“Sustained. Detective, do not continue to answer further, unless another question is asked of you,” said the judge while facing the detective in the chair.
“Thank you, Your Honor, I have no further questions for this witness.”
The judge then turned to the district attorney and asked, “Madam D.A., do you wish to redirect?”
“I do, Your Honor,” she replied.
She stood at her table for greater emphasis and asked, “Detective Sommerville, you testified that you have no witnesses who saw the Rabbi kill the body found in his backyard, so why did you arrest him?”
“Because a murdered person was dead at his premises. He may have killed the person inside of his own home so there could be no witnesses. However, we did have witnesses who saw the Rabbi pull a bundle from his back door, lay it on the ground, rake debris over that bundle and set it on fire, as I just testified. A little later we found the partial remains of a man within the burned debris.”
“Isn’t he permitted to get rid of an old carpet if he chose to do so?” she asked facetiously.
“Yes, he is permitted to get rid of an old carpet with his trash, but not to create a fire hazard for the entire community. As I said, we probably wouldn’t arrest him for that. We arrested him because there were the remains of a dead body in the ashes!”
“So, what makes you think it was murder? Perhaps he had a visitor who had a heart attack. Wouldn’t the Rabbi then only be accused of improperly disposing of a dead body, especially if the victim may once have told the Rabbi that he wished to be cremated upon his death?” she asked smugly, knowing how he would answer.
“Well, maybe, I guess, but then there would have been no reason for a bullet hole in the head.” He answered just as she hoped he would.
“No more questions, Your Honor,” she said.
“All right,” said the judge, knowing there were more names on the witness list, but noticing that time was running out for the day, he declared, “We will adjourn today’s session and begin again promptly at 10:00 a.m. sharp tomorrow,” banging his gavel to end the day’s proceedings.
Twenty-Eight
The next morning in court, D.A. Stanford said, “The people call Rabbi Isaac to the stand.”
Hearing this, the defendant looked apoplectic. He was completely surprised to see Rabbi Isaac walk into the courtroom, and some of the jury members noticed the defendant’s agitated expression as he watched Rabbi Isaac approach the witness chair.
“Do you swear to tell the truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?” asked the clerk. Rabbi Isaac so swore, though he was not required to place his hand on a non-Judaic Bible in doing so.
The district attorney began by asking, “Rabbi Isaac, have you ever met a Richard Straub?”
“Yes, I have.”
“Would you please point him out to the jury.”
Rabbi Isaac stared and pointed in the direction of the defendant. “That gentleman looks somewhat like Mr. Straub, only there are some differences.”
“What differences are you referring to?”
“This gentleman doesn’t have hair on top of his head and Mr. Straub did, and he has no goatee which Mr. Straub had. Mr. Straub also looked like a member of a Hell’s Angels-type group. When I first met him, he wasn’t wearing a suit and tie as he is today.”
“Do you think that he would resemble Mr. Straub better had he not shaved the top of his head and removed his goatee?”
“Objection, leading question and lack of foundation,” exclaimed Jaxson. “The D.A. has not provided any evidence that my client has done any of the things she just alleged.”
“Sustained. Rabbi Isaac, you are not to answer that question.”
“Under what circumstances did you meet Mr. Straub?” she continued.
“He called me within the first two months of this past year and asked if I could give him Hebrew lessons.”
“Did he explain to you why a man in his forties wanted Hebrew lessons?”
“Yes,” said Isaac. “He stated that he had been raised in numerous foster homes as a young boy and therefore never had the opportunity to have a bar mitzvah at the normal age of thirteen, as most Jewish boys do. He felt that this was something he should do to officially become a man within our faith. He wanted to be accepted as such now that he’s grown, and that’s why he wanted the lessons.”
“And if you gave him these Hebrew lessons, how were they given and how long did they continue?”
“Eight hours per week in two four-hour sessions, for a little over eight months.”
“Did you find that he learned enough Hebrew to be bar mitzvahed?”
“No, I did not.”
“Why do you say that, Rabbi?”
“Because we hadn’t even gotten to the bar mitzvah portions yet when he stopped his lessons. All I had been able to teach him up to that point was enough Hebrew for him to read from a Torah. He would not be able to pass a bar mitzvah from the lessons he had so far, but he decided to quit, and there was nothing else I could do.”
“No further questions at this time, but the usual stipulation holds for his recall.”
“Understood,” said the judge. “Does the defense have any questions for this witness?”
“Just one at this time. Rabbi Isaac, why did you call the police about this Mr. Straub?” asked Jaxson.
“Because we Rabbis from nearby communities know each other, and when I read about Rabbi Bloom’s arrest and recalled the slight resemblance Mr. Straub had to the Rabbi, I felt an obligation to inform the police.”
“No further questions at this time, however the same stipulation holds for his recall.”
“Does the prosecution intend to redirect the witness?”
“Yes, Your Honor. Rabbi Isaac, would you please explain to the jury whether or not it is necessary to know Hebrew in order to be bar mitzvahed?”
“It is not required to know the Hebrew language to be given
