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“Your Honor, earlier this week you ruled that Mr. Nichols could reassert his challenge to Imani’s ‘go pirate’ campaign when we have evidence that she derived a financial gain from telling her fans to ‘go pirate.’ We now have such evidence.”
“I presume you’re referring to the criminal charges filed in New York,” said the judge.
Jack interrupted. “Judge, criminal charges are an accusation, not evidence.”
“Not so fast,” Ellis countered. “This criminal information filed by the U.S. attorney sets forth in detail a series of wire transfers to an offshore account owned and controlled by Imani. To me, that’s evidence.”
“Let me ask this question,” said the judge. “Why isn’t the government seeking this order in New York? Why should I be dealing with this request in a civil lawsuit brought by her ex-husband?”
“Respectfully, you shouldn’t be,” said Jack.
“We disagree,” said Ellis. “There is plenty of precedent for civil lawsuits and criminal cases to proceed simultaneously on parallel tracks.”
“The only action this court should take today is to stay this case until after the jury has reached a verdict in New York,” said Jack.
“That will be months from now,” said Ellis.
The judge held up his hand like a traffic cop, stopping the back-and-forth between counsel. “Here’s my concern. The defendant has a Fifth Amendment right not to testify in the criminal case. Imani has no right against self-incrimination in this civil case. That’s a thorny issue.”
“That’s not an issue here,” said Ellis. “Less than fifteen minutes after the charges were announced, Imani stood on the courthouse steps and said that she’s done nothing wrong, that she didn’t benefit financially from her ‘go pirate’ campaign, and that the government hasessentially teamed up with her ex-husband to bring trumped-up charges against her.”
“I saw that,” said the judge, and Jack detected a hint of disapproval.
“The whole world saw it,” said Ellis. “Clearly, Imani has no intention of invoking her right to remain silent in the criminal court, in civil court, or in the court of public opinion.”
The judge nodded in agreement. “I have to tell you something, Mr. Swyteck. It rubs me the wrong way to see criminal defense lawyers standing on the courthouse steps and proclaiming their clients’ innocence only to hide behind the right to remain silent at trial.”
“It’s called the presumption of innocence, Your Honor.”
“I know what it’s called,” he said, annoyed. “I’m not here to argue the Constitution with you. I’m just saying that as an officer of the court—which is what all lawyers are—if you’re going to rely on the right to remain silent at trial, the more professional thing to do is to keep your mouth shut before trial.”
“I will keep that in mind,” said Jack.
The judge continued, clearly wanting to press his point. “It’s especially bothersome when it’s not just the criminal defense lawyer declaring his client’s innocence. But here, it’s Imani herself accusing the entire Department of Justice of essentially conspiring with her ex-husband to bring false charges against her.”
Jack had expressed this fear to his client, but he hadn’t expected it to actualize so quickly. Again, Jack had to wonder if Judge Stevens had truly forgiven Governor Swyteck for choosing not to elevate him to the Florida Supreme Court.
“Judge, I couldn’t agree with you more,” said Ellis.
“Here’s my ruling,” the judge said. “I’m going to allow the civil case to reopen. My docket is jammed, but I will reschedule a hearing upon the first cancellation I receive in one of my other cases. Mr. Nichols will have the opportunity to present evidence of the bank account transfers, and if that evidence shows that Imani benefited financially from her ‘go pirate’ campaign, I will rule accordingly.”
“Thank you, Judge,” said Ellis.
“Have I made it clear where I stand, Mr. Swyteck?”
“You have, Your Honor. Very clear.”
Jack left the courthouse quickly—too fast for his opposing counsel to keep pace and gloat all the way to the parking lot. He called Imani from the car with the news. She took it better than he’d expected.
“Only one way to make this better,” she said.
“What?”
“Sing.”
They agreed to talk over the weekend, and the call ended.
Traffic out of downtown Miami was the usual Friday-at-rush-hour nightmare. Jack stopped by Cy’s Place before going home. Happy hour was in full swing. Theo was working the bar. He poured Jack a draft beer but was too busy to talk. It was too loud to have a conversation, anyway.
