Theodore Boone: The Accomplice

Chapter 24

An additional bailiff stood outside the courtroom door to keep away the curious and uninvolved. Judge Pendergrast wanted complete privacy during the trial. It would not last long and there was nothing else on his docket for the day.

The Lambert boys sat at the defense table with their lawyer between them. Their relationship was still tense. As recently as yesterday Rodney Wall had tried to convince them again that they should go along with the Clifford Nance story and take some of the blame. But Woody and Tony were tired of Wall and his lack of decisiveness. He did not know about the bribe. They were certainly not telling anyone else. They knew the truth and they knew far more than their lawyer; thus, they had little respect for him.

Daisy sat on the front row close behind them. She really needed Theo to lean on, but poor Theo was suffering through Spanish and was perfectly miserable. Major Ludwig sat beside her, arms crossed over his chest.

A few feet away, the Youth Court prosecutor, Ms. Bagdell, shuffled her papers and waited to begin. She would go first and she seemed a bit too nervous.

When Judge Pendergrast finished reading a page he peered out over his reading glasses and said, “This matter involves some serious charges against Tony and Woody Lambert. I believe I know most of the facts so I don’t need to hear opening statements. Ms. Bagdell, please call your first witness.”

“Mr. Clem Hamm,” Ms. Bagdell said, sitting. In Youth Court, it was not necessary to stand to address the judge or the witnesses.

Clem Hamm hurried in and was sworn to tell the truth. Judge Pendergrast had reviewed his testimony from Garth’s preliminary hearing, and knew every detail that he repeated. On cross-examination, Rodney Wall made sure that it was clear that neither Clem nor any of the store’s surveillance cameras ever caught sight of the Lambert boys.

When Clem stepped down, Ms. Bagdell offered to call a witness who would play the surveillance tapes from the robbery, but Judge Pendergrast declined. He surprised everyone when he said, “I’ve already reviewed them. They reveal nothing involving these two juveniles.” Thirty minutes into the trial, it was apparent that His Honor had studied the case carefully and knew as much as anyone. This was not unusual.

The next witness was a police officer who described the arrests of the three shortly after they left Kall’s Grocery. He found neither weapons nor cash on the Lambert boys. Garth had cash in one pocket and the pistol in the other. The pistol was produced, introduced into evidence, handled by the witness and the judge, and put away. Judge Pendergrast took endless notes but seemed as though he’d heard it all before.

The next witness was another policeman who planned to testify about the Breathalyzer results. Rodney Wall, though, interrupted matters and said his clients had already agreed to admit that they had been drinking beer.

Judge Pendergrast said, “I have the reports. Woody Lambert registered point zero six. Same for Tony. This is correct?”

“It is,” Wall said, and the witness was excused. The trial was moving at a dizzying pace.

The next witness was the big one. Ms. Bagdell called Garth Tucker to the stand. A bailiff fetched him from the hallway, and when Garth walked into the courtroom Clifford Nance was with him.

For the occasion, Garth wore a dark suit and tie and his new haircut was even shorter. He tried to play the cool game and act as though this was all routine, but he was nervous. He swore to tell the truth, took his seat, refused to make eye contact with either Woody or Tony, and looked at Clifford Nance seated in the back row, not far away.

After a few preliminary questions, Ms. Bagdell asked, “On the night in question, where did you meet Tony and Woody?”

“I was buying gas at the Shell station on Cooper Extended.”

“And why did they get into your car?”

“I don’t know. Tony and I talked and decided to go cruising. I had some beer. The little kid just sort of tagged along.”

“And the three of you drove around drinking beer?”

“Yes.”

“How much did you drink?”

Judge Pendergrast said abruptly, “His blood alcohol content was point twelve. Beyond legally drunk. I have the report here, Ms. Bagdell, please move along.”

“Uh, yes, sir,” she said awkwardly as she reached for another sheet of paper. “Okay, so why did you decide to stop at Kall’s Grocery?”

Garth took a deep breath, looked long and hard at Clifford Nance, and said, as if perfectly rehearsed, “I decline to answer that question under the rights afforded me by the Fifth Amendment.”

Ms. Bagdell looked at Judge Pendergrast, who looked at the witness and asked, “So, you are refusing to incriminate yourself?”

“Yes, sir.”

“Very well. Please note that this witness’s attorney, Mr. Clifford Nance, is in the courtroom. Proceed, Ms. Bagdell.”

