“Fascinating. No further questions, Dr. Collier, thank you very much.”
“Any questions for this witness by the defense?” asked the judge.
“Yes, Your Honor. Dr. Collier, how were you able to identify Richard Straub’s fingerprints?
“Easily. When he was younger, he had been arrested a few times for misdemeanors and one felony charge for car theft. We just compared his fingerprints taken after his arrest with his fingerprints taken back then.”
“Isn’t it true that he was just a passenger in the stolen car arrest and served no time for it?”
“Yes, that’s true, but his fingerprints were still taken at the time of arrest since he was an accomplice to the crime.”
“No further questions, Your Honor,” said defense attorney Jaxson, looking exhausted by the turn of events.
“Detective Collier, you may be excused. Do the people have any more witnesses?”
“We do, your honor.” Stanford replied.
“Call your next witness,” said Judge Garnett.
The D.A. took this opportunity to drop her bombshell. “Your Honor, we request a mistrial, having just proven to the court that the man representing himself as the defendant, Rabbi Bloom, is in fact named Richard Straub. Should the Court agree to declare a mistrial of Rabbi Bloom, we will make every effort to continue the trial with Mr. Straub in the defendant’s chair. We wish to revise this trial by changing the defendant’s name to Straub. We also assert that should the court wish to start anew, the testimony of the witnesses we would call have already testified and may be recalled by either side at the new trial of Mr. Straub.”
The Judge seemed extremely annoyed hearing this request and asked Jaxson if he had any objections.
Attorney Jaxson turned to his client and whispered in his ear, “Are you Richard Straub or the Rabbi?”
Straub whispered back into Jaxson’s ear. “Yeah, I am Straub. I’ll explain it all to you at the next break.”
Jaxson gathered his shattered nerves and told the judge that he had no objection to calling a mistrial, since his client just admitted to him that he is in fact Richard Straub.
Thirty-Three
Judge Garnett had no choice but to declare a mistrial, since the wrong person had been named as the defendant. “The defendant, Richard Straub, will be held in custody as we break for a couple of months to permit the D.A. to build her case regarding this defendant. The jury is excused and will be returned to their homes by bus. Remember, you may not discuss this case with anyone, not even with fellow jurors or your spouses. When we are ready to continue with this strange case, we will bring you back to this court.”
Hearing this, Straub hung his head down between his legs and moaned, trying desperately not to throw up as the bailiffs grabbed him by the arms and led him to jail.
Within minutes, Jaxson was not only mystified but infuriated. He asked the judge for permission to see his client in his jail cell.
When Jaxson entered Straub’s jail cell, he shouted, “What the fuck is going on here? Are you the Rabbi or this guy the state has identified as Richard Straub?”
“I am Richard Straub, and I replaced the Rabbi after I got rid of his body.”
“Why on earth would you do that?”
“I went to his home to prove to him that I existed as his twin, which he was not aware of since he wouldn’t take my phone calls.”
“Yes, so what?”
“When I got to his front door, I found him lying dead right next to the open door. He had blood all over and was shot in the forehead. I knew he was rich and thought that maybe I could replace him at the synagogue with no one being the wiser and earn the money he had made. I took his body to the backyard and buried him under leaves, hoping that no one would identify him as the Rabbi if I lit the leaves on fire. I know I’m guilty of a few crimes, including lying in court and worse, yet, to you. I assure you with every fiber in my body that I did not murder the Rabbi. Please continue to represent me now that I’ll be on trial under my own name.”
“I’ll represent you,” Jaxson responded, “but you can never lie to me again because if I catch you doing so, I’m willing to lose my license and tell the court that you are the real murderer.”
Having changed the proper documents regarding the defendant, Richard Straub, D.A. Stanford was ready after a month and a half to return to court. Straub in the meantime had been denied bail, and kept in jail until the next hearing, even after the judge heard loud and angry objections by Straub’s lawyer.
When the trial was once again called to order, defendant Straub sat at the same defense table with the same attorney but with a completely different persona. Proceedings were once again officially announced, and the judge was reintroduced to the same jurors who were sworn in again. The resumption of the trial came too quickly for Albert Jaxson, who knew his case was weak and believed that Straub might commit suicide with the bailiff’s gun if he could wrest it away.
“When the court last recessed,” the judge began, “the prosecution was about to cross examine Richard Straub. Madam D.A., do you still wish to cross examine the defendant?”
“We do, Your Honor,” answered D.A. Stanford. “The people recall Richard
