The Fifth Witness Part 54

"Okay, then this private discussion was actually a negotiation to sell your company ALOFT to a publicly traded company, correct?"

"Yes, that is so."

"A company called LeMure?"

"Yes, correct."

"This deal would be worth a lot of money to you, would it not?"

Freeman stood and asked for a sidebar. We approached and she stated her objection in a forceful whisper.

"How is this relevant? Where are we going with this? He now has us on Wall Street and that has nothing to do with Lisa Trammel and the evidence against her."

"Your Honor," I said quickly, before he could cut me off. "The relevance will become apparent soon. Ms. Freeman knows exactly where this is headed and she just doesn't want to go there. But the court has given me the lat.i.tude to put forth a defense involving third-party guilt. Well, this is it, Judge. This is where it comes together and so I ask for the court's continued indulgence."

Perry didn't have to think too long before answering.

"Mr. Haller, you may proceed but I want you to land this plane soon."

"Thank you, Judge."

We returned to our positions and I decided to move things along at a quicker pace.

"Mr. Opparizio, back in January, when you were in the midst of these negotiations with LeMure, you knew you stood to make a great deal of money if this deal went through, did you not?"

"I would be generously compensated for the years I spent growing the company."

"But if you lost one of your biggest clients-to the tune of forty million in annual revenues-that deal would have been in peril, correct?"

"There was no threat from any client to leave."

"I draw your attention back to the letter Mr. Bondurant sent you, sir. Wouldn't you say that there is a clear threat from Mr. Bondurant to take WestLand's business away from you? I believe you still have a copy of the letter there in front of you, if you want to refer to it."

"I don't need to look at the letter. There was no threat to me whatsoever. Mitch sent me the letter and I took care of the problem."

"Like the way you took care of Donald Driscoll?"

"Objection," Freeman said. "Argumentative."

"I'll withdraw it. Mr. Opparizio, you received this letter smack-dab in the middle of your deal making with LeMure, correct?"

"It was during negotiations, yes."

"And at the time you received this letter from Mr. Bondurant, you knew he was in financial straits himself, correct?"

"I knew nothing about Mr. Bondurant's personal financial situation."

"Did you not have an employee of your company do financial background searches on Mr. Bondurant and other bankers you dealt with?"

"No, that's ridiculous. Whoever said that is a liar."

It was time for me to test Herb Dahl's work as a double agent.

"At the time Mr. Bondurant sent you that letter, was he aware of your secret dealings with LeMure?"

Opparizio's answer should have been "I don't know." But I had told Dahl to send back word through his handler that the Trammel legal team had found nothing on this key part of the defense strategy.

"He knew nothing about it," Opparizio said. "I had kept all of our client banks in the dark while negotiations were ongoing."

"Who is LeMure's chief financial officer?"

Opparizio seemed momentarily nonplussed by the question and the seeming change in direction.

"That would be Syd Jenkins. Sydney Jenkins."

"And was he the leader of the acquisition team you dealt with on the LeMure deal?"

Freeman objected and asked where this was going. I told the judge he would know shortly and he allowed me to continue, telling Opparizio to answer the question.

"Yes, I dealt with Syd Jenkins on the acquisition."

I opened a file and removed a doc.u.ment while asking the judge for permission to approach the witness with it. As expected, Freeman objected and we had a spirited sidebar over the admissibility of the doc.u.ment. But just as Freeman had won the battle over presenting Driscoll with the internal investigation report from ALOFT, Judge Perry evened the score, allowing me to introduce the doc.u.ment subject to his later ruling.

Permission granted, I handed a copy to the witness.

"Mr. Opparizio, can you tell the jury what that doc.u.ment is?"

"I can't tell for sure."

"Is it not a printout from a digital daybook?"

"If you say so."

"And what name is on the top of the sheet there."

"Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant."

"And what is the date on the page?"

"December thirteenth."

"Can you read the appointment entry for ten o'clock?"

Freeman asked for a sidebar and once more we stood in front of the judge.

"Your Honor, Lisa Trammel is on trial here. Not Louis Opparizio or Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant. This is what happens when someone takes advantage of the court's goodwill when given leeway. I object to this line of questioning. Counsel is taking us far afield of the matter this jury must decide."

