Authors: Derek Blass
“
For what?”
“
Have you seen what's going on outside?” another officer asked incredulously. “Let's get you out of here.” Half of the officers stood by the courtroom doors and the others moved toward the judge.
“
There is no way,” Judge Melburn said. “This trial will continue!” Where the gavel failed this statement did not. The officers halted in their tracks. The people who had been watching what was going on outside stopped and looked at him.
“
Your Honor, you can't be serious,” one of the officers said in a high-pitched voice.
“
Well I can and I am.”
“
There is a mob outside fighting to get in here. People are getting attacked, smothered and trampled in the process. It's all we can do to stop them from getting into the courthouse—so we need to get you out now!”
“
You do your job and stop them. We'll do our job in here and continue this trial. There will be no intimidation of my courtroom,” Judge Melburn said with a bit of reckless pomp. The attorneys, the jurors and the gallery looked at him in astonishment. Shaver was the only one that appeared unaffected. In fact, he looked pleased.
“
No, this isn't right,” a man said as he came toward the bench. “You need to get us all out of here! I just came to watch a trial, not be a part of a siege!” A bailiff put his hand into the man's chest. “Listen, you can't stop me! I want out!” Some of the other people voiced their agreement with the man.
The judge slammed his gavel down, but it may as well have been a plastic toy. “Everyone will sit, and everyone will be quiet!” Shaver smiled but kept his calm. The jurors were always watching. That's what Sphinx told him.
Sphinx stood up and said, “May I proceed, Your Honor?” The judge nodded. A deep, low-toned boom went off outside and sent a light vibration through the courtroom. The hanging chandeliers slowly rocked back and forth. People in the gallery huddled together.
Sphinx moved to the podium, set down some notes, and then dove into his opening statement. “One man's word versus another's. That's all you're going to get in this case. One of those men, Sergeant Colin Shaver, sitting right here, is a fourteen-year veteran of the police force.” Sphinx moved around as he spoke, as fluid as water through a creek. He used hand flourishes, dramatic expressions. It was a good show. “He has been
serving
and
protecting
this city against its worst elements. Its cancer.” He moved toward the prosecutor.
“
Now, this man wants you to believe that Sergeant Shaver, after fourteen years of service without reprimand, snapped and shot an innocent, helpless man in the chest three times. How's he going to prove that to you?” Sphinx pointed at Martinez, who Shaver had not looked at since the trial started. He did now. That little shit enraged him.
“
He is going to use the testimony of this man, and this man only. He may parade some experts through here. Some serious, plain-looking expert from the State to talk about ballistics. You can't forget though, it's all about this man's word,” he said pointing at Martinez, “versus Sergeant Shaver's word.”
“
Who is this man? This centerpiece of the State's case? Unlike Sergeant Shaver's fourteen years of service, Officer Martinez has six years. Unlike Sergeant Shaver's years of service without reprimand, Officer Martinez has twice been reprimanded for insubordination. Let's talk about breaking the rules while we're at it. The man that the State is going to use as the core of its case, the core of its argument that you should convict Sergeant Shaver of second degree murder,
can't even follow rules
. On at least two occasions, when his superiors told him what to do, he refused. More importantly, in this case
he broke all of the rules
.”
“
There is a simple rule of law called chain of custody. You may have heard of it or seen it on television in your favorite legal dramas. The rule deals with evidence and how that evidence must be protected. Why do we have this rule? To protect people who have been accused of crimes from having tampered or inaccurate evidence presented against them. To make sure that what you see is fully accurate. Why? Because at the end of all of this,” Sphinx said with a sweep of his arm across the courtroom, “you're deciding this man's
life
,” he said while moving to stand behind Shaver.
“
Officer Martinez broke that cardinal rule of chain of custody. He tampered with evidence related to this case. He demonstrated his comfort with breaking rules in other ways as well. Officer Martinez led a group of vigilantes, including his criminal brother-in-law from Mexico and the man you see sitting next to him, Cruz Marquez, to Sergeant Shaver's house. As if hunting prey, he cornered Sergeant Shaver in his house and then nearly killed him while trying to take him into custody!” Sphinx had strewn together those sentences in excitement and ended almost out of breath. “There is a process we use when apprehending alleged criminals, ladies and gentlemen. A process guaranteed to us by the laws of this country! It's called a warrant! Officer Martinez was willing to violate
that
rule of law as well!”
Sphinx stopped to take a drink from his water glass. It was also a moment for absorption, to let the weight of his words fall over the jurors. He pulled at one of the cuffs on his suit jacket and then set the glass down. Another tremor from outside the courtroom made the water in his glass ripple.
“
It's fitting, isn't it, that there's so much chaos outside. Chaos is what marked the indefensible hunt for Sergeant Shaver. Much like the crazed crowds that howled around the burning corpse of an accused witch, the State is on a witch hunt for Sergeant Shaver. There is no proof that Sergeant Shaver committed any crime. There is no certainty as to
what
gun, of the five officers that were at the scene, shot Livan Rodriguez. The State has to prove its case beyond a reasonable doubt, and this case is chock-full of doubt. On your verdict form, 'no' to second degree murder.” Sphinx returned to his seat and leaned back.
“
I don't think they have a chance,” he said to Shaver.
* * * *
Sandra stood on the courthouse steps and looked at the swell of flesh below her. She pulled a long, black wisp of hair away from her face and adjusted the collar on her suit jacket. The crowd stretched two blocks back, and covered every square inch of the park in that area. She had never seen anything like this. Four rows of police in riot gear positioned themselves at the bottom of the courthouse steps. The sun was halfway to the horizon and splashed shadows along the buildings encircling the park.
