Judge and Jury Read online

  He glanced across the room to Sweeney, who covered his mouth with one hand.

  But Dan could still detect the smile Sweeney was hiding.

  Maria whirled around. “Mr. Ellison, you have changed your testimony.”

  “No, ma’am, I have not.”

  Caldwell rose. “This is easily resolved, your honor. Let's read the relevant passage from the deposition aloud in open court. Let the jury decide.”

  Which would only make a bad situation worse. “That won’t be necessary,” Maria said. “Nothing more.” She sat down.

  No words were necessary. They both knew what had just happened. They had allowed the defendants to go out on a win. They’d made themselves look like fools.

  He should have re-read the transcript before the trial. But instead, he’d been trying to find his sister and—

  And now they were paying the price.

  Chapter 31

  After that last disastrous witness, Dan thought it couldn’t get any worse.

  He couldn’t have been more wrong.

  “For our final witness,” Caldwell announced, “the defendant would like to call Camila Pérez to the stand.”

  Dan and Maria looked at one another, eyes wide. What?

  Maria slowly rose. “Objection. Your honor, this witness is not on the list submitted at pretrial by the defendant.”

  The judge turned to Caldwell. “Is that true?”

  “Yes, your honor, I’m afraid it is. But there are extenuating circumstances. We only learned about the availability of this witness recently. And we believe a grave injustice would result if she were not allowed to testify.”

  The judge waived them forward. “Approach.”

  Dan followed. He knew he probably shouldn’t. He wanted the jury to think of him as a wronged party, not a lawyer. But he needed to hear this for himself.

  The judge’s lips were pursed. He was obviously unhappy. “Counsel, I have no tolerance for trial by ambush. We submit those witness lists for a reason. All parties Should have a fair and equal opportunity to prepare.”

  “I know, your honor,” Drake said, again taking the lead, “and I respect that. Believe me, this was not planned. We did reach out to Ms. Pérez earlier, but as you are probably already aware, our former mayor is now in prison and she refused to testify. Only last night did we get word that she had changed her mind.”

  “That’s no excuse,” Maria said. “Even if she was only a remote possibility, her name should have been on the list.”

  “I didn’t think there was even a remote possibility,” Drake replied. “I was wrong. I made a bad call. Penalize me, if you must, your honor, but don’t penalize my client.”

  The judge was still frowning. “May I ask what the general nature and subject matter of the witness’s testimony would be?”

  “In addition to being involved in at least two major criminal cases with the plaintiff, she also dated him for a significant period of time. They talked about his work. She has first-hand knowledge of his...activites.”

  “Doesn’t sound relevant to me,” Maria said. “Sounds like mudslinging. Character assassination.”

  “But this case is all about the plaintiff’s character. He can only suffer from an alleged slander if his reputation has been impacted. And if the statements were untrue. This witness was in a better position than any other person earth to testify on these subjects.”

  “She’s a convicted criminal,” Maria said.

  “Just like your client’s father,” Drake shot back.

  “Have you made some kind of deal? Early release in exchange for testimony?”

  “Absolutely not,” Caldwell said. “I’m not the district attorney.”

  “You could offer her money. A job. You might use your influence with the parole board.”

  “I have done nothing of the kind. She wants to testify.”

  “So no deal?” the judge asked, looking sternly into his eyes.

  “None whatsoever. As I said, last night, she reached out to us.”

  Dan hated that part worst of all. If Camila wanted to testify, it could only be for one reason. Vengeance.

  “I don’t like this one bit,” Judge Fernandez said. “But I will allow it, with the following provisos. If plaintiff’s counsel needs additional time to prepare for cross-examination, I will permit it. If they want to amend their list to add rebuttal witnesses, I will allow it. And if it turns out this woman has nothing relevant to say, I will instruct the jury to disregard it.”

  “Understood, your honor,” Drake said, obviously relieved. He’d just dodged a major bullet and he knew it. “Thank you.”

