Читать книгу No Way Out - David Kessler - Страница 22

‘Your Honor,’ Alex Sedaka’s voice rang out confidently, ‘although my client has a criminal record, his last criminal conviction was over twenty years ago.’

They were in Court 13 of the Ventura Courthouse, in the same building where Claymore was being detained. It was a crowded courtroom with backless spectators’ benches and a large cage for holding prisoners. Being based up north in the Bay area, Alex had never had to practice here before, but he knew that this was one of the busiest courts in the country, essentially a meat factory for arraignments, scheduling motions and defendants’ pleas. With 200 cases a day to process, user-comfort was a luxury that they couldn’t afford.

‘Mr Claymore has strong roots in the community,’ Alex continued. ‘And for the last ten years has been a model citizen.’

In truth, Alex was rather less confident than he sounded. The warrant for the second arrest had been a no-bail warrant, because of Claymore’s past, a powerful indicator of which way the judge’s thinking was heading. Alex would have liked to file for an interim appeal. But he knew that his grounds were weak to nonexistent. Denying bail to a man who had previously escaped from prison and stayed at liberty for several years was hardly unreasonable.

But his training and experience as a trial lawyer, permitted him to conceal the doubt – indeed required him to conceal it.

So it was with this turbulent mixture of emotions that Alex was addressing the judge. Except that he was all too aware that he wasn’t addressing only the judge. This was Claymore’s first appearance in court since his arrest and predictably enough it had attracted a lot of public attention. The courtroom was packed with reporters and Alex knew how important it was to get the message out there into the stream of news as quickly as possible, to counteract the negative effect of Claymore’s well-known past.

It was inevitable that the media would dredge up Claymore’s history; there would be no restrictions on public discussion of the facts of the case. Gag orders could be imposed at the judge’s discretion, but there was no automatic sub-judice rule.

As Alex sat down, a woman of about forty, of average height with neat, jet-black hair, rose from her chair to dispute the point. She was Sarah Jensen, the Assistant District Attorney who headed the domestic violence division of the D.A.’s office. Alex had never crossed swords with her before but he was well aware of her reputation. Some prosecutors are tough but not good. Others are good but not tough. Sarah Jensen was both tough and good.

‘Your Honor,’ there was an angry, almost contemptuous edge to the voice, ‘Elias Claymore’s record is well known and the defense counsel conveniently failed to mention that he not only raped six women in the past, but he also escaped from prison last time he was convicted and remained at liberty for several years. For this reason alone, he is a very serious flight risk.’

Alex was back on his feet. ‘Your Honor, the Assistant District Attorney seems to have conveniently forgotten that my client returned to America voluntarily to serve out his sentence.’

It was Alex who, as a young law graduate, still learning his craft, had negotiated the plea bargain.

‘And why should that outweigh the fact that he fled in the first place?’ asked the judge, raising a skeptical eyebrow.

The judge was an old man, close to retirement from the bench. He had seen and heard just about every piece of bullshit that lawyers were capable of throwing at him, and if there were any new tricks to be learned – even from a veteran like Alex – he would have been most surprised.

‘Because it’s a more recent event, Your Honor. And in judging a man’s character, the court should give more weight to his recent past than his distant past.’ He placed the emphasis on his key words, in the hope of neuro-linguistically programming the judge to respond as he wanted.

‘You mean the fact that he returned to the United States to serve out his sentence after he escaped?’

‘Precisely, Your Honor.’

The judge squirmed with mock embarrassment and scratched his head. ‘Forgive me for pointing out the obvious, Mr Sedaka, but he could hardly have done it before he escaped.’

The courtroom erupted with mirth at the judge’s wisecrack and Alex felt the frustration that goes with knowing that one faces an uphill struggle against a hostile judge – especially when the hostile judge has the law on his side.

The gallery, packed with journalists who had got wind of Claymore’s arrest, sensed that this was the beginning of another media event, like the O.J. Simpson trial.

