Jeff Sherratt - Guilty or Else

The immediate problem at hand had to do with the alleged jailhouse witness. I leaned into Rodriguez. “Amigo,” I whispered, “we’ve got problems.” His eyes asked the question, and I answered: “Your cellmate told the D.A. that you admitted killing the girl.”

There was no shock or surprise on his face, no rage, or outbursts of anger, just his same stoic expression. He must’ve felt there was no hope. Felt the system was stacked against guys like him. After a while, the mind becomes numb to the abuse and the body becomes a formless lump of flesh and bone.

“I know you didn’t tell him that, but I have to know everything you said to him.” I paused for a moment. “Did you say anything to him?”

“No.”

“Must have said something.”

“Nada.”

“Tell him your name, anything at all?”

He looked at me. “I told you, I said nothing.”

“How long was the guy in your cell?”

“One day. They took him away in the morning, yesterday.”

It wasn’t hard to believe that he didn’t talk to his cellmate. I was his lawyer trying to save his life, and he would hardly talk to me. “I believe you, Ernesto, but I’ll have to convince a jury when we go to trial.”

He slowly turned his head and looked into my eyes.

“Sounds like they’re playing tricks on you.”

“Yeah, they’re playing tricks.”

“Jimmy, they can’t fool you. You’re a smart guy.”

Yeah, I’m a smart guy, all right. Smart enough to give the D.A. advance notice about my defense of this poor man sitting next to me. “One more thing,” I said. “The cops and the D.A. have filed charges against me. It just means they’re worried, that’s all. I’ll beat the rap.”

“The judge is after you too?” His expression changed to one of concern.

“They say I made up some false evidence.”

“I know you do nothing wrong. Esta muy malo . You are in trouble ’cause of me.”

“Don’t worry about me. They don’t have squat.”

“Squat? Que ? What is squat?”

“Well, it means they can’t pin anything on me. Anyway we’re going to play our hand close to the vest from now on.”

“Close hands, vest, I do not understand. Is that lawyer talk?”

“It means we are going to kick their asses.” I started to get hot, thinking how Bobbi had betrayed me after I made a fool of myself, asking-no, almost begging-to take her out.

And all that bullshit about the Chinese wall.

“Okay, I understand. You kick their asses for me too, huh, Jimmy?”

“You got it, Ernesto. I’ll kick her ass, goddammit.” I patted him on his back. “But not today. We’ll win at the trial.

You wait and see.”

The hearing started. Bobbi managed to get through the first thirty-minutes without looking my way. I watched as she presented a few witnesses: the cop who had arrived first at crime scene testified as to what he’d discovered. The medical examiner told the cause of death, which was consistent with a murder, and the arresting police officer explained how and why they had arrested Rodriguez.

There was nothing new, nothing that wasn’t in the police report. I couldn’t object to the evidence or the manner in which Bobbi presented it. I just sat there and waited for the People to call their new witness: Rodriguez’s cellmate.

“Your Honor, we had a witness that we planned to call, but in light of recent developments we decided to save him for the trial.” Bobbi shot a glance at me that could have frozen Dante’s Inferno. “At this time, the People would like to make a motion.”

“Go ahead,” the judge said.

“The People move to have Mr. O’Brien removed as counsel for the defense, for cause. It’s obvious that he is incompetent and-”

I bolted out of my seat. “Your honor, Miss Allen knows nothing about my competence. I passed the bar-”

The judge waved his hands in front of him. “Let her finish. You’ll get your turn.”

“He’s not only incompetent, but he tried to bribe a witness. Falsify evidence-”

“That’s absurd and you know it,” I shouted at Bobbi.

“O’Brien, I told you let her finish,” the judge said in a stern manner.

“I’ve filed a complaint with the State Bar and turned over the facts to the Long Beach Police Department. They’re doing a full-scale investigation.”

Through clenched teeth, I said, “You did that behind my back. Didn’t wait to hear my side.”

Bobbi turned my way and hissed her reply. “You lied to me. You’ve been seen with your friends in the Mafia.”

The judge stood. “Counselors, direct your arguments to the bench.”

Bobbi faced the judge. “Your honor, he’s been seen with gangsters.”

“I’m a criminal lawyer, for chrissakes, who do you expect me to be seen with?”

She whipped around. “You go to their disgusting bust-out parties, prostitutes, hoodlums.”

“They aren’t that disgusting. The food is great, and I didn’t see any prostitutes. But I only went once, to see my client.”

“Joseph Sica? Your client?” She smirked. “The kingpin of the Mafia? Ha, bet me. He’d hire an idiot like you?”

Judge Koito stood and pounded his gavel. “Allen, O’Brien, approach the bench.”

“I’m an idiot? If I’m an idiot why did you ask me out?”

“That’s a lie! You called me in the middle of the night!”

“It was eight-thirty.”

The gravel banged again. “One more word out of you two and I’ll-”

“You deceived me! Told me all those lies.”

“That’s it,” the judge said, “you’re in contempt, Miss Allen.”

Bobbi shifted her attention to the judge. “I want a restraining order. I want to file it right now.”

“Approach. Both of you. Now!”

Bobbi darted around the table and started for the bench. I yelled at her back, “You don’t need an order. I wouldn’t get near you for all the tea-”

“Enough. That’s enough! O’Brien you’re in contempt too. I want to see both of you in my chambers.” The judge flew down from the bench and rushed to the door.

He stopped and pointed his gavel at the bailiff. “Ed, escort these people to my chambers. If they give you any trouble, arrest ’em.”

We went peaceably; no one was cuffed. They took Rodriguez back to the holding cell and we were escorted to the judge’s chambers. Bobbi sat in a maroon leather armchair that faced the desk. I could almost feel the heat of her slow burn as she sat with her hands folded primly in her lap, her mouth clamped shut. I paced behind Bobbi and waited for Judge Koito to enter the room. Ed the bailiff guarded the door.

The judge’s absence had to be a ploy. He was giving us a cooling-off period, time to calm down and reflect on why we were here. The hearing was not about us. It was obviously much more important than Bobbi and me. We were just a couple of idiots who were acting like teenagers. I felt like a schoolboy who’d been sent trembling to the principal’s office to wait for his parents to pick him up and administer punishment. No television for a week. It didn’t matter to me. My TV was on the fritz.

Standing behind her, I leaned in close to Bobbi’s ear and whispered, “You didn’t even wait to hear my side of the story.” Her body quivered slightly, but she didn’t turn around.

“You’re just like all the rest, just using me,” she whispered back.

“I trusted you, and you set me up.” I walked away from her.

The door opened and Ed snapped to attention. “All rise,” he shouted.

Judge Koito entered and gave Ed a dismissive wave. “That’s not necessary, Ed, we’re not in court. Everyone sit down.”

I sat next to Bobbi in the only other chair in the room, close enough to smell her perfume, a light and sunny fragrance. She squirmed a little and leaned as far away from me as she possibly could without leaving her seat. The judge sat behind his desk.