  Maria’s lips tightened, but she remained silent. Dan understood why. The judge had ruled and nothing she said now would help.

  When they returned to their table, Dan scribbled a note.

  NO WORRIES. WE’LL SURVIVE.

  He just hoped that assessment turned out to be accurate.

  A marshal escorted Camila into the courtroom. Dan almost didn’t recognize her. Her complexion was pale and bloodless. She’d lost weight—too much. Her gorgeous thick hair had a bad blunt cut. She looked haggard. Her clothes didn’t fit well. But her eyes were laser-focused. She wasn’t cuffed and she’d obviously had a chance to dress and groom since she left the prison, but she still looked shockingly different than she had the last time Dan saw her. His once lovely companion now looked more like one of the Mole People than a former politician with national aspirations.

  This was painful. Camila had so much potential. Mr. K thought she had the abiity to be a major political force for good. But she squandered it all—and now they all witnessed the result.

  She briefly made eye contact with Dan as she passed by. She did not avoid his gaze. Her face bore a slight trace of a smile.

  That smile was the most frightening thing he’d seen since this trial began.

  Camila slid into the witness chair. She stated her name and gave her current address as Lowell Correctional Institution.

  “What did you do before your recent incarceration?”

  As if the jurors didn’t already know. “I was the mayor of this city. I resigned.”

  “What was the charge lodged against you?”

  “Conspiracy to commit homicide. I accepted a plea bargain to a lesser crime. I didn’t want to spend the rest of my life in jail. With the deal, I’ll probably serve about three years.”

  “And what was the basis for this allegation?”

  “I conveyed information about a hitman.”

  Caldwell nodded. “We’ll come back to that in a moment. I just wanted to be honest with the jury up front so they understood the circumstances. You’ve been released from prison so you can testify, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And have you been offered any kind of deal, promise, or incentive in exchange for your testimony?”

  “None whatsoever.”

  “Thank you. As you know, this is a slander case based upon statements made by Daniel Pike and our client Conrad Sweeney. Each claims the other made statements damaging to their reputations and earning ability. Do you know either of the parties?”

  “I worked with Dr. Sweeney on several occasions when I was mayor.” Despite what she’d been through, Camila did not appear to have any problem speaking or collecting her thoughts. “We worked together to build several women’s shelters in this city, and numerous other charitable projects.”

  Seriously? Dan knew she despised Sweeney just as much as he did. If she was willing to whitewash that man, he was in serious trouble.

  “And did you know the plaintiff, Daniel Pike?”

  “Very well.”

  “What was the nature of your relationship?”

  “I first met him when he asked me to testify in a case he handled. After seeing how effective he was in the courtroom, I asked him to represent me. And we started...seeing each other.”

  “Just for clarification, when you say you were seeing each other...”

  �
�Personally. Intimately.”

  “You dated?”

  “We slept together.”

  Caldwell paused, making sure the jury kept up. “And when did the intimate relationship begin?”

  “Shortly after he began representing me.”

  Dan sat up straight. That was a lie. Now he understood where this was going...

  Caldwell lunged. “Are you saying he had sex with you while you were his client?”

  “Absolutely. He seemed to feel it was...important. He was insistent.”

  “Are you saying he pressured you to have sex with him?”

  “I’m saying he made it very clear that if I wanted his services, I was going to have to provide services of another sort.”

  Dan scribbled furiously. NOT TRUE.

  Maria nodded. She knew. But did the jury?

  “Would you call this sexual harassment?”

  “Objection,” Maria said. “Leading. And it calls for a legal conclusion.”

  Caldwell shrugged. “The witness has been to law school.”

  The judge nodded. “But it’s still leading.”

  Caldwell rephrased. “Were you comfortable with this relationship?”

  “Not at first. I felt pressured. Like I had no choice. But I didn’t want to go to jail for a crime I didn’t commit. I felt the only way to stay out of prison was to give him what he wanted. Over and over again.”

