The Mayor of Lexington Avenue (48 page)

“What the hell’s going on here?” Clay whispered when Jimmy sat down next to him.

“I don’t know. It looks like we’ve had some complications.”

“What about my money?” Clay asked. Jimmy just shrugged.

“Don’t worry. It’s not over,” Jimmy lied. It was over for him. He had his money.

Just then the judge walked into the courtroom. He had wanted to talk to the lawyers alone in open court but he hadn’t gotten the word to the bailiff in time, and the courtroom was now full.

“Counsel, will you approach?” Jimmy and Jack came forward. Jack had to keep himself calm. He didn’t dare look at the man standing next to him, the man he knew had tried to have him murdered that very morning. Instead Jack concentrated on Judge Stanton and listened as he delivered another near-fatal blow to his case. “I’ve been thinking about this all night and I’ve decided to reconsider and grant the defense’s motion for a mistrial.”

Jack immediately concluded that they had somehow gotten to the judge. He wanted to scream but he said nothing. “This record is too much of a mess,” the judge continued. “We’re only three days into this trial. I’ve ordered another panel of potential jurors up this morning and we can start over again in an hour. That should give you time to notify your witnesses. Jack, I know you have Charley Peterson in from out of town—has he left yet?”

“No, Judge.”

“Good. We can go on Saturday if you want. By Saturday evening we should be where we are today. As I said, it’s only a three-day delay. Jack, you don’t call the prosecution’s case a lie in your opening and you make sure Ms. Lopez doesn’t talk about what everybody in the neighborhood knew about Geronimo Cruz. Mr. DiCarlo, you don’t ask Ms. Lopez where she lives and who she lives with—understand?”

“Yes, sir.” Jimmy couldn’t control his enthusiasm. He didn’t notice the judge was calling Jack by his first name.

“Good. I hate to do this, but we need to have a fair trial and we need to have a good record for appellate purposes.” He looked right at Jack as he spoke the words. “And a three-day setback isn’t all that bad when you take everything into consideration.”

Clay Evans was somewhat happy about the new trial but he couldn’t get it out of his mind that he had just spent $250,000 for nothing.

They picked a jury on that Thursday, and on Friday and Saturday Jack put on the same case all over again. It wasn’t as spontaneous as before. No gasps from the peanut gallery—everybody knew what was coming. Jack called Maria in order this time, and he took away the force and effect of Jimmy’s cross of Charley Peterson by establishing on direct examination that Charley had been disbarred. It made Charley seem a whole lot more credible. But Jack lost all the evidence about Nancy’s murder and Joaquin being shot—evidence that had only come out because of Jimmy DiCarlo’s incompetence. He still liked his chances, though, when he finished up on Saturday.

“We’ll see you all on Monday morning,” Judge Stanton said when Jack rested. The old man was becoming more relaxed and familiar with the lawyers, at least with Jack, and Jack became convinced that the mistrial was truly to clear up the record. Was the judge going to let this case go to the jury? He didn’t know that yet. But the judge had given him the opportunity to try his case.

Jack spent Sunday out at the ranch with Pat. They went for a long run in the morning, something they hadn’t been able to do. When they returned they had the house to themselves. Maria was still staying at the hospital with Joaquin, and Dick was off playing cowboy with Steve Preston.

Dick had really taken to the ranch life. Every opportunity he had lately he was on a horse or over working the cows with Steve’s ranch hands. There was a rumor floating around that Steve had a sister who had lost her husband a few months ago and was staying out at the ranch, but it was just a rumor. Jack couldn’t even remember where he heard it.

“Joaquin told you,” Pat reminded him. “Just before he was shot.” They were lying in bed relaxing after a long love-making session. Something they both had been missing.

“So you think he likes going over there because he likes being a cowboy, or is it the sister?” Jack asked the expert. It was nice talking about the mundane.

“Oh, I think he likes being a cowboy, but the sister’s definitely in the mix.”

“How do you know?”

“It’s just the way he prepares to go over there. He always takes a shower. His jeans are always clean. I saw him plucking his nose hairs the other day.”

“Ouch!” Jack exclaimed. “That’s too much.”

“You wouldn’t do that for me?”

