American Justice - Chapter 12

“Before the trial began, I was interviewed,” said Brooklyn, abruptly changing the subject and not giving anyone time to think or comment.

“When I was questioned by Reporter A, I said that this lawsuit is not just about a person’s life, but also about my personal reputation.”

“I know that saying this sounds cold-blooded and may make some people uncomfortable, thinking that I have no sympathy.”

“But to be honest, Selena was my assistant and we had some intimate moments. However, she later destroyed these beautiful memories and claimed that she would ruin me.”

“In reality, it would be difficult for most people to have any good feelings towards someone who is full of malice and claims to want to destroy you.”

“I still feel sorry for Selena’s death, but this is only due to my love and respect for life.”

“I am also a normal person with preferences, and you cannot ask me to ignore my own future and sympathize with someone who maliciously tried to destroy my future by committing suicide.”

“Your Honor, please allow me to request Reporter A, ABC… and other TV station reporters who were present that day to be witnesses.”

Brooklyn suddenly requested that all the reporters who had arrived at the scene be witnesses, which surprised everyone, including Ben Stone, who was preparing to object from the plaintiff’s seat and could not understand what Brooklyn was up to.

This request by Brooklyn did not fully comply with the procedural notarization law.

The Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure require both the prosecution and defense to provide a complete list of evidence, including exhibits, witnesses, and testimonies when submitting their evidence list.

However, the Federal Rules of Criminal Procedure also allow for new evidence to be added to the list of exhibits if discovered during the trial, with the court’s permission.

Although the rules of criminal procedure only apply to newly discovered evidence, in practice, many people withhold key evidence, do not include it on the evidence list, and wait for the trial to present it at the opportune moment.

This provision is also hated by judges because it disrupts the pace of the trial and creates uncertainty.

No judge likes surprises, at least not Judge Anna or Brooklyn.

Judge Anna frowned and stared at Brooklyn, clearly unhappy.

But Brooklyn had chosen his moment well.

The rules require both the prosecution and defense to cross-examine and present evidence until one side no longer has any evidence to submit.

It is now the defendant’s turn to present evidence.

Judge Anna waved to both parties, signaling them to come forward. [Note 1]

“Brooklyn, what are you up to?”

Judge Anna said disapprovingly.

“I don’t like surprises, and I certainly don’t like unexpected things.”

“You better give me a good reason.”

Brooklyn shifted his gaze away from Ben Stone and said,

“They were all present at the time, and they are important witnesses. Their testimony will play a crucial role in Ben’s case, Your Honor.”

Judge Anna calling for a sidebar conference didn’t surprise him, and if he were in her shoes, he would have brought the person forward to ask questions.

What really surprised him was that Ben Stone didn’t object at all!

Even though he had already made it clear that the situation was about to turn, Ben Stone showed no signs of opposition!

It was just too unreasonable!

Faced with Brooklyn’s probing gaze, Ben Stone remained silent and gave a polite smile.

“You better be right, or else…”

Judge Anna warned and ended the sidebar conference, allowing Brooklyn’s request.

The bailiff immediately approached and escorted the selected journalists out.

“Stay quiet!”

Anna hammered her gavel to maintain order and yelled in displeasure.

“If anyone doesn’t want to listen, just leave!”

The first witness quickly took the stand.

Brooklyn chose to list multiple journalists as witnesses to prevent them from refusing – they had the right to do so.

A female journalist for A swore on the Bible and looked excitedly at Brooklyn. [TLN: the A on bold stands for Station A]

She had reason to be excited.

This experience was enough for her to later create an exclusive, attention-grabbing report!

“Ma’am, may I ask what time you arrived at the eucalyptus discovery site?”

Brooklyn asked gently.

“Around 2:00 p.m. I’m not really sure.”

The female reporter replied, “The day before Selena’s tweet said there would be a major revelation at 2 p.m., so it should be 2 p.m.”

