James Sheehan - The Mayor of Lexington Avenue

“It’s hearsay, and besides, the only way he can introduce this letter is through either my client or Ms. James, and my client is not testifying.”

The judge looked at Jack. “Response?”

“Your Honor, Tracey James is dead and there is an exception to the hearsay rule when a person is dead. In any case, this letter is not hearsay because it’s not being offered for the truth of its contents. It’s only being offered to show that it was sent and received.”

The judge looked at Jimmy, who clearly didn’t have a clue how to respond. If he had asked the right questions, Jimmy would have learned that Clay Evans left the police department that day with the letter in hand and that the letter Jack had showed Maria was Joaquin’s copy, but Jimmy was too confused to think that fast.

Still, to Jack’s surprise, the judge sustained the objection.

“I’m not going to let it in, Mr. Tobin. This letter is based exclusively on a memo written by Joaquin Sanchez, Ms. James’s investigator, about a conversation he had with a man named Pablo. The memo is clearly hearsay. The conversation these two men had is clearly hearsay. A letter in which Ms. James says this Geronimo person was the killer because it is based on this incompetent testimony is also hearsay.”

“But Your Honor,” Jack replied, “I’m not offering it for the truth of the matter.”

The judge smiled at Jack. It was a “gotcha” smile. “Mr. Tobin, I’ve been practicing for almost fifty years. I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard that exception raised and I still don’t fully understand it. So let’s be a little more concrete in our analysis. You want the letter in so the jury knows that Clay Evans was notified by Tracey James back in May of 1986 that Geronimo Cruz was the killer, but you’re not offering it to show he was the killer, just that Evans was notified, is that accurate?”

“Exactly, Your Honor.”

“Here’s my problem, Mr. Tobin. You want to taint these men with this knowledge even though the knowledge is inadmissible and therefore incompetent , but you want to argue that it’s okay because you’re not offering it for the truth of the matter asserted. That’s legal gymnastics, Counselor.”

Jack knew the judge was right. As far as Jimmy DiCarlo was concerned, the two men might as well have been speaking Greek. He had absolutely no idea what they were talking about.

The judge addressed the jury: “Ladies and gentlemen, I have ruled that exhibit number six is inadmissible and I instruct you not to consider any testimony that has previously been given about that letter. It should not be a part of your deliberations in any way.”

He then turned to Jack. “Counsel, you may proceed.”

“Thank you, Your Honor. Ms. Lopez, I’d like to go to the year 1988. What was your position in the police department at that time?”

“I was still a receptionist.”

“Were your job duties the same?”

“Pretty much, yes.”

“Did the police department receive a letter from the Del Rio, Texas, police department in the year 1988?”

“Yes. I don’t remember the exact date, but there was this letter from the police department in Del Rio, and since it was my job to open mail, I saw what it was about. They had a Geronimo Cruz under arrest for raping and murdering a woman, and his driver’s license, which was a Florida license, showed a Bass Creek address. The reason they were writing to our police department was to see if he had any record here, or if he was wanted for any crimes in our area. We got inquiry letters like that all the time-it was pretty typical.”

“If it was a typical inquiry letter, why is it that you remember it?”

“Well, it related to the Kelly case and that was the biggest case we’d ever had.”

“How did you know it related to the Kelly case?”

“Well, Geronimo was one of the witnesses who had disappeared after Lucy’s murder. Most people in the barrio felt that Geronimo was the real murderer and that’s why it was significant to me.” Maria had gone too far with the last statement and Jack knew it. If he’d had a chance to prep her she never would have made such a mistake.

Jimmy DiCarlo didn’t miss it. “Objection, Your Honor. I move to strike the answer as nonresponsive and hearsay. Judge, may we approach?” Jimmy was livid.

“Come on,” Judge Stanton said tiredly.

Jimmy practically ran to the sidebar. “This is outrageous, Judge. She just testified for the whole neighborhood. I’m moving for a mistrial.”

The judge looked at Jack, who jumped right in. “I agree that her last statement was improper, Judge. I think you can instruct the jury to disregard it, however. I don’t think a mistrial is appropriate.”

“I don’t either, but Mr. Tobin, be very careful. You don’t want your whole case to go down the tubes.”

“Yes, sir.”

Jimmy wasn’t done. “But Judge, they heard it. You can’t erase it from their memory.”

“I’ve ruled, Mr. DiCarlo. Now let’s proceed. I’ll instruct the jury.”

Jimmy still wouldn’t let it go. “But Judge-”

“The next word, Mr. DiCarlo, and you’ll be held in contempt. Is that understood?”

“Yes, sir.”

The lawyers went back to their respective positions and the judge instructed the jury not to consider the last statement. He also admonished Maria. “Ms. Lopez, you are to testify only about what you know, not some scuttlebutt from the neighborhood or anywhere else, do you understand?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Proceed, Counsel.”

“What did you do with the letter?”

“I told Detective Brume about it right away.”

“And what did he do?”

“He told me to call the state attorney’s office. I heard him tell the state attorney, Mr. Evans, about the letter. And then he said that he’d be right over and he rushed out of the office to go, I assume, to the state attorney’s office.”

“What happened to the letter?”

“He took it with him.”

“Is that the type of letter that you would normally file somewhere?”

“Yes. Probably in the Kelly file.”

“And did you file that letter?”

“No. I never saw it again.”

The murmurs began anew in the courtroom. Judge Stanton pounded his gavel once more. “Silence!” he yelled again, looking threateningly at the spectators.

Jack sensed the moment. “No further questions, Your Honor.”

“Cross-examination?” He barely had the words out before Jimmy was up and on his way over to Maria.

“Yes, Your Honor,” he said as he moved in on her, getting as close as he could without too obviously crowding her.

“Now, Ms. Lopez, I want to go back to your new employment with Mr. Tobin. Is it accurate to say you went to work for Mr. Tobin on the first day he started as the state attorney for Cobb County?”

“Yes, that’s accurate.”

“And it was the same day you resigned from the police department, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And how long did you work for the police department-fifteen years?”

“Yes, that’s correct.”

“And you left without giving any notice-that’s pretty harsh, isn’t it?”

“I don’t know what you mean,” she said, looking straight into Jimmy’s face.

“Is it fair to say you didn’t like Mr. Brume?”

“Yes, that’s fair,” she said, looking past Jimmy and glaring at the fat little toad sitting at the defense table.

“And you didn’t like the way he handled the Kelly case, did you?”

“No, I didn’t like it.”

“Specifically, you didn’t like the way Rudy Kelly’s mother, Elena, was treated when she came to the police department back in late January of 1986?”

“No, I didn’t like it.”