Counterplay

29

“Your Honor, this morning The People will be calling three impeachment witnesses to the stand, or actually, recalling two of them-Dr. Charlotte Gates and Zachary Stavros-as well as Dr. Sally Thoms. With your permission, the people now call Dr. Thoms.”

“Objection,” Anderson said, his voice monotone compared to Guma’s bright-eyed and bushy-tailed delivery. He was only making a record as they’d already haggled over the state’s rebuttal witnesses earlier that morning in the judge’s chambers.

Normally, he would not have risked the judge’s ire as he had in chambers with the vehemence of his protests and silly arguments. He’d known within the first five minutes how the judge would rule; however, the important thing was that it had taken a good forty minutes off the clock, and it was now almost ten. He had no idea how long the prosecution would take with these witnesses, or the length of time to allow for closings, but whatever it took, he was desperate the case not go to the jury. Chances were, they’d need more than a day to deliberate. But he’d seen juries come back in an hour, and if Emil Stavros was sent to prison any time before Monday, Anderson knew he’d be a dead man.

He wondered what Kane meant by not having to worry about Butch Karp come Monday. No, I don’t want to know, he told himself. I just want this trial to be over, but not just yet. At the same time, this was a high-profile case that he wanted to win; both to beat Karp and Guma, something rarely accomplished, and because Stavros, who didn’t trust Kane’s plan, had promised him a quarter-million-dollar bonus for an acquittal.

Anderson glanced at the back of the courtroom to check on the blond reporter. He tried to set up their date that night after court the day before, but she’d hemmed and hawed and said “something came up” and she might not make it. Bitch was saying you took a beating in court, lost your manhood, and is going to see how you do today, he thought. Fuck her. What I need to do today is survive, then I’ll worry about the blonde.

As everyone else in the courtroom waited for Thoms to enter, Anderson looked over at where Karp sat reviewing notes on a legal pad. Mr. Clean, he thought, but not without a twinge of envy. He, too, had come out of law school with high ideals, driven by the sense of purpose that every accused person deserved a competent, vigorous defense. That it was solemn duty to make the state prove its case before it took that most precious commodity, a man’s freedom. But he’d also been driven to do whatever it took to become a partner in a prestigious law firm so that he could afford a lifestyle that included cocaine and beautiful women. If that had meant conflict with his conscience, well, it had become easier over time. He’d even talked himself into considering it a sort of strength that he’d learned to accept that he was one of the bad guys; the idealistic young lawyer had been suffocated by poor choices and buried where no one would ever find him, not even the scientists with 221B Baker Street, Inc.

“I’d like to get this into the hands of the jury this afternoon,” Judge Lussman said as they waited. “I have another homicide trial on the docket with jury selection scheduled for early next week.”

Anderson felt his heart skip a beat. Not if I can help it, he thought. However, he said, “My client would like that as well, Your Honor. The election is a little more than a month away, and there’s a lot of work to do.”

“He’ll be fine,” Guma said. “There aren’t many distractions in a prison cell, though he may be limited on his use of the telephone.”

Lussman cleared his throat meaningfully. “Okay, now that we’ve drawn this morning’s line in the sand, gentlemen, let’s knock off the cat fighting. Ah, I believe Dr. Thoms has arrived.”

A short, attractive woman with what appeared to be prematurely gray hair entered the courtroom nervously looking around until she saw Karp, whom she first met in person that morning, smiled, and walked forward. The judge indicated with his hand the witness stand and invited her to have a seat where she was sworn in.

“Good morning, Dr. Thoms,” Karp began. “Would you tell the jury a little about yourself?”

“Yes,” she replied. “My name is Sally Thoms, and I am a professor of fashion design at Colorado State University in Fort Collins, Colorado.”

“Do you have any particular area of expertise?” Karp asked.

“Yes. My specialty is fashion history-trends, styles…sort of who wore what and when,” Thoms said.

