The Justice Game

62

Heart racing, Jason turned to Andrew Lassiter. “Can I see where we are?”

Andrew brought up his summary screen, showing the first thirteen jurors left on the panel if Judge Garrison didn’t throw anyone else off for cause. As it stood now, Andrew was recommending that Jason use a preemptory challenge on Juror 3. Juror 7 had a low score in Andrew’s system but was safe at the moment-but only because three jurors with even worse scores were still on the panel.

What did Luthor know about these two jurors that Jason and Andrew didn’t?

It would be hard to justify keeping Juror 3. His name was Rodney Peterson, an African American professor of history at Virginia Wesleyan. He had several strikes against him from a micromarketing perspective. Wrong political party. Wrong religious affiliation. He lived in Virginia Beach, but he did a lot of work with the Boys and Girls Club in inner-city Norfolk, seeing firsthand the lethal combination of guns and gangs. He had a doctoral degree, another strike. Jason preferred blue collar. The only thing in his favor was his gender. The focus groups showed that women had far more sympathy for Blake Crawford than men.

Juror 7, a middle-aged white woman named Marcia Franks, had some pluses and minuses. Another Democrat, strike one. No religious affiliation, strike two. She had other issues as well, maybe not complete strikes but at least foul balls. She read the wrong magazines, enrolled her kids in a private, nonreligious school, and shopped at organic grocery stores. She had an Obama bumper sticker on her car.

On the plus side, her spouse was retired military and now worked in a private security firm. There were guns in the house. Occasionally, her husband went hunting on the eastern shore.

Jason pointed to a few other jurors with low scores, though not as bad as Marcia Franks. “I’ve got bad vibes on these two,” he said. He didn’t know yet whether he would strike Jurors 3 and 7, but he wanted to start laying some groundwork just in case he decided to keep them. The best way would be to put the focus on other potentially bad jurors and build a case against them.

But Lassiter wasn’t buying it. “Trust the formulas,” he said. “Unless the jurors say something in voir dire that totally changes our information, we’ve got to stick with the formulas.”

Even before Jason had received the e-mail from Luthor, he and Andrew had gone back and forth on this issue. Jason saw the formulas as a guide. Andrew saw them as a mandate, the tablets from the Mount-thou shalt strike the bottom three jurors according to the formula.

Jason tapped his chest. “This is part of the formula, too.”

Andrew pointed to the screen. “This thing is based on objective information, not emotions.” He turned to Jason, intensity lining his face. The pressures of the case affected everyone, but Andrew showed it most-he was a volcano ready to erupt. “Don’t throw out months of hard work just because you have a gut feeling. Feelings change.” He blinked, and his neck twitched a little. “And even if they didn’t-”

“All rise!” the bailiff called out, rescuing Jason from the rest of Andrew’s lecture.

“Jason, you know this stuff works,” Andrew whispered.

Over the next few hours, as the questioning of the jury panel droned on, Jason focused on his dilemma. If he used a strike against either Juror 3 or 7, his past would be revealed, right in the middle of this high-profile case, distracting him from the task at hand and besmirching his client by association. What if Luthor really was trying to help? Luthor had suggested Ed Poole as an expert witness, and Poole had done great in his deposition.

But if Luthor knew things about these jurors that would make them favorable to Jason’s case, why hadn’t he provided details? Face it, the whole thing was dirty. Had to be. Luthor was blackmailing Jason. Chances were good that he was blackmailing these jurors as well. Even if he was blackmailing them for Jason’s benefit, wasn’t Jason now a party to Luthor’s fraud by not reporting Luthor’s e-mails?

And what if Luthor was blackmailing the jurors to get a decision for the plaintiff? If Jason allowed the jurors to stay on, the web of lies he had started ten years ago would ensnare another victim-Jason’s client.

On the other hand, he couldn’t even bear to think about the consequences of the truth being exposed after all these years. What would he say to Bella? What about LeRon’s family-Jason had compounded their grief by making them think their own son had been driving. Why open those old wounds again? And then there were the legal ramifications. Even for a decade-old cover-up, he could be disbarred-maybe even do jail time.

Virginia required unanimous jury verdicts. Even if Jason allowed Jurors 3 and 7 to stay on the case, they couldn’t decide it on their own. Two jurors couldn’t sway the panel if Jason had the others firmly in his camp.

He couldn’t tell anything from their faces. Both jurors just sat there impassively, answering the judge’s questions, avoiding eye contact with Jason and everyone else seated at counsel’s table. A few other jurors were dismissed for cause, and Jason was pretty sure that both Juror 3 and Juror 7 would now be on Andrew’s list of recommended strikes.

In a few hours, it would be time to choose.

At 4:30, Judge Garrison ran out of questions and relinquished his starring role to the lawyers. About half the jury panel had already been eliminated for cause. Jurors 3 and 7 had made the initial cut and would be on the final panel of thirteen. The only thing that would keep them from serving on the jury would be if Kelly or Jason used one of their three preemptory challenges to excuse them or asked questions that revealed a bias.

Kelly went first and did her best to goad the gun lovers on the jury into saying something inflammatory so she could get them kicked off for cause. She also pitched some softball questions to her favorite jurors so they could again reiterate how fair and impartial they intended to be.

When it was Jason’s turn, he took the occasion to argue his case in the form of questions. If he could show that his client had done nothing illegal, would they be able to put aside their sympathies and render a defense verdict? Did they understand that just because guns can be dangerous, it doesn’t mean that you hold the manufacturer responsible for everything that happens with that gun? Even if you don’t agree with the Second Amendment, are you willing to follow it as the law of our land?

Neither lawyer was able to reveal any serious prejudice that would disqualify other jurors. When they had finished asking their questions, Judge Garrison gave them an opportunity to huddle with their respective clients to see if they had missed anything.

“Any more questions?” Garrison asked after a few minutes.

“No, sir,” Kelly said.

Jason stood. “Just one.”

Garrison sighed and told Jason to proceed.

Jason walked to the front of the jury box and gave them another smile. “Judge Garrison and the lawyers have asked you a lot of questions today, and Judge Garrison has explained, in general terms, what this case is about. I was just wondering, before we get started, what questions you might have for us.”

“What?” asked Kelly, immediately on her feet. “I object.”

Jason turned toward a red-faced Judge Garrison. “Get up here,” the judge barked.

When they reached his bench, the judge leaned toward Jason. “What was that stunt? We ask the questions during voir dire, not the jury. How many cases have you tried?”

Jason spread his palms. “I thought the whole point of voir dire was to find out about the jurors. What better way than to see what questions they have? I wasn’t going to answer them-but Ms. Starling and I would be fools not to govern our case accordingly.”

Kelly was flabbergasted. “Judge,” she stammered, as if the absurdity of it was so plain that she couldn’t find words to describe it. “I mean… that’s ridiculous.”

“I agree,” Judge Garrison said. “Return to your counsel tables.”

Jason and Kelly did as they were told and Garrison turned to the jury. “Mr. Noble is not allowed to solicit questions from you at this stage,” Garrison said. “Hopefully, all your questions will be answered during the presentation of evidence.”

From the looks on their faces, Jason could tell that the jury was at least grateful he had asked. One thing he had learned from interviewing jurors at Justice Inc. was their frustration at never getting to ask their own questions. If they were such a critical part of the trial process, why didn’t anybody care what they thought?

At least now, they knew that Jason cared.

When Jason sat down, Case McAllister leaned over and whispered one word.

“Brilliant.”