Майкл Коннелли - Law of Innocence

I passed all this wisdom on to Maggie, though such advice was not remotely necessary for her. She had given and sat through more than her share of opening statements and already knew that less was always more.

However, this wisdom was apparently never part of Dana Berg’s training. She stood before the jury first and delivered an opener that lasted almost ninety minutes. I would have preferred to sleep through it but I had to carefully monitor it and take notes. An opening statement was a promise to the jury of what you will present during your case in chief. It was unwise to promise something and then not deliver it. That was why I took notes. I would keep a scorecard, and as the case progressed I would be sure to point out to the jury where the state had failed to deliver on the goods promised.

Berg started by detailing the night of my arrest and the discovery of Sam Scales in the trunk of my car. This was where she made her first mistake, telling the jury that they would hear from Officer Roy Milton about how a routine traffic stop—started when he saw my car had no license plate—led to the discovery of the murder victim.

I wrote her words down verbatim because I would use them against Officer Milton when he was brought into court to testify. There was nothing routine about the traffic stop or anything else that night.

At an early point in her statement, Berg interjected a note about Sam Scales, describing him as a small-time grifter who never lived a life on the straight and narrow.

“In fact, Mr. Scales knew Mr. Haller because Mr. Haller was the attorney who defended him most often,” Berg said. “But no matter what crimes Mr. Scales contemplated or committed, he did not deserve to be murdered in the trunk of his lawyer’s car. You must remember that no matter what you hear about Sam Scales, he was the victim in this case.”

While Berg went long, she was also pretty straightforward, sticking closely to what she said the evidence in the case would show. There was a lot but it was all window dressing on the key elements of the case—that the victim was found in my trunk and that ballistic evidence would show that the killing took place in my garage.

There were a few times when I could have objected when Berg strayed from statement into argument, but I was mindful of perceptions. I didn’t want the jury to see me as some sort of petty referee or interrupter, so I let the editorializing go. The prosecutor wrapped it up after eighty-five minutes with a summary of her summary, repeating the major points she promised to deliver during the trial and sounding a lot like a closing argument.

“Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence we will present over the next several days will show that Mr. Haller was engaged in a long-running dispute with Sam Scales over money. It will show that he knew that his best and only chance of getting his money was to kill Sam Scales and draw it from his estate. And it will show beyond a reasonable doubt that he did indeed carry out that plan to kill Mr. Scales in the garage of his home. It would have been the perfect murder if not for the sharp eyes of a police officer who noticed a missing license plate on a dark street. I ask that you pay attention to the evidence presented and not be swayed by efforts to distract you from your very important job. Thank you.”

The judge called for a fifteen-minute break before the defense got its turn. I, of course, was going nowhere. I turned to scan the gallery as people got up to use the restrooms or just stretch their legs. I saw that the courtroom had gotten crowded as the case got underway—more media and more observers from both in and out of the courthouse. I saw several attorneys I knew and other courthouse workers. In the front row were my team and family. Cisco and Lorna. Bosch was there and had even brought his daughter, Maddie. She sat next to my daughter. I smiled at them now.

Kendall Roberts was not in the courtroom. After I was taken into custody, she had assessed her situation and decided to call it quits with me a second time. She had moved out of my house and left no forwarding address. I could not say I was left heartbroken. The strain the case had put on our relationship had been clear even before I was jailed for the second time. In fact, I couldn’t blame her for extricating herself from it all. She had tried to tell me in person, coming to court for one of my hearings, but the circumstances didn’t allow it. So she had written me a note and sent it to the jail. And that was the last I had heard from her.

Toward the end of the break, Hayley got up and squeezed down the row until she came to the railing behind the defense table and in front of Cisco. Since I was a custody, I was not allowed to touch her or get close. But Maggie slid her chair all the way back to the rail.

“Thanks for being here, Hay,” I said.

“Of course,” she said. “I wouldn’t miss it for the world. You’re going to win, Dad. And Mom. You’re going to prove what I already know.”

“Thanks, baby,” I said. “How’s Maddie?”

“She’s good,” Hayley said. “I’m glad she made it. It’s really good to see Uncle Harry too.”

“How long can you stay?” Maggie asked.

“I cleared the whole day,” Hayley said. “I’m not going anywhere. I mean, my mom and dad on the same team—what could be better than that?”

“I hope it doesn’t leave you behind in classes,” Maggie said.

“Don’t worry about my classes,” our daughter, the future lawyer, said. “Just worry about this.”

She gestured to the front of the courtroom, meaning the case. “We’re locked and loaded,” I said. “Confident.”

“That’s good,” Hayley said.

“Do me a favor and keep your eye on the jury,” I said. “If you see anything, let me know during the breaks.”

“Like what?” Hayley asked.

“Like anything,” I said. “A smile, a shake of the head. Somebody falling asleep. I’ll be watching too. But we can use any read we can get.”

“You got it,” she said.

“Thanks for being here,” I said somberly. “I love you.”

“I love you too,” she said. “Both of you.”

She moved back to her seat, and Cisco and Bosch leaned forward to the railing to speak confidentially, even though I had to keep the same separation from them.

“We all set on everything?” I asked.

“We’re good,” Cisco said.

Then he looked at Bosch for agreement and Bosch nodded.

“Good,” Maggie said. “Looking at Dana’s witness list, I’m guessing that the state’s case will go to at least Tuesday. So we should be ready with subpoenas and everything else on Monday, just in case.”

“Done,” Cisco said.

“Good,” Maggie said.

People were returning to their seats. The break was almost over.

“Well, this is it,” I said. “We’re here. I want to thank you guys for everything.”

They both nodded.

“This is what we do,” Cisco said.

I turned back to the table and then leaned toward Maggie, who was already back to studying notes scribbled on a legal pad in front of her.

“You ready?” I asked.

“Of course,” she said. “Quick and dirty.”

The courtroom settled and the judge came back to the bench.

“Mr. Haller,” she said. “Your opening statement.”

I nodded but it was Maggie who stood up and went to the lectern. She carried her legal pad and a glass of water. We had not informed the judge or prosecution who would be making the opening statement for the defense. I picked up a note of surprise on Berg’s face when she turned in her seat toward the lectern, expecting to see me. I hoped it would be the first of many times she would be caught off guard.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, good morning,” Maggie said. “My name is Maggie McPherson and I am co-counsel for the defense on this case. As you have been told by the court, the defendant, Michael Haller, is also representing himself in this trial. More often than not it will be Mr. Haller who stands here to question witnesses and speak to the judge. But for this opening statement we agreed that it would be best for me to speak on his behalf.”