She asked, “You guys were drinking beer. Did you need more? Did you go to Kall’s because you needed more?”

“I plead the Fifth Amendment.”

“Did you buy any gas at Kall’s?”

“No.”

“Whose idea was it to go to Kall’s?”

“I plead the Fifth Amendment.”

“Did you have a pistol of any type with you when you drove to the store?”

“I plead the Fifth Amendment.”

“Did you take a pistol into the store?”

“I plead the Fifth Amendment.”

Ms. Bagdell lifted the pistol from a table and showed it to the witness. “Did you purchase this?”

“I plead the Fifth Amendment.”

She threw up her hands and looked at the bench. Judge Pendergrast was obviously irritated and leaned over to the witness. “I assume, son, that you have no plans to answer any more questions about what happened that night, correct?”

Garth offered a sappy smile and said, “That’s right, Judge. Upon the advice of my lawyer, I’m not answering any more questions.”

Judge Pendergrast looked at Clifford Nance, who was nodding his agreement.

“Very well, the witness is excused.”

Garth strutted to the rear of the courtroom where he and his lawyer took seats on the rear bench. Clifford Nance wanted to hear every word uttered by the Lambert boys.

Tony went first and told the same story he had been repeating since that fateful night. Rodney Wall did a good job of walking him through it, step by careful step, with nothing left out. Judge Pendergrast asked a number of questions, as he was prone to do, and once again let everybody know that he had full command of the facts. His preparation was impressive.

On cross-examination, Ms. Bagdell blundered. Veteran trial lawyers know that you never ask a question if you don’t already know the answer. She, evidently, had not learned this.

She asked Tony, “Have you ever been in Garth’s car before?”

“Never.”

“Have you ever been to Kall’s Grocery before?”

“Never.”

“Had you ever seen the pistol before?”

“Never.”

In a matter of seconds, she took away any suspicion that Tony had been involved in the planning of the robbery.

She quickly wrapped up her cross-examination.

Woody took the stand. He was nervous, especially with Garth and Clifford Nance staring at him, but he was determined to be a good witness. He looked at Major Ludwig, who gave him a firm nod of the head, and he launched into his story. It was the same as Tony’s, the same as before, with no variations at all. The more he testified the more confident he became, and about halfway through he wished Theo could be there to hear it all.

Like Tony, he placed all blame on Garth, and managed to stare him down as he did so. It was a wonderful moment. Garth, the cocky kid with a muscle car and cute girl and wealthy family and a wild side that was crashing in on him as he sat there protected by the best lawyer money could buy, but he wasn’t so cool right now. He looked worried because he knew the truth was against him, and he couldn’t change it. He couldn’t shift some of the blame to other people.

“Any cross, Ms. Bagdell?” Judge Pendergrast asked.

“I don’t think so.” She had nothing to work with and she wasn’t about to ask any more half-baked questions.

“Any more witnesses, Mr. Wall?”

“Well, Your Honor, I was going to call Daisy Lambert, the mother, but it seems as though the Court has probably heard enough this morning.”

“Indeed the Court has. But I’m not going to prevent you from calling your witnesses.”

“I think we’re finished here, Judge,” Wall said wisely.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Judge Pendergrast launched into his ruling. “I find both Tony and Woody Lambert to be credible witnesses. And though I am usually suspicious of identical testimony offered by siblings or close friends, I am not suspicious today. Their narratives are plausible, reasonable, believable, and the Court has no reason to doubt them. Indeed, there is absolutely no testimony to the contrary. They are charged with being accomplices, which means they supposedly knew something of the crime, armed robbery, before it took place. The evidence is to the contrary. The only witness who could possibly implicate the Lambert brothers is obviously Garth Tucker, and he chose not to do so. For reasons known only to himself and his very experienced lawyer, Mr. Tucker chose to plead the Fifth Amendment. That is his right, but it leaves nothing for the prosecution to pursue.

“Therefore, I find Tony and Woody Lambert not guilty of the crimes of being accomplices to armed robbery. For Woody, I will deal with the underage drinking matter another day. Same for Tony, but he also has the sticky issue of a probation violation. He can certainly expect a few more nights in detention. But we’ll handle that another day. For now, both juveniles are free to go. The bond for Tony will be extinguished. The restrictions for both are hereby terminated. Woody, you are free to leave the county and go camping anywhere you want.”