“Recap, Mr. Klein?” the judge asked. “You had no witnesses to the actual crime, the security-camera system and any potential on-scene physical evidence are toast, and the victims are all dead. Now, let me see. Besides the confession and a weapon found near the motel, you had one witness who stated, in effect, that he had been driven off the road by a small pickup truck resembling the defendants’ vehicle at the time of the fire in the gas station, correct?”
“Well, yes, Your Honor, but they admitted-”
“You see my problem, Mr. Klein?”
Klein pretended to be confused. “Uh, no, Your Honor, I-”
Guthridge closed up his cell phone again. “Detective?” the judge asked again, looking past Klein. Cam raised his eyebrows hopefully at Kenny, but he was shaking his head as he hung up. “That was Captain Wall at Narco-Vice,” he said quietly. “McMichael is ‘not available.’ And he reminded me that there was a Major Crimes detective on-scene.” He glanced over at the perspiring Guthridge. “He’s guessing nobody in the room actually did Mirandize either one of them.”
Cam grunted. The judge prompted Will Guthridge again, but all he could do was shake his head. Klein was shuffling papers on the table and trying not to look at Guthridge.
“Detective, you were at the scene of the arrest. Did you Mirandize these defendants?”
“I did, Your Honor, but not until the SWAT guys handed them over to me.”
“But it was a SWAT deputy who asked the all-important question, right?”
Will nodded unhappily.
“And you’re telling me you cannot produce an arresting deputy who verbally Mirandized these defendants at the time of the takedown?” the judge asked. “ Before the alleged confession?”
Cam didn’t like the sound of that “alleged” confession. “Not at the moment, Your Honor,” Will replied, clearing his throat. “But if I can have some time, I can reassemble the team, and-”
“The confession is out,” the judge announced. Bailiffs, half a dozen reporters, the attorneys, and a fairly large crowd of spectators all went silent in a collective wave of shock. The deaths of three people in a gas station robbery had been beyond big news both in Triboro and in Manceford County. Klein burst out with an indignant “ What?”
The judge looked surprised that anyone would be shocked by her decision. “Per the arrest report, they clearly got their Miranda warnings after the deputies took them back to the district office, but that same report says the confession was elicited at the scene of the arrest.”
Klein raised his hand, as if he were in school. “Your Honor? This is ridiculous. They spontaneously confessed to robbing the store.”
Spontaneously? Cam thought. Nice try, Steven. And, as Cam expected, the judge pounced.
“The Sheriff’s Office report says the deputy asked and the defendant Simmonds responded. That’s not spontaneous, Mr. Klein, especially if he was hanging by his thumbs at the time of the question.”
“These two started that fire,” Steven said, almost shouting. “Both of them. They robbed and shot the store clerk and then trapped two people in the van by shooting into gas pumps. I’m sure they were Mirandized. Every deputy in the county is trained to say those words any time he locks cuffs. It’s SOP. Hook ’em up, you say the words. They’d do it in their sleep.”
“They ain’t never said shit,” K-Dog piped up, sensing a real break here. “They was screamin’ and yellin’, ‘Get down, get down on the floor, assholes,’ stuff like that, but they ain’t never said no warnin’. I know what that shit sounds like.”
The judge glared down at him. “I’ll just bet you do, Mr. Simmonds. But at the moment, your prior experience with being arrested is not the issue here. One more time, Mr. Klein: Can you produce the arresting deputy who warned these individuals before the confession was taken?”
“I’m sure I can, if I can have a short recess here, Your Honor.”
No way, Cam thought, not with Annie Bellamy, who obviously knew what would happen if there was a recess. The deputies would go back to the station, get someone-anyone-on the SWAT team to do the right thing.
“Mr. Klein, this hearing wasn’t exactly a spur-of-the-moment affair. I’m seeing this in the arrest report you gave me, right? Do you want to nolle?”
Klein’s face was getting red. “Not yet, Your Honor,” he said. “I mean, I just can’t believe they didn’t warn them.”
K-Dog’s court-appointed defense attorney finally woke up to what was possible here. “Your Honor?” she said. Here it comes, Cam thought. Here it fucking comes.
“Yes, Ms. Walker?” the judge said wearily.
“Motion to dismiss, Your Honor? No confession, no physical evidence tying either defendant to the gun-there’s really no case.”
There was another sudden silence in the courtroom, and then Klein popped up out of his chair. “Your Honor, a motion to dismiss is beyond ridiculous. We know these defendants committed this crime. We know-”
“Here’s what I know, Mr. Klein,” the judge said patiently. “Per your own report, they weren’t Mirandized before that confession. What you say you know is based on a confession that no longer exists.” She prompted him again. “Nolle, Mr. Klein?”
Cam wanted to throw a rock at Klein. For God’s sake, Steven, say yes, he thought. Bring it back under another charge. Don’t get all hung up on this Miranda thing. But Klein was a mule sometimes, and today was apparently going to be one of them. He shook his head angrily.
The judge stared down at Klein for a moment, her own anger now evident. “Okay, Mr. Klein,” she said finally. “Try this: I am dismissing all charges, due to lack of evidence. With prejudice, Mr. Klein, because I don’t really think you had quality probable cause to make these arrests in the first place.”
“Good God, Your Honor-” Klein began.
“This isn’t church, Mr. Klein, so God has nothing to do with it. You should have pulled it when I gave you the chance- twice.” Bang went the gavel. “Bailiff, this court is adjourned.”
Cam was stunned. Charges dismissed? He was dimly aware that the entire courtroom was buzzing all around him. Toss the confession, okay, but remand until they could go back, dig up some more evidence. These two guys had long sheets and directly relevant priors. They had the submachine gun, and the vehicle, although the CSI people hadn’t done much with either of them because of that confession.
But dismissed? Kenny looked like he wanted to go up there and rip the judge’s throat out. Will Guthridge was also standing now, shouting something at the judge.
The judge, who had stood up to leave, reached for the gavel and started banging it on the bench to drown out the rising protests. Sit down, Will, Cam thought, before you get in any deeper. The two punks were looking at their court-appointed attorneys to see if they had heard it right, too.
“Order!” the judge shouted over the commotion in the courtroom. “Detective, get control of yourself!”
“Goddamn it, Your Honor, I-”
“Shut up, Detective. You’re the one who screwed this up, so just sit down and be quiet for a minute.” Guthridge sat down abruptly, his face bright red, much like Klein’s. Still standing, the judge pointed the gavel at Steven like a gun. “Mr. Klein, you have something further?”
Guthridge started to get back up, and Cam winced when the gavel banged down yet again. The young detective slapped his notebook down on the table and subsided. Klein, who had also started to get up, sank back down into his chair.
“Mr. Klein, your principal evidence was tainted and is not admissible. Your probable cause was a Kleenex. Good enough for Judge Barstow, maybe, but not good enough for me. You want to appeal my ruling, you go for it, but in the meantime, I want these defendants released.”
“Your Honor, these are career criminals,” Klein protested. “They are most definitely flight risks. They-”