  Dan clenched his teeth. He wanted to scream out what a liar she was, but he knew that wouldn’t help. There were seven women on the jury and Sweeney’s team knew it. They were weaponizing the MeToo movement, creating sexual harassment—plus a violation of the Bass Associations Code of Professional Conduct—where none existed.

  He knew Camila was bitter. He had after all been the one who figured it all out, who unearthed the evidence that put her behind bars. But he had not expected so much hatred from a woman who once told him she loved him. Who he had loved. Like no one he had ever loved in his life.

  And now this.

  “You said not at first,” Caldwell continued. “Did something change?”

  “Yes. I guess I got used to it. And I did learn to like him. So even after the case ended, we continued to go out.”

  Started to go out, in reality. But this testimony had absolutely nothing to do with reality.

  “Ms. Pérez, as a former lawyer, are you aware of the Bar Association rules pertaining to lawyers having intimate relationships with their clients?”

  “I know it is absolutely forbidden,” she replied. “I know it is grounds for disbarment. Of course, Dan has been the subject of disbarment proceedings before. More than once.”

  “Your honor,” Caldwell said, “given these new revelations, I respectfully request that the court send a copy of the transcript of this trial to the Disciplinary Committee of the State Bar Association so it may consider whether to initiate disbarment proceedings against the plaintiff.”

  Dan tried not to shrug. Been there, done that.

  “Have you ever heard the plaintiff mention my client, Conrad Sweeney?”

  “Oh my God. Like you wouldn’t believe. Constantly. He is absolutely obsessed with the man. Fixated. Crazy.”

  “Can you give the jury an example?”

  “Where to start? In Dan’s mind, Dr. Sweeney is the scapegoat for all his problems. Somehow, Sweeney is behind every crime in every case he handles. Somehow, Sweeney is even behind his father’s conviction, which happened decades ago. It is truly bizarre.”

  “Do you have an explanation?”

  “Like jealousy? Dr. Sweeney is our most prominent and distinguished citizen. Given the enormity of Dan’s ego, that creates ill will. And a huge desire to find some way to bring Sweeney down.”

  “But why?”

  “Dan wants what he has. The love and respect of the people. Dan presents himself as some crusading hero, but the truth is, he’s as dirty as they come and he knows it. He can never have what Dr. Sweeney earned.”

  “Is this speculation on your part?”

  “Absolutely not. I’ve heard Dan spout his hatred for Sweeney on many occasions. He sees himself as a sort of modern-day Sherlock Holmes. And you know, every Holmes must have a Moriarty.”

  “So he has created this supervillain fantasy. In his mind.”

  “Exactly.”

  “Objection,” Maria said. “This is amateur psychological analysis, not real testimony.”

  The judge disagreed. “The witness did know the plaintiff well for an extended period of time, and she is highly educated. I’m going to allow it.”

  Caldwell proceeded. “Did you ever see any evidence of Dr. Sweeney being involved in any...nefarious schemes?”

  “Absolutely not. I think the man is a hero. He has a heart as big as an ocean. He’s used his success and wealth to make this city a better place. He deserves the respect he has.”

  Dan could feel his fists clenching. He moved them under the table so they wouldn’t be visible. But he didn’t know how much more of this smear job he could take.

  “This case concerns a statement made by my client stating that the plaintiff is a criminal and has ties to organized crime,” Caldwell said. “Are you aware of any criminal activities by the plaintiff, the man you know so well and intimately?”

  “Big time.” Camila turned to look right at Dan. “Courtroom tricks. Schemes. He’s got a black book filled with former clients—gang members and drug pushers, mostly—happy to do his bidding at the drop of a hat. He has no moral compass. To Dan, the end always justifies the means.”

  Like when I turned you in? he wondered. Even though it broke my heart into pieces?

  “What about organized crime?”