“What did you see when you arrived at the scene?”

“We found the police car parked in the yard, you were pinned to the ground by a police officer, and we saw someone in the living room through the door.”

The female reporter replied with recollection

“When we got closer, we found that the person who was down was Selena.”

“She was wearing an open bathrobe, lying in a pool of blood.”

Speaking of which, the female reporter got a little excited.

“You said I was pinned to the ground by an officer, and we all know that officers in New York work in teams of two, and the other guy? Where’s his partner? Where did they go?”

“The other officer was a woman and she came out of the house and stopped at the door.”

“She said there was a murder inside and it was the scene of the crime and no pictures were allowed.”

Brooklyn raised an eyebrow and asked, pretending to be surprised

“Walked out from inside? Can you describe the details? Was she wearing protective clothing?” [Note 2]

“No. She looks like she went to check on Selena and we were about to go inside when she happened to come out of the living room.”

“Where’s her partner, what’s she doing? Did she walk out of the house with her?”

“No, her partner is on the porch, with you.”

“I’m done asking questions, thank you for your cooperation, beautiful lady.”

Brooklyn nodded politely at the female reporter and turned around.

“A key motive for the police to suspect me of being the killer was the tweet the day before that the deceased tweeted, and they suspect me of killing to prevent the deceased from blowing up the so-called little secret.”

“So what was this little secret?”

“I walked out of the murder scene, covered in blood, and was apprehended by the patrol as a suspect. The media happened to arrive and captured the scene on film.”

“Could this little secret be ‘the upright Judge Brooklyn Lee turned out to be a self-serving murderer’?!”

“Objection! This is a complete conjecture of the other side!”

Coulson’s voice rang out.

Brooklyn didn’t even pay attention to it and continued

“Consider this: the tweet the deceased sent the day before was public, and she explicitly stated that the so-called little secret was exposed at 2 p.m.”

“And I entered the villa at less than nine in the morning.”

“Nine o’clock to 2 p.m. I had a full five hours to do it, so why would I suddenly do it in the minutes before the reporters all arrived?”

“Waiting to be caught by reporters in a visible form?”

“The lady just mentioned that one of the officers had me under control on the veranda, while the other went into the scene to check on the dead.”

“I can understand the eagerness of that female patrolman, but does this meet the relevant requirements?”

“What she did at the scene, no one knows.”

“I can dismiss the fact that they arrested me without obtaining a warrant and without Mirandizing me. But I can’t help but question the impartiality of this evidence.” [Note 3]

“The bloodstains, the murder weapon, the autopsy report.”

“I don’t understand that after I was taken to police headquarters, not a single person came to interrogate me for a period of four hours.”

“I was the first suspect, and they didn’t interrogate me since the beginning, in fact they didn’t interrogate me at all, what were they busy with?”

“The paperwork for the murder case is half a meter thick, how did they manage to fill it all out in less than 10 hours?”

Wow —

Brooklyn’s words completely ignited the courtroom.

..

..

Notes.

1. This is called a bar-side conference, also known as pre-trial deliberations. During the trial, if there are complex issues or important disputes in the evidence, the prosecution and defense argue in front of the jury will have a negative impact on the jury’s judgment, a party’s lawyer can request a bar-side conference, the judge allowed, the two lawyers came to the judge to discuss, to avoid being heard by the jury.

2. Protective equipment may include gloves, goggles/face masks, booties, and jumpsuits; a hair covering or hairnet is needed to prevent hair from getting mixed up in crime scene evidence. In areas with a chemical contamination risk, a CSI (crime scene investigator) may wear an encapsulated suit with a breathing apparatus.

3. This is just Miranda’s rights said in another form. For those of you who don’t remember,  it is read by police officers to criminal suspects in police custody or in a custodial interrogation advising them of their right to silence and, in effect, protection from self-incrimination; that is, their right to refuse to answer questions or provide information to law enforcement or other officials.