The second she saw Justice Joe’s face at the defense table, Daria knew something was up. Then his head turned red and he opened his large mouth and started bitching on high volume and she knew she was screwed.
‘This woman looks almost identical to Holly Skole, down to her hair color, body type. Jesus, even their underwear matches, Judge!’ he barked. Once again, the well-heeled Anne-Claire Simmons sat quietly beside him at the defense table. ‘And there are others. There’s no doubt the state’s holding back on us; this is Brady material and a clear discovery violation and Ms DeBianchi damn well knows it!’
Daria stared at the wood grain that ran through the state’s podium, biting the inside of her cheeks to keep her mouth from popping open like a broken trunk. So much for a routine status report. She’d been blindsided. Joe Varlack knew about the video and apparently so much more.
‘And the method of torture inflicted on the female in the video is almost identical to how the state describes Holly Skole as being brutalized: household cleaners, bondage, S&M. Coincidence? I don’t think so. And neither does the state, which is why they’ve spent a lot of time investigating the murder of this other woman and developing suspects in that case. In every way these two victims match, down to the manner of their deaths.’
‘You seem to know an awful lot about a video you supposedly didn’t know anything about, Mr Varlack,’ Judge Becker remarked, frowning. ‘State?’
‘Judge, I thought this was on for report and to set a possible trial date.’ Daria tried to collect herself. ‘This is the first I am hearing from Mr Varlack of a Brady violation, so I’m not really prepared to respond. I think Counsel should file a written motion—’
‘Nonsense. We’re all here,’ interrupted the judge with a shake of her head.
‘State knows exactly what video I’m talking about. And she knows what other suspects I’m talking about, too. We also believe the state has identified additional victims of this same murderer. That changes the game quite a bit, Judge. And considering the case against Talbot is purely circumstantial, it casts even more doubt on his guilt. The defense is entitled to a copy of the video, the names of the victims who have been identified, and the names of any suspects. I find it absolutely incredible that all this time the state has been sitting on information that could very well exculpate Talbot. Incredible, unethical, outrageous! All while Talbot languishes in a jail cell, denied bond!’
‘State? Is there such a video?’ asked Judge Becker.
Daria blew out a low breath. Uh-oh. ‘Yes, Your Honor. However, as this video was given to me by the defendant’s mother, Abigail Lunders, I assumed that she’d also given it to her son’s lawyer. I’m not sure what kind of games the defense is playing. They’ve known about the video’s existence as long as the state has.’
The judge shook her head again. She was mad. ‘Have you identified the victim on that video, State?’
‘Her name is Gabriella Vechio. It’s a murder out of New York that happened five years ago.’
‘Still unsolved, I assume?’
‘Correct.’
‘Hmmm … a five-year-old homicide out of New York doesn’t sound related to Ms Skole’s murder, on the face of it. Let me ask you, Ms DeBianchi: is Gabriella Vechio’s murder investigation related to the murder of Holly Skole?’
‘Mr Lunders is not a suspect in Ms Vechio’s murder,’ Daria answered. That much was true. She prayed the judge would stop with her questions — she was walking a fine line of semantics. Rephrase the same exact question, ask it again and the judge would hold her in contempt for lying. Or, rather, for not telling the whole truth.
Judge Becker sighed like she was tired of talking to toddlers. ‘Are the two cases related — scratch that. Let me see for myself. Where’s this video? And I want the police reports regarding this Vechio girl’s death. Ms DeBianchi, you acknowledge being in possession of the video. I want to see it.’ The judge stood up. ‘I’m going back into chambers. Bring it to me along with the reports and I’ll take a look and decide right now if this is Brady material. The rest of my calendar can wait till we sort this out.’
‘There’s more, Judge.’ Varlack walked across the aisle and handed Daria a thick packet. ‘I’m filing a motion to suppress the search of Abby Lunders’s vehicle.’
‘What?’ Daria replied with disbelief. ‘That search was conducted pursuant to a warrant.’
‘A warrant that was based on the statements of a witness who is now unavailable,’ he said. ‘Your Honor, Marie Modic provided information to Detective Alvarez that led him to obtain a search warrant. Without her statements, law enforcement would never have located the vehicle and hence my client would never have been arrested. We can’t find her, Your Honor. I’ve been trying to depose her, but she’s gone AWOL. No one knows where she is. Without her, the warrant fails.’
And if the warrant was out, everything inside the Benz was out, too. No lipstick, no DNA, no hair, no fingerprints, no fibers. And that meant Daria wouldn’t be able to prove Holly Skole had ever been in the car, which meant she could ultimately never prove she’d left the club with Lunders. No car meant no conviction. The day could not get any shittier.
‘Okay, so make a Motion to Compel her appearance, but the remedy is not suppression of the warrant,’ Daria shot back. ‘Your Honor, Ms Modic only served a limited purpose in Detective Alvarez’s obtaining the warrant. And I am not conceding she’s unavailable.’ Although the Investigations Unit at the State Attorney’s had been looking for her for a couple of weeks, there was no reason to think she’d completely skipped town. Witnesses had lives that went on independent of a criminal case — sometimes all you had to do was look harder.
‘Okay, everyone: I’m not hearing that motion today. The state will need time to respond, and in the meantime, hopefully produce this witness. Althea, give them a date on that. Your motion to suppress, or compel, or whatever, is the least of the state’s problems at this moment, Mr Varlack,’ the judge announced as she stepped off the bench and headed toward the door that led to the hallway and her chambers. ‘Right now, I want to see that video.’