CHAPTER TWENTY-ONE
Clutching his notes, Jayson stepped behind the podium and stood between his table and the prosecutors’. He made eye contact with Alexis Washington, seated in the witness box ten feet away sipping from a paper cup filled with water. A month had passed since he had seen her lengthy, explosive late-night interview with Michelle Ling on the news, in two parts. Although he had questioned witnesses in pre-trial hearings numerous times, he still felt nervous at this stage. He had been up late working on his questions, honing them to ensure he didn’t ask any more than necessary to support his motion to suppress evidence. He knew he wouldn’t be granted unlimited time to elicit testimony from his chief witness. Judge O’Hare didn’t allow long, flowery statements and excess verbiage. He frequently cut off dramatic or loquacious lawyers in mid-sentence with a curt “save the speech for trial.”
Jayson offered a slight smile to Washington, who wore a white blouse and pleated plaid skirt. She looked like a Catholic schoolgirl; not an accident. He had recommended her outfit because he remembered O’Hare had proudly mentioned that all his children and grandchildren had attended such schools. Washington glanced at Connie—who sat at the defense table to Jayson’s left—and frowned at Brian Stone, who sat at the end of the table wearing a tie and dress shirt. Jayson peeked at Stone. The man took surreptitious deep breaths, attempting to calm his nerves.
Jayson turned to his right. Rahmani and Anderson sat at a table identical to his. Behind them, on the other side of the partition, the spectator section was crowded with all eighty seats occupied. Two additional court officers stood watch. Members of the news media took up half the seats, with the national press outnumbering the locals. Word of Jayson’s reluctant, beleaguered star witness for the mid-August pre-trial hearing had traveled fast and far. O’Hare had forbidden electronic recordings of the hearing, so reporters scribbled feverishly on notepads of all sizes.
Jayson spotted Reverend Isaiah F. Bradley and a few of his followers glowering at him. Earlier, Stone had pointed out three young, reasonably attractive women—fortunately spread out among the spectators—with whom he had been corresponding. Rather than being pleased, he seemed bewildered by their attention. Jayson attributed the young man’s feelings to his limited experience with women.
After asking a few standard name, rank and serial number background questions, Jayson got right to the meat of his inquiry. “Officer Washington, did you make contact with the defendant, Brian Stone…” He paused and pointed at Stone. “…in your capacity as a Boston police officer the year before last on December fourteenth?”
“Yes,” Washington replied.
“And under what circumstances did you encounter him?”
“We stopped him for a moving violation.”
“I’m sorry, Officer,” Jayson said. “By ‘we’ you are referring to whom?”
Washington looked in the direction of Rahmani and Anderson. “My partner, Gary Scott, and I,” she replied.
“I see,” Jayson said. “And why did you and your partner stop Mr. Stone?”
“We said because he had strayed close to the dividing line in the middle of the street and didn’t come to a complete stop when making a right turn.”
Jayson decided to test the waters to see how far he would be able to go in his questioning. “And this reason was just a pretext, was it not?”
“Objection,” Rahmani said. She stood. “Leading the witness.”
Jayson replied before O’Hare could sustain the objection. “I’ll rephrase the question.” He waited for Rahmani to return to her seat. “Was Mr. Stone’s driving the real reason you stopped him?”
Washington shook her head. “No, it was not.”
“Had the defendant actually strayed close to the dividing line and failed to come to a complete stop before making a turn?”
“No.”
“What was the real reason you and your partner stopped him?”
“Objection,” Rahmani offered and stood again. “Counsel is asking the witness to speculate on the motivations of another. She can only speak for herself.”
“I’ll allow it,” O’Hare declared, and motioned for Rahmani to sit.
O’Hare’s response to Rahmani’s objection assured Jayson he would be given some latitude. “So what was the real reason, Officer, for stopping Mr. Stone?”
“We knew he had been attending meetings at Gregory Morgan’s Church of the True Savior and hoped we could find something on him to incriminate Morgan.”
Several spectators began murmuring. Judge O’Hare banged his gavel once. “Quiet!” he bellowed. Everyone hushed.
Jayson nodded. “And did you flash your lights and stop Mr. Stone?”
“Yes.”
“And who approached Mr. Stone on the driver’s side?”
“Gary, um, Officer Scott.”
“And you approached on the passenger side?”
“Yes.”
Jayson leaned on the podium. “Did you later personally fill out a police report about this incident?”
“Yes.”
Jayson turned to his table and held out his hand. Connie gave him four sheets of paper. He held them in the air. “Your Honor, the assistant district attorney and I stipulate that this two-page police report dated December fourteenth of the year before last may be admitted into evidence and marked ‘Exhibit A.’”
“Proceed,” O’Hare said.
