His phone rang before he’d gone fifteen feet.
“Yeah,” Jason said.
“Are you out of your mind?” Izzy asked. “You’re gonna be held in contempt for commenting on evidence.”
“You think?” Jason asked. “There was no gag order.”
“There will be now. Your comments about Pike go over the line.”
“Good. To have any chance of winning, we’re going to have to shake things up.”
“Jason, are you sure you know what you’re doing? You don’t have the cleanest record with the bar, and your public reprimand is in a few days.”
“I know what I’m doing,” Jason said, trying to keep his tone confident. “You know how we roll, Iz. We make our adversaries uncomfortable; we keep them on their toes. That’s what drives settlements, almost as much as exposure. When the other side hates to have to deal with you, that’s an advantage.”
“I know, but this isn’t a car wreck. You really think these tactics are going to work in a murder case?”
“I don’t know, but we can’t sit here and do nothing, or we’ll take a beating. My sister’s character has been assassinated in the press ever since she was arrested. It’s time to take a swing at the state, and everything I said was spot on. To win, we have to discredit Pike. I needed to plant that seed.”
He heard a few chortles on the other end of the line.
“What?” Jason asked.
“Well, you certainly planted it. How fast do you think you’ll get a reaction?”
“Soon, I’d imagine,” he said.
“Yeah,” Izzy agreed. “Very soon.”
38
Soon turned out to be thirty minutes.
Judge Conrad, who had yet to leave Guntersville, ordered an emergency hearing. When Jason returned to the courtroom, the sandy-haired, heavyset barrister was scowling, his face as crimson as Alabama’s football helmets. At the prosecution table, Shay Lankford glanced at Jason and rolled her eyes, her arms crossed tight.
“I should hold you in contempt,” Judge Conrad said.
Jason held his eye. “Forgive me, Your Honor, but I don’t understand the problem.”
“Commenting on evidence to the press? A huge no-no, Mr. Rich. Potential jurors will likely have heard your comments, making it harder to impanel a jury. Do you understand?”
“Yes sir, but what about the press conferences the sheriff held denouncing my client?” Jason asked. “Potential jurors probably heard his remarks too.” He hesitated and chose his words carefully. “There was no gag order in place, and I was exercising my right to freedom of speech. Said another way, Judge, the state started it.”
Judge Conrad grunted. “I’m imposing a gag order from this point forward. No comments to the press from either side. Anyone violating this order will be held in contempt. Is that clear, Mr. Rich?”
“Yes, sir.”
“Shay?”
“Yes, Your Honor.” Her face was flushed, and she kept her arms crossed. Jason could tell that he’d rattled her. Good, he thought. He hadn’t taken this case to make friends.
“Mr. Rich, the only reason you’re not in a jail cell right now is because your actions, while deserving of punishment, did not violate an order of this court. If you so much as breathe heavy around a reporter or a member of the press, you’ll find yourself locked up for a week. You hear me?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“All right then,” Judge Conrad said, glowering at Jason. “Get out of my sight.”
Shay caught up to Jason outside the doors to the courtroom. “That clown act might scare an insurance adjuster, but all it does is make me more determined to see Jana spend the rest of her life in prison. You understand?”
“Nothing I told the press was untrue,” he replied. “Waylon Pike is a con man, Ms. Lankford, and you know it. Your case is weak.” He started to turn away, but her voice rang out behind him.
“If Jana didn’t pay Pike, then who did?”
He continued to walk, but Shay wasn’t done.
“If you don’t have an answer for that, Mr. Rich, then your client is going down.”
39
They huddled at Café 336 at the Bakers on Main shopping center a couple of blocks from the courthouse. Jason ate a chicken salad sandwich and chips and washed it down with tea while Harry gave him a breakdown of his investigation.
“The Cowan kid is mostly doing grounds crew work right now for the city, mowing grass for the city parks and doing other odd jobs. Goes to the Brick almost every night for happy hour. That bartender, Teresa, is usually working there.”