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“Bob.” Hanson’s voice burst through Arnett’s speakerphone almost instantly.
Arnett explained why he was calling.
“Flynn, right. What a steep mountain of bullshit all that was,” Hanson said.
“Bruce Ashville didn’t seem to think so,” Arnett prodded.
“Bruce Ashville wouldn’t know his ass from a shaved monkey,” Hanson said.
Jo tried to keep the smile out of her voice. “Enlighten us.”
“Our jobs aren’t for everyone, I don’t have to tell you. The things we see in this job, and the choices we have to make? Watching someone we know for a fact murdered little girls go free because of a technicality? Having to compromise with plea deals to even get minimum prison time for violent offenders? We all come in thinking we’re going to change the world, and we all get the idealism smacked out of us fast. The ones who can do the job learn to focus on one case, one victim, one victory at a time. But some people can’t let go of the losses and the failures and the compromises. That was Flynn’s problem.”
“But Flynn claimed there was a hostile work environment?” Arnett asked.
“She made her own hostile work environment. Wouldn’t listen to anyone and butted heads everywhere. Took risks we all warned her not to take, lost cases and watched criminals go free, then claimed it was because we hadn’t supported her enough even though we told her exactly what would happen and why.”
“So why did she name Sandra Ashville in particular?” Jo asked.
“Because Flynn had been learning the ropes by sitting second chair on Sandra’s cases before we cut her loose to prosecute her own.”
“So Sandra was her mentor?” Jo asked.
“Pretty much. Sandra was the most senior female ADA in the unit and the office, and Patty gravitated to her. Sandra didn’t ask for it, and didn’t treat her any differently than anybody else. That was the whole problem.”
“How so?” Arnett asked.
Hanson gave a frustrated sigh. “After a couple of instances when Patty made some bad judgments, Sandra had a little heart-to-heart with her. Tried to let her know she was alienating everyone around her. Suggested she talk to a therapist.”
“And Patty didn’t like that advice?” Jo asked.
“She got defensive and nasty. After that, Sandra washed her hands of Patty.”
“What did that look like?” Arnett asked.
“Nothing out of line. She just stopped going out of her way for her. No more special treatment.”
Jo shot a glance at Arnett. “I thought you said shedidn’ttreat her differently than anyone else?”
“She didn’t,afterthat talk. Before that, she gave her all sorts of special considerations because she was new to the unit. You know how it is when someone’s new. You explain things to them, walk them through it all. But after a while, you expect them to pick up their own slack. We all let it go on far longer than we should have because Patty was struggling. By the time Sandra had enough, everyone else already saw Patty as a troublemaker, so they’d become careful around her. Nobody was going out of their way or taking up her slack anymore.”
Jo sucked air in through her teeth and rubbed her neck against the impossibility of the situation. From the perspective of everyone in the DA’s office, Flynn was a prima donna who couldn’t handle her job and tried to blame them for her failings. They’d become mistrustful of her and afraid of being the next person centered in her crosshairs, so kept her at arm’s length. From Flynn’s perspective, who didn’t realize she’d been on an extended honeymoon, it would’ve felt like an arctic cold front had settled in. In essence, she’d built a wall around herself that she’d never be able to break back down.
“So she went to the chief operations officer,” Jo said.
“She did, on the advice of another informal mentor of hers.”
“Who?” Arnett asked.
“She claimed it was some friend of the family who was a judge.” Hanson’s tone was dismissive. “And apparently some detective she knew seconded it.”
Jo shot Arnett a questioning glance, and he shook his head—he hadn’t heard anything about it from among the detectives, either.
“What was the outcome of it all?” Jo asked.
“No misconduct found,” Hanson said. “And she resigned a week later.”
“Do you think she was still holding a grudge?” Jo asked.