"Judge," I said. "Again this goes to third-party guilt. This is a page from the digital diary turned over to the defense in discovery. The answer to this question will make it clear to the jury that the victim in this case was involved in subtly extorting the witness. And that is a motive for murder."

"Judge, this-"

"That's enough, Ms. Freeman. I will allow it."

We returned to our places and the judge told Opparizio to answer the question. I repeated it for the sake of the jury.

"What is listed on Mr. Bondurant's calendar for ten o'clock on December thirteenth?"

"It says 'Sydney Jenkins, LeMure.' "

"So would you not take from that log line that Mr. Bondurant became aware of the ALOFT-LeMure deal in December of last year?"

"I couldn't begin to know what was said at that meeting or if it even took place."

"What reason would the man leading the acquisition of ALOFT have for meeting with one of ALOFT's most important bank clients?"

"You would have to ask Mr. Jenkins that."

"Perhaps I will."

Opparizio had developed a scowl in the course of the questioning. The Herb Dahl plant had worked well. I moved on.

"When did the deal on the sale of ALOFT to LeMure close?"

"The deal closed in late February."

"How much was it sold for?"

"I'd rather not say."

"LeMure is a publicly traded company, sir. The information is out there. Could you save us the time and-"

"Ninety-six million dollars."

"Most of which, as sole owner, went to you, correct?"

"A good portion of it, yes."

"And you got stock in LeMure as well, correct?"

"That's right."

"And you remain president of ALOFT, don't you?"

"Yes. I still run the company. I just have bosses now."

He tried a smile but most of the working stiffs in the courtroom didn't see the humor in the comment, considering the millions he had taken out of the deal.

"So you are still intimately involved in the day-to-day operations of the company?"

"Yes, sir, I am."

"Mr. Opparizio, was your personal take in the sale of ALOFT sixty-one million dollars, as reported by the Wall Street Journal Wall Street Journal?"

"They got that wrong."

"How so?"

"My deal was worth that amount, but it didn't come to me all at once."

"You get deferred payments?"

"Something along those lines but I don't really see what this has to do with who killed Mitch Bondurant, Mr. Haller. Why am I here? I had nothing to-"

"Your Honor?"

"Hold on a moment, Mr. Opparizio," the judge said.

He then leaned forward over the bench and paused as if to contemplate something.

"We're going to take our morning break now and counsel will join me in chambers. The court is in recess."

Once more we followed the judge back into chambers. Once more I was going to be the one put on the spot. But I was so angry at Perry that I went on the offensive. I stayed standing while both he and Freeman took seats.

"Your Honor, with all due respect, I had a certain momentum going out there and taking the morning break early is killing it."

"Mr. Haller, you may have had plenty of momentum but it was taking you far away from this case. I have bent over backward to allow you to present a third-party defense but I am beginning to feel I've been had."

"Judge, I was four questions away from bringing it all back home to this case but you just stopped me."

"You stopped yourself, Counsel. I can't sit up there and let this go on. Ms. Freeman's been objecting, now even the witness is objecting. And I'm looking like a fool. You're fis.h.i.+ng. You told me and you told those jurors that you would not only prove that your client didn't commit the crime, but that you would prove who did. But we are now five witnesses into the defense case and you are still fis.h.i.+ng."

"Your Honor, I can't believe-look, I am not fis.h.i.+ng here. I am proving. Bondurant had threatened to cost that man out there sixty-one million dollars. It is obvious and anyone with common sense sees this. And if that is not motive for a murder then I guess I-"

"Motive isn't proof," Freeman said. "It's not evidence and you obviously don't have any. The defense's whole case is a charade. What's next, you name everybody Bondurant was foreclosing on as a suspect?"

I pointed down at her in the chair.

"That wouldn't be a bad idea. But the fact is the defense case is not a charade and if allowed to continue my examination of the witness I will get to the evidence very quickly."

"Sit down, Mr. Haller, and please watch your tone when you are addressing me."

"Yes, Your Honor. I apologize."

I sat down and waited while Perry brooded over the situation. Finally, he spoke.

"Ms. Freeman, anything else?"

"I think the court is well aware of how the prosecution views what Mr. Haller has been allowed to do. I warned early and often that he would create a sideshow that had nothing to do with the case at hand. We are well past that point now and I have to agree with the court's a.s.sessment that all of this makes the court look foolish and manipulated."