No Time To Run (Legal Thriller Featuring Michael Collins, Book 1) (22 page)

“
We also have a box of documents to give to Mr. Collins, today,” Gadd said. “Maybe that could be a compromise.”

Michael was getting steamrolled.

“
Perfect.” Judge Sachs looked at the ornate oak-and-brass clock hanging on the far wall of her office. “When we go in there we can put some of these arguments and things on the record, and then I’ll rule.” The judge shuffled through another stack of paper. “And I guess the other issue is bail.”

“
No bail, Your Honor.” Brenda Gadd sat straight, now. This was something that she cared about. “Ms. Larone is not a United States citizen, has no ties to New York, and at this point, has little to lose by running.”

“
Says the government,” Michael said. “I know Ms. Larone and she has everything to lose by running. She’d lose her livelihood. As for fleeing, she couldn’t go much of anywhere without getting spotted. And if you take away her passport, she couldn’t leave the country.”

“
Passports don’t seem to stop many people from coming in and out of this country every day, and I’m concerned that Mr. Collins’ personal relationship with Ms. Larone may be clouding his judgment.” 

The last part got Judge Sach’s attention. She looked from the papers in front of her to Michael. “Personal relationship?”

“
She’s a friend.”

“
Only a friend?”

“
Yes, judge,” Michael said, lying. “I’m fully aware of our Canons of Ethics, and I assure you that I know what they do or do not require of us.”

Brenda Gadd let out a small, derisive laugh.

###

A stout bailiff stood near the door between Judge Sachs' chambers and her courtroom.

“
All rise,” he said, “federal district court for the Southern District of New York is now in session. The Honorable Judge Patricia J. Sachs presiding.”

On cue, the door swung open and Judge Sachs emerged wearing her black robe. The large, clunky, red glasses were gone, replaced by smaller and more formal silver wire-rims. She walked behind the mahogany bench, and as she took her seat at the front of the courtroom, Judge Sachs directed the slew of attorneys, reporters, and gawkers to be seated.

“
The court file number is CI-07-A85316,
United States of America v. Andie Larone
, please state your appearances for the record.”

Standing, Brenda Gadd introduced herself and two Assistant U.S. Attorneys.

Judge Sachs nodded and wrote the names down on a notepad in front of her, as if it was the first time she had ever met Brenda Gadd.

“
And for the defense.”

Michael stood.

“
I am Michael John Collins, Your Honor, representing Andie Larone.” Andie got up from the seat next to him, and stood as well. She wore a black Nicole Miller suit with white blouse. If she hadn’t been introduced as the defendant, Andie could have easily passed as one of the attorneys.

Her posture was straight. The tears that came so easily in Judge Baumann’s courtroom were gone. 

They sat back down. Michael leaned over and whispered in her ear.

“
Here we go.”

Andie turned her head, and mouthed the words: “I love you.” But there was something about the way that she looked that made Michael feel uneasy.

“
We have plenty of items on our agenda today. It’s my understanding, Mr. Collins, that you will waive the reading of the indictment and charges and would like to enter the plea of not guilty.”

“
Correct, Your Honor.”

“
And, we also have a discovery motion by the defense,” Judge Sachs said.

Michael nodded his head, and then repeated the same arguments that he had just made in chambers. He made each argument as if it was the first time, and pretended that he didn’t already know the results. Brenda Gadd did the same.

“
All right,” Judge Sachs nodded. “Based on the memoranda filed by each party and the arguments made here today, I deny Defendant’s motion. I will, however, issue a scheduling order requiring discovery to be exchanged in thirty days. It’s also my understanding that Mr. Collins received a box of documents and that should keep him busy.” Judge Sachs looked at her law clerk, and then back to the parties. “Next, we have the issue of bail. Perhaps the prosecution could begin.”

“
Yes, Your Honor.” Brenda Gadd rose as Michael sat down. “The United States opposes any release, and respectfully requests that Ms. Larone be held without bail during the duration of these proceedings.” Brenda Gadd paused, turned toward Andie and held her in a piercing gaze. “Looks can be deceiving, Your Honor, looks can be very de – ”

Michael was out of his chair before Gadd had completed the sentence.

“
Objection, Your Honor, this is ridiculous. Ms. Gadd is actually trying to use the Defendant’s appearance against her – ”

Judge Sachs raised her hand, a small smile escaping from the far edge of her mouth.

“
To the extent that ridiculousness is a real legal objection, which I doubt, the objection is overruled. Please continue, Ms. Gadd.”

“
As I was saying.” Gadd continued with her argument, cool and unflustered. “Looks can be very deceiving. Ms. Larone is not an innocent. As the prosecution intends to show at trial, Ms. Larone has quite a history and knew the victim in this case. Although this is not the time or place to make our opening arguments, it is fair to say that the prosecution is confident that the evidence will show Ms. Larone knew Helix Johannson, made arrangements to meet him in New York, and then took his life. Drugs and the murder weapon were all found in Ms. Larone’s vehicle, and her purported alibi is unsubstantiated.”

Brenda Gadd paused, letting her arguments sink in as Judge Sachs scribbled notes on the pad in front of her. After a moment, Gadd took a step to the side and began again.

“
Ms. Larone has no connections to this community, no family, no children, and she is not a citizen of the United States.” She let the last statement hang, as if the fact that Andie Larone was not born in the United States had been a criminal violation in and of itself.  “There is no objective evidence of any ties to this community that our court and other courts look for in order to ensure a defendant’s future presence. Therefore, she should be held without bail pending trial.”    

“
All right.” Judge Sachs continued to scribble notes, as Brenda Gadd sat down. “Mr. Collins, response.”

