Chapter 478

“Opposing counsel is venturing into areas discussed during pre-trial motions,” Samantha said. “This is entirely unacceptable, Your Honour.”

Judge Mathews looked down at you with a raised eyebrow.

“Your Honour, I promise this will have nothing to do with the topic discussed in pre-trial,” you said.

“Objective overruled for now,” the Judge said, giving you a stern look. “If you’re trying to find a way to wiggle into that information, Counsel, you will not like my response at all.”

“Absolutely understood, Your Honour,” you said, and he nodded. “Thank you, Your Honour,” you followed up as per protocol and heard Samantha mutter it behind you. “Well,” you said, turning back to the ‘Officer.’ “Was the trunk of the vehicle open or closed, Officer Penholt?”

The ‘officer’ checked his role script for a moment. “It was standing open,” he replied.

“Would that be the expected position for the trunk of a vehicle of its type after being rear-ended?”

Another check of the script, flipping to another page. “No, it wouldn’t,” he finally answered.

“What would be the expected position, based on your experience as a Police Officer?”

“The trunk would be buckled inward along with the bumper,” he said.

“What conclusion would you draw from the fact that the door was standing open?”

“Since it wasn’t damaged, it must have been opened prior to the vehicle being rear-ended,” the ‘Officer’ said.

“You went to examine the vehicle in detail, correct?”

“Objection!” Samantha said, standing up again, but Judge Mathews held up a hand to stop her.

“I will deal with Mr Watkins if he crosses the line, Ms Van Der Groot,” the Judge said. “Unless you have another objection?”

“No, Your Honour,” she grunted.

“Thank you, Your Honour,” you said, not sure if an interrupted Objection was really a ruling you needed to thank him for, but the rule of thumb in court was to always be polite so you went with it. You turned back to the ‘Officer.’ “Did you give the vehicle a closer examination?”

“I did,” he said.

“Did you look in the trunk?”

“I did,” he said.

“When you looked inside the trunk, did you see any long pieces of wood, such as two-by-fours?”

“I did not,” he said.

Point, you thought to yourself.

“Did you see anything that looked like it might have been binding a pile of long pieces of wood together, but had broken?”

“I did not,” he said.

“Did you see anything that looked like it had been securing the trunk partially closed?”

He checked his script, knowing that you were putting the screws to his ‘home team’ interns, but shook his head. “I did not,” he said.

“Were you at the site of the accident until the cleanup of the vehicles?” you asked.

“I ... was,” he said, flipping to the last page of his notes.

“Did you witness wooden two-by-fours scattered across the road?”

“We did,” he said.

“Would you be surprised to hear other witnesses have testified that the Jacobs’ vehicle was hauling long lengths of two-by-fours hanging out the back of their trunk?”