Talon Winter Legal Thrillers Box Set

by Stephen Penner

  Luckily, Talon wasn’t the only one trying to scrape up dirt on Todd Dickerson. Talon had been too busy to really keep tabs on what Olsen was doing, but after her failure of a meeting with Cecilia, Talon had checked in with Hannah to review Greg’s calendar.

  He had a ‘Hearing on Plaintiff’s Motion to Compel Deposition of Defendant’ scheduled at the same time as a ‘Hearing on Defendant’s Motion to Suspend Discovery.’

  “Perfect,” Talon said.

  “Perfect?” Hannah questioned. “That sounds incredibly dull.”

  Talon grinned. “Yeah. Let’s see if I can’t liven it up a little.”

  * * *

  As it turned out, no, Talon could not liven it up.

  Talon had almost forgotten how boring civil law was, even the stuff they called ‘litigation.’ She’d realized, after she switched to criminal, that the civil attorneys called it ‘litigation’ instead of ‘trial work’ because they never went to trial. Not real trials. Not juries and exhibits and lives in the balance. Instead, they ‘litigated’, and mostly lengthy motions about what information they could or could not pry out of the other side’s hands before finally reaching some settlement that cost both sides a lot of money but made the lawyers a little richer.

  But even if he wasn’t a trial lawyer, Talon still liked Greg Olsen as a person, and she had a personal professional interest in the litigation she had gifted him, so she made her way to the courthouse and snuck into the back of the courtroom he was appearing in to see if he could perhaps accomplish what had eluded her to that point, namely an interview of Todd Dickerson.

  The hearing had already started, but no one else was in the courtroom save the lawyers, so when she opened the door at the back of the courtroom, everyone took a moment to look back at her, even the judge. He was one of the old guard, Judge Hightower, an elderly African American man who’d taken the bench well before Talon had even graduated from law school. Talon hadn’t appeared before him yet as a criminal defense attorney because he’d been in the civil rotation for a while, but she recalled arguing a few ‘litigation’ motions in front of him back in the day. She wondered if he remembered her. If so, he didn’t show it when he glanced at her entrance, then sniffed at it, and returned his bespectacled gaze to the lawyers actually before him.

  “As I was saying,” Olsen resumed, “there is no reason to delay discovery in this case. My clients are eager to proceed, and the next step is formal discovery. We intend to serve a full set of interrogatories on the defendant’s counsel, together with demands for productions and requests for admission. We expect counsel for Officer Dickerson to do the same. After the documentary phase of discovery is complete, we intend to depose Officer Dickerson, but as the Court can understand, we do not want to conduct that deposition until after the written discovery has been fully exchanged. That’s what makes it so important to allow discovery to proceed forward. There is much to be done, and an order for it to be done in. We need to get started.”

  Judge Hightower sniffed again at Olsen, then turned his white-haired head ever so slowly to the opposing lawyer. “And you want me to halt all discovery, is that right, Mr. Nargle?”

  “That is correct, Your Honor.” Nargle stood to answer the judge’s question even as Olsen sat down again. Nargle had a high-pitched, nasally voice, with thinning black hair and slight frame. He wore a light-colored suit and caramel-colored shoes. “The incident which gave rise to this lawsuit also gave rise to a criminal matter, and specifically, a murder case. That case is still pending and my client, Officer Todd Dickerson, is the star witness for the prosecution. Forcing him to answer any questions, even in writing, let alone in a deposition, would have the potential, even likelihood, of prejudicing the results of that criminal trial. The Court should stay all discovery until the criminal trial is complete. The defendant in that criminal trial is not a party to this civil matter, so there would be no prejudice to him in that case by delaying discovery in this case.”

  Judge Hightower nodded and thought for several moments, before returning his attention to Olsen. “Any response, counsel?”

  Olson stood again to address the Court. “Yes, Your Honor. The question is not whether there is any prejudice to a criminal defendant in another case. The question is whether there is any prejudice to the parties in this case. There is no prejudice to allowing us to proceed with discovery in the normal course, including the standard practice of deposing the opposing party, Officer Dickerson, after all other investigation has been completed. On the other hand, there is grave prejudice to my client, the Maldonados, to have to wait for their day in court to seek justice for the killing of their child.”

