

  “The workday had ended and I was getting ready to leave for the day when I noticed that Maria’s purse was on her desk. I thought she’d forgotten it. As I picked it up to put it in her desk drawer, I noticed a vial inside. It was labeled ‘Property of Moore Scientific Laboratories.’ Moore Labs had a policy that the contents of all vials must have a designation on them of what was contained in the vial to prevent accidents. The one in Maria’s purse contained the anti-aging hormone that Jeffrey had discovered.”

  “Did you tell Maria you had found it in her purse?”

  “Yes.”

  “Tell us about the conversation you and Maria had after you discovered the vial in her purse.”

  “I told her I’d found it and asked what it was doing in her purse. She asked me to keep it a secret and told me about how she had grown up afraid of getting old. She said she’d told Jeffrey about her fears and he’d offered to give her the anti-aging hormone. It was in her purse because it was time for her monthly injection.”

  “Isn’t that against company policy?”

  “Yes. All employees have to sign legal documents when they’re hired by Moore Labs. All of our discoveries were the property of Moore Labs, and we were even required to sign contracts which specifically prevented us from using our discoveries for any personal purposes.”

  “So what you’re telling the court is that Jeffrey Brooks knew he was doing something in violation of company policy when he gave his wife, Maria Brooks, the anti-aging hormone, so she would not show signs of aging. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “No further questions.”

  Brian mentally debated whether to try and destroy Dan’s testimony, but decided it would imprint the damning fact that Maria had the vial in her purse.

  “I have no questions, your Honor.”

  * * * * *

  The third witness for the prosecution was a secretary who had worked with Maria, by the name of Jennifer Mason.

  “Miss Mason, what was your relationship with Maria Brooks?”

  “We were both secretaries at Moore Labs. We often met in the cafeteria for lunch and on breaks.”

  “Did Maria ever tell you about her fear of aging?”

  “Yes. Se
veral times she mentioned how her mother had always told her to ‘Get a good job. Find a rich man. Get out of the barrio.’ She said it became her personal mantra. I remember her laughing about it one day. She said she was finally out of the barrio, she had a good job, and she’d found a man who was going to become rich because of his anti-aging discovery.”

  “How did you find out that Maria and Jeffrey had been fired?”

  Brian rose and walked to the witness stand. “Objection. Assumes facts not in evidence. It has not been determined that Maria and Jeffrey were fired.”

  Marsha covered her mistake by looking down at the pad of paper in her hand. Damn, I should have put Sidney Moore on the stand first. He’s the one who fired Jeffrey. Oh well, it’s not fatal. He’s my next witness.

  “I have no more questions for this witness.”

  “You may cross-examine,” Judge Adams said.

  Brian rose and walked to the witness stand.

  “Miss Mason, do a lot of secretaries at Moore Labs marry scientists who work there?”

  “I don’t know the exact numbers, but yes, a lot of them do.”

  “Are the scientists considered to be wealthy by the secretaries?”

  Marsha rose. “Objection. The witness has not been qualified as an expert witness.”

  “Sustained.”

  “I have no more questions, your Honor.”

  “It’s 12:15. We’ll break for lunch. Court will resume at 1:30.”

  Brian turned to Maria before the bailiff took her away. “She has a few more witnesses and she’ll probably finish up this afternoon. We’ll be on tomorrow, maybe going into the next day, then Marsha and I will give our closing arguments and it will be up to the jury. See you after lunch.”

  Court resumed at 1:30. Marsha called Sidney Moore.

  “You are the founder and owner of Moore Scientific Laboratories, Inc., is that correct?” Marsha asked.

  “Yes, I am.”

  “Would you tell the court the nature of the work that Jeffrey Brooks did for Moore Labs?”

  “Yes. He was one of our scientists.”

  “Is it true he discovered an anti-aging hormone?”

  “Yes, he did. It was a brilliant discovery.”

  “And is it also true that there was a good chance he would win the Nobel Prize for his discovery?”

  “Yes, our company and several other companies in the field felt he was a top contender.”

  “You fired Jeffrey, isn’t that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please tell the court the circumstances of his dismissal.”

  “I was informed by Dan Jones that Jeffrey was injecting his wife, Maria Brooks, with the anti-aging hormone to help her remain young and beautiful. I contacted my in-house legal counsel when I found out and he assured me that what Jeffrey had done was unethical and a violation of Moore’s written rules and policies. He confirmed that Jeffrey had signed legally binding contracts with the company when he was hired which specifically prohibited him from doing what he had done. It was clearly spelled out that those were grounds for dismissal. I fired him late in the afternoon of that very day.”

  “For many years, you have been around the scientists who work at your company. Is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “How would you assess Jeffrey’s scientific capabilities? Was he one of your better scientists or on the lower end of the spectrum?”

  “Without a doubt, Jeffrey Brooks was a brilliant scientist. His death was a tragedy to the scientific field. I know the defense is going to say he was mad, but …”

  “Objection, your honor. The witness is not qualified to assume what the defense will be.”

  “Sustained.”

  “Did Jeffrey ever do anything that made you think he was mentally unstable?”

  “No, nothing.”

  “Mr. Moore, you paid money to Jeffrey when he was fired, is that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Please tell the court the amount.”

  “Moore Labs deposited four million dollars into his account the afternoon he was fired.”

