you may proceed to question your witnesses."
This had happened too quickly. I hadn't had a chance to talk to Slip.
I crossed my fingers and hoped that the fifty-fifty odds would fall my
way.
"The defense calls Larry Gunderson to the stand."
I exhaled a sigh of relief, and Jim Thorpe rose. "Excuse me, your
honor. It was my understanding that the purpose of the prosecutor's
conference with Ms. Lopez was to determine whether Mr. Minkins was
offering testimony that would warrant an offer of immunity to him. As
your honor is well aware, such conferences often invite fabrications,
especially where as in Mr. Minkins's situation the person being
questioned is
OTJ
on probation and therefore subject to the whim of law enforcement. It
only seems fair that my client should know what occurred in that
conference before being questioned."
Somewhere along the road, when I wasn't looking, Prescott had truly
come into her own. Without asking any guidance from the other
attorneys, she reached the right conclusion. "Mr. Gunderson is merely
a witness in these proceedings, not the accused. He has no standing to
request information about other witness's potential testimony. Please
instruct your client to take the witness seat."
Thorpe whispered some last minute advice in his ear and Gunderson took
the stand. Short, round, and balding, he might have appeared jolly
under happier circumstances. But here, his expression was stern but
concerned as he repeated the same response to each of Slip's questions:
"On the advice of counsel, I decline to answer pursuant to my Fifth
Amendment rights."
Although typically the bane of my existence, today the words were music
to my ears. Larry Gunderson, the supposedly disinterested landowner,
was invoking his rights. It was better than anything I could have
hoped for.
When Slip had finished his list of questions, he called Minkins to the
stand. To everyone's surprise (well, maybe not everyone's), Minkins
also invoked his Fifth Amendment rights. When the questioning was
done, I rose.
"Your honor, at this point, I would request that the sheriff's deputy
place Mr. Minkins in custody on a probation detainer pursuant to the
request of his probation officer."
"This is ludicrous, your honor." I wasn't surprised at Lisa's acting
skills. Having seen her profess her faith in her clients time and time
again in court, I knew she could pull it off. "Ms. Kincaid is
obviously penalizing my client for invoking his Fifth Amendment
rights."
"Ms. Lopez is forgetting, your honor, that Mr. Minkins was a defense
witness, not a suspect. The State is continuing to pursue its case
against the defendant, Melvin Jackson, and is simply informing the
court of a decision by the probation department. The probation officer
has already faxed a formal detainer to the sheriff's department. He is
concerned about Mr. Thorpe s earlier representation about Mr.
Minkins's whereabouts at the time of the offense. The witness is on
supervision for a forgery that arose from an alcohol and gambling
addiction."
Moments later, Minkins was led away in cuffs, where he'd be safe and
sound in a relatively clean and comfortable county holding cell until I
told his PO it was time for a hearing. It wasn't the Four Seasons, but
it provided the protection Minkins was after.
Larry Gunderson's head looked like it was about to explode. My guess
was that he had been tempted to perjure his way through the
questioning, but was smart enough to play it safe once he assumed that
Minkins had given him up. It's nearly impossible to make your way
through an interrogation when you don't know what cards the questioner
has already drawn. Any screwups would be under oath and on the record,
preventing him from wiggling around at a trial down the road.
Lisa threw me a glance before leaving the courtroom. Other lawyers
might have worried about the long-term repercussions of crossing
another attorney, especially one as powerful as Jim Thorpe. But Lisa
Lopez, ever the true believer, did what was best for Minkins.
"Unless someone has further need of Mr. Thorpe and his client,"
Prescott said, "the two of you are free to leave as well." They almost
looked surprised when no one spoke up.
With the witnesses gone, Prescott asked Slip if he had any additional
witnesses.
"No, your honor."
"Rebuttal, Ms. Kincaid."
"None."
Slip and I went through the motions on argument. He wove the strongest
conspiracy story he could given the information he had. I stood by my
case against Jackson, emphasizing that any questions about possible
conspiracies must be decided by the jury. If anyone from the office
called Prescott to check up on me, it would look like I'd played my
proper role in the system. I wasn't looking for a dismissal against
Jackson, just enough of a reaction from the court to get my office's
attention.
When we were done arguing, Judge Prescott gave me what I needed.
"All right, I don't know what exactly happened in here today, but I'm
ready to rule."
When I got back to my office, I was greeted by a note on my chair. See
me ASAP. And, no, that doesn't mean after a quick run. Russ.
I didn't go for a run, but I did take a second to check my voice maiclass="underline"
two defense attorneys, a victim, and my father. Since I had changed my
outgoing message to say I'd be in court all day, the callbacks could
wait.
In Russell's office, I did my best to look worn out from my crazy
morning. "Hey, there. I'm finally out of the Jackson prelim." I held
up the note he'd left for me.
"What the hell's going on over there? Your gem of an ex-husband called
Duncan a couple of hours ago claiming you were sabotaging your own
case. Something about you telling the defense attorney to subpoena
some clients you called him about over the weekend?"
Russell had been good to me so far, so I almost felt bad about lying to
him. Almost. "Roger's got his head up his ass. The defense
subpoenaed the same witnesses I asked him about, because anyone giving
a second thought about this case would be asking the same questions. If
anyone should be in trouble, it's him. He's thinking more about the
other clients than he is about Townsend."
"Sounds like a conflict," he said.
"I thought so too, but apparently all the clients signed off on it."
"So what was the end result?" he asked.
"Prescott found probable cause, but not without a fight. She said on
the record that the defense had raised serious questions about whether