Cruel Justice

58

JUDGE HAWKINS SURPRISED EVERYONE by arriving early the next morning. Ben was running late; he’d overslept (a nasty consequence of visiting crime scenes in the middle of the night) and he’d barely had time to grab all his files and scramble to the courthouse. Fortunately, he’d done his preparation the night before.

“Let’s get this show on the road,” Judge Hawkins said. He appeared a bit grumpier than usual today. “And counsel,” Hawkins added, looking only at Ben, “some of the examinations yesterday were, in my humble opinion, somewhat over-leisurely. Let’s see if we can pick up the pace, shall we?”

Ben didn’t smile. They had made it through three witnesses yesterday, for Pete’s sake. Hawkins was trying to intimidate him into going easy on the cross-ex of the prosecution’s witnesses. Ben wasn’t about to shortchange Leeman’s defense just to keep the judge from getting antsy.

“The State calls Dr. Martin Paglino to the stand.”

Another expert? Ben was surprised; he thought the State had completed the forensic aspect of its case. The jury was ready to get on with the nitty-gritty. Including the much-anticipated confession.

Paglino was a short man of slight build with an academic bent. Turned out he worked the night shift in the forensics lab at Central Division, and consequently he was assigned the chore of analyzing the physical evidence collected at the Alvarez crime scene.

“Dr. Paglino,” Bullock asked, after the preliminaries were completed, “did you have a chance to examine the blood splatters that were scraped off the defendant?”

“I did.”

“And what did you find?”

“I found that the blood came from the victim, Maria Alvarez. It matched both in type and in rtDNA structure.”

“How reliable is rtDNA blood comparison, doctor?”

“In my opinion? One hundred percent.”

Bullock strolled past the jury box, allowing the jury time to absorb the import of that statement. “And did you find any of the defendant’s own blood on the surface of his skin?”

“No.”

“Was there any indication that he was harmed in any way?”

“Not that I saw.”

“So there was no evidence of self-defense. Or even a struggle.”

“No.”

A bold conclusion, but as an expert, Paglino could get away with it. There was no point in objecting and creating an issue where none existed. Truth to tell, there was no evidence of a struggle.

Bullock continued. “Did you search the crime scene for fingerprints?”

“I personally did not,” the doctor said hastily, as if somewhat taken aback by the suggestion that he might actually perform physical labor. “I have people who do that for me.”

“Of course. Did you examine the prints they collected?”

“I did.”

“Did you find any prints that belonged to the defendant?”

“Oh yes. All over the crime scene.”

“Objection!” Ben said. “Of course his, prints were all over the place. He worked there. He slept there!”

Hawkins peered down from the bench. “I fail to see what evidentiary objection that statement conveys.”

Ben didn’t either, but it was a fact he definitely wanted to bring to the jury’s attention. “Sorry, your honor.”

Bullock proceeded. “Exactly where did you find the defendant’s prints?”

“On his locker.”

“What about the golf bag that was found inside the locker?”

“His prints were all over it.”

“Of course, he was a caddy.”

“True. But that particular set of clubs was new. None of the caddies’ prints were on them.”

A soft muttering was audible from the jury box.

“Did you find the defendant’s prints anyplace else?”

“Yes.” There was an extended pause. Ben had come to recognize this as a sign that Bullock’s witness was about to unload a biggie. “His fingerprints were found in numerous locations on the victim’s clothing.”

“His prints were on Maria Alvarez?”

“Yes.”

“What part of her body?”

“Mostly her upper body. Waist, neck, torso.”

“Near the point where the murder weapon entered her body.”

Dr. Paglino looked at the jury. “Exactly.”

Bullock pivoted on one heel and returned to his table. “No more questions.”

Ben was up before Judge Hawkins had a chance to invite him. “First of all, Dr. Paglino, let’s talk about what you didn’t say. Then we’ll get to what you did say.”

The doctor bowed his head. “As you wish.”

“For instance, you didn’t mention the necklace that was purportedly found in Leeman’s locker. Did you find Leeman’s prints on that?”

“By its nature, a linked chain of gemstones makes a poor surface for body-oil deposits—”

“Answer the question, Doctor.”

“I’m trying to explain that this doesn’t necessarily mean—”

“Leave the arguing to the lawyers, doc. Did you find his fingerprints on the necklace?”

The doctor exhaled. “No.”

“And you looked, didn’t you?”

“Of course I did.”

“Probably looked as hard as it was possible to look. Mr. Bullock probably ordered you to look eight or ten times. But you didn’t find anything, did you?”

“As I said, no.”

Ben realized he should move on. He was just so elated to have finally scored a point, no matter how small, that he wanted to savor the moment as long as possible. “What about the golf club? The murder weapon.”

“What about it?”

“I’ll bet you checked it for prints, too.”

The good doctor was becoming visibly perturbed. “You’re right.”

“Did you find Leeman’s fingerprints on it?”

“Oh yes.”

“Where were the prints?”

“Where would you expect? On the grip. The handle.”

“So,” Ben said, “the prints were consistent with the possibility that Leeman tried to remove the club after she had been murdered.”

“Objection!” Bullock said. “Calls for speculation.”

“No I didn’t,” Ben said quickly, before Hawkins could rule against him. He’d seen this coming and chosen his words carefully. “I asked if the evidence was consistent with a particular hypothetical scenario. That’s a permissible line of inquiry with an expert witness.”

Hawkins grudgingly overruled the objection. “The witness will answer.”

“I’ll repeat,” Ben said. “Is the fingerprint evidence consistent with the possibility that Leeman tried to remove the club from the woman’s neck?”

“The evidence is consistent,” Paglino said, “with the theory that the defendant held the club by the grip when he rammed it through the victim’s throat.”

“That wasn’t my question,” Ben said calmly. “Stop trying to ram the prosecution’s conjectures down the jury’s throat. Just tell them what the evidence is.”

“We found distinct fingerprints on the club grip. The defendant clearly held it tightly.”

“But there’s no way you can tell from the prints why he held it.”

“That’s true.”

“Thank you, Doctor. Now, you said you found Leeman’s prints all over the victim’s upper body.”

“That’s true. It would be difficult to thrust in the club without impacting to some degree on the body.”

“Doctor, wouldn’t these prints also be consistent with a simple hug?”

Paglino paused. “Did you see any of the pictures taken of that woman at the crime scene?” he asked.

“Yes,” Ben replied. “We all did.”

Paglino nodded. “I wouldn’t have hugged a body in that condition. I don’t think anyone would.”

“Maybe the hug occurred before the murder,” Ben suggested.

“Maybe it did,” Paglino replied. “Maybe she didn’t like it. Maybe he wouldn’t stop. Maybe that’s why he killed her.”

Damn. Just when he seemed to be on the verge of making a dent in their case, he played right into Bullock’s sex pervert theory. “You don’t know for a fact that that’s what happened, do you, Doctor?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then why do you keep suggesting events to the jury that are not supported by your evidence?”

“I’m just answering your questions.”

“You’re just saying exactly what your boss told you to say. Right, Doctor?”

“Objection!” Bullock shouted. “This is grossly offensive!”

“I agree,” Judge Hawkins said. “Consider yourself warned, counsel. Another outburst like that and you’ll be in contempt. Do you have any more questions of this witness?”

“No,” Ben said quietly. Threaten me all you like, Hawkins. I made my point. And some of the jurors may have been listening. “That’s all.”

“Anything more from the prosecution?” the judge asked.

“Just one more witness,” Bullock answered. “The witness we’ve all been waiting for. The State calls Detective Theodore Bickley to the stand. And,” he added, “we instruct the witness to bring his videotape with him.”