HOSTILE WITNESS
• GLENN CALLS DETECTIVE HAYMAN GOON TO THE STAND.
• LEEMIE CROSS-EXAMINES THE DETECTIVE.
“Are you ready to call your next witness?” Judge Fried asks Glenn.
“Yes, I am.” Glenn faces the jury. “The defense calls Detective Hayman Goon.”
The detective is dressed in a gray business suit, white shirt, and red tie. He looks more like a lawyer than the lawyer, who by this time is totally drained. Detective Goon is part of the prosecutor’s team and Glenn anticipates he will be difficult. Before asking a question, Glenn tells the jury that he has not talked to this witness in preparation for the trial. The detective is here under a court order.
Glenn asks permission to treat the detective as a hostile witness so that he can ask leading questions with yes and no answers.
“Why don’t you start and we’ll see where the testimony leads,” the judge says.
According to Glenn, Hayman Goon is the backbone of the defense.
Glenn will use his testimony to show that there are differences between the witnesses’ early descriptions and their courtroom testimony. These inconsistencies, Glenn believes, will raise reasonable doubt in the minds of the jurors.
HOSTILE WITNESS:
If a witness exhibits animosity or partiality under direct examination, the lawyer is allowed to cross-examine him; that is, treat him as though he had been called by the opposite party.
First is the victims’ belief that someone other than his client was the leader of the kidnappers. When Mr. Wang, the first victim, spoke with Detective Goon, he filled out a complaint report stating that a man called Johnny Ding was the leader of the kidnappers. “At no time did he tell you there was a person with a cell phone who was different from Johnny Ding?”
“Correct, sir.” Detective Goon answers all the questions in crisp, military style: “Yes, sir,” “No, sir.”
Glenn puts the complaint report into evidence and moves on to the descriptions of the kidnappers. “Mr. Wang told you that Cow Eyes was five feet seven inches tall?” Glenn asks.
“I would have to refer to my notes, sir.” The notes Hayman is talking about are the complaint report.
“You can actually hold it, if you want,” Glenn says graciously.
“Thank you, sir.” Some jurors snicker.
“You’re welcome.”
Hayman reads the notes to himself and replies that the report states that Cow Eyes is five seven. In fact, he is the tallest of the group, five eleven. Mr. Wang described Johnny Ding as five nine. He is really five five.
“There were differences in height amongst the perpetrators?”
“Oh, yes. Yes, sir.” Hayman is smiling. He is certain that the jury won’t care about this. Glenn smiles too. He is positive that the jury will see how important this is.
Glenn asks about notes that the detective took when he first questioned Jane Ding. In the notes Jane says that Johnny Ding is the leader of the kidnappers. She also talks about the kidnapping of Joe Chen’s brother, Sonny.
Once again Leemie anticipates Glenn’s next move. “Objection!” she calls. At the sidebar she tells the judge, “One, this is irrelevant. Two, he’s trying to get Sonny Chen’s kidnapping on the record without having to call Sonny Chen himself. Three, he’s going to say Jane Ding has made prior inconsistent statements.” Remember, Glenn is basing part of his defense on the fact that once, when Joe Chen’s brother was kidnapped, he begged Johnny Ding to get the kidnappers to lower the ransom and he reported the crime to the police. If Joe Chen is such a sinister gangster, a dailo, no one would dare kidnap his brother. Glenn says, “It would be like kidnapping John Gotti’s son.” Besides, what kind of kidnapper calls the police to settle a dispute? He could take care of it on his own.
In any event, Leemie is right: Glenn does not want to call Joe Chen’s brother as a witness. During Sonny’s own interrogation he made a number of statements that were easily proved false. Glenn read the interrogation notes and knows that Leemie has enough ammunition to slaughter Sonny during cross-examination.
Judge Fried overrules Leemie’s objection because Glenn is allowed to ask the detective about his notes. Glenn does exactly as Leemie anticipated. He asks if Jane Ding told the detective that Joe begged Johnny Ding for help in reducing his brother’s kidnapping fee. Leemie jots down the word “begged” and underlines it.
Hayman answers, “Yes, sir,” and Glenn moves on to another area that needs clearing up: Who is the real dailo? He wants to show that Johnny Ding is older than Joe Chen. Remember, the second victim said that the dailo, the leader, is always the oldest.
“Now, are you aware of the age of Joe Chen?” Glenn asks Hayman.
“No, sir.”
Glenn is surprised by the response. He tries again. “Is it fair to say that he’s twenty-six years old?”
“Objection!” The detective already said that he does not know the defendant’s age.
“Sustained.”
Glenn tries a third approach. “Is there anything that would refresh your memory about his age?”
“His online booking sheet, sir.” Glenn is just about to hand the detective an online booking sheet when Leemie objects.
“Let’s go to the side,” Judge Fried says, rising. Once they are away from the jury, the judge asks, “Objection, Ms. Kahng?”
“This is not Detective Goon’s online booking sheet,” she replies. “Detective Goon did not participate in the arrest of Joe Chen. His partner arrested him.” Leemie cannot afford to let one detail slip by.
Glenn is not concerned about such petty issues as who has whose booking sheet. But a trial is based on hundreds of small details, any one of which could make the difference between conviction and acquittal.
