Polar Quest

20

‘All rise,’ the bailiff announced. ‘The Fourteenth District Court of Washtenaw County is now in session. The Honorable Paulette Davis presiding.’

Davis ascended the platform, surveyed her courtroom, then struck the gavel and sat down.

‘First case,’ Davis said.

‘The People versus Oswald Eames for the purpose of arraignment,’ the clerk announced.

The clerk handed a thin file to Davis. From a secured corridor, Oswald Eames was led into the courtroom by two deputies. The prisoner, wearing an ill-fitting orange jumpsuit, towered over both of the officers. Eames was brought over to the table reserved for the defense counsel, where Tiv Balogh stood waiting for him.

‘Good morning, Mr Balogh,’ Eames said as the officers removed his handcuffs.

Balogh was a lightly built man who stood a full foot shorter than his client. His head was completely free of hair except for a pair of dark gray eyebrows and a bushy mustache.

‘Good morning, Oz,’ Balogh replied. ‘Let’s see if we can’t get you out of here today.’

‘Very well,’ Davis called out from the bench. ‘In the matter of the People versus Oswald Eames. This is an arraignment hearing. Appearances for the record.’

A fortyish man about Balogh’s height stood at the opposing counsel’s table. ‘Kurt McPherson for the prosecution, Your Honor.’

‘Tiv Balogh for the defense, Your Honor. I have advised my client of his constitutional rights. We waive the formal reading of the information and my client stands mute to all charges.’

‘I am entering a not guilty plea to all charges on behalf of the defendant,’ Davis said as she scrawled a notation in the file. ‘The defense may proceed with discovery. Now for the matter of bail. Mr McPherson?’

‘Your Honor, due to the brutal nature of the crimes and our belief that the defendant is a flight risk, we request that no bail be granted.’

‘Your Honor,’ Balogh countered, ‘while I agree with opposing counsel as to the nature of the crimes, my client has not yet been found guilty of them nor any other crime. My client is a respected scientist and he has no prior criminal history of any kind.’

Davis thought for a moment. ‘The constitution permits me to hold a defendant in jail without bond for certain offenses, murder being one of them. The defendant is remanded to the Washtenaw County Sheriff.’

‘Your Honor — ‘

‘I have made my decision regarding bail,’ Davis said, cutting him off. ‘Moving on now to the matter of the preliminary examination. Mr Balogh?’

‘Your Honor, I request that a preliminary examination be scheduled at the court’s earliest convenience.’

‘Very well.’ Davis glanced down at the district court’s calendar. ‘The preliminary examination is set for the twenty-seventh of February at one o’clock.’