“I’ve got one of those battery-operated things that does the job,” he said matter-of-factly. “But if plucking was the only way, I’d absolutely do it for you.” He grabbed her up in his arms and squeezed her and they both had a good laugh. And then he kissed her because she was so close. And then he touched her because she was so close. And then he kissed her again and again. . . .

“What’s going to happen tomorrow?” Pat asked later, when they had made it as far as the kitchen for some sustenance. It was two o’clock in the afternoon and Jack was eating oatmeal.

“I don’t know. Nothing may happen. He may not put on a case at all.”

“What do you hope happens?”

“I hope both Brume and Evans take the stand. I’ve set this case up that way all along. I think Jimmy wants to put them on. The shootout the other day is a pretty good indication that they’re nervous. Monday should be an interesting day.”

The press must have sensed something dramatic was about to happen, or maybe they were there just because the trial was winding down, but there were reporters from all the major networks and CNN outside the courthouse. Everybody wanted an interview, and Jimmy DiCarlo tried to accommodate them all. Jack slipped into the courthouse through the side entrance.

“Fireworks are going to fly today,” Jimmy told one and all but he wouldn’t elaborate. “You’re just going to have to wait and see.”

Jimmy was becoming very comfortable in front of the cameras. So comfortable that he began to envision himself as one of those talking legal heads.

The judge entered the courtroom promptly at nine. Everybody was seated and waiting for him.

“Anything before we call in the jury?” Nobody said anything. The judge for some reason had a queasy feeling. “All right,” he said to the bailiff. “Bring in the jury.” The fourteen jurors filed in. When they were seated, the judge faced Jimmy DiCarlo.

“Counsel, you may proceed. Call your first witness.”

Jimmy stood up. “Thank you, Your Honor,” he said, sounding like he was about to make a speech. “The defense calls Jack Tobin to the stand.” Pandemonium broke out in the courtroom. Everybody was talking. Jack checked the jury out. They were watching the peanut gallery. They had become what they were supposed to be—observers of everything.

Jack was probably the only one in the courtroom besides the defense who wasn’t surprised. He’d anticipated it as a possibility.

The judge was desperately trying to restore order. He had taken some heat in the press for kicking everybody out the other day and he was determined not to do that again.

“Silence! Silence! Do you want to leave this courthouse?” All the time he was banging the gavel. It took a full five minutes and four bailiffs to restore order.

“Counsel, approach the bench.” Judge Stanton immediately launched into Jimmy.

“We could have met in chambers and you could have told us what you wanted to do and we could have hashed it out in there. But you have to grandstand, Mr. DiCarlo. You have to send everybody into a frenzy. And just what is your basis for calling the lawyer who is trying this case to the stand?”

“He’s a witness, Judge. His motivation for bringing this case is fair game. He never should have been the prosecutor on this case.”

“Then you should have moved to recuse him, Mr. DiCarlo. That’s the proper procedure. You don’t call him as a witness in the middle of your trial. Jack, what do you say about this?”

“He’s already established through other witnesses that I represented Rudy and that, for instance, I talked to Maria about coming to work for me before I actually started as the state attorney. I don’t know what else he needs.”

The judge looked back at Jimmy. “Well?”

“I think the jury needs to hear it from Mr. Tobin.”

All of a sudden a smile broke across Judge Stanton’s face. “Sometimes you ought to be careful what you wish for, Mr. DiCarlo. You might get it.” He sat back, the smile still on his face. “I’m going to allow it. Jack, take the stand.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“I’m going to address the jury before you begin, Mr. DiCarlo.”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

The judge told the jurors that they were to treat Jack’s testimony like that of any other witness. “You can see that there’s no other lawyer sitting with Mr. Tobin and it will be awfully hard for him to cross-examine himself. So I’m going to give Mr. Tobin some leeway in answering the questions. You may proceed, Counsel.”

“Thank you, Your Honor,” Jimmy nodded to the judge. He then proceeded to have Jack tell the jury how long he had been practicing and how he became state attorney of Cobb County. Jack told only the essential details.

“You represented Rudy Kelly, is that correct?”

“Yes.”

“And you represented him in his appeal to the Supreme Court? His third appeal, correct?”

“Yes.”

