Final Exam: A Legal Thriller (56 page)

“Did he say anything indirectly?”
 

“Yes.
 
Right before he was killed, he spoke to me about possibly getting back together with an old flame.
 
We had recently been talking about the Defendant, so I assumed …”
 

Ben rose to his feet and cut him off.
 
“Objection, your Honor.
 
His assumptions aren’t important.
 
This is nothing more than speculation on the witness’s part.”
 

Judge Wilson didn’t wait for a response from Bridget Fahey.
 
“Sustained.”
 

Bridget Fahey moved closer to the bench and began to say something, but reconsidered.
 
Instead, she turned back to the witness and asked, “Do you know whether Professor Greenfield was working on any special research projects before he died?”
 

“Yes, he was,” the witness said.
 
“He was doing a substantial amount of research on DNA and paternity.
 
I originally believed it related to his work, perhaps he was writing an article on the subject, but I eventually changed my mind.”
 

“Why was that?”
 

“In talking to him, I became convinced that he had personal reasons for wanting to know about DNA and paternity.”
 

“Objection,” Ben said again.
 
“This is more speculation without any foundation whatsoever.”
 

“I’ll agree with the part about foundation,” the Judge said.
 
“Ms. Fahey,
lay
a better foundation if you want to get into this kind of thing.”
 

Ben didn’t like where this was heading and wanted to cut it off immediately.
 
“Your Honor,” he interjected, “I think we need to be heard outside the presence of the jury.”
 

Judge Wilson eyed him for a minute and then nodded.
 
“Very well, let’s go out here in the corridor.
 
The court reporter is also directed to come.”
 

Ben looked over at Bridget Fahey, who showed no reaction.
 
He then glanced at the jury and saw puzzled and concerned looks throughout.
 
Normally, Ben didn’t like to interrupt the trial and ask to speak to the Judge outside of the jury’s presence because it tended to offend the jurors and make them wonder what was being discussed behind their backs.
 
In this case, however, he saw little choice, particularly in light of the direction in which the questions seemed to be heading and the prior ruling which precluded Bridget Fahey from getting into questions surrounding Anthony
Cavallaro’s
paternity.
 

Ben followed Bridget Fahey out the door and into the corridor leading to Judge Wilson’s chambers.
 
A moment later, the court reporter maneuvered her machine and chair out into the small space so she could transcribe what was being said.
 
Judge Wilson waited for her to get set up, then turned to Ben and said, “Okay, Counsel, what’s on your mind?”
 

“Your Honor, it appears from where this questioning is heading that Ms. Fahey is attempting to get the issue of paternity in through the back door.
 
As I’m sure you recall, long before this trial began, you granted our Motion in
Limine
which barred any evidence regarding the paternity of Anthony
Cavallaro
, my client’s son.
 
Ms. Fahey is trying to get at the issue of paternity without mentioning Anthony directly, despite the fact that the implication is obvious.
 
She can be talking about no one else.
 
I let it go in her opening statement because it was a rather indirect reference and I didn’t want to call more attention to it than was necessary.
 
Now, however, she is clearly trying to circumvent your ruling and present the issue of paternity when we all know full well that Anthony
Cavallaro
is Joseph
Cavallaro’s
son and not Daniel Greenfield’s.
 
She is trying to make it appear as though my client had a motive for killing Professor Greenfield to keep something quiet that isn’t even true.”
 

Judge Wilson gave a stern and thoughtful look, then turned to Bridget Fahey and said, “He has a point, Ms. Fahey.
 
I’ve ruled that paternity isn’t relevant and should be barred.
 
What are you trying to do here?”
 

“Your Honor, I’m not really trying to circumvent your Order, but I think the issue of paternity is relevant.
 
Yes, it’s true that we learned that Anthony
Cavallaro
is not Daniel Greenfield’s child, but that really isn’t the point.
 
The point is what everyone may have thought they knew at the time of Daniel Greenfield’s murder.
 
Daniel Greenfield may very well have believed that Anthony
Cavallaro
was his child and acted accordingly.
 
The Defendant, your Honor, may have also suspected that her son may have been Professor Greenfield’s child and not known for sure.
 

“Either way, she may very well have been motivated to keep Daniel Greenfield quiet about the affair, assuming her husband didn’t know, and we believe he didn’t know, and also to keep him from pursuing the paternity issue.
 
Also, I’m sure she didn’t want her son to learn that Joseph
Cavallaro
was not his real father.”
 

“Judge, this is ridiculous,” Ben said.
 

But then Judge Wilson held up a hand.
 
Ben fell silent and watched the Judge consider Bridget Fahey’s words.
 
He thought for several moments and then turned back to the Prosecutor.
 
“What’s Professor
Dorlund
going to say?”
 

“He’s going to say that he saw no evidence that the DNA and paternity research that Professor Greenfield was working on had anything to do with any article.
 
He’s going to say that his conversations with Professor Greenfield led him to believe that the research was personal, and not work-related.
 
He’s also going to say that Professor Greenfield told him that he had just found something out that would make a significant difference in his personal life.”
 

“What was that?” the Judge asked.
 

