Guilty As Sin

sale. And even if you didn’t count it, the backup team witnesses would soon enough testify to Barnett’s possession of the eighth of a kilo, a crime every bit as serious as its sale, and one that carried the identical punishment.

So no matter how you chose to look at things, Alonzo Barnett had done precisely what the indictment accused him of. And what the indictment accused him of was repeatedly selling fairly substantial amounts of heroin. Not only was that serious stuff, it was bad stuff. But as Jaywalker rose now to begin his cross-examination, he couldn’t afford to think about that, or to ask himself how he could possibly represent someone at trial whom he knew was guilty. Jaywalker had a job to do, and he knew only one way to do it. And that was to pretend that the man sitting next to him at the defense table was his own brother or his own son. Did the fact that he happened to be neither mean that he deserved any less than Jaywalker’s best?

9

Tilting at windmills

“So help me out here, Agent St. James. You were brought up here from Philadelphia because the surveillance team was unable to observe Mr. Barnett making any sales. Is that correct?”

The witness shifted slightly in his seat before answering, “Only if you want to put it that way.”

“Well,” said Jaywalker, “you were brought up from Philadelphia, right?”

“Right.”

“And the surveillance team had been watching Mr. Barnett. Or, in your words, conducting intensive ongoing surveillance. Right?”

“Right,” St. James agreed.

“All twelve of them?”

“I’m not sure exactly how many-”

“With binoculars, unmarked cars and secret outposts, no?”

“If you say so.”

“How about if Lieutenant Pascarella says so?”

Miki Shaughnessey’s objection was sustained. Which was just as well, because Jaywalker was ready to move on.

JAYWALKER: Now, this guy “Stump.” You say you don’t remember his name?

ST. JAMES: That’s right.

JAYWALKER: Does the name Clarence Hightower refresh your recollection?

ST. JAMES: That sounds like it might be it. But remember, I only saw him and spoke to him a couple times.

JAYWALKER: Know anything about his six-page criminal record?

SHAUGHNESSEY: Objection.

ST. JAMES: No.

THE COURT: Well, he’s answered the question. He doesn’t know.

JAYWALKER: In fact, you don’t know much of anything about him. True?

ST. JAMES: True.

JAYWALKER: And yet, when Stump told you that Mr. Barnett was “spooked” and didn’t want to meet you, you chose to accept that at face value-

ST. JAMES: Yes.

JAYWALKER: — rather than wondering if perhaps Mr. Barnett simply wasn’t interested in helping anyone buy drugs. Correct?

ST. JAMES: Yes, I believed Stump.

JAYWALKER: This man you knew nothing about, not even his name?

ST. JAMES: I believed him.

Jaywalker moved on to the three transactions themselves. He had no interest in getting the witness to repeat everything he’d said about them on direct. But he did have a point or two he wanted to make. First he wanted to ascertain whether St. James had been the sole undercover operative in the case, or if he’d had a second officer nearby, shadowing his every move. That officer, had there been one, would have been referred to with a highly appropriate designation.

JAYWALKER: Were you working alone in this case, or did you have a “ghost”?

ST. JAMES: I was working alone.

JAYWALKER: No one close by, blending in?

ST. JAMES: No.

JAYWALKER: Either for your safety-

ST. JAMES: No.

JAYWALKER: — or to confirm that everything you’re telling us is true?

ST. JAMES: No.

JAYWALKER: Now, I notice that the third time you wanted to buy heroin, you ordered an eighth of a kilogram.

ST. JAMES: That’s correct.

JAYWALKER: Which is just over four ounces and therefore constitutes A-1 felony weight, for both sale and possession. Right?

SHAUGHNESSEY: Objection.

THE COURT: Overruled. The witness may answer the question, and then we’ll move to another subject.

Meaning, no questions about the severity of the sentences involved, which might affect the jurors’ decision.

ST. JAMES: I don’t know much about A-1 felony weight. I’m a federal agent, and we don’t deal with New York law much. Maybe the NYPD worries about those things. I don’t know.

JAYWALKER: I see. Well, whose idea was it that you order an eighth of a kilo?

ST. JAMES: Lieutenant Pascarella’s.

JAYWALKER: And who does he work for again? ST. JAMES: The NYPD.

JAYWALKER: So you just did what you were told to do?

ST. JAMES: Yes and no.

JAYWALKER: What does that mean?

It was the kind of question that gave the witness a chance to bury you, and hence the kind they told cross- examiners never to ask. Which didn’t stop Jaywalker.

ST. JAMES: I always try to buy as much as I can.

JAYWALKER: Because it makes it worse for the guy who’s selling to you?

ST. JAMES: No.

JAYWALKER: Because it makes you look better?

ST. JAMES: No, not at all.

JAYWALKER: Why, then?

ST. JAMES: Because it gets more narcotics off the streets and out of the hands of kids.

Not bad, thought Jaywalker. But even as he smiled at the witness for scoring a jab, he was ready with a counterpunch.

JAYWALKER: So you say your idea is to buy as much as possible?

ST. JAMES: Yes.

JAYWALKER: At the taxpayers’ expense?

ST. JAMES: [No response]

JAYWALKER: Until the world’s supply is exhausted or we’re all broke? Whichever happens first?

ST. JAMES: When we make seizures of drugs, we often recover a lot of the money we’ve spent. Many times we even come out ahead.

JAYWALKER: I see. How much money was recovered in this case?