Berg was staring down at the table in front of her. I could tell she was not down with this plan. She was a true believer in her case until the end.
“So, that’s the deal?” I said. “Charges dropped but I can never say why, and you people never say you were wrong?”
No one responded.
“You think you’re making an accommodation,” I said. “You think this is a deal where you let a murderer walk for the greater good.”
“We’re not passing judgment,” Kelly said. “We know you have information that could be detrimental to the greater good should it come out.”
I pointed to Dana Berg.
“She is,” I said. “She passed judgment when she put me in jail. She thinks I killed Sam Scales. You all do.”
“You don’t know what I think, Haller,” Berg said.
“I pass,” I said.
“What?” Kelly said.
Maggie put her hand on my arm to try to stop me.
“I said, I pass,” I responded. “Take me down to court. I’ll take my chances with the jury. I get a not-guilty from them, and I’m clean and clear. And I can tell the whole world how I was set up right under the FBI’s nose and then railroaded by the D.A.’s Office. I like that deal better.”
I used my legs to start pushing my chair back and turned to look for the deputy who had brought me in.
“What do you want, Haller?” Corbett asked.
I looked back at him.
“What do I want?” I said. “I want my innocence back. I want it said that your new information and evidence clearly exonerates me of this charge. I want either you, Big John, or Dana to say that. First in a motion to the court, then to the judge in open court, and then I want it at the press conference on the courthouse steps. If you can’t give me that, then I’ll get it from the jury and we have nothing to talk about.”
Kelly looked across the table at his federal counterpart. I saw the nod and the transmission of approval.
“I think we can accommodate that,” Kelly said.
Berg leaned back abruptly as though she had been slapped across the face.
“Good,” I said. “Because that’s not all.”
“Jesus Christ,” Aiello said.
“I want two more things,” I said, ignoring Aiello and looking directly at Kelly. “I want no backlash on my co-counsel. She goes back to work for you after this. No pay cut, no job change.”
“That was already going to be the case,” Kelly said. “Maggie is one of our best and—”
“Great,” I said. “Then it won’t be a problem for you to put it in writing.”
“Michael,” Maggie said. “I don’t—”
“No, I want it in writing,” I said. “I want all of this in writing.”
Kelly slowly nodded.
“You’ll get it in writing,” he said. “What’s the second thing?”
“Well, I think we made a convincing case in court that Officer Roy Milton was waiting for me that night four months ago,” I said. “His story about the missing license plate is bullshit. I was framed for this, and then I was beaten and nearly killed while my name and reputation were repeatedly dragged through the mud. The LAPD will never investigate this, but you have a Public Integrity Unit. I will be filing a complaint and I don’t want it mothballed. I want it investigated to a conclusion. This could not have gone down without inside help, and Milton is the starting point. I’m sure there is a link somewhere to Opparizio — I’d start with his lawyers — and I want to know what that link is.”
“We’ll open a file,” Kelly said. “We’ll investigate in good faith.”
“Then I think we’re good,” I said.
Berg shook her head at my list of demands. Maggie saw me focusing on Berg and put her hand on my arm again, hoping to hold me back. But it was my moment and I couldn’t let it pass.
“Dana, I know you’ll never believe this was a frame,” I said. “A lot of people won’t. But maybe someday when the feds run this investigation out to the end, they’ll take the time to show you where you and the LAPD went wrong.”
For the first time, Berg turned and looked at me.
“Fuck you, Haller,” she said. “You are scum and no deal you make will ever change that. I’ll see you in the courtroom. I want to get this over with as soon as possible.”
She got up from her seat then and left the room. There was a long silence. I spent most of it with my attention on Agent Ruth. I wanted to help her but I didn’t want to throw her under the bus for having helped me.
“Are we finished here?” Corbett asked, putting his hands on the arms of his chair and pausing before pushing himself up.
“I have something for the agents,” I said.
“We don’t want anything from you,” Aiello said.
I nodded to Maggie.
“We have a video,” I said. “It’s got your killer on it. The man who killed Opparizio and snuck his body out of the hotel in Scottsdale. We’ll get it to you. Maybe it will help.”
“Don’t bother,” Aiello said. “We don’t want your help.”
“No,” Ruth said. “We’ll take it. Thank you.”
She looked at me and nodded. I could tell her words were sincere and that at least one person in the room did not believe they were setting free a murderer.
52
An hour later I was in my suit and stood in the courtroom before Judge Warfield. She had dismissed the jury but said they could stay if they wanted to and they all did. Dana Berg had, in a reluctant but carefully worded statement, reported to the court that new evidence of a confidential nature had come to light that exonerated me of the charges. She said the District Attorney’s Office was withdrawing the charge with prejudice and would expunge my arrest record.
Maggie McPherson stood next to me while my daughter and the members of my team stood behind me. Despite an admonishment from the judge to contain emotions, people in the courtroom clapped as the prosecutor finished her announcement. I looked over to the jury box and saw that the Hollywood Bowl chef was one of them. I nodded. I’d had her down correctly on my scorecard.
Now it was the judge’s turn.
“Mr. Haller,” Judge Warfield said. “A grave injustice has been committed against you and it is the court’s sincere hope that you can recover from this and continue your career as an officer of the court and defender of the rights of those who stand accused. Now that you have had this experience yourself, perhaps you will be better suited to serve in this capacity. I wish you all the best, sir. You are free to go.”
“Thank you, Your Honor,” I said.
My voice cracked as I said it. The magnitude of what had happened in the last two hours had left me shaking in my suit.
I turned and put my arms around Maggie, then reached back to my daughter. Soon the three of us were in a single embrace with the courtroom railing awkwardly between daughter and parents. I followed this with handshakes and smiles with Cisco and Bosch. I said nothing, because words were hard. I knew that would all come later.
53
Friday, February 28
We waited a day before hosting a celebration at the Redwood. By then the word had gotten out through press conferences and the media that I had been cleared of all charges and exonerated. It seemed appropriate to gather in the place where all the upheaval in my life had started. There were no invitations and no guest list. It was an open invitation to the courthouse set — with Lorna’s company credit card held at the bar for the tab.
It got crowded quickly but I had made sure that the defense team got the big round table in the back reserved just for us. I sat there like a godfather in a mob flick, surrounded by my capos and receiving the well-wishes and handshakes of those who had come to the party to celebrate a rare win for the defense.