| Subject: Re: Little Details C1/8 |
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fananicfan
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Date Posted: 23:26:55 07/08/07 Sun
In reply to:
fananicfan
's message, "Little Details" on 11:25:09 07/08/07 Sun
CHAPTER ONE – When You Can, Call in a Top Gun
Thursday, January 12, 2006
Captain Harmon Rabb followed the limo driver whom he'd been told would be waiting for him when his plane arrived. General Cresswell's call had informed him of his travel arrangements and the reason for his travel. He'd been assigned a case at the request of the Secretary of the Navy. When General Cresswell had asked Harm whom he wanted to assist him, Harmon Rabb was certain of his decision, Lt. Commander Bud Roberts.
Harm felt certain that he'd have some more answers in the next few minutes when the driver began to open the door of the long, black limosuine that they'd reached. Harm wasn't surprised to see a familiar face in the limo, but he was surprised that it wasn't the SecNav. Harm may not have recognized her from their meeting at his promotion party, but since that meeting, she'd made headlines several times for making statements in support of the nation's troops. The occupant was Senator Emily Proxmeyer.
Once he was seated and the door was closed behind him, she spoke. "Captain Rabb, my driver will be dropping you off at JAG headquarters where you're to meet with General Cresswell. No one except General Cresswell, you and I will know about our talk, but I wanted to meet with you personally. I'm sure you'll understand when were finished here."
"Yes, ma'am."
“My sister died of cancer years ago. My nephew was ten when my husband and I took him in, so it's as if he’s one of my own children. With that background information to explain the reason for my involvement, my nephew is Lt. Eric Stanton, and he was arrested for murder. After a call to my husband's old college friend, Secretary of the Navy Sheffield, he got the DA to turn the matter of one sailor killing another over to JAG."
Emily Proxmeyer was a woman who could pluck words out of the air and form them into complete sentences without rehearsal, but talking about Eric's fate caused her to have to take a moment to compose herself. "Eric's had a preliminary hearing, and his case is going to trial. I spoke to him after his hearing. He said that he believes in the system and, since he didn't killed her, he didn't think that he had any reason to be worried. However, he also thinks that the lawyer who was assigned to defend him doesn't believe that he's innocent. The moment the judge had stated that the case would go to trial, his attorney had told him to take any deal that was offered to avoid the death penalty. I made some inquiries, and those whom I've been able to discreetly poll said that you're the lawyer whom they'd want to represent them. I'd heard your name before while I was on a Senate committee. That's why I wanted to meet you at your party. When your name came up as the lawyer whom my collegues would want in their corner, I looked up your record. I must admit that I found it intriguing. I mean, a man who spends his time in the courtroom, but has been awarded honors for flying...an aviator who's also a lawyer and considered to have the skills required to be used as an advisor during Congressional hearings and asked to participate in the first military tribunal in over a hundred years..." She paused for a moment, thinking about other parts of his record. "You know your accomplishments. I don't have to review them for you. The bottom line is that Eric doesn't have faith in his attorney. I can't turn my back and not do anything because, if he were found guilty, I'd always wonder if I could have done something to change that. Since I've managed to make a few friends in the right places over the years, I used my influence to have you assigned to his case."
"I'm flattered, ma'am, but I'd be negligent in my duty if I didn’t ask. When you made your decision, did you consider the fact that I haven’t been in a courtroom in nearly a year?"
“I appreciate your candor." She paused for a second. "I have a question for you. Were you a good lawyer before you were promoted to a command position?”
“Yes, ma’am, I 'd like to think so.”
“I believe that learned skills stay with you. Like they say, it's like riding a bicycle. I don't think your absence from the courtroom will make any difference in your ability to defend Eric."
“Yes, ma’am, as long as you feel that you've made an informed decision.”
"I've been cautioned by General Cresswell that my direct involvement could be a hindrance to Eric's case, so that's why I met with you like this. Captain, let me be blunt. I’m sure that my nephew is capable of a lapse in judgment, but I'm equally as sure that he's not capable of murder. I don’t want him to be convicted of something that he didn’t do and I don’t want him railroaded into taking a plea. I want the truth. Am I clear?” Her tone was firm and confidant, but not threatening.
