Munch
"Did you drop Jamie at her friend's?" I asked Olivia as she came back into the squad room.
"Yeah." She picked up her phone and pressed a button. "He really messed up her house." She put the phone to her ear, typed in some numbers, and listened for a minute.
"Lab wants to see us," she said.
"I'm game."
"There was only one set of fingerprints on your knife," the lab tec explained. "They were your perps."
"And the blood?" I asked.
"It belonged to your victim, Josh Davis. There were also flecks of silver paint logged in the victims wound. They have the same chemical composition as the paint found on this knife. This is definitely your murder weapon.
"Anything else you want to tell us? Like was there a signed confession?"
"Hey, I can't to all your work for you."
"Docket number 57915. People vs. Andrew Laurence. One count breaking and entering, three counts vandalism, four counts destruction of private property and one count murder in the first degree," the bailiff was saying just as Olivia and I sat down in the courtroom.
"Weren't we just here, Ms. Cabot?" the judge asked.
"We were, your honour. However, the defendant took his only hours of freedom and broke into the house of the girl he's been arrested for raping."
"How do you plead?"
"Not guilty, on all charges, your honour," his lawyer said.
"People on bail?"
"The defendant stabbed another man. He's got insufficient community ties, and after his last performance on bail, the people are asking for remand."
"That's all I need to here. The defendant is remanded without bail. Next case."
Alex
Tuesday, January 21st
"This case is about many things," I muttered to myself. "It's about a man who takes what no man should take. It's about a life being taken. It's about. . ." I ripped the paper off my notepad, and threw out my latest version of my opening statement.
"Ms. Cabot?" a girl's voice came from the doorway. I looked up.
"Are you Jamie?"
"Yeah."
"Come on in." I got up and shook her hand, then motioned for her to sit down. "Have you ever been in court before?"
"No."
"Okay. Lesson number one is answer as briefly and simply as possible. Only give yes or no answers whenever possible. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes," she said with a slight smile. "I know what you mean."
"Good." I was glad that she was catching on easily. I had had to long a day to have someone not understand me. "I'm scheduled to present this case in front of a grand jury a week from today, and if that goes well, the trial will begin on the 5th of February."
Friday, February 7th
"What did you discover upon your examination of the knife, previously marked people's twelve?"
"I found blood matching that of the deceased, Josh Davis, on it. There was one set of fingerprints, with an eleven point match to those of the defendant, Andrew Laurence."
"And what, if anything, was special about this particular knife?"
"There had been silver paint flake off. There were flakes found logged in the stab wound of the deceased which were an identical match to the chemical compounds found on the silver knife in this case."
"What else can you tell us about the size on this knife?"
" It was one inch wide, one quarter inch serrated and nine inches long."
"In conclusion, what did you determine about this knife?"
"It was definitely the weapon used to kill Josh Davis.
"Thank you."
"How long have you been working in the crime lab?" the defence lawyer, Roger Kressler, asked, getting up.
"About six years."
"And how many cases have you solved?"
"Objection," I said, getting up. "Relevance?"
"Let's move it along, Mr. Kressler," Judge Petrovsky ordered.
"Yes, your honour. What can you tell me about the knife in general?"
"Uh, mass produced, made in China, basically a regular kitchen knife."
I cringed inwardly. That wasn't going to go well if Kressler did what I thought he was going to do.
"When you say mass produced, how many are you talking about?"
"In that particular batch, about 1200."
"So that knife could in fact belong to any one of 1200 people?"
"Yes."
"So it's possible that my client just picked up the knife, someone else used it, and then proceeded to place it back in his drawer?"
"No. The fingerprints had traces of blood in them. They were made when whoever touched it had traces of Josh Davis's blood on his fingers."
"Assume you're right. They were made when my client had Josh Davis's blood on his hands. Is it possible that he touched the knife, say, an hour after the crime had been committed."
"There's no way of determining at what time the fingerprints were made."
"Thank you."
"It was Saturday night, and we were staying at the dorms on campus. Around nine-thirty, I went to Jamie's room to see if she wanted to go to this story we had been talking about."
"What, if anything happened when you arrived at Jamie's room?" I asked. Lauren had been a much better witness than I had been expecting. She had dressed conservatively, stayed calm, and answered all questions smoothly.
"I knocked on her door. There was no answer. I was going to leave, but I heard noises coming from inside her room."
"What, exactly, did you hear?"
"I heard a girl- Jamie saying things like stop it, please stop, get off. Then there was a male who was grunting. I think he was saying something, but I couldn't make it out."
"What did you do next?"
"I went back to my room and called Mr. Shepard, our debate coach. He couldn't stay on campus, so he was staying at the nearest hotel. He always made sure that all of us had the number for where he was staying."
"What did he say?"