After several more questions to establish her area of knowledge, Karp asked that the court accept her as an expert in the area of fashion history. Normally, the request would have been ignored by the defense with little or no questioning. However, Anderson spent an inordinate amount of time questioning Thoms until the judge grew irritated, at which point the lawyer said, “No objection that I haven’t registered before.”

Karp frowned for a moment as he looked at Anderson. The tactics were an obvious part of the delay game. But why? He turned back to Thoms.

“Were you asked by the prosecution to review evidence in this case?” he asked.

“Well, Dr. Gates asked me to look at some items that I understand were located in a grave,” Thoms said.

“And what were those items?”

“Buttons,” Thoms said. “Snap-type buttons approximately a half inch in diameter.”

“Were you asked to look at any other items of clothing?”

Thoms shook her head. “No, just the buttons.”

“There was no cloth? Nothing to which the buttons were attached?”

“No, nothing else. It’s my understanding the…remains…had been in the ground for approximately fourteen years which, depending on the type of material, it’s very likely the material would have decomposed given New York’s climate, as well as insect activity, chemical additions to the soil…. I understand the grave was dug in a garden.”

“So there is no way of knowing what sort of material, or article of clothing, the buttons were attached, too?” Karp asked.

“Well, no, actually, I did have some luck in that area,” Thoms said. “If you would show the first slide, please.”

Karp did as told and a photograph of a half dozen buttons appeared on the screen. Several had what appeared to be mother-of-pearl faces, but the facing had fallen off the rest revealing rusted metal underneath.

“These are the buttons as they were discovered in the grave,” Thoms said. “As you can see, there is no material around the edges, the material having disintegrated. Next slide, please.”

The second slide showed the buttons as having been pried apart. “When these buttons are created, the tops-the part with the mother-of-pearl inlay-is snapped over the cloth onto the portion with the ‘nub’ that would be on the inside of the piece of clothing. The nub is the part that snaps into a hole in a third part of the button ensemble to hold the article of clothing, such as a shirt or dress, together.”

“Why is this important?” Karp asked, as if he were hearing this for the first time and had not received the report from Thoms more than a month earlier and questioned her both on the telephone and, that morning, in person.

“Well, because the inlay and metal on the top part of the button, when snapped into the second part, actually protected the cloth between them,” Thoms said. “Next slide, please…. Here you can see the small circular pieces of cloth I removed from the interior of two of the buttons. They are about a half inch in diameter and blue in color.”

“So the piece of cloth the buttons were formerly attached to was blue?” Karp asked. He turned to catch the reaction at the defense table and was pleased with what he saw. Emil Stavros looked stunned, while Anderson’s mouth hung open.

“Yes,” Thoms agreed.

“Is there anything you can add to this?” Karp said.

Thoms pointed to a large object on a stand that was covered with a sheet. “Would you reveal-”

“Objection!” Anderson said, gathering himself. “Foundation? I have no idea what the prosecution is attempting to uncover here, and I’d prefer the jury didn’t see it until we’ve established that it has anything to do with this case.”

Judge Lussman looked at Karp. “Counselor?”

“Very well, Your Honor, let’s lay a little foundation,” Karp said. “Dr. Thoms, can you illuminate us on what you did after prying apart the buttons and finding the pieces of blue material.”

“Yes,” she said. “Actually, it was quite a fun detective story. First, I determined that the blue material was silk…a very expensive type of silk imported from China.”

“You can tell that?” Karp asked as though surprised.

“Indeed,” Thoms said, warming up to the subject. “Like many other things in our lives, there are different qualities of silk both at its inception-i.e., the silkworms that produce the raw material, the quality and density of the weave, those sorts of things.”

“So did that lead you somewhere else?”

“As a matter of fact, it did,” Thoms said, enjoying herself now. “The mother-of-pearl inlay was very nice, as was the quality of the silk. And, very helpfully…next slide please…”

Karp hit the projector button and a magnified back of one of the buttons appeared on which several numbers were identifiable.