“Yes, ma’am.”
She reached out her hand to give him a business card. “My private number is on the back...if you should need my assistance in any way, don't hesitate to call me directly.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Earlier this morning....
Having heard General Cresswell ask Lt. Vukovic to remain in the conference room after the morning staff meeting hadn’t sent up any red flags with Lt. Commander Bud Roberts.
A few minutes later, a perturbed Lieutenant Vukovic entered Bud’s office to hand over a case file. “General Cresswell ordered me to give you the information that I have on the Stanton case. He said that you’ll be assisting Stanton’s new counsel. The general requested that, once you had the file, you report to him so that he can fill in personally.”
Bud left General Cresswell’s office with a smile and, with a spring in his step, headed to his own office to get to work. Vukovic saw Bud and assumed that his behavior was because he and a currently unknown co-counsel had taken a ‘big’ case away from him, but that wasn’t Bud’s reason. Bud was charged up about being part of the Rabb/Roberts team again.
After Bud got to his office, he began to review the charges and make arrangements for them to meet with Lt. Stanton later today at the brig in Norfolk. After reviewing the case a little more, he made a few more calls, including one to Harriet, asking her to bring him a seabag. He'd be in Norfolk for a couple of days.
Back to the present....
A commotion in the bullpen had Bud stepping out of his office to see what the fuss was about. A glaring stare from Lt. Vukovic, who’d stepped out of Bud’s old office for probably the same reason as Bud, told him that Vukovic had just seen the lead counsel who was to replace him on the Stanton case.
Bud re-entered his office to wait for Captain Rabb to conclude his meeting with Cresswell. While he waited, his mind wandered back in time to just before Harm’s promotion and transfer.
*****Flashback******
Just before the announcement of Harm and Mac’s new orders, Bud was taking great pride in deflating the ‘dream team.’ Harm had been guiding Bud’s opposing counsel, Lt. Vukovic, on a case. Around the office, the duo of Vukovic and Rabb was being touted as the ‘dream team’. The combination of Harm and Vic repulsed Bud. He and Harm or Harm and Mac were the ‘dream team’ in this office. Bud had to admit that he'd been jealous of the title bestowed on the duo and the apparent bond that they’d formed during the case, so it was no surprise to Bud when he took a great deal of pleasure in getting to the truth of the case and carving a hole in the ‘dream team’ by showing up Vukovic.
Upon hearing of Harm and Mac’s new duty stations, initially, Bud had felt a sense of pride and elation, and he hadn’t been able to hold back his thoughts on what the new post meant for Harm in particular, being a step closer to being the next Judge Advocate General. Back in his office after the announcement, Bud’s enthusiasm waned under the weight of new emotions, personal ones. A sense of loss at having his two mentors and friends leaving him was the most prevalent of those emotions.
When Harm had first asked Bud to go to London, it had released Bud's fears about being without his mentor, and Bud had said yes immediately. Bud had said yes to Harm, based on not wanting to be away from his security blanket. Without Harm in the office, Bud would be out of the shadows and into the limelight, and that scared Bud in ways that he couldn’t explain to Harriet. He'd let Harriet believe that her arguments about uprooting the children and being away from the doctors at Bethesda were valid reasons for not going. It had been easier than trying to explain to her his real reason. It had also been easier to let Harriet take the heat for his decision than to explain to Harm that, after thinking it over, it was time that he stood on his own two feet, so to speak, and prove to himself and General Cresswell that Admiral Chegwidden hadn’t made a mistake in promoting him to Lt. Commander. Knowing that Harm and Mac had thought enough of his abilities to want him as their XO had been the last shots of confidence that Bud had needed to make a clean break from his mentors. Yet, when General Cresswell had told him this morning that he’d be helping out Captain Rabb on a murder case, he'd been filled with the same level of excitement that he’d always felt in the past at being teamed with Harm.
