“Why did you choose Runway Three Six Right?”
“Because we had lost control of the snow on that runway later in the evening, and I knew the drifts wouldn’t be too high to drive in.”
Judith paced back for a moment, taking in Marty’s wide-eyed expression of disbelief as he put together the meaning of the words Jantzen had just spoken. Grant Richardson’s face was also broadcasting massive dynamic tension as he tried to find something to object to.
“Was it exciting to you, being in the middle of the runway?”
“A little.”
Richardson was already standing. “Objection. Relevance.”
“Sustained.”
“Mr. Jantzen, once you drove onto the surface of Runway Three Six Right, what did you do?”
“I parked. I turned around to the south facing the way I had just come in, ‘cause I figured if I saw my tracks disappear it would be time to go.”
“And then what did you do?”
“I turned up the heat, turned on a CD I had… Jimmy Buffet, you know… to counter the winter. And then I lit a joint. I mean, it is Colorado. It’s not illegal. And I was just trying to unwind from a really intense day.”
“So, you were relaxing and smoking and listening to music. What kind of car were you in?”
“My Chevy Tahoe.”
“What color is it?”
“Kind of a yellow.”
“Does it have a roof rack?”
“Ah, no ma’am.”
“Was the engine running?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And were the headlights on?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Had you driven out there with the headlights on?”
“No, ma’am.”
“Why not?”
“Well… the snow was still coming down… and I was following the GPS…”
“Could you see the terminal from where you were on Runway Three Six Right?”
“Yes… barely.”
“So, if you had used your headlights, someone might have seen you?”
Finally, Richardson was on his feet. “Objection! Calls for a conclusion.”
Judge Gonzales broke his gaze from the witness and moved it to the DA, a scowl on his face at having been interrupted.
“Overruled.”
“But, Your Honor, there’s no foundation for this testimony. We don’t have a clue where this is going!”
“Well, if you’ll stop objecting, maybe we could find out. In fact, there is a foundation. Sit!” The judge looked back at the witness. “You may continue, Mr. Jantzen.”
“Okay.”
“I’ll rephrase the question,” Judith said, keeping her expression devoid of the smile she desperately wanted to display. “Tell me all the reasons you kept the headlights off when driving onto Runway Three Six Right?”
“Well… as I said… I was really driving by the GPS and didn’t need to see ahead, but I guess I also didn’t want anyone worried about why I was out there.”
“So, you did not want anyone seeing that you were on the runway?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“Did you… at any point in time once you had parked and turned on your music, did you turn on your headlights?”
“Yes, ma’am.”
“When and why?”
Jantzen took a deep breath and looked down, still doing his uncomfortable dance around the microphone before looking up.
“Lights suddenly came on. Landing lights. In my face! I mean, the runway was closed, and suddenly I’ve got what looked like a big airplane coming right at me!”
“What did you do?”
“I panicked! I was fumbling for the headlight switch, y’know, and I was trying to put the car in gear at the same time and figure out where to run to and finally I got the headlights on but I’d forgotten the parking brake and the car wouldn’t move and suddenly this thing goes right over my head and rocks the car, and when he’s passed me, I finally figured out the damned parking brake was still on, and I got it off and got the hell out of there.”
Marty had come forward in his chair at the defense table, his heart pounding. This was his corroboration! Those headlights had not been a figment of his imagination, or some sort of manufactured or trauma-induced memory. Even though Ryan had not seen or remembered headlights for the brief time they were in view, they had really been there.
“You left the runway then?” Judith was asking.
“Yes,” Jantzen said. “…and the airport, as quietly as I could. I mean, I was shaking scared, and then all the emergency equipment starts rolling past me with sirens and lights everywhere and I had no idea…”
The young man looked up, tears now streaming down his face. “I… I had no idea there had been a crash, and that same plane that was going to land on Runway Seven had crashed right over me!”
“Did you know that any part of that aircraft had touched your vehicle as it flew over?”
He was all but hyperventilating now and Judith looked at the judge before asking if he needed a moment to compose himself, but Jantzen forced himself to sit up and continue.
“The whole car shook when he passed over but I didn’t think it had touched me,” he continued, “…but it was a lot later, maybe weeks, when I was up on a ladder in my garage and I looked at the top of my car and saw a little antenna was missing. I never knew what that thing did but it was kinda cool, so I remembered it. I didn’t think about it being hit by the plane, because, y’know, I didn’t feel any impact. But then later I began to wonder.”
“Did your employer know you had been on the runway that night?”
“No, ma’am. Well, not until this week.”
“Did you know for a fact your antenna had been removed by the tire of the passing jet?”
“No, ma’am. Not for sure. Not until yesterday, or, I mean, the evening before.”
“Had you read in newspapers or online or heard via radio or television or from any other source that the captain of Regal Flight 12 claimed that headlights had distracted him during his emergency landing?”
Jantzen’s face betrayed something beyond utter confusion — it was the primal look of someone being chased by a grizzly realizing he’s backed up to the edge of a cliff with nowhere to go.
“Yes, ma’am.”
“And you didn’t come forward or notify anyone that you might have been the source of those headlights?”
In all the corporate litigation Judith Winston had handled, never once had a witness broken into body shaking sobs on the stand, but William Jantzen was instantly beyond the ability to force words out of his mouth, and he sat there, quaking and sobbing as the judge wondered what to do and the jury took it all in.
“I have no further questions,” Judith said at last, as the bailiff gently moved the microphone away from Jantzen’s face, quieting the ungodly sounds that had filled the courtroom.
Judge Gonzales ordered a ten minute recess, which was barely enough time for Jantzen to get himself under control and face a cross-examination
Despite the best efforts of the DA to shake his story, William Jantzen remained consistent, and Richardson finally decided the witness had done enough damage.
“I have no further questions, Your Honor.”
“Mr. Jantzen, you are excused.”
He looked at the judge in confusion.”
“I’m sorry?”
“You may leave the stand and leave the courtroom, Mr. Jantzen.”
It had been, Judith explained to Marty at the next recess, the visit of Scott Bogosian, the evidence he’d collected, and the presence of the airport police chief in Jantzen’s living room that had convinced him that his car had been impacted however slightly by Regal 12. But finding out that without question the flare of his headlights being turned on had actually been a major factor in the crash caused the man to all but collapse. He had offered any help he could, including agreeing to Scott Bogosian’s shoot-from-the-hip question of whether he’d be willing to tell the truth in open court to save a man’s professional life. Jantzen’s immediate “Yes!” had caught Scott by surprise, as had the difficulty of getting Judith Winston to listen to him.