James Sheehan - The Law of Second Chances

“No further questions, your honor.”

Joe looked at Jack and held his gaze for a moment. His hands went still and his shoulders visibly relaxed. Jack merely turned and walked back to his table.

“Redirect, Mr. Taylor?”

Spencer thought about it for a moment. He had what he needed, and Jack hadn’t made any dents in that. “No, your honor.”

When Joe Fogarty had exited the courtroom, Judge Middleton explained to the jurors that they once again had to be excused while he took up some legal matters with the lawyers. Jack noticed that some of them looked disgruntled. After they had filed out, the judge addressed the prosecutor.

“Call your weapons expert, Mr. Taylor.”

“The State calls Officer Peter Ingram.”

Pete Ingram was almost as forthright and honest in his direct testimony before the judge as he had been with Jack in his office, except for one important opinion that he had failed to mention at the meeting on Friday afternoon. Spencer Taylor did the prompting.

“Mr. Ingram, do you have an opinion as to whether this gun found at the defendant’s living quarters was the gun used to kill Carl Robertson?”

“Yes.”

“And what is that opinion?”

Jack objected but was overruled.

“I cannot say for certain that this was the gun from looking at the slug alone, as I have already testified. However, considering the fact that the defendant was at the scene at the time of the murder; that the slug was fired from a Glock semiautomatic; and that a Glock 17 semiautomatic was found at the defendant’s premises-it would be my opinion that this gun was probably the gun that was used to kill Carl Robertson.”

Jack had only a few questions for Pete Ingram.

“Officer Ingram, you cannot through any type of scientific examination link the gun that was found last Thursday to the slug that was taken from Carl Robertson’s skull, correct?”

“That’s correct. The slug is too deformed.”

“And you would agree that there was no chain of custody for that gun from the time of the murder until this anonymous tip was received by the police department on Thursday night?”

“That’s correct.”

“So you cannot say with any degree of certainty when this gun was placed behind the brick wall at the defendant’s residence, can you?”

“No.”

“So somebody could have heard from the testimony in this very courtroom that a Glock 17 was used as the murder weapon and planted the gun as late as last Thursday in the defendant’s residence and then called the police anonymously, couldn’t they?”

“That’s possible,” Pete Ingram replied. “But I don’t know of any evidence that suggests that scenario happened.”

“Thank you, Officer Ingram. No further questions.”

Spencer Taylor had no redirect. It was now up to the judge whether Pete Ingram was going to testify before the jury or not and whether the gun was going to be admitted into evidence.

“Mr. Tobin, would you state your objection for the record?”

“Yes, Judge. I would reiterate my objection that this witness was a complete surprise, and I would add that this type of testimony is the most dangerous form of speculation there can be. An anonymous call out of thin air more than a year after the murder, no chain of custody, and now, opinions based on that house of cards. We’re talking about a man’s life, Judge. This testimony is too prejudicial and speculative to be admissible. And for the record, I renew my motion for mistrial. If this evidence is inadmissible, Officer Fogarty should never have been allowed to testify.”

Judge Middleton didn’t even ask for a reply from Spencer. He gave his ruling as soon as Jack was finished.

“Based on the facts that Mr. Avrile was present at the crime according to eyewitnesses, that the slug found in the deceased’s body was from a Glock semiautomatic, and that a Glock 17 semiautomatic was found at the abandoned building where Mr. Avrile resided, I am going to rule that Officer Ingram can testify about his opinions to the jury and that the gun, the Glock 17, is admissible evidence. Mr. Tobin, you can make your arguments to the jury at closing as to the weight they should give to this evidence. Bring in the jury.”

Jack had wanted Langford Middleton to be strong and definite in his rulings, and he was doing exactly that.

While the bailiff went to get the jury, Spencer Taylor had a few choice words for Jack. “You told me you were looking forward to seeing what else I had in my arsenal. Now you know.”

Jack didn’t respond. He was afraid there might be another murder if he did.

After Pete Ingram’s testimony before the jury, the state rested its case and they recessed for lunch. Jack expected some retribution from Luis at the lunch break-a little “I told you so.” He got none of it. Luis spoke to him as the guards were taking Benny out and the courtroom was emptying.

“You are amazing, Jack, how you hang in there. No matter what they throw at you, you keep your cool and get what you can from the witness. No matter how this turns out, my son has had the best lawyer there is.” He then left the courtroom with the few remaining stragglers from the crowd.

When the afternoon session began, the judge addressed Jack.

“Mr. Tobin, are there any matters we need to take up before you start your defense?”

“Yes, your honor, I have some motions to argue at this time outside the presence of the jury.”

“You may proceed, Mr. Tobin.”

Jack stood up. His argument was going to be short and sweet and direct.

“Your honor, my motion is directed to all counts of the indictment. The state has simply not met its burden. In particular, I want to address the felony murder count.”

Jack was signaling the judge. He had to make his record for appeal, but at the same time he wanted to let the court know that there was a real basis to dismiss the felony murder count.

“Your honor,” Jack continued, “I am handing you and counsel for the state excerpts from the testimony of Angela Vincent, Paul Frazier, David Cook, and Detective Tony Severino. I have highlighted the appropriate questions and answers. As you can see from Detective Severino’s testimony, the assumption was that the defendant stole ten thousand dollars from the deceased. However, both eyewitnesses said that they didn’t see the defendant take anything, and Angela Vincent said that she didn’t know whether Mr. Robertson had the ten thousand on his person that night. In short, your honor, there is no evidence of a robbery. Therefore, the court should grant the motion for acquittal on that count.”

The judge didn’t have any questions. He looked to Spencer Taylor for a reply. Spencer had connected the gun to Benny, and he had Benny kneeling over the victim at the time of the murder. The jury had all the evidence they needed to convict on the charge of first-degree murder, which had been his goal-and that of his bosses-all along. He made a halfhearted counter to Jack’s argument on the felony murder charge.

Langford Middleton didn’t know why Jack was even wasting the court’s time with this motion. His client was about to be convicted of first-degree murder. He had a point, though, and he had the evidence, and the state didn’t seem to care.

“The court is going to grant your motion as to the felony murder count, Mr. Tobin. I find that there is insufficient evidence that the deceased was killed during the commission of a robbery. I deny your motion as to all other counts of the indictment. Are you ready to call your first witness?”

“Your honor, with all the delays we have had in this case, it has been difficult to schedule my witnesses, especially since most of them are coming from out of town. I would like to begin promptly at nine o’clock tomorrow morning.”