Chapter 50
A month had passed since Hollis had come home.
He was making modest progress but remained paralyzed from the waist down.
Jury selection had occurred, and it had been exhausting.
After five long days, the prosecution for the State of Illinois and the defense team for Hollis Montrose had finally decided on twelve citizens to make up the jury.
Even though the jurors came from all walks of life, it was baffling to Beau Lee that the ultimate twelve-person pool included only two African Americans.
He thought to himself, For God’s sake, this is Chicago!
There are Black people everywhere in Chicago.
The four extras were alternate jurors, all of whom were Caucasian.
There were potential African American jurors who’d been struck from the panel based on Judge Lambert’s rulings that the State had given sufficient nonracial reasons for doing so.
But in Beau Lee’s mind, it was just the Chicago machine doing what the Chicago machine did.
But it didn’t matter, because he knew he had a winning case based on a mountain of reasonable doubt that not even a conspiracy between the judge and the prosecutor could suppress. Or so he thought.
Rocky, Jamillah, and Tyrone, along with Harpo and Capes, were all sitting in the front row behind the defense counsel’s table observing Beau Lee and trying to understand what just happened on how jury selection was completed.
They were confused at best, and disturbed at worst by the makeup of the jury.
They’d counted at least six African Americans who’d been dismissed.
Beau Lee was seated with Alvarez and Nellie as they scoured the jury charts.
Nellie leaned over and whispered to Beau Lee, “Are you going to renew your objections that six out of eight African American jurors were excused from the jury for pretextual reasons?”
Beau Lee shook his head and said, “No.” He counted the number of potential Black jurors on his chart. “Alvarez, you know all the names and the reasons for each appeal, right?”
“I sure do, Beau Lee,” she said.
“All rise,” the bailiff said as the judge walked back into the courtroom.
“Now that we’ve selected the jury, we’ll go through the pretrial motions so you all will know what evidence will be allowed when we start on Monday morning and you can prepare sufficiently through the weekend,” Judge Lambert explained.
“I’ll begin with the recorded video of Mr. Montrose’s arrest. Mr. DaSilva, I will hear from you first.”
DaSilva stood up. “Your Honor, Attorney Dillard will argue this motion for the prosecution.”
The judge nodded her head. “Very well.”
Prosecutor Dillard walked up to the podium.
She had changed her hair color since the last court appearance.
It was lighter. “Your Honor, the State’s position is that this videotape should be ruled inadmissible because the prejudicial value outweighs its probative value.
It is irrelevant based on the more reliable evidence, like the gunshot residue on the defendant’s hands,” she said.
“Furthermore, the video’s poor quality should be deemed unreliable in aiding the jury as fact finders.
And finally, Your Honor, the State would object to the video being admitted as evidence because of the exorbitant amount of pretrial publicity that it has garnered.
We have officers with impeccable records of professionalism who would offer eyewitness testimony that is corroborated by all of the physical evidence, including again the gunshot residue, the illegible license plate on the defendant’s vehicle, and the fact that the video was taken one hundred yards away and therefore you can’t hear what the officers are saying to the defendant.
The State will argue that the jury would be prejudiced by the video and the assumptions made by the defense lawyers since the jury cannot hear the legal verbal commands that were given by the police to the defendant before they opened fire.
Therefore, Your Honor, based on these arguments and all the ones that were briefed and submitted to the court earlier, we respectfully request that you deny the video’s admissibility as evidence,” she said with conviction.
“Does the defense have arguments to present?” Judge Lambert asked.
Beau Lee stood up and said, “Attorney Alvarez will present the arguments for the defendant.”
Alvarez walked up to the podium. “May it please the court?”
Judge Lambert responded, “You may proceed.”
“Your Honor, the defense contends that the video is very important and gives the jury a first-hand unbiased account of what happened in the shooting and paralysis of Hollis Montrose. Not only does the video show that Mr. Montrose’s license plate was legible, but it also shows that Mr. Montrose was already on the ground when the police officers started firing.
It offers incontrovertible evidence that Mr. Montrose never touched his gun or fired it. ”
“Objection,” Attorney Dillard yelled out. “The State and our experts contend that that cellphone video could not capture what Hollis Montrose was doing with his right hand since the left side of his body was the predominant vantage point.”
