Chapter 10

The day of the trial dawned bright and crisp. It was April, and Spring kept trying to break, but kept getting kicked the shit out of by cold winds and lingering light snows. The courtroom was overly warm, though, which made it hard on witnesses because they had to wait in the hallway, which was cold, and then transition into a sweltering courtroom. That made them sweat and, since they were already nervous, could make it look like they were lying.

As the arresting officer, I was first on the stand so I went in and sat down in the gallery. There were only three or four other people in there. Most of them simply had nothing better to do than come and watch. There wasn't as much going on as I would have expected, either. Normally there would be bailiffs hurrying to and fro and prospective jurors collecting. Pretty soon Denny showed up and it was then that I found out Wally and Casper had elected to go Judge alone. I found that very interesting.

For those of you who are fortunate enough not to have a working knowledge of the criminal justice system, there are basically two kinds of trials. You can have a trial by a jury of your peers, which is from nine to twelve people who are likely in no way, shape or form anything near being your peer. Or you can have all testimony and evidence presented to a judge alone, and he (or she) makes all the decisions, including whether or not you're guilty and what to do about it if you are.

There are various perceived advantages to each kind of trial. Say for instance the issue at hand is emotional. That's something a defense attorney can play on with jurors. But if a case is technical, then you might want a judge alone, because he'll already understand the technical aspects of the law and you don't have to try to explain it to a bunch of wooden headed jurors.

Judge alone trials also go more quickly, which is why I figured The Ghost had chosen that route. His client was guilty, plain and simple. He had assaulted a cop, after all, and when it comes to who has more clout in court - a cop or the accused - cops almost always win.

Things got underway around nine-thirty, and they got the preliminaries out of the way quickly. Wally had already plead not guilty to all charges, but the judge took him through the options again and made sure he understood them. The judge in this case was the honorable Walter Pickett, who had a reputation for being a stickler on the law and a man of little patience for attorneys who tried to play games in his courtroom. Once he was satisfied that Wally did indeed feel he was not guilty of anything, he called on Denny to proceed. Denny then called me to the stand.

Denny got right to the point.

"Where were you on the evening of December 24th last year?" he asked.

Knowing how to answer this question, I said "Among other places I was at the residence of Eva Sinderson." I gave the address.

"And did you have occasion to see or interact with the defendant while at the Sinderson residence?" he asked.

I also knew how to answer that question.

"I had just presented Ms. Sinderson and her son with Christmas presents when the defendant entered the house, uninvited and became unruly and abusive."

"Objection!" said Casper. "Witness is assuming my client was uninvited."

"You'll get your chance, counselor," said the judge. "Overruled."

Denny had already told me he didn't want the issue of the presents and the attempted robbery confusing the issue, so when he asked what "unruly" meant I told him Wally used abusive language toward Ms. Sinderson and her son, and then toward me, at which point I identified myself as a law enforcement officer. I described how he assaulted me, and the steps I took to take him into custody. Denny introduced the knife and the jacket of my Santa Suit into evidence. He asked me if the knife was the one I had taken from the accused and I said it was. He asked me how the hole had gotten in the jacket and I told him. Denny then said he was finished and Casper stood up.

"How were you dressed that evening, Detective?"

"I was wearing a Santa Claus suit," I said. I thought that was already pretty obvious.

"With the whole white beard and mustache and all that?" he asked.

"Yes."

"And were you wearing your badge on the outside of this suit?"

"No."

"You said you went to the house. Did you just drive up, get out of your car and go in, or did you linger for a while on the street?"

Denny should have objected about The Ghost leading me, but he didn't.

"I sat in my car for a while because it looked like no one was home."

"And did Ms. Sinderson later arrive in a cab?"

Again Denny sat there like a bump on a log. He could have said I was being led. He could have questioned the relevancy of all this. But he sat there, fat, dumb and happy.

"She did."

"And did you approach her on the street and identify yourself?"

"No. I gave them time to get inside and get their coats off and get comfortable."

"Is it possible, detective, that someone who saw you sitting there, watching the house, and then going in after the residents returned and were inside out of sight, might think you were engaged in foul play?"

Now Denny objected. The judge sustained his objection, and I wondered what the fuck The Ghost was doing. He had known he couldn't pull that kind of shit, especially in Judge Pickett's courtroom.

He went on to ask where I was standing when his client entered the house. Finally Denny woke up and realized something was going on and started to pay more attention. He began offering objections, and it was then that it became clear Casper was going to put Wally on the stand. This became clear because he said he was establishing points of fact that would pertain to his client's testimony.

I looked at Denny, who looked perplexed at first. I knew he had not expected Wally to testify, which meant he had not prepared any cross examination, which meant he was unprepared. That didn't seem to bother him, though. He just took more notes as Casper continued asking all kinds of questions.

The last question he asked was this: "Detective, have you been dating Ms. Eva Sinderson since you were in her house on Christmas eve?"

Denny objected, and Casper said it had direct bearing on later testimony, so Pickett let it go.

Then I was released.

Normally, if a witness might be called back to the stand for some reason, he or she is not allowed to remain in the courtroom. There is an exception in some cases for law enforcement officers, so I went to the back of the courtroom and sat down. Nobody objected.

Eva was called next. She came into the back of the room and, because I was directly to the side of her, and her attention was up front, she didn't see me. She couldn't help but see me once she was on the stand, and had been sworn in. Denny went through his questions for her, including the restraining order which established that the accused had not had permission to enter her residence. He was specific with her in terms of questions.

"Did you see anyone in that room attack the person you know as Detective Carson?"

"Yes. Wallace did."

"Did Detective Carson identify himself as a police officer?"

"Yes."

"How did the accused react to that?"

"He became enraged and tried to stab Bob."

"I have no further questions," he said.

Casper stood up and said "Miss Sinderson, could you describe exactly what you saw when you say my client tried to stab Detective Carson?"

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