*******End Flashback*********
A knock on the doorframe of his office brought Bud out of his thoughts. Bud looked up from his sitting position behind his desk. “Sir, you’re here.”
“Yes, I’m here. I understand that you’re with me on this, Bud.”
“Yes, sir.”
"Let's get started then, shall we?"
Bud was grinning from ear to ear as he responded, "Yes, sir."
Bud had barely enough time to tell Harm that they needed to go to Norfolk to meet with their client and that he'd made arrangements for quarters for two nights before Harriet arrived with Bud's travel bag. Because Harriet hadn't seen Harm since the wedding, it took a few minutes for Harm and Bud to get away. Harriet was excited about seeing Harm and the fact that Mac was coming to DC this weekend, too. Finally, after getting a tentative agreement that Harm and Mac would come to the house for dinner, Harriet gave her husband a quick kiss goodbye, and Bud and Harm headed off to Norfolk to meet with their client.
Harm thumbed through the report as Bud drove them towards Norfolk. As Harm scanned the notes and witness statements, he got the gist of the case. Lt. Eric Stanton had been seen with the victim, Ensign Tina Rodgers. His semen had been found in the victim and on her underwear, and his fingerprints had been lifted from two places in the backseat of her car. The body had been found several blocks from the Tango Club, a popular dance club not too far from the base, where they'd been seen leaving together a couple of hours prior to the discovery of her body. The body had been found in an alley adjacent to a strip club called Wild Waves, and the car had been found at the opening of the alley with a flat tire. The closest thing to an eye witness was a woman who'd called into a tip line about the case. She'd seen a man in uniform leaving the alley at the approximate time of the murder.
Harm had been reading over the case, paying more attention to details as they got to the gate at the base in Norfolk. After passing through the gate, Harm commented more out loud than to anyone, "It seems to be a case based on circumstantial evidence. How did this get to trial?" Harm hadn't expected a response, but he got one.
"Inexperience of the defendant's counsel, sir," Bud said with a tilted head and a gleam in his eye, knowing that his words, a slam againt Vukovic, would get a smile from Harm, and it did. Bud then pulled into a parking space next to the brig.
As Bud and Harm approached the building on foot, Harm was thinking about first impressions. The first meeting with your client, to both you and your client, is often the most important meeting you have with them.
For the lawyer, the first meeting clues you in to not only their side of the story, but it gives you insight into the true personality of the person. Experience at meeting clients teaches you the signs. If you not only listen to the words a client says, but observe the demeanor with which they're delivered, you often get several key facts about your client in the process, such as your client's level of honesty or believability. Your client could be innocent of the current charges, but guilty of some other infraction that he wasn't charged with that would taint the level of honesty that you perceive in them. It wouldn't change your vigorous defense of them, but it might lead you to tell your client that it wasn't in his or her best interest to take the stand in their own defense, for example. So beginning with the first meeting, you're forming a defense strategy.
First interviews can be tricky though. You have to balance wanting to know your client's story with wanting to know your client, but his or her first impression of you could preclude that. Your client knows that they're in trouble. Some know that they've been caught and are looking to you to get them out of it, but some are innocent and scared. As much as you need to hear their story and figure them out, they don't get to hear a 'story' from you. What and how you ask them questions or allow them to tell their story is their only opportunity to get a 'feel' for your competence, confidence, sincerity, and commitment to their case. Feeling that their counsel lacks any of those, hinders your client's belief that they can be honest with you, that you're really there to help them, and they hold back, jeopardizing their own chances in the process.
Harm and Bud were expected, and were shown the way to a room where their client was waiting to talk to them.
Lt. Stanton sat in the interview room, waiting for his new counsel to arrive. He hadn't cared much for the last guy they'd sent, even before his case had been sent to trial. When he'd been moved from his cell, Eric had been told that he had two lawyers now. Eric's first thought was, 'Great, one can't handle the job, so they have to work as a pair...I'm going to be executed.' A few moments later, the tall one came through the door with a level of confidence that Eric didn't see as arrogant like he had with his last one. A shorter man entered immediately after him. The lieutenant came to his feet.
