A Time for Mercy (Jake Brigance #3) - John Grisham Page 0,178
the stairs.
Mr. Zack sat across from Drew and asked, “What do you think of your trial so far?”
Drew shrugged. Jake had lectured him about talking to anyone in a uniform. “Things don’t look so good.”
Mr. Zack grunted and smiled. “You can say that again.”
“What’s weird is how they make Stuart out to be such a nice guy.”
“He was a nice guy.”
“Yeah, to you. It was a different story livin’ with him.”
“You gonna eat?”
“Not hungry.”
“Come on, Drew. You barely touched your breakfast. You gotta eat something.”
“You know, you’ve been sayin’ that ever since I met you.”
Mr. Zack opened his own bag and took a bite from a turkey sandwich.
Drew asked, “You bring any cards?”
“I did.”
“Great. Blackjack?”
“Sure. After you eat.”
“You owe me a buck-thirty, right?”
* * *
—
TWO MILES AWAY, in downtown Chester, the defense team ate sandwiches in Morris Finley’s conference room. Morris, a busy lawyer himself, was away tending to matters in federal court. He didn’t have the luxury of spending entire days watching another lawyer’s trial. Nor did Harry Rex, whose stressful office was being completely ignored by the only lawyer in his firm, but he wouldn’t miss the Gamble trial for anything. He, Lucien, Portia, Libby, Jake, and Carla ate quickly and went through the State’s case so far. The only surprise had been Noose’s refusal to allow Brazeale to revisit the ghastly crime scene photos.
Ozzie had done a passable job, though he had looked bad trying to cover for the missing paperwork. It was a small win for the defense, but one that would be forgotten soon enough. The fact that county deputies were not exactly thorough with their mundane reports would not be important when the jury debated guilt or innocence.
Overall, the morning had been a huge win for the State, but that was no surprise. The case was simple, straightforward, and had no missing clues. Dyer’s opening was effective and captured the attention of every juror. Taking one name at a time, they talked about all twelve. The first six men were convinced and ready to vote guilty. Joey Kepner had revealed nothing in his facial expressions and body language. The five women did not appear to be any more sympathetic.
Most of their lunch was consumed with Kiera. Dyer had proven that Drew had committed the murder beyond a reasonable doubt. The State didn’t need Kiera as a witness to bolster its case. Her statement to Tatum that Drew shot Stuart was already in evidence.
“But he’s a prosecutor,” Lucien argued. “And as a breed they’re known to pile on. She’s the only person who can testify that she heard the gunshot and heard her brother admit to the shooting. Of course, Drew could admit this himself, but only if he takes the stand. Josie was there but unconscious. If Dyer doesn’t call Kiera to the stand, the jurors will wonder why not? And what about the appeal? What if the Supremes rule that Tatum’s testimony should have been excluded as hearsay? It’ll be a close call, right?”
“Maybe, maybe not,” Jake said.
“Okay, let’s say we win on hearsay. Dyer might be worried about that, and he might be thinking he needs to double down and get the girl to testify to it.”
“Do they really need it?” Libby asked. “Isn’t there an abundance of physical evidence already in the record?”
“It sure feels like it,” Jake said.
Harry Rex said, “Dyer’s a dumbass if he puts her on. Plain and simple. He’s got his case made, why not just rest and wait on the defense?”
Jake said, “He’ll put her on, get her statement, then fight like hell when we start with the abuse.”
“But the abuse is coming in, right?” Libby asked. “There’s no way to keep it out.”
“It’ll be up to Noose,” Jake said. “He has our brief and we’ve argued, convincingly, at least in my opinion, that the abuse is relevant. To keep it out will be reversible error.”
“Are we trying to win the trial or the appeal?” Carla asked.
“Both.”
And so they debated as they ate bad deli sandwiches to ward off hunger.
* * *
—
THE STATE’S NEXT witness was Dr. Ed Majeski, the pathologist hired to perform the autopsy. Dyer led him through the usual list of dry questions to establish his expertise and made much of the fact he had performed, over a thirty-year career, two thousand autopsies, including approximately three hundred involving gunshot wounds. When offered the opportunity to question his credentials, Jake declined and said, “Your Honor, we accept Dr. Majeski’s qualifications.”