Playing Dead_ A Novel of Suspense - Allison Brennan [23]
“That’s not exactly what happened. Hold on. I remember talking to him about it, but . . .” Claire heard pages flipping in the background. “Oh, right. Yes, O’Brien. It was over five years ago that we put together that file. The file was reviewed by a practicing attorney and it was determined that we had no cause to believe Mr. O’Brien didn’t get a fair trial or was wrongfully convicted. The file went to archives.”
“And you told Oliver this?”
“Of course. I have so many cases on my desk. I have three full-time attorneys working for me, plus many others who work pro bono. We give a thorough look at the case file, court transcripts, evidence. If there’s anything at all that we can sink our teeth into, we file a motion. Put it on the record, even if we don’t have the time or resources to pursue it.”
“Did Oliver tell you why he thought the case should be looked at again?”
“To be honest, I wasn’t paying much attention. That was a busy time, and I had a half-dozen serious cases I was working on, all with legitimate problems. I didn’t have time to revisit a case that had been vetted by an attorney I thoroughly trust.”
“Who was the attorney who originally looked at the file? Maybe Oliver spoke to him.”
“Can I ask you something?”
“Yes.” His sympathetic tone had Claire on edge. She hated when people pitied her.
“Do you believe your father is innocent? In your heart, what do you think?”
She hadn’t expected the question. But in the months since Oliver claimed he could prove her father was framed, she’d been thinking about it, and after seeing him this morning . . . She said honestly, “I don’t know. Up until I saw my mother’s body I would have said he’d never kill anyone. But Oliver was so convinced he was innocent.” She didn’t mention “The Perfect Frame” to Sizemore. “I want to see what he saw and draw my own conclusions.”
“Don Collier.”
“Excuse me?”
“Professor Collier does pro bono work for me, and he reviewed the case. He had been a criminal defense attorney before he started teaching at Davis.”
“Thank you.” Her head was spinning at the information, but she asked, “Can I get a copy of the file?”
“It’s in archives. I let Oliver make a copy, but I made sure the original was appropriately refiled. It might take me a day or two.”
“That’s okay. I really appreciate it.”
“I’ll have my secretary call you when it’s ready.”
She thanked Sizemore and put down her phone, wondering what was going on. Having gotten Collier’s name from Maddox’s girlfriend, Claire had already left a message for him, but he hadn’t returned her call.
She tried digging deeper into Oliver Maddox, but there was very little about him. He had a paper posted in the archives of the UC Davis newspaper website. As an alum—even though she’d never graduated—she could access it using her former student ID. It was a paper on the criminal justice system, more than twenty pages. She skimmed it to see if it mentioned her father’s case. It appeared to be an indictment against the current appeals process. She didn’t see anything related to her dad, but she printed it out to read over more carefully later.
Claire’s father had been convicted because of opportunity and motive. His gun was used, but there were no prints on it. It had been wiped clean, which the prosecution claimed was O’Brien’s attempt to cover up the murders. There was GSR on his hands, but he’d been at the gun range earlier that morning. The prosecution claimed he’d premeditated the murders, and therefore made sure that he had a good reason to have gunshot residue on his hands.
Other than the timeline, there was no other hard evidence. The jury, like the prosecution, didn’t believe that anyone else had the means or motive to kill two people at that exact time. No one had seen anyone else—stranger or friend—in or near the house.
Claire had trusted the prosecutor, Sandra Walters. Ms. Walters wanted justice for her mother and Chase Taverton.