The lawyers argue again. Judge Fried stops the quibbling. “If he has personal knowledge of the age—”
Glenn cuts him midsentence. “He said that the online booking sheet would refresh his memory.”
JUDGE FRIED SAYS:
Throughout a trial the lawyers often become involved in issues that are tempests in a teapot. That’s what is happening here. My job is to cut through this and keep the trial on track.
Leemie crosses her arms across her chest and clenches her fists. “But that’s not his online booking sheet.”
Judge Fried agrees with the prosecutor. Glenn may ask the detective only about his personal knowledge of the defendant’s age.
HEARSAY:
The witness cannot repeat conversations that he or she heard about from a third party, with certain exceptions.
“Then I will call Detective Chan,” Glenn shoots back. It is his booking sheet.
“Call whomever you like,” the judge replies bluntly.
Glenn’s face reddens. “I don’t understand why I have to be given a difficult time on this. He is part of this investigation.”
Judge Fried tells him that he is not trying to give the defense lawyer a hard time. He is trying to follow the law. A witness can only testify to facts based on his own knowledge. Otherwise it is hearsay.
Back before the jury, Glenn pulls himself together and pointedly says to the detective, “Now, I was about to show you an online booking sheet.”
Judge Fried quickly jumps in: “Do you have personal knowledge of how old the defendant is?”
“No, sir.”
“Next question.”
Glenn is determined. The tension in the room is as thick as smoke. Glenn hunts for the proper wording that will put this issue in evidence. Fourth attempt: “Did you ever become aware of his age?”
The detective leans forward, smiling. Judge Fried abruptly rephrases. “Do you have personal knowledge of how old Johnny Ding is?”
“Not at this time, sir.” The detective leans back in his chair.
“Next question,” says the judge.
Fifth attempt: “Is there anything that would refresh your memory as to what you knew about Johnny Ding’s age when he was arrested?” Sighs from the jurors.
Leemie objects, but the judge allows this question. “Back to the online booking sheet, sir,” Hayman replies, trying to hold back laughter.
The judge has heard enough. “I am only going to permit the witness to testify to his own personal knowledge. Let’s go on, please.” By now Glenn has gone as far as he can with this witness and the jury is restless. “No further questions.”
After the trial Detective Goon says, “I tried to be one step ahead of him. Once I knew what he was after, I was more at ease because I didn’t think he could hurt our case.” His partner, Dave, adds, “Defense attorneys got their jobs to do. They try to trip us up on any inconsistencies. We really have to think about what he’s trying to get out of us. We realize that they are not malicious—unless they outright accuse us of some kind of corruption or something like that. We know what the D.A. is going to come at us with—basically it’s everything we investigated. District attorneys and the detectives work together, like the TV show Law and Order.”
Detectives Hayman Goon and David Chan.
In spite of the objections and interruptions, Glenn is happy with this witness. He says, “When Leemie put on her presentation, this material was all absent. She used cops who had limited involvement in the investigation of the case as a way to prevent me from developing inconsistencies. This is good strategy on her part. But still, I managed to get the inconsistencies on the record. From my vantage point, Goon was powerful.”
CROSS-EXAMINATION
Walking toward the witness, Leemie says, “Good afternoon, Detective Goon.” She is warm and friendly. “We’ve actually worked together on this case. Is that correct?”
“Yes,” he says. His voice is softer now. Through Leemie’s questions, Detective Goon tells the court that he spoke to Mr. Wang the day after he was released. He was upset, emotional, afraid, babbling.
“You never asked detailed questions?” Leemie asks him.
“I tried,” he tells her, leaning forward again, implying his lack of success in getting details.
Leemie develops the theory that as the case progressed, the facts emerging took many twists and turns. Indeed, it was only recently that law enforcement learned the identities of all the perpetrators.
REDIRECT
“This case took a lot of twists and turns,” Glenn says, picking up Leemie’s phrase. Pointedly he adds, “The biggest twist and turn was Johnny Ding’s cooperation.”
“I don’t know,” the detective replies. That’s all Glenn needed the jury to hear.
Once the detective is excused from the witness stand, the jurors are dismissed. Glenn says, “Goon answered everything I wanted him to answer.” Glenn looks at his client, surrounded by armed officers, and repeats, “Goon was great for me.”
TIME: SIX DAYS EARLIER, LATE AT NIGHT
PLACE: GLENN GARBER’S OFFICE
It was another all-nighter. This time Glenn had a meeting with Suzy Ling, Joe Chen’s estranged girlfriend. She told Glenn that she did not want to testify. “It’s over between him and me. I don’t want to do this.”
But Glenn is convinced that Suzy will be another powerful witness, especially because she is estranged from Joe Chen. “If I can show that they are no longer a couple,” he explains later, “the jury will not think that she is lying to save him.” Leemie will cross-examine Suzy using the same themes Glenn used when he cross-examined Echo, Johnny Ding’s girlfriend: stand by your man. Glenn cannot let this happen.
Like Echo, Suzy Ling is an illegal alien. If she comes forward and testifies against the government’s interests, she’s afraid they could take revenge by deporting her.
Nevertheless, Glenn somehow managed to convince her to testify for Joe Chen.
Glenn and Suzy Ling worked late into the night, reviewing every possible question Leemie might throw at her during the cross-examination. By the end of their session, Glenn was certain that Suzy was ready. She will be a great witness for the defense of Joe Chen.