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No way was Flynn naive enough to not realize she was a suspect. “Like the misconduct claim you made against her?”
Flynn scrutinized Jo’s face. “My time at the DA’s office was a nightmare, and that was largely due to Sandra Ashville.”
Jo gestured around her. “And ultimately landed you here.”
Flynn reached for a travel mug of coffee. “It did. I can’t claim I was happy about it at first, but it’s for the best. I became a prosecutor to do good in the world. I’m still able to do that here.” She leaned forward. “I’m guessing you’re here to ask about my alibi. What time frame do I need to provide for?”
“This morning. From about six until about eight,” Jo said.
Flynn grimaced. “Ah, well, that’s unfortunate. I woke up at eight, ate and got ready, and arrived here at nine for my first appointment. Weekends are busy for me since so many of my clients work Monday-through-Friday jobs. My husband was asleep when I left, but I have external security cameras here and at home that will show me leaving and arriving. But that’s just a bit too late, isn’t it?”
Jo considered the flippancy. Was it real, or a defense because she was scared? “You said Sandra Ashville made your life in the DA’s office difficult. Can you tell us how?”
She leaned back in her chair. “I didn’t like her approach to the job, and I called her on it. That hurt her ego, so she iced me out. But the chief operations officer told me there was nothing I could do. From what I gather, unless someone physically assaults you, they can get away with anything.”
Jo’s brows bounced up at the raw bitterness. “You said you called Sandra out. What about?”
Flynn’s eyes scoured Jo’s face again, like she was judging whether it was worth telling her the truth. “I get that prosecutors don’t have an easy job. Our hands are tied by all sorts of limitations, and the criminals aren’t, and because of that a lot of people end up back on the streets that shouldn’t be there. But that doesn’t excuse taking the easy route.”
Jo noted the use ofour. “I don’t fully understand. Can you give me an example?”
Flynn crossed her arms over her chest. “How about scaring a kid with the threat of a long stretch in prison so they’ll take a plea for a crime they didn’t commit? That was the last straw for me.”
Jo felt Arnett tense up, and fought to keep her own expression blank. “Sandra put someone away for a crime they didn’t commit? That sounds like a pretty strong motive for murder. What’s their name?”
“John Huertas.”
“And you confronted her about that?” Jo asked as Arnett jotted down the name.
“I did. I’d only recently been given my own cases, and asked her advice. She used Huertas as an example of what she thought I should do. I looked her right in the eye and told her I wasn’t going to threaten some kid just to keep my record looking good.”
Jo’s eyebrows popped again. “How did she respond to that?”
“As you’d predict. Gave me a lecture about how this isn’t aTV showand how in thereal worldwe don’t always have clear-cut fingerprints or DNA, and that two eye witnesses to a crime was far better evidence than you were likely to get in most cases.”
“She’s not wrong,” Jo said. “Two eyewitnesses is a gift.”
Flynn pushed her coffee away and leaned forward again. “The witnesses both gave vague descriptions, and his father swore they were together the night of the burglary.”
“That’s what juries are for, to weigh the evidence, or lack thereof,” Arnett said.
Flynn’s eyes flashed to him. “Right. Except when you intimidate the suspect into taking a plea deal, they don’t get a jury trial.”
“Didn’t he have a defense attorney to advise him?” Arnett said.
Jo jumped in, surprised at his vehemence—they weren’t going to get what they needed by alienating her. “I get what you’re saying. They’re hard decisions to make, and it sounds like Ashville drew her line in a different place than you did. I take it she didn’t respond well to being challenged?”
Flynn’s face flushed red. “She laughed at me. Told me when I had more than a day’s experience under my belt, I could come back and apologize to her over a beer.”
That was a far gentler reaction than Jo had anticipated from Sandra—not really angry or hostile, and far closer to what Hanson had argued. “And then you filed the complaint?”
“No.ThenI told her that I didn’t appreciate being condescended to, and that between her style and mine, I thought the chief operations officer would prefer mine.” She leaned back in her chair.
“Telling a defendant about the potential sentence he’s facing and offering him a plea isn’t illegal or even immoral,” Arnett said.
“How about conspiring with a detective to create a fake confession from a defendant’s supposed accomplice? And keeping that confession in his file? Is that immoral?” Flynn spat.
“Ashville did that to get the plea?” Jo asked.
