The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [112]
“Judge, if I were in Your Honor’s position, I think that I would ask counsel, since she says she thoroughly vetted this letter and its origin, if there is a sitting federal grand jury looking into foreclosure fraud in Southern California. And then I would ask how she has concluded that a federal target letter amounts to ‘almost nothing.’ Because I don’t think the court is getting a very accurate assessment of what the letter means or what its impact is on this case.”
The judge swiveled back to Freeman and broke one of his fingers free to point in her direction.
“What about that, Ms. Freeman? Is there a grand jury?”
“Judge, you are putting me in an awkward position here. Grand juries work in secret and—”
“We’re all friends here, Ms. Freeman,” the judge said sternly. “Is there a grand jury?”
She hesitated and then nodded.
“There is a grand jury, Your Honor, but it has not heard any testimony in regard to Louis Opparizio. As I said, the target letter is nothing more than a notice of a pending investigation. It’s hearsay, Judge, and it doesn’t fit into any exception that would speak to its admissibility in this trial. Though the letter was signed by the U.S. attorney for this district, it was actually authored by a Secret Service agent handling the inquiry. I have the agent waiting downstairs in my office. If the court wishes, I can have him in chambers in ten minutes to tell you exactly what I just did. That this is a lot of smoke and mirrors on Mr. Haller’s part. At the time of Mr. Bondurant’s death there was no active investigation yet and no connection between the two. There was just the letter.”
That was a mistake. By revealing that Vasquez, the Secret Service agent who penned the target letter, was in the building, Freeman had put the judge into a difficult position. That the agent was nearby and easily accessible would make it harder for the judge to dismiss the issue out of hand. I stepped in before the judge could respond.
“Judge Perry? I would suggest that, since counsel says she has the federal agent who wrote the letter right here in the courthouse, she simply put him on the stand to counter anything that I might draw from Detective Kurlen on cross-examination. If Ms. Freeman is so sure the agent will say the target letter he wrote amounts to nothing, then let him tell the jury that. Let him blow me out of the water. I remind the court that we’ve already dipped our toes into these waters. I asked Kurlen about the letter yesterday. To simply go back out there and not mention it again or have you tell the jurors to un-ring the bell and dismiss it from memory… that could be more damaging to our collective cause than a full airing of this issue.”
Perry answered without hesitation.
“I tend to think that you are correct about this, Mr. Haller. I don’t like the idea of leaving the jury all night with this mysterious target letter to ponder and then pulling the rug out from under them this morning.”
“Your Honor,” Freeman said quickly. “May I be heard once more?”
“No, I don’t think that is necessary. We need to stop wasting time in here and get the trial started.”
“But, Your Honor, there is one other exigent issue the court has not even considered.”
The judge looked frustrated.
“And what is that, Ms. Freeman? My patience is drawing thin.”
“Allowing testimony about a target letter directed at the defense’s key witness will likely complicate that witness’s previous decision not to invoke his Fifth Amendment rights during testimony in this case. Louis Opparizio and his legal counsel may well reconsider that decision once this target letter is introduced and discussed publicly. Therefore, Mr. Haller may be building a defense case that ultimately results in his key witness and straw man, if you will, refusing to testify. I want it on record now that if Mr. Haller plays this game he must abide by the consequences. When Opparizio decides next week that it’s in his best interest not to testify and asks for a new