Fruit of the Poisonous Tree （n.） – Liam
FRUIT OF THE POISONOUS TREE (N.):
IN CRIMINAL LAW, THE DOCTRINE THAT EVIDENCE DISCOVERED DUE TO INFORMATION FOUND THROUGH ILLEGAL SEARCH OR OTHER UNCONSTITUTIONAL MEANS MAY NOT BE INTRODUCED BY A PROSECUTOR.
LIAM
“Judge Ashton! Judge Ashton!” A reporter yelled at me from down the hallway. “It’s Ashley Baron from WRDT-TV! I really need to talk to you!”
Too bad I don’t feel the same…
I continued walking toward the elevator.
“Judge Ashton, please!” She wailed as she ran. “Please!”
The doors glided open just as she caught up, and she somehow leapt in front of me.
Her camera crew was steps behind her.
“I just have a couple questions,” she said. “Please.”
“You have two minutes.”
“How do you feel about being named the Harshest Judge in The City by the Citizens’ Council?”
“Depends,” I said. “Does a check come with that award?”
“You get a bronze middle finger statue.”
“I can’t wait to display it in my chambers, then. I’ll email you a picture whenever I receive it.”
“How do you feel about the Grant Jenkins case being overturned?”
“No comment.”
“Will you be following the new case as a new judge presides over it?”
“I said no comment.”
“Fine,” she said. “Last question. You’re still the only judge in the criminal court who isn’t married. Will that be changing anytime soon?”
“You know I don’t answer personal questions.” I glanced at my watch. “Your two minutes are up.”
“You don’t want to give me two more for old time’s sake?” She winked. “These will be softballs, I swear.”
“Go bother someone else, Ashley.” I motioned for her to get out of my way. “We’re no longer on good terms after how you reported on me long ago.”
“It was never personal.”
“Move.”
“I wasn’t aiming to hurt you,” she said. “I was simply doing my job and trying to report the truth.”
“Then you deserve to be fired.”
Her smile faded and she finally stepped back, letting me inside the elevator.
I couldn’t hit the door-close button fast enough.
Instead of getting off on my floor, I stopped on the third level instead.
“Whoa there, Judge Ashton.” A security guard smiled at me. “Are you sleepwalking?”
“No,” I said. “What makes you think that?”
“You’re never here this early.” He tilted his head to the side. “Everyone knows your routine like the back of their hand.”
“I’m starting a new one as of today.”
“Oh?” He smiled. “And it involves this floor?”
I considered telling him that yes, I was sleepwalking due to stress, but the last thing I needed was to power a new rumor mill.
“I need to get into the case records library to look up a few old cases,” I said. “I have all new clerks, so it’d be quicker for me to handle this myself.”
“Makes perfect sense.” He pulled out a tablet and tapped the screen. “I’ll start keeping it unlocked for you until you tell me otherwise, sir.”
“Thank you.”
I quickly made my way down the hall and into the office, grateful there was no one here to pester me about the sign-in sheet.
Weaving through a maze of floor-to-ceiling shelves, I made a beeline to the “J” aisle and pulled the box marked “Grant Jenkins: Full Docket.”
I took the emergency stairwell up to my chambers and locked myself inside my office.
I rummaged inside the box, searching for the binder named “Inadmissible Evidence—Per Judge Ashton,” and opened it.
The first few pages were copies of things any judge would throw out for a trial—photocopies of “he said, she said” confessions, random high school sports records, and—
I stopped at the sight of a newspaper article.
Grant Jenkins—How He Carries on His Family’s Booming Legacy.
It was a puff piece from a long time ago, from a small town paper that no longer existed.
“If you ever want to know what it feels like to have the weight of your family’s destiny on your shoulders, take a long drive to this small town that sits just outside of upstate New York.”
I skimmed the first sentence and nearly flipped the page, but the byline stopped me.
Olivia S.
Hmmm…
I tapped my finger against my desk, wondering if I could use some of Olivia’s writing background to my advantage for this case. Perhaps I could lighten up on some of her upcoming punishment to give her time to help me with this.
Then again, hell no.
I can handle doing two things at the same damn time.