The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [143]
“There has been nothing in discovery because this Facebook account was unknown until last night.”
“Judge, if you believe that, I have some property west of Malibu I’d like to sell you.”
“Judge, yesterday afternoon my office came into possession of a printout of all posts made by the defendant to her Facebook page. I was pointed to a set of posts from last September that are relevant to this case and the defendant’s own testimony. If I can be allowed to proceed this will become very obvious, even to counsel.”
“ ‘Came into possession’?” I said. “What’s that mean? Judge, you have to be an invited friend to see my client’s Facebook wall. If the government engaged in subter—”
“It was given to me by a member of the media who is friends with the defendant on Facebook,” Freeman interjected. “There was no subterfuge. But its source should not be at issue here. Res ipsa loquitur—the document speaks for itself, Judge, and I am sure the defendant can identify her own Facebook posts for the jury. Counsel is simply engaged in trying to prevent the jurors from seeing what he knows is evidence of his client’s—”
“Judge, I have no idea what she’s even talking about. The first I heard about a Facebook page was during her cross. Counsel’s view of—”
“Very well, Ms. Freeman,” Perry interrupted. “Give her the document but get to the point quickly.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
As I sat back down I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it and read the text under the table and out of the judge’s view. It was from Bullocks and she simply said she had access to Lisa’s Facebook wall and was working on my request. I typed with one hand, telling her to check the posts from September, then pocketed the phone.
Freeman gave Trammel the printout and had her verify the most recent posts as coming from her Facebook wall.
“Thank you, Ms. Trammel. Could you now go to the page I have marked with the Post-it?”
Lisa reluctantly did as instructed.
“You will see that I have highlighted a series of three of your posts from last September seventh. Could you please read the first one to the jury, including the time of the posting?”
“Um, one forty-six. ‘I am heading into WestLand to see Bondurant. This time I’m not taking no for an answer.’ ”
“Now, you just pronounced the name Bondurant but it is misspelled, is it not, in the post?”
“Yes.”
“How is it spelled in your post?”
“B-O-N-D-U-R-U-N-T.”
“Bondurunt. I notice that the name is spelled that way on all posts in which he is mentioned. Was that intentional or a mistake?”
“He was taking away my house.”
“Could you please answer the question?”
“Yes, it was intentional. I called him Bondurunt because he was not a good man.”
I could feel the sweat moving through my hair. The hidden Lisa was about to come out.
“Could you please read the next highlighted post? With the time.”
“Two eighteen. ‘They wouldn’t let me see him again. So unfair.’ ”
“And now please read the next post and time?”
“Two twenty-one. ‘Found his spot. I’m going to wait for him in the garage.’ ”
The quiet in the courtroom was as loud as a train.
“Ms. Trammel, did you wait for Mitchell Bondurant in the parking garage at WestLand National on September seventh of last year?”
“Yes, but not that long. I realized it was dumb and he wouldn’t even be out until the end of the day. So I left.”
“Did you go back to that garage and wait for him on the morning of his murder?”
“No, I didn’t! I wasn’t there.”
“You saw him in the coffee shop, you became enraged and knew just where he would be, didn’t you? You went to the garage and waited for him and then—”
“Objection!” I yelled.
“—you killed him with the hammer, didn’t you?”
“No! No! No!” Trammel yelled. “I didn’t do it!”
She burst into tears, loudly moaning like some kind of cornered animal.
“Your Honor, objection! She’s badgering the—”
Perry seemed to snap out of some