“Because Keith was the closest to Robbie Sanz.”
I opened the file I had brought to the lectern and took out three copies of a document. I distributed them to Morris, the witness, and the judge and asked Coelho for permission to enter the document as the next plaintiff’s exhibit and to question the witness about it. Permission was granted.
“What is that, Sergeant?”
“It’s a copy of the SORS text that went out,” Sanger said.
“And what time does it say it went out?”
“Twenty-eighteen hours.”
“Or eight eighteen p.m. in nonmilitary time, correct?”
“Correct.”
“How soon after that went out did you arrive at the crime scene?”
“Probably no more than fifteen minutes later.”
“The AV, as you call it, is a big place. How was it that you were so close you could be there within fifteen minutes?”
“I happened to be eating dinner at a restaurant nearby.”
“What restaurant was that?”
“Brandy’s Café.”
“Were you with anyone?”
“I was alone at the counter. I got the text, put down some money, and immediately left. I called Keith Mitchell on my way.”
She said it in a tired tone, as if I were asking irrelevant questions with no bearing on the case. The judge must have felt like this as well; she interrupted me.
“Mr. Haller,” she said. “Is this line of questioning really necessary?”
“It is, Judge,” I said. “That will become clear when other witnesses testify.”
“Well, please hurry through this so we can get to those witnesses sooner rather than later.”
“We would get there sooner if my examination were not interrupted.”
“If that remark is intended as a rebuke to the court, we have a problem, sir.”
“I’m sorry, Your Honor, it was not intended as a rebuke in any way. May I continue?”
“Please, but hurry.”
I nodded and checked my notes to make sure I picked up where I had left off.
“Sergeant Sanger, were homicide investigators on the scene when you arrived?” I asked.
“No, not yet,” Sanger said.
“Who from the sheriff’s department was there?”
“A lot of deputies had arrived to secure the scene for the homicide unit rolling from the STARS Center in Whittier.”
“That would put them as much as an hour out, correct?”
“Yes, most likely.”
“So, during that time of waiting for the homicide team, you decided to do their job for them, didn’t you?”
“No, that’s not correct.”
“Well, didn’t you take Lucinda Sanz from the car she had been placed in and conduct a test for gunshot residue on her body and clothes?”
“Yes, I did that. It’s best to conduct such a test as soon as possible after a shooting crime has been committed.”
“Was it procedure for a deputy who worked with the victim to swab the arms and hands of a suspect for a gunshot-residue test?”
“She was not a suspect at that time. It—”
“Not a suspect? Why was she put in the back of a patrol car and swabbed for GSR if she was not a suspect?”
Morris stood up and objected.
“Your Honor,” he said. “Counsel is badgering the witness and not allowing her to finish her answers.”
“Mr. Haller,” Coelho said. “Let her complete her answers and dial back the tone. There is no jury here to impress.”
I nodded contritely.
“Yes, Your Honor,” I said. “Sergeant Sanger, by all means, please continue and finish your answer.”
“As I said, it is important to test for gunshot residue early in an investigation,” Sanger said. “Otherwise, the evidence can dissipate or be removed or transferred. I knew in this case that it might be an hour or more before homicide investigators were on scene, so I swabbed the defendant and secured the swab disks in an evidence bag.”
“She’s the petitioner, not the defendant, Sergeant. Once you completed this test you say was required so urgently, what did you do with that evidence bag containing the swab disks?”
“I turned it over to Deputy Mitchell, who later gave it to the homicide team. It should be noted in the evidence chain-of-custody report, which I’m sure you’ve seen.”
“What if I told you it is not in the chain-of-custody report?”
“Then that would be a slight oversight on Deputy Mitchell’s part.”
“Nice of you to throw Deputy Mitchell under the bus, but why didn’t you just turn it over to the homicide team yourself? You conducted the test. Were you trying to hide that, Sergeant?”
“I wasn’t hiding anything. I was going to leave the crime scene. I went to tell Deputy Sanz’s girlfriend at the time what had happened. I thought she should hear it from one of Robbie’s friends before she saw it on the news.”
“That was very noble of you, Sergeant Sanger.”
“Thank you.”
She said it with a solid tone of sarcasm. I was near the end of my questioning. I decided it was time to rock her boat with a big-time wave.
“Sergeant Sanger, were you aware that at the time of his murder, Roberto Sanz was in a sheriff’s gang?”
Sanger actually did rock back in her seat a few inches. Morris quickly stood and objected.
“Assumes facts not in evidence,” he said. “Your Honor, counsel is on a fishing expedition, hoping the witness will misspeak and give him something he can blow out of proportion.”
I shook my head. I walked to the petitioner’s table and opened a file containing several copies of the photos from the Roberto Sanz autopsy. I made sure Lucinda did not see them.
“Your Honor, this is no fishing expedition and I think counsel knows it,” I said. “I am prepared, if the court will indulge me, to show this witness proof that her colleague was a member of a sheriff’s clique. If the court needs it, I can also bring in an expert on the internal investigation by the sheriff’s department and the external investigation by the FBI into these clusters of gangsters with badges, probes that resulted in a former sheriff going to prison and wholesale changes in personnel and training within the department.”
It was a bluff. The expert was the FBI agent MacIsaac, and so far I hadn’t been able to get to him. If pressed by the court, I would bring in the Los Angeles Times reporter who exposed the scandal and covered its multiple investigations.
Luckily, I needed neither.
“I don’t think we need an expert to tell us about the well-known problems in the sheriff’s department at the time of this murder,” Coelho said. “The witness will answer the question.”
All eyes in the courtroom returned to Sanger. I asked if she needed me to repeat the question.
“No,” she said. “I was not aware of Roberto being in a clique or a gang or whatever you want to call it.”
“If the court allows, I am going to show you two photos,” I said. “They were taken during the autopsy of Roberto Sanz.”
I approached the bench and handed the judge a set of photos showing Sanz’s body on the autopsy table and the close-up of the tattoo on the body’s hip. I turned and gave Morris a set. He immediately stood and objected to the inflammatory nature of the photos.
“This man was a hero, Your Honor,” he said. “Counsel wants to flaunt these photos that purport to show gang affiliation when they show and prove nothing.”
“Your Honor,” I countered, “the petitioner can bring in an expert on this subject who will identify the tattoo on Roberto Sanz’s body — incidentally located in a place that would not be seen by the public — if necessary. But just a casual Google search by the court or anyone else would confirm that Sanz’s secret tattoo directly connects him with a so-called clique that operated in the Antelope Valley.”