Read Online Cookie's Case by Andy Siegel - Free Book Online Page A

“he said, she said,” situation. Literally. So my entire goal is to establish that Josefina is unworthy of belief.
    Once the preliminaries are out of the way, Judge Brown gets down to business.
    â€œLet the record reflect that the witness, Josefina Ruiz, is sitting in the witness chair.” Josefina looks up and smiles upon hearing her name. “She’s your witness, Mr. Jenkins, you may cross-examine her.”
    â€œWell, uh, you see …” I rise from my seat. “Your Honor, I’ll be cross-examining the witness, not Mr. Jenkins.”
    â€œYou?” she asks, surprised.
    â€œYes, me.”
    â€œThe party-litigant crossing their adverse party. I’ve never had this in my thirty years on the bench. It’s highly unusual.”
    â€œAs is the bogus claim against me, Your Honor.”
    â€œObjection!” Wilbur barks.
    I turn to him. “Pipe down, Wilbur, there’s no jury here to grandstand for.”
    â€œYou talking to me?”
    â€œYou’re the only Wilbur in here.”
    He grits his teeth. “My name’s not Wilbur! And you damn well know that.”
    â€œEnough, gentlemen. Mr. Wyler, she’s your witness.”
    â€œThank you, Your Honor. Mr. Jenkins will be making legal argument on my behalf, in response to Wilbur’s objections, should the need arise during my cross of this witness.”
    â€œDuly noted, Counselor. You may inquire.” I slowly walk over and place myself right in front of the witness box. Most times when I do this, it’s in a more threatening manner. But not now. In this instance, I’m placing myself here in such a way so as to make Josefina feel comfortable, which is why I walked over so deliberately and why I offered my former client a kindly smile when I stopped in front of her.
    There are two basic ways to take down a witness. You can go directly for their jugular, an aggressive, attacking, quick-kill approach that they can see coming. Which was the original plan. Or, you can make nice as you slowly drain blood from the witness’s smaller collateral vessels without them knowing it. By the time they become aware of what’s seeping away—their credibility—it’s too late. I’m now opting for the latter exsanguination. It’s taken only a glance at Josefina to realize I need to make a change on the fly. She looks pathetic. If I play the cut-throat lawyer taking advantage of her less-than-perfect intelligence, I become the bad guy. For real. Not going to happen. Let the games begin. My laptop is plugged into the court reporter’s steno machine, and this is how the testimony reads in real time:
    Q: Josefina, yesterday you testified that one year ago, in my office conference room, I told you to lie under oath during our predeposition prep session. Correct?
    A: S í .
    Q:And you and I were alone in this room when you say I told you to lie. Correct?
    A: S í , abogado.
    Q:And when we finished talking and were ready to begin your deposition, I pushed a button on the phone and told Lily, my paralegal, to send everybody in. Correct?
    A:Correct.
    Q:And the court reporter walked into my conference room first. Correct?
    A:Yes.
    Q:And she began setting up her machine. Correct?
    A:Correct.
    Q:Then, the truck driver who ran over your foot and his lawyer walked into the room. Correct?
    A: S í .
    Q:And you saw this truck driver on that day with your own two eyes. Correct?
    A: S í.
    Q:He was a tall white man. Correct?
    A:Yes. S í .
    Q:No issue—meaning you are certain—that when he walked into the room, you looked at him and saw him standing there before you. Correct?
    A:Yes, I see him.
    Q:Not only did you see him, but he felt so bad about the accident that the first thing he said when he came into the room was, “I’m so sorry for running over your foot.” True?
    A:Yes, that is true. He say he sorry.
    Q:So, not only did you see him, but you heard him also.