  There were gasps throughout the courtroom. Several members of the jury turned and looked at Maria. Although it had not been said, the jurors could easily figure out that Maria must have inherited a considerable part of that amount upon his subsequent death.

  “No more questions, your Honor.”

  * * * * *

  Brian stood, approached the witness stand, and asked, “Mr. Moore, you stated that your company deposited four million dollars into Jeffrey Brooks’ account. Is that true?”

  “Yes. It was transferred right after I dismissed him.”

  “Why did you pay him so much money?”

  “He agreed to accept the money in exchange for not taking the anti-aging formula to another company. Moore Labs owned the formula and I did not want to see another company benefit from it.”

  “Is it true that once the FDA approved the anti-aging hormone for public use your company would make far more than four million dollars?”

  “I would hope so, but who knows? I’m not God.”

  There were titters of suppressed laughter throughout the courtroom.

  “Order. Order in the court,” Judge Adams said, banging his gavel.

  “One more question, Mr. Moore. Could the reason Jeffrey went against company policy be because he was beginning to descend into insanity?”

  “Objection, your Honor,” Marsha said, rising to her feet. “Question calls for speculation by this witness.”

  “Sustained.”

  “I have no more questions, Your Honor.”

  * * * * *

  “Mr. Martin, you discovered the body of Jeffrey Brooks, is that correct?” Marsha asked the muscular man seated in the witness stand.

  “Yes.”

  “Please tell the court how you happened to find the body.”

  “I drive a big rig and whenever I was on a run from LA to Phoenix, I’d stop in at the Blue Coyote Motel near Blythe. The owner, Maria, was a fantastic cook and had better coffee and snacks than any restaurant on the route. Over a period of several months I got to know her pretty well and we became friends.

  “One day I stopped there and noticed there weren’t any cars in the parking lot, not even Maria’s van which was almost always parked next to the office. I went into the office and right away I knew something was wrong. There were dirty dishes piled up in the small kitchen and no fresh coffee. I was worried that maybe something had happened to her. I walked back to her house which was located behind the motel. I knocked on the door, but no one answered. I noticed that the door was unlocked, so I let myself in. It was a mess, totally unlike Maria. Drawers and cabinets were open and clothing was scattered everywhere.”

  He stopped and took a sip of water. “I became very concerned. I remembered Maria talking about her husband and how he spent almost all of his time in the lab he’d built in the basement of the motel. I went down the stairs that looked like they led to the lab and opened the door. I was a Marine and served in Iraq. I know the smell of death and that smell filled the room. There was blood all around Jeffrey, or at least I assumed that’s who he was. I saw a bullet hole in his chest. From what I’d seen in Iraq, I knew he was dead and nothing could be done for him. I closed the door, walked up the stairs, and called 911.”

  “I’m sorry to ask you to relive what must have been a horrible experience for you. So you never saw Maria, just Jeffrey, who was dead. Is that correct?”

  “That’s correct.”

  “Mr. Martin, you mentioned that you interacted with Maria on several occasions. Is that correct?”

  “Yes. She and I talked a lot when I was there.”

  “Did she ever tell you about her past? Did she ever tell you that Jeffrey had been fired from Moore Labs?”

  “She told me she had grown up in a Santa Ana barrio and that her family was very poor. She told me she and Jeffrey had bought the motel because he was a scientist and was sufferin
g from burn-out.”

  “Did she tell you that Jeffrey had received four million dollars from Moore Labs when he was fired?”

  “No. I didn’t know that until earlier today.”

  “Mr. Martin. Did you think Maria Brooks was sexy?”

  “Objection, your Honor,” Brian said. “Sustained.”

  “One last question, Mr. Martin. I’ve noticed that you’ve looked over at Maria many times since you’ve been on the stand. Are you in love with her?”

  “Objection, your Honor. Irrelevant.”

  “Overruled. Mr. Martin, please answer the question.”

  Ralph was quiet for a long time. He looked down at his tightly clasped hands. There was absolute silence in the courtroom. Ralph raised his head. “Yes, I suppose I am. She is an amazingly beautiful woman and I have to admit that I’ve fantasized about her,” he said in a barely audible voice.

  “No further questions.”

  Brian leaned over to Maria and whispered in her ear. She whispered back. Brian stood up and approached the witness stand.

  “Mr. Martin, discovering Jeffrey’s body must have been a great shock to you. Had you ever seen him prior to that time?”

  “No, as I said earlier, Maria told me he spent most of his time in the laboratory.”

  “Did Maria ever indicate in any way that she would like your relationship with her to be anything other than someone who stopped in at the motel and bought some coffee and a snack?”

  “No, she didn’t.”

  “Am I correct in saying that your feeling of love was never returned by Maria?”

  Once again, his voice was almost inaudible. “Yes.” When he left the stand, he looked like he’d aged twenty years. He knew by answering truthfully, he had given his wife grounds for divorce. Unwittingly, he had allowed himself to be put in a no-win situation. Marsha had a hard time keeping a poker face, sure that the jury had picked up on Maria’s sexiness and attractiveness. Everyone in the room was aware that Maria was one of the sexiest women they had ever seen. Men wanted her while women envied and despised her.

  Judge Adams looked at his watch. “It’s 4:15. Court will reconvene tomorrow morning at 9:00 a.m. Jurors, once again I admonish you not to discuss the facts of this case with anyone. Do not read about it in the media or watch reports about it on television. Court is adjourned.” He banged his gavel, stood, and walked back to his chambers.