“A murder case is never easy. You have to be thorough. You can leave no stone unturned.”
“What about the U.S. Secret Service? Did you leave that stone unturned?”
“The Secret Service? I’m not sure what you mean.”
“Did you have any interaction with the U.S. Secret Service during this investigation?”
“No, I didn’t.”
“How about the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Los Angeles?”
“I did not. I can’t speak for my partner or other colleagues who worked the case.”
It was a good answer but not good enough. In my peripheral vision I could see that Freeman had moved to the edge of her seat, ready for the right moment to object to my line of questioning.
“Detective Kurlen, do you know what a federal target letter is?”
Freeman leapt to her feet before Kurlen could respond. She objected and asked for a sidebar.
“I think we’d better step back into chambers for this,” the judge said. “I want the jury and court personnel to stay in place while I confer with counsel. Mr. Haller, Ms. Freeman, let’s go.”
I pulled a document and the attached envelope from one of my files and followed Freeman toward the door that led to the judge’s chambers. I was confident that I was about to tilt the case in the defense’s direction or I was headed to jail for contempt.
Twenty-nine
Judge Perry was not a happy jurist. He didn’t even bother to go behind his desk and sit down. We entered his chambers and he immediately turned on me and folded his arms across his chest. He stared hard at me and waited for his court reporter to take a seat and set up her machine before he spoke.
“Okay, Mr. Haller, Ms. Freeman is objecting because my guess is that this is the first she’s heard about the Secret Service and the U.S. Attorney’s Office and a federal target letter and what it all may or may not have to do with this case. I’m objecting myself because it’s the first I remember any mention of the federal government and I’m not going to allow you to go on a federal fishing trip in front of the jury. Now if you have something, I want an offer of proof on it right now, and then I want to know why Ms. Freeman doesn’t know anything about it.”
“Thank you, Judge,” Freeman said indignantly, hands on her hips.
I tried to defuse the situation a bit by casually stepping away from our tight grouping and moving toward the window with the view that rolled up the side of the Santa Monica Mountains. I could see the cantilevered homes along the crest. They looked like matchboxes ready to drop with the next earthquake. I knew what that was like, clinging to the edge.
“Your Honor, my office received an anonymously sent envelope in the mail that contained a copy of a federal target letter addressed to Louis Opparizio and ALOFT. It informed him that he and his company were the target of an investigation into fraudulent foreclosure practices undertaken on behalf of his client banks.”
I held up the document and envelope.
“I have the letter right here. It is dated two weeks before the murder and just eight days after the letter of complaint Bondurant sent to Opparizio.”
“When did you receive this supposedly anonymous envelope?” Freeman asked, her voice dripping with skepticism.
“It turned up yesterday in my P.O. box but wasn’t opened until last night. If counsel does not believe me I will have my office manager come over and you can ask her any question you like. She’s the one who went to the box.”
“Let me see it,” the judge demanded.
I handed Perry the letter and envelope. Freeman moved in close to him to read it as well. It was a short letter and he soon gave it back to me without asking Freeman if she was finished reading.
“You should’ve brought this up this morning,” the judge said. “At the very least you should have provided a copy to opposing counsel and told her you planned to introduce it.”
“Judge, I would have but it’s obviously a photocopy and it came in the mail. I’ve been sandbagged before. We probably all have. I needed to verify the document and make sure it was legitimate before I told anyone. I didn’t get that confirmation until less than an hour ago during the afternoon break.”
“What was the source of the confirmation?” Freeman asked before the judge could.
“I don’t know the exact details. My investigator simply told me that the letter was confirmed by the feds as legitimate. If you want further detail, I can also call in my investigator.”
“That won’t be necessary because I am sure Ms. Freeman will want to do her own due diligence. But bringing it up in cross-examination was far out of line, Mr. Haller. You should have informed the court this morning that you had received something in the mail that you were in the process of checking out and planned to introduce in court. You blindsided the state and the court.”
“I apologize, Your Honor. My intention was to handle it properly. I guess it was a learned behavior, seeing how the state has blindsided me at least twice so far with surprise evidence and questions about timing and chain of custody.”
Perry gave me a hard look but I knew he got the point. Ultimately, I believed he was a fair judge and would act accordingly. He knew the letter was legitimate and vital to the defense’s case. Basic fairness held that I be allowed to pursue it. Freeman read the same thing I did and tried to head the judge off.
“Your Honor, it’s four fifteen. I request that court be adjourned for the day so that the prosecution can digest this new material and be adequately prepared to proceed in the morning.”
Perry shook his head.
“I don’t like losing court time,” he said.
“I don’t either, Judge,” Freeman responded. “But no doubt, as you just said, I’ve been blindsided here. Counsel should have brought this information forward this morning. You cannot allow him to just proceed with it without the prosecution being prepared and conducting its own confirmation and due diligence as to the context of this information. I am asking for forty-five minutes, Judge. Surely, the state is entitled to that.”
The judge looked at me for opposing argument. I held my hands wide.
“Doesn’t matter to me, Judge. She can take all the time in the world but it doesn’t change the fact that Opparizio was and is under federal investigation for his dealings with WestLand among other banks. That would make the victim in this case a potential witness against him-the letter we introduced earlier makes that clear. The police and prosecution completely missed this aspect of the case and now Ms. Freeman wants to blame the messenger for their shallow invest-”
“Okay, Mr. Haller, we’re not in front of the jury here,” Perry said, cutting me off. “I understand your point. I’m going to adjourn early today but we’ll start at nine sharp tomorrow and I expect all parties to be prepared and for there to be no further delays.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” Freeman said.
“Let’s go back,” Perry said.
And we did.
My client was clinging to me as we left the courthouse. She wanted to know what other details I had about the federal investigation. Herb Dahl trailed behind us like the tail on a kite. I was uncomfortable speaking to both of them.
“Look, I don’t know what it means, Lisa. That’s one reason why the judge broke early today. So both the defense and the prosecution can do some work on it. You have to just back off for a bit and let me and my staff handle it.”
“But this could be it, right, Mickey?”
“What do you mean, ‘it’?”
“The evidence that shows it wasn’t me-that proves it!”
I stopped and turned to her. Her eyes were searching my face for any sign of affirmation. Something about her desperation made me think for the first time that she may have truly been framed for Bondurant’s murder.