Part 27 (1/2)

”Ms. Freeman, redirect?” the judge asked, once I had returned to my seat.

”No, Your Honor. No redirect.”

”The witness may step down.”

I had Freeman's witness list stapled to the inside flap of a case file on the table in front of me. I drew a line through the names Abbott and Roberts and scanned the names that were left. The first day of trial wasn't even quite over and she had already put a sizable dent into the list. I scanned the remaining names and determined that Detective Kurlen was most likely the next witness up. But this presented a bit of a problem for the prosecutor. I checked my watch. It was 4:25 and court was scheduled to end at 5. If Freeman put Kurlen on the stand she would just be getting started when the judge recessed for the day. It was possible she could lead him toward a revelation that would be nice to have the jury considering overnight, but this might entail shuffling the delivery of his testimony and again I didn't think Freeman would consider it a worthy trade.

I scanned the list again to see if she had a floater, a witness who could be dropped in anywhere in the prosecution's case. I didn't see one and looked across the aisle at the prosecutor, unsure what move she would make.

”Ms. Freeman,” the judge prompted. ”Call your next witness, please.”

Freeman rose from her seat and addressed Perry.

”Your Honor, it is expected that the witness I planned to call next will be providing lengthy testimony on both direct and cross-examination. I would like to ask for the court's indulgence and allow me to call the witness first thing in the morning so that the jury will not feel a disruption in testimony.”

The judge looked over Freeman's head at the clock on the rear wall of the courtroom. He slowly shook his head.

”No,” he said. ”No, we're not going to do that. We have more than a half hour of court time left and we are going to use it. Call your next witness, Ms. Freeman.”

”Yes, Your Honor,” Freeman said. ”The People call Gilbert Modesto.”

I had been wrong about the floater. Modesto was head of corporate security at WestLand National and Freeman must have believed his testimony could be dropped into the trial at any point and not be detrimental to momentum and flow.

After being sworn in and taking his seat on the stand, Modesto proceeded to outline his experience in law enforcement and his current duties at WestLand National. Freeman then brought the questioning around to his actions on the morning of Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant's slaying.

”When I heard it was Mitch, the first thing I did was pull the threat file to give to the police,” he said.

”What is the threat file?” Freeman asked.

”It's a file we keep that contains every mailed or e-mailed threat to the bank or bank personnel. It also contains notes on any other kind of threat that comes in through phone or third party or the police. We have a protocol for weighing the severity of the threat and we have names that we flag and so forth.”

”How familiar are you personally with the threat file?”

”Very familiar. I study it. It's my job.”

”How many names were in that file on the morning of Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant's murder?”

”I didn't count but I would say a couple dozen.”

”And these were all considered legitimate threats to the bank and its employees?”

”No, our rule is that if we get a threat it goes into the file. Doesn't matter how legitimate it is. It goes into the file. So most of them are not considered serious, just somebody blowing off steam or a little frustration.”

”In the file that morning, what name was on the top of the list in terms of seriousness of the threat?”

”The defendant, Lisa Trammel.”

Freeman paused for effect. I studied the jury. Almost all eyes looked toward my client.

”Why is that, Mr. Modesto? Did she make a specific threat against the bank or any bank employee?”

”No, she didn't. But she was engaged in a foreclosure fight with the bank and had a history of protesting outside the bank until our lawyers got a temporary restraining order keeping her away. It was her actions that were perceived as a threat and it looks like we were right about that.”

I jumped up and objected, asking the judge to strike the end of Modesto's answer as being inflammatory and prejudicial. The judge agreed and admonished Modesto to keep such opinions to himself.

”Do you know, Mr. Modesto,” Freeman said, ”whether Lisa Trammel had made a direct threat against anyone at the bank, including Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant?”

Rule number one was to turn all weaknesses into advantages. Freeman was asking my questions now, robbing me of the chance to inflect them with my own outrage.

”No, not specifically. But it was our feeling in terms of threat a.s.sessment that she was someone we should keep an eye out for.”

”Thank you, Mr. Modesto. Who did you give this file to within the LAPD?”

”Detective Kurlen, who was heading up the investigation. I went directly to him with it.”

”And did you have occasion to speak to Detective Kurlen again later in the day?”

”Well, we spoke a few times as the investigation was progressing. He had questions about the surveillance cameras in the garage and other things.”

”Was there a second time when you contacted him?”

”Yes, when it came to my attention that one of our employees, a teller, had reported to her supervisor that she believed she had seen Lisa Trammel either near or on the bank property that morning. I thought that was information the police needed to have so I called Detective Kurlen and set up an interview for him with the teller.”

”And was that Margo Schafer?”

”Yes, it was.”

Freeman ended her direct examination there and turned the witness over to me. I decided it would be best to get in and out, sow a few seeds and come back to harvest later.

”Mr. Modesto, as chief of corporate security at WestLand, did you have access to the foreclosure action the bank was taking against Lisa Trammel?”

Modesto emphatically shook his head.

”No, that was a legal case and as such I was not privy to it.”

”So when you gave Detective Kurlen that file with Lisa Trammel's name at the top of the list, you wouldn't have known if she was about to lose her house or not, correct?”

”That is correct.”

”You wouldn't have known if the bank was in the process of backing off her foreclosure because it had employed a company engaged in fraudulent activities, am I-”

”Objection!” Freeman shrieked. ”a.s.sumes facts not in evidence.”

”Sustained,” Perry said. ”Mr. Haller, be careful here.”

”Yes, Your Honor. Mr. Modesto, at the time you gave the threat file to Detective Kurlen, did you mention Lisa Trammel specifically or did you just hand him the file and let him go through it on his own?”