“Your Honor, the prosecution wishes to respond right now to… this motion.”
“Go right ahead, then.”
I tried to build a good tone of outrage into my voice.
“Judge, I am as cynical as the next guy but I have to say I am surprised by the defense’s tactics here with this motion. In fact, this isn’t a motion. This is very plainly an attempt to subvert the trial system by denying the People of Cal-”
“Your Honor,” Royce interjected, jumping to his feet, “I strenuously object to the character assassination Mr. Haller is putting on the record and before the media. This is nothing more than grand-”
“Mr. Royce, you will have an opportunity to respond after Mr. Haller responds to your motion. Please be seated.”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
Royce sat down and I tried to remember where I was.
“Go ahead, Mr. Haller.”
“Yes, Your Honor, as you know, the prosecution turned over all discovery materials to the defense on Tuesday. What you have before you now is a very disingenuous motion spawned by Mr. Royce’s realization of what he will be up against at trial. He thought the state was going to roll over on this case. He now knows that it is not going to do so.”
“But what does this have to do with the motion at hand, Mr. Haller?” the judge asked impatiently.
“Everything,” I said. “You’ve heard of judge shopping? Well, Mr. Royce is prosecutor shopping. He knows through his examination of discovery materials that Margaret McPherson is perhaps the most important part of the prosecution team. Rather than take on the evidence at trial, he is attempting to undercut the prosecution by splintering the team that has assembled that evidence. Here we are, just four weeks before trial and he makes a move against my second chair. He has hired an attorney with little to no experience in criminal defense, not to mention defending a murder case. Why would he do that, Judge, other than for the purpose of concocting this supposed conflict of interest?”
“Your Honor?”
Royce was on his feet again.
“Mr. Royce,” the judge said, “I told you, you will have your chance.”
The warning was very clear in her voice.
“But, Your Honor, I can’t-”
“Sit down.”
Royce sat down and the judge put her attention back on me.
“Judge, this is a cynical move made by a desperate defense. I would hope that you would not allow him to subvert the intentions of the Constitution.”
Like two men on a seesaw, I went down and Royce immediately popped up.
“One moment, Mr. Royce,” the judge said, holding up her hand and signaling him back down to his seat. “I want to talk to Mr. Bell.”
Now it was Bell’s turn to stand up. He was a well-dressed man with sandy hair and a ruddy complexion, but I could see the apprehension in his eyes. Whether he had come to Royce or Royce had come to him, it was clear that he had not anticipated having to stand in front of a judge and explain himself.
“Mr. Bell, I have not had the pleasure of seeing you practice in my courtroom. Do you handle criminal defense, sir?”
“Uh, no, ma’am, not ordinarily. I am a trial attorney and I have been lead counsel in more than thirty trials. I do know my way around a courtroom, Your Honor.”
“Well, good for you. How many of those trials were murder trials?”
I felt total exhilaration as I watched what I had set in motion take on its own momentum. Royce looked mortified as he watched his plan shatter like an expensive vase.
“None of them were murder trials per se. But several were wrongful death cases.”
“Not the same thing. How many criminal trials do you have under your belt, Mr. Bell?”
“Again, Judge, none were criminal cases.”
“What do you bring to the defense of Mr. Jessup?”
“Your Honor, I bring a wealth of trial experience but I don’t think that my résumé is on point here. Mr. Jessup is entitled to counsel of his choice and-”
“What exactly is the conflict you have with Ms. McPherson?”
Bell looked perplexed.
“Did you understand the question?” the judge asked.
“Yes, Your Honor, the conflict is that we had an intimate relationship and now we would be opposing each other at trial.”
“Were you married?”
“No, Your Honor.”
“When was this intimate relationship and how long did it last?”
“It was seven years ago and it lasted about three months.”
“Have you had contact with her since then?”
Bell raised his eyes to the ceiling as if looking for an answer. Maggie leaned over and whispered in my ear.
“No, Your Honor,” Bell said.
I stood up.
“Your Honor, in the interest of full disclosure, Mr. Bell has sent Ms. McPherson a Christmas card for the past seven years. She has not responded likewise.”
There was a murmur of laughter in the courtroom. The judge ignored it and looked down at something in front of her. She looked like she had heard enough.
“Where is the conflict you are worried about, Mr. Bell?”
“Uh, Judge, this is a bit difficult to speak of in open court but I was the one who ended the relationship with Ms. McPherson and my concern is that there could be some lingering animosity there. And that’s the conflict.”
The judge wasn’t buying this and everyone in the courtroom knew it. It was becoming uncomfortable even to watch.
“Ms. McPherson,” the judge said.
Maggie pushed back her chair and stood.
“Do you hold any lingering animosity toward Mr. Bell?”
“No, Your Honor, at least not before today. I moved on to better things.”
I could hear another low rumble from the seats behind me as Maggie’s spear struck home.
“Thank you, Ms. McPherson,” the judge said. “You can sit. And so can you, Mr. Bell.”
Bell thankfully dropped into his chair. The judge leaned forward and spoke matter-of-factly into the bench’s microphone.
“The motion is denied.”
Royce stood up immediately.
“Your Honor, I was not heard before the ruling.”
“It was your motion, Mr. Royce.”
“But I would like to respond to some of the things Mr. Haller said about-”
“Mr. Royce, I’ve made my ruling on it. I don’t see the need for further discussion. Do you?”
Royce realized his defeat could get even worse. He cut his losses.
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
He sat down. The judge then ended the hearing and we packed up and headed toward the rear doors. But not as quickly as Royce. He and his client and supposed co-counsel split the courtroom like men who had to catch the last train on a Friday night. And this time Royce didn’t bother stopping outside the courtroom to chat with the media.
“Thanks for sticking up for me,” Maggie said when we got to the elevators.
I shrugged.
“You stuck up for yourself. Did you really mean that, what you said about moving on from Bell to better things?”
“From him, yes. Definitely.”
I looked at her but couldn’t read her beyond the spoken line. The elevator doors opened, and there was Harry Bosch waiting to step off.
Twenty
Thursday, March 4, 10:40 A.M .
Bosch stepped off the elevator and almost walked right into Haller and McPherson.
“Is it over?” he asked.
“You missed it,” Haller said.
Bosch quickly turned and hit one of the bumpers on the elevator doors before it could close.
“Are you going down?”
“That’s the plan,” Haller said in a tone that didn’t hide his annoyance with Bosch. “I thought you weren’t coming to the hearing.”
“I wasn’t. I was coming to get you two.”
They rode the elevator down and Bosch convinced them to walk with him a block over to the Police Administration Building. He signed them in as visitors and they went up to the fifth floor, where Robbery-Homicide Division was located.