princess gather up her skirts, leap over the barrier that separated the spectators from the ring, and make her way to the door on the right, the one that she knew held back the tiger. Just as she reached for the lever that would spring the door open, the king rose, shouted, 'No!' and declared the spectacle over, as well as all future gladiator events, slavery, war, famine and homework. And the princess's reward for her bravery was that she, and not the lady hidden behind the other door, would be permitted to wed the prisoner, go off with him, and live happily ever after.
The teacher, whose job it had been to judge the endings and grade them, had given Jaywalker a failing mark, citing not only his sarcasm, but his refusal to ultimately answer the question. Still, judging from the spontaneous outburst of applause as he returned to his seat, Jaywalker knew he'd won something more important: the approval of his classmates. And in that split second, a trial lawyer had been born, a trial lawyer willing to break rules, flout convention and defy judges, all so that he could convince those whose votes really mattered. P eers, they were called. As in a jury of one's peers.
And just as he'd managed to figure things out back then, it suddenly dawned on Jaywalker that history was about to repeat itself. His question had presented Amanda with a choice, what sounded like an either-or proposition. But it was a false choice. And just as the young Jaywalker had refused to commit to one door or the other, so too was Amanda going to refuse.
She wasn't going to choose.
She wasn't going to save her husband, but she wasn't going to sacrifice herself, either. She didn't have to.
He asked her again.
JAYWALKER: Who was driving the Audi?
AMANDA: On the advice of counsel, I refuse to answer on the ground that doing so might in-in-in MERMELSTEIN: Incriminate.
AMANDA: Might incriminate me.
FIRESTONE: Objection! Objection! She can't do that!
THE COURT: Jurors, I hate to do this, but I'm afraid I'm going to have to confer with the lawyers. It seems we have some business to attend to.
Once the jury had been led out, Justice Hinkley cleared the rest of the courtroom, as well. A lot of reporters grumbled, but the judge was in no mood to argue. 'Sue me,' she told them.
As soon as the last of them had left, the judge announced that, having been warned earlier, Abe Firestone was now being held in contempt for his outburst, and would be spending the night in jail. 'Now,' she said to him. 'Suppose you tell me why the witness cannot invoke her Fifth Amendment privilege.'
'Because she started answering questions, and then stopped when she didn't like the question.' The voice wasn't Firestone's, but David Kaminsky's. 'She can't pick and choose.'
Instead of asking Jaywalker to respond to that, the judge turned to Amanda's new lawyer. For once, Jaywalker was to be nothing but a bystander, albeit a very interested one.
'She's not picking and choosing,' said Judah Mermelstein. 'You asked me to confer with her, and I did. I determined that she's in real jeopardy of incriminating herself, however she testifies. You asked me to advise her, and I did. I advised her to refuse to answer all questions that go in any way, directly or indirectly, to the issue of who was driving.'
'This is a fraud!' shouted Firestone. 'A fraud!'
'You've got one day already,' the judge reminded him. 'Want to try for two?'
Apparently not.
'Mr. Mermelstein,' said the judge. 'May I assume that if your client is asked additional questions along this line, she will continue to invoke her privilege and refuse to answer them?'
'You may.'
'Upon that representation, the court is satisfied that it would be useless, and therefore improper, to have the witness asked any more questions on the subject and be forced to invoke her privilege. Now, Mr. Firestone, as district attorney, you have a remedy. You can grant the witness immunity from prosecution. If you do that, I'll compel her to answer, since her answers will no longer incriminate her, except for perjury if she lies.'
'Immunize her?' Firestone shouted. 'If she was driving, I'm going to prosecute her for murder. Why would I want to immunize her?'
'Very well,' said the judge. 'It's your call.'
'If Your Honor please?'
'Yes, Mr. Kaminsky?'
'The witness has already testified on direct examination. If no further questions may be put to her, the effect will be that the People will be denied the right to crossexamine her. That's unfair.'
'So it is,' the judge agreed. 'Therefore, you have a choice. You can ask me to strike her direct testimony altogether and tell the jury to disregard it. Or you can let it stand as is. Or, if you're very careful about it, you can cross-examine her on other areas.'
Firestone, Kaminsky and Napolitano went off to the corner of the room to confer. When they broke their huddle and returned, Kaminsky spoke for them. 'We'd like to cross-examine her,' he said. 'And we intend to ask her about her relationship with Mr. Jaywalker.'
'Her relationship?'
'Yes. We want to try to show that there's been collusion between the two of them.'
'I'll let you ask relevant questions,' said the judge. 'If I feel you're crossing the line, I'll rule accordingly. Now, Mr. Jaywalker, are you through with Mrs. Drake?'
'In exactly what sense do you mean?'
'I mean do you have any further direct examination of her.'
'No.'
'Good. Your wisecrack is contemptuous, and you'll be joining Mr. Firestone in jail tonight. Mr. Clerk, bring the jury back in.'
'And the spectators?'
'Them, too.'
While David Kaminsky might have had a better handle on how to cross-examine Amanda Drake within the boundaries Justice Hinkley had set, Abe Firestone's ego was again too big to assign the task. He began innocently enough, asking her to describe her husband's condition when she'd first seen him emerge from the End Zone. She stated, as she had on direct, that he'd appeared drunk.
FIRESTONE: Too drunk to drive?
AMANDA: Certainly too drunk to drive safely.
FIRESTONE: No doubt about that in your mind?
AMANDA: No doubt about that.
FIRESTONE: And yet he insisted he was fine. Right?
AMANDA: I don't know if he used the word f ine. But he insisted he could drive.
FIRESTONE: And you disagreed.
AMANDA: That's right.
FIRESTONE: And you then fought over the keys.
AMANDA: Yes.
FIRESTONE: Who won?
MERMELSTEIN: Objection.
THE COURT: Sustained.
FIRESTONE: Tell me, Mrs. Drake. Do you love your husband?
AMANDA: I would say we have a love-hate relation ship.
FIRESTONE: So you do love him?
AMANDA: In part, I do.
FIRESTONE: Would you help him out if he was in trou ble?
AMANDA: If I could. I helped him out by driving up to Nyack.
FIRESTONE: Would you lie to help him out?
It was a question prosecutors couldn't resist, Jaywalker knew. So it was a question he'd made sure to
