by Derek Blass
Shaver let Sphinx go and walked back into the courtroom. Sphinx adjusted his clothes. “Fucking asshole,” he muttered as he turned to head back in himself. They entered the courtroom just as Judge Melburn was taking his seat at the bench.
“Has the five-minute recess brought any enlightenment to the defense?” he asked.
Sphinx looked at Shaver. Cruz had been watching the interplay and guessed that Shaver wanted to testify. He was an attention monger like that.
“The defense calls Sergeant Shaver, Your Honor.” Mason had been hunched over his counsel table until Sphinx's words reached his ears. Some higher power had just provided a chance for redemption.
Sphinx stood up and moved slowly to the podium. His face had lost most of its color, and he fidgeted with documents while Shaver was sworn in. Sphinx raised his head and realized that everyone was looking at him, the courtroom silent and ominous. He cleared his throat and said, “Sergeant, tell the jury a little about yourself.”
The two did a forced dance through Shaver's direct examination. Performing a direct examination of your own client when you are a criminal defense attorney, is almost unheard of, and certainly not practiced much. Shaver explained his time on the force and how he rose from a beat to a gang unit to S.W.A.T.
Sphinx exhaled some of his pent-up air because Shaver was actually doing a decent job. He was credible, and had seemingly softened some of his rough edges for this moment.
“Why was your S.W.A.T. team called out to the Rodriguez's house that day?”
“Obviously, we don't get called out for every domestic violence call,” Shaver started. “But, when there's a potential hostage situation, including arms, that's when they get us out there.”
“And you guys can be first responders?”
“Not often—we usually support the first responders. But, on the day we went to the Rodriguez's house, the regular cops were spread thin with other things in the city. We got there fast, and we were the first.”
“Describe the protocol when responding to an armed hostage situation.”
“We treat it like a mini-war. Diversion, confusion, and hopefully submission without needing to discharge our weapons. So, we create sub-teams, get into position, breach with diversionary tactics like flashbangs, and raid the building.”
“Is that what you did in this situation?”
“It's exactly what we did.”
“What did you find when you got into the house?”
“The threat was supposed to be from the daughter's husband—but he wasn't there. It was just the daughter and her father. We still had to secure the area though, so I asked the father to get up from a bed he was lying on. I did that several times but he didn't respond.”
“What was his daughter saying?”
“I had no idea. I don't speak that language.”
Sphinx winced. “By that language, you mean Spanish, right?”
“Yeah, sorry, Spanish.”
“What was she doing while talking to you?”
“She wasn't talking, she was screaming. Real animated. I didn't understand a thing she said, and her father still wouldn't move. He had his hands under a blanket and I started to get concerned that he may have something under there.”
“What do you mean?”
“He could have had a knife, a gun, anything. You can never be sure,” Shaver directed this last statement at the jurors.
“When Mr. Rodriguez would not respond to you, what did you do?”
“I tried to poke him, to get him to move. I just wanted him to respond. The daughter became more emotional when I started doing this, and it felt like things were getting a little bit out of control. So I was going to cuff her and then deal with the father. When I reached down to handle her, Officer Martinez lunged at me. At the same time, I saw the old man finally move, and Martinez discharged his gun in our struggle.”
“How many times?”
“I don't remember the actual number of bullets fired, but I do know that three of those shots hit the target.”
“Mr. Rodriguez, you mean.”
“Yes, three shots hit—Mr. Rodriguez. Unfortunately.”
“You said unfortunately. Do you regret what happened?”
“I do. I regret that we couldn't communicate with the family better, and I regret that he was shot.”
“After this all occurred, what did you do?”
“Followed the required procedure. Turned my gun in to inventory, wrote a report on the incident. Everything should have been normal, except that Officers Martinez and Williams split off from the team at that point.”
“Now, we haven't heard much about Officer Williams. Who was he?”
“A black cop in our team.”
Sphinx saw one of the jurors, the engineer, frown at Shaver's response. His luck had run long enough, it was time to wrap up the examination before Shaver said something devastating.
“Was Officer Williams a part of the group that ended up hunting you down at your house to arrest you?”
Shaver furrowed his eyebrows. “Well, no, but before that Williams and Martinez...”
“He wasn't a part of that group then,” Sphinx said, trying to cut Shaver off and get him to follow the lead.
“Like I was saying, Williams and Martinez split off, and then Williams was involved in the murder of one of my other officers.”
“That part really had nothing to do with the Rodriguez case though, right? And, it's probably part of an ongoing investigation so you can't talk about it?”
“Who's to say what I can and can't do anymore? I've been locked up in jail since that unlawful arrest at my house. An investigation? No idea whether that's happened or happening.”
“I think that wraps up my examination, Your Honor.”
“Hold on, because I'm not done,” Shaver said. “Those two...officers...” Shaver managed to push out, “...attacked and killed Officer Lindsey. Then Officer Martinez hired a gang of criminals to chase me down to my house. I was shot multiple times,” Shaver said as he actually stood up and pointed to where he was shot.