  “The prejudice to my client, Your Honor,” Nargle stood up and interjected, “is having to discuss a terrible and tragic incident, under oath, prior to giving testimony about that incident in open court in the murder trial of the person who was the accomplice to the Maldonados’ son. If Mr. Olsen wants to know what Officer Dickerson is going to say about the incident under oath, then he should just wait until the criminal trial commences and sit in the gallery when Officer Dickerson is called by the prosecution.”

  “I might, Your Honor,” Olsen replied, “if I were allowed to ask questions in the criminal trial. But somehow,” he glanced back at Talon momentarily, “I doubt that will be permitted.”

  Judge Hightower was a quiet man, but that sometimes led to the attorneys getting out of hand and not waiting their designated turns to speak.

  “If Mr. Olsen is going to get to depose Officer Dickerson before the criminal trial,” Nargle sniped, “then I would want an order allowing me to depose the criminal defendant, uh, Marcus Zollnick, I believe his name is.”

  Talon stood up. “Lucas Zlotnik,” she corrected from the gallery. “My client’s name is Lucas Zlotnik.”

  Judge Hightower raised his gaze again at Talon and smiled. “Ms. Winter. Nice to see you again. I hear you’re in a new line of work.”

  Talon stepped into the walkway and approached the front of the courtroom. “That I am, Your Honor. I’m finding it both challenging and rewarding.”

  “We can’t ask for more than that,” Judge Hightower replied. “You represent the man accused of murder out of this incident?”

  “I do, Your Honor,” Talon confirmed. “Lucas Zlotnik. The State has charged him with aggravated first degree murder for waiting in a car in a parking lot while his friend went inside a store and was shot to death by Mr. Nargle’s client.”

  “Now, wait a minute,” Nargle protested. “This is highly unusual. I object to this lawyer addressing the Court on a case she is not a party to.”

  “You want to interview her client?” Judge Hightower asked rhetorically. “Then she’s party enough for me.”

  He frowned slightly and nodded at Talon. “Is there any way you would let your client be deposed by Mr. Nargle prior to the trial?”

  Talon and Hightower both knew what her answer would be. “There is absolutely no way at all I would ever allow that, Your Honor.”

  Hightower’s frown curled into a knowing smile. “I suspected as much. When is the trial?”

  “It is fast approaching, Your Honor,” Talon answered. “Although I have some discovery issues of my own which have recently popped up.”

  The judge raised a curious eyebrow at that, but knew better than to open another can of worms just then. Instead, he asked, “Do you expect Officer Dickerson to testify at the trial?”

  “He has to, Your Honor,” Talon answered. “Every other witness to what happened inside is dead. Thanks to Officer Dickerson.”

  “I will not stand here and permit my client to be maligned like this!” Nargle squeaked.

  “You will stand where I tell you to stand and permit whatever I permit to happen,” Judge Hightower boomed down at him. “Is that understood?”

  Nargle visibly wilted. “Yes, Your Honor.”

  “Good,” Hightower boomed again. “Now sit down, be quiet, and let me grant your motion. I agree that it
would be unfair to allow depositions of one witness to this incident without allowing depositions of all witnesses to this incident. Mr. Zlotnik has an absolute right to remain silent, and the choice whether to testify is one he will make with his attorney, Ms. Winter. It will not be made by this Court. That being the situation, I will grant Mr. Nargle’s motion to halt any further discovery on this case until such time as the criminal case against Mr. Zlotnik has concluded.”

  “What if he’s convicted, Your Honor, and appeals?” Olsen asked. “Will discovery still be stayed pending any appeals in the event that Mr. Zlotnik is successful and gets a new trial? That could take years.”

  Hightower chewed his cheek for a moment as he considered that wrinkle. He nodded at Talon. “Ms. Winter? What say you to that?”

