Muted Judgement (Legal thriller, thriller) (4 page)

"Yes I killed my attacker."

Brad once again let the silence grow. Lauren wanted to roll her eyes at the dramatic effect.

"No more questions, your honor," Brad said before returning to his table.

Lauren stood by her table to question the defendant. "So, Miss Smith, can you explain why none of Mr. Sheffield's DNA was found on you?"

"Objection.
Asking the witness to make supposition outside her field of expertise," Brad said.

Ethan sustained it, but Lauren knew the damage was done.

"No further questions your honor."

"We'll take a recess until tomorrow morning at 9," Ethan said.

***

When Lauren was finally able to look at her phone, another threat had been texted to her. She didn't erase it, but took the phone directly to the police department.

A young man with a buzz cut took her statement and filed a report.

"Have you ever had threats before?" he asked.

"No, never."

"Being a prosecutor that's pretty lucky."

She nodded. Others had received threats, but all of them had turned out to be nothing. This didn't feel like nothing now that she was on the receiving end of things.

When she finished with the cops, she called her boss on her cell while she drove to her parents'
house.

Sarah Long answered on the third ring.

"Lauren?"

"Sarah, I need to speak with you. Do you have a minute?"

"Sure. How's your case going? Sorry I haven't had a chance to stop in."

Lauren took a deep breath then let it out slowly. "I've received some threats.
Three to be exact."

"What did those threats say?"

She stopped at a red light. "That my family will be hurt if I prosecute Claire Smith."

"Wow. She doesn't even have any family. If she were a
person with connections I wouldn't be surprised, but she isn't. She's a young girl."

"I hadn't thought of it that way, but I'm still taking these threats as real."

"As you should. Oh, I have a voice mail message from Brad Kennedy. Do you know what that might be about?"

Lauren turned onto her street. "No idea. He didn't approach me after court today."

"I'll call him back and let you know if it is anything. Be safe, Lauren."

Lauren's boss Sarah called her again the next morning. Lauren wasn't even out of bed yet.

"Yeah?"

"Lauren? I need you to wake up. We may have an issue."

Lauren stretched then yawned. She scooted up then tucked a pillow behind her back. "Okay. I'm ready."

"That call from Brad Kennedy?"

Lauren's morning-fogged brain had to think about that for a moment. She reviewed her last conversation with her boss.
"Right. He left you a message last night."

"He's got a juror that wants to talk to him."

Lauren sat up even more, now fully awake. A juror talking to any lawyer on a case is just not done. "That would be unethical."

"I know that."

"Of course you do. Sorry," Lauren said.

"Brad is insistent. He's heard part of the
jurors' story and wants to hear it all. He thinks you as the prosecutor should hear it also."

Lauren chewed the inside of her lip.
"So many questions. Why did he come to you and not me? Do you think this is a good idea?"

"He came to me because he knew you would deny him flat out. You do have that reputation for being ethical. He knew you would never cross that line."

"And you would? That didn't insult you?"

Sarah sighed. "I have to be a bit of a politician as well as a lawyer. It's a different set of ethics."

"I'm not going to argue semantics," Lauren said.

She pushed the covers off of her, jumping out of bed. She had to get dressed and figure this out.

"No time now," Sarah said.

"You think this is a good idea?"

"Yes, I do. Brad told me a hint of what the juror said and I think you need to go talk to them and report back to me. I think we'll have to figure out what to do next together. Including Brad."

Lauren thought for a moment. "We'll have to bring the judge in on this."

Sarah chuckled. "Not when you hear what the juror has to say. Gotta go."

Lauren clicked disconnect. She stared at the phone before calling Brad. This was all highly unusual and didn't sit right with her.

Standing in her pajamas in her bedroom at her parents' house, Lauren went over all of her options. She couldn't defy her boss. Nor did she think she could talk her boss out of this. Jury tampering, if this is what it was, would cause a mistrial. Lauren didn't want that.

As much as Brad could be a showman, she'd never known him to be dishonest. He just didn't have strict ideas of right and wrong like she did.

Lauren's mom, Janet, poked her head in the bedroom door. "You're up. There's coffee downstairs."

