Chapter 36
Eddie
‘I was warned about you,’ said Judge Tanner.
She had slumped into her chair behind the desk in her chamber.
Riley and I stood side by side, facing her.
Rubbing at her temples, she looked from the prosecutor back to me.
Cupping his hands in front of him, back straight, chest out, Riley looked like he was in a principal’s office at military school.
Did they have principals at military school?
Or did they have a rank? I didn’t know and had no inclination to find out.
I was letting my mind wander because I didn’t want to get angry.
I was already pissed at having to fight back against a judge who had been bought and paid for by Julian Vanderpool, even though I couldn’t prove it. I couldn’t even say it. Not here. There was no point. It would only make my situation worse, if that was possible.
As a criminal defense attorney, you’re always battling against the juggernaut that is the system.
No matter how you can manipulate it, or slide past some of those more dangerous pieces of legal machinery, the system won most of the time.
Added to that were prosecutors and judges with their own agendas.
An innocent person has a better chance of cleaning out the casino at a roulette table than getting a fair trial.
Fighting that fight every damn day takes a toll.
I was tired and disappointed and pissed as all hell.
‘You’ve got to watch Flynn. That’s what I was told,’ said Judge Tanner. ‘I just didn’t think for one second you’d try to sabotage this trial so early.’
I said, ‘No need to apologize, Your Honor. Clearly you underestimated me.’
She stared back at me, open-mouthed.
Riley took one step to the side, putting more distance between me and him. He blew out his cheeks in a false demonstration of incredulity.
‘I can’t believe you said that,’ she said, shaking her head.
‘I get that a lot.’
‘The audacity,’ she whispered.
‘Tell me about it. I don’t blame you for being pissed at me. Here I am, having the audacity to put up a defense for my client who has been framed for a murder she didn’t commit. I mean, it’s outrageous. If I were you, I would report that kind of behavior to the New York Bar Association.’
Her back straightened, her neck arched and the anger fed some iron into her words.
‘Oh, don’t you worry, Mr. Flynn. I will be making a complaint to the Bar Association about your behavior. In the meantime, I’m fining you a thousand dollars for contempt of court.’
At the mention of a fine, her eyes narrowed.
Riley looked serious, and nodded in agreement.
‘I will instruct the jury, again, to disregard that last exchange between you and Miss Karim. I’m tempted to have your entire cross-examination excluded. If you test me again, I will have no hesitation in doing so.’
‘You know, there’s a seat free beside Mr. Riley if you’d prefer just to sit at the prosecution table. It might make things clearer for the jury.’
‘Are you seriously alleging that I am biased?’ she shrieked.
‘Are you seriously alleging that you’re not?’ I asked.
‘If you wish to file a motion for my recusal then do so. But this disrespect stops right now. And to make sure you don’t forget, let’s make that fine two thousand dollars.’
I heard Riley whisper, ‘Wow. Two grand.’
He was trying to make me blow up.
I glanced at him, shook my head. Then forced all of my rage down, down, down, into my shoes and through the floor. I needed a clear head if I was going to defend Vanessa.
Reaching into my pants pocket, I took out my thick billfold, removed my silver money clip and counted out hundred-dollar bills.
‘What on earth are you doing?’ asked Judge Tanner.
I threw a stack of hundreds on her desk.
‘This trial is going to last at least a week. Here’s five grand. It’ll be easier if I just opened a tab.’