"As you were, Lieutenant. I'm Captain Rabb. This is Commander Roberts. We've been assigned to take over your case."
Eric sank into his seat. Harm took a seat and so did Bud, each pulling out a legal pad to jot down anything that came to mind while they were speaking to their client. With paper and pen at the ready, Harm asked, "Are you ready to begin, Lieutenant?"
"Yes, sir."
"Then, let's begin. Did you know the victim?"
"No, sir...yes, sir."
"Which is it, yes or no?"
"I didn't know her. I met her that night at the club. I hadn't been dating her, so I didn't know her."
Bud asked, "Would that be the Wild Waves Club?"
"No, sir, the Tango Club."
"Why did you wear your uniform to the Tango Club?"
"Sir, the other lawyer said that I didn't need to worry about the lesser charges of conduct unbecoming and..."
"Lieutenant, we're here to defend you against all charges and we're going to ask you all kinds of questions about things you may or may not consider relivent, but when we ask them, we have a reason, so please just answer them. We're working on a tight schedule here and we need to be ready," Harm informed him.
Eric lowered his head and looked away from the intense gaze of his superior officers and counsel. "Some of the guys asked me if I wanted to go out with them...you know a last weekend in town kind of thing. The ship was pulling out on Monday for a four week pre-deployment readiness drill. One of the long timers said that we should go in uniform, that one of the oldest tricks in a sailor's book is to use his uniform to get a girl's attention and then, after a couple of drinks, tell her that he's leaving. He said that girls really can't resist sending you off with a memory. You know what he meant, right, sirs?"
Harm smiled. "Yeah, I think I remember a time or two when my dress whites came in handy for getting a woman's attention." Harm didn't take the thought any farther, though a fond memory of a weekend with Maria Elena flitted through his mind.
Bud asked the next question. "When did Miss Rodgers tell you that she was in the Navy?"
"She didn't, sir. We were dancing and having such a good time. I wasn't thinking about getting lucky anymore. I liked her and I wanted her number, but she said that she traveled for her job and she didn't want to start something with someone who was leaving. I walked her to her car. We stood by her car and just talked for a little while. I tried to give her a napkin from inside that I'd scribbled my name and email address down on. I told her that I'd love to hear from her while I was away and, if she got to know me, maybe she'd change her mind and, when I got back, we could go out on a date. She smiled and said that she was flattered, but she didn't think it would work out. She opened her purse and took out her car keys, but before she could close her purse, I pushed the napkin into it and asked her to at least reconsider dropping me a line because, when you're single, it can get lonely out at sea. She laughed and said I'm sure it does and then she kissed me. Sir, I've kissed and I've been kissed, but never like the kiss she gave me. I don't know exactly how I let it happen, sir. I know that I headed out that night to get lucky, but I liked her, and I was wishing that I'd met her sooner and that we'd had time to go out a few times before my deployment, but after that kiss...it just got me started, sir, and we...she opened the car door and said 'let's make sure you have a memory to take with you,' so I got in the car."
"So the two of you had intercourse in her car and that's why your fingerprints were in there?" Harm asked.
"Yes, sir."
Bud saw Harm making a note, so he asked, "After you had sex, what happened?"
"I felt bad. I mean, I liked her a lot and I figured that I'd screwed up any chances of getting her to go out with me by having sex with her right then and there, so I asked her if I could buy her a cup of coffee or a late night snack at a diner that I knew of a couple of blocks away so we could talk. She said that she needed to get home. She was in town to visit her father, but her friends had called and asked her to go out with them. She'd told her dad that she wouldn't stay out too late so they could do something together the next day. I asked her to please keep in touch...that I wanted to see her again. I waited for her to get into the driver's seat and drive off before I left."
"What time was that?"
"I'm not sure, but it had to be around one."
"Did you go to the Wild Waves Club?"
"No, sir."
"Where did you go?"
