“No, she just stood there, looking at it.”
“What did you do then?”
“I asked her again to show me the drawer.”
“Did she do so?”
“No. She said she wanted to call her lawyer.”
“What did you do then.”
“I arrested her on suspicion of murder.”
“Thank you, sergeant. No further questions.”
Steve Winslow stood up, smiled. “A rather neat sequence, sergeant. She asked to call her lawyer. You arrested her on suspicion of murder.”
“That’s not unusual,” Stams said. “When they’re arrested, most criminals call their lawyer.”
“I was referring to the sequence,” Steve said. “Which was the other way around. She asked to call her lawyer, so you made the arrest.”
Stams shrugged. Said nothing.
“I’m somewhat interested in the basis for the arrest, sergeant. What was it that led you to believe you had probable cause?”
Though Sergeant Stam’s face remained impassive, there was a shrewd gleam in his eye. “In my opinion?” he said.
“Yes, sergeant. In your opinion.”
“She was lying,” Stams said. “She stated flat out that she had arrived at ten and found that drawer open. That drawer was shut. An out and out lie. Obviously the defendant was not telling the truth, she was there in the office specifically for the purpose of building up an alibi for herself. In my opinion, if she thought the drawer was open, the only way she could have seen that it was open was if she was there earlier when she was committing the murder.”
“One moment,” Judge Wylie said. He exhaled. “Attorneys, to the sidebar.”
When they had gathered at the sidebar, Judge Wylie said, “All of that is pure speculation. The witness is testifying to a mass of surmises and conclusions.”
“He asked for it,” Dirkson said.
“Indeed he did. Mr. Winslow, you are cluttering up the record with testimony that is inadmissible on the one hand, and detrimental to your client on the other.”
“I’d like to cross-examine on it, Your Honor.” Steve Winslow said. “And I’d like to point out, there’s been no objection from the prosecution.”
“Which doesn’t make it any more admissible,” Judge Wylie said.
“I beg to differ,” Steve said. “We have a veteran police officer called upon to explain why he made an arrest. His thought process is entirely relevant.”
“To an extent,” Judge Wylie said. “Let’s not get involved in metaphysical speculation. You want to speculate, save it for your closing argument. On cross-examination, please bring out the facts.”
When they had all resumed their places, Steve Winslow said, “Now, sergeant, your opinion that the defendant was lying about her account of coming to the office, was based entirely on the fact that she said that drawer was open when it in fact was shut? Referring to the time in question, when you made the arrest.”
“Referring only to that time?”
“That’s right.”
“Because I have subsequently learned-”
“Never mind what you have subsequently learned, sergeant. I’m talking about the time of the arrest. I’m talking about the evidence you just commented on. The evidence you just gave us your evaluation of. The evidence on which you arrested the defendant for this crime. At the time, was the key evidence that led you to make that arrest the fact that the petty cash drawer which she had told you was open was actually shut?”
Stams took a breath, considered. “That’s right,” he said.
“Fine, sergeant. Then let me ask you this. If you were basing a murder arrest on the fact that drawer was shut, why didn’t you first make sure that drawer could not have been shut by any other means?”
Stams frowned. “I beg your pardon?”
“If that was the basis for the arrest, it was pretty important whether that drawer was open or shut. Wasn’t it?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Was there any chance that drawer was shut by one of the officers of the crime scene unit-”
“No.”
“Let me finish, sergeant-by one of the officers of the crime scene unit, while you were in Marvin Lowery’s office interrogating the defendant for the first time, before she told you about that drawer and you went out to check on it?”
“Absolutely not.”
“How can you be so sure?”
“You’re talking about the officers of a crime scene unit. These are highly trained individuals. They know their job. They would never make that mistake.”
“Never?”
“No, never.”
“Each and every one of them?”
“Each and every one.”
“Sergeant, you are stating that it is impossible for an officer of a crime scene unit to make a mistake?”
“No, I am stating that it is impossible for them to make that mistake, to contaminate the crime scene by closing an open drawer. It is the type of mistake they’re trained against. It simply isn’t done.”
“You’re saying they might make other mistakes?”
“Don’t put words in my mouth,” Stams said irritably. “You challenged me to say a crime scene unit never made a mistake. Now you want to crucify me for refusing to say that?”
“Not at all, sergeant. But I’d certainly like you to clarify what you mean.”
“I mean what I say. No one’s infallible. A crime scene officer might make a mistake, but it would be a mistake along the line of overlooking a fingerprint because it was on the underside of a table.” Sergeant Stams was somewhat red in the face. “Now, I’m not saying I suspect a crime scene unit would make such a mistake. I’m saying that’s the type of mistake it would be possible for them to make. The type you were referring to- contaminating the crime scene by closing an open drawer-that’s the type of mistake they would not make. That’s what I mean when I say it would be impossible.”
“You say such a thing would be impossible?”
“Yes, I do.”
“You base this statement solely on your opinion that no crime scene officer would be liable to make such a mistake?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“In other words, you have no personal knowledge. You merely assume that mistake was not made.”
“That’s not true.”
“Oh, you do have personal knowledge?”
“Yes, I do.”
“Are you telling me you conducted your own investigation into this matter?”
“Yes, of course.”
“Then I beg your pardon, sergeant, and I stand corrected. Would you mind telling me exactly what you did?”
“Before I brought the defendant out and confronted her with the closed drawer, I personally conferred with each and every member of the crime scene unit and ascertained that that drawer was indeed shut when we arrived.”
Steve Winslow smiled. “You did this personally, sergeant?”
That’s right.”
“You personally asked each member of the crime scene unit about the drawer?”
“That’s right.”
“You asked them if the drawer was shut when they first saw it?”
“That’s right.”
“With what result?”
“All of them said the drawer was shut.”
“None of them said they shut the drawer?”
“Absolutely not.”
“Are you just assuming that, or did you ask specifically if they had shut the drawer?”
“I asked specifically.”
Steve Winslow smiled. “Yes, I was sure you had. Correct me if I’m wrong, sergeant, but didn’t you testify that it was absolutely impossible for any member of the crime scene unit to have shut that drawer, because they are trained individuals who would never do that?”
“Yes, I did. That’s absolutely right.”
“Then why did you ask them if they had?”
“I beg your pardon?”
“If it was impossible for them to have shut the drawer, then why did you have to ask them if they had?”
Sergeant Stams opened his mouth. Closed it again. Glared at Winslow.
“You want to answer that, sergeant?”