Marcia Clark - Killer Ambition

“Unless she has personal knowledge, the objection is sustained,” the judge said. “But I do see the relevance, Ms. Knight. So ask your next question.”

The judge was signaling me to take another tack. I wasn’t sure there was one.

Brittany looked deflated. I flashed her a supportive smile as I mentally regrouped.

“Was it after Tommy committed suicide that you began to have…emotional trouble?”

“Yes. I got into drugs and drinking. Anything to make myself forget what a horrible person I am, and what I’d done.”

“Brittany, how old were you when all this happened?”

“Thirteen.”

“And you’re how old now?”

“Twenty-three.”

“So you started drinking and drugging when you were thirteen?”

“Y-yes. That’s when it started.”

“And did you begin to have problems at work as a result of your drug and alcohol problem?”

“Yes. I’d be too hungover to make it to the set. Or I’d get to the set and forget all my lines…” Brittany sighed and hung her head.

“What about after Circle of Friends ? Did you continue to have drug and alcohol problems?”

“Yes, it only got worse.”

“But you continued to get work, didn’t you?”

“Yes, Russell put me in all of his films. Gave me starring roles. But I couldn’t get insured, so no one else would cast me.”

“And that has continued to the present time?”

“Basically, yes. Until I walked off the set of Russell’s new production, so I’m not working at all now. But…yes, he’s still the only one who hires me.”

“And it’s been that way since the day you lied about Tommy raping you, since the day Ian Powers promised you’d always have work, right?”

“Yes.”

That was probably as close as I could get. I consulted my notes to give the jury a chance to catch the underlying message: that Russell was the only one who’d hire her because he was in on the deal that promised Brittany job security for life in return for her lie about Tommy. That wrapped up the history of things.

“I’d like to move on to events just before Hayley’s…death. Do you remember when was the last time you saw Hayley?”

“I think…you showed me a phone bill, right? It would’ve been around that time because she called me to ask if we could get together and then we met up at a club.”

I brought out Hayley’s cell phone bill, and Brittany identified her number as one of the calls.

“So that would’ve been about three weeks before she was killed, then?”

“I guess so, yes.”

“Did you know that Tommy’s son, Brian, was involved with Hayley at that time?”

“No, she never told me about him.”

“And when you met her at the club, did you tell Hayley about accusing Tommy of rape?”

Brittany’s face crumpled and slow tears rolled down her cheeks. “See, that’s the thing. My memory’s…not so good. A lot of things are still hazy, because I was drunk and stoned almost all the time. I know she started asking me stuff about the past, about what happened with Tommy when I was in Circle of Friends. And so I think I must have. Because, if Hayley knew about it, I was the only one who could have-or would have-told her.”

“Objection, speculation,” Terry said in a flat voice.

“Well…sustained,” the judge said.

I tried again. “Brittany, to the best of your knowledge, who besides yourself knew that the story about Tommy Maher raping you was a lie?”

“For sure?” Brittany asked.

I nodded.

“For sure, only Ian. But possibly also my mom…and Russell.”

Terry could have objected to those possible s, but there was no point to it. Mother Caren and Russell were none of her concern.

I paused to let the jury reach the obvious conclusion: that no one but Brittany would have told Hayley, because they’d be implicating themselves in the plot to frame Tommy for rape. But just in case, I made a note to drive the point home in closing argument. “One last area, Brittany. You did not come forward to volunteer this information to the prosecution, did you?”

“No. The last time I spoke to you, I knew Hayley was…missing. But I didn’t know she was…” Brittany stopped, unable to say it.

“And a little while after we spoke, you left the country?”

“Yes. I’d been fighting with almost everybody on the set for weeks. I was just sick of…everything, mostly myself. I couldn’t stand my life anymore. Valerie, my dresser, my only friend on the set, told me about this rehab center, called-”

“You don’t have to tell us the name. It’s not in this country, correct?”

“Yes.”

“So you checked yourself in?”

“Yes.”

“And do they allow you to see newspapers, news programs, things of that nature at the center?”

“No. When you came this weekend and told me about Hayley…” Brittany began to cry softly.

“It was the first you’d heard that she was dead?”

Brittany wiped her eyes and nodded. “Yes.”

“When you finish your testimony, will you go back to the center?”

“My therapist is taking me back.” She nodded toward the doctor, who was sitting nearby. “I still have another two months to go and I’m not allowed to be out alone.”

“Thank you, Brittany.”

The cross was minimal. Terry tried to get Brittany to admit that Russell had continuously given her work because he felt sorry for her, not because of any deal Ian had brokered, but there wasn’t much else Terry could do. She couldn’t go on the attack with a witness this vulnerable, and there was no point to it in any event: Brittany’s honesty was obvious, and there was no witness who could contradict her testimony. Trying to discredit her was hopeless.

I finished the case with those who had witnessed Brittany’s downward spiral. Studio head Chuck Viener, who was devastated to find out he’d been lied to about Tommy, the other actors on Circle of Friends, and one of the few directors who’d worked on a film with her early in her career.

“She was unemployable,” the director said. “No insurance company could afford to take a risk on her. So no one wanted to touch her with a ten-foot pole.”

“Except Russell Antonovich.”

“Right. She was in all of his films.”

I rested mycase, and Terry had no further evidence to offer.

“Ladies and gentlemen, that will conclude the evidence portion of this trial. I’m going to excuse you for the day while the lawyers and I work out jury instructions. We’ll begin closing arguments at nine o’clock sharp tomorrow morning. I again remind you of the admonition: do not discuss this case with anyone, do not listen to or read any reports or commentary about this case, and do not form any opinions until the case is finally submitted to you. Have a great night, and I’ll see you tomorrow.”

As the jury moved past us toward the door, I searched their faces for some sign, anything that would tell me what they’d made of all that testimony. But the jurors were more buttoned up than ever. I glanced at Terry, who, like me, was standing at attention, watching the jurors leave the courtroom. Now, even more since I knew Russell hadn’t been covering for Ian, I wondered why she hadn’t warned him of what was coming when we got out of chambers this morning. That at least would have given him a chance to leave in time to avoid being hounded by the press. As the last juror walked out, Terry turned back to counsel table and caught me looking at her. I raised an eyebrow. She tossed her legal pad into her briefcase. “Guess Ms. Brittany’s about to clean up her act,” she said. “And she won’t be doing any more work for Russell Antonovich.”