Cost of Malice: A Jake Clearwater Legal Thriller (Jake Clearwater Legal Thriller Series) by H. Mitchell Caldwell

Author:H. Mitchell Caldwell [Caldwell, H. Mitchell]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Nine Innings Press
Published: 2024-10-04T00:00:00+00:00

CHAPTER 36

The following morning, I drove to Pacifico instead of downtown to the courthouse. I figured the jury would work on their deliberations most of the day and perhaps into tomorrow. I wasn’t into sitting around and waiting. As for working the next case up for trial, I’d already learned that when a jury was out, I couldn’t concentrate on anything else.

I had earlier emailed Tony and Howard, my two buddies on the faculty, that I would be coming in. We met in Tony’s office for coffee and to catch up. Howard in particular was plugged into everything going on at the school. He took some bizarre delight in telling us that one of our recent faculty hires had not only taken up with a first-year student, but had managed to get her pregnant.

“You’re kidding,” I said, stupified. Pacifico has a hands-off policy when it comes to profs engaging romantically with students.

Sound policy?

Tony, who, like me, had not heard, asked, “How is the dean handling this? We’ve still got several months of the semester. He can’t just fire this guy mid-semester.”

Zero tolerance?

“Actually, that’s exactly what he did,” said Howard. “The guy is out. Chauncey divided up his classes, and a couple of us are doing a little overload to cover.”

“You?” I looked at Howard, surprised.

“Correct. I haven’t taught first-year torts in years. I’m having a blast. The first-years are so much more enthusiastic than the upper-division students. It’s been invigorating.”

Howard was brilliant across the board, as evidenced by everything from his Pulitzer Prize to being voted Prof of the Year pretty much every year. For him to slide from the lofty intellectual environs of upper-division constitutional law to first-year torts had to have been an adjustment. But apparently not for Howard. Those first-year students were learning at the feet of a master. If I had to guess, with minimal preparation, Howard could teach any class in Pacifico’s curriculum, and most likely do so better than those of us regularly assigned those classes.

It was fun to catch up. I’d only been away for a couple of months, but I missed the daily camaraderie of my friends and the optimism and energy of the students. That said, I had no regrets about my decision to jump at Seah’s offer and get back into trials. The Webb trial had been a rush. The uncertainty, the battles, and the sense of accomplishment had been exhilarating. I hoped the accomplishment business would happen. Jurors were unpredictable creatures.

“You said you had a jury out deliberating?” Tony asked. “What kind of case?”

“It’s a rough murder case.”

“Aren’t all murder cases rough?” Howard asked.

“Some more so than others. This was a senseless execution of an eighteen-year-old college girl. My case was built around two jailhouse snitches, which was challenging.”

“Oh, I imagine jurors don’t much like snitch testimony,” Howard said, wincing. “Are they going to convict?”

“I think so. I had solid corroboration for their testimony plus the gruesome nature of the murder. But I always worry about one or two holdouts.

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