Incriminating Evidence (40 page)

After Payne finishes reading the stipulation, the courtroom becomes silent. The jurors turn their eyes to Judge Kelly. “I’m going to adjourn for the day,” she says. “I have some other matters that I must attend to this afternoon.” She turns to Payne. “How many more witnesses, Ms. Payne?”

“Just one, Your Honor.”

She’s going to call Elaine McBride to pull their entire case together.

“We’ll be done by the end of the day tomorrow,” Hillary says.

Perfect. They’re going to put on their strongest witness on a Friday. Unless I miss my guess, she’ll finish up late in the afternoon. Just in time to give the jury the entire weekend to think about what she’s said.

40
INSPECTOR MCBRIDE

“I’ve always had an aggressive philosophy about law enforcement. The criminals need to know you’re serious.”

—I
NSPECTOR
E
LAINE
M
C
B
RIDE
.
S
AN
F
RANCISCO
C
HRONICLE
. F
RIDAY
, O
CTOBER
22.

“My name is Elaine McBride. I’m a homicide inspector with the San Francisco Police Department.”

It’s nine A.M. Hillary Payne has conducted a tight prosecution: short, sweet and to the point. She has kept her promise to Judge Kelly that she would finish her case in just one week. The jury is still interested. Bill McNulty should be proud. His protégée has put on a textbook performance.

Payne walks McBride through her credentials. I interrupt from time to time. Finally, Payne asks her what time she arrived at the Fairmont on Tuesday, September seventh.

“Seven-twenty A.M.” She says she was escorted to Room 1504 by the Fairmont’s security personnel. Roosevelt Johnson joined her a few minutes later.

“Would you please describe what you found at the scene?”

They’ve rehearsed their presentation. “The uniformed officers had secured the scene,” she says. “The body was still on the bed. The coroner’s unit had been called.” She points to a chart of the fifteenth-floor room on an easel in front of the jury. She shows where the body was found. She points to
the nightstand. “Here’s where we found the duct tape that the defendant used to suffocate the victim, Johnny Garcia.”

“Objection. Move to strike. There is no foundation for Inspector McBride’s conclusion that the duct tape was used to suffocate the victim.” It’s a legitimate objection. It’s also an attempt to break up their rhythm.

“Sustained. The jury will disregard Inspector McBride’s conclusion that this duct tape was used to suffocate the victim.”

Sure they will. Payne rephrases the question. McBride restates her answer, leaving out the conclusion this time.

Payne asks what happened next.

McBride describes her interviews with Joseph Wong, the police at the scene and the paramedics and the technicians from the coroner’s office. She says that Garcia was pronounced dead at the scene at seven twenty-five. “We talked to the building security guards. We prepared lists of everyone who had been present on the fifteenth floor that night.”

“Did you interview the defendant?”

“Yes.”

“Could you describe his demeanor?”

“Agitated and confused.”

“Was he belligerent?”

“Objection. Leading.”

“Overruled.”

“Yes, he was. The defendant was very upset.”

I steal a glance at Skipper, who nods to himself.

“When did the defendant become a suspect?”

“Immediately. He was at the scene. He had no explanation as to how the victim got into his room. He had no explanation for how the victim died. He was uncooperative.”

“Move to strike. Inspector McBride is commenting on the defendant’s state of mind.”

Judge Kelly is unimpressed. “Overruled.”

Payne walks toward the evidence cart and turns to
McBride. “Inspector,” she says, “I’d like to take a few minutes to ask for your assistance in identifying some of the physical evidence found in Room 1504 of the Fairmont that night.”

“Of course, Ms. Payne.”

Molinari whispers into Skipper’s ear. I can make out the words “Stay calm.”

Payne starts with the first set of handcuffs, wrapped in plastic. She hands them to McBride and asks her to identify them.

“These are the handcuffs found on Johnny Garcia’s right wrist,” she says, “which was handcuffed to the bedpost.” They go through a similar exercise for the three other sets of handcuffs that were used to bind him. Then Payne leads her through an identification of every piece of evidence found in Room 1504: the duct tape, the handcuff key, the champagne flutes, the champagne bottle, the fingerprints on the phone and the doorknob. They go through the telephone records from Room 1504. I object from time to time. I remind Judge Kelly that all of this evidence has already been introduced. It’s an exercise in futility.

