The Advocate's Ex Parte (The Advocate Series Book 5) (3 page)

“Did you give a wristband to her in the cafeteria?” Sabre asked.

“Yeah, she had given it to me a few months back when we were hooking up. I tried to give it back to her.”

“You tried? What does that mean?”

“I offered it back to her, but she said, ‘No thanks.’ So I dropped it on her tray when she started to walk away.”

“Please look very carefully. See if you can tell if it’s the same one.”

Matt looked at the photo, from top to bottom, covering every inch of it with his eyes. “I’m not sure,” he said. He continued to stare at the dead body. At first, Sabre thought he was anxious or upset having to see Hannah’s body, but then she saw what appeared to be admiration or even pride. His eyes almost twinkled and his lips parted, turning up ever so slightly on the edges. He closed his eyes for just a second and licked his lips. Sabre set the photo down and turned it over. She didn’t show him the rest of the photos.

Chapter 3

The Durham Case

Child: Matt Durham, Defendant

Type: Delinquency case

Charges: Two counts of First Degree Murder

Victims: Hannah Rawlins & Mason Usher

Facts: Double homicide. Two teenagers bludgeoned to death with a baseball bat.

“That was disturbing,” Sabre said when she and JP had reached the balcony once again.

JP shook his head. “Very. He was getting excited just looking at the photo of the dead body.”

“At least I know not to put him on the stand to testify.”

“Are you going to continue to represent him?”

“As long as he stays in juvenile court, I will. He’s a kid, he needs help, and he’s obviously very sick.”

“He's not sick. He’s just plain mean. That boy would make a hornet look cuddly,” JP raved on.

Sabre frowned. She knew this wasn’t going to be easy and Matt frightened her, too, but he still deserved the best defense possible.

“I have to see this through…at least for the fitness hearing.”

“And if you lose that?”

“I’m not sure. I’ve been thinking about letting it go if they send it downtown. My calendar is so full and it’s difficult dealing with yet another courthouse.”

“But not because you know he killed those two kids?”

“I still don’t know that for sure.”

“For God’s sakes, Sabre. You saw how excited he got when he saw the photo. That boy is plain evil.”

“Maybe, but even so, he still has a right to counsel.”

“Well, I don’t know if I can help you on this one,” JP said.

“That’s your choice,” Sabre said coldly. “But I’m not going to dump him just because of the crime. I knew it was a gruesome double homicide when I took the case. You know how I feel about this sort of thing. I don’t have to like what he did, but that won’t stop me from defending his rights and that includes his right to a fair trial.”

JP took about three steps away from Sabre, shaking his head in frustration. He stopped and without looking at her he said, “You heard his reaction to the judge’s murder. He was pleased.” JP turned abruptly. “Sabre, maybe he killed Mitchell.”

“He couldn’t have. He was locked up.”

“He could have had it done. He may have a following.”

“Do you really think he’s that sophisticated? He’s only fourteen years old.”

“He’s a fourteen-year-old rattlesnake. Do you think he cares who he bites?” JP said loudly. He sighed and walked towards Sabre, put his hand on her shoulder, and lowered his voice. “Perhaps you’re right, but you still need to be careful. Someone had Mitchell killed right after an ex parte hearing with you. And Mitchell was trying to tell you something, maybe even warn you, about one of your cases.”

Sabre wrinkled her brow. “How did you know that?”

“Bob told me. He’s worried and so am I.”

Damn him, Sabre thought. She didn’t want Bob to involve JP. His girlfriend, or ex-wife, or whatever she is now, was in town and staying at his house. Sabre certainly didn’t want JP to think she needed him right now, not if he was interested in someone else. She looked at the time. “We need to go do Matt’s 707 hearing.” Sabre grabbed her briefcase and they started down the steps toward the lobby.

“Do you know who the judge is?” JP asked.

“No, but I know they brought in Jane Palmer to prosecute.”

“Is that bad?”

“She’s tough. She fights hard, which is fine, but I don’t trust her. She thinks all defendants are the scum of the earth, and if she thinks she has any chance of winning at all, she won’t cut a deal. She treats even the slightest crime as if it were a…a….”

“A double homicide? As if the perpetrator bludgeoned them to death with a baseball bat?” JP smirked. “I guess she’d be right with this one.”

