Judgment Calls by Alafair Burke

Author:Alafair Burke [Burke, Alafair]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Literature & Fiction, Mystery; Thriller & Suspense, Mystery, Police Procedurals, Women Sleuths, Thrillers & Suspense, Legal, Thrillers
Amazon: B003J564OE
Publisher: Henry Holt and Co.
Published: 2004-05-03T16:00:00+00:00

Lisa had done a good job of warning Derrick not to get defensive about his criminal history. When a witness with a problematic background owns up to his problems, some jurors will actually give him points for it. I hoped Derringer’s brother’s record was bad enough to speak for itself whether he admitted the convictions or not.

I asked him about his felony record, and he conceded that he’d been convicted of armed robbery and then of two separate incidents of forgery in the first degree. In a perfect world, the guy would still be in the pen for the robbery alone. He walked into a Subway sandwich shop just before closing and left with just $67 from the cash register. The cashier was a sixteen-year-old kid who’d started working at the shop a few days earlier. After Derringer discovered that there were only small bills in the register and that the cashier had no access to the safe, he made the kid get on his hands and knees on the floor in front of the safe. He stuck a gun in the kid’s mouth, forced him to make three tries at opening the safe despite his protestations that he didn’t know the combination, and then dry fired the gun when the safe didn’t open.

After the kid pissed his pants, Derringer got down on his knees in front of him, grabbed him by the hair, and mocked him while he cried. As he grabbed the small bills from the register, Derringer told the kid, “Hey, just be glad you’re not a chick, man, or you’d really be having a bad day.”

Unfortunately, the Rules of Evidence being what they are, all the jury got to hear was that Derrick Derringer had been convicted of armed robbery. Just doesn’t have the same effect.

When I finished asking about his felony convictions, I got to the good stuff.

I pulled out a thick case file from my leather legal briefcase, opened it, and asked him, “You’ve offered in the past to testify on your brother’s behalf, haven’t you?”

He took the bait and tried to avoid what he knew to be the issue. “I’m not sure what you’re referring to specifically, ma’am, but I have been saying since this unfortunate event occurred that I’m willing to tell the truth about what happened to establish my brother’s innocence.”

What a fucking idiot.

“I’m aware that you’ve been what you call ‘willing’ to testify for your brother in this trial, but I was referring to a trial two years ago in Clackamas County where your brother also was the defendant. Do you recall that, Mr. Derringer?”

Of course he recalled it, he said.

“And in that trial, Mr. Derringer, didn’t you offer to testify that your brother had been with you when the crime of which he was accused occurred?”

He had to admit that one, too.

“Did you eventually testify in that trial?”

“No, I did not,” he said.

“Were you in the courtroom when your brother testified in that trial?”

Derringer looked surprised. I think Lisa expected me to get this evidence in through a DA or a cop instead of through her own witness.

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