AllFreeNovel
Share Us
“Yes, Your Honor,” the lawyers said in unison.
Judge Cookson was a former prosecutor, and was generally regarded as straight down the middle, neither pro-defense nor pro-prosecution. He put on his reading glasses, opened the file before him, and pretended to read aloud from the filed papers.
“The motion is styled the ‘Joint Motion of Defendants to Make the Judge and Jury Do Twice the Amount of Work.’ Do I have that right?”
The sharp wit was more like the Judge Cookson Jack knew, and his characterization of the motion did not bode well for the defense. Jack rose to address the court.
“Your Honor, in all seriousness, the defendants have filed a motion to sever their cases. Although my client and Mr. Nichols are named together in the same indictment, each defendant wants a separate trial. They do not wish to be tried jointly.”
“Isn’t that what I just said, Mr. Swyteck? You want to empanel two separate juries to hear the same evidence, and you want me to try this case twice.”
Shaky’s lawyer rose. “Judge, the defendants in this case are divorced, and that divorce was anything but amicable. In fact, they recently sued each other in civil court. In a word, they are antagonistic. The law allows for separate trials where joint defendants are antagonistic.”
Owens rose for the prosecution. “That’s not exactly right, Judge. The law does not require separate trials just because the joint defendants don’t like each other.”
“Mr. Owens is correct,” the judge said. “Separate trials are needed only when thedefensesare antagonistic. Not thedefendants.My understandingis that defenses are antagonistic where one defendant intends to defend himself by blaming the other defendant.”
“That’s correct,” said the prosecutor.
The judge looked straight at defense counsel. “Is that the situation here? Mr. Swyteck, does your client intend to defend herself by presenting evidence or argument that her ex-husband, alone, murdered Tyler McCormick and disposed of the body?”
Jack and Imani had been over it many times. As much as she disliked Shaky, it was her position that he was no murderer.
“That is not our present intention,” said Jack. “But in light of the deposition testimony I elicited recently from Mr. Nichols’s former bodyguard, it is possible that we may pursue such a defense at trial.”
“Ms. Ellis? How ’bout it? Does your client intend to defend himself by presenting evidence or argument that his ex-wife, alone, murdered Tyler McCormick and disposed of the body?”
Jack had warned his client before the hearing that, if she filed this motion and made it public that shemightsay something to incriminate her ex, Shaky could push back even harder.
“Judge, may Mr. Nichols and I have a minute to confer in private?” asked Ellis.
Imani gasped, but only Jack was close enough to hear it.
“You can use the jury room,” said the judge. “Let’s take a five-minute recess.”
The hearing adjourned with the crack of the gavel. At the bailiff’s command, all rose, and the judge exited to his chambers. Shaky and his lawyer hurried off to the jury room. Jack and his client remained at the defense table, mindful of their words, as members of the media and the Imani look-alikes rushed from their seats to the rail and called for Imani’s attention.
The prosecutor stepped across the courtroom and laid a file folder on the table before Jack.
“What’s this?” asked Jack.
“Phone records,” said Owens. “We didn’t have them in time for the grand jury proceedings, so I’m disclosing them now.”
“Can I have some color?” asked Jack.
“We subpoenaed Imani’s cellphone carrier,” said Owens. “These records show a series of phone calls between your client and Tyler McCormick in the weeks before his murder. The relevant calls are highlighted in yellow for you.”
Owens stepped away and returned to his table. Jack opened the envelope and examined the highlighted phone records. He immediately had questions for his client, but the crowd at the rail was only getting more aggressive.
“Swyteck, what’s in the envelope?” a reporter asked.
“Imani, don’t you love my outfit?”
Jack led his client to the far corner of the courtroom, behind the witness stand, where they could talk in private away from the crowd.
“You never told me you talked to Tyler McCormick,” said Jack.
“It was twelve years ago. I must have forgotten.”
