“Thanks. I’ll need it. You be ready for the next call.”
I closed the phone and was about to get up when I saw LAPD Detective Howard Kurlen cutting through the tables toward me. The man who put Jesus Menendez in prison didn’t look like he was stopping in for a peanut butter and sardine sandwich. He was carrying a folded document. He got to my table and dropped it in front of my coffee cup.
“What is this shit?” he demanded.
I started unfolding the document, even though I knew what it was.
“Looks like a subpoena, Detective. I would’ve thought you’d know what it is.”
“You know what I mean, Haller. What’s the game? I’ve got nothing to do with that case up there and I don’t want to be a part of your bullshit.”
“It’s no game and it’s no bullshit. You’ve been subpoenaed as a rebuttal witness.”
“To rebut what? I told you and you already know, I didn’t have a goddamn thing to do with that case. It’s Marty Booker’s and I just talked to him and he said it’s gotta be a mistake.”
I nodded like I wanted to be accommodating.
“I’ll tell you what, go on up to the courtroom and take a seat. If it’s a mistake I’ll get it straightened out as soon as I can. I doubt you’ll be here another hour. I’ll get you out of there and back chasing the bad guys.”
“How about this? I leave now and you straighten it out whenever the fuck you want.”
“I can’t do that, Detective. That is a valid and lawful subpoena and you must appear in that courtroom unless otherwise discharged. I told you, I will do that as soon as I can. The state’s got one witness and then it’s my turn and I’ll take care of it.”
“This is such bullshit.”
He turned from me and stalked back through the cafeteria toward the doorway. Luckily, he had left the subpoena with me, because it was phony. I had never registered it with the court clerk and the scribbled signature at the bottom was mine.
Bullshit or not, I didn’t think Kurlen was leaving the courthouse. He was a man who understood duty and the law. He lived by it. It was what I was counting on. He would be in the courtroom until discharged. Or until he understood why I had called him there.
THIRTY-NINE
At 9:30 the judge put the jury in the box and immediately proceeded with the day’s business. I glanced back at the gallery and caught sight of Kurlen in the back row. He had a pensive, if not angry, cast to his face. He was close to the door and I didn’t know how long he would last. I was figuring I would need that whole hour I had told him about.
I glanced further around the room and saw that Lankford and Sobel were sitting on a bench next to the bailiff’s desk that was designated for law enforcement personnel. Their faces revealed nothing but they still put the pause in me. I wondered if I would even get the hour I needed.
“Mr. Minton,” the judge intoned, “does the state have any rebuttal?”
I turned back to the court. Minton stood up, adjusted his jacket and then seemed to hesitate and brace himself before responding.
“Yes, Your Honor, the state calls Dwayne Jeffery Corliss as a rebuttal witness.”
I stood up and noticed to my right that Meehan, the bailiff, had stood up as well. He was going to go into the courtroom lockup to retrieve Corliss.
“Your Honor?” I said. “Who is Dwayne Jeffery Corliss and why wasn’t I told about him before now?”
“Deputy Meehan, hold on a minute,” Fullbright said.
Meehan stood frozen with the key to the lockup door poised in his hand. The judge then apologized to the jury but told them they had to go back into the deliberation room until recalled. After they filed through the door behind the box, the judge turned her focus onto Minton.
“Mr. Minton, do you want to tell us about your witness?”
“Dwayne Corliss is a cooperating witness who spoke with Mr. Roulet when he was in custody following his arrest.”
“Bullshit!” Roulet barked. “I didn’t talk to -”
“Be quiet, Mr. Roulet,” the judge boomed. “Mr. Haller, instruct your client on the danger of outbursts in my courtroom.”
“Thank you, Your Honor.”
I was still standing. I leaned down to whisper in Roulet’s ear.
“That was perfect,” I said. “Now be cool and I’ll take it from here.”
He nodded and leaned back. He angrily folded his arms across his chest. I straightened up.
“I’m sorry, Your Honor, but I do share my client’s outrage over this last-ditch effort by the state. This is the first we have heard of Mr. Corliss. I would like to know when he came forward with this supposed conversation.”
Minton had remained standing. I thought it was the first time in the trial that we had stood side by side and argued to the judge.
“Mr. Corliss first contacted the office through a prosecutor who handled the first appearance of the defendant,” Minton said. “However, that information was not passed on to me until yesterday when in a staff meeting I was asked why I had never acted on the information.”
This was a lie but not one I wanted to expose. To do so would reveal Maggie McPherson’s slip on St. Patrick’s Day and it might also derail my plan. I had to be careful. I needed to argue vigorously against Corliss taking the stand but I also needed to lose the argument.
I put my best look of outrage on my face.
“This is incredible, Your Honor. Just because the DA’s office has a communication problem, my client has to suffer the consequences of not being informed that the state had a witness against him? This man should clearly not be allowed to testify. It’s too late to bring him in now.”
“Your Honor,” Minton said, jumping in quickly. “I have had no time to interview or depose Mr. Corliss myself. Because I was preparing my closing I simply made arrangements for him to be brought here today. His testimony is key to the state’s case because it serves as rebuttal to Mr. Roulet’s self-serving statements. To not allow his testimony is a serious disservice to the state.”
I shook my head and smiled in frustration. With his last line Minton was threatening the judge with the loss of the DA’s backing should she ever face an election with an opposing candidate.
“Mr. Haller?” the judge asked. “Anything before I rule?”
“I just want my objection on the record.”
“So noted. If I were to give you time to investigate and interview Mr. Corliss, how much would you need?”
“A week.”
Now Minton put on the fake smile and shook his head.
“That’s ridiculous, Your Honor.”
“Do you want to go back and talk to him?” the judge asked me. “I’ll allow it.”
“No, Your Honor. As far as I’m concerned all jailhouse snitches are liars. It would do me no good to interview him because anything that comes out of his mouth would be a lie. Anything. Besides, it’s not what he has to say. It’s what others have to say about him. That’s what I would need time for.”
“Then I am going to rule that he can testify.”
“Your Honor,” I said. “If you are going to allow him into this courtroom, could I ask one indulgence for the defense?”
“What is that, Mr. Haller?”
“I would like to step into the hallway and make a quick phone call to an investigator. It will take me less than a minute.”
