Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [39]
Alex’s heart sank. Something had happened, and she was sure it was something bad.
She stood up and headed for the door, determined to go in there and find out what was going on. Before she could get there, Rosario Encinal strode out, looking beautiful and regal as she was surrounded by reporters. The federal attorney smiled and said, “Mr. Cochrum and I will be having a press conference shortly, and I’ll be glad to answer all your questions then.”
Alex stared at Encinal as the woman swept past her. Had she said that she and Cochrum were going to be holding a press conference? That made no sense. They were on opposite sides.
Unless they weren’t.
As that thought went through Alex’s mind, she hurried into the courtroom. Dave Rutherford, Joe Gutierrez, and Everett Hobson were talking animatedly as they stood behind the defense table, and none of them looked happy. Pete McNamara still sat there, looking stunned and more dispirited than ever. The three attorneys for the gun manufacturer were gathering up their papers. They wore disgusted expressions on their faces. When they had finished packing up their briefcases, they stalked out.
The conference between the three remaining lawyers broke up. Gutierrez sat down beside his client and put an arm around the old man’s shoulders. Whatever he was saying didn’t appear to do any good. Pete McNamara still looked beaten down to nothing.
District Attorney Hobson and his assistant, Janet Garcia, hustled out of the courtroom as well, bent on some errand that seemed hopeless, judging by the expressions on their faces. Dave Rutherford turned, saw Alex, and motioned for her to come over. She went to the railing and rested her hands on it. The benches behind her had cleared of spectators, but there was still an angry commotion going on out in the hallway and the courthouse lobby.
“Dave, what in the world happened?”
Rutherford’s mouth quirked in a humorless smile. “Cochrum rested his case.”
“Already? He didn’t even put Navarre on the stand?”
“He didn’t need to.” Rutherford drew in a deep breath. “Before he rested, he announced that he’d filed papers to have the United States government dropped from the lawsuit. It seems that Navarre has reached a separate settlement with the feds.”
“Wait a minute. A settlement? But that would mean …”
Rutherford nodded. “Yes. The federal government is going to acknowledge that Emilio Navarre’s civil rights were violated when Pete McNamara shot him. I’m sure that Cochrum and Ms. Encinal will be announcing the terms shortly. I suspect a lot of money will change hands.”
The implications of that mushroomed through Alex’s mind. Her hands tightened on the railing. “How can the state win a criminal case against Navarre when the federal government has already said that he’s right and Pete was wrong?”
“It can’t,” Rutherford said as he shook his head. “The jury pool will be irrevocably tainted. Hell, the whole country will be tainted.”
“What about this case? Surely what Cochrum has done is grounds for a mistrial.”
“Yes, but don’t you see, Alex?” Rutherford’s face was bleak. “It doesn’t matter. If the case proceeds, the jury knows that the feds have already sided with Navarre. Maybe they’ll rule in favor of Mr. McNamara anyway. But if they do, Cochrum will just appeal, and a higher court will set the judgment aside. Even if it goes all the way to the Supreme Court, in the end Navarre will win. It’s over, Alex. No matter how much we try to stretch things out, it’s over.”
She felt sick to her stomach, and she was dizzy enough that her grip on the railing was all that kept her from collapsing. She had devoted her adult life to enforcing the law—hell, that devotion had cost her her marriage—and now the legal system had just declared that it was all