Jayson stepped around the podium. He delivered one copy of the document to O’Hare’s plump, middle-aged clerk and the other to Washington, then returned to the podium. “Officer Washington, I’ve given you a document marked ‘Exhibit A,’ which I’ve presented to the court. The people already have it in their possession. Do you recognize it?”
Washington briefly looked the paper over. “Yes.”
“Is this the police report you personally filled out with respect to the incident on December fourteenth?”
“Yes.”
“And did you indicate in this report that you had stopped Mr. Stone due to his driving?”
“Yes.”
“And was this true?”
Washington paused and swallowed. “No.”
Jayson leaned forward on the podium again. “Please tell the court what really happened that day.”
Washington cleared her throat and took a sip from her cup. “Well, my partner and I pulled Mr. Stone over. He ordered Stone out of the car and proceeded to give him a field sobriety test—you know, count backwards from a thousand, stand on one leg, walk a straight line. That kind of thing.”
“And what were you doing at the time Officer Scott was conducting this test with Mr. Stone?” Jayson asked.
Washington squirmed in her seat. “Um, well, I was checking out his car.”
“How?”
“Well, first I shined my flashlight inside.”
“And did you notice anything unusual when you did that?”
“No.”
“Then what did you do?”
Washington took another sip of water and stared at the half-empty cup in her hand. “Then I opened the door to his car and looked in the glove box.”
Jayson feigned a look of surprise for dramatic effect. “And Officer Washington, was the door to the glove compartment open or closed?”
“Closed.”
“And what did you find in the glove compartment?”
“A hand-drawn map.”
“A hand-drawn map of what?”
“A map of an area in Roxbury surrounding the Mt. Calvary Baptist Church.”
Jayson scratched the top of his head. “Now Officer Washington, after your discovery of the map, did you personally fill out a search warrant affidavit seeking permission to search Mr. Stone’s residence?”
“Yes.”
Jayson accepted another set of papers from Connie. After again receiving permission from the judge, he delivered it the same way as before, returned to the podium and folded his hands. “Do you recognize the document in front of you, marked ‘Exhibit B’?”
Washington briefly scanned the paper and nodded. “Yes. It’s the search warrant affidavit I filled out on December fourteenth.”
“And Officer Washington,” Jayson said, “in that document did you state you had found the map lying in plain view on the seat of Mr. Stone’s car?”
Washington nodded. “Yes, I did.”
“And was that the truth?”
Washington sighed. “No, it was not.”
Jayson opened his hands. “So you lied in your police report.”
“Yes.”
“And you lied in your search warrant affidavit.”
“Yes.”
“So both of these documents contained lies, did they not?”
“Objection,” Rahmani said. “Asked and answered.”
“Move it along, Mr. Cook.”
Jayson nodded, “Yes, Your Honor.” He faced his witness again. “Officer Washington, whose idea was it for you to lie about where you had found the map?”
“My partner,” Washington answered, “Gary Scott.”
“And whose idea was it for you to conduct this illegal search?”
“Objection!”
“Withdrawn. Whose idea was it for you to open the door to the glove compartment and inspect its contents?”
“My partner, Gary Scott.”
“Officer Washington,” Jayson continued, “are you still on active duty?”
“No,” Washington answered. “I’m on paid leave pending the outcome of several investigations.”
“And when was your leave initiated?”
“About a month ago.”
“Was this immediately following your on-camera interview with Channel Eight reporter Michelle Ling?”
“Yes.”
“And Officer Washington,” Jayson said, “up to the date of your leave, had you and your partner ever done anything like this before?” He opened his hands. “You know, pull a motorist over on some pretense, then one of you keep him occupied while the other inspects the glove compartment of his car?”
Washington closed her eyes, then slowly opened them. “Yes.”
“How many times?”
“Um, maybe about…twenty times.”
“And when was the last time you did this?”
“The day you came to see me. The day Ms. Ling conducted the interview.”
Jayson faced the judge and pointed at a wheeled cart next to the witness box. It housed two DVD players and a thirty-six-inch screen monitor. “At this time, if it pleases the court, I’d like to show the footage.”
Rahmani stood. “Your Honor, for the record I’d like to renew my objection. What did or did not occur on this footage, which we’ve all seen numerous times on the news for the past month, has nothing to do with the charges against the defendant, Brian Stone.” She put on a pair of reading glasses and stared at a legal pad in her hands. “Also, electronic wiretapping without the consent of all parties is illegal in Massachusetts, according to The Commonwealth v Michael Hyde.”
Jayson faced O’Hare. “And for the record, Your Honor, I submit that the misconduct displayed here today goes to show a pattern of behavior one officer has already admitted to, at great personal and professional expense. Also, Commonwealth v Hyde covers voice recordings, not images without sound taken of two public servants on a public street.”
