The Reversal

“I guess so did KNX. I was already down here to look at office space and heard it on the radio that Jessup was going to appear in court. So I came.”

“Well, thanks for being here, Lorna. How is the search going? I really need to get out of this building. Soon.”

“I have three more showings after this. That’ll be enough. I’ll let you know my final choices tomorrow, okay?”

“Yeah, that’s-”

I heard Jessup’s name called by the clerk.

“Look, I gotta get in there. We’ll talk later.”

“Go get ’em, Mickey!”

I found an empty seat waiting for me next to Maggie at the prosecution table. Rivas had moved to the row of seats against the gate. Royce had moved to the glass cage, where he was whispering to his client. Jessup was wearing an orange jumpsuit-the jail uniform-and looked calm and subdued. He was nodding to everything Royce whispered in his ear. He somehow seemed younger than I had thought he would. I guess I expected all of those years in prison to have taken their toll. I knew he was forty-eight but he looked no older than forty. He didn’t even have a jailhouse pallor. His skin was pale but it looked healthy, especially next to the overtanned Royce.

“Where did you go?” Maggie whispered to me. “I thought I was going to have to handle this myself.”

“I was just outside conferring with defense counsel. Do you have the charges handy? In case I have to read them into the record.”

“You won’t have to enter the charges. All you have to do is stand up and say that you believe Jessup is a flight risk and a danger to the community. He-”

“But I don’t believe he’s a flight risk. His lawyer just told me they’re ready to go and that they’re not interested in a disposition. He wants the money and the only way he’ll get it is to stick around and go to trial-and win.”

“So?”

She seemed astonished and looked down at the files stacked in front of her.

“Mags, your philosophy is to argue everything and give no quarter. I don’t think that’s going to work here. I have a strategy and-”

She turned and leaned in closer to me.

“Then I’ll just leave you and your strategy and your bald buddy from the defense bar to it.”

She pushed back her chair and got up, grabbing her briefcase from the floor.

“Maggie…”

She charged through the gate and headed toward the rear door of the courtroom. I watched her go, knowing that while I didn’t like the result, I had needed to set the lines of our prosecutorial relationship.

Jessup’s name was called and Royce identified himself for the record. I then stood and said the words I never expected I would say.

“Michael Haller for the People.”

Even Judge Firestone looked up from his perch, peering at me over a pair of reading glasses. Probably for the first time in weeks something out of the ordinary had occurred in his courtroom. A dyed-in-the-wool defense attorney had stood for the People.

“Well, gentlemen, this is an arraignment court and I have a note here saying you want to talk about bail.”

Jessup was charged twenty-four years ago with murder and abduction. When the supreme court reversed his conviction it did not throw out the charges. That had been left to the DA’s Office. So he still stood accused of the crimes and his not-guilty plea of twenty-four years ago remained in place. The case now had to be assigned to a courtroom and a judge for trial. A motion to discuss bail would usually be delayed until that point, except that Jessup, through Royce, was pushing the issue forward by coming to Firestone.

“Your Honor,” Royce said, “my client was already arraigned twenty-four years ago. What we would like to do today is discuss a motion for bail and to move this case along to trial. Mr. Jessup has waited a long time for his freedom and for justice. He has no intention of waiving his right to a speedy trial.”

I knew it was the move Royce would make, because it was the move I would have made. Every person accused of a crime is guaranteed a speedy trial. Most often trials are delayed at the defense’s request or acquiescence as both sides want time to prepare. As a pressure tactic, Royce was not going to suspend the speedy-trial statute. With a case and evidence twenty-four years old, not to mention a primary witness whose whereabouts were at the moment unknown, it was not only prudent but a no-brainer to put the prosecution on the clock. When the supreme court reversed the conviction, that clock started ticking. The People had sixty days from that point to bring Jessup to trial. Twelve of them had already gone by.

“I can move the case to the clerk for assignment,” Firestone said. “And I would prefer that the assigned judge handle the question of bail.”

Royce composed his thoughts for a moment before responding. In doing so he turned his body slightly so the cameras would have a better angle on him.