“And did you not raise all the arguments that you have raised in this courtroom—the separate rape file, the confession, Geronimo Cruz?”

“No, I did not. Your Honor, if I could explain?”

“Proceed, Mr. Tobin.”

“The issue before the Supreme Court was whether Rudy was innocent or guilty. The actions of these two men, the defendants in this trial, were only an issue to the extent they affected Rudy’s innocence or guilt. I did not have Geronimo Cruz’s confession at the time. I did not know of the 1988 letter when I went before the Supreme Court—and I did not know it had been hidden. That was everything, you see. Once we had Cruz, we had his DNA and we got a confession and the case against Rudy fell apart. Once we got Cruz, we could see clearly what these men had done.”

At that moment Clay Evans wanted to strangle Jimmy. He had argued until he was blue in the face against putting Jack Tobin on the stand.

“This guy will eat you for breakfast, Jimmy.”

“No he won’t. I can handle him.” In the end, Jimmy had been too forceful. Clay had relented. Now, as he sat in the courtroom listening to Jack, he knew what a serious mistake he had made. One question and Jack had summarized the case against him and Brume.

Jimmy ignored Jack’s answer.

“Isn’t it true that you took the state attorney’s job for the sole purpose of prosecuting these two public servants?” Jimmy motioned to the two rather hunched figures glowering at him from the defense table.

“No, and if I could explain, Your Honor?”

The judge practically chuckled. “Go ahead, Mr. Tobin.”

“I had spoken to Maria Lopez before I took the job and she had told me about the 1988 letter from the Del Rio police so I knew they had hidden something and I planned to investigate that when I took office. I hadn’t spoken to Cruz before I became the state attorney and I did not have his DNA sample, so I did not know that he was the killer until after I became the state attorney. Would I have taken the job if Rudy had been released? Probably not. I will admit I was obsessed with finding out all the facts about why an innocent young man was killed by the state and prosecuting those who were responsible. I planned to do that.”

“And you didn’t tell the governor about those plans, did you?”

“No.”

“And that was the primary reason you took the state attorney’s job?”

“Yes.”

“Was it the sole reason?”

“I’d say so. I’d already agreed to take the position before I even knew about Rudy, but after Rudy’s death I only took this job to investigate what happened to him and, if it was criminal, to prosecute those responsible.”

“No further questions.” Jimmy shot Clay a look of vindication. He’d told him his goal was to show that Jack had taken the state attorney’s position under false pretenses, and Jack had said pretty much what Jimmy had predicted he would,
among other things.
It was the effect of those
other things
—the fact that Jack was searching for justice for an innocent man—that Jimmy didn’t quite understand and that Clay saw written all over the jurors’ faces. He glared back at Jimmy, who at this point he wanted to kill.

“Call your next witness,” the judge told Jimmy.

“The defense calls Wesley Brume.”

Jimmy steered away from any questions about how Rudy’s confession was obtained. He had Wesley tell the jury how many years he had been a faithful servant for the Bass Creek police department and the many positions he’d held, then he went right to the point.

“Do you recall ever receiving a letter from the Del Rio police department?”

“No, sir. I didn’t know there was a Del Rio until I heard the name in this courtroom.”

“If you had received a letter from the Del Rio police department mentioning a person named Geronimo in 1988, would you remember it?”

“Yes, I would.”

“So what you’re saying is—the ‘facts’ that Maria Lopez testified to never happened?”

“That’s what I’m saying.”

“No further questions.”

“Your witness,” the judge said, looking like he was ready to grab a bag of popcorn and enjoy the show.

Jack had been waiting for this moment for quite some time. For some reason, as he walked up to the podium, a memory from his younger years popped into his head. He had been the victim then and his friends had confronted the slime that had tried to violate his life. He remembered Mikey’s older brother Danny leaning over assistant scoutmaster Daly, a hunting knife at his throat, and telling him, “And now you’re going to disappear.” He looked at the pudgy detective sitting in the witness box and he remembered what this man alone had done to Rudy. It was time to make Wesley Brume disappear.

He started by reminding the jury of the Grunt’s past credibility problems.

“Mr. Brume, you were present when Bill Yates testified that he told you not to talk to Rudy without his mother being present?”