Authors: Derek Blass
“
Did the Defendant stop harassing the people at any point?”
“
It didn't seem he would. He was escalating the violence by doing sick things like licking the daughter. When I saw that I had to stop him. I didn't think he would stop on his own.”
“
What did you do to stop him?”
“
I lunged toward him, leading with my shoulder, to try to knock him away from the daughter. When I did, the old man stirred from his position. That's when Sergeant Shaver wheeled around and shot—several shots with a few hitting the old man in the chest.”
“
And then it was over.”
“
And then
that part
was over,” Martinez corrected.
“
Did the Defendant ever say anything to you about why he shot Mr. Rodriguez?”
“
I doubt he cared that he shot Mr. Rodriguez. He called the old man an illegal and pestilence. All that would have been important to him was that he had rid the world of another illegal. Sergeant Shaver did say something about the old man causing the incident, but I don't see how. Mr. Rodriguez was old, unarmed and stunned from the flashbangs.”
There was a break in the testimony as Mason looked at his notes. “Your Honor, I think this would be a good time to take a break. We've been going for a while here.”
Judge Melburn squinted at a clock on the wall and then nodded his head. “Ten minutes.” The people in the gallery stood up and went to the windows at the back of the courtroom. Cruz tapped Mason on the shoulder and motioned he was going to go outside. Sandra followed him.
“
How do you think it's going?” she asked.
“
Not bad. I think Martinez is credible. He paints Shaver out to be a monster, which he is. By the way, who is helping you with the texts outside?”
She pulled her cell phone out from her purse and waved it proudly. “Let's go meet my correspondent.”
“
But the testimony starts back up in ten minutes.”
“
He should be on the steps. It'll only be a minute.” Cruz followed her through the long hallway to the front doors of the courthouse. He pulled back a thick, wood door and the mid-morning light swept into the hallway. There was actually a hush outside. The people had settled down overnight, and the excitement of the event had transformed into the grind of the wait.
The crowd picked up the movement and twenty thousand people, looked silently, expectantly at Cruz. He let Sandra squeeze out behind him, hardly able push the door against the stare of the crowd.
“
Just creepy,” Sandra said as she scooted down the fifty or so stairs to the street. Sandra hugged the wall of the courthouse as she went, trying to be less visible to the crowd. She met a man who was dressed in a cream suit. His black hair was slicked back like a gel helmet. Big, white teeth gleamed when he smiled. Sandra waved Cruz down to join them, which he did reluctantly. He watched the crowd and felt its energy pulse up through the wall of national guardsmen.
Cruz got to Sandra and the plastic-coated man. He extended his hand to Cruz. “Andre Cisneros. Muuuucho gusto,” he said in a baritone voice. Cruz didn't like this guy already with his Mexican monster-truck-rally introduction.
“
Cruz Marquez.” The man went back to talking to Sandra, groping her with his eyes. They were talking about how her break of the news story had spurred a national barrage. The horrific account of what Sandra went through plus the chase to get the video is what sent a local story over the top. Sandra told him what was going on inside the courtroom. Most reporters couldn't get into the court because Judge Melburn had limited the people in the gallery to those present on the first day of trial. This had sparked outrage in the media community. Stories like these made money, lots of it.
Andre took notes furiously. He was cheesy even when doing that. Extra energy, bouncing his pen on his pad of paper when asking questions, flashing that shit-eating grin. Cruz wondered if the man was actually this onerous, or if it pissed him off to see anyone else enjoying their time with Sandra. A little jealousy was healthy, he thought.
Clouds were rolling over the high roof of the courthouse. Cruz stood there impatiently. He wanted to get back inside to see how Martinez was doing. The clouds looked ominous. Sure enough, the sound of thunder groaned from somewhere in the distance. People in the crowd looked up, questioning their allegiance to the resolution of this issue. Banners that hung taut the day before had corners falling off of their supports. Tents slanted sideways under the weight of the crowd. The fickle attention of people was waning as time passed.
The conversation between the two finally seemed to be wrapping up. Cruz took the chance to jump in and suggest that they get back to the trial. The crowd exhaled as hope of some news dissipated. Cruz walked briskly in front of Sandra back to the courtroom. When he cracked the door to the court, he saw that Sphinx was already in his cross-examination of Martinez.
“
The State's attorney made a big deal about your service on the police force. You're aware that Sergeant Shaver has served fourteen years in the department, correct?”
“
I didn't know the exact time, but that sounds accurate.”
“
That's over twice as long as you, right?”
“
Yes.”
“
And you...”
“
That doesn't diminish my service though. I wasn't finished.”
“
I apologize for interrupting then. I was going to ask about the description of your time in the academy. One of the things you brought up was testing on rules of law. Did those rules of law include how to perform a legal search and seizure?”
“
They did.”
“
And what you needed before arresting someone?”
“
That too.”
“
Okay, we'll get back to that later.”
Cruz could already feel the force of Sphinx's cross. It was like a jackhammer chipping away at a carefully built castle wall.
“
I want to talk about the day that Mr. Rodriguez was shot. You said that you and Sergeant Shaver were the only ones that checked out the MP5s from inventory when you left on the call, right?”
“
No, I think Dr. Ganesh said that.”
“
You remember his testimony to that effect though,” Sphinx said without missing a beat. Cruz noted a golden rule of cross-examination—always get the witness to agree with your statements.
“
I recall Dr. Ganesh saying something to that effect.”