"He told me that he would be there right away, and to stay near her room. I did, and a minute later, a guy came out, alone."
"Is the man who you saw come out of Jamie's room the night of the 9th of November in this courtroom today?"
"Yes."
"Can you point him out?" She pointed to Andrew. "Let the record show that the witness is pointing at the defendant, Andrew Laurence."
"Did you see Jamie again that night?"
"Yes. After Mr. Shepard came up to the dorm, she came out about ten, maybe fifteen minutes later."
"Did you talk to her?"
"I tried. She came out of her room and went straight into the washroom. I tried to talk to her, but she went straight into the showers. She didn't respond to anything I said. I don't know if she could hear me. I gave up after awhile. I really don't know how long. Another hour after that, Jamie came back out. I was sitting in the lounge, and I saw her go into my room. My door wasn't locked. I didn't know if I should interfere or not. I just left her alone."
"Did anyone else attempt to talk to Jamie that night?"
"Mr. Shepard did. Sometime after she went in, he asked me for my key. He thought that she could be hurting herself. I don't know what happened after that."
"Where did you sleep that night?"
"In the lounge. I didn't want to kick Jamie out, and I didn't want to stay in her room."
"Thank you, Lauren."
"How old are you, Lauren?" Kressler asked, still sitting down.
"Eighteen."
"And how long have you been debating?"
"Objection. Relevance."
"Mr. Kressler?" Judge Petrovsky asked.
"Relevance will be made," he promised.
"Prove relevance quickly or move on. Overruled. The witness may answer."
"Almost four years."
"And how many debates have you attended?"
She thought for a minute. "I don't know."
"Is it fair to say more than 20?"
"Yes."
"Now, you have an excellent record, don't you? In the last year or two particularly?"
"Yeah, I guess. It depends on who you're comparing me to."
"Well, you have come in the quarter finals, semifinals, even finals. You've come in the top twenty speakers about twelve times in the past two years, is that correct."
"Your honour," I said.
"Pick up the pace Mr. Kressler."
"Now, when you were in Syracuse, did you make the finals?"
"No."
"Semifinals?"
"No."
"Quarter finals?"
"No."
"What about the top fifteen speakers."
"No."
"Do you know why you didn't make it into the top twenty?"
"I did badly in one debate."
"Do you know who your judge was in that debate that you did badly in?"
"Yes."
"And is he in this courtroom today?"
"Yes."
"Would you please point him out."
My heart sank. He was going to make it seem like Lauren was testifying against him for revenge. Once again, Lauren pointed at Andrew.
"Lauren, why are you testifying here today?"
"Objection!"
"Sustained."
"Aren't you angry at Andrew?"
"For the debate?"
"Aren't you friends with Jamie?"
"Yes."
"So is it fair to say that you'd be happy to see the defendant get thrown in jail?"
"Objection."
"Mr. Kressler," Judge Petrovsky warned.
"Withdrawn. Lauren, did you really see Andrew Laurence leaving Jamie Garner's room?"
"Yes!" I took a deep breath. Lauren was starting to loose patience.
"If you say so."
"Objection. No question."
"Sustained. You're skating on thin ice."
"Nothing further."
Judge Petrovsky looked at her watch. "This court is hereby recessed until 9:15 Monday morning." She pounded her gavel and rose. I turned around to face Olivia.
"I'll bring you and Elliot in first thing Monday morning. We just ran out of time."
"How do you think we're doing?"
"I don't think that he convinced the jury with the fingerprints. We've still got them on that, but after Lauren's testimony, I don't know if the jury buys her account of what happened that night. It wasn't even her fault. Kressler is a jerk who'll bully anyone. I don't think he completely discredited her story though."
"Excuse me, Det. Benson?" I looked beside Olivia to see Lauren standing there.
"You handled that really well Lauren," I told her.
"Thanks. I don't know how he found out about all that. I guess the university keeps old tabs."
"You handled it better than I could have hoped for."
"She's right," Olivia told her. "What can I do for you?"
"I wasn't sure what to do before. I completely forgot when I was talking to you. I don't know if it'll still help."
"What will?" Olivia and I asked in unison.
"The day we left from Syracuse, I went into Jamie's room. My sister-in-law, my brother's wife, was raped a couple of years ago, and the thing that got her rapist convicted were the bed sheets. So I took Jamie's bed sheets. She was going to leave them there. I thought that there was a chance that she would come forward, so I kept them." She reached into her bad and brought out a large bag. "I hope there's something you can do with these."
Olivia and I looked at each other as she walked away.
"Can we use it?" Olivia asked.
"Kressler's going to argue chain of evidence, but if you can definitively tie it to Andrew Laurence, I might be able to get it in. Get it over to your lab and see what you can do."
