Resurrection Walk

As Lucinda returned, I went to the plaintiff’s table to get a file. I opened it and asked permission to show two photographs to the witness. I gave copies to Morris, even though he had already received these in discovery and they had been part of the so-called evidence against Lucinda five years before. I also gave copies to the judge. They showed Lucinda at the range, holding a gun in the same stance she had just demonstrated in the courtroom.

“Mr. Haller, I’m concerned,” the judge said after reviewing the photos. “You are asking to place into exhibit two photos that would tend to show that your client had access to a firearm and knew how to use it. Are you sure this is wise?”

“It’s one of the dots, Your Honor,” I said. “And the court will soon understand that the photos are exculpatory, not damning to my client’s cause.”

“Very well,” Coelho said. “It’s your show.”

I walked a third set of photos to the witness stand and put them down in front of Lucinda.

“Lucinda, can you identify when and where those two photos were taken?” I asked.

“I don’t know the exact date,” Lucinda said. “But it was when Robbie taught me how to shoot. This was the range we would go to in Sand Canyon.”

“Sand Canyon — is that in the Antelope Valley?”

“I think it’s Santa Clarita Valley.”

“But nearby?”

“Yes, not too far.”

“Okay, in that second photo, who is that man next to you?”

“That’s Robbie.”

“Your husband at the time.”

“Yes.”

“Who took that photo?”

“It was one of his friends from the unit. He was teaching his wife how to shoot there too.”

“Do you remember his name?”

“Keith Mitchell.”

“Okay, and in the pictures, the gun you are holding, where is that now?”

“I don’t know.”

“When you and your husband divorced, did he leave you any of the guns he possessed?”

“No, none. I didn’t want them in my house. Not with my son there.”

I nodded as if her answer were important and looked at my legal pad, where I had outlined my examination. I used a pen to check off the different avenues of questioning I had covered.

“Okay,” I said. “Let’s go back to the night of your ex-husband’s death. What happened after you opened the door for the deputy and saw Roberto’s body on the lawn? Was he facedown or face up?”

“Facedown,” Lucinda replied.

“And what happened next with you?”

“They took me and my son and made us sit in the back of a patrol car.”

“And how long were you there?”

“Um, it seemed like a long time. But then they took me and put me in a different car from my son. An unmarked car.”

“You were eventually driven to the Antelope Valley substation and questioned?”

“Yes.”

“Before that, were you asked to allow your hands and clothes to be tested for gunshot residue?”

“Yes. I was asked to step out of the car and they tested me.”

“You were swabbed with a foam disk?”

“Yes.”

“And who conducted this test?”

“A deputy. A woman.”

“Now, there came a time when my investigator Harry Bosch visited with you at the prison in Chino and asked if you would look at some photographs.”

“Yes.”

“He wanted to see if you could identify the female deputy who swabbed you, correct?”

“Yes.”

“He showed you six different photographs?”

“Yes.”

“And did you pick one of those photographs and identify the person who swabbed you?”

“Yes.”

I gave copies of the photo of Stephanie Sanger from Bosch’s photo lineup to Morris and the judge. Permission was quickly granted to enter the photo as plaintiff’s exhibit 2 and show it to the witness.

“Is that the woman you identified as the deputy who tested you for gunshot residue?”

“Yes, that’s her,” Lucinda said.

“Did you know her?”

“No.”

“You didn’t know she was in your husband’s unit with the sheriff’s department?”

“No, I didn’t know her but she told me she worked with Robbie.”

“Did she seem upset that Robbie was dead?”

“She was calm. Professional.”

I nodded. I had gotten everything I needed on the record. Most of it would pay dividends at later points in the hearing. I was pleased. I now had to hope that Lucinda would stand up to a cross-examination from Morris. If she survived that, I knew we had a solid chance.

“I have no further questions,” I said. “But I reserve the right to call the witness back to the stand.”

“Very well, Mr. Haller,” the judge said. “Mr. Morris, would you like to take a break before you begin your cross-examination?”

Morris stood.

“The State would welcome a short break, Your Honor,” he said. “But I have only two questions for this witness, and they require only yes-or-no answers. Perhaps the break could come after the witness is excused.”

“Very well, Mr. Morris,” the judge said. “Proceed.”