“The type of case makes no difference, Your Honor,” Bishop argued. “The purpose of the rule is to keep our nation’s enemies from learning secrets that could undermine the security of the United States of America.”
“This is a death-penalty case, Your Honor,” Mary said. “My client may die without the evidence we seek.”
“Death-penalty cases are governed by the same rules of evidence that are used in shoplifting cases, Ms. Garrett. Mr. Pike’s motions will be allowed, and I will not permit you to introduce any evidence or testimony about the China Sea.”
Part V.Death Row
Chapter Forty-two
It was after two in the morning when Dana finished the record in Woodruff. She thought that the State’s case in the second trial was thin, but the defense couldn’t counter the evidence connecting the bullets that killed John Finley to the gun that was seized in the gang- and drug-related murder that Sarah Woodruff had investigated. Monte Pike had introduced logs from the evidence room that proved that Woodruff was the officer who took the gun to and from the courtroom. Then he put on testimony about throw-down weapons, guns stolen from crime scenes or arrested criminals that rogue police officers threw down at the scene of a shooting when they discovered that a person they shot was unarmed. Pike argued that Woodruff had taken the gun to hold as a throw-down if she ever got into that type of situation and had used it to murder Finley.
Mary Garrett had tried to have Sarah testify about the statements John Finley had made to her on the evening he was murdered, but the judge agreed with Monte Pike that the statements were hearsay and excluded them. Then Garrett had tried to raise a reasonable doubt by introducing the passports and ID found in the duffel bag, but Pike had argued that whatever Finley was involved in was irrelevant because the murder weapon was linked to only one person involved in the case, the defendant. Without the evidence about the China Sea incident and Finley’s statements to Sarah Woodruff, the defense had very little to argue.
The jury had been out one day before finding Woodruff guilty of aggravated murder. It had taken them another two days to produce the findings that had forced the judge to impose a death sentence.
Dana had emptied her coffee pot sometime around one thirty, and what remained in her mug was lukewarm. She popped it in the microwave and grabbed a legal pad on which she’d been making notes. When the coffee had been nuked, she sipped from the mug and began making a to-do list on a new page. At the top of the list she wrote, “plane and hotel reservations.”
Portland, Oregon, is one of America ’s most beautiful cities, but Dana Cutler wasn’t thinking about the high green hills that towered over it, the distant snow-capped mountains you could see from, or the river that wound through it when her plane began its descent. Portland evoked dark memories for Dana. The only other time she’d been in the City of Roses, she was running for her life, she almost died, and she’d left with the blood of two men on her hands.
Dana picked up a rental car at the airport and was downtown twenty minutes later. After checking into her hotel, she showered, then put on a white silk blouse and a severe navy blue business suit. Dana rarely wore anything but jeans and T-shirts, and she always felt a little odd in a suit, the way she imagined a Wall Street investment banker might feel if she slipped into black leather.
Dana walked the four blocks from her hotel to Mary Garrett’s law office. Before leaving D.C., Dana had made an appointment with Garrett, and she arrived with a few minutes to spare. After a brief wait, the receptionist ushered her into the defense attorney’s office.
Dana had done her homework, so the attorney’s unusual appearance didn’t surprise her. She soon found herself seated in a director’s chair with a seat and back of black leather and arms and legs of polished metal tubing. The seat sagged a little, decreasing the height of the chair’s occupant. Garrett sat behind a wide glass desk on a high-backed chair of black leather that Dana guessed could be elevated by pushing a button, so the diminutive attorney could always look down at her clients.
“When you made your appointment, you told my secretary that you were calling from Washington,” Mary said. “You should know that I’m not a member of the Washington bar, and I can’t practice there.”
“I must not have made myself clear,” Dana answered with her best smile. “I was calling from Washington, D. C., not Washington State, and I’m not here to consult with you on a legal matter.”
Mary’s brow knit. “Then why are you here?”
Dana handed Mary one of the business cards she’d had printed the day after her meeting with Patrick Gorman.
“I’m a reporter for Exposed, a D.C. newspaper, and I’m here on a story.”
“Isn’t Exposed a supermarket tabloid?”
“Primarily, but we’re publishing more hard news now.”
“That’s right. Your paper broke the Farrington case.”
“And won a Pulitzer Prize for our coverage. We’re not all about alien abductions and Bigfoot sightings anymore.” Dana leaned forward and tried to project sincerity. “Ms. Garrett, Patrick Gorman, my editor, is fascinated by Sarah Woodruff’s case. Being charged two times with murdering the same person is highly unusual, and the unusual is what sells our paper.”
“The case sounds odder than it really is,” Mary said. “The DA rushed to judgment the first time and charged Sarah without evidence that John Finley was actually dead.”
“I’d say the case still has some pretty amazing elements,” Dana said. “We have a dead man with no past who may be a spy involved in a covert operation. Then there’s the mystery ship, the vanishing night watchman, and the disappearing hashish.”
“There’s no denying that this is not a run-of-the-mill case,” Mary conceded, “but before we go any further, I’d like to know what Exposed plans to do with this story. I appreciate your interest and the fact that you’ve flown to Portland, but Ms. Woodruff is my client, and her interests are my paramount concern. I can’t discuss her case without her permission.”
“Ms. Garrett, our coverage of your client’s case can only work in her favor. I did plenty of research before I came here, so I know a lot about what happened. There will be an outcry once the public learns that an innocent woman is on death row because the government is withholding evidence that could clear her. The publicity should help your efforts to get cert granted.”
“I don’t think the justices are influenced by the opinion of your readers.”
“Public opinion is a powerful force. Even justices of the Supreme Court are aware of it. One never knows what influences a judge’s decision in a close case. Then there’s the possibility of the story convincing a whistle-blower to come forward. Someone knows what John Finley was up to. Time has passed.”
Dana hoped Garrett would decide that talking to her probably couldn’t hurt her client’s chances and might help.
“Ask me your questions,” Mary said, “and I’ll answer those I can without breaching attorney-client confidentiality. But I want your promise that you’ll let me screen anything you plan to print to make sure there’s nothing in the story that can compromise Sarah’s case.”
“I’ll have to clear it with my editor, but I’m sure Mr. Gorman will go along with it.”
“So, what do you want to know?”
“Why don’t you fill me in on the two cases? As I said, I’ve read a lot about them, but I’d love to get your take.”
Garrett gave Dana a quick recap of the events that led to Sarah Woodruff’s first arrest and the dismissal of her first indictment, followed by a short version of the second case.