At a quarter to twelve, Skipper leans over to me and says, “We’re getting killed.”

“Be quiet,” I say.

At noon, Judge Kelly asks Payne if she’d like to take a break.

“Yes, Your Honor,” she says. “We’re almost done. We should finish early this afternoon.”

“All rise.” Judge Kelly’s courtroom is called to order after lunch. The shuffling in the gallery stops. The A-list reporters are here. They’re waiting for Hillary’s wrap-up.

McBride returns to the stand. Judge Kelly reminds her she’s still under oath. Then she nods to Payne, who is standing at the lectern.

“Inspector McBride,” Payne begins, “were you present at the Pacific Heights residence of the defendant when it was searched on Tuesday, September seventh?”

“Yes.”

“Would you mind describing what was found?”

“Objection,” I say. “All of the materials found at Mr. Gates’s home have already been introduced into evidence.”

“Overruled.” Judge Kelly glances at Payne. “Let’s keep things moving, Ms. Payne.”

Hillary nods. She leads McBride through a brief description of everything found in the study: the handcuffs, the pictures of the bound prostitutes, the copies of
Hustler
, the bookmarked Web sites. For good measure, she takes her through a detailed inventory of the photos and magazines found in Skipper’s storage locker. Although they have heard most of this before, the jurors look very troubled.

The afternoon session wears on. Payne keeps lobbing Softball questions to her and McBride keeps slamming home runs. She describes her interviews with the people who attended the summit conference. They go into further detail on the items found in Skipper’s storage locker. They paint a portrait of Skipper as a pervert. Finally, at a quarter to three, Payne steps back to the lectern and asks McBride to summarize her conclusions for the jury. I object on the grounds that the question is speculative. Judge Kelly overrules my objection.

McBride looks at the jury and says, “I believe the defendant lured Johnny Garcia, a seventeen-year-old male prostitute, into his room at the Fairmont. I believe he drugged him, handcuffed him to the bedposts and covered his eyes, nose and mouth with duct tape. I believe he engaged in sex with the victim while the victim’s eyes, nose and mouth were covered with tape. The victim died of suffocation in that room that night.”

Then Payne turns to Judge Kelly. “No further questions, Your Honor.”

I stand up immediately. The last thing I need right now is for the judge to decide to recess until Monday. I don’t want the jury to have two days to think about McBride’s testimony. I walk past the lectern and position myself in front of her. I want to get right in her face.

“Inspector McBride,” I begin, “you said you arrived at the Fairmont at seven-twenty A.M. on September seventh, and you said Mr. Gates was agitated and confused.”

“That’s correct.”

“Yet he answered all of your questions, didn’t he?”

She hesitates and says, “Grudgingly.”

“And if he answered all of your questions, Inspector, it’s fair to say that your characterization earlier of Mr. Gates as uncooperative and belligerent was not entirely accurate, right?”

She sighs. “Mr. Gates answered our questions only after he concluded that he had no other choice.”

“Move to strike. State of mind.”

The judge tells the jury to disregard McBride’s statement. McBride then acknowledges that Skipper did, in fact, remain in the room and provide the police with a full description of the events of that night. It’s not a huge point, but it helps. “And did it occur to you that Mr. Gates may have appeared agitated and confused, and perhaps even belligerent, because he had been drugged?”

McBride is indignant. “It did not appear to me that the defendant’s demeanor was consistent with that of an individual who had been drugged.”

It’s the answer I expect, but it still gives the jury something to think about. I get her to say that she did not request that
Skipper take a drug test after he was arrested. “Inspector McBride,” I continue, “you have testified that you found his fingerprints on the handcuffs and the duct tape used to bind Johnny Garcia.”

“That’s also correct.” She acknowledges that nobody saw Skipper put the handcuffs on Garcia, and that he may have gotten his fingerprints on them when he tried to remove them. It’s a small victory and I don’t belabor it—the jury has heard a lot about the handcuffs already.

