said that me and the other girls should take a lesson from her, that
that's what happened to girls who didn't have someone watching out for
them.'
'Did he ever tell you directly that he or his brother was involved in
the attack on Kendra?' I asked.
'No, just that we should take a lesson from it.'
'Did you say anything in response to that?' I asked. I could tell she
was considering clamming up again, but then she gave up.
'Yeah. I was pretty messed up at the time and mouthed off to him. I
told him he'd better be careful because Kendra had a picture of him.'
'Are you referring to the photograph that we just discussed?'
'Yeah. I saw the pictures after Kendra got them developed. Derrick
freaked when I told him and started shaking me to find out what I was
talking about. I told him I was just fucking with him, that the
picture didn't show his face or anything. But then he made me tell him
where Kendra's mom lived at so he could try to get the picture back.'
I paused to tell the grand jurors about the key missing from Kendra's
purse and Andrea Martin's suspicion that some items were out of place
in the Martin home. I also showed them reports documenting the
break-in at my house, explaining that the photographs had been in Tommy
Garcia's possession until a few days ago.
'After you gave him Kendra Martin's address, did you ever talk to
Derrick Derringer again about the photograph?'
'Yeah. He told me I better get that picture back from Kendra. I've
been calling Kendra trying to do it, but Kendra will only talk on the
phone with me. She won't meet me anywhere, so I've been trying to
avoid Derrick.' I mentally apologized to Kendra for doubting her.
'Haley, I want to show you another photograph now.' I handed her the
DMV photo I had pulled of Travis Culver and reminded the grand jurors
that Culver was the owner of the Collision Clinic who had testified at
Frank Derringer's trial. 'Do you recognize this man?'
'Sure, that's Travis,' she replied.
'Do you know his last name?'
'Not before you told me. Street don't really care about last names,'
she said.
'How do you know Travis?' I asked.
'Regular out there on the street. Dates. You know.'
'You mean he picks up prostitutes?'
'Yeah. The younger the better, it seems. I used to see him a lot more
about a year and a half ago. Guess I got too old for him and he moved
on.'
'Have you seen him at all since Kendra Martin was attacked?' I
asked.
'Nope,' she said. 'Seems like he stopped coming around about that
time.'
The grand jurors didn't have any questions, so I thanked Haley for her
testimony and excused her.
Next up was Travis Culver. I'd slapped the subpoena on him the day
before and received a call from an attorney within the hour. Lucky for
me, Culver had called the attorney he uses for the auto shop, a guy
named Henry Lee Babbitt who hung a shingle outside of his house and
called it a law office.
Since Henry Lee's usual fare was wills and uncontested divorces, he was
useless as a criminal defense lawyer. To begin with, I had to walk him
through the way grand jury subpoenas work. Culver'd be subject to
arrest if he failed to appear. Although he had the right to refuse to
respond to questions if he believed that the answers might incriminate
him, he had to show up, and he did not have the right to an attorney
during the grand jury proceedings. At most, Henry Lee could wait in
the hall outside the hearing room; Culver could ask for breaks if he
wanted to consult with his attorney at any time. You can see why the
defense bar says that grand jury proceedings are a prosecutor's best
weapon.
Henry Lee's request for an immunity deal was further proof of his
abject ignorance of criminal procedure. A good defense lawyer will
find out what the prosecution knows before even considering the
possibility of a deal. To do otherwise tips your hand. Henry Lee had
tipped his for good. I had told him only that I wanted to talk to
Culver about his testimony in the Derringer trial. In return, Henry
Lee had given up his client in the form of a hypothetical.
'Let's say hypothetically that I had a client who got wrapped up by
some bad guys into an ugly sexual incident, thinking the whole thing
was consensual?' he said. 'And then what if, hypothetically, when it
