the other hand, a masterful performance could send her straight to the federal appeals court, a short step away from the Supreme Court. She sat forward in her chair.
'Yes-I do want to go there.'
'But, Judge-'
'I've made my decision, Mr. Fenney.'
She shuffled papers on her desk.
'Motion to suppress the fingerprint evidence is denied. Motion to suppress the toxicology report, denied. Motion to suppress all evidence found at the house due to lack of a search warrant, denied. Motion to limit the crime scene photos shown to the jury, denied.'
'Scott,' the D.A. said, 'I won't go overboard with those. But the jury has a right to see the victim I'm representing and the crime they're sitting in judgment of.'
'Any other motions?' the judge said.
'Yes, Your Honor,' Karen said. 'Motion to exclude the expert testimony of Dr. Holbrooke, the prosecution's psychiatrist. Our client is charged with murder, not manslaughter, which requires that she 'intentionally or knowingly' caused Trey Rawlins' death. If the doctor is going to testify that she didn't know what she was doing because of the cocaine and alcohol, then he's testifying that she had no intent.'
'Then you should want him to testify.'
'Your Honor,' the Assistant D.A. said, 'the doctor is not going to testify that she didn't know what she was doing, but that the cocaine may be why she can't remember doing it.'
'Your Honor,' Scott said, 'this is junk science. You can't allow that testimony in.'
'I can and I am. The Rules of Evidence say admission of expert testimony is at the sole discretion of the trial judge. You want to appeal my ruling, you've got to prove I abused my discretion. Which means unless I'm screwing the expert, you've got no chance on appeal.'
'I don't care if you're screwing the expert, Judge, just that you're screwing my client.'
She didn't appreciate that comment.
'Jury selection on Friday, nine A.M. We're done.'
'A TV trial,' Scott said to the D.A. on their way out of the courtroom, 'that's going to be a circus.'
'And we're gonna be the clowns.' The D.A. chuckled then turned to Karen, 'You know, Professor, Rex Herrin has a nice ring to it.'
'Rex Herrin? That does sound nice. I like that. Tell you what-I'll name my son Rex if you'll drop Holbrooke from your witness list.'
The D.A. smiled. 'You sure I can't convince you to move to the Island?'
He then motioned Scott away from the others and over to the wall of windows. He lowered his voice.
'Prints you gave me last week-I got the results back.'
'And?'
'Not in the system, but they match the prints on the headboard.'
'You're kidding?'
'Nope. Whose are they?'
'I can't tell you, Rex, not yet. But they don't belong to the killer. At least I don't think so.'
The D.A. shrugged. 'It's your wife on trial.'
'Rex, I need a favor from Hank.'
'Sure. Tell him what you want.'
Scott's cell phone rang. He answered. It was Helen from Judge Buford's office.
'Hi, Helen, what's up?'
'Scott… the judge died.'
THIRTY-EIGHT
'Justice is served one person at a time.'
The church pews in front of Scott were crowded with hundreds of state and federal judges from across the country. They had shown up en masse just as the police do when one of their own dies in the line of duty. Judge Sam Buford had died on the bench. His body lay in the casket in front of the podium where Scott now stood. Scott knew this day was coming, but he still was not prepared for it. He now struggled to read his notes through his tears.
'Sam Buford was a husband, a father, a grandfather, a brother, a friend, a lawyer, a judge… and my hero. I was fortunate to know him, and I hope you knew him, too. Sam Buford was a man worth knowing.
'Judge Buford taught me the most important lesson a lawyer can learn, the lesson a lawyer must learn to be a good lawyer: justice is not something you read about in law books. It's something you live. It is a lawyer's role in life. It was Sam Buford's life. He served justice one person at a time, every day of his life.'
Scott gestured at the casket.
'There lies a great man. Not a rich man or a famous man, but a man who cared. A man who made our lives better. Fairer. The world knew Sam Buford was here.'
At the reception, Scott met Judge Buford's two children and five grandchildren. He shook hands with lawyers he hadn't seen in years. And he ran into Dan Ford.
'Jesus, Scotty, what the hell were you thinking? Representing Rebecca for murdering Trey?'
'She's innocent.'
'She's broke. You're working for free again.' Dan shook his head. 'Another lost cause, Scotty?'
Probably.
'Hard to believe,' Dan said. 'Two years ago, she was living in a Highland Park mansion… two weeks from now, she could be living in the women's prison. Leaving you didn't work out so well for her. She really use cocaine?'
Scott nodded.
'You're lucky she left you.'
Dan gave him a fatherly pat on the shoulder, as if consoling a son who had lost a ball game.
'Heard Buford put you up as his replacement?'
Scott nodded again.
'One million versus one hundred sixty-nine thousand. Seems like a no-brainer for a lawyer.'
'Not this lawyer.'
'Think of your girls, Scotty, what's best for them.'
'Always.'
Dan looked around. 'Nice crowd. Last funeral I attended was Mack's, a year ago. I was his executor, took the statutory three percent fee-twenty-four million. Boy, that was a nice windfall for the firm.'
'Even prostate cancer has a silver lining, huh, Dan?'
'I worked for Mack for forty years. With Clark dead, his entire estate went to Jean. She was only married to him for eleven years-why should she get it all? Hell, she still took home over seven hundred million. That's not a bad take for eleven years. I hear the trial's going to be televised.'
'The judge wants to move up in the world.'
'Well, he-'
'She.'
'A female judge? Shit, that's bad luck. Well, she'd better be careful. Having everything you say in court broadcast on cable for the entire country to hear, that can come back and bite you in the butt.'
'Fortunately, I have a nice butt.'
Judge Morgan had walked up behind them. When Dan turned and took her in, his eyes lit up as if she were a billionaire looking for a lawyer.
'Dan,' Scott said, 'this is Judge Shelby Morgan. Judge, this is Dan Ford, senior partner at Ford Stevens.'
'Ford Fenney,' Dan said, 'if Scott will succumb to my charms… and money.'