The crowd of people went crazy when she came out of the courthouse. She almost turned back to go inside, but Cruz was right behind her. Sandra noticed that his tie was loosened and the sleeves of his shirt were pulled up his arms. He pointed to an area for disabled people at the front of the mass of people. It was too loud for them to communicate clearly. They got to the designated area which was actually full of reporters. Each of the reporters was desperately trying to report above the screams of the crowd.
Two separate chants were going, sometimes audible individually but usually a muddled slur of indecipherable vowels. “Gas the pig” and “Free Shaver.” A reporter tried to grab Sandra by her arm but Cruz deflected the man's hand. He put his body to her side and shielded her through the crowd. They finally got through and took a minute to survey the mass. People were still arriving. Their sheer number was daunting. It seemed that at any moment the thin thread of civility that existed could break and send the crowd into a state of bedlam.
The police set up a makeshift headquarters comprised of an enormous white tent. Officers surrounded the tent, as if under attack. They carried automatic weapons and many of them had gas masks hanging from their belts. Body armor protected their arms, legs and chests.
“
This is ridiculous,” Sandra said to Cruz, still having to raise her voice to be heard.
His face looked excited. “This is
amazing
! Look at all these people.” He stood in the middle of a road that had been blocked off, with his arms crossed, analyzing.
“
I never would have imagined...” Sandra started.
“
Me either. I just can't believe all these people are here. There must be fifteen thousand people—I don't know. I've never seen a gathering like this.” Someone came up to them and asked where the “anti-Shaver” groups were. Cruz pointed them in the right direction.
“
Let's walk to the news station. I've got to get back there to deliver my report.”
“
Have you ever seen coverage like this? By the way, where's Martinez?”
“
I thought he was behind you?”
“
Hmm, maybe he stayed inside,” Cruz said. “So, have you ever seen this many people? This many news stations?”
“
I've never seen this many. I bet there are around a hundred different stations there.” They churned against a steady flow of people.
“
It's especially telling that people are still walking there,” Cruz said as he turned around and took a couple of steps backwards. “It's five-thirty! These people look like they're going to stay overnight.” Indeed, some people were carrying sleeping bags, pots, and tents stuffed into tight little sacks. “Hold on—look at this.” Sandra stopped and turned around too. She saw a head bobbing through the crowd, coming at them. It was Martinez. He reached them out of breath.
“
Christ,” is all he managed to say between breathes. His hair was crazed and puffy, and the suit jacket hanging in his hand scraped the ground as he bent over.
“
Yeah, you've got quite a stage, Martinez.”
“
You guys missed it. The judge is crazy.” Martinez stood up straight and put his hands over his head. “That damn crowd was hard to fight through.”
“
Wait, what did the judge do?”
“
He shortened the trial.”
“
What?!”
“
Yep. He must have seen what was going outside. A few minutes after he left the bench and you guys split, he came back out. He said that due to the circumstances, he was shortening the trial to two days. He talked to Mason and the other attorney about what witnesses they each have. Mason said just me and one expert. The other attorney said just Shaver. I think that kind of surprised Mason.”
“
So then he shortened the trial to two days? You mean, two days after today?”
“
No! Two days as in, today was the first. He said that we would get through the three witnesses tomorrow and then do closings. The attorneys are still there with the judge working on jury instructions. Mason said he would call you in a few hours, but that he didn't anticipate getting out of the courthouse until about nine o'clock.”
“
Can the judge do that?” Sandra asked. She was walking in front of the men to make sure they didn't run into anyone. They were completely engrossed in the conversation.
“
Absolutely,” Cruz answered. “If it isn't going to prejudice either of the parties, then the judge can do it. So Sphinx said he's going to call Shaver?” Martinez nodded. “That's rare.” They reached the front of the news station and stopped in a circle, looking at each other. “Are you ready?” Cruz asked Martinez.
“
Ready? All I'm gonna do is tell the truth. Mason and I went through my examination a lot. I know what Sphinx is going to beat me up on. Shit, we heard all about it in his opening. None of that changes what Shaver did.”
“
Guys, I've really got to get inside. This is probably going to be the biggest report of my life.” They had walked several blocks away from the courthouse.
“
Can we come in and watch?” Cruz asked.
“
I'd love that,” Sandra said with a look of relief on her face.
“
Actually, I've got to get some food and then rest,” Martinez said. He gave Sandra a hug and wished her good luck. Then he walked away, moving sideways in the thinning crowd of people.
* * * *
Tawny sat in the jury deliberation room with everyone else. It was a meager step above the waiting room they had been in that morning. People were starting to get restless. Her stomach grumbled. Six o'clock and they hadn't heard anything from the judge. He told them they had to stay because of “developments.”
“
You know, the only fucking development I want is dinner and my bed,” a man said from the water jug at the back of the room. He filled his glass and then stood there staring. Everyone else was silent. Tawny forgot the man's name but remembered he said he was in insurance. He had a black tie on with a cream shirt and matching black pants. His clothes were clean and neatly pressed. Everything about him was neatly pressed but plain. “Am I the only one who's pissed here?” he asked quizzically.
The black man who previously offered Tawny his seat shook his head. “Nope. I'm pissed too. But what the hell are we gonna do about it?” The insurance man didn't respond and slouched back into his chair.
“
I haven't even been able to get in touch with my family,” the whiny woman said. Tawny remembered her name—Rebecca. “They won't let us make phone calls in here. How are we supposed to let our families know what's going on?” No one responded to that either.
Tawny watched as the jockey walked back and forth across the room. He stopped and looked up at her. “You got a problem?”