O’Keefe met with Jack throughout the summer, but the meetings were mostly perfunctory. Jack had little to add to his defense and absolutely no idea what may have happened to Emma, although he continued to vehemently deny having hurt her. O’Keefe met with Jack one more time the day before the trial began.
“I was talking to the guy in the cell next to mine. Aren’t you supposed to prep me or something before the trial? You know, go over what I’m going to say. I can’t wait to get on the stand and tell my story.”
“I’m not putting you on the stand.”
“What? You have to.”
“If I put you on the stand, I guarantee you’ll go to prison. You’re not reliable. You tell half-truths and the DA will ask questions about the parts you leave out and the jury will think you’re hiding something.”
“So I’ll tell the whole story.”
“No, you won’t. You never do. You’ve never told me a whole story. I have to pull it out of you with questions.”
“Like what?”
“Oh, how about the business with Emma’s clothes?”
“I told you I donated them.”
“Yes, you did. Did you tell me where or when or why you wouldn’t tell the police before I grilled you?”
“Some of that stuff isn’t important.”
“Yes, it is, Jack. The oath says you’ll tell ‘the whole truth and nothing but the truth.’ What will you say if the DA asks you what happened to Emma’s clothes?”
“He doesn’t need to know.”
“That’s my point. I honestly don’t think you’re capable of telling the whole truth.”
“There are lots of women on the jury. I’m good with women. I can convince them I’m innocent.”
“You may be innocent, Jack, but you don’t act like it. Let’s say you tell the jury how much you miss Emma and you convince them. Then the DA cross-examines you and rips you apart by bringing up your one-night stands. He already has several women lined up to testify. You’ll look like a womanizer and a liar, and the jury will no longer believe you miss Emma.”
“Won’t the DA question those women anyway?”
“Yes, and you’ll be branded as a womanizer, but not a liar. If the jury thinks you lie about one thing, they’ll think you’ll lie about everything. By not putting you on the stand, we avoid the liar label.”
“But I do miss Emma.”
“Morrow will testify you never asked about her during the investigation or their progress in finding Emma. It’s unnatural and certainly doesn’t indicate you miss her. Then he shows that photo where Emma was replaced by a truck and says you cut her out of your life symbolically as well as in reality.”
“That’s why they need to hear my side of the story. I’ll tell them I didn’t do that. Emma did.”
“And they won’t believe you if they think you’re a liar.”
Jack threw his hands into the air. “So what are you going to do? Let them get away with lying about me?”
“No. I’ll get Morrow to admit they have no proof you changed the photo. I’ll ask if Emma could be responsible, and he’ll have to say yes. That creates a question in the jury’s mind. Our best tactic is to attack their circumstantial evidence piece by piece, to show there’s another explanation.”
“I have to get on the stand. I want to explain how I suffered and lost everything because of their lies. You know, lay a, uh, foundation for my lawsuit.”
O’Keefe sat back and stared at Jack. “What are you talking about? What lawsuit?”
“When I get out of here, I’m going to sue the city and the police department for millions, for false arrest and imprisonment.” Jack grinned from ear to ear. “I’ll be rich!”
Ah. Jack’s revelation explained the calm attitude that had stupefied the attorney. Jack had accepted his “temporary” imprisonment because he saw it as a means of getting rich.
“Who’s putting these ideas into your head?”
Jack scowled. “No one. It’s my idea to sue. When I told the guy next to me about my idea, he helped me learn some of the proper legal terms, that’s all.”
And probably enjoyed a good laugh, O’Keefe thought. “You need to take one trial at a time, Jack. In legal terms, ‘laying a foundation’ refers to the practice of introducing evidence necessary to make further evidence relevant. Your suffering isn’t evidence. It doesn’t lay a foundation for anything.”
“Are you sure?”
“Yes, Jack, I’m sure. Forget the lawsuit for now and concentrate on your criminal trial.”
Not for the first time, Brendan O’Keefe regretted being appointed as Jack Sutton’s attorney.