“This is the back of one of the ‘female,’ if you will, parts of the button-the part the nub fits into, thus the gender identification,” Thoms said, blushing slightly. “You can see a number; it’s a lot number. Now, believe it or not, fifteen years ago, there were not all that many companies producing the metal parts for buttons like these, especially with that sort of expensive inlay. I was able to trace the lot number to a company in Ohio, which produced the buttons for a clothier in New York whose designs were sold in Manhattan at Macy’s.”

“Were you able to determine what sort of design these buttons had once been part of?” Karp asked.

Thoms nodded. “Yes. It’s sort of a long, flowing shirt…not evening wear but comfortable, the sort of thing a woman with some means might wear to the park, or even around the house.”

“As a nightshirt?” Karp said.

Thoms pursed her lips. “Well, you’re talking to someone who likes flannel,” she said. “But it would be very comfortable in the summer. Silk from China, you know, was considered a very precious commodity in feudal Japan because of its comfort in hot, humid conditions.”

“Like summer in Manhattan,” Karp said.

“Yes, like summer in Manhattan,” Thoms agreed.

“So were you able to locate a similar shirt at Macy’s or elsewhere?” Karp asked.

Thoms shook her head. “No. The line was discontinued. However, I was able to talk the clothier into giving me the pattern from which I sewed my own version using a silk of the exact same color and quality.”

Karp turned to Lussman. “Your Honor, I believe we’ve established foundation for the evidence beneath the sheet, which is the replica shirt sewn by Ms. Thoms.”

With that, Karp walked over to the object on the stand and removed the sheet. Beneath it was a dressmaker’s dummy on which was draped a blousy blue silk shirt. He then offered the exhibit into evidence. He turned back to Thoms, smiled, and said, “Thank you, Professor. I have no further questions.”

“I object,” Anderson said. “How do we know that these buttons were only used on this one particular type of shirt?”

“Dr. Thoms, would you like to respond to that?” Lussman asked.

“Yes, I would,” Thoms said. “Actually, the buttons with this lot number were used only on this design.”

“Very well,” Lussman said. “I’ll admit the exhibit. You may show it to the jury.”

The jurors then examined Dr. Thoms’s artistry.

Anderson did little on cross-examination except go over the same points Karp had addressed. More stalling, Karp thought.

The next witness called was Charlotte Gates. When she was settled, Karp asked, “Dr. Gates, remind me, did you testify that there was a single bullet wound in the skull of Teresa Stavros?”

“No,” Gates said. “That’s not what I said.”

Karp was pleased to see the jury, which had paid rapt attention to Thoms, sit forward again and start writing in their notebooks. “No?” he said, as if surprised. “Could you explain?”

“Yes,” Gates said. “What I testified to was that there was a single entry wound. But I did not say it was caused by a single bullet.”

“Do you have reason to believe otherwise?” Karp asked.

“Yes, I believe the entry wound was actually created by two bullets,” Gates replied.

There was a murmur in the spectator gallery even as Anderson jumped to his feet and angrily objected. “What is this?” he demanded. “This isn’t impeachment. He’s trying to introduce new evidence, which I might add was exculpatory and yet this is the first I’ve heard of it.”

Karp smiled. When he’d first been told about this turn of event by Gates, he’d been just as surprised as defense counsel. Back in July, the forensic anthropologist had asked him to send the remains and the ballistics evidence to her laboratory in Albuquerque in preparation for the trial. Nothing against the New York ME’s lab, but they’re not as well equipped she’d said by way of explanation.

About a week later, and just before the sudden introduction of Dante Coletta into the mix, she’d called with the news that Teresa Stavros had been shot twice. When during the interview with Coletta, the chauffeur claimed that Kaplan had shot the woman once, he’d formed the idea of a trap…the rope for Coletta to hang himself with. However, it was evident that someone in the ME’s office had leaked Gates’s initial findings to the press and, he assumed, Anderson used it to tailor Coletta’s story. So he had Gates submit her latest finding to him-delaying until a week before the trial-and then turned it over with a bunch of other paperwork, counting on Anderson to turn the material over to an inexperienced lawyer or even law student who wouldn’t know what to make of it.