Fahey spoke quickly and intensely.
 
“He will say that he doesn’t know for sure, but that Greenfield’s comments led him to believe that Greenfield thought that the Defendant’s child was his.”
 

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Ben interrupted.
 

“Hold on, Counsel,” the Judge said with another raise of his hand.
 
Ben was incredulous.
 
In his mind, this was made up out of whole cloth, with no facts to support it.
 
It also constituted the worst kind of blindsiding at the last minute.
 

Fahey continued clearly excited.
 
“Judge, we believe the jury can reasonably infer that Professor Greenfield suspected that the Defendant’s child was his and that she acted in order to silence him.”
 

Judge Wilson finally turned back to Ben.
 
“Now you can tell me what you think,” he said.
 

“Judge, there is no basis for this whatsoever.
 
We know the issue of paternity is settled.
 
Anthony
Cavallaro
is Joseph
Cavallaro’s
child.
 
The rest of this is all made up.
 
It’s all just speculation out of nothing, out of thin air.”
 

The Judge looked thoughtful.
 
“If I do reconsider the issue of paternity, of course, you would be allowed to put into evidence the fact that a paternity test was taken and the child was shown to be Joseph
Cavallaro’s
.
 
That discounts their theory right there.”
 

“Sure it does, Judge, but they have no real proof that any relationship ever took place.
 
It’s not like anyone can come in here and say they saw them having sex.
 
They’re just trying to dirty her up without any evidence of paternity whatsoever.
 
They needed a motive and now they’ve gone and made one up.”
 

“I wouldn’t go that far, Counsel,” the Judge said.
 
“It is circumstantial and I would agree it’s speculative, but there are pieces of evidence that do support it.
 
I’m not sure that the jury can’t make that inference.
 
You can certainly take steps to disprove it.”
 

“It’s awful hard to disprove a negative, Judge.”
 

“Mr.
Lohmeier
, there are a lot of ways to disprove a negative.
 
There are a lot of ways for you to attack this evidence if you so choose.
 
I think on reflection that Ms. Fahey’s right.
 
I’ll allow the testimony subject to your objection.
 
Now let’s go back inside.”
 

The Judge made it clear that the discussion was over and his ruling would stand.
 
Ben shook his head and remembered to put on a brave face when he returned to his seat.
 
Bridget Fahey strutted her way back into the courtroom, not even trying to conceal her feelings over the Court’s ruling.
 
Ben, on the other hand, appeared stoic, but tried to maintain a calm air of indifference.
 

When he sat down, Judge Wilson was just coming through the door back into the courtroom.
 
Meg leaned over and said, “What happened?” into Ben’s ear.
 
He turned at her and shook his head telling her to be quiet.
 

When the court reporter was back in place, Judge Wilson addressed the jury.
 
“We’ve had a brief conference outside your presence to decide some evidentiary issues which were originally raised before this trial began.
 
The lawyers have made their arguments and I have made my ruling.
 
We are now ready to proceed.
 
Ms. Fahey, you can continue.”

Before Bridget Fahey could continue, Ben rose to his feet and said, “Your Honor, for the record and in front of the jury, I would like to renew my objection to this whole line of testimony.
 
The issues that Counsel is raising, and the inferences she is seeking to draw from them, are both irrelevant and improper and should not be admitted.
 
As such, the defense demands a continuing objection to this whole inquiry.”
 

Judge Wilson looked down at Ben, a surprised and very irritated expression on his face.
 
He cocked his head and said with a tone of astonishment, “You demand such an objection, Counsel?”
 

Ben never expected to put himself in this kind of position with this judge, but he did not back down.
 
He returned the Judge’s glare with one of his own, filled with anger and contempt for the ruling.
 
Abandoning his long-held belief that he would never show that anything bothered him in a courtroom, Ben stared back at the Judge and said, “Absolutely.
 
I think we’re so entitled.”
 

Judge Wilson raised his chin and looked at Ben for a long time, then he nodded and said, “Very well.
 
The defense has a continuing objection over this line of questioning.
 
Now, Ms. Fahey, you may continue.”
 

“Back before we were interrupted,” Fahey said with a sly grin, “you were telling me about conversations you had with Professor Greenfield shortly before his death regarding his personal life.”
 

“Yes,”
Dorlund
said looking even
more smug
than before.
 
“He told me shortly before he was killed that he’d found out some new and exciting news about his personal life that would change his life forever.
 
He also told me that he hoped to possibly get back together with someone he had seen before.”
 

“Did he tell you who?”
 

Dorlund
shook his head.
 
“No, he didn’t.”
 

“As we discussed briefly before, you are familiar with research that Professor Greenfield was conducting on DNA and paternity?”
 

“Yes, that’s correct.”
 

“To your knowledge, was Professor Greenfield drafting an article or writing a book with respect to those topics?”
 

“I assumed so at first, but then I changed my mind because I saw no evidence of him drafting anything with respect to those topics.
 
I came to believe that he was only researching them for his own personal use.”
 

“What do you mean by that?”
 

“I think it related to the exciting news in his personal life that he spoke about.”