“Your Honor, it is clear that the officers started discharging their firearms before Mr. Montrose’s hands were near his hip,” Alvarez said with a tinge of pugnacity. She was gearing up for a sparring match with Dillard.
“I will note the objection, but this is a hearing where I will hear arguments from both parties and then make my decision on the video’s admissibility. Ms. Alvarez, you can continue.”
Dillard’s objection had disrupted Alvarez’s momentum.
She took a moment to find her footing again.
“Your Honor, it is important to note that even though the State makes the argument that the cellphone video doesn’t capture what is being said during the altercation, the number of gunshots being fired can be heard from the cellphone video recording.
We contend that those gunshots are factually important for the jury.
The video’s free of bias, and its probative value outweighs any prejudicial value. ”
“Thank you. I will issue my rulings as follows: In the matter of the video, it can be admitted. However, only selected portions will be shown to the jury. As for the license plate, that video cannot be admissible in accordance with the best evidence rule, which would be to present the tangible license plate before the jury that we have here as part of the evidence in this trial. I will give an instruction to the jury that the police officers had sufficient probable cause to stop the defendant’s vehicle based on the condition of the license plate. ”
Alvarez looked to Beau Lee, who was taking notes as the judge spoke.
“As it relates to the audio, the defense counsel is not allowed to speculate about what is being said based on the video,” the judge said, looking harshly at Beau Lee, as if to anticipate his antics.
“However, the defense will be allowed to play what audio there is on the recording so that the jury can hear the gunshots captured on the video. I rule the vantage point of the video was limited to the left side of the defendant’s body with his firearm being on his right side.
The police officers on the scene had the superior vantage point, and therefore the defense counsel will not be able to argue inferences pertaining to what Hollis Montrose might’ve been doing with his right hand. ”
Alvarez had joined Beau Lee in taking notes and both were writing furiously across their legal pads.
“And finally, with the poor visibility of the video, there is no degree of certainty an inference can be drawn as to whether Officer Jackson Dunham’s hands actually touched Hollis Montrose’s hand when he handcuffed Mr. Montrose.
This concludes my rulings as to admissibility of the video into evidence.
So govern yourselves accordingly,” Judge Lambert said.
Beau Lee stood and said, “Your Honor, since you are only allowing very few parts of the video to be admitted into evidence, I would like to put the defense’s objections to your ruling on the record.”
“Continue,” the judge said.
“With all due respect, by allowing the video to be admissible, the prosecutors can argue that the jury should not believe what they see on the video,” Beau Lee said.
“But why can’t the video be allowed to speak for itself?
Neither party should be limited in what arguments they can make regarding the video.
We reiterate that the entire video should be admitted for the jury to view in its entirety. ”
“Your objection is noted,” the judge said, barely acknowledging Beau Lee’s point.
“If I may continue, Judge…” Beau Lee wasn’t going to relent, despite Lambert’s annoyed glare. “Limiting what arguments we are allowed to make only serves to mislead the jury, despite what they are able to see with their own eyes.”
“Are you finished, Mr. Cooper?”
Beau Lee exhaled slowly to calm the fire that was building in his chest and nodded.
“Good,” the judge said. “Let me be clear: My rulings are final. I’d suggest you focus on your client’s defense and prepare for the trial’s start on Monday rather than waste the court’s time and mine. Good day.” She slammed her gavel without giving Beau Lee a second look.
Alvarez shook her head in disbelief. “Unreal. How can someone who’s supposedly impartial continue to rule in favor of the prosecution on nearly every motion?”
Nellie joined them and began to pack up boxes with Capes. “Frat, this is gon’ be tough, but I got faith.”
Jamillah was shaking her head and tears ran down her face. “Attorney Cooper, it’s so obvious they’re lying on my father. They’re going to send him to prison all based on a big lie that he shot at the police when it’s clear from the video that he did no such thing!”
Beau Lee turned toward the family. “It’s worse than a lie,” he avowed as he handed her his handkerchief.
She took it and dabbed her eyes. “Attorney Cooper, what can be worse than a lie?”
Beau Lee put his hands on his hips and looked back at the empty judge’s bench.
“When you’re reminded that racism is as American as apple pie. And the words on the court wall, like liberty and justice, to you they don’t apply. That’s worse than a lie.”