Part 55 (1/2)
She had gone too far. I could see the skin around Perry's eyes tighten as she stated that he looked like a fool. I think she'd had him in her hand but then lost him.
”Well, thank you very much, Ms. Freeman. I think at this time I'm inclined to go back out and give Mr. Haller one final chance to tie it all in. Do you understand what I mean by final final chance, Mr. Haller?” chance, Mr. Haller?”
”Yes, Your Honor. I will comply.”
”You'd better, sir, because the court's patience has drawn thin. Let's go back now.”
Out at the defense table I saw Aronson waiting by herself and realized she hadn't followed me into chambers. I sat down wearily.
”Where's Lisa?”
”In the hallway with Dahl. What happened?”
”I've got one more chance. I have to move things up and go in for the kill now.”
”Can you do it?”
”We'll see. I've got to run out to the facilities before we start again. Why didn't you come into chambers?”
”No one asked me to, and I didn't know if I should just follow you in.”
”Next time follow me in.”
Courthouse designs are good at separating parties. Jurors have their own a.s.sembly and deliberation rooms, and there are aisles and gates to separate opposing parties and supporters. But the restrooms are the great equalizers. You step into one of these and you never know who you will encounter. I pushed through the inner door of the men's room and almost walked right into Opparizio, who was was.h.i.+ng his hands at the sink. He was bent over and looked up at me in the mirror.
”Well, Counselor, did the judge slap your hands a little bit?”
”That's none of your business. I'll find another restroom.”
I turned around to leave but Opparizio stopped me.
”Don't bother. I'm leaving.”
He shook his wet hands off and moved toward the door, coming very close to me and then suddenly stopping.
”You are despicable, Haller,” he said. ”Your client is a murderer and you have the b.a.l.l.s to try to cast the blame on me. How do you look at yourself in the mirror?”
He turned and gestured toward the line of urinals.
”This is where you belong,” he said. ”In the toilet.”
Forty-nine.
It all came down to the next half hour-maybe an hour at the most. I sat at the defense table, composing my thoughts and waiting. Everyone was in place except for the judge, who remained in chambers, and Opparizio, who was smugly conferring with his two attorneys in the first row of the gallery where they had reserved seats. My client leaned toward me and whispered, so that not even Aronson could hear.
”You have more, right?”
”Excuse me?”
”You have more, don't you, Mickey? More to go after him with?”
Even she knew that what I had already trotted out was not enough. I whispered back.
”We'll know before lunch. We'll either be drinking champagne or crying in our soup.”
The door to the judge's chambers opened and Perry emerged. He called for the jury and the witness to return to the stand before he was even seated on the bench. A few minutes later I was back at the lectern, staring down Opparizio. The restroom confrontation seemed to give him renewed confidence. He adopted a relaxed posture that announced to the world that he was home free. I decided that there was no sense in waiting. It was time to start swinging.
”Now then, Mr. Opparizio, continuing our discussion from before, you have not been completely truthful in your testimony today, have you?”
”I have been completely honest and I resent the question.”
”You lied from the start, didn't you, sir? Giving a false name when sworn in by the clerk.”
”My name was legally changed thirty-one years ago. I did not lie and it has nothing to do with this.”
”What is the name that is on your birth certificate?”
Opparizio paused and I think I saw the first inkling or recognition of where I was going with this.
”My birth name was Antonio Luigi Apparizio. Like now but spelled with an A. A. Growing up, people called me Lou or Louie because there were a lot of Anthonys and Antonios in the neighborhood. I decided to go with Louis. I legally changed my name to Anthony Louis Opparizio. I Americanized it. That's it.” Growing up, people called me Lou or Louie because there were a lot of Anthonys and Antonios in the neighborhood. I decided to go with Louis. I legally changed my name to Anthony Louis Opparizio. I Americanized it. That's it.”
”But why did you change the spelling of your last name too?”
”There was a professional baseball player at the time named Luis Aparicio. I thought the names were too close. Louis Apparizio and Luis Aparicio. I didn't want to have a name so close to a famous person's so I changed the spelling. Is that okay with you, Mr. Haller?”
The judge admonished Opparizio to simply answer the questions and not ask them.
”Do you know when Luis Aparicio retired from professional baseball?” I asked.
I glanced at the judge after asking the question. If his patience was being stretched before, it was now probably as thin as the piece of paper a contempt citation would be printed on.
”No, I don't know when he retired.”
”Does it surprise you to learn that it was eight years before you changed your name?”
”No, it doesn't surprise me.”
”But you expect the jury to believe that you changed your name to avoid a match to a baseball player long out of the game?”
Opparizio shrugged.
”It's what happened.”
”Isn't it true that you changed your name from Apparizio to Opp Opparizio because you were an ambitious young man and wanted to at least outwardly distance yourself from your family?”
”No, untrue. I did want to have a more American-sounding name, but I wasn't distancing myself from anyone.”