“Are you finished?” Sphinx said.
“I just wanted to say that I've been a good cop for a long time—over a decade. Never been involved in anything like this.”
“Thank you, Sergeant,” Judge Melburn said. “The prosecution, I assume you have some questions of Sergeant Shaver?”
“I do, Your Honor,” Mason said while trying to control his excitement. To cross-examine a criminal defendant was a rare occurrence, and in this case spawned from Shaver's stubbornness.
“Good late morning, Sergeant Shaver.”
“Hello.”
“Let's start with what you did at the Rodriguez's house. You were positioned at the front of the house with Officer Tomko, right?”
“Correct.”
“Any specific reason it was Officer Tomko?”
“He was like my lieutenant...my right-hand man.”
“So you and your right-hand man stormed the front, while Officers Martinez, Williams and Lindsey breached the back, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Was there anyone else present?”
Shaver paused and glanced at Sphinx. “What do you mean?”
“I mean, on the team you brought to the house, was there anyone else there besides the officers we mentioned?”
“Objection, Your Honor. Request to approach the bench,” Sphinx said.
“Come on up, counsel.”
Mason and Sphinx walked up to the judge and huddled over a small microphone which was there for the court reporter's benefit.
“Your Honor, Mr. West is going down a path that ends in the excluded video,” Sphinx whispered so the jurors couldn't hear. “What relevance is there to the cameraman being at the scene?”
Judge Melburn turned his attention to Mason. “What relevance counsel?”
“Video or not, Your Honor, I do get to inquire as to where that cameraman is today. Almost everyone in this case has disappeared, to
put it mildly. I can inquire and attempt to impeach Sergeant Shaver's credibility using that information.”
Judge Melburn squinted at Mason. The rest of the courtroom sat in silence, desperately trying to hear what the judge and attorneys were talking about. “I'm going to let you ask your questions, but you stay the hell away from that video, counsel.”
“Understood,” Mason said, although the anger of that ruling still burned in the pit of his gut.
“Sergeant Shaver, you can answer my last question.”
“There was also a man there, named Max.”
“And who was he?”
Shaver hesitated again, which was fine with Mason. It only lent more suspense to his answer. “A cameraman for a show called Police.”
“He's no longer with us, is he?”
“I don't know what you mean,” Shaver said, getting irritated. Mason noted the inflection change in Shaver's voice. It was clear he didn't like having to answer Mason's questions.
“No longer with us...as in deceased, passed, dead.”
“I think you're right. He died.”
“That's glossing over his death, Sergeant. He died shortly after the incident with Mr. Rodriguez, correct?”
“I believe so, yes.”
“What was the cause of his death?”
“I have no idea, that wasn't my case.”
“You didn't know that he was shot to death in his apartment?”
“I didn't,” Shaver said through clenched teeth. His face had changed, from the forced placidness to angular annoyance. He tapped the witness box with one of his fingers, and fixed an unflinching glare on Mason.
“Turning briefly to Officers Williams and Martinez, you stated that they killed Officer Lindsey. Remember that?”
“I do, they shot him in cold blood.”
“We'll get to that. First though, where was Officer Lindsey shot?”
“On his body? It was a head shot.”
“No, no. Sorry, I wasn't clear enough. Where, as in location. Where was he when he was shot?”
“Don't remember that either. Some house.”
“Okay, let me try to help you refresh your recollection, Sergeant, because you may have forgotten that you gave a brief statement to the media on the day Officer Lindsey and Officer Williams were shot. The statement was given at...”
“I do remember now.”
“Ah, see, sometimes we just forget these details. Where was it then, Sergeant Shaver?”
“At Williams' house.”
“In your direct examination, you testified that following the incident Williams and Martinez essentially split off from the team, right?”
“That's right, they distanced themselves from the rest of us right away.”
“What were Officers Lindsey and Tomko doing at Officer Williams' house then?”
“Well...I hadn't talked to them, but I assume they were trying to get back in touch with Williams...I wouldn't know though because...”
“Did they try to call Officer Williams?”
“They did, actually, but he wouldn't answer.”
“He didn't answer and tell you all to, as politely as I can put it, go to hell?”
“I don't recall that.”
“At the house, who shot who first?”
“Williams shot Lindsey first.”
“And then who shot Officer Williams?”
“Officer Tomko.”
“Did Officer Tomko tell you why Officer Williams shot Officer Lindsey?”
“Objection, hearsay!” Sphinx blurted out, as much because he had a viable objection as to interrupt Mason's momentum.
“Overruled.”
“Can I answer?” Shaver asked the judge, who nodded yes. “He didn't.”
“Hold on, you never asked him what happened?”
“I asked him, and he said that Williams shot Lindsey, unprovoked.”
“So, Officer Tomko told you that Officer Williams just came into his house shooting, no questions asked, no explanation?”
“That's what he said.”
“Officer Williams' wife was at the house during this shootout, right?”
“That's what I remember.”
