The Law of Second Chances

56

Charlie called Jack at his new number on Monday night to let him know she got the records. “Jack, this house is beautiful, and so is the lake. And Joaquin and Dick are perfect gentlemen. I feel totally secure. Unfortunately, I can’t enjoy the house or the lake or the company because I’m buried in paper. Did you see the volume of documents they sent?”

“I did.”

“It will take me months to get through this stuff, let alone make any sense out of it.”

“Just remember what we discussed, Charlie. Find the telephone records first. I’m really only looking for the last month or so there. With the financials, work your way backward. See if anything grabs you in the last six months to a year.”

“I’ll give it my best shot, Jack, but finding the telephone records may take a week all by itself.”

“Your best is all we can ask for, Charlie.”

Jack spent all of Tuesday at Mike McDermott’s office working on the case. Mike set him up in a spare office and showed him where the copier and the fax were in case he needed them. Then he left Jack to himself. There was no way Jack could ever repay Mike for his hospitality, but when Mike came to check on him at lunchtime, Jack insisted on treating him to dinner that night.

On Wednesday, Jack and Spencer Taylor appeared before the judge in his chambers for an impromptu status conference. The judge had called them personally, so there was no formal notice and thus no press.

“I just want to get a few things straight and get the preliminaries down before the fireworks start,” the judge told them. “We’re going to be on center stage for the whole country, gentlemen, and I, for one, don’t want to look foolish.

“The press has been hounding me from all corners of the globe. I appreciate the fact that you two have not been stoking the fire. I’d like that to continue. I’m allowing one reporter to represent all the major networks, and one to represent the local stations-they’ll serve as pool reporters. The foreign press gets one. The local papers each get one and, of course, the Associated Press.

“There will be no electronic devices of any kind in the courtroom. Cell phones will be confiscated at the entrance. That goes for you gentlemen as well. If either of you needs a computer for this case, let me know now.”

“I don’t, Judge,” Spencer Taylor answered.

“How about you, Mr. Tobin?”

“No, sir.”

“I don’t want any speaking objections or grandstanding of any kind. You will stand, state your legal objection, and ask to approach the bench. Understand?”

“Yes, sir,” they both answered almost in unison.

“Have you seen each other’s documents?”

“All but the ones we had the hearing about, Judge,” Spencer Taylor responded.

“Mr. Tobin, did you get your documents?”

“Yes, your honor. They were voluminous, however, and my expert has not been able to get through any of them yet. I won’t see any documents that my expert will present until the last minute, if at all. I mention that because we have stipulated that the prosecution’s inability to see the documents is not an issue.”

“I recall that stipulation, Counsel. And I also recall that Mr. Taylor graciously waived any notice of witnesses that might arise from those documents. Is that correct, Mr. Taylor?”

“Yes, your honor.”

“How do you want to handle the jury?”

“I’d like to question each juror individually, Judge,” said Jack. “And I’d like the courtroom closed for voir dire.”

“Any objection?”

“No, your honor.”

“When we start the trial, we’re going to bring the spectators in an hour early so they will all be seated beforehand. I know this doesn’t involve you, but we are going to give tickets out on a first-come, first-serve basis downstairs after the press gets their tickets-I’m going to let them sit in the front rows. There’s a limited number of tickets, so if you have anybody that you want to be here, let me know now and we’ll give you tickets for every day. Nobody gets in the courtroom without a ticket.”

“Judge, I’d like my investigator, Henry Wilson, to sit at counsel table with me when he is in the courtroom.”

The judge looked at Spencer Taylor. “Any objection?”

“No, your honor.”

“So ruled. Anything else?”

“Yes, your honor,” Jack said. “I’d like the defendant’s father to sit behind us.”

The judge didn’t ask for Taylor’s comments on that request. “So ruled. Check with the bailiff before we start each day so he or she can make the appropriate arrangements. We don’t want any fights to break out over seating.”

“Last request, your honor,” Jack told the judge. “I want to make sure my client is not handcuffed when he comes into the courtroom. His father is going to bring him a suit every day, and I’d like him to be able to change into it and be seated in court before the jurors are brought in.”

The judge again looked at Spencer Taylor.

“No objection, your honor.” Spencer wasn’t sweating the small stuff. He also hoped he was making points with the judge. Jack was making all the requests and he was just agreeing.

“So ruled. You two gentlemen keep going along like this and we’ll be through with this trial in no time.”

The hearing seemed to have given the judge confidence. He was warming up to the idea of being on center stage. Jack thought that was a good development. He needed a strong judge for his plan to work.

On Thursday Jack and Henry had lunch in the city with Luis. The man was so nervous he was visibly shaking. For a moment, Jack thought back to their days with the Lexingtons. Back then Rico was so tough, so hard, so sure of himself. Jack was certain that person was still inside there somewhere. Luis had already lifted himself out of the gutter, but the situation with Benny seemed like it was about to knock everything out from under him.

“How did your visit with Benny go?” Jack asked.

“Great. Great. It couldn’t have been better. I owe that to the both of you. Whatever you said to him made him start to see things differently.”

“It wasn’t me,” Jack replied. “It was Henry. He and Benny have traveled some of the same roads.”

“It’s prison too,” Henry added. “If you’ve got half a brain, it makes you start thinking about things.”

“Whatever it was, Benny and I are together now,” Luis responded. “I’m just so on edge. I’m so afraid the state is going to pull something in that courtroom that will send Benny to his death.” Luis started shaking again. Jack searched for something to say that would calm the man.

“Luis, I told you before, I can’t guarantee the outcome of this trial. But I can guarantee you that Benny will get the best day in court he will ever have. Nobody is going to pull any shenanigans in that courtroom. I won’t allow it. I’m the Mayor of Lexington Avenue, Luis. And that courtroom is my turf!”

Luis smiled. He remembered the day on a football field many years ago, when he had given that lesson to Jack. He was thankful that his friend had learned the lesson so well. Henry, on the other hand, had no idea what Jack was talking about.