Naked Justice

Chapter 44

AFTER A BRIEF BREAK, Ben began his cross-examination. He knew he had to be careful with this witness. Sanders was articulate, smart, and appealing. The jury was responding positively to him. Ben had to find a way to poke holes in his testimony without suggesting that he was a bad person.

“Mr. Sanders,” Ben began, “you seem to have been very fond of the Barrett family. True?”

“Oh yes. I liked them all. Even Wally—sometimes. I didn’t particularly want to testify here but—you know—a man has a duty.”

“I’m sure. But you seem to have been particularly fond of Wally’s wife, Caroline.”

A frown line appeared above Sanders’ eyes. “I’m not sure what you mean.”

“I mean you seem to have been very fond of my client’s wife, Caroline Barrett. Is that true?”

“What are you trying to suggest?”

“I’m not trying to suggest anything, Mr. Sanders. Why are you being so defensive?”

“Well, I just don’t like you casting aspersions—”

“And I assure you I’m not casting aspersions, sir, but I must insist that you answer my question. Were you very fond of Caroline Barrett?”

“I don’t see what this has to do with anything.”

“So are you saying you didn’t like her?”

“No, of course not.”

“Then you did like her?”

Sanders pursed his lips. “Yes, I liked her.”

“Very much?”

Sanders spoke slowly through tight lips. “Yes, very much.”

“You know what, Mr. Sanders?” Ben kept his voice even and calm. “I think maybe you loved Caroline Barrett.”

“This is outrageous. I would never do anything improper.”

“I’m not suggesting that you did. It’s not a crime to love someone, is it?”

“Of course not.”

“But you did love Caroline Barrett. Didn’t you?”

Sanders glanced down at his hands. “Suppose I did. So?”

“You thought Wallace Barrett was … mistreating her, didn’t you? That she deserved better.”

“That’s certainly true.”

“And that leads me to think that, well, if you loved her, and thought he wasn’t very nice to her—you probably wouldn’t like him very much.”

“I had no axe to grind against Wally.”

“Are you sure?”

“Absolutely.”

“So it didn’t bother you when he called the woman you loved those awful names?”

“Well…” Sanders began fidgeting with his hands.

“Mr. Sanders, why don’t you just tell the jury the truth? You hated Wallace Barrett, didn’t you?”

His chin lowered, and his voice became quiet. “Yes, I suppose I did.”

“It wouldn’t break your heart at all to see him locked away in jail, would it?”

“No. But if you’re suggesting—”

“Thank you, Mr. Sanders. I think you’ve answered my question.” Ben moved quickly to his next subject, not wanting to give Sanders a chance to rationalize his answer. “Now, you testified that during the fight that preceeded the deaths, you heard Wallace Barrett’s voice but did not hear his wife. Is that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Well, now, it takes two to fight, doesn’t it?”

“Yes, but that doesn’t mean they’re both aggressors. One can be the attacker and one can be the victim.”

“Mr. Sanders, is it possible you just didn’t hear what the woman you loved—Caroline Barrett—had to say?”

“I heard a lot.”

“A lot of Wallace, yes. But as you said yourself, he had a loud, booming voice. What was Caroline’s voice like?”

“Soft. Gentle.”

“Not the kind of voice that would likely carry all the way next door, right?”

Sanders’s lips pursed in irritation. “Perhaps not.”

“So for all you know, she could have said things that were far more horrible than what Wallace said. You just didn’t hear them.”

“That’s right. I didn’t hear them.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sanders. I wanted to ask you about one other matter— something I noticed you failed to mention in your testimony.”

Sanders looked startled, as did Bullock.

“In the newspapers, and when you spoke to my investigator, you mentioned that you had seen two strangers prowling around the neighborhood about the time of the murders. Why didn’t you tell the jury about that?”

“Well, it didn’t seem relevant since … since …”

“Since you wanted the jury to pin the rap on my client.”

“No, but—I mean, the evidence is clear.”

“Mr. Sanders, let’s let the jury evaluate the evidence. You just tell us what you saw.”

Sanders sighed heavily. “I saw two people. A tall young man, early twenties probably. Thin, scraggly. Wore fatigues. Had a goatee. Sometimes he carried a black bag over his shoulder. Once or twice I saw him with a younger girl—teenager, I’d guess. That’s it.”

“You didn’t think this was unusual? Two strangers in your high-dollar neighborhood?”

“I did think it was unusual, but I didn’t have any reason to believe they committed murder.”

“When you were initially interviewed by the police, almost the first thing you told them about was these strangers who were, in your words, casing the neighborhood.”

“That’s true … but at that time, I didn’t know …”

“You didn’t know the police were going to pin it on my client, right?”

“Well—”

“In fact, despite having witnessed this big fight, the first suspects you offered the police were these two unidentified strangers.”

“The police asked me if I had seen anything unusual in the neighborhood. So I told them.”

“Told them about the strangers. Not the fight. Not Barrett rushing out of his house.”

“I told them about everything. I just happened to mention the strangers first.”

“Indeed you did. The rest was practically an afterthought.”

Bullock sprang up. “Your honor, I object!”

“Sustained. Counsel, watch yourself.”

“Sorry, your honor.” But not very. “Mr. Sanders, did you ever see either of these strangers in the company of anyone else?”

Sanders started to shake his head, then stopped. “You know, now that you mention it, I do recall a time when the tall guy talked to someone else. Someone drove up in a car, leaned out the window, and talked with him. It was very quick. Not really a conversation. More like he barked out a few orders and then drove on. Very strange.”

“Did you recognize the man in the car?”

“No, sorry.”

“And you don’t recall anything else about these two strangers?”

“No. Nothing.”

“Thank you, sir. I have nothing more.”

The instant Ben had taken his seat, Bullock was back on his feet. “Just a short redirect, your honor.”

Judge Hart nodded.

“Let me ask you just a few questions about these spectral assassins defense counsel is trying to use to confuse the issues. I’m sure we’d all like to believe these horrible crimes were committed by some unknown, unnamed strangers. But, Mr. Sanders, did you ever observe these two doing anything that suggested they meant to harm anyone in the Barrett home?”

“No, I did not.”

“Did they seem to show unusual interest in the Barrett home?”

“Not that I saw.”

“Did they do anything that suggested they were dangerous?”

“No. I never saw them do anything but walk down the street. They were just strangers, that’s all.”

“You certainly didn’t see them fighting with Mrs. Barrett or her children.”

“No.”

“You didn’t see them hit or beat Mrs. Barrett or her children?”

“No.”

“And you didn’t see them dash out of the Barrett home minutes after the murders took place.”

“No, I didn’t.”

“Thank you, Mr. Sanders. I just wanted to put this ghost to rest. That’s all.”

Ben’s jaw clenched tightly together. Bullock had put that ghost to rest, at least for now. If he was ever going to convince the jury there was another assailant, he was going to have to do a lot better than that.