Resurrection Walk

“Be seated,” she said, her voice amplified by the coffered ceiling and the other acoustics of the courtroom.

As I sat down, I leaned toward Lucinda and whispered, “There will be some discussions with the judge and then it will be your turn. Like we talked about, be calm, be direct, look at me or the judge when you answer. Don’t look at the other attorneys.”

Lucinda nodded hesitantly. She still looked scared, her light brown complexion turning pale.

“It’s going to be okay,” I said. “You’re ready for this. You’ll do fine.”

“But what if I don’t?” she said.

“Don’t think like that. These people at the other table want to take the rest of your life away. They want to take your son away. Be angry at them, not scared. You need to get back to your son, Lucinda. They are trying to stop you from doing that. Think about that.”

I noticed motion behind her and looked up from our huddle to see Frank Silver pull out the chair on her other side and sit down.

“Sorry I’m late,” he whispered. “Hi, Lucinda, do you remember me?”

Before she could answer I put my hand on Lucinda’s arm to stop her and leaned across her to address Silver as quietly as my anger would allow.

“What are you doing here?” I whispered.

“I’m co-counsel,” he said. “That was our deal. I’m here to help.”

“What deal?” Lucinda asked.

“There is no deal,” I said. “You need to leave, Frank. Now.”

“I’m not going anywhere,” Silver said.

“Listen to me carefully,” I said. “You can’t be here. It will throw—”

I was cut off by the judge.

“In the matter of Sanz versus the State of California we have a habeas corpus petition. Is counsel ready to proceed?”

Hayden Morris and I stood at the same time at our separate tables and affirmed that we were ready to proceed.

“Mr. Haller,” the judge said, “I have no record of you having a co-counsel. Who is seated next to your client?”

Silver stood up to answer the question himself, but I beat him to it.

“Mr. Silver is the plaintiff’s original defense attorney in this case,” I said. “He just came by to show his support for her. He is not co-counsel.”

Coelho looked down at the paperwork in front of her on the bench.

“He is on your witness list, is he not?” she asked. “I recall that name, I believe.”

“Yes, Your Honor,” I said. “He is. And he just wanted to be here at the start, as I said, to show his support. He will step out now. In fact, Your Honor, plaintiff requests that all witnesses be excused from the courtroom until they are called upon to testify.”

Morris, who had already sat down, shot back up to his feet and told the judge that the witness I was referring to was Sergeant Stephanie Sanger, who was in the courtroom for a state motion to quash her subpoena for improper service.

“All right, we’ll get into that,” Coelho said. “But first, Mr. Silver, you are excused from the courtroom.”

I was still standing, readying for the argument about Sanger, and I’d already dismissed Silver from my thoughts. I had to keep my eyes on the prize and not be distracted. Morris obviously wanted to keep Sanger off the stand and as far away from the case and my questioning as possible. I could not allow that.

In my peripheral vision I saw Silver slowly stand and push back his chair. I turned and gave a quick nod so it looked like we were close colleagues and of one mind on this miscarriage of justice. He played along, giving Lucinda a pat on the shoulder before moving by me to the gate. He smiled and nodded in a supportive way while he whispered, “Fuck you. And I’m not testifying. Good luck hitting me with a subpoena.”

I nodded as though he had just whispered words of great inspiration.

And then he was gone. I remained standing for the argument to come while opening a file on the table with a copy of the subpoena Bosch had dropped on Sanger. I had no idea how Morris was going to challenge this.

Judge Coelho waited until Silver was almost to the courtroom door before continuing.

“Mr. Morris, you may proceed,” she said.

For the next five minutes Morris argued that the subpoena served on Sergeant Sanger should be quashed because opposing counsel — me — was on a fishing expedition with no evidentiary basis for putting Sanger on the stand.

“Sergeant Sanger is involved in ongoing investigations that could be compromised if counsel strays willy-nilly in his questioning. He is trying to grandstand with this witness, Your Honor, and it could come at the expense of justice in other cases. Additionally, counsel’s application for the subpoena is based on an identification made by the plaintiff that was highly suspect and did not conform to standard procedures for photographic identification. That alone makes the subpoena invalid.”

“Tell me about the photo identification,” Coelho said.