We volley for about an hour about the evidence found in Skipper’s room. For the most part, McBride doesn’t give an inch. We argue about the handcuff key. She insists that the champagne glasses show that Garcia sipped champagne spiked with GHB.

“Inspector,” I say, “you have concluded that Mr. Garcia was unconscious, right?”

“Yes.”

“And Mr. Gates drugged him in order to induce him to have sex.”

“That’s true.”

“Yet we know that Mr. Garcia entered Mr. Gates’s room voluntarily and Mr. Gates had made arrangements to have sex with him.”

“That’s true, too.”

I give her a puzzled look. “Inspector, if the victim, Johnny Garcia, had come to Mr. Gates’s room and they had already agreed to have sex, why in the world would Mr. Gates have needed to drug him?”

“Objection. Speculative.”

“Sustained.”

It’s a legitimate objection. I decide to go just one step further. “If they had agreed to engage in voluntary sex, Inspector, why would Mr. Gates have given him a narcotic that causes unconsciousness?”

“Objection. Speculative.”

“Sustained.”

I glance toward the defense table. Skipper is nodding. Molinari remains stoic. Rosie scratches her left ear. It’s time to move on.

We pound on each other for the rest of the afternoon. I challenge the handling of the evidence. I ask whether McBride had seriously considered any other suspects.

“All of the evidence pointed toward Mr. Gates,” she insists.

“Did you consider any of the other people who attended the meeting in his room that night? Perhaps Mr. Morris or even Mr. Parnelli?”

“There wasn’t a shred of evidence pointing in their direction.”

“Are you familiar with a man named Andrew Holton?”

“Yes.”

“And what was his relationship to Mr. Garcia?”

“He was his roommate.”

Not so fast. I lead her through a discussion of Andy Holton’s background and history with Johnny Garcia. Finally, I ask, “Mr. Holton was Mr. Garcia’s pimp, right?”

“Yes.”

“Why didn’t you consider Mr. Holton as a suspect? He was seen in the security videos.”

“Objection. Speculative.”

“Overruled.”

“There was no evidence indicating that Mr. Holton was involved.”

“No evidence?” I say, my voice rising. “He was Johnny Garcia’s pimp, for God’s sake.”

“Objection. Move to strike Mr. Daley’s editorial comments.”

“Sustained.” Judge Kelly points her gavel at me but speaks to the jury. “The jury will disregard Mr. Daley’s outburst,” she says.

No they won’t. “You had already decided that Mr. Gates was your man, hadn’t you? You didn’t consider Andrew Holton because he didn’t fit within your theory of the case, right?”

“Objection. Mr. Daley is badgering this witness.”

“Sustained.”

That isn’t going to stop me. “What about Mr. Stanford? He came back to the hotel at three twenty-five. He was seen in the security videos as well. Did you ever consider him as a suspect?”

“There wasn’t any evidence placing him in the room, Mr. Daley.” She’s indignant now.

All right, enough smoke. “Inspector,” I say, “didn’t you think it was odd that Mr. Gates was still in the room when Mr. Wong arrived the following morning?”

McBride gives me an inquisitive look. “I’m not sure I understand the question.”

“If Mr. Gates had, in fact, killed Johnny Garcia, don’t you think he would have left the building?”

“Objection. Speculative.”

“Sustained.”

I decide to try it another way. “Inspector, in your many years of experience as a police officer, isn’t it usually the case that an individual who has committed a crime tries to flee?”

“Objection. Speculative.”

“Your Honor,” I say, “I’m not asking Inspector McBride to speculate. I’m asking for an expert opinion based on her experience as a police officer and homicide inspector.”

“Overruled.”

McBride has no choice. “Yes, Mr. Daley,” she says. “It is usually the case that an individual who has committed a crime tries to flee.”

“And that didn’t happen in this case, did it?”

“No.”

“In fact, Mr. Gates was in the very room with Johnny Garcia’s body when Mr. Wong arrived, wasn’t he?”

“Yes.”

“And he answered all your questions?”