"I went to the diner that I'd mentioned to get something to eat and to think about what had happened. I couldn't believe that I'd given up what could be the girl of my dreams, the love of my life, for sex." At different times during the interview, Eric had noticed that both men wore wedding rings. "You're both married. Can you imagine doing what I did when you met them? Do you think that they would have married you if you'd had sex with them before you'd even dated, even if having sex was their idea?"
Harm and Bud ignored his rhetorical questions, and their questioning continued until they were both satisfied that they had someplace to start. Harm and Bud stood, preparing to leave, when Harm asked Eric if he had any questions for them. The question that he asked stunned his counsel.
"Yes, sirs, I have a question. Will you be representing me if I get charged with the other murders?"
Both men stared at Eric Stanton and dropped back into their seats. "What other murders?" they asked simultaneously.
Eric told them that the police had questioned him about four murders, Tina's and three women who were strippers. Eric asked if they thought that he’d be charged with their murders as well.
Harm and Bud listened to Eric tell his story about being arrested by the Virginia police and the questions that they'd asked him about four murders. Harm and Bud weren't sure what their next move in his case would be, but they didn't let their doubts show when they told their client that they had other people to interview and materials to gather before they spoke to him again.
Harm and Bud were silent until they were out of the building and walking back to the car. "Bud, we need the police and forensics reports, autopsies and whatever else we can get our hands on regarding the other three murders. I want to know what the similarities are regarding those murders, because I have a sinking feeling that Lt. Stanton is on trial for one murder, but that we're defending him against four murder charges."
"Yes, sir." Bud looked at his watch. "I'll get on it first thing in the morning, sir."
Since it was past dinnertime when the duo left the brig, an evening meal was now the top priority. After securing a meal, it was time for time-zone-jumping Harm to get settled into his quarters for the night. He'd think better in the morning.
Mac had informed Harm that she'd be in Washington next week to meet with several people regarding the first quarter of the JLS office. He hadn't thought much about the fact that she'd be in Washington until he'd found out that he'd be coming here as well, but what had surprised Harm was that Harriet had said that Mac would be arriving this weekend. Surely, they'd be able to see each other and spend some time together before she returned to California, even if they were both working.
Before either man turned in for the night, they called their wives.
Bud called to say goodnight to Harriet, a woman whom he seldom slept without. After ending his call, he read over the case one more time before calling it a night and getting some rest. Harm was counting on him, so he needed to be rested and ready in the morning.
Harm's conversation with Mac was longer than Bud's was to Harriet. He explained about where he was and that he hoped that he'd get to see her while they were both in the same general area. Harm was excited to learn that, though Mac had made her flight arrangements already without the knowledge that he was going to be in town, she'd planned to use the Martin Luther King holiday weekend to visit a few people, so she was scheduled to arrive on Saturday. Harm asked if he could pick her up from the airport, but Mac said that she'd made arrangements to rent a car and meet Harriet for lunch. She also knew that he'd probably be working hard to prepare for the trial, but she wanted them to have dinner together at the apartment on Saturday night if he could.
Mac's voice became serious. "I'm glad you're going to be in town. I have something to talk to you about, and I really think that it would be better if we talked in person."
Harm was a little concerned about the topic of the conversation and tried to coax at least the subject out of her. "Since Christmas, you've said that you and Mattie are talking and doing much better. Was that the whole truth or has that changed?"
"Harm, things between Mattie and me are much better, but there is something that we've been discussing, and I want to talk to you about it. Checking on it is one of the things that I've got planned for this weekend. I know that you're curious, but we're fine, and I really want to talk to you in person about it since you're going to be there, so please let it go until Saturday. Please?"
"As long as you and Mattie are okay and you and I are okay, then I'll wait until Saturday."
"Thank you. I love you."
Harm was never going to get tired of hearing her say those words. "I love you, too."
After the 'I love yous' had been said, it was time to say their goodbyes and end their call.
After the call, Harm was tired from his travels and called it a night. It had been a really long day. After a good night's sleep, maybe the answer to this case would jump off the page at him.
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