Michael Connelly - The Reversal

“Did you believe him?”

“Yes, I was twelve. I believed him.”

“And it scared you, didn’t it?”

“Yes. I wanted to stay with my fam-”

“Wasn’t it that same fear and control that your stepfather had over you that made you go along to get along after he killed your sister?”

Again Maggie jumped up to object, stating that the question was leading and assumed facts not in evidence. The judge agreed and sustained the objection.

Undeterred, Royce went at Gleason relentlessly.

“Isn’t it true that you and your mother did and said exactly what your stepfather told you to in the cover-up of Melissa’s murder?”

“No, that’s not-”

“He told you to say it was a tow truck driver and that you were to pick one of the men the police brought to the house.”

“No! He didn’t-”

“Objection!”

“There was no hide-and-seek game outside the house, was there? Your sister was murdered inside the house by Kensington Landy. Isn’t that true!”

“Your Honor!”

Maggie was now shouting.

“Counsel is badgering the witness with these leading questions. He doesn’t want her answers. He just wants to deliver his lies to the jury!”

The judge looked from Maggie to Royce.

“All right, everyone just calm down. The objection is sustained. Mr. Royce, ask the witness one question at a time and allow her the time to answer. And you will not ask leading questions. Need I remind you, you called her as a witness. If you wanted to lead her you should’ve conducted a cross-examination when you had the opportunity.”

Royce put on his best look of contrition. It must’ve been difficult.

“I apologize for getting carried away, Your Honor,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”

It didn’t matter if it happened again. Royce had already gotten his point across. His purpose was not to get an admission from Gleason. In fact, he expected none. His purpose was to get his alternate theory to the jury. In that, he was being very successful.

“Okay, let’s move on,” Royce said. “You mentioned earlier that you spent a considerable part of your adult life in counseling and drug rehab, not to mention incarceration. Is that correct?”

“To a point,” Gleason said. “I have been clean and sober and a-”

“Just answer the question that was asked,” Royce quickly interjected.

“Objection,” Maggie said. “She is trying to answer the question he asked, but Mr. Royce doesn’t like the full answer and is trying to cut her off.”

“Let her answer the question, Mr. Royce,” Breitman said tiredly. “Go ahead, Ms. Gleason.”

“I was just saying that I have been clean for seven years and a productive member of society.”

“Thank you, Ms. Gleason.”

Royce then led her through a tragic and sordid history, literally going arrest by arrest and revealing all the details of the depravity Sarah wallowed in for so long. Maggie objected often, arguing that it had little to do with Sarah’s identification of Jessup, but Breitman allowed most of the questioning to continue.

Finally, Royce wrapped up his examination by setting up his next witness.

“Getting back to the rehabilitation center in North Hollywood, you were there for five months in nineteen ninety-nine, correct?”

“I don’t remember exactly when or for how long. You obviously have the records there.”

“But you do remember meeting another client, named Edward Roman, known as Eddie?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And you got to know him well?”

“Yes.”

“How did you meet him?”

“We were in group counseling together.”

“How would you describe the relationship you had with Eddie Roman back then?”

“Well, in counseling we sort of realized that we knew some of the same people and liked doing the same things-meaning drugs. So we started hanging out and it continued after we were both released.”

“Was this a romantic relationship?”

Gleason laughed in a way that was not supposed to impart humor.

“What passed for romance between two drug addicts,” she said. “I think the term is enablers . By being together we were enabling each other. But romance is not a word I would use. We had sex on occasion-when he was able to. But there was no romance, Mr. Royce.”

“But didn’t you in fact believe at one point that you two were married?”

“Eddie set something up on the beach with a man he said was a minister. But it wasn’t real. It wasn’t legal.”

“But at the time you thought it was, didn’t you?”

“Yes.”

“So were you in love with him?”

“No, I wasn’t in love with him. I just thought he could protect me.”

“So you were married, or at least thought you were. Did you live together?”

“Yes.”

“Where?”

“In different motels in the Valley.”

“All this time you were together, you must’ve confided in Eddie, yes?”

“About some things, yes.”

“Did you ever confide in him about your sister’s murder?”

“I am sure I did. I didn’t keep it a secret. I would have talked about it in group therapy in North Hollywood and he was sitting right there.”

“Did you ever tell him that your stepfather killed your sister?”

“No, because that didn’t happen.”

“So if Eddie Roman were to come to this courtroom and testify that you did indeed tell him that, then he would be lying.”

“Yes.”

“But you have already testified yesterday and today that you have lied to counselors and police. You have stolen and committed many crimes in your life. But you’re not lying here. Is that what we are to believe?”

“I’m not lying. You are talking about a period of my life when I did those things. I don’t deny that. I was human trash, okay? But I am past that now and have been past it for a long time. I’m not lying now.”

“Okay, Ms. Gleason, no further questions.”

As Royce returned to his seat, Maggie and I put our heads together and whispered.

“She held up really well,” Maggie said. “I think we should let it stand and I’ll just hit a couple high notes.”

“Sounds good.”

“Ms. McPherson?” the judge prompted.

Maggie stood.

“Yes, Your Honor. Just a few questions.”

She went to the lectern with her trusty legal pad. She skipped the buildup and got right to the matters she wanted to cover.

“Sarah, this man Eddie Roman and the phony marriage-whose idea was it to get married?”

“Eddie asked me to get married. He said we would work together as a team and share everything, that he would protect me and that we could never be forced to testify against each other if we got arrested.”

“And what did working together as a team mean in that circumstance?”

“Well, I… he wanted me to sell myself so we would have money to buy drugs and to have a motel room.”

“Did you do that for Eddie?”

“For a little bit of time. And then I got arrested.”

“Did Eddie bail you out?”

“No.”

“Did he come to court?”

“No.”

“Your record shows you pleaded guilty to soliciting and were sentenced to time served, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“How long was that?”

“I think it was thirteen days.”

“And was Eddie there waiting when you got out of jail?”

“No.”

“Did you ever see him again?”

“No, I didn’t.”

Maggie checked her notes, flipped up a couple pages and found what she was looking for.

“Okay, Sarah, you mentioned several times during your testimony earlier today that you did not remember specific dates and occurrences that Mr. Royce asked you about during the time you were a drug user. Is that a fair characterization?”