“
Thank you, Your Honor.” Michael stood, waiting for Judge Sachs to look up at him. Judge Sachs, however, kept her head down. She continued to focus on the notepad in front of her, or, at least, made it appear that way.

“
Holding Andie Larone without bail for the next two, three, four months, maybe even longer, doesn’t make any sense. From a practical standpoint, every day Andie Larone is in custody it is costing all of us money and resources. The jails are at capacity, and adding another long-term detainee doesn’t help matters.

“
Every day we release hundreds of people accused of similar or far worse crimes, and the percentage of those people who don’t show up for trial or other hearings is miniscule. Despite the prosecution’s optimism regarding their case, and that’s all that it is at this point, Andie Larone is not guilty and under the law, she deserves that presumption.”

Judge Sachs coughed, and without looking up from her notepad, began to speak in a flat tone.

“
Fine public policy speech, counselor, but I didn’t hear you dispute anything that Ms. Gadd stated regarding Ms. Larone herself.”

“
Yes, Your Honor,” Michael continued, while a few reporters chuckled in the background. “In addition to an appropriate bail amount, each of those aspects of Ms. Larone’s situation can and has been dealt with in the past by this court. She can surrender her passport. She can check in with the court periodically, and even be subject to surprise home visits. She can even wear a monitoring device.” Michael, again, waited to see if Judge Sachs would respond to any of these suggestions, but she did not.

“
Even if the allegations are true, which the defense vehemently denies, nothing suggests that Ms. Larone is a threat or that the crime will be repeated. This is a woman with no prior criminal record.”

As soon as he said it, Michael saw Brenda Gadd rise out of her seat holding a stack of papers. He knew something was about to happen. Michael looked down at Andie, and she looked away.

“
Your Honor, that simply is not true.” Brenda Gadd raised a stack of papers in her hand. “Now I’m not trying to suggest that Mr. Collins is attempting to mislead the court, because I honestly don’t believe he knows, but Ms. Larone certainly does have a criminal history.”

Michael looked again at Andie, but she wouldn’t meet his eye.

“
Approach,” Judge Sachs said, and Michael and Brenda Gadd walked toward the bench. The courtroom was quiet. Even someone who had never seen a hearing or heard a legal argument would know that Michael had just made a mistake.

Judge Sachs leaned forward covering the small black microphone in front of her with her hand.

“
What do you know?”

“
It’s true that Andie Larone has no criminal record,” Gadd said. “But Andie Larone is not her given name.”

“
She changed it?” Judge Sachs asked.

“
About seven years ago,” Brenda Gadd said, “her given name is Jamie Dask. While she was evidently living and going to college in San Francisco, she was pulled over for speeding and the police discovered a large amount of marijuana and some ecstasy in a duffle bag.”

“
Convicted?” Judge Sachs asked.

“
Yes.” Brenda Gadd handed the top piece of paper to Judge Sachs, and then another to Michael. “Charged with possession to deal because of the amount, but pled it down to possession for personal use. Given the business that Helix Johannson operated and what we now know, that plea agreement was a mistake, and we now believe that Ms. Larone was one of the many campus contacts in Johannson’s network.”

Michael looked back at Andie.

“
Mr. Collins.” Judge Sachs looked down at the record that Gadd had just provided. “I assume you did not know this.”

Michael turned back toward the Judge, and tried to recover.

“
No, Your Honor, and frankly this is the precise reason that I was so anxious about getting the discovery process started.”

“
I can’t help that his client isn’t being truthful with him, Your Honor.” Gadd shrugged her shoulders, playing the innocent. “That can’t be my fault.”

Judge Sachs looked at Michael, and then back at Brenda Gadd.

“
We’ll continue.” She waved her hand, dismissing them from her presence. She had already made her decision, and now it was clear that whatever Michael said would be of little difference.

He walked back to the table, thinking of how to spin his first major mistake of the case. Everything was about credibility – credibility with the judge, credibility with the jury, and credibility with opposing counsel – and, right now, Michael had none. He didn’t even know who Andie really was.

Stopping at the table, Michael turned and faced Judge Sachs who, for the first time, was looking up from her notepad.

“
Perhaps, the prosecution would have understood what I meant if they would have let me finish.” Michael paused so that he could choose his words carefully. “Ms. Larone has no criminal record, meaning that she has no criminal record suggesting that she was capable of the type of violent crime alleged here. While there may be some ‘history,’ there is no history of violence.”

Michael paused, praying that Brenda Gadd would not stand up again and prove him wrong. Even Judge Sachs appeared to be holding her breath, but the moment passed and Brenda Gadd kept the other surprises to herself.

“
Bail request is denied.” Judge Sachs slammed down her gavel. “She’ll be held pending trial.”

CHAPTER FORTY TWO

Michael set the box from Brenda Gadd down on the table and took off the lid.

“
Let’s see what other surprises we have.” Michael started ruffling through the box.

Andie’s new attorney told Michael to stop, but he continued.

“
I think you need to leave,” the attorney said again. Michael paused and looked up at the man. He was tall and thin, with chiseled features and his hair greased back.

Michael shook his head and looked down, continuing through the box.

“
I said you need to stop.”

“
And who are you, exactly?” Michael asked.

“
I’m Taylor Goss, Ms. Larone’s new attorney,” he said. “And I think you know that already, because Ms. Larone told you.”

“
Did she?” Michael looked over at Andie, but Andie wouldn’t meet his eye. “I must’ve missed it.” Michael continued his rough sift through the contents of the box, and eventually found an envelope. He took it out. Inside there were about a dozen micro-audiocassettes.