Ten minutes to revolutionize the case. Get to it.
“As I was saying, in establishing paternity, I ran a number of additional tests on samples obtained from the bones,” Ginger said. “The results were so subtle, I would have missed them if I hadn’t been looking. As I said, I compared the two samples and saw that there was a close blood relationship between Constantin Zhukovsky and the owner of the blood found at the scene of Christina Zhukovsky’s murder.”
Jaime leaned forward, puzzled. They knew this. Stefan was his son.
“I went back to the original evidence sample found at the crime scene and compared it with results from a blood test performed on Stefan Wyatt,” Ginger said, “and discovered I was getting a very few sort of rogue cells, not Stefan Wyatt’s. It was weird. I wasn’t satisfied. I discussed my findings with a colleague who runs a company called BloodTech in San Francisco.”
“And what, if anything, did you do next?”
“Based on that conversation, I ran a special battery of tests, PCR-based assays analyzing polymorphic STR markers to try to detect what those rogue cells were.”
“STR markers?”
“Short tandem repeat systems. It’s a sensitive and rapid way to analyze DNA.”
“And what did you learn by using this very sensitive technology?”
Ginger smiled broadly, revealing an outstanding veneer job. “I found a situation called mixed chimerism. The blood found at the scene of the crime was a mixed chimera sample.”
Nobody appeared enthusiastic at this pronouncement. Yeah, so what? juror Larry Santa Ana’s expression said. Nina had no idea what Ginger was talking about, either. The examination was out of control, but Ginger was an intelligent lady and on their side.
Nina asked Ginger to spell “chimera,” then asked, “So what is this mixed chimerism?”
“It’s named after a mythical monster with a lion’s head, a goat’s body, and a serpent’s tail. It poetically describes a mix that can occur after a bone-marrow transplant.” Good old Ginger, she knew to turn back to the jury and speak earnestly.
“Now, is this the same thing as a blood transfusion?” Nina remembered Paul mentioning that Erin had told him something about one.
“No, although laymen might not realize the distinction when speaking casually about medical issues. A bone-marrow transplant is a widely used treatment for various blood diseases. It has only been available for that purpose since the early seventies. What a marrow transplant is-there’s a donor and a recipient, the sick person. The recipient’s marrow is killed with radiation or chemotherapy, and the donor’s marrow is introduced and begins to grow normal platelets. In the best circumstances, the underlying syndrome is cured.”
Salas kept looking at his watch. Now or never.
“And what does a bone-marrow transplant have to do with this mixed chimerism?”
“The crime scene blood sample was not a perfect match for Stefan Wyatt’s DNA. It showed a few cells that came from someone else. It’s as if the sample was the melding of two people. Apparently, there weren’t enough of these original recipient cells to make the owner of the blood sick again, just enough to show up on this advanced battery.” She folded her hands, looked at the judge and jury, smiled again.
She was a scientist. She thought they understood now, but nobody understood a thing.
“Let’s try to summarize this,” Nina said. “The blood sample from the crime scene showed something unusual on further testing?”
“Yes.”
“Something called a mixed chimera effect?”
“Yes.”
“Showing that the person who left the blood in Christina Zhukovsky’s apartment was not, in fact, our client, Stefan Wyatt.”
“Correct.”
“This person’s blood held Stefan Wyatt’s DNA profile, but showed anomalies that proved to you it belonged to someone else?”
“Right.”
“Did you identify this person?”
“Yes, I believe so.”
“How did you do that?”
“Simple. With permission, I obtained Stefan Wyatt’s medical records and learned that in childhood he had been the donor in a bone-marrow transplant.”
The courtroom was quiet now, getting it.
“And who was the recipient of this bone marrow of Stefan Wyatt, the one whose blood was found in Christina Zhukovsky’s apartment?”
“According to the medical records, that person was his brother, Gabriel Wyatt,” Ginger said, with one final, definitive flick of a finger through her spiked hair.
26
THE JURY MEMBERS LOOKED LIKE THEY WERE STILL TRYING TO TAKE IT in, but everyone seemed to recognize that suspicion had been directed at someone else, and that this was a surprise. The peanut gallery buzzed.
Gabriel Wyatt should still be outside in the hallway waiting; he often came along with his mother. Nina hurried to the counsel table and grabbed her form and a pen. She passed through the attorneys’ gate and headed down the aisle, tossing a question over her shoulder. “Your Honor?” Salas inclined his head and his bailiff moved along behind her, hand on the butt of his weapon.
Nina found Wyatt in the hall, lolling innocently on a bench, a dog-eared paperback in his hand. A glance at her, and another at the bailiff standing sternly behind her, was enough to make him drop his book, spin on his heel, and take off running. Eddie, the bailiff, ran after him, but there was no need for haste. Paul had Wyatt squeezed in a hammerlock before he could reach the stairway.
