The only downside had been putting up with the tirades of the assistant DAs Repass and Russell, who'd insisted that they'd presented evidence in the original trial that there was a sixth perpetrator but that did not mean that the teenage defendants had not "initiated and participated" in the crime. "The jury understood this to be the case and convicted Sykes, Davis, Wilson, and Jones in less than two hours of deliberations," Repass argued.
Breman was proud of how she stood up to the know-it-alls. She pointed out that there were no eyewitnesses to place the five black teens at the scene-not even the victim could substantiate that allegation-"but we have irrefutable scientific evidence that Villalobos committed the crime, as well as his confession."
"An uncorroborated confession. There's a legal precedent for this-hold a hearing, put him under oath, at worst retry the case," Russell countered.
"A waste of time in my opinion, which is the opinion that counts here," Breman said. "Villalobos's confession is corroborated by the DNA evidence. There was no physical evidence or eyewitness testimony tying the defendants to the attack on Liz Tyler."
"We had a witness testify that five black teenagers were seen leaving the general area," Russell countered.
"No one who could say it was these boys," Breman countered.
"These 'boys' were also convicted of several other assaults that night," Repass pointed out, "including nearly killing an elderly man with a piece of steel bar like the one found beneath the pier."
"We try people for one crime at a time here," Breman said. "As you point out, they were convicted of those other crimes and served their time for them. It is this crime for which there are very large questions of guilt-questions that in my opinion raise a serious ethical question of how we were ever in a position to, in good faith, ask a jury to find these young men guilty beyond a reasonable doubt… And, I might add, there was no physical evidence-blood or hair-on the steel bar suggesting that it was the same one used that night in the other crimes."
"By the time it was found, the tide had washed it off," Russell said.
"It's nonsense anyway," Repass added. "These 'large questions' were looked at by the jury, and they found that we'd answered them beyond a reasonable doubt. And what about the confessions? Those animals corroborated the evidence-hell, they boasted about what they did."
Breman bristled at Repass. "I'll thank you not to refer to these young men as 'animals.' It merely serves to underline the accusations that this office has a problem with racist attitudes. As for the confessions, they were boys at that time-coerced, badgered, and intimidated by grown, gun-toting men who threatened them with every sort of punishment under the sun, including the possibility of the death penalty if Liz Tyler had died."
"Oh, Christ!" Repass exclaimed, "They were laughing about it in front of the cops. One of them talked about how much fun it was-that's not exactly the response of a frightened 'boy.'"
"Nerves," Breman shrugged. "Trying to put on a brave face."
"What about the defendant who took me to the scene and said he didn't realize there'd been so much blood?" Russell asked.
"That was Kevin Little, who, if I remember correctly, was given a pretty sweet deal for turning on his childhood friends," Breman said. "Hardly an unbiased witness."
Repass started to say something, but Breman sat up in the manner bosses do when they've given recalcitrant subordinates a "fair" hearing but are ready to move on. "This conversation is over," she said. At last, she thought, I can get rid of these two, and I'll even look like the hero as far as the public's concerned.
"I think it would go a long way toward reestablishing this office's credibility with the public if you two took it upon yourselves to sign off on the motion in support of vacating the convictions, as well as demanding that these four men be released immediately from custody."
Seeing the shocked looks on the other women's faces, Breman barely contained a giggle before adding, "It might mitigate some of the damages should they prevail in a lawsuit against this office."
"Fuck you," Repass said.
Smiling, Breman shook her head as if she didn't quite know what to do with such an unruly child. She cocked an eyebrow and looked at Russell, who nodded her head toward her colleague. "What she said."
"Well then," Breman said, clasping her hands as if they'd all reached some mutually satisfying agreement, "that leaves me no choice but to place the two of you on administrative leave." She leaned forward and pressed the button on her intercom, "Teddy, could you come in here, please."
A moment later, Theodore "Teddy" Chalk entered the room and glared at Repass and Russell. His boss had already told him what was up and that the women, especially the hotheaded Repass, might get violent.
Teddy wasn't the sharpest tool in the shed, but he was one good-looking, square-jawed, dark-eyed, dark-haired, olive-skinned, bodybuilding hunk of former-cop-turned-bodyguard. He was also madly in love with Breman, and she'd occasionally allowed him to service her sexual needs, although that was more to ensure his absolute devotion than out of any genuine desire for him.
"Teddy, would you please escort Ms. Repass and Ms. Russell to their offices, where they are allowed to remove a single box containing their personal belongings. However, they are not to take any legal paperwork or files. Can you do that for me?" She gave him her most beguiling smile, which made him blush and then straighten as if he'd been given an order by a superior officer. He'd been a marine for a couple of years out of high school, and once in a moment of passion she'd told him that it turned her on every time he snapped to attention when she spoke, so he'd stepped it up ever since. "Yes, ma'am."
Teddy stepped forward as if to physically remove the women but stopped when Repass snarled, "Touch me and I'll kick your balls up around your shoulders." He looked confused, then glanced over at Breman, who rolled her eyes and nodded her head toward the door.
The bodyguard and two angry women were gone from her office for only a minute when Hugh Louis stepped from the small antechamber where he'd remained out of sight during the discussion. "Well done, Krissy, well done," he said. "You go, girl. Good to hear that someone in government still believes in the Constitution and the concept of reasonable doubt." He shook a fat finger and looked at the ceiling as he recited, "…'better that a hundred guilty men'-not that my clients are guilty of these crimes-'than a single innocent man lose his freedom.'…I believe it was Jefferson or someone like him who said that."
That had been that past summer. Now, as Teddy stood back from the car door and extended a hand to help her out into the frigid December air, Breman recalled how Louis's praise that day had made her skin crawl. Again the little voice was asking her to leave so that she had to remind herself that she was doing this because Louis could practically guarantee her the black vote. This is just a little thing, she thought, we're accomplishing a lot in the office getting bums off the streets and arresting graffiti taggers to make cleaner, nicer neighborhoods. And you can't do that sort of good if you're not in office, can you.
Breman also had higher aspirations than the district attorney's office, and Louis could get her there, too. He'd hinted as much when inviting her to this late-night meeting in Harlem. "A person with your ability and charm could do a lot of good for this community as a district court judge," he said. "And I might be in a position to help a friend with those sorts of ambitions."