"Did you drop Jamie at her friend's?" I asked Olivia as she came back into the squad room.
"Yeah." She picked up her phone and pressed a button. "He really messed up her house." She put the phone to her ear, typed in some numbers, and listened for a minute.
"Lab wants to see us," she said.
"I'm game."
"There was only one set of fingerprints on your knife," the lab tec explained. "They were your perps."
"And the blood?" I asked.
"It belonged to your victim, Josh Davis. There were also flecks of silver paint logged in the victims wound. They have the same chemical composition as the paint found on this knife. This is definitely your murder weapon.
"Anything else you want to tell us? Like was there a signed confession?"
"Hey, I can't to all your work for you."
"Docket number 57915. People vs. Andrew Laurence. One count breaking and entering, three counts vandalism, four counts destruction of private property and one count murder in the first degree," the bailiff was saying just as Olivia and I sat down in the courtroom.
"Weren't we just here, Ms. Cabot?" the judge asked.
"We were, your honour. However, the defendant took his only hours of freedom and broke into the house of the girl he's been arrested for raping."
"How do you plead?"
"Not guilty, on all charges, your honour," his lawyer said.
"People on bail?"
"The defendant stabbed another man. He's got insufficient community ties, and after his last performance on bail, the people are asking for remand."
"That's all I need to here. The defendant is remanded without bail. Next case."
Alex
Tuesday, January 21st
"This case is about many things," I muttered to myself. "It's about a man who takes what no man should take. It's about a life being taken. It's about. . ." I ripped the paper off my notepad, and threw out my latest version of my opening statement.
"Ms. Cabot?" a girl's voice came from the doorway. I looked up.
"Are you Jamie?"
"Yeah."
"Come on in." I got up and shook her hand, then motioned for her to sit down. "Have you ever been in court before?"
"No."
"Okay. Lesson number one is answer as briefly and simply as possible. Only give yes or no answers whenever possible. Do you know what I mean?"
"Yes," she said with a slight smile. "I know what you mean."
"Good." I was glad that she was catching on easily. I had had to long a day to have someone not understand me. "I'm scheduled to present this case in front of a grand jury a week from today, and if that goes well, the trial will begin on the 5th of February."
Friday, February 7th
"What did you discover upon your examination of the knife, previously marked people's twelve?"
"I found blood matching that of the deceased, Josh Davis, on it. There was one set of fingerprints, with an eleven point match to those of the defendant, Andrew Laurence."
"And what, if anything, was special about this particular knife?"
"There had been silver paint flake off. There were flakes found logged in the stab wound of the deceased which were an identical match to the chemical compounds found on the silver knife in this case."
"What else can you tell us about the size on this knife?"
" It was one inch wide, one quarter inch serrated and nine inches long."
"In conclusion, what did you determine about this knife?"
"It was definitely the weapon used to kill Josh Davis.
"Thank you."
"How long have you been working in the crime lab?" the defence lawyer, Roger Kressler, asked, getting up.
"About six years."
"And how many cases have you solved?"
"Objection," I said, getting up. "Relevance?"
"Let's move it along, Mr. Kressler," Judge Petrovsky ordered.
"Yes, your honour. What can you tell me about the knife in general?"
"Uh, mass produced, made in China, basically a regular kitchen knife."
I cringed inwardly. That wasn't going to go well if Kressler did what I thought he was going to do.
"When you say mass produced, how many are you talking about?"
"In that particular batch, about 1200."
"So that knife could in fact belong to any one of 1200 people?"
"Yes."
"So it's possible that my client just picked up the knife, someone else used it, and then proceeded to place it back in his drawer?"
"No. The fingerprints had traces of blood in them. They were made when whoever touched it had traces of Josh Davis's blood on his fingers."
"Assume you're right. They were made when my client had Josh Davis's blood on his hands. Is it possible that he touched the knife, say, an hour after the crime had been committed."
"There's no way of determining at what time the fingerprints were made."
"Thank you."
"It was Saturday night, and we were staying at the dorms on campus. Around nine-thirty, I went to Jamie's room to see if she wanted to go to this story we had been talking about."
"What, if anything happened when you arrived at Jamie's room?" I asked. Lauren had been a much better witness than I had been expecting. She had dressed conservatively, stayed calm, and answered all questions smoothly.
"I knocked on her door. There was no answer. I was going to leave, but I heard noises coming from inside her room."
"What, exactly, did you hear?"
"I heard a girl- Jamie saying things like stop it, please stop, get off. Then there was a male who was grunting. I think he was saying something, but I couldn't make it out."
"What did you do next?"
"I went back to my room and called Mr. Shepard, our debate coach. He couldn't stay on campus, so he was staying at the nearest hotel. He always made sure that all of us had the number for where he was staying."
