No Way Out

Alex fought hard to maintain a neutral face and shrugged his shoulders. ‘That depends on how reasonable the judge is when it comes to accepting challenges for cause.’

‘Well I have to assume that another judge will be reasonable,’ said the judge. ‘And if you think he abused his discretion you can always appeal.’

Alex used the full range of his acting skills to look like a man who was trapped.

‘There’s also the problem of transportation. My office is in San Francisco and that means I’ll have to cross the Bay Bridge during commuter times.’

‘Yet you were ready for San Joaquin or Contra Costa,’ said the judge, sarcastically.

‘Those were second choices,’ said Alex feebly. ‘I still think a Sacramento or Santa Clara jury would be more likely to approach this case with open minds.’

‘Well you can file an exception for the record. In the meantime it’s decided. The trial will be transferred to Alameda County.’

As they returned to their places, Alex continued his struggle to suppress a smile that was just itching to appear on his face.

Friday, 26 June 2009 – 12.05 (#ulink_8f9f2362-0329-51aa-aa0b-8667c8893f7d)

‘So what’s this weakness you’ve found in their case?’ asked Claymore.

They were in a meeting room at the Ventura County pre-trial detention facility, where Elias Claymore was being held. Alex was taking the lead this time, while Andi sat in almost total silence.

‘She changed her story…about the attacker’s age.’

‘How do you mean?’

‘Well, initially she told the police that her attacker was in his twenties. They did a photo line-up – they even had a suspect tucked in there with the pictures – but she didn’t choose him.’

‘I don’t understand. When they said she picked me from a photograph, I thought that meant she picked me from a book of mug shots.’

‘No, they don’t do that anymore. They discovered a long time ago that after looking at hundreds of pictures, the witness’s vision becomes so blurred, they can’t tell a stranger from their own mother. It actually led to erroneous arrests in the past and also let guilty people slip through the net. They sometimes use an artist’s impression or e-fit picture when they’re planning on asking the public to help find an unknown suspect.

‘But in this case they used mug shots as a cheap alternative to a line-up as they already had a suspect. It’s called a “photo line-up.” Instead of hauling a suspect in and risking a civil rights suit, they use photographs of suspects mixed in with pictures of law-abiding citizens that match the description. In fact they can even use out of date pictures. As long as the picture of the suspect is up-to-date and as long as the faces in all the pictures matched the description of the suspect given by the witness, then the identification is valid.’

‘But can they do that without my knowledge? Without an attorney present?’

‘Sure can. US versus Ash, 1973. But we can challenge it before the jury.’

‘But if she told them I was in my twenties, then what picture of me did they put in there? As I am now or when I was in my twenties?’

‘When you were in your twenties.’

Claymore looked confused.

‘Doesn’t that invalidate the whole thing?’

‘No, you don’t understand, Elias. She didn’t pick anyone.’

‘So what was all that bullshit about her picking me from a photograph?’

‘That was later. After lunch she went back and told them that she’d had second thoughts and that the man who attacked her was older than his twenties.’

‘But I’m fifty-eight. How’d she get from twenties to fifty-eight?’

‘Good question. I think they were probably skeptical too, although their reports don’t make it obvious what they were thinking. You have to read between the lines.’

‘But what did she say? I mean did she just come out with something like, “He was twice as old as I said at first”?’

Alex handed Claymore a copy of the statements. Claymore picked it up and started reading through it as Alex spoke.

‘She said she now thought that he was in his fifties. But she explained that the reason for the change of heart was because she had actually seen him again.’

‘What do you mean seen him again?’

‘I mean saw you. Not in the flesh, but on the TV. She said she was passing an electronics store and she saw you on a TV screen in the display window. It was your show. And that was when she realized – so she said – that it was you.’

‘But didn’t they notice the age difference? Didn’t they ask her to explain the discrepancy?’

‘They did, but she just said she was mistaken. She claimed that she was under stress. Which is reasonable.’

‘But how can stress make her mistake fifties for twenties?’

‘That’s the question they don’t seem to have asked. Or if they did, they didn’t receive any answer, as far as I can determine. And that’s the question that we’re going to ask if this case goes to trial.’

Wednesday 15 July 2009 – 12.40 (#ulink_69ca9ff8-fcd4-548f-b210-4959f0489576)

‘The defendant, Elias Claymore is charged with Rape under section 261, Part a, Paragraph 2 of the California Penal Code. How do you plead, Elias Claymore: guilty or not guilty?’

‘Not guilty.’

Claymore sat down, looking around the courtroom nervously. They were in Court 11 of the Rene C. Davidson Courthouse on Fallon Street in Oakland, before Justice Roberts.

Alex remained standing. ‘Your Honor, at this stage I would like to renew my request for bail in accordance with my written submissions.’

Sarah Jensen, who had hung on to the case for the time being, rose to reply. But the judge stayed her with a raised hand.

‘I’ve considered your submissions carefully, Mr Sedaka, but I see no reason to reopen the original decision to deny bail. This is truly an exceptional case, but I am bound to consider the defendant’s past as an escapee and for this reason I cannot grant bail.’

Alex gritted his teeth. It was particularly hard on Claymore, because he was still being held at the pre-trial detention facility in Ventura. To get to this ten-minute hearing, he had been driven for 6 hours across 375 miles.

‘In that case, Your Honor, I move that the defendant be transferred to the Santa Ritter jail in Alameda County.’

‘So ordered. Now, regarding the trial date. I see that the Information was filed in Ventura County on June twenty-sixth. That means the trial must commence by August twenty-fifth. I also see that there’s a vacant slot on Justice Ellen Wagner’s docket in Court Seven between August seventeenth and September fourth. Does that allow enough time for the trial?’