“Who got to the house first—Officers Tomko and Lindsey?” When Shaver looked like he was going to hesitate again, Mason held up a slim stack of papers and said, “And if you need help with any of this, Sergeant Shaver, let's just refer to your report from that day.”
Mason could see the “fuck” form on Shaver's lips. “They got there first.”
“They got there first, and only Officer Williams' wife was there, right?”
“Yes.”
“Just to be clear, they were inside the house before Officers Williams and Martinez arrived, correct? Is that your understanding?”
“I don't know that.”
“But, the shooting took place inside the house, right?”
“Correct.” The courtroom could see the noose tightening around Shaver's neck.
“And you just said that Officer Williams came into the house shooting, right?”
“Look, that's what Tomko told me. I wasn't there.”
Mason smiled. “What Officer Tomko said is good enough for me, Sergeant Shaver. If what Officer Tomko said is true, that Officer Williams came in shooting, it seems logical that Officers Tomko and Lindsey were already in the house, right?”
“I guess.”
“And if Officer Williams came in shooting, presumably there was a reason, right?”
“With someone like him, who knows.”
“What do you mean, someone like him? Do you mean because he was African-American?” Mason guessed that wasn't what Shaver meant, but he had the opportunity to push a button.
“Why would I mean that? I mean he was a hot-head. Anyone can have a bad temper.” Shaver grabbed the pitcher of water in front of him and poured a glass.
“Just to wrap this up, and get the story straight, you're saying that Officers Tomko and Lindsey went to pay Officer Williams a friendly visit, and that he ended up shooting Officer Lindsey in the head, unprovoked?”
“That's what I'm saying.”
“What happened to your eye?”
The sudden change in topic caught Shaver off-balance. He reached up and touched his eye patch while looking at Martinez.
“I was in a car accident.”
“Again, Sergeant, that unfairly glosses over facts, doesn't it?”
“What do you mean?”
“How did the accident occur?”
“We were in a high-speed pursuit, and our car flipped over several times.”
“You were in a high-speed pursuit of Officer Martinez, weren't you?” Mason said with some force.
“Yeah, we were chasing Martinez.”
“Tomko was with you, correct?”
“He was.”
“So you weren't always this lamb being chased by the big, bad wolves were you?”
“Counsel!” Judge Melburn screamed before Sphinx could even get his objection out.
“That...Martinez broke off. He and Williams killed Lindsey and shot Tomko. We had to chase him down!”
“Oh, you were chasing him to arrest him for the murder of Officer Lindsey?”
Shaver sat back in his chair. “Yeah, that's right.”
“Did you have a warrant to arrest him?”
Shaver's face contorted.
“Sergeant, easy question. Did you have a warrant to arrest Officer Martinez?”
“No, we didn't have a warrant.”
“That's something you're complaining about in this case, right? That you were supposedly hunted down to be arrested without a warrant, right?”
“Sure is.”
“But you're comfortable with the fact you did the same thing to Officer Martinez first?”
“Martinez was a part of killing Lindsey, so yeah.”
“And Officer Martinez told us that you killed Mr. Rodriguez, so it seems like fair's fair, right?” When Shaver didn't respond, Mason added, “A
dd to that, when Martinez was running away, he didn't have a hostage, did he?”
“No, he didn't.”
“Because he was on a motorcycle, right?”
“He was.”
“What about when you were arrested, who was with you?”
“A guy named Tyler.”
“Friend of yours?”
“I wouldn't say a friend—he was there trying to help me defend against Martinez and his crew though.”
“A person, not your friend, was in your house about to risk dying for you? That's what you're saying?”
“Correct,” Shaver responded. His face was completely red at this point. Mason stood coolly at the lectern, enjoying the cross-examination like a cat pawing at a wounded bird.
“How did you know Tyler?”
“We both worked for the Chief of Police,” Shaver said. Before he could retract the word “work,” Mason jumped to his next question.
“Worked? I know how you worked for the Chief, indirectly. He was your boss. How did Tyler—and I believe his last name is Smith—how did Mr. Smith work for the Chief?
Sphinx rose from his seat. “Your Honor, I'm going to object to this entire line of questioning. It is irrelevant to the issues in this case.”
“Overruled, counsel. This goes directly to the defendant's credibility, plus he opened the door.”
“I'm not sure exactly what he did.”
“Even though he was there to help you save your life, and you worked for the same person, you don't know what he did?”
“That's what I said.”
“I'll tell you something, Sergeant Shaver, I have looked at the City's payroll and I don't see Mr. Smith's name anywhere.”
“I couldn't tell you anything about that.”
“The other thing I can't reconcile, and by reconcile I mean make sense of...”
“I know what the hell it means.” Mason looked up from his notes and smiled at Shaver again. The courtroom held its breath as the confrontation between these men continued to escalate.
“That thing I can't make sense of...before he was released, Mr. Smith explained to the investigating officer that you held him hostage, bound is the word he used. When it became clear that you were going to be attacked, you took off his bindings and made him help you, isn't that correct?”