  “Dan’s connections to organized crime are basically the story of his life. And the secret of his success. That case I mentioned where I testified for him? Sex-trafficking cartel that he suddenly knew more about than anyone. Same thing when he was charged with murder. How’d he get off? With information and testimony stemming from the sex-trafficking cartel. What’s the latest? He has the inside skivvy on an organ-smuggling cartel. I mean, c’mon. He’s either psychic or he’s working with them. And I don’t think he’s psychic.”

  “So you believe he is involved with organized crime.”

  “There’s no doubt in my mind.”

  “And yet you dated him.”

  “I looked the other way, I admit it. Until I couldn’t any longer. Here’s the truth. You people keep talking about Dan and his father? They’re basically just the same. Apple doesn’t fall far from the tree, right? His father did it with a badge and a gun and Dan does it with a law degree, but it’s the same thing. This is the cancer that’s tearing the world apart today. You see it in politics. You see it in the police force. And you see it in the law.”

  This testimony was painful to hear and painful to imagine anyone would believe, but oddly enough, that wasn’t the worst of it. The jury appeared to be buying it, and that still wasn’t the worst of it.

  Sweeney was smiling. Not so much as to constitute a gloat, but enough.

  Which told him the worst was yet to come.

  Caldwell paused again, giving her words time to sink in. “Ms. Pérez, you’ve mentioned that the plaintiff has been involved in criminal activities, but I don’t think you’ve specified a particular criminal act. Can you?”

  “Absolutely. I mentioned that I was convicted of helping someone find a hit man.”

  “Right.”

  “Guess where I got the info?” She pointed toward the plaintiff’s table.

  “From the plaintiff?”

  “From Daniel Pike. Where else? I didn’t know any hitmen. I didn’t know anything about the dark web. But he did. I told you about all the contacts he’s acquired from years of putting criminals back on the street. He gave me the skinny.”

  “Why would he do that?”

  “To get his ass off the hook.” She covered her mouth. “Oh, I’m sorry your honor.”

  The judge shook his head. �
��No worries. Proceed.”

  “Dan gave me the scoop. I passed it along. And look who ended up in prison. I think he made some kind of deal to save his own skin.”

  “That’s a lie,” Dan said, loud enough to be heard. “All of this. A pack of lies.”

  Maria glared at him. What was he doing?

  He didn’t know what he was doing. Something just bubbled out and he couldn’t hold it back any longer. Bad enough to sit there and be lied about. Much worse when it came from someone you once loved.

  He glanced at the jury. They didn’t like the interruption and they didn’t think it made him look innocent. Probably just the opposite.

  The judge banged his gavel. “The plaintiff will be silent. Mr. Pike, you know how to behave in a courtroom.”

  He bit his lip, glaring at Camila. “I apologize to the court.”

  The judge turned to witness stand. “Please continue.”

  Camila did. “Use common sense. I was the mayor. I didn’t know about that stuff. But Dan did. And he needed a scapegoat. So he got the info to someone her knew would use it. If that’s not criminal I don’t know what it.”

  “Speaking as a person versed in the law, you don’t believe Mr. Pike has been slandered?”

  Camila laughed. “I don’t think that’s possible. You can’t slander a criminal by calling him a criminal. That’s just stating a fact.”

  Caldwell nodded. “No more questions.”

  Maria leapt to her feet. Dan recalled that the judge had offered them additional time to prepare for this cross-ex. Apparently she didn’t want it.

  “Ms. Pérez, isn’t it true that you currently reside in Lowell Correctional Institution?”

  “I already said that.”

  “Because you were found guilty of a criminal felony.”

  “I pled guilty.”

  “Did you mention this nonsense about Dan giving you the hitman info at the time?”

  “To whom? There was no trial.”

  “Amazing that you kept secret something that might help you.”

  “There were no secrets. And I don’t know that it would’ve helped me. Where I got the hitman info was not relevant to the charges against me.” She paused. “Though it might’ve led to charges against Dan.”

  “Then why not tell? So this arch-criminal could be brought to justice?”