Missing Witness (42 page)

“What types of documents did you search?”

“I looked at passenger lists and bills of lading for goods and personal belongings. I started in 1720, presuming that Jacob Joppa might have been brought back to the American colonies at that time. Actually, the first mention of his presence in the colonies turned out to be as an apprentice to the assistant of the harbormaster in Charleston, South Carolina, in 1738. Assuming my calculations regarding his probable date of birth, if Isaac was his father, that would have made him around eighteen years old. That would certainly fit for an apprentice's position like that.”

“In your search of vessel records, did you find one year that was particularly significant?”

“I certainly did,” Clover said with an edge of intensity in her voice. “In the year 1736, making Jacob Joppa around 16 years old, I found a passenger list from a vessel named the
Fair Haven.
That vessel shipped out of the West Indies and landed at the port of Charleston, South Carolina. Jacob Joppa was listed as a passenger on that vessel.”

“Now tell the jury whether Jacob Joppa listed the identity of his parents on the passenger log at the beginning of the voyage, would you?”

“He did list himself as a passenger, and he filled in information on the identity of his parents. Occasionally, although not usually, a vessel would require next-of-kin information in case of accident.”

“And who did he list as his parents at the
beginning
of this voyage?”

“Jacob Joppa listed Isaac Joppa as his father, and Abigail as his mother.”

“But at the end of the voyage, after landing in Charleston, South Carolina, did Jacob Joppa list someone else as his parents?”

“He certainly did,” Clover said with assurance. “A bill of lading for the delivery of some of his personal goods required his signature at dockside in Charleston.”

“And who did he list as his parents on that document?”

“He listed Adam Joppa, and his wife, Deborah, as his parents.”

MacPherson took a dramatic pause before addressing his final questions to Dr. Clover.

“Now, can you give the jury, based on your training and experience in matters of genealogy, as well as your review of the pertinent records in this case, a reason why Jacob Joppa would have listed Isaac Joppa as his father at the beginning of the voyage, but changed and listed Adam as his father after landing at Charleston?”

“There is a likely explanation—if we proceed on the assumption that Isaac Joppa was found guilty in London, England, of piracy, and was sentenced to hang. The explanation is this—Jacob's conception would have been extramarital. That is to say, he was deemed to be a bastard. I found no records of any registered wedding of Isaac Joppa to Abigail Merriwether in the records in either Bristol or London. So, I'm presuming that they didn't marry in the short span of time before he was hanged.

“Now, particularly in those days, it was a badge of infamy to be born out of wedlock. But couple that with the further besmirching of Isaac Joppa's name because of his conviction on charges of piracy. The news certainly would have traveled back to Charleston, South Carolina, regarding that. And Edward Teach's notorious escapades as a pirate had already become legend up and down the Carolina coast and throughout the colonies by then. It would not have taken young Jacob Joppa long to discover, after his arrival in Charleston, that it was far better to claim Adam Joppa as his father—particularly because Adam had been a relatively well-respected merchant in Bath, North Carolina, before being drowned at sea along with his wife.”

“So would it be your opinion,” MacPherson concluded, “that Jacob's actions in falsely representing Adam Joppa to be his father were likely a result of the obvious humiliation and shame that had been attached to Isaac Joppa at that time—humiliation and shame as a direct result of his conviction and hanging in London on piracy charges, and the out-of-wedlock birth that haunted Jacob himself?”

“Yes,” Henrietta Clover said with finality, “those are my opinions.”

“And with that, I have no further questions of this witness.” MacPherson collected his papers from the podium, threw a smug smile toward the jury, and then walked slowly to his table with an air of satisfaction.

61

W
ILL WAS FACED WITH A NEARLY INTRACTABLE DILEMMA
. Virgil MacPherson had misrepresented the nature of the testimony he would present from Dr. Henrietta Clover. He had described it merely as background genealogical information, rather than the blockbuster revelation that Jacob Joppa was actually the son of Isaac Joppa—but apparently was so embarrassed by the stigma of his father's conviction for piracy that he falsely claimed to be the son of Adam Joppa, Isaac's brother.

The problem was that Will's pretrial talk with MacPherson was all off the record. And MacPherson was the kind of opponent who would misrepresent that conversation to Judge Gadwell if challenged.

Rather than move for a mistrial, Will decided to conduct a short and highly focused cross-examination. He only had one weapon at his disposal. His two decades of cross-examining witnesses would now have to carry him. Coupled, of course, with a display of on-the-spot logical deduction.

Will took his time going to the podium, constructing his cross-examination as walked.

He took a moment at the podium to reflect. He had no notes in front of him.

“Dr. Clover,” he began. “You indicated that Jacob Joppa sailed from the West Indies to Charleston, South Carolina, on or about the year of 1736. Is that correct?”

Dr. Clover nodded enthusiastically. “Yes, that's absolutely correct.”

“Why the West Indies?”

“I'm not sure I get your meaning…”

“I'm simply asking why Jacob Joppa had made his way to the West Indies. You testified that you were basing your opinions on the assumption—the hypothetical—that Isaac Joppa had been convicted and hanged
in London following his piracy trial. That was your explanation as to why Jacob Joppa claimed Adam Joppa to be his father, correct?”

“That is correct.”

“So if, as you speculate, Jacob Joppa was conceived in the short interval of time between Isaac Joppa's arrival in England and before his arrest and trial, then how did Jacob end up in the West Indies?”

“I have no idea. I was unable to locate any research that would explain that.”

“But you do agree with me, Dr. Clover, that people change their names for a variety of reasons.”

“Oh, I suppose that that's correct.”

“And people may falsify information about their lineage for a wide variety of reasons?”