They walked into Department Three and took a seat in the back.

“I still don’t like her,” Sabre said. Just then a woman in her mid-fifties with short, blonde hair interspersed with wisps of gray entered the courtroom. Sabre stood up. “Dr. Heller, thank you for coming.”

Dr. Carolina Heller spoke with a heavy South American accent. “Here is your report, but can we speak for just a minute?”

“Sure.” She followed Dr. Heller outside the courtroom. “Is there a problem?”

“If you notice in the report, I’m recommending that Mathew be tried in juvenile court. He has some serious problems, but I believe he can be rehabilitated if he’s kept in the system for the maximum time allotted in juvenile court.”

“You mean until he’s twenty-five?”

“Yes. If they make a true finding on the facts, I couldn’t recommend a shorter sentence for him. He has some serious problems. And although he vehemently denies his guilt, I have my doubts. I know that’s not my job and you know I wouldn’t say that on the stand since it’s just a gut feeling, but I’m telling you for what it’s worth.”

Sabre swallowed. “Thanks. I appreciate your candid assessment and I’ll certainly keep it in mind as we go forward.” Sabre didn’t share her own concerns with the doctor. She wasn’t sure what they meant anyway. Maybe she had it all wrong. She trusted Dr. Heller. Although she was a little more liberal on her assessments of children, Sabre knew the doctor wouldn’t suggest Matt was fit to be heard in juvenile court if she believed otherwise. Sabre’s job today was to keep this case in juvenile court and get this kid some help if it turned out that he committed these heinous crimes.

“I was very upset to hear about Judge Mitchell,” Dr. Heller said. “Do they know who killed him?”

“Not that I’ve heard.” Sabre wondered if the good doctor believed their client might have had a hand in the murder.

Sabre turned to see the ADA Jane Palmer walk into Department Three. She was a tall woman with big bones. She wasn’t overweight, but her large frame had never seen anything smaller than a size fourteen. Her light brown hair hung to her shoulders with just a bit of an upturn at the bottom, and her black-rimmed glasses perched permanently on her aquiline nose, suggesting a cool tactician with a business mind.

“There’s the prosecutor now,” Sabre said. “I’m not certain if the court plans to go forward with this hearing today or not. Let’s go in and see what we can find out.”

Dr. Heller took a seat in front of JP, and Sabre stepped into the well and approached Jane Palmer. “Good morning, Jane.”

“Sabre,” she said, without looking up from her files that she shuffled on the table.

“Are you going forward this afternoon on the Durham case?”

Again without looking at Sabre she said, “I’m ready.”

“Okay,” Sabre said.

When Sabre turned around she caught the bailiff’s eye. Mike McCormick, an eye-catching sheriff in his mid-thirties, was her favorite bailiff. He moved his head in a slightly upward movement indicating she should come over to him. When she walked over to his desk, he said very softly, “Your case will be continued. No judge wants this one.”

“Because of Mitchell?”

“Exactly. They’re concerned that Mitchell’s death is related to this case.”

“Is there something else I should know?” Sabre asked.

Mike moved his head slowly from side to side. Then he stood up as Judge Charles Shafer walked into the courtroom and took his seat on the bench.

“We’ll hear the Durham case first,” the judge said.

Sabre walked over to the table and sat down.

“Would you like me to bring in the defendant, Your Honor?” Mike asked.

“Please,” Judge Shafer said, looking directly at the bailiff. He turned back to face the attorneys. “Before we bring the defendant in I want you to know this case will be continued for one week on my orders. Will there be any objection from counsel?”

“No, Your Honor,” Sabre responded quickly.

The prosecutor hesitated for a few seconds, then said, “No, Your Honor.”

Mike returned shortly with Matt Durham and seated him next to Sabre.

The court clerk said, “In the matter of the State versus Matthew Durham.”

Mike remained standing behind Matt for the duration of the hearing, which took less than three minutes. After the case was continued, Sabre whispered to her client. “This is just as well for us. JP or I will see you in a day or so in the Hall.”

A second bailiff came in the back door and escorted Matt Durham back to Juvenile Hall. Mike leaned down and whispered in Sabre’s ear. “Watch your back. This kid is dangerous.”

