Damage (14 page)

So he’d watched the news and heard sound bites from the haggard, unkempt district attorney Wes Farrell, the outraged mayor Leland Crawford opining that perhaps it was time for a special commission to address the “culture of violence and disregard of due process” within the police department, and—of course—Cliff and Theresa Curtlee bemoaning the injustice of it all and calling for the arrest of Lieutenant Glitsky rather than of their poor boy.

Both Curtlee parents were in the front row in the courtroom, and seeing them so close, Durbin’s bile rose again. “Those smug fuckers,” he whispered to Novio. “I wonder if they actually believe Ro didn’t do any of this or if they just don’t care. I mean, how do you go on supporting your son if you know he’s a killer, a literal killer?”

Novio, enjoying the buzz in the room, straining for a glimpse of them, said, “Maybe the person he killed, she’s so far down the evolutionary or economic scale you don’t think she counts as a human being. Either that, or he had a good reason. Good enough, anyway.”

Durbin shook his head. “Good enough. Right.”

Now, several of the players had begun to appear in the courtroom through the back doorway that led to some holding cells and the judges’ chambers. Two bailiffs led the way, followed by an elderly woman who took the court reporter’s seat in front of the judge’s bench and another younger woman, the court clerk, who sat at a table next to the court reporter.

When he saw the next people come through the door—a man and a woman, both in full police uniform—Durbin leaned over to Novio. “That’s Glitsky, the guy with the hawk nose and the scar. And Vi Lapeer, the new police chief.”

Next came Farrell, his eyes still bloodshot but wearing a well-fitted and expensive-looking dark suit with a white shirt and red power tie.

Just behind him was another woman whom Durbin recognized. “What’s she doing here?” he asked Chuck.

“Who?”

“The one with the legs. Amanda Jenkins.”

“How do you know her?”

“She was the prosecutor in Ro’s trial. I didn’t know she was involved in this.”

“I’m starting to think everybody but the dogcatcher’s involved in this.”

By now, Glitsky and Lapeer had passed through the low railing that separated the gallery area from the courtroom’s bull pen. They took seats in the reserved section of the first row next to a pair of young uniformed police officers—one white and one black—while Farrell and Jenkins got themselves settled at the prosecutor’s table, just in front of them. Even from his relatively distant seat, Durbin fancied he could almost feel the chill between the two prosecutors.

At the defense table, a well-dressed, elderly white-maned man sat. At some perhaps prearranged signal from one of the bailiffs, the man got up and, turning, said something to the Curtlees where they sat in the front row. Finally, nodding, he walked through the courtroom to the back door by the judge’s podium, and on out.

“Showtime,” Novio said.

Durbin swallowed against a rising nervousness. “Getting close.”

Behind them, an energy shift rumbled through the gallery and Durbin turned in time to see the mayor himself, Leland Crawford, come through the back door chatting in a serious vein with Sheila Marrenas. He went up and, after getting the attention of everyone in the courtroom, sat in an empty, obviously previously reserved, seat next to Cliff Curtlee. At this move, Amanda Jenkins whispered something to Farrell and the district attorney, apparently startled, half turned in his chair to see for himself. The message couldn’t have been clearer.

With absolutely no fanfare, the Curtlees’ lawyer reentered through the back door with his client.

The last time Durbin had seen Ro Curtlee, on the day of the original verdict against him nearly ten years before, he’d been a clean-shaven, good-looking young man with short-cropped hair, wearing a three-piece business suit and tie. Now, shackled hand and foot in his orange prisoner’s jumpsuit, jail slippers, and with a large cast on his slinged left arm, Ro was the picture of middle-aged dejection and defeat. His uncombed over-the-ears hair and general unshaven, disheveled appearance added to the impression, as did a still-swollen mouth, a bandage over the bridge of his nose, and a black eye. As he shuffled through the courtroom with his lawyer on his way to the defense table, the gallery first and briefly went silent, and then broke into a low roar of indignant reaction.

Novio, smiling next to his brother-in-law, leaned over and, his hand covering his mouth, whispered, “Good move. Going for the sympathy vote.”

Durbin started to pick up some antipolice slurs—Nazis, thugs, bastards—from the other side of the gallery, but before they got out of hand, Ro got himself seated next to his lawyer at the defense table, and the bailiff came into the courtroom by the judge’s podium and bellowed, “All rise. Department Eleven of the Superior Court of the State of California is now in session, Judge Erin Donahoe presiding.”