“
I want you to take a look at this document, Officer Martinez,” Sphinx said as he gave a document to Mason and then walked another copy up to Martinez and the judge. “Do you know what that document is?”
“
It looks like a log for the inventory at the department.”
“
Have you seen these logs before?”
“
We see them every time we check equipment out,” Martinez answered as he looked up.
“
Your Honor, I move to introduce this document as defendant's exhibit number one.”
“
Any objection from the State?”
“
Yes, Your Honor. Foundation to begin with. Officer Martinez does not keep these records, so how could he know if this is the actual record from that day? Hearsay also.”
Judge Melburn turned his attention to Sphinx who said, “Officer Martinez has just testified that he saw this type of log every time he checked equipment out. He recognized and authenticated it as one of their inventory logs. That is sufficient for its introduction. As to hearsay, this is a business record and so it is excluded from application of the hearsay rule.”
“
I'm going to allow the document into evidence,” Judge Melburn said.
“
The defense moves to publish to the jury.”
“
Go ahead,” the judge said.
“
Does the date on that log appear to be for the day you all went to Mr. Rodriguez's house?”
“
Yes, I believe so.” Sphinx had projected an image of the log onto a big screen next to the jury box, which they were all reading.
“
What gun does it show Sergeant Shaver checking in that day?”
“
It reads one MP5.”
“
What gun does it show you checking in that day?”
Martinez took a moment to look at the log, then he briefly looked at Mason before answering, “I don't see a log for me checking in my weapon.”
“
So, you didn't check your weapon in that day?”
“
Objection, Your Honor, asked and answered,” Mason stood up and said.
“
Sustained.”
Sphinx went back to his counsel table and pulled another document out from a folder. Cruz could see delight in Shaver's eyes. Sphinx went to Martinez and handed him a copy of the document. “Officer Martinez, can you tell me what this document appears to be?”
Martinez read the piece of paper and then put it down. “It looks like the log from the next day.”
“
Your Honor, the defense moves to admit this document as the defendant's exhibit number two.”
“
Any objections?”
“
Same objections as to the previous document,” Mason responded in a slightly defeated tone. He knew he would lose the objection, but he had to preserve the record for any possible appeal.
“
Overruled,” Judge Melburn said matter of factly.
“
Officer Martinez, I am going to hand you this document which has been marked as the defendant's exhibit number two while my paralegal publishes it to the jury.” The document was again projected on the big screen. “Please read the log for that day pertinent to the S.W.A.T. team you were on.”
“
There is one entry, for me, for the MP5,” Martinez said disgustedly. The people in the gallery shuffled, creaking the old wood benches. Cruz looked at Martinez intently and then at Mason. This log issue was a fact that had escaped all of them—except for Sphinx.
“
That means you didn't check your MP5 back in until the day after the incident, correct?”
“
It seems that way although these inventories aren't always accurate.”
“
What evidence do you have that the inventories are not always accurate?”
“
Mainly accounts from the inventory officer, Officer Tulite.”
“
Do you have any reason to believe that the inventory you see here in the defendant's exhibit number two is inaccurate?”
“
No, other than what I just told you. The problem with that day, after Sergeant Shaver shot Mr. Rodriguez, is that it was hazy. I had never seen a civilian murdered like that.” Sphinx had made a critical error in asking an open-ended question like that. He knew it and tried to move on quickly.
“
Let's turn to the day in question and the incident itself, since you provided a nice segue.” Sphinx took a position in front of Martinez with his arms crossed. “Both you and Sergeant Shaver had MP5s on the day in question, right?”
“
Pretty sure that's been established.”
“
Is that a yes?”
“
Sure.”
“
You allege that Sergeant Shaver shot Mr. Rodriguez, but it could have just as easily been your MP5 that shot him, right?”
“
No, that's ridiculous. Shaver shot him, no question.”
“
You don't have any evidence that Shaver shot Mr. Rodriguez, do you?” Martinez stared hard at Mason. He wanted so badly to disclose the fact that the video existed. It was bullshit that Sphinx could use a rule of evidence to get around the video. Mason stared back at him and Martinez could barely discern Mason shaking his head no.
“
Besides what I saw, no.”
“
In fact, the only evidence you
or
the State have against Sergeant Shaver is your word, correct.”
“
I don't know what evidence the State is going to present. I just know that I saw Sergeant Shaver kill Mr. Rodriguez in cold blood.”
“
But, it just as easily could have been you, right?” Martinez just shook his head. “Officer Martinez, answer the question.”
“
No, it could not have been me.” Sphinx smiled and moved on.
“
We already established that you did not check your MP5 into inventory as required. After the incident involving Mr. Rodriguez, you went after Shaver for some time, didn't you?” Sphinx was walking a fine line. If he stepped too far over it, the door to explaining the existence of the video would swing open.
“
Sergeant Shaver was actually chasing after me for a while.”
“
When the tables turned, you started chasing Sergeant Shaver to apprehend him.”
“
There came a time where we had to arrest Sergeant Shaver for his crime.”
“
Who was the we? Other members of the police force?”
Martinez pursed his lips, knowing that this issue backed him up against a wall. “It was me, an attorney, and some other people.”
“
That means you were going to effect the arrest with civilians?”
“
That's how it worked out.”
“
And you didn't have a warrant to arrest Sergeant Shaver, did you?”
“
We had a warrant on its way, but there was an emergency situation that required us to effect the arrest immediately.”
Sphinx picked up a piece of paper and asked his next question, “This emergency was a Mr. Tyler Smith?”