Skidding to a halt, Nina tucked the paper she had grabbed into Wyatt’s shirt pocket. “Sorry about the short notice,” she said. “You’re under subpoena. Due in court right now.”
“I changed my mind. I don’t feel well and I don’t want to testify.” He worked one arm free and threw the subpoena to the ground and stepped on it, grinding away at it as if pulverizing a cockroach. Paul held tightly to his other arm.
“Stay right there, sir,” Eddie said. He spoke into a phone. Within seconds two more bailiffs roared up, excited by this break in their day, and uncertain what level of threat to anticipate, therefore anticipating the worst. Their guns were drawn. Gabe was breathing hard, and Nina, blocking his way in front, saw resignation forming there. His shoulders slumped. Paul and the bailiffs read his body language immediately; some of the tension dissipated.
“Let go of me,” Gabe said to Paul. “Who is this guy to manhandle me anyway?” At Paul’s nod, Eddie took over. “Now let’s just mosey on back to the courtroom,” Eddie suggested in a polite Southern accent, picking up the discarded subpoena. “You don’t want to keep the judge waitin’, do you? ’Cause let me tell you, he looks sweet, but he ain’t.”
They returned to the courtroom, Nina feeling like a baton twirler leading the parade.
“Ladies and gentlemen, we have to work out some matters out of your hearing,” Salas told the jury. “We will resume as soon as possible.” He gestured with his chin again. One of the additional bailiffs escorted the jury out.
“Mr. Wyatt, come forward and bring that subpoena with you. Now then,” Salas said, “we are on the record.” For a man who hated disruption, he had controlled the situation admirably. Buoyed by the judge’s decisiveness, Nina felt as though he understood that the job was to get the truth out, not follow process to the dead letter. She had been wrong about him. He was the first Mexican- American judge in Monterey County’s long history, and she had thought last time around that he had a chip on his shoulder that might weigh him down forever.
He didn’t. Nina was thinking about sending him roses when the trial was over, whatever the result. A bigger bouquet if they won, of course.
“Am I under arrest?” Gabe said.
“No, sir. I’m keeping you here while we sort some things out. Ms. Reilly? You wish to speak?”
“Thank you. I have no further questions for Dr. Hirabayashi at this time. I wish to call Mr. Wyatt here as my next witness. He is under subpoena. I request that the court caution Mr. Wyatt as to his rights before any testimony is taken.”
“I feel sick. Can’t I go, Judge?” Gabe asked.
Salas ignored the question. “Mr. Sandoval, what is the State’s position as to the defense motion to take testimony out of order?”
“We oppose it. The defense case is in disarray. The jury is confused and that’s not good. The defense called Alex Zhukovsky, and then Mr. Zhukovsky didn’t return after the bomb threat. I agreed to withhold my cross-examination due to the confusion while he was located, and I did not request a continuance. So Dr. Hirabayashi was actually put on out of order. The defense surprised me with a new expert report and I did not object to the taking of testimony regarding that report. That was my mistake, since Dr. Hirabayashi took advantage of my cooperation by making wild accusations during a disorganized direct examination.
“Now it is suggested that instead of my cross-examining Dr. Hirabayashi, she be allowed to step down and we put Mr. Wyatt on the stand. The defense wants us in a state of uproar, and that’s a setup, Your Honor. Next, she’ll ask for a mistrial on grounds that the whole trial is compromised by the confusing way the evidence is being presented.”
“Ms. Reilly?”
“Counsel is right in most respects, Your Honor.” She saw surprise flit over Jaime’s face out of the corner of her eye, but the judge just listened. “I admit that the defense case has not run smoothly thus far, and I apologize to the Court and counsel. But there is no intent to ask for a mistrial. Sometimes the evidence-the evidence runs off with the case, Your Honor. It may mean that we are pursuing the wrong line of inquiry in this trial. In any case, the Court has inherent power to make adjustments in the order of presentation of evidence in the interests of justice. Section 1385 of the Code of Civil Procedure.”
“Mr. Sandoval, if you let her put this witness on, I’ll give you tonight to prepare a cross-examination of Dr. Hirabayashi and order her to stay over,” Salas said. “I’ll also make sure you have a full and fair chance to do the cross on this witness.”
Jaime gave him an incredulous look. “I don’t think it’s appropriate,” he said. “I’m going to be surprised by this witness’s testimony, too.”
“He’s on the witness list we supplied several weeks ago,” Nina interrupted. Judge Salas looked through the court file for this token correctness and found it.
“He is,” he told Jaime.
“Does it say he’s going to testify about the blood evidence?”
“The description is so general he could testify about Mao Tse-tung. You could have filed a pretrial motion objecting to the vagueness of the description.”
Of course Jaime hadn’t done that, because his own witness list, provided to Nina on the last possible day, had also featured vague descriptions.
“I object to putting Mr. Wyatt on out of order,” Jaime said grimly. “I move for a continuance to allow me to prepare a cross-examination of Dr. Hirabayashi.” He had decided to stand on procedure.