“Yes. There are a lot of reasons people may incorrectly or even falsely list a line of descent.”

“Now you mentioned the embarrassment and potential shame that Jacob Joppa may have felt regarding his father's supposed conviction on piracy charges back in England. Correct?”

“That was certainly the most logical explanation as to why he would have falsely listed Adam Joppa as his father when he signed off on the bill of lading.”

“Now, shame and humiliation—those are emotions that can certainly be expected by a young man whose father was in fact found guilty of piracy and hanged publicly?”

Dr. Clover nodded quickly. “Most certainly, and that was my opinion in this case.”

“On the other hand,” Will continued, his voice rising slightly, “humiliation and shame can also come from a public perception that is
in
accurate…a public perception within a community that a certain person is guilty—say, of piracy—even if that was not the fact. Do you follow me?”

Henrietta Clover paused for a minute, wrinkling her brow. Then she answered simply, “Yes, I see…Yes, I would agree with that.”

“Are you aware that in the year 1719—a few months after Isaac Joppa's public trial in London, England—a clerk entered a note in the Bath, North Carolina, magistrate's court records indicating that the piracy charges had been dismissed on the merits? Are you aware of that?”

“I don't believe…no…I don't think I've heard that before.”

“You mean, attorney Virgil MacPherson,” and with that Will pointed over to MacPherson, who shot a glare in his direction, “Mr. MacPherson
did not tell you what the clerk's notes in the Bath, North Carolina, magistrate's records showed?”

“No, I have never heard that before.”

“I want you to assume a certain set of facts,” Will said, building up speed toward his most important question. “I want you to assume, as a hypothetical, that Isaac Joppa was not convicted of piracy, nor was he hanged at Newgate. Rather, I want you to assume he was acquitted, found innocent by the jury, and that as a result the Central Criminal Court at the Old Bailey sent a message by boat to the Bath, North Carolina, magistrate's court—reporting the acquittal. I want you to further assume that the clerk at Bath entered the note indicating that the indictment was dismissed, and that it was dismissed on the merits—implying that the case had been resolved in Isaac Joppa's favor.

“Now…I want you to assume the clerk never communicated that information to another living soul. That the clerk kept the information of Isaac Joppa's acquittal entirely to himself. I want you to assume further that there were no newspaper reports of Isaac Joppa's acquittal by the Central Criminal Court in London—for whatever reason, the newspaper didn't cover it.

“In sum, I want you to assume that, for all practical purposes, the fact that Isaac was found innocent was never publicly known. That it was as if his innocence were a buried artifact, buried under layers of earth and stone, undetected and undiscovered by any archaeologist. I want you to also assume that the community in Bath, North Carolina, was well acquainted with Isaac Joppa's indictment for piracy charges, and that the community assumed his guilt as a result of that. Having never learned of his acquittal, the local community hostility against Isaac Joppa—because of his reputation as a member of Teach's murderous gang—was maintained in the popular thinking of North Carolina—and all the way down to South Carolina, including Charleston.

“Now, assuming those facts, wouldn't it have been logical—even understandable—for Jacob Joppa not to claim Isaac Joppa as his father…but rather to claim the more respectable Adam Joppa as his father?”

MacPherson leaped to his feet, waving his hands energetically.

“Objection! Objection. The hypothetical contains multiple items not contained in this record…he's asking this witness to speculate based on a hypothetical that assumes facts not in evidence. I move to strike. And I move to have Mr. Chambers admonished not to try that same hypothetical again.”

Judge Gadwell was trying to recollect all of the components of Will's complicated hypothetical, and, at the same time, trying to decipher MacPherson's objection.

Will didn't want to wait for the light bulb to come on in the wrong compartment of the judge's brain, so he intervened.

“Your Honor,” Will said confidently, “I challenge Mr. MacPherson here to point out one fact in my hypothetical that is outside the record in this case. Every one of the facts that I loaded into my hypothetical is either established clearly in this case or can be reasonably implied from the facts that have been proven. It just depends on which version of the facts—and which implications—the jury wants to believe. But the hypothetical I just put to the witness is simply a summary of the entire case we have put on.”

Judge Gadwell was getting tired, and his state of confusion did not seem to be lessened.

“Oh, I'll answer Mr. Chambers,” MacPherson said loudly, “I'll answer him all right. Here's the fact you've asked the witness to assume that has not been established—the fact that people would have known about Isaac Joppa's piracy exploits and his association with Edward Teach all the way down to South Carolina. You haven't established that.”

“Your honor,” Will said with a tinge of amusement in his voice, “Mr. MacPherson is trying to tell this court that such a fact has not been established. I find that bewildering. No—I find that astounding. Just a few minutes ago Mr. MacPherson himself elicited an opinion from his own witness that presupposed that the word had gotten down all the way to Charleston, South Carolina, about Isaac Joppa's tainted reputation. If the folks down there didn't know anything about Isaac Joppa, then what concern would Jacob Joppa have had about his father's reputation?”

Henrietta Clover, caught up in the argument of counsel and having listened to it carefully, began nodding noticeably in agreement with Will's argument.

MacPherson jumped in.

“No, Your Honor, Dr. Clover never gave any such opinion.”

Now Henrietta Clover was shaking her head, disagreeing with the comment by MacPherson.

The judge was still trying to sort out the tangled web of facts and arguments that lay on his judicial desk crying out for a decision.

Suddenly, Henrietta Clover, unprompted, began speaking.

“Your Honor, it is my opinion that Jacob Joppa changed the name of his father because of the community reaction he received when he arrived
in Charleston, South Carolina. So they must have known down in Charleston of Isaac Joppa's reputation for piracy—”