"Thanks, Mom. And thanks for taking us in."

Her mother waved a dismissive hand. "You know I love having Sasha here. It's you I'm worried about. You look pretty puzzled. Anything I can do to help?"

Lauren frowned. "I can't tell you specifics, but I have to talk to a juror today."

"A juror in the case you are trying right now?"

Her mother leaned against the doorjamb. Lauren sat back down on the bed. "Yes for this case."

"What does your boss say?"

"That I need to talk to this juror."

"Then your path is clear. You have to do what your boss says."

"It isn't that simple, Mom. This is highly unusual."

"Take a shower. You'll figure it out, Lauren. You've always had a strong sense of right and wrong. What does your gut say?"

"To go against my principles," Lauren said.

"Your gut must have a good reason," her mother said. She left Lauren to her musings.

The whole situation made Lauren uncomfortable. But she trusted Sarah. If this was that big, then she had to
embrace it and deal with it. Her comfort level be damned.

The decision made, she dialed Brad's number.

"Kennedy. I was waiting for your call Lauren," he said.

She scratched her head, not sure what was next. "I talked to Sarah."

"Did she give you any details?"

"No just that a juror contacted you."

"Are you in on this interview?" Brad asked.

"Against my better judgment."

Despite her gut telling her to do this, she still couldn't reconcile it with her sense of right and wrong. Jurors and lawyers didn't talk to each other during a case. She'd thought it suspect that the jurors weren't sequestered, but she had to trust the system.

This interview with a juror would be outside the system. This wasn't part of due process.

"I don't think you'll regret this."

"Can you give me a hint?"

"No, I'd rather this juror tell you this story himself," Brad said. "His story is compelling."

She shook her head, not liking this one bit. "Where do we need to meet?"

Brad gave her the location then she toddled of to the shower.

***

Lauren parked outside the diner located on a country road. She'd driven in the opposite direction of the court house. Brad insisted they needed to meet where there was no chance of anyone seeing them or identifying them.

But this struck her as too much like an episode of Law and Order. Lauren could safely say she'd never been to a clandestine meeting before today. Check that off her bucket list.

Except that it has never been on her bucket list. If she'd gone her whole life not having a secret meeting, she would have been satisfied.

She paused before getting out of the car.
"Last chance. You could drive to the court house and tell Ethan."

That idea suddenly didn't sit well with her gut. She sighed, getting out of her car. Her career may never be the same.

The diner was typical with a long counter and stools on one side. Tables and chairs on the other. A window behind the counter opened to the kitchen where all the delicacies of a diner are made.

The place smelled of grease and coffee, reminding Lauren that she hadn't taken her mother up on her offer of coffee this morning.

She spotted Brad in a back booth, sitting with a man who looked as if he wanted to be anywhere else but in a diner this morning. His discomfort probably had nothing to do with the ambiance.

Lauren put her purse down on the table then slid in next to Brad. As the waitress swung by, Lauren asked her for coffee.

"Brad, hello."

He flashed
her a half-hearted smile. "Lauren. This is Joe Campbell. He's juror number three."

Lauren looked him over before extending her hand. Joe wore a suit that had fit him about ten pounds ago. His tie, probably only worn to weddings and funerals, had the remains of his breakfast on it.

"Hello Miss Heath," Joe said.

His eyes darted around.

"Are you nervous Joe?" Lauren asked.

"Yes, ma'am.
But what I have to say is important."

Lauren glanced at Brad then back to Joe. "I'm gathering that. You do know this is highly unusual?"

Joe licked his lips. "I'm guessing so, but I didn't know who else to tell. Someone has to know."

Lauren remembered him from jury selection. Joe had been a cop
years ago and she had wanted him on the jury for that very reason. Brad had run out of ways he could dismiss a juror at that point so Joe stayed.

Now, here he sat ready to tell them something.

The waitress came back, poured Lauren coffee, then left.

"Go ahead Joe. Just tell us," Lauren said.

At this point she was past worrying about what was right or wrong. This trial had turned into a fiasco and if someone had done something wrong besides Claire, then that person had to be charged also.