At first glance, Donahoe’s diminutive size seemed of a piece with a low-key, even shy personality. When she was thoughtful or amused, her features were not unattractive—a bobbed little nose, light blue eyes, fashionable rimless eyeglasses, and shoulder-length light hair shining enough for a shampoo commercial. When challenged or confronted by turbulent forces, however, the look changed quickly and dramatically—the eyes squinted down, the laugh lines around them vanishing into exaggerated crow’s feet, the small mouth pursed into a disapproving button, a flush tending to rise into her cheeks. Now, as she ascended the podium, it was clear that something had already compromised her composure. She wore an air of defensiveness around her as obvious as her formless black robes.

As the gallery sat with her, she cast a dark eye on Ro Curtlee—Durbin couldn’t tell if it was in reaction to his injuries and general appearance or because she knew he was a rapist and killer. But the look didn’t soften as she brought her gaze to the prosecution table, and then up to the gallery, which hung quietly—now even more quietly—in anticipation.

“Let me state for the record,” she began in a low voice that barely carried to the bar rail, much less the back of the courtroom, “that I’ve got eighty-five lines and thirteen preliminary hearings to get through today, and I mean to get through them all.” Cases in superior court are called “lines”—each defendant taking up one line on the computer printout prepared for the calendar courtroom. “At the request of Mr. Farrell, I’m going to call Line Twelve first. I expect to get this circus out of my courtroom so I can get down to business. Would counsel announce their appearances, please?”

After they’d done so, Donahoe announced that she wanted to make it clear that this was an arraignment and bail hearing, not a preliminary hearing. “We’re not spending all morning on this. Mr. Farrell, understood?”

“Yes, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Denardi?”

“Clear, Your Honor.”

“All right. Would the clerk call the line, please?”

From her desk, the clerk didn’t even look up: “Line Twelve,
The People of the State of California versus Roland Curtlee
.”

“Mr. Denardi, does your client waive instruction and arraignment?”

Denardi, on his feet. “Yes, Your Honor.”

“Plea?”

Prompted by his lawyer, Ro Curtlee stood up and said, “Not guilty.”

Donahoe stayed with the logistics. “Before discussing a time waiver, counsel, I take it you want to argue bail.”

All sense of decorum and procedure immediately dissolved. Denardi, still on his feet, came out swinging. “If it please the court. In the course of a bogus no-warrant arrest by Lieutenant Glitsky and two other officers, my client was severely beaten on Saturday night, some of the results of which you can see here today . . .”

“Your Honor.” Amanda Jenkins jumped up at her table. “I object to counsel’s description of a ‘bogus’ arrest. Defendant had gone to Lieutenant Glitsky’s home and threatened him and his family, which under Penal Code Section Four twenty-two . . .”

“Your Honor, if I may.” Denardi didn’t wait for permission to speak, and Donahoe made no attempt to stop him. “Counsel’s characterization of Mr. Curtlee’s personal visit to Lieutenant Glitsky’s home as a threat that rises to the level of four twenty-two is absurd and completely unsupported by any facts or evidence.”

Counsel are usually expected to direct all their remarks to the judge, but they were already long past that and Donahoe didn’t seem inclined or even able to stop them. Jenkins turned and spoke directly to Denardi. “You’re denying he went to Glitsky’s home?”

The elderly defense attorney shook his head as though something amused him. “No, he went to the lieutenant’s home, all right, but more or less to lodge a personal protest about the fact that the lieutenant had come to Mr. Curtlee’s home just the previous night, and for just as little reason.”

“Just as little reason? You can’t be serious. Lieutenant Glitsky was investigating the murder of a witness in Mr. Curtlee’s previous case. That’s a compelling reason.”

“If you believe that’s really what it was, and not pure harassment.”

“Well, gosh, maybe I won’t just accept your bought-and-paid-for opinion, Counselor. But that’s what the evidence shows.” Jenkins swung back to the judge. “Your Honor, these allegations of harassment and police brutality are ridiculous on their face. The witnesses in Mr. Curtlee’s previous case are being murdered one by one. Any sane person has to know that Mr. Curtlee is in this up to his neck.”

