Pete Taylor was just as problematic for me as Reid,
even though he, too, had agreed to my hearing this
case. Pete’s the current president of the District Bar
Association and he was one of my early supporters when
I first decided to run for the bench. And yes, there are
times when practicing law in this district can feel almost
incestuous. But if every judge recused himself because
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MARGARET MARON
of personal connections, our dockets would never be
cleared.
“Is Mr. Harris ill or physically unable to come to
court?” I asked Reid as I looked around the almost
empty courtroom.
“Not to my knowledge, Your Honor, but I haven’t
been able to reach him this week.”
Pete Taylor straightened his bright red bow tie, one
of dozens that he owns, and got to his feet. “Your
Honor, this matter has dragged on three months lon-
ger than necessary because Mr. Harris can’t seem to re-
member court dates. Today’s hearing is to establish his
financial worth and this is the third time that Mr. Lee
has been called to testify as to the validity and accuracy
of Mr. Harris’s bank records. Unless my worthy oppo-
nent plans to challenge Mr. Lee’s veracity, I submit that
there is no substantive reason not to begin without Mr.
Harris’s presence and hope he will arrive before we get
to disputed matters.”
“I agree,” I said. “Call your witness, Mr. Taylor.”
Before he could do so, Mrs. Harris tugged at his
sleeve and when he bent to hear what she wanted to
ask, it was clear from her body language that she was
upset about something and that Pete’s answer did not
please her. She immediately let go his sleeve and spoke
to me directly.
“Your Honor?”
“Yes, Mrs. Harris?”
“Can’t this be more private?”
“More private?”
“Mr. Lee’s going to be talking about personal stuff,
about how much money we have and how much land
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we own, and I don’t see why it has to be said in front of
a lot of people.”
A lot of people?
At this point, except for the participants in the case,
there were only five others in the courtroom, a man and
four women. I recognized two of the women, elderly
