The Fifth Witness - Michael Connelly [79]
Under direct questioning, Freeman drew from Schafer that she was a bank teller who had returned to work four years earlier after raising a family. She had no corporate aspirations. She just enjoyed the responsibility that came with the job and the interaction with the public.
After a few more personal questions designed to create a rapport between Schafer and the jury, Freeman moved on to the meat of her testimony, asking the witness about the morning of the murder.
“I was running late,” Schafer said. “I am supposed to be in place at my window at nine. I first go to get my bank out of the vault and sign it out. So usually I am there by quarter of. But on that day I hit traffic on Ventura Boulevard because of an accident and was very late.”
“Do you remember exactly how late, Ms. Schafer?” Freeman asked.
“Yes, ten minutes exactly. I kept looking at the clock on the dashboard. I was running exactly ten minutes behind schedule.”
“Okay, and when you got close to the bank did you see anything out of the ordinary or that caused you concern?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And what was that?”
“I saw Lisa Trammel on the sidewalk walking away from the bank.”
I stood and objected, saying that the witness would have no idea where the person she claimed was Trammel was walking from. The judge agreed and sustained.
“What direction was Ms. Trammel walking in?” Freeman asked.
“East.”
“And where was she in relation to the bank?”
“She was a half a block east of the bank, also walking east.”
“So she was walking in a direction away from the bank, correct?”
“Yes, correct.”
“And how close were you when you saw her?”
“I was going west on Ventura and was in the left lane so that I could move into the turning lane to turn into the entrance to the bank’s garage. So she was three lanes across from me.”
“You had your eyes on the road, though, didn’t you?”
“No, I was stopped at a traffic light when I first saw her.”
“So was she at a right angle to you when you saw her?”
“Yes, directly across the street from me.”
“And how was it that you knew this woman to be the defendant, Lisa Trammel?”
“Because her photo is posted in the employee lounge and in the vault. Plus her photo was shown to bank employees about three months before.”
“Why was that done?”
“Because the bank had been granted a restraining order prohibiting her from coming within a hundred feet of the bank. We were shown her photo and told to immediately report to our supervisors any sighting of her on bank property.”
“Can you tell the jury what time it was when you saw Lisa Trammel walking east on the sidewalk?”
“Yes, I know exactly what time it was because I was running late. It was eight fifty-five.”
“So at eight fifty-five, Lisa Trammel was walking east in a direction that was moving away from the bank, correct?”
“Yes, correct.”
Freeman asked a few more questions designed to elicit answers that indicated that Lisa Trammel was only a half block from the bank within a few minutes of the 911 call reporting the murder. She finally finished with the witness at 11:30 and the judge asked if I wanted to take an early lunch and begin my cross-examination afterward.
“Judge, I think it’s only going to take me a half hour to handle this. I’d rather go now. I’m ready.”
“Very well then, Mr. Haller. Proceed.”
I stood up and went to the lectern located between the prosecution table and the jury box. I carried a legal pad with me and two display boards. I held these so that their displays faced each other and could not be seen. I leaned them against the side of the lectern.
“Good morning, Ms. Schafer.”
“Good morning.”
“You mentioned in your testimony that you were running late because of a traffic accident, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Did you happen to come upon the accident site while making the commute?”
“Yes, it was just west of Van Nuys Boulevard. Once I got past it, I started to move smoothly.”
“Which side of Ventura was it on?”
“That was the thing. It was in the eastbound lanes but everybody on my side had to slow down to gawk.”
I made a note on my legal pad and changed direction.