“Ridiculous!” Denardi exploded, giving full voice to his rage. “Just look at the man! What’s ridiculous has been his treatment at the hands of the police. He’s been battered half to death. You call this . . . ?”

Suddenly Donahoe seemed to realize that the give-and-take in the courtroom had gotten completely out of her control, and she cleared her throat and lightly tapped her gavel. “Ms. Jenkins, Mr. Denardi. Let’s not get into a personal squabble here, all right? I’m sure we’ll get to the bottom of this and resolve it to everyone’s satisfaction. Would you both mind sitting down, please? Thank you. Now, moving along, Mr. Farrell, do the people have information for bail purposes?”

After the near brawl that had been developing, the silence that suddenly reigned in the courtroom was unsettling. It took Farrell a few seconds to get to his feet. “Your Honor,” he began, “the defendant is currently awaiting trial for murder and has been out on bail since his release from state prison. Within days of his release, one of the witnesses in his murder trial has been killed. After Lieutenant Glitsky went to question him about his whereabouts at the time of that murder, the next day Mr. Curtlee went to the lieutenant’s home and threatened him and his family.”

Denardi wasn’t going to let this pass and again rose to his feet. “Your Honor, we’ve heard this before and it’s simply not true.”

Farrell, again ignoring protocol because Donahoe didn’t seem to care about it, turned to his opponent. “It’s absolutely true, Tristan, and you know it.”

“I know nothing of the sort, Wes. You tell me one word of actual threat that Mr. Curtlee said. Or even that Glitsky alleges he said.”

“He pointed at Glitsky’s daughter and made a point of saying she was a nice-looking child.”

Raising his hands theatrically Denardi let out a laugh and turned to the judge. “I rest my case, Your Honor. Calling a child nice-looking is hardly a threat.”

Now Farrell raised his own voice, losing his temper. “
Going to the house, by itself, is a threat
. Mr. Curtlee’s a convicted rapist and murderer out on bail. He’s a suspect in the murder of the chief witness and he went to the house of the police inspector assigned to the case. You’d have to be crazy not to see what’s going on here.”

Again, finally, Donahoe lowered her gavel. “Gentlemen,” she said. “Please.” Then, “Mr. Farrell, I believe you were talking about bail. What was the original bail, by the way?”

“On the murder, ten million dollars, Your Honor. When officers tried to arrest Mr. Curtlee in this case, he took a gun and tried to kill one of them. Attempted murder of a police officer is a no-bail offense.”

Nodding sagely, she asked, “Who set the bail on the murder?”

“Judge Baretto.”

“And what are the people requesting this time around?”

“We want the scheduled bail, Your Honor. No bail in light of the current offenses and the defendant’s history.”

“Ridiculous!” Denardi said. “That’s insane.”

Donahoe simply nodded, acknowledging the interruption, but tacitly condoning it.

“And what are the charges, exactly, this time?” she asked.

Farrell looked down at his notes, impassive in the face of what he knew to be more problems. He and Glitsky and Jenkins were at least on relatively firm ground charging Ro with the one count of threatening an executive officer that Glitsky had gone down to arrest him for. But the fracas during the arrest had overshadowed that original charge and now Farrell was stuck with Glitsky’s and Jenkins’ egregious overcharging. But there was nothing for it. He had to brazen it through. “One count of threatening an executive officer (four twenty-two), one count of attempted murder on a police officer (six sixty-four/one eighty-seven). Three counts assault on a police officer with a deadly weapon (two forty-five[d] [one]), both of these latter two with firearm enhancement. Three counts,” Farrell went on, “battery on a police officer (two forty-three[b]). All charges with a twelve-oh-two-two point one enhancement, since the defendant incurred these charges while he was out on bail.”

“Your Honor!” Denardi again, on his feet. “There was no attempted murder. One of the officer’s duty weapons fell out of its holster and Mr. Curtlee picked it up.”

“And pulled the trigger,” Jenkins said.

“I don’t think so, Amanda. And beyond that, Your Honor, the alleged assault was pure self-defense. The police arrived at his house without a warrant and then attacked Mr. Curtlee when he went outside to find out what was going on with more police presence out in his street. This was a bogus arrest, as I’ve said before. Anyone would have resisted it, would have been justified resisting it, even with force.”