"Yeah. I was pretty messed up at the time and mouthed off to him. I
told him he'd better be careful because Kendra had a picture of him."
"Are you referring to the photograph that we just discussed?"
"Yeah. I saw the pictures after Kendra got them developed. Derrick
freaked when I told him and started shaking me to find out what I was
talking about. I told him I was just fucking with him, that the
picture didn't show his face or anything. But then he made me tell him
where Kendra's mom lived at so he could try to get the picture back."
I paused to tell the grand jurors about the key missing from Kendra's
purse and Andrea Martin's suspicion that some items were out of place
in the Martin home. I also showed them reports documenting the
break-in at my house, explaining that the photographs had been in Tommy
Garcia's possession until a few days ago.
"After you gave him Kendra Martin's address, did you ever talk to
Derrick Derringer again about the photograph?"
"Yeah. He told me I better get that picture back from Kendra. I've
been calling Kendra trying to do it, but Kendra will only talk on the
phone with me. She won't meet me anywhere, so I've been trying to
avoid Derrick." I mentally apologized to Kendra for doubting her.
"Haley, I want to show you another photograph now." I handed her the
DMV photo I had pulled of Travis Culver and reminded the grand jurors
that Culver was the owner of the Collision Clinic who had testified at
Frank Derringer's trial. "Do you recognize this man?"
"Sure, that's Travis," she replied.
"Do you know his last name?"
"Not before you told me. Street don't really care about last names,"
she said.
"How do you know Travis?" I asked.
"Regular out there on the street. Dates. You know."
"You mean he picks up prostitutes?"
"Yeah. The younger the better, it seems. I used to see him a lot more
about a year and a half ago. Guess I got too old for him and he moved
on."
"Have you seen him at all since Kendra Martin was attacked?" I
asked.
"Nope," she said. "Seems like he stopped coming around about that
time."
The grand jurors didn't have any questions, so I thanked Haley for her
testimony and excused her.
Next up was Travis Culver. I'd slapped the subpoena on him the day
before and received a call from an attorney within the hour. Lucky for
me, Culver had called the attorney he uses for the auto shop, a guy
named Henry Lee Babbitt who hung a shingle outside of his house and
called it a law office.
Since Henry Lee's usual fare was wills and uncontested divorces, he was
useless as a criminal defense lawyer. To begin with, I had to walk him
through the way grand jury subpoenas work. Culver'd be subject to
arrest if he failed to appear. Although he had the right to refuse to
respond to questions if he believed that the answers might incriminate
him, he had to show up, and he did not have the right to an attorney
during the grand jury proceedings. At most, Henry Lee could wait in
the hall outside the hearing room; Culver could ask for breaks if he
wanted to consult with his attorney at any time. You can see why the
defense bar says that grand jury proceedings are a prosecutor's best
weapon.
Henry Lee's request for an immunity deal was further proof of his
abject ignorance of criminal procedure. A good defense lawyer will
find out what the prosecution knows before even considering the
possibility of a deal. To do otherwise tips your hand. Henry Lee had
tipped his for good. I had told him only that I wanted to talk to
Culver about his testimony in the Derringer trial. In return, Henry
Lee had given up his client in the form of a hypothetical.
"Let's say hypothetically that I had a client who got wrapped up by
some bad guys into an ugly sexual incident, thinking the whole thing
was consensual?" he said. "And then what if, hypothetically, when it
turned out that the young woman hadn't in fact consented to this little
encounter, the client got blackmailed by the bad guys into a
cover-up?"
Henry Lee had watched way too many bad TV shows, and now I had even
better questions for Travis Culver.
Culver looked terrified as he took the chair in the middle of the grand
jury room. He was sleep-deprived and disheveled, and I could smell the
fear in his sweat as he passed.
At least Henry Lee had given him one piece of good advice; Culver
invoked his rights as soon as we got past his name and address.
"Do you know Frank or Derrick Derringer? Isn't it true that you
overhauled Frank Derringer's car on a Sunday, on short notice, to get
rid of physical evidence? Do you use the services of teenage
prostitutes? Did you and Frank Derringer rape and beat Kendra Martin
and then leave her to die in the Gorge?" That last one was what you
call a compound question, but no one was there to object to it, and
Culver wasn't going to answer anyway, so what the hell?
I kept going. "Isn't it true that you paid Derrick and Frank Derringer
to stage a sexual assault upon a young girl for your pleasure? And
that when, unbeknownst to you, the violence turned out to be real, they
threatened to reveal your identity unless you cleaned out the car and
offered false testimony in Frank Derringer's defense?" Another
horrendously compound question, but it worked. Culver was clearly
thrown off. I wish there was a way for the court reporter to
transcribe the look on a witness's face. This one said, How the hell
do you know all that? I wanted to respond, Your stupid attorney pretty
much told me, but I didn't.
Culver looked like he was thinking about answering the question but
then gave me the standard response. "On the advice of counsel, I
refuse to answer on the ground that it might incriminate me."
When I thought the grand jury had the gist, I excused Culver and
brought in my final witness, Lisa Lopez.
"On behalf of the grand jurors and myself, thank you for coming, Ms.
Lopez. I know how busy you are. You were the public defender assigned
to represent Frank Derringer, is that correct?"
"Yes. As you and I have discussed, it is highly unusual and extremely
questionable that you have brought me here by subpoena, and I have
appeared only on your assurances that you are seeking an indictment
against Derrick Derringer, and that my testimony will not be used to
secure new charges against my client, Frank Derringer."
Securing Lisa's presence here at all had required substantial
maneuvering. When I had explained the situation to her at her office,
after hours, she had immediately balked, citing attorney-client