The arraignment before the stone-faced Judge James Judith took place early the next morning.
A wan-looking Boris Petrov stood next to his attorney, Craig Leonard, as Leonard petitioned the court to release Petrov to his own recognizance.
The District Attorney’s office had sent an Assistant DA to argue on behalf of the State that Petrov should be held without bail.
I was sitting in the empty courtroom alongside Jordyn Yates, having been granted permission to make a statement regarding Petrov’s possible release prior to the court’s rendering an opinion.
A fair amount of activity was going on at the bench and Judge Judith was glancing at several sheets of paper while at the same time gazing at Petrov and listening to Craig Leonard.
After nearly an hour of this, the judge motioned for the ADA to approach the bench. After several moments of murmured conversation, he looked up and motioned me to the witness stand.
Even though we weren’t in the trial phase, the court clerk still swore me in. Once that was done, the judge asked me why I had petitioned the court.
“This was a strange case right from the start, Your Honor,” I began.
“How so?”
“At first we were dealing with an abject refusal on Mr. Petrov’s part to honor the State law permitting public access to his beachfront property. He had gone so far as to erect permanent, impenetrable barriers, in order to prevent such access.
“He was rebuked by the Coastal Commission and he still refused to allow access. Acting on a request by the Commission, the San Remo Sheriff’s Department arranged for the original access points to be re-established. Once that was done, Mr. Petrov’s staff re-erected the barriers.
“In the process, it came to our attention that a number of Mr. Petrov’s security forces were in the country illegally. Working with Homeland Security, we detained all of these people, most of whom have already been deported.
“At some point, a member of Mr. Petrov’s security detail, seeking clemency, informed the Sheriff’s Department of Mr. Petrov’s involvement with the manufacture and distribution of illegal narcotics. We have photographic evidence of his participation in what turned out to be an aborted attempt to load bagsful of opiates onto several speedboats.
“It was during this action that we became aware of rooms and workspaces in the Petrov mansion that were concealed behind false walls. When we demolished these walls we discovered a hidden laboratory in which a forensics unit determined synthetic Fentanyl had been manufactured. That determination was confirmed by one of the pharmacists involved in the process.
“We also found Mr. Petrov’s hidden office which revealed even further incriminating evidence.
“This is the short answer, Your Honor. What greatly alarms the Sheriff’s Department is its belief that Mr. Petrov is a threat to flee the country. As a result, the Sheriff’s Department recommends that bail be denied him.”
“Thank you, Sheriff Steel. The court will surely take your petition into consideration.”
I stood and nodded to the judge, but was nearly bowled over by Craig Leonard, who was literally running toward the bench, screaming that I was a liar and a hysteric and that Mr. Petrov is a respected statesman and close associate of Vladimir Putin, blah, blah, blah.
A fair amount of chaos overtook the courtroom and it was then that Jordyn and I made our escape, unnoticed amid the shouting match that was taking place between the legal representatives of both sides.
Once outside, Jordyn looked at me and said, “Gin?”
“In large quantities,” I replied.