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“That much is unlikely. Anyway, first we have to take the case. Do you think he’s innocent?”
“I was in Corcoran for two and a half years. I don’t think I met a guilty man.”
That was not reassuring.
“So, you’re an innocent man, too?” I asked.
“Absolutely. I had this friend, total airhead. He knew I was in trouble and that my credit was dreadful, so he told me I could take out a card in his name. Then he forgot he said that, and it became this whole thing.”
A thing called fraud.
“Oh, I hope Larry gets a lot of money. That would solve so many problems.”
“Uh-huh.”
“Don’t get me wrong, IloveLarry. I just love money more.”
A few minutes later, I hung up. Sitting there I had the queasy feeling I was being taken advantage of. Larry Wilkes was probably as guilty as sin and the only reason he’d written to me was the distant possibility of getting a large pile of money. A lot of guilty inmates wrote to us for help. It was like playing the lottery. The odds were against them, but someone had to win. Why not them?
Lydia tapped me on the shoulder. “You look very serious,” she said.
“Just confused. Karen’s typing up my notes. I would have—”
“That’s fine. Come into my office and tell me about your trip.”
I grabbed a cup of coffee, my fourth, and followed Lydia into her office. As we made ourselves comfortable, I thought about where to start.
“Stu Whatley is a piece of work.”
“Yes, he is. But he’s not a rapist.”
“He wants to sue the victim, the witness and the detective. Can he do that?”
“Theoretically, anyone can sue anyone. In order to get the big settlements, you have to show that a person’s civil rights have been violated purposely.”
“He was purposely put in prison.”
“No, he was mistakenly put in prison. Mistakes don’t lead to big payouts.”
“Malfeasance.”
“So, if Detective Wellesley knowingly put innocent men behind bars…”
“Then the settlement will be large.”
“But she won’t pay it.”
“No. When the city reaches a settlement, police officers, witnesses, prosecutors, public defenders, everyone’s indemnified. They’ll be named in the lawsuit, but nothing will happen to them.”
“So, he will be suing those women?”
“Only in theory. Even without the indemnification they don’t have enough money to bother with. The big fish is Los Angeles County. What about Alan Dinkman, how was he?”
“Nice. Or at least nicer.”
“Not why I wanted you to see him.”
“He talked about doing an in-person lineup. But that’s a problem because Selma Martinez talked about a photographic lineup, actually a Xerox lineup. I just called her and verified that she didn’t do both.”