"What did he say?"
"He told me that he would be there right away, and to stay near her room. I did, and a minute later, a guy came out, alone."
"Is the man who you saw come out of Jamie's room the night of the 9th of November in this courtroom today?"
"Yes."
"Can you point him out?" She pointed to Andrew. "Let the record show that the witness is pointing at the defendant, Andrew Laurence."
"Did you see Jamie again that night?"
"Yes. After Mr. Shepard came up to the dorm, she came out about ten, maybe fifteen minutes later."
"Did you talk to her?"
"I tried. She came out of her room and went straight into the washroom. I tried to talk to her, but she went straight into the showers. She didn't respond to anything I said. I don't know if she could hear me. I gave up after awhile. I really don't know how long. Another hour after that, Jamie came back out. I was sitting in the lounge, and I saw her go into my room. My door wasn't locked. I didn't know if I should interfere or not. I just left her alone."
"Did anyone else attempt to talk to Jamie that night?"
"Mr. Shepard did. Sometime after she went in, he asked me for my key. He thought that she could be hurting herself. I don't know what happened after that."
"Where did you sleep that night?"
"In the lounge. I didn't want to kick Jamie out, and I didn't want to stay in her room."
"Thank you, Lauren."
"How old are you, Lauren?" Kressler asked, still sitting down.
"Eighteen."
"And how long have you been debating?"
"Objection. Relevance."
"Mr. Kressler?" Judge Petrovsky asked.
"Relevance will be made," he promised.
"Prove relevance quickly or move on. Overruled. The witness may answer."
"Almost four years."
"And how many debates have you attended?"
She thought for a minute. "I don't know."
"Is it fair to say more than 20?"
"Yes."
"Now, you have an excellent record, don't you? In the last year or two particularly?"
"Yeah, I guess. It depends on who you're comparing me to."
"Well, you have come in the quarter finals, semifinals, even finals. You've come in the top twenty speakers about twelve times in the past two years, is that correct."
"Your honour," I said.
"Pick up the pace Mr. Kressler."
"Now, when you were in Syracuse, did you make the finals?"
"No."
"Semifinals?"
"No."
"Quarter finals?"
"No."
"What about the top fifteen speakers."
"No."
"Do you know why you didn't make it into the top twenty?"
"I did badly in one debate."
"Do you know who your judge was in that debate that you did badly in?"
"Yes."
"And is he in this courtroom today?"
"Yes."
"Would you please point him out."
My heart sank. He was going to make it seem like Lauren was testifying against him for revenge. Once again, Lauren pointed at Andrew.
"Lauren, why are you testifying here today?"
"Objection!"
"Sustained."
"Aren't you angry at Andrew?"
"For the debate?"
"Aren't you friends with Jamie?"
"Yes."
"So is it fair to say that you'd be happy to see the defendant get thrown in jail?"
"Objection."
"Mr. Kressler," Judge Petrovsky warned.
"Withdrawn. Lauren, did you really see Andrew Laurence leaving Jamie Garner's room?"
"Yes!" I took a deep breath. Lauren was starting to loose patience.
"If you say so."
"Objection. No question."
"Sustained. You're skating on thin ice."
"Nothing further."
Judge Petrovsky looked at her watch. "This court is hereby recessed until 9:15 Monday morning." She pounded her gavel and rose. I turned around to face Olivia.
"I'll bring you and Elliot in first thing Monday morning. We just ran out of time."
"How do you think we're doing?"
"I don't think that he convinced the jury with the fingerprints. We've still got them on that, but after Lauren's testimony, I don't know if the jury buys her account of what happened that night. It wasn't even her fault. Kressler is a jerk who'll bully anyone. I don't think he completely discredited her story though."
"Excuse me, Det. Benson?" I looked beside Olivia to see Lauren standing there.
"You handled that really well Lauren," I told her.
"Thanks. I don't know how he found out about all that. I guess the university keeps old tabs."
"You handled it better than I could have hoped for."
"She's right," Olivia told her. "What can I do for you?"
"I wasn't sure what to do before. I completely forgot when I was talking to you. I don't know if it'll still help."
"What will?" Olivia and I asked in unison.
"The day we left from Syracuse, I went into Jamie's room. My sister-in-law, my brother's wife, was raped a couple of years ago, and the thing that got her rapist convicted were the bed sheets. So I took Jamie's bed sheets. She was going to leave them there. I thought that there was a chance that she would come forward, so I kept them." She reached into her bad and brought out a large bag. "I hope there's something you can do with these."
Olivia and I looked at each other as she walked away.
"Can we use it?" Olivia asked.
"Kressler's going to argue chain of evidence, but if you can definitively tie it to Andrew Laurence, I might be able to get it in. Get it over to your lab and see what you can do."