  Talon smiled. “I’ll tell you what, Your Honor. Why don’t I make it easy on everyone? I’ll just go ahead and win the trial.”

  CHAPTER 30

  It was the end of the workday before Olsen finally came to Talon’s office to comment on her performance in court.

  “You seem very confident,” he said, leaning against her doorframe. “I can’t tell if it’s an act.”

  “If you can’t tell, then it doesn’t matter if it’s act,” Talon responded, looking up from the papers on her desk. She had a red pen in her hand. “Ninety percent of what we do is bluster and mind games. If you think that I really think I might win, you start to wonder why I think that and if maybe I’m not right.”

  “So, do you really think you’ll win?” Olsen asked.

  Talon smiled and shook her head slightly. “Really, it doesn’t matter.”

  “It matters if I can’t proceed with my case for years while your case is tied up in appeals,” Olsen pointed out. “I thought we were in this together. You didn’t exactly help me out today.”

  Talon’s eyebrows knitted together, and she tilted her head to the side. “We’re not in this together. That’s ridiculous. Why would you think that?”

  Olson surrendered a surprised laugh. “Oh, I don’t know. Maybe because you crafted my case out of thin air. You recruited the family to sue, then you recruited me to take the case. And you put Curt on both cases to make sure you always knew what was happening on both cases.”

  “Don’t forget Hannah,” Talon answered. “She showed me your schedule.”

  Olson nodded. “Right. See? That. All that. Clearly, we’re all working on this together.”

  “Oh, no, no, no.” Talon shook her head and waved the suggestion away. “I’m monitoring everyone else so I can get the best possible result for my own case. I represent Luke Zlotnik, not the Maldonados or anyone else.” She paused. “I thought that was obvious.”

  “It was sure obvious today,” Olsen laughed darkly. “I think Hightower would have let me depose Dickerson if you would have made your guy available.”

  Another surprised expression from Talon. “That’s ludicrous. You don’t make a criminal defendant available for a deposition. And certainly not by some lawyer representing the cop who’s trying to put him away for life. No defense attorney would do that. I’d lose my license.”

  “Why?” Olsen challenged. “He already talked once, right?”

  “He gave a false confession,” Talon expounded. “And that’s already one statement too many. I had to hire an expert to try to explain that one away. I can’t afford a second expert to explain away his deposition. Hell, I can’t even really afford just the one.”

  “What’s to explain away?” Olsen pressed. “Just tell the truth. If he tells the truth in the deposition and tells the truth again when he testifies, then the story will stay the same.”

  Talon just stared at Olsen for several seconds. “He’s not going to testify at the trial. Are you insane?”

  “He’s not going to testify?” Olson eyebrows lifted. “Why not?”

  “Why would he?” Talon returned. “He has the right to remain silent. The judge will tell the jurors they can’t use it against him if he doesn’t testify.”

  “They will,” Olsen posited.

  “They aren’t supposed to,” Talon insisted. “But they will definitely use it against him if he testifies and the prosecutor shreds him on the stand. It’s never pretty when a seasoned prosecutor dissects an inexperienced defendant. But with a full confession in hand, it’ll be a bloodbath.”

  “So, if he’s not going to testify,” Olsen asked, “what are you going to do?”

  Talon gestured at her cluttered desktop. “This. I’m going to go after everyone and everything else. This case isn’t really about Luke. It’s about Dickerson. It’s about what happened inside that check-mart, not what happened out in the parking lot.”

  Olsen nodded at the papers. “What is all that then?”

  “This is all the discovery motions I’ve filed already or am about to file,” Talon explained. “They’re hiding everything from me, but I’m going to get it anyway.”

  She picked up the pleadings in turn. “Motion to compel interview of Officer Todd Dickerson. Motion to compel deposition of Officer Todd Dickerson. Motion to produce personnel file of Officer Todd Dickerson—again. Motion to provide police reports—again. Motion to allow independent examination of ballistic evidence. Motion to release ballistic evidence to defense expert. Motion to appoint defense ballistics expert at public expense. Motion, motion, motion, motion.”

