She asked the man, “Can you tell me a little bit about the organization?”
“We are a fraternity based on the masonic principles of brotherly love, relief and truth.”
Leigh let him keep talking, enjoying the theater of the courtroom exchange. She paced in front of the stand, thinking about where Bladel would sit on the jury, how she would frame her argument, when she should lean into the forensics, when she should deploy her experts.
Then she turned and saw the bored look on Andrew’s face.
He was staring blankly at the court reporter, completely uninterested in the cross-examination. He had only used the notepad she’d given him once, and that was when they’d first been seated. Andrew had wanted to know where Tammy was. He had been expecting to see his victim in the courtroom because he didn’t understand how criminal trials worked. The State of Georgia had charged Andrew Tenant with felony crimes. Tammy Karlsen was their witness. The rule of sequestration forbade her from attending any part of the trial until she gave testimony. Even a brief appearance in the gallery would’ve likely resulted in a mistrial.
“Thank you, sir,” Leigh said, taking advantage of Mr. Bladel’s pause for breath. “Judge, we accept this witness and ask for him to be seated.”
“Very well.” Turner let out another loud yawn behind his mask. “Excuse me. We’ll finish there for the day and resume at ten tomorrow morning. Ms. Collier, Mr. Carmichael, do you have any business that needs attending?”
To Leigh’s surprise, Dante stood up.
He said, “Your honor, as a bit of housekeeping, I’d like to amend my witness list. I’ve added two—”
“Judge,” Leigh interrupted. “It’s a bit late to spring two new witnesses.”
The judge gave her a strident look. Men who interrupted were passionate about their case. Women who interrupted were shrill. “Ms. Collier , I recall signing off on your own very late motion for substitution of counsel.”
He was giving her a warning. “Thank you, your honor, for approving the substitution. I’m more than ready to proceed, but I would ask for a delay to—”
“Your two propositions sit in tension,” Turner said. “Either you are ready or you are not ready.”
Leigh knew the battle was already lost. So did Dante. He handed her the filing on his way to give the judge a copy. Leigh saw that he’d added Lynne Wilkerson and Fabienne Godard, two women she’d never heard of. When she put the page in front of Andrew, he barely gave it a glance.
Turner said, “Approved as submitted. Are we finished?”
Dante said, “Your honor, I’d also like to request an emergency hearing to revoke bond.”
“Are you fuh—” Leigh caught herself. “Your honor, this is ridiculous. My client has been out on bond for more than a year, and has had ample opportunity for flight. He is here to vigorously participate in his defense.”
Dante said, “I’ve got an affidavit from Mr. Tenant’s probation officer documenting five separate instances where Mr. Tenant has interfered with the functioning of his ankle monitor.”
Leigh said, “That’s a very umbrageous way to describe what is clearly a technical issue that probation has yet to resolve.”
Turner waved his hand for the affidavit. “Let me see it.”
Again, Leigh was given her own copy to read. She skimmed the details, which took up less than one page and listed the times and dates of the alarms, but with only ephemeral causes—possible tampering with optical cable; possible use of GPS blocking; possible breach of set perimeter.
She started to open her mouth to point out that possible wasn’t proof, but then she stopped herself. Why was she trying to keep Andrew out of jail?
The fail-safe. The tapes. Callie. Maddy.
Leigh felt the rollercoaster slowly clicking its way back up the hill. Why was she so sure that Walter had turned her in? What was that gut feeling based on?
Maybe it’s a bad idea to connect another teenage girl with a goddam rapist?
Turner said, “Ms. Collier, I’m waiting.”
She jumped back into the defense. “Four of these false alarms date back over the last two months, Judge. Why is the last one different, other than the fact that we are four days from trial in the middle of a pandemic? Is Mr. Carmichael hoping that my client gets infected in detention?”
Turner gave her a sharp look. No one was allowed to talk about the fact that inmates were Corona cannon fodder. “Watch yourself, Ms. Collier.”