Stephen Penner - Presumption of Innocence

"What's the back-up plan?" Mr. Montgomery demanded.

"The only way you get to claim the Fifth Amendment is if what you say would subject you to criminal penalties," Brunelle explained. "I can make that go away by giving her immunity."

The Montgomerys both stared at him for several seconds. "Immunity?" Mrs. Montgomery asked.

"Yes," Brunelle said. "I can do that unilaterally, even without an agreement. I do that, and she can't plead the Fifth any more."

Before either of the Montgomery's could say anything more, the guard brought Holly into the courtroom.

Brunelle excused himself with a shrug then returned to counsel table to watch Holly be marched up to the witness stand.

She stared straight down at her feet the whole time. As she passed Karpati's table he made a kissing noise, but by the time anyone realized what he'd done, Holly was sitting down. Edwards stepped over and whispered something into her ear.

"Mr. Brunelle?" Judge Quinn invited.

"Thank you, Your Honor," Brunelle replied. Then, turning to Holly, he started. "Could you please state your name for the record?"

"My client," Edwards said in response, "invokes her right against self-incrimination under the Fifth Amendment of the United States Constitution and Article One, Section Seven of the Washington State Constitution."

Brunelle shrugged and looked up at the judge. "She has to do it personally, Your Honor."

Judge Quinn looked down at Edwards. "Mr. Brunelle is right. She does have to do it personally."

When Edwards frowned, the judge went on. "I don't expect her to cite constitutional provisions, but she has to say herself that she's refusing to testify."

"I refuse to testify," Holly blurted out.

Edwards smiled. The judge did too. "Is that good enough for you, Mr. Brunelle?"

Brunelle shrugged again. "I think the question is whether that's good enough for Your Honor. Just let me know when you find it to be an invocation of her right against self-incrimination so I know when to go ahead and grant her immunity."

"Immunity?" Welles slammed the table as he stood up. "You're going to grant immunity to the only person who admitted to the murder?"

Edwards whispered hurriedly into Holly's ear. Holly sat up straight and said, "I invoke my right against self-incrimination. Under the constitution and stuff."

Judge Quinn crossed her arms and leaned back in her chair. She smiled slightly and looked down at Brunelle. "I can't tell the prosecutor's office what to do regarding immunity. I will find that Miss Sandholm has invoked her right against self-incrimination, and I rule that the State may not call her as a witness in front of the jury just to invoke that right again."

She leaned forward. "So what are you going to do, Mr. Brunelle?"

But before Brunelle could respond, Yamata tugged his jacket sleeve and pointed to the gallery. The Montgomerys were trying to get his attention.

"May I have a moment, Your Honor?" Brunelle asked.

"Of course, counsel. But remember, the jury is waiting."

Brunelle and Yamata stepped to the half-wall separating the gallery from the counsel area.

"Please don't grant her immunity," Mrs. Montgomery pleaded. "That other lawyer is right. She confessed to this. You can't just let her walk away."

Brunelle frowned. "If I don't, Karpati might walk free."

"We know," Mr. Montgomery. "But we don't want both of them to walk free."

Brunelle pursed his lips as he considered for a moment.

"She could still refuse to testify, you know," Yamata pointed out to Brunelle. "Just because she doesn't have a privilege to claim doesn't mean she has to say anything. She could just sit there and refuse to answer questions."

"What would happen then?" Mr. Montgomery asked.

"The judge would hold her in contempt," Brunelle answered. "And put her back in jail until she agreed to testify."

"Or until the trial is over," Yamata said. "The judge isn't likely to hold up the whole trial for this late gambit. If she can last another week in jail without testifying, the case will be over and she'll be released."

"That doesn't seem worth it," Mrs. Montgomery observed.

Brunelle had raised a finger to his pursed lips. "Actually, there's something even worse, I just realized."

"What?" Mr. Montgomery asked.

"If she does testify," Brunelle explained, "and says she did everything and Karpati did nothing, wasn't even there. I can't revoke the grant of immunity. She'd still walk. And most likely so would he."

"Mr. Brunelle?" the judge called out. "What is the State going to do?"

Brunelle looked at Mr. Montgomery, Mrs. Montgomery, and Yamata in turn. Yamata frowned and shook her head. Brunelle agreed.

"Nothing, Your Honor," he announced as she stepped back to his table. "We're done with Miss Sandholm. No immunity."

Then, under his breath, "Damn it."

Brunelle tapped on his legal pad and frowned as the bailiff went to collect the jury.

"You know," Welles leaned over and whispered to him, "you could still call that fake Holly of yours. You know, the one you unethically sent into the jail to entrap my client?"

Brunelle looked out of the corner of his eye at his opponent but didn't say anything.

"I won't even object to the late notice," Welles went on. "Just tell me her name."

Brunelle finally turned to face Welles, and in so doing noticed that Karpati was looking at him as well, pen at the ready over his own legal pad.

"You want her name?" Brunelle asked.

Welles smiled. "Only to be properly prepared, I assure you."

Brunelle nodded thoughtfully. "How about initials?"

"Better than nothing," Welles replied.

They all stood as the jury entered the room. Brunelle raised a hand to block his mouth from the jury's view. "F.U."

The next morning found Yamata in Brunelle's office. Brunelle hung up the phone and sighed.

"Chen says they're gone," he reported. "All of them, just vanished."

"Every last No Blood?" Yamata confirmed. "I thought they were supposed to be tough? Stand their ground or guard their turf or something."

Brunelle shrugged. "I'm sure if it were a rival gang, they'd still be there, spoiling for a fight. But when being around means getting picked up on a subpoena and helping the Man put one of your brothers in prison? Guess not."

"So what do we do?"

Another shrug. "We hope Chen can scrape somebody up while we're in court today. We're running out of witnesses." Then he recalled who the morning's first witness would be. "You ready?"

Yamata smiled. "Oh yes. Let's see what the good doctor has to say."

***

"Kat Anderson. Assistant Medical Examiner."

She identified herself for the jury with a pleasant smile, being sure to turn and address her responses to the jurors, not Yamata, who would be asking the questions. The decision to have Yamata do the direct exam had been easy. Yamata needed the experience examining a coroner.

And Kat was still pissed at Brunelle. The last thing they needed was Brunelle asking to have the M.E. declared a hostile witness.

"Are you familiar with the autopsy of Emily Montgomery?" Yamata began.

"Yes," answered Kat. "I performed it myself."

"Let's begin at the beginning then," Yamata directed. "What is the purpose of an autopsy?"

Kat nodded and turned again to the jury box. "The purpose of an autopsy is to determine the manner of death."

Yamata checked off the questions on her notepad. "And what are the possible manners of death?"

"There are four," Kat answered. "Natural causes, accident, suicide, and homicide."

"Were you able to determine the manner of death of Emily Montgomery?"

Again a look to the jury. "Yes."

Yamata nodded. "And what was the manner of Emily's death?"