  “Wow.” Olsen nodded approvingly. “Are you going to win any of them?”

  Talon cocked her head at him again. “I’m going to win all of them.”

  Olson laughed. “Of course. Right. I forgot.” Then, “Do you really believe that?”

  “I already told you.” Talon smiled. “It doesn’t matter.”

  But it kind of did.

  CHAPTER 31

  Talon was right: trial was fast approaching. And she had a lot of information still to get if she was going to be as prepared as she needed to be to save Luke Zlotnik’s life. As a result, she requested, and the court administrator granted, her request to have all of her various discovery motions scheduled for the same day in front of the same judge. Even better, they were set in front of Judge Gainsborough. If anyone would understand how important her motions were, it was a career public defender turned judge.

  But Luke didn’t understand any of that. He just looked scared when the guards brought him into the courtroom for the hearing. Scared and thin. Sickly, almost.

  “Are you okay?” Talon asked as her client sat down next to her. The guards unfastened the handcuffs, but kept the leg chains on his ankles, lest he think about making a run for it. “Are they feeding you enough?”

  Luke shrugged. “The food’s not very good,” he replied dully. Then, “What are we doing today? It’s not the trial, right?”

  “No, it’s not the trial,” Talon confirmed. “If it were the trial, they would have dressed you out in street clothes. The jury can’t see you in your jail garb. Otherwise they might think the judge thinks you’re guilty.”

  “Doesn’t he?” Luke asked. “Doesn’t everybody?”

  “I don’t,” Talon reassured him. “And I don’t think this judge necessarily does either. They’re just doing their jobs.”

  “Like you, right?” Luke questioned.

  Talon didn’t answer immediately. Instead, she repeated her first question. “Are you okay?”

  “No, I don’t think so,” Luke admitted. “I’m going to go to prison for the rest of my life for something I didn’t do. And now I’m in court again, but I don’t really understand what’s going on. It’s just another hearing about lawyer stuff. You fight them so you can get ready to fight them again later. And at the end of it all, I’m just gonna get convicted anyway. So, what’s the point?”

  Talon took another moment before responding. She’d been so focused on the legal aspect of the case, she’d neglected the human part. It wasn’t really her strong suit. The best thing she could do for the human client was win the legal case. Still, she needed Luke on board, if only for
the optics. The jury needed to see him look appropriately worried, but not despondent.

  “The point,” she put her hand on Luke’s shoulder, “is that you didn’t do anything wrong. You gave a ride to your friend. That’s all. And now two people are dead, and The System wants to blame you instead of the person really responsible. The point is, you’re only eighteen years old. You have seventy or eighty years left on this planet. Years to get a job, meet someone, have babies, travel and learn and grow, eat and drink and smoke, watch sunsets and stay up all night to see the sunrise. The point is, you don’t go down without a fight. I don’t go down without a fight. We’re going to fight these bastards, and we’re going to win. And you’re going to meet that someone, and you’re going to have that baby, and someday you’re going to watch a sunset with them and think back on how close you came to losing everything, but didn’t. Because you chose to fight. Because you chose to win.”

  Luke just looked at her for several seconds, his face trying to hide the thoughts behind his widening eyes. Finally, he released a nervous laugh and shook his head. “Shit. You’re good. You gonna do that to the jury for me?”

  Talon let out a sigh and grinned. “Damn right I am. But first I’m gonna do it to this judge.”

  “All rise!” Judge Gainsborough’s clerk called out as the judge emerged from his chambers. “The Pierce County Superior Court is now in session, The Honorable Bryan Gainsborough presiding.”

  Talon nodded. “Here we go,” she said. Partly to Luke, but mostly to herself.

  Gainsborough took a moment to size up the courtroom. The lawyers, the defendant, the guards, the otherwise empty gallery. He nodded to himself, then sighed. “Okay, everyone. We have a lot to go through. Normally, I would let the parties decide the order the motions are heard, but I think it will be more efficient if I set the order. Are there any objections to that procedure?”