“That’s correct. I’ve set out all of the exceptions to the rule of evidence that prohibits the state from introducing evidence of crimes not charged in an indictment in a trial of the charged crime,” Robin said. “The evidence about the fight doesn’t fit into any of the exceptions.”
“What about the hand wraps?” the judge asked.
“Mrs. Cole doesn’t need to talk about the fight to get the evidence in or to use it against Mr. Lattimore. The hand wraps were found in a garbage can on the Carasco property. She can have someone explain that Mr. Lattimore boxes professionally and that professional fighters use hand wraps to protect their knuckles. Someone from the crime lab can tell the jury that my client’s blood and Mrs. Carasco’s blood were on the hand wraps. It’s not relevant to this case that Mr. Ortega’s blood was also on the wraps.”
Vanessa started to respond, but the judge held up his hand.
“Mrs. Cole, I’m not convinced that you should be allowed to introduce evidence of the fight in Mr. Lattimore’s murder trial. I’m going to bar the evidence at this time, but I’ll let you raise the issue again if you can show a stronger connection between the two incidents.”
The judge looked at his watch. “It’s almost time to recess. Do you have anything more we need to discuss?”
“No, Your Honor,” both women said.
“Then court is adjourned.”
Robin talked to Joe about the judge’s rulings. When they were through, the guards escorted Joe from the courtroom. As soon as Robin was free, Vanessa walked over to her.
“Has Mr. Lattimore given any thought to my plea offer?” she asked.
“I have serious doubts about Joe’s guilt, Vanessa. He swears he didn’t murder Mrs. Carasco.”
“I know you’re not a bleeding heart, but you should consider the possibility that Mr. Lattimore is an exceptionally good liar. Our evidence of guilt is overwhelming. Think about the impact evidence that he killed Carlos Ortega will have after he’s convicted and the jury has to decide if he lives or dies. In the sentencing phase, the jurors have to decide if Mr. Lattimore will be dangerous in the future. Evidence that he beat a man to death would be relevant to that decision. There is no way you can keep the evidence away from the jury in a sentencing phase.”
“I hear you, Vanessa, but I can’t advise an innocent man to plead guilty to something he didn’t do.”
Vanessa sighed. “I respect that, and I’ll keep the offer open a little longer. But it will disappear a week before trial.”
The courtroom had been packed because of the notoriety the case had received, and Robin had not noticed Brent Macklin, who had been sitting in the rear of the spectators’ section. She was organizing her files before heading back to her office when Macklin came up to the bar of the court.
“Ms. Lockwood?”
Robin turned around.
“Do you have a few moments to talk?”
“Sorry, I don’t. I have a meeting at my office.”
“This won’t take long.”
“I don’t discuss my cases with reporters.”
“And I don’t want to talk about Mr. Lattimore. I write articles about mixed martial arts and boxing. I wrote a few about you when you were competing.”
“That’s nice, but my pro career has been over for a while, and right now, I’m too busy to reminisce.”
“I’m not making myself clear. I’m gathering material for an article about illegal, no-holds-barred fights, and I saw your client’s YouTube video. I’d like to talk to him, off the record, for background; how he got involved, who’s running these fights, who participates, stuff like that. I won’t ask any questions about this case.”
“Look, Mr.…”
“Macklin, Brent Macklin,” he said as he handed Robin his card. “You can be present while we talk.”
“I am the only person my client is going to talk to until his case is over. I wish you luck with your project, but Joe is off-limits.”
“Are you willing to tell me what you’ve found out, when you have the time?”
“I’m way too busy. You should try the police or prosecutors. They’re investigating the fight. Maybe they can help you. And now, if you’ll excuse me, I’ve got to run.”
Robin had scheduled a war council in her office for five thirty. She had just finished telling Amanda Jaffe and Jeff Hodges the result of the pretrial hearing when Loretta Washington walked in. Loretta tried not to show it, but she was very excited about working on her first murder case, which was also a death penalty case.
“We have a job for you,” Robin told her associate. “In most cases, potential jurors are sent to the courtroom where the trial is going to be held on the day of the trial. Then the prosecution and the defense question them in the presence of the other jurors to see who they want to put on and keep off the jury.
“Jury selection in capital cases is different. I’ve made a motion for individual, sequestered voir dire. If it’s granted, the DA and I will question each potential juror out of the presence of the other jurors. That way, we avoid the risk of one juror’s answer poisoning the entire pool.
“Another difference between a regular criminal trial and a death case is that the potential jurors in a capital case are summoned to a courtroom several days before jury selection and are given a questionnaire. After each juror fills out the questionnaire, the judge gives it to us and the prosecutors before we pick a jury. The questionnaire asks the jurors questions about their education, military and work history, the magazines they read, their views of the death penalty, and a lot of other subjects.”
Robin handed Loretta a stack of papers. “These are questionnaires Amanda and I have used in other cases and a memo listing the key issues we want the jurors’ views on. For