“If defense counsel will turn to people’s exhibit page one thousand, four hundred and sixty-five, he will find Dr. Gates’s addendum to her original report,” Karp said. “Please note that someone in Mr. Anderson’s office signed for it more than a week ago, but he apparently failed to read the material. And for impeachment, this evidence will unequivocally demonstrate that Mr. Coletta’s testimony is a pathetic fabrication.”

“Proceed, Mr. Karp,” Lussman said.

Anderson sat down like he’d been slapped. Stavros leaned toward him and began whispering furiously.

Would love to know what that’s about, Karp thought with a smile. He looked at Gates, who sat waiting expectantly. “Please explain to the jury how you reached your conclusion that the deceased was shot not once, but twice in the head.”

“As I was saying, I originally believed that the wound was caused by a single bullet. When all of the physical evidence and ballistics evidence was delivered to my office, I took all the bullet fragments found in the skull and weighed them-which, to be honest, I should have done originally, but knew that I would be taking a deeper look later in the proceedings. Anyway, the weight of the fragments was slightly more than the total weight of a single.22-caliber bullet. So I decided to take a closer look at the entry wound-this time with a high-power electron microscope. Would you mind showing the slide, Mr. Karp?”

“Not at all,” Karp replied.

A photograph of the entry wound that the jury had already seen appeared on the screen. “And now the second slide.” Suddenly, the wound appeared the size of a basketball. “As you can see, there is a circular wound from a bullet here with the resulting ‘chipping’ around where bone shattered,” Gates said, using a light pointer. “But look at what would be the northeast quadrant and you’ll notice another semicircular indentation with its own ‘chipping’ pattern. This is the second entry wound-so close to the first as to be very difficult to see with the naked eye and even a decent magnifying glass. But there’s no denying it’s there and what it means.”

Karp allowed the jury to digest what they’d just heard before asking his follow-up question. “So if Dante Coletta testified that he saw Jeff Kaplan shoot Teresa Stavros only once, it’s fair to say he was mistaken?”

“Correct, Mr. Karp, then Mr. Coletta was mistaken. The deceased was shot twice in the head,” Gates said.

“Is there anything else you can tell us in regard to there being two bullet wounds so close together as to be visible only with the aid of a microscope?”

“Yes. It indicates that the deceased was lying down. She wasn’t moving and was probably unconscious or even already dead.”

Karp looked at Anderson expecting an objection, but the defense counsel seemed to be doodling on his notepad. “How did you reach that conclusion?”

“If, for instance, the deceased was standing when she was shot, it would be very difficult to place the second bullet in almost the same spot.”

Karp held his fingers out a few feet from the dressmaker’s dummy. “Even from such a close distance?”

“I suppose anything’s possible,” Gates said. “But highly unlikely. There’s a certain amount of recoil, even in a small gun fired in quick succession. The chances of hitting the same spot even on a nonmoving target would be astronomical. But the deceased would have been moving. According to Mr. Coletta’s testimony, she had turned and was walking away from Mr. Kaplan. Also, the first bullet would have rocked her head forward and she would have probably started to fall as well.”

“Would it be fair to say then that Mrs. Stavros, while unconscious or dead, was executed with two shots to the head?”

“Objection. Counsel knows it’s speculative and he’s using loaded words to sway the jury.”

“Sustained. Mr. Karp, would you like to rephrase your question?”

Karp acted as if he were giving it some thought. “No thank you, Your Honor. I have no further questions for Dr. Gates.”

Again, Anderson’s questions seemed designed more to take up time than to win any points with the jury. In fact, from Karp’s point of view, all he did was reinforce Gates’s testimony.

After breaking for lunch, at which time Guma and Karp discussed trying to speed things up as it was so evident that Anderson wanted to slow them down, Guma recalled Zachary Stavros. But not before Karp replaced the sheet over the dressmaker’s dummy.

“I believe you testified earlier in the trial that you have never read the reports regarding the exhumation of your mother’s remains or subsequent reports by forensic investigators, is that true?” Guma asked.

