...Until Proven Innocent: Peter Sharp Legal Mystery #5 by Gene Grossman

Author:Gene Grossman [Grossman, Gene]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: BookBaby

Chapter 10

I arrange to meet with Tony. If he didn’t put that empty shell casing in the cylinder of his gun, then someone else must have planted it there. Forget the ballistics junk. All we have to do is find anyone who might have had access to his gun. The time frame is even nicely narrowed down for us. He claims that he was on the range firing that day, so the casing must have been planted between when he finished firing, and the time he entered the soundstage. That’s only a window of about two hours, so now it’s time for him to relive every minute of that period, and we may find out who our killer is.

Tony’s preliminary hearing date is rapidly approaching, so we’ve got some work to do. A good thing about Tony being a cop is that he’s testified in hundreds of prelims. He won’t be testifying in this one, but I don’t have to make the same explanation to him that most clients require.

If the prosecution wants to bring a person to trial on a felony charge In the State of California, they have two choices: Indictment or Information. With an indictment, they go before the Grand Jury. If that group returns a ‘bill of indictment,’ it’s then straight to the Superior Court for arraignment and trial. Like so many others, this case will be going by Information, which means a preliminary hearing first, at which time the prosecution doesn’t have to establish guilt on the part of the defendant. All they have to do is establish that a crime has been committed and that there is reasonable cause to believe that the defendant may have been involved. The defendant is then ‘bound over’ for arraignment and trial in the Superior Court.

Defense attorneys don’t put up any fight at a preliminary hearing, because all they want to do is see the prosecution’s case and try to pick it apart, looking for weak spots. Quite often a criminal client will be disappointed that their attorney didn’t do more for them at the prelim, but Tony knows that a prelim is the prosecutor’s show, and I’m glad it is, because I don’t have any kind of show to put on for Tony.

If all the investigations come up dry, Tony’s trial will be a terrible disaster. Tony knows this too. I try to cheer him up a little. “You know Tony, the prosecution has the burden of proof. They’ve got to show beyond a reasonable doubt that you shot Joe Caulfield. You’re innocent until they prove you guilty, and I intend to make that as difficult as I can for them.”

His response is not what I expected.

“You really believe that crap don’t you? You think that the prosecution thinks the same way? Listen here counselor, I was found guilty the minute they opened my weapon and found that empty shell casing. The only purpose of this trial is to give me a chance to prove that I’m innocent.

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