Zack and I exchanged “Huh?” looks across the courtroom. Any other judge would’ve sent the jury home and let us do openings tomorrow.
Not the speeding bullet that was Judge Traynor.
The prosecution goes first, which would give me a chance to see how the jury responded to Zack. The minute he stood up, three of the women gave him hundred-watt smiles-probably picturing him in boxers. I mentally kicked myself for leaving them on.
The courtroom was set up with a screen on the wall at the end of the jury box for PowerPoint or videos. Zack started by telling the jury about how Chloe met Dale when he responded to the burglary call, about the strains in their relationship that started to surface almost immediately, and then moved on to the night of the murders. He started with the witnesses who heard Chloe and Dale fighting. “One of them heard Chloe say she was breaking up with him. And earlier that night, Chloe told her sister that’s what she was going to do. That’s motive, folks. One of the most common motives there is.”
Zack moved on to the crime-scene video. The big screen made it even more dramatic. He paused on the ugly frame showing Chloe’s lifeless body.
“Dale Pearson punched her in the face, knocked her to the floor, and then he stabbed her to death-buried that knife up to the hilt, straight into her chest, four times. I know the defense is going to say a burglar did this. But, ladies and gentlemen, this is not what a surprised burglar does. This is what an angry lover does.”
Zack let the image linger on the screen as long as he could, then moved on to the frame showing Paige’s body. Though she was facedown, the blood trail that showed how she’d tried to crawl away from her killer was even more gruesome.
“Paige wasn’t supposed to be home. But after Pearson stabbed Chloe to death, she became a witness who couldn’t be allowed to live. Paige was a classic example of collateral damage. The evidence will show that Dale Pearson came up behind her, stabbed her in the back, then jabbed the knife into her throat. Now, he knew the women had just had a burglary, since he’d been the cop who handled the call. So he decided to make this look like the work of the burglar, and he began to ransack the room. But then he saw Paige move. She wasn’t dead and she was trying to crawl away. He couldn’t have that. He went back and cut her throat… and finished the job. It was a cruel, brutal way to kill, and a torturous way for Paige to die.”
Then Zack went through the physical evidence-the DNA, the hairs and fibers, and the fingerprints. He wrapped up with the usual prosecutorial flourish. “In sum, ladies and gentlemen, the evidence will prove overwhelmingly, well beyond a reasonable doubt, that Dale Pearson is guilty of these heinous murders. And the next time I talk to you, I’ll be asking you to do what the evidence demands. Convict Dale Pearson as charged of the murders of Chloe Monahan and Paige Avner.”
It wasn’t a good opening. It was a great one. If I’d been on the jury, I knew what my vote would be. And I could see that I wasn’t alone. The jury stared at him, their expressions rapt. A few had even nodded. They were with him all the way.
As a general rule, I don’t give an opening statement. I like to keep my options open. But I had to do it now. I couldn’t let the jury go home tonight without giving them a reason to question Zack’s story. I didn’t have much. But I had to make the most of it.
I walked over to the podium and looked at each of the jurors as I spoke. “I don’t usually give an opening statement. That’s because the defense doesn’t have to prove anything.” I paused and made eye contact with each one of the jurors to hammer that point home. “The prosecutor did a great job of making his case look airtight. But it’s not. In fact, it’s riddled with holes. The truth is, the case against Dale Pearson is based on assumptions. But as you all know, verdicts have to be based on evidence, not assumptions.”
I pointed out the fact that since Dale had been dating Chloe, his prints were bound to be all over that apartment. And of course his DNA was under her nails, on her skin. They were a couple and they were fighting. Dale wasn’t proud of that, but he’d never denied it.
“And the prosecutor somehow forgot to mention the fact that they found fingerprints and hairs in the apartment that couldn’t have come from Dale. But that’s key evidence. It shows someone else was there. And when all the evidence is in, you’ll see that this person-not Dale-was the one who committed these murders.”
I moved on to hammer the point about motive that’d been so popular on the Internet. “Now here’s one of the assumptions the prosecutor made. He wants you to assume that a veteran detective suddenly flipped out and killed two women just because a woman he’d been seeing for only two months wanted to break up with him.
“But if a breakup was so devastating to Dale Pearson, then how come he has two ex-wives who’re alive and well? The prosecution assumed that had to be his motive, but the assumption doesn’t make sense. Not only is it illogical, I’m going to prove it’s not true. The truth is, Dale knew their relationship was over, and he was more than good with it. He was ready to move on.”
I’d have to put Dale on the stand to prove that-something I never like to do. But I’d known from the start I’d have to do it in this case. No juror would forgive a cop who was afraid to take the stand.
“Here’s the next assumption the prosecutor wants you to make. He said a burglar couldn’t have done this. But how does he know that? He doesn’t know all the burglars in Los Angeles. Just because a criminal breaks in to steal, that doesn’t mean he won’t kill, too. It’s not like he’s some kind of specialist.”
I got a few small smiles out of that one.
“We’ve all heard of cases where burglars kill homeowners who walk in on them. And there’s nothing about this crime scene that shows the killer wasn’t a burglar. Again, the prosecutor wants you to just assume that a burglar didn’t do it. Next assumption: that Paige was ‘collateral damage.’ In fact, she wasn’t. I’m going to prove to you that she was the target. And Dale had no motive whatsoever to kill Paige. No one, not even the prosecutor, thinks Dale had a reason to kill her.”
I stepped closer to the jury box for my final salvo. “So the evidence will not show that Dale Pearson is guilty. What the evidence will show is that the People’s case has assumptions where there should be evidence, gaps where there should be proof, and illogic where there should be reason. So the next time I talk to you, I’ll be telling you that the prosecution has failed to carry its burden. I’ll be telling you that the evidence has shown Dale Pearson is not guilty. And I’ll be asking you to do the right thing and acquit him.”
I looked at each of the jurors. There were a few skeptical faces, but a few seemed intrigued.
I could see I wouldn’t be able to convince all of them. But I never thought I’d be able to pull off an acquittal. Not with this evidence. No, the only real question was, did I have my holdout? I only needed one. As I scanned their faces, I thought I spotted two or three possibles.
I went back to my seat. Only time would tell.
FORTY-SEVEN
We recessed for the day, and I stood as the jurors left the courtroom. It’s meant to look like a sign of respect, but it’s mainly an excuse to watch them. When they were gone, I huddled with my team at counsel table.
Dale had a proud smile on his face. “After that prosecutor’s opening, I didn’t know what you were going to say. But you really brought it back.” He glanced around the courtroom, then whispered, “But how are you going to prove Paige was the target?”