Act of Deceit

Chapter 14

B rown was already seated at the defense table, handcuffed to his chair, when Donnally and Blaine had walked into the courtroom. He was bracketed by two attorneys that neither of them recognized.

One bailiff sat five feet behind Brown and another next to the low swinging doors leading to the gallery.

“People versus Charles Brown.”

Donnally sat down behind the barrier as Blaine walked up to the prosecution table and faced Judge Julia Nanston.

“Thomas Blaine for the People.”

The thickset woman sitting next to Brown rose to her feet.

“Margaret Perkins substituting in for the public defender.”

Blaine glanced at Perkins, then said to Judge Nanston. “Your Honor-”

Judge Nanston raised her palm toward Blaine, then glared down at the new attorney.

“Ms. Perkins, two weeks ago I gave the public defender a date certain. And that date is today. The people of this state have waited over twenty years for a resolution in this case.” Nanston removed her half-height reading glasses, then pointed a thin finger at Perkins. “If this is some kind of stunt to get a continuance…”

Perkins smoothed the front of her gray suit. She looked to Donnally like an army captain adjusting her dress uniform.

“No, Your Honor. We’re ready to proceed.”

“And your colleague, for the record?”

“Doris Tevenian of my firm, Schubert, Smith, and Barton.”

Blaine’s head swung toward Tevenian, then toward Donnally, his eyes asking, Who’s paying for this? Then he mouthed the question, Albert Hale?

Donnally knew SSB’s reputation as one of the most expensive firms in the nation. Because of their ages, Donnally guessed that Perkins and Tevenian were partners, which meant that between them and their two assistants, the case was costing more than two thousand dollars an hour.

“Just to make sure we understand each other,” Judge Nanston said. “I hope you don’t think you’re making a special appearance to give yourself some time to see whether you want to take the case. You’re in for the duration.” Nanston nodded twice, expecting Perkins to nod along. She did. “Even if that means a forest of motions and a three-month trial.”

Tevenian rose. “Yes, Your Honor.”

Judge Nanston looked at Blaine. “Any objection?”

“No, Your Honor, but the People want some assurance that the defendant consents to the substitution. There are appeal issues to be considered.”

The judge looked down at Brown. “Mr. Brown, would you like Ms. Perkins and Ms. Tevenian to represent you?”

“I don’t want no public defender. I want a real lawyer.”

Judge Nanston smiled, then looked at Blaine. “May I take that as a yes?”

“W hat the hell is SSB doing in this case?” Blaine asked Donnally as they walked down the ninth floor hallway toward his office.

“Does it make a difference?”

“No. But I’ll tell you something that will.” Blaine stopped and turned toward Donnally. “The jailhouse informant that we were going to use in Brown’s original trial died of a heroin overdose ten years ago. He was the only one who heard Brown confess.”

“Did he testify in any pretrial hearings?”

“Nope. So we’ve got no testimony that would be admissible now.”

They walked a few more steps, then Donnally realized that Blaine’s complaint was a setup.

Donnally stopped. “What are you saying?”

“Maybe we should…” Blaine let his voice trail off.

Donnally’s fists clenched. “Let him be found incompetent again?”

“But we’ll keep an eye on him.”

“Like you did for the last two decades?”

“At least we’re sure to keep him locked up for another ten years-”

“And then he falls through the cracks again and walks out the door?”

Blaine folded his arms across his chest. “The risk of going to trial is that he walks out sooner, either on a not guilty by reason of insanity or on a lesser offense.”

“You mean a manslaughter?”

“Exactly. Say Brown gets up there and says it wasn’t premeditated. It was just an accident or heat of passion or some kind of sex play that went bad. Nobody remembers what a gem Anna Keenan was. Most jurors will think she was just a Berkeley weirdo and will be prepared to believe anything.”

Donnally pointed a finger at Blaine’s chest. “It’s your job to make sure they don’t.”

“Not mine alone, pal. If you want to bury Brown, then you’ll have to be my first witness at the competency hearing.”

“And testify to what? I’m not a shrink.”

“You’ll testify that even with you catching him by surprise, he was able to articulate that he’d been accused of murder and that he was thinking clearly and quickly enough to come up with a fake manslaughter defense that would cut his jail time in half.”

Blaine spread his arms to encompass the courthouse.

“That alone makes him more competent than ninety percent of the crooks that come through here.”

Blaine chuckled, but Donnally didn’t laugh with him.

“Most of them don’t figure out how they’re going to fight their cases until halfway through trial.”