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“I’m certainly going to try. But even without the video, the court still believes there’s enough evidence to convict you. That’s why we’re going to trial.”
“But if the evidence they hid proves my innocence, then there’s no basis for the charges.”
“This video has to irrefutably prove your innocence.”
I sigh. This is complicated, but not impossible. I just have to play our hand carefully. I need to gather all our evidence to present to Judge Hutchens at one time. I can’t look like I’m grasping at straws.
“We can’t do anything else tonight,piccolina. Let’s get some sleep.”
A good night’s sleep is what I need before I go into battle.
ChapterTwenty-Four
Gabriele
It’s been three days, and Sinead still hasn’t gotten the videos from the evidence room. It took two days for the subpoenas to come in and the demand for evidence to get processed. Judge Hutchens had cataract surgery.
Thank God the woman is a workaholic. She’s already back in the office. Sinead refused to let me come to the conference. I trust her to share everything with me, but I feel like a caged animal, prowling from one end of the room to another. I’m back at Mancinelli Developers, waiting for her to arrive. I’ve been to this building more times in the past three weeks than I have in the past three years. Well, maybe more than in the past year.
I hear the elevator ding, so I spin around from where I was staring out the window near the office suite’s door. Sinead’s grin is ear to ear, and I squeeze my eyes shut for a moment. I feel her take my hand and tug it. I open them and follow her to the conference room. I know Uncle Salvatore and Uncle Massimo are following us, but I don’t care. She’s excited and holding my hand. That’s what I can handle thinking about right now. When we get inside the room, she pulls open her bag and starts spreading out papers.
“This documents the chain of custody. It shows they gathered the camera at the scene and logged it. It shows they brought it to the evidence room, but then there’s nothing else.”
She points, and I know what I’m seeing since it’s a standard record.
“This is the evidence record for the box in which the officer found the camera. There’s no record of a camera. However, the label clearly shows it was for your case. Whoever put it there was never on the chain of custody form for either case.”
She points to a piece of paper she put beside the other one. She holds up a thumb drive and beams.
“All of this shocked Judge Hutchens, and she was not a happy camper seeing all these documents. But this was the silver bullet. I thought Tyler was going to piss himself. He sure as fuck won’t have a job by the end of the day.”
“What’s on it?”
“He’s seen talking to the forensics officer I know right after the guy stepped out of his lab. Based on Ryan’s digital log, the conversation happened right after he finished tagging your evidence. It shows Ryan giving Tyler some papers. Ryan gave a sworn statement today that the papers were a full list of the evidence, including the camera. I don’t have evidence to show who, quote-unquote, lost the camera, but it shows Tyler knew of its existence. When it didn’t show up in discovery, he never mentioned it was missing.”
Uncle Massimo shakes his head, but he’s smiling.
“That’s not enough to get him fired immediately, but it will put him up before the OIG and an ethics panel. It’ll also get him withdrawn from the case.”
We all know Sinead was exaggerating with her comment, but Uncle Massimo is right. The NYPD Office of the Inspector General will be very interested to know how evidence went missing. The DA’s Internal Affairs will be just as curious.
Uncle Salvatore jumps straight to the most important question.
“What has Judge Hutchens decided?”
“Right now, the evidence is inadmissible because of the failed chain of custody. She reserves the right to consider a motion to dismiss once we view the video. We’ll have to wait for a new ADA to be assigned to the case. But given how close we are to trial, it won’t take long. I expect to hear by the end of the day.”
I listen to the conversation as it swirls around me. What I want to know is who the fuck, quote-unquote, lost it. And even more importantly, why? Who paid for it to go missing? Those are questions to ask my uncles without Sinead around to hear them. The outcome will be very different if I ask them in private.
When she looks at me, my eyes narrow for a heartbeat. She’s waiting for me to ask those very things. They’re the next logical step, but when I remain quiet, she says nothing. I shift my gaze to Uncle Massimo, then Uncle Salvatore. They know the same thing I do. They’re waiting to see if Sinead presses, but she doesn’t. Just the opposite.
“I have enough to deal with right now, trying to get the case dismissed.”
She’s watching me as she speaks, and my heart races. In the most fucked-up way, she’s accepting not only my life but agreeing to entering this underworld. I want to hold her and kiss her senseless. That’ll have to wait.
Uncle Massimo stands and buttons his suit coat.
“Let us know when you know who the new ADA is. I’m curious who Suarez will assign now.”