Chapter 4

Sabre made the mistake of telling JP about Mike’s warning to “watch her back.” Consequently, he insisted on following Sabre back to her office to go through her files and see if they could find any connection to her ex parte hearing with Judge Mitchell and his murder.

Sabre sat down at her desk and opened an Excel spreadsheet to view her open cases. She carried delinquency cases, which were criminal, and dependency cases, which included child abuse and neglect. Twenty-three of the open cases in her file cabinet were delinquency. The remaining 457 were open dependency cases. Many of those were in the review stage and had very little action on them. The spreadsheet had her cases listed alphabetically by the last name of the client, the date they were opened, the next hearing date, the department assigned to hear the case, and a few other bits of information. Although the list didn’t include the judge’s name, each judge was assigned to a particular department so an attorney could usually tell who the judge was on the case without checking the file. The only deviation from that would be when a judge was absent and someone else covered for them. On a rare occasion, files were sent to other departments because a judge was involved in another trial.

JP sat across the desk from Sabre as she prepared the list of cases where Judge Mitchell presided. He had a clear view of the computer screen because it sat on an arm that extended from the desk. Her desk was clean except for a wooden box that contained her keys; a black Montblanc Johannes Brahm ballpoint pen in a bronze pen holder with her name engraved on the base; and a wooden Victorian hourglass.

“I see you got your brother’s hourglass back,” JP said.

Sabre smiled. “Yes, Detective Klakken brought it by himself yesterday.”

“And how is Shane doing? Not that he’d even want me to know.”

“Actually, he asked about you. I think he’s trying to let go of the past. It would be good for both of you to make amends.” There was a lot of history between JP and Detective Shane Klakken, some of which they had come to terms with.

“I’m just glad you have your hourglass. I know how much it means to you,” JP said.

Sabre looked at the piece of art that sat straight and proud on her desk. The hourglass was one of the few things she had left of her brother’s possessions. She missed him. And she missed her close relationship with JP. Everything was different now since JP had rejected her advances a few weeks ago. He said she had too much to drink and they would talk about it later, but they never did. Now their relationship was strained. They really needed to talk, but she couldn’t bring herself to start the conversation, especially now that JP’s ex was in town and staying at his house.

“Thanks again for saving my life. I owe you another one.”

“No, you don’t. But you really need to be more careful and we’re starting with this case. We need to find out what Mitchell was talking about before something else happens.”

“Okay.” Sabre acquiesced. She printed two copies of the short list of her delinquency cases followed by a much longer list of dependency cases that were in Judge Mitchell’s department. She handed one set to JP.

JP looked first at the delinquency list. “Only three cases with Mitchell?”

“Yes, the first two are both very petty. One was a shoplifting by a twelve-year-old which is on track to a voluntary probation under W&I 654. The other was a grand theft auto by a couple of teenagers that was essentially a joy ride. They stole the car from a parking lot, drove around for a couple of hours, and dropped it back in the same lot.”

“In the same parking lot?”

“Almost in the same spot.”

“That wasn’t too bright.”

“You’re telling me.” Sabre grinned. “They got picked up returning it.”

“They should be charged with ‘grand theft stupid’ instead of grand theft auto.”

She looked back at the list. “So, if it’s a delinquency case, the most likely one is Durham, even though he was locked up. Just the nature of the case leaves it open to suspicion,” Sabre said.

“I’ll follow up on all three just to see if there is anything we’re missing, but I’ll concentrate on Durham. What about the dependency cases?”

“They’re going to be a little tougher. The good news is that Mitchell had only recently crossed over into dependency or I would have a lot more cases with him than I do.” Sabre glanced quickly down the list she held in her hand. “There are thirty-nine.”

JP whistled. “Whoa, that’s a lot of cases. That’s gonna be harder than trying to put a g-string on an alligator.”

Sabre chuckled.

“Can you prioritize them?” he asked.

Sabre perused the list again, marking off the review cases that had been inactive. She handed her list to JP. “Switch with me. I’ve marked off the cases that have had little action. If someone is angry enough to kill a judge over it, it’s probably something current or at least active. I’ve also marked off the cases that were assigned to Mitchell’s department that he never heard.”