The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [64]
I flipped my pen up into the air. It bounced onto the table and then clattered to the floor. I stood up.
“Your Honor, this is just outrageous. On the eve of jury selection? To pull this now? And boy oh boy, that was sure nice of them to leave some for the defense. We’ll just run out and get it analyzed before jury selection starts tomorrow. You know, this is just—”
“Point well taken, Counsel,” the judge interrupted. “It troubles me as well. Ms. Freeman, you’ve had this evidence since the inception of the case. How can it be that it conveniently lands the day before jury selection?”
“Your Honor,” Freeman said, “I have a full understanding of the burden this places on the defense and the court. But it is what it is. I was informed of the findings at eight o’clock this morning when I received the report from the lab. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to bring it before the court. As to the reason for its coming in now, well, there are a few. I am sure the court is aware of the backup for DNA analysis at the lab at Cal State. There are thousands of cases. While homicide investigations certainly get a priority it is not to the exclusion of all other cases. We elected not to go to a private lab that could have turned it around faster because of the concern over the size of the sample. We knew if anything went wrong with an outside vendor then we would have completely lost the opportunity to test the blood—and hold a portion for the defense.”
I shook my head in frustration while waiting for the chance to speak again. This was indeed a game changer. It had been a completely circumstantial case. Now it was a case involving direct evidence connecting the defendant to the crime.
“Mr. Haller?” the judge said. “You want to respond?”
“I sure do, Judge. I think this goes beyond being sandbagged and I don’t for a moment believe the timing here is happenstance. I would ask that the court tell the prosecution that it is too late to spring this now. I move that this so-called evidence be excluded from the trial.”
“What about delaying the trial?” the judge said. “What if you were given the time to get the analysis done and get up to speed on this?”
“Get up to speed? Judge, this isn’t just about getting our own analysis done. This is about changing the entire defense strategy. The prosecution is seeking to change this from a circumstantial case to a science-based case on the eve of trial. I don’t only need time to do DNA testing. After two months, I now need to rethink the entire case. This is devastating, Your Honor, and it should not be allowed under the basic idea of fair play.”
Freeman wanted a comeback but the judge didn’t allow it. I took that as a good sign until I saw him looking at the calendar hanging on the wall behind the clerk’s corral. That told me he was only willing to ameliorate the situation with time. He was going to allow the DNA into evidence and would just give me extra time to prepare for it.
I sat back down in defeat. Lisa Trammel leaned toward me and desperately whispered, “Mickey, this can’t be. It’s a setup. There’s no way his blood could be on those shoes. You have to believe me.”
I put my hand up to cut her off. I didn’t have to believe a word out of her mouth and that was all beside the point. The reality was that the case was shifting. No wonder Freeman had all her confidence back.
Suddenly I realized something. I quickly stood back up. Too quickly. Pain shot down my torso into my groin and I bent over the defense table.
“Your… Honor?”
“Are you all right, Mr. Haller?”
I slowly straightened up.
“Yes, Your Honor, but I need to add something to the record, if I may.”
“Go ahead.”
“Your Honor, the defense questions the veracity of the prosecution’s claim of learning about this DNA result only this morning. Three weeks ago Ms. Freeman offered my client a very attractive disposition, giving Ms. Trammel twenty-four hours to think it over. Then—”
“Your Honor?” Freeman said.
“Don’t