between Moreno and Quintana on the one side and Dominic Petrone on the other. More and more Petrone has felt his operations being challenged by the Mexican drug ring, and it had apparently become financially intolerable, as well as personally and professionally embarrassing.
Local and federal authorities alike were expecting a war to break out, though the expectation was that it would not be full-scale, but rather a couple of messages sent in the form of killings. No one believed that Petrone would start it by taking out Moreno.
Pete considers it a brilliant stroke by Petrone. Moreno was the absolute brains of his operation, and though Quintana will no doubt respond with violence, Pete doesn’t consider him smart enough to prevail in a war.
Laurie disagrees. In Moreno she believes that Petrone had an adversary smart enough to make a deal when one was called for, a deal that could leave both sides alive and in profit. No deal is possible with Quintana, she feels, and on that Pete agrees.
What hasn’t yet been mentioned is the effect this will have on me. My deal with Moreno to get Quintana to keep away from me is no longer operative. “Anybody want to take a stab at where that leaves my general life expectancy?” I ask.
“I certainly wouldn’t make any long-term plans,” Pete says.
Laurie tries some optimism. “I think Quintana will have his sights set on Petrone and his people. And that should certainly be enough to keep his hands full.”
“But I represent an easier target. He could take me out for practice.”
“I’ve got a black-and-white outside with two patrolmen,” Pete says. “They’ll keep an eye out tonight, but I think that tomorrow you should get Marcus back watching your ass.”
I look out the window, and sure enough, Pete has called for a patrol car to protect me. It’s a sign that he’s worried for my safety, or maybe he’s worried that he’ll have to find new financing for next year’s birthday bash.
The timing of this is particularly terrible. Quintana was pissed off that I brought his name into the Kenny Schilling furor, and my entire strategy in the trial that starts tomorrow is to bring Quintana’s name into the Kenny Schilling furor. Since rational is not one of the many adjectives I’ve heard used to describe Quintana, it could provoke a deadly reaction. Or if he
“Maybe I’m just being selfish,” I say, “not thinking about my client.”
“How’s that?” asks Kevin.
“Look at the irony here. We’re trying to convince the jury that Quintana is a killer. If he kills me, or even tries to, it makes our case.” It’s a poor attempt at lightening the mood, yet it actually contains a grain of truth.
“I’d better call Marcus,” Laurie says, and I don’t try to stop her.
The meeting finally breaks up, and though this is Tuesday, not one of the nights that Laurie and I stay together, she says that she’d like to. I can’t tell whether she wants to be with me or wants to watch out for me in Marcus’s absence. I don’t dwell on it for more than a few seconds. Laurie wants to sleep with me, and whatever the reason, passion or protection, it’s more than fine with me.
* * * * *
DYLAN HAS A surprise waiting for me when Judge Harrison asks if the lawyers have anything to bring up before he calls the jury in. He introduces a motion asking that the defense be prohibited from bringing irrelevant matters, like the drug underworld, into the case.
“If there is evidence that these people killed Troy Preston,” says Dylan, “then by all means it should come in. However, mere evidence that they simply knew Troy Preston has no place in this trial.”
Harrison turns to me. “Mr. Carpenter?”
“Your Honor, the motion is without merit, and would be so even if it weren’t totally untimely. The prosecution has known for weeks of our intention in this area, yet they chose to wait until opening statements to contest it.”
Dylan responds, “Your Honor, we would submit that the murder last night of Mr. Paul Moreno, which was widely reported this morning, makes this motion more pressing. The potential exists that it can turn this trial into a media circus, without having any real relevance.”
“How about if you rely on me not to turn this trial into a circus?” Harrison responds dryly.
Dylan immediately goes into damage control mode. “I’m sorry, Your Honor, but I was referring to the atmosphere outside of court. I worry about the influence on the jurors.”
Harrison turns to me. “Your Honor,” I say, “the prosecution position is ludicrous on its face. As I understand it, they have asked the court that we not be allowed to present evidence showing that the victim associated with murderers. They choose to make that request the very morning after those same people are involved in another murder. Speaking for myself, the mind boggles.”
Harrison rules promptly, as is his style. He refuses to prohibit our pointing toward Preston’s associates in our defense, though he will not let us go too far afield. Dylan is annoyed; he believed he had a chance to undercut our defense before we even began. Now he has to collect his thoughts and give his opening statement.
He begins by thanking the jurors for their service, praising their sacrifice and sense of duty. He doesn’t mention their future TV appearances and book deals, just as I won’t when it’s my turn. It’s the unfortunate duty of us lawyers to kiss twelve asses and six alternate asses during every trial.
“There is a lot of attention being paid to this case,” Dylan says. “You have only to try and park near the courthouse to know that.” He smiles, and the jurors smile with him.
“But at its heart it’s a very simple case. A man was murdered, and very conclusive evidence, evidence that you will hear in detail, pointed toward this man, Kenny Schilling, as the murderer. The police went to talk to him about it, and he pulled out a gun and prevented them from entering his house. And why did he do this? Because the victim’s body was in his bedroom, stuffed in his closet.”
Dylan shakes his head, as if amazed by what he is saying. “No, this is not a complicated case, and it is certainly not a whodunit. Troy Preston, a young man, an athlete in the prime of life, was shot through the back of the head. And this man”-he points to Kenny-“Kenny Schilling, supposedly his friend, he’s the one who ‘dunit.’
“Mr. Carpenter will not be able to refute the facts of the case, no matter how hard he tries. He will realize this-he does already-and he’ll try to create diversions. He’ll tell you that the victim, who is not here to defend himself, associated with bad people, people capable of committing murder. Some of it will be true, and some not, but I’ll tell you this: None of it will matter. Even if Troy Preston hung out on a street corner every night with Osama bin Laden and Saddam Hussein, it still would not matter. Because those people, bad as they are, did not commit this particular murder, and that’s all you’re being asked to care about. And soon it will be very clear to you that Kenny Schilling committed this murder, and that’s the reason he’s the man on trial.”
Dylan goes on to detail some of the evidence in his arsenal, knowing full well he can back it all up with witnesses and lab reports. By the time he’s finished, he’s done a very good job, and it doesn’t take a mind reader to know that the jury was hanging on his every word. The entire world believes Kenny Schilling is guilty, and as members of this world, that’s the predisposition the jurors brought here with them. Dylan’s words only served to reinforce their belief, so they considered him totally credible.
Kenny looks depressed, and I lean over and whisper a reminder that he is supposed to look interested and thoughtful, but not to betray any emotional reaction at all. It’s easier said than done; the words he’s just heard from Dylan would be enough to depress anyone.
I stand up to give our opening statement with a modest goal. Right now the jury is thinking that the prosecution has all the cards, and though that may be true, I’ve at least got to show that this is not a mismatch, that we are a force to be reckoned with.
“I’m a curious guy” is how I begin. “When something happens, I like to know why. I want things to make sense, and I feel comfortable when they do.
“When the thing that happens is a crime, then the ‘why’ is called motive. It’s something the police look for in trying to figure out who is the guilty party. If there is a reason or a motive for a person to have done it, then that person becomes a suspect.”
I point toward Dylan. “Mr. Campbell didn’t mention motive; he didn’t point to a single reason why Kenny Schilling might have killed Troy Preston. Now, legally, he doesn’t have to prove what the motive was, but wouldn’t it
