The Last Innocent Man

The defense was going well. David had started by calling several of Larry’s friends and business associates, who testified to his good character. They had painted a picture of a newly wed, young professional who possessed a sense of humor and a dedication to his work. Monica, through cross-examination, brought out the fact that Larry had been passed over for partner by his firm, but Charlie Holt, the witness, had handled that line of questioning well. David thought this revelation had provoked sympathy from the jurors.

David used Barry Dietrich, the partner with whom Larry had met on the evening of the murder, to bridge the gap between the character witnesses and those witnesses who would establish Stafford’s defense. Dietrich was not enthusiastic about testifying. With the exception of Charlie Holt, the partners at Price, Winward had been reluctant to get involved in the case. However, once on the stand, Dietrich had done well.

The courtroom door opened, and a tall, angular redheaded man with a slight limp walked to the stand. David looked back toward him and noticed Jenny seated on the aisle at the rear of the courtroom. They had been together often during the last month, treating each moment alone as if it might be their last. David loved Jenny. He knew that now. Often, when they were lying together, David wondered what would happen to them when the trial ended. If Larry was free, would Jenny go back to him? David was weak and vulnerable at such moments. He would hold Jenny, afraid of what might happen if he let her go.

“Mr. Walsh, how are you employed?” David asked once the witness had been sworn.

“I’m a zone distribution manager for Mercedes-Benz of North America.”

“What does a zone distribution manager do?”

“For sales purposes Mercedes has divided the United States into zones and subzones, and I’m in charge of sales in the San Francisco zone, which covers the Pacific Northwest and Northern California. I order all the cars for the zone and distribute them to the dealers in the subzones.”

David picked up the photograph of Larry’s Mercedes and handed it to the witness.

“How long have you been with Mercedes-Benz, Mr. Walsh?”

“It will be twenty-two years this April.”

“I’ve just handed you a photograph which has been marked as State’s exhibit five, and I ask you if you can identify that car for the jury.”

“Certainly. This is our model 300SEL, 1991. It is beige in color.”

“What does 300SEL mean?”

“The 300SEL is a four-door sedan with a gas engine. Three hundred is the engine size. S means the car is one of our super-class models, the largest sedan we sell. E means the car has fuel injection. L stands for a long wheel base.”

“Do you also sell a 300SE model?”

“Yes, we do. That model looks identical, but it’s four inches shorter.”

“Thank you. Now I am handing you three other photographs,” David said, handing Walsh the pictures he had shown to Ortiz on the preceding day. “Can you identify the cars in those pictures?”

Walsh studied the photographs, then stacked them and turned toward the jury as David had instructed him to do at their pretrial meeting. He held up the top photograph.

“This photograph, which is marked defendant’s exhibit seven, is a beige Mercedes-Benz.”

“Is it a 1991, 300SEL?”

“It is not. It is a 1981, 300SD.”

Several of the jurors leaned forward, and Monica cocked her head to one side, focusing her attention on the witness.

“And exhibit eight?”

Walsh held up a picture of another beige Mercedes.

“This is a 1985, 300SE model.”

There was a stir in the courtroom.

“And the final car?”

“Exhibit nine is a 1987, 420SEL.”

“If I told you that a person who had viewed those photographs had described all three cars as being the same type as the defendant’s 1991, 300SEL, would you be surprised?”

“Not in the least. From 1981 to 1991 Mercedes-Benz made several models in that basic body style that were, with minor differences, very similar. From 1981 to 1983 there was a model 300SEL, a four-door long-wheel-base sedan. From 1981 to 1985 there was the model 300SD. In 1984 and 1985 there was a 500SEL and the 380SE. From 1986 through 1991 we had a model 560SEL, which was similar in appearance to the 300SEL and the 420SEL. And we had a diesel engine car in 1986 and 1987 with the same body. In 1990 and 1991 we had diesel models 350SD and

350SDL.”

“With all these cars looking so similar, how were you able to tell that the three cars in exhibits seven, eight, and nine were not the

300SEL?”

“Exhibit seven shows a 1981, 300SD. The most obvious difference is that the 300SD is four inches shorter. If you look at the front and back doors and windows, you can see that they are roughly the same size in the 300SD, but the back door and window of the 1991, 300SEL are longer than its front door and window because of the longer wheel base. This difference is obvious to me but would not be noticeable to someone who is not familiar with Mercedes-Benz body types.