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KEVIN AHEARN HAS FINALLYstopped objecting, both from his table and then in front of Judge Prentice, about having had no prior notice that I was calling Brigid. I tell him she didn’t decide until this morning, which isn’t entirely true; it was last night.
Close enough.
“And she’s hersister,for God’s sake,” Ahearn says when we approach.
“And proud of it,” I say.
“Ms. Smith,” Prentice says.
“Sorry, Your Honor.”
Prentice says, “Mr. Ahearn, if you need extra time to prepare for your cross after Ms. Smith has finished with her witness, we can then adjourn until tomorrow morning. But I see no reason not to have her testify at this time.”
“YourHonor,” Ahearn says, sounding as if he’s pleading now. “I’m not sure what the letter of the law is about being blindsided by counsel’s sister, but it seems to me as if it violates the spirit of the law.”
He knows he’s overplayed his hand when he sees the look on Judge Prentice’s face.
“I am well aware, sir, about both the letterandthe spirit of the law. Now you go back to your table and, Ms. Smith, you get your witness sworn in.”
I go back to my own table and briefly sit down. As I do, Rob Jacobson leans over and whispers to me.
“I don’t want you to do this.”
“You’ve heard this from me before,” I whisper back. “I. Don’t. Give. A. Shit.”
Then I get up and approach the witness stand. Even with the weight she continues to lose, somehow my sister still manages to look like a million damn dollars.
Kevin Ahearn has just told the judge that he’s the one getting blindsided here. But I felt the exact same way when my sister informed me she’d decided to testify.
And why she’d decided to testify.
“I’d like to clear something up before we get started,” I say to her. “Was it my idea that you be here today?”
“It was my own decision, no one else’s.”
“But you had previously resisted being a witness in this case, isn’t that correct?”
“It is.”
“And why is that?”
“Because I thought it would cause undue pain to my husband, whom I love, and who should not be a part of this,” Brigid says.
“But you changed your mind because you felt it was your obligation to give the testimony you’re about to give.”
“Objection,” Ahearn says. “Ms. Smith isn’t questioning her sister. She’s coaching her. The way she probably coached her to make the big entrance she just made.”
“Wait,” I say. “Now I object.”
Prentice slams down his gavel.
“Stop. Both of you. Both objections are overruled. Now please continue, Ms. Smith.”
I do. “Would you please tell us, in your own words, why you did change your mind?”
“Because I finally decided that telling the truth outweighed my desire to protect my family” is Brigid’s answer. “And that my husband and I have a marriage strong enough to survive any embarrassment my appearance here today might cause us.”
“And what is the truth, Brigid?”
