The Mayor of Lexington Avenue by James Sheehan

Author:James Sheehan
Language: eng
Format: mobi, epub
Tags: Thrillers, Fiction, Suspense, Legal, General
ISBN: 9781455574537
Publisher: Center Street
Published: 2013-09-09T22:00:00+00:00

Twenty–six

It took another two days and nights but Jack finally got through almost every file. There were a few very thin ones in the last box that he didn’t get to but he was sure he had read all the important stuff. And on their evening runs he took Pat through what he had learned that day. It was good for both of them: Pat was learning about the case in depth, knowledge that she shared with Nancy the next morning at work; and Jack was organizing and summarizing his thoughts as he spoke.

“You were right that Rudy’s private attorney was a woman. Her name was Tracey James, apparently a real hotshot, based in Vero Beach.” They were on the stretch by the river. There were no boats around, just two pelicans swimming along together. A third dive-bombed into the water not far from them, scooped up a fish and flew away, ignored by the two swimmers. They must have already eaten, Jack thought, knowing how pelicans would fight over the tiniest of morsels. Or maybe they’re in love. . . .

Pat interrupted his daydream. “And she really did quit because they weren’t paying her enough?”

“Who?”

“Who do you think? This Tracey James woman you just told me about.”

“Oh yeah. I don’t know exactly. The files only say she dropped off the case before it went to trial, but if Mike told you that, I’d believe it. It’s not like I never heard of a lawyer only being in it for the money. Anyway, that’s how Rudy got stuck with the public defender. She did a good job, though, before she withdrew from the case. She took the investigating officer apart on the stand at a preliminary hearing. If that had happened at trial, I suspect Rudy would be walking the streets today.”

“Why didn’t it happen at trial?”

“Because the public defender was either a drunk or an idiot.”

“Isn’t that a basis for an appeal?”

“Yeah, but they already tried it and got nowhere. Anyway, at the preliminary hearing Ms. James raised a very interesting issue—whether Rudy, because of his intelligence deficit and his personality, could actually refuse to talk to the police. She also raised the issue of whether the police should have stopped interrogating him when his mother arrived at the police station.”

“I guess the judge didn’t buy it, huh?” It was getting a little deep and Pat was struggling to follow. Luckily, they were running five miles that night.

“Actually, he did. He didn’t grant the Motion to Suppress the evidence but he allowed them to bring up all the circumstances of the confession—how they kept Elena in the other room, how they had video and audio equipment available and never used it. And the confession itself wasn’t really a confession. This detective simply got Rudy to admit that if he was mad enough, he could kill somebody.”

“And you’re saying the public defender didn’t use any of that evidence?”

“None.”

The next night they did a seven-miler. Jack explained to her how the legal advocacy group handled the appeals.

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