Sarah Jensen shook her head. ‘Your Honor, if I might just add something at this juncture. There is nothing particularly confidence-inspiring in Mr Claymore’s return to the United States, after he’d spent several years on the run as a fugitive from justice. He stayed away as long as he could hold out, until he decided that he preferred the comforts of an American prison to the hardships of a Third World dictatorship.’

Alex bristled with anger. ‘Your Honor, anyone who thinks a prison is a comfortable place to be, should spend a couple of nights there.’

‘I believe,’ the judge replied solemnly, ‘that prison is supposed to be an unpleasant place…so that the inmates don’t get too attached to it.’

Again, laughter erupted from the spectators.

‘My point, Your Honor,’ Alex replied, with growing irritation, ‘is that the court should be guided in its judgment by considering the new Elias Claymore, not the old Elias Claymore. His absconding, like his criminal record, belongs to his past.’

‘That’s something that the prosecution will no doubt dispute, and something that the jury will have to decide,’ said the judge in his world-weary tone. ‘However, I’m inclined to accept that the defense has a valid point regarding the flight risk. The fact that Mr Claymore returned to the United States to serve his sentence is a strong point in his favor. Also he does now have roots in the community. On the other hand I must also bear in mind the severity of the alleged crime and the fact that Mr Claymore has a record for this sort of crime and the fact that he did once escape lawful custody.’

Alex and the A.D.A. waited in silence while the judge considered his options.

‘I feel that in this case, the accused’s record of escape outweighs any other factors. Bail is denied.’

Alex was angry. ‘In that case my client stands by his right to a speedy trial.’

‘That is his right, Mr Sedaka. I’ll set the prelim fourteen days hence in Court 12.’

In general lawyers are more amenable to a delay when their client is out on bail. Alex’s motive for refusing to waive the right was twofold. Firstly to put pressure on the D.A. – and thus indirectly on the judge – to reconsider the bail question. Secondly, if bail was to be denied, then he didn’t want his client sitting in jail for long. Jail is an unsafe environment at the best of times, and for a black man who was thought of as an ‘Uncle Tom’ it was particularly dangerous. He would be in danger from both sides.

Whether either of them would go as far as to try and kill him was another matter, but prison beatings were almost impossible to prevent. The only way Claymore would be safe was if he asked for isolation from the general prison population. But that would involve being put in a special section with all the sex offenders, including child molesters. Alex wasn’t sure if Claymore would be ready to seek this. Knowing Claymore, he’d probably try to tough it out – until it was too late. And this wasn’t an area in which Alex could advise his client. It was something Claymore would have to decide for himself.

After a brief whispered exchange, Claymore was led away to the county jail that was located in the same building.

As Alex was walking away, he was approached by a dignified, sixty-something gray-haired man, who stiffly proffered his business card to Alex, by way of introduction.

‘I’m Arthur Webster of Levine and Webster.’

‘How do you do, Mr Webster,’ said Alex, tensely. ‘What can I do for you?’

‘Let’s walk,’ said Webster, indicating with his hand to the side exit from the court building. Alex was happy to comply, but felt alienated by the man’s manner, that appeared to straddle the fence between embarrassment and condescending arrogance.

‘I should explain that we’re a local law firm, based in Los Angeles. We’re retained by the network that broadcasts Mr Claymore’s show and we work extensively with SoCal Insurance where Mr Claymore carries his liability insurance.’

‘I’ve heard of you,’ said Alex.

Webster seemed pleased by this.

‘The reason I wanted to talk to you is because I understand that you’re actually based in San Francisco.’

‘What of it?’

‘Well Claymore’s insurance policy with SoCal Insurance includes legal liability and it occurred to us that it might be rather hard for you to represent Claymore down here in Ventura when you’re based up in the Bay area.’

‘And you want…’

‘We’d like you to step aside as attorney of record and let us represent Mr Claymore.’