Due process, the idea that everyone deserved a trial, was, in Lauren's mind, a cornerstone of this country. If that was not being observed then something was wrong with the judicial system.

Joe looked around one more time. "After the trial yesterday, the jurors were asked to stay behind for a few minutes."

"Who asked you?" Lauren said.

Joe's large, peasant hands shook on the table. "The judge."

"Judge Grogan?"

"Yes, ma'am," Joe said. He took a tentative sip of his own coffee.

Lauren mirrored his actions letting this sink in. "Did he have some instructions for you?"

"Oh, yes he did," Joe said.

"And they were?"

"He told us that we had to find Claire Smith not guilty."

Lauren gasped.

"You're sure that's what he said? This is a serious charge against a judge," Brad said.

"I'm sure. I was a trained observer during my days as a cop. You don't lose that ability just because you retire."

Lauren blinked at him, then looked at Brad. "I think we may need to bring Sarah in on this. She should probably be here." Turning back to Joe she said, "Can you meet us at the prosecutor's office in the next county say in an hour?"

"What about the trial?" Joe asked.

Brad answered, "I think we're going to have to ask for a continuance."

"And how are we going to get that?" Lauren asked.

"If you and I go to Ethan and tell him we both want it because of some new evidence he's bound to grant it."

Lauren pondered that for a moment. If Ethan did do what this juror was telling them, then she didn't want to see Ethan. He was worse than in college. The rules meant nothing to him.

Also, if this is true, she was going to bring down a judge. Ruin a man's career. That weighed on her heavily.

"We'll do it," she said finally. She pulled out a business card, handing it to Joe. "Here's the address we'll meet you in an hour."

***

Lauren's palms sweat as she parked her car outside the courthouse. Brad pulled in next to her. He grimaced then replaced that look with a smile.

"Ready?" he asked.

Adjusting her suit jacket, she said, "As ready as I'll ever be to take down a judge."

"We're not taking him down yet."

"But I still feel uncomfortable."

"Let me do all the talking," Brad said.

"Yeah, right."

They walked in together having already made an appointment with Ethan. The judge sat behind his large desk in his chambers at the courthouse.

Wood was the theme of his space
. Wooden bookshelves lined the walls. The desk had been made out of wood. Even the leather chairs had wooden legs. Lauren felt like she was in a dead forest.

She sat and so did Brad.

"So what brings you two here today?" Ethan asked, leaning his elbows on his desk.

Brad shot a glance at Lauren then launched into the story they had talked about before driving over here. "We have uncovered some new evidence in the case."

Ethan looked from Lauren to Brad then back again. "Both of you?"

"Well, I have," Brad said "I obviously shared it with Miss Heath."

Ethan turned his gaze to Lauren. "He's shared it with you?"

"Yes. And I'd like a day or so to peruse it so I can adjust my case."

Ethan rubbed the back of his neck. "I guess we all want due process so I'll grant a recess for two days. I expect you all back here Friday."

"Done," Brad said. He stood and reached a hand across to Ethan. The men shook hands. Lauren tentatively shook Ethan's hand.

"I have to go then," Ethan said.

He left them in his chambers.

"I'm going to go too," Brad said."

"Wait."

"I have this really odd idea. You go ahead. I have something I want to look at."

"What are you going to do?"

"I'm not going to tell you," Lauren said. "In case it backfires on me."

Brad studied her for a moment more,
then left.

She didn't know why she did it. Maybe women's intuition, but she grabbed the water bottle that Ethan had been drinking then stuffed it into her purse.

She left, looking around to make sure no one noticed her.

***

Despite her nerves, Lauren's drive to her office was uneventful. Though she expected a cop to stop her at every turn.

For what?
Stealing a water bottle.

How did criminals do this all the time?

She parked next to Brad. He was leaning against the back of his car. She steeled herself before she got out.

"This was not how I saw my day," she said.

He nodded. "I understand. Me neither. I had some eloquent closing remarks planned."

She had to laugh. "Yes, yes you would." She indicated the building. "Shall we?"

"Our juror is already in there. He was nervous out in the open," Brad said.

"Understood."