Judge O’Hare tilted his head to the side, then straightened up. “We’ve already been through this in chambers, Ms. Rahmani. I’m going to allow it.” He motioned to the court officers. “Let’s get this show on the road.”
Connie moved to the empty seat on her right, allowing Jayson to sit next to Stone. While one officer set up the television monitor and DVD player, another turned off the lights. Jayson could hear the spectators behind him whispering. Stone tugged on his jacket sleeve. “This is good, right?”
Jayson nodded. “Maybe yes,” he whispered. “The reporters’ll certainly eat this up, but there’s no jury to impress. Right now we have to persuade just one person that what happened in this screen happened to you: that’s the judge. He’s all that counts.”
“Do you think he’ll believe it?”
Jayson shrugged. “I don’t know, Brian. I just don’t know.”
•
Jayson paced in his office conference room. The three members of his staff sat at one end of the conference table four feet away. As usual, Connie and Tenika sat side by side while Victor sat opposite them. “It’s almost seven, guys,” Jayson announced, “and I know it’s late, but I want to review what you saw today,” He peeked at his watch. “It looks different from the field than from the sidelines. Let’s hear the negatives and positives.”
Connie exchanged glances with Tenika and Victor, then plunged right in. “It looked pretty good for our side, Jaymeister,” she exclaimed. She pushed her hair away from her face and continued. “I’ve got to admit, Rahmani’s cross was pretty good. She got Washington to admit she didn’t like her partner, she wasn’t a very good cop, she got immunity for cooperating, et cetera.”
“Um-hmm,” Victor agreed. “And it didn’t help that the judge wouldn’t allow you to probe very far about the Protectors, since Scott had only told Alex about them and she hadn’t been directly involved.”
Jayson shrugged. “He was right. There was no way around it. Classic hearsay.” He turned to Tenika. “How’d it look on the news?”
“The station I watched spent a lot of time showing that poor child’s photo,” Tenika reported, “and they interviewed Reverend Bradley yet again.”
“No doubt he was foaming at the mouth as usual,” Victor droned.
“The man lost his only daughter, Victor,” Tenika snapped. “Show a little humanity.”
Victor slapped his open hand on the table. “Hey, whose side are you on anyway?”
“I’m here, aren’t I?” Tenika snorted. “And I’ll be here long after you’re back with your preppy friends telling them how you were slummin’ this summer.”
“Cut it out, you two,” Jayson ordered. “Nobody’s enjoying this.”
“He started it,” Tenika whined. She pointed at Victor. “And he’s enjoying it plenty.”
Victor leaned back in his chair and pointed at Tenika. “I just want to make sure we’re all on the same team.”
“I said that’s enough!”
After a few seconds of silence, Victor spoke. “I–I’m sorry, Tenika,” he mumbled. “You’re right. I shouldn’t have questioned your loyalty. I respect your feelings. I really do.”
Tenika reached across the table and squeezed Victor’s hand. “No, I’m the one who’s sorry. Guess I’m getting touchy in my old age.”
Connie poked Tenika on the arm. “I know what you need, girl!” She giggled.
Tenika giggled as well. “You’re telling me! The cable guy came by last Saturday, and I don’t mind admitting he was lucky to get out of my place alive.”
All four laughed. Jayson waited a few seconds, then addressed Tenika again. “So what was your impression of the news coverage?”
Tenika wiggled her fingers. “About even. I’m sure they want this thing to go to trial on schedule in February so they can start the hype all over again.”
Jayson nodded. “And Alexis, did she sound credible?”
All three enthusiastically shook their heads. Victor added his voice. “Absolutely! I can’t imagine anyone saying she was making it up.”
“And the footage removed any doubts about what happened the last day she was on duty,” Connie declared.
The telephone rang. Tenika jumped out of her seat. “I’ll get it.” She raced out of the room.
Connie smiled. “So counselor, are you ready for Gary Scott tomorrow?”
Jayson nodded. “Yeah, but I don’t like the way the media’s been playing it up, as though they’re expecting some big showdown, like something out of an old western.”
Tenika returned and stood in the doorway. “It’s for you.”
Jayson waved his hand dismissively. “Take a
message.” His voice indicated annoyance.
Tenika briefly glanced at Connie and Victor, then returned her attention to Jayson. “Um, I think you’ll want to take this.”
Jayson frowned and stepped into the outer office while Tenika walked back into the conference room and closed the door. He lifted the receiver. “Jayson Cook here.”
“Jayson?”
“Yes,” he said, clearly irritated. “Who is this?”
“It’s Leslie,” the caller on the other side revealed with a weak, broken voice. “You gotta help me.”
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