“Yes,” Zachary said, shaking his head. “Like I said, you asked me not to, and I don’t have a way to get the reports.”

“Has anybody ever told you what is in the reports?”

“No. You said I have to wait until the trial is over.”

Guma approached Zachary and handed him several sheets of paper. “I am handing you letters, marked collectively People’s Exhibit 17A to F, addressed to Dr. Donald Craig and dated February of this year. Did you write these letters?”

“Yes, they’re letters I wrote to Dr. Craig. He asked me to write down any memories of my mother that came to me after the initial sessions when I was hypnotized.”

“Zachary, you’ll see on the first page I handed you some text that I’ve highlighted in yellow. Would you read that, please?”

“Yes,” Zachary said, clearing his throat. “It says, ‘I can even remember what my mother was wearing that night-it was a blue, silk or some other material like that, shirt or maybe a dress. Very loose. I liked how cool it felt on my cheek. And I liked the buttons, which were shiny.’ ”

Guma looked at Karp who stood and walked over to the dressmaker’s dummy. Karp gently pulled the sheet off.

“Does this look familiar?” Guma asked.

Zachary sobbed and nodded.

Gently, Lussman began to remind him, “Sorry, but you’ll need to-”

“Yes, it’s my mother’s shirt,” he blurted out and began to cry.

“I’m sorry, Zachary, that was a tough thing to do to you,” Guma said, his own voice husky. “This isn’t your mother’s shirt. It’s a replica. Your mother was buried with her shirt.”

Guma turned to the judge, fighting the tears in his own eyes. “I have no further questions.”

Lussman nodded and looked at Anderson, who had his face in his hands. “Mr. Anderson, do you intend to question the witness?”

Anderson looked at his watch. One o’clock. Closings could take a couple hours, maybe less. The jury might get the case. Stavros is going down for this, he thought, and if he does before Monday, I might as well go jump in that grave in his backyard. I have to stall. “May I approach the bench?”

“By all means,” Lussman said.

With Guma and Karp present, Anderson angrily hissed, “They’ve been sandbagging me with their ‘late-arriving’ evidence and witnesses. All of this could have been presented during their case in chief.”

“Nonsense, this only became necessary when you put a witness on the stand who I think you knew was lying,” Guma shot back.

“You’re accusing me of a pretty serious offense, Mr. Guma!” Anderson snarled.

“Handsome is as handsome does, Anderson,” Guma retorted. “Let’s get to closing arguments and see who the jury believes. Then Mr. Stavros can spend the weekend behind bars where he belongs!”

“Mr. Guma, Mr. Anderson, let’s keep this civil,” Lussman said.

Anderson held whatever he was about to say to Guma and turned to the judge. “I am obviously going to have to digest what we’ve all heard here today and perhaps make an application for surrebuttal to recall Mr. Coletta to explain the divergence in theories here.”

“Explain why he perjured himself, you mean?” Guma said.

“Your Honor, at the very least, I need some reflective time to respond in my summation to this new turn of events. Please, in the interest of fairness to my client, I’m asking for a small delay until Monday morning,” Anderson said. “We’ll still have the case to the jury by noon, if not before.”

Lussman looked at the lawyers in front of him. The prosecution had obviously torn the defense to pieces, but Stavros still deserved the benefit of the doubt. He was still innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt…. For a few more hours anyway. “Okay, Mr. Anderson, you have the weekend. Gentlemen, return to your seats.”

Fifteen minutes later, Karp and Guma were alone in the courtroom. “Something’s going on with Anderson,” Karp said. “It’s almost like I can put a finger on it, but not quite.”

“Yeah, know what you mean,” Guma said. “This isn’t about one more weekend of freedom. He was sweating bullets to get this trial delayed until Monday. I wish I knew what he was up to.”

Karp looked at the dressmaker’s dummy and suddenly the words of an old saw popped into his head. “Sometimes it is the blind who see what the sighted cannot though it is right in front of him.” Yes, it’s right in front of me, he thought, but I can’t see it.