Home Invasion - J. A. Johnstone [50]
“But what about the fact that Corona and Navarre broke into the McNamara house?”
Rutherford sighed. “Cochrum took care of that in his closing. He put all the blame on Corona. He claimed Navarre had no idea Corona planned to burglarize the house. He said the only reason Navarre went inside was to try to talk Corona out of it. Then Pete busted in and started shooting with no warning, and for no good reason. Navarre claims that they both called out for Pete not to shoot and tried to surrender.”
“But Navarre never took the stand and testified to any of that!”
“Of course not. That would have opened him up to cross-examination.”
“Cochrum can’t get that sort of thing in during a closing statement, can he?”
“Joe and I both objected. Judge Carson overruled us.”
Alex looked around the courthouse hallway where they were sitting, waiting for the jury to return with a verdict, but she wasn’t really seeing her surroundings. She was too stunned by everything Rutherford had just told her.
“The fix is in,” she muttered.
“You’d better not say that in there,” Rutherford warned. “The judge will hold you in contempt of court.”
“But it is, isn’t it?”
Rutherford shrugged. “I honestly don’t think so. I believe that Judge Carson is just so dedicated to his liberal ideals that he’s willing to cut someone like Navarre any break that he possibly can. His instructions to the jury practically told them they had to find in Navarre’s favor.”
“Well, it’s just crazy.”
“How many times have you said or thought that since this whole thing started?”
“Too many,” Alex admitted.
“The only silver lining—and it’s a small one—is that they never really made any sort of case against the city. You and your people handled everything strictly by the book and made sure that Navarre’s rights were protected every step of the way.”
“You don’t know how hard it was to do that, either,” Alex said.
“I can imagine. But maybe we’re going to dodge the bullet on this one, at least liability-wise.” Rutherford winced. “That was a poor choice of words, wasn’t it?”
Alex looked down the hall to the chairs where Pete McNamara and Joe Gutierrez sat side by side. Joe was trying to talk to his client, but Pete’s head was down and he didn’t appear to be paying attention. He looked like he was in shock, the same way he had looked ever since that tragic night.
“Nobody’s dodged the bullet,” she whispered. “Least of all Pete.”
Rutherford shrugged and was about to say something else when the courtroom door opened and a bailiff stuck his head out.
“Jury’s back,” he called.
That started an immediate hubbub and a rush toward the courtroom.
“Isn’t that awfully fast?” Alex asked Rutherford as they stood up.
The city attorney nodded. “Very fast. A little less than an hour.”
“Is that a good sign or a bad one?”
“When you got whipped like our side did, all signs are bad.”
Alex hoped that wasn’t true, but she suspected Rutherford was right.
She was allowed to be in the courtroom while court was in session now, since the case was in the hands of the jury. Along with the other witnesses, a gaggle of reporters, and as many spectators could squeeze in, they crowded the courtroom while the jury was brought back in. The twelve men and women looked solemn and not the least bit happy, as if they had just performed an unpleasant task that left a bad taste in their mouths.
One of the bailiffs called on everyone to rise. Judge Carson came in and took his seat on the bench. When everyone had settled down again and an air of tense expectancy gripped the courtroom, Carson called on the jury foreman to rise.
“Has the jury reached a verdict in the matter before the court, the case of Navarre versus McNamara and the City of Home?”
Alex noted that the gun manufacturer had indeed been dropped from the lawsuit. They must have paid off handsomely for that, she thought.
The jury foreman nodded