Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

handle.”
    “Even though it had been found in the bushes and been there for several weeks?”
    I stood and objected, arguing that no testimony or evidence established how long the hammer had been in the bushes.
    “Your Honor,” Freeman responded. “The hammer was found several weeks after the murder occurred. It only stands to reason that it was in the bushes during that time.”
    Before the judge could make a ruling I quickly countered.
    “Again, Judge, the state has introduced nothing in the way of evidence or testimony that concludes the hammer was in that bush for that long a time. In fact, the man who found it testified he had worked in and around those bushes at least twelve times since the murder and didn’t see it until the morning he actually found it. The hammer could have easily been planted the night before it was—”
    “Objection, Your Honor!” Freeman shouted. “Counsel is using his objection to put forth the defense’s case because he knows it will—”
    “Enough!” the judge bellowed. “From both of you. The objection is sustained. Ms. Freeman, you need to reword your question so that it does not assume facts not in evidence.”
    Freeman looked down at her notes, calming herself.
    “Detective, did you see blood on the hammer when it was turned in to you?”
    “No, I did not.”
    “Then how much blood was actually on the hammer?”
    “It is described in the report as trace blood. A minute amount that was beneath the upper part of the rubber grip that encases the wood handle.”
    “Okay, so what did you do after receiving the report?”
    “I arranged for the blood from the hammer to be tested at a private DNA lab in Santa Monica.”
    “Why didn’t you use the regional crime lab at Cal State? Isn’t that normal procedure?”
    “It is normal procedure but we wanted to put a rush on this. We had the money in the budget so we thought we should move quickly with it. I had the results reviewed by our lab.”
    Freeman paused there and asked the judge to include the forensic report on the hammer as a prosecution exhibit. I didn’t object and the judge approved. Freeman then changed course, leaving the DNA revelation for the DNA expert who would come in at the end of the prosecution’s case.
    “Let’s go back to the garage now, Detective. Were there any other significant findings?”
    I objected again, this time to the form of the question, which assumed that there had been a significant finding when in fact none had been testified to. It was a cheap shot but I took it because the last skirmish over an objection had knocked down Freeman’s momentum. I wanted to keep trying to do that. The judge told her to rephrase the question and she did.
    “Detective, you have testified about what you didn’t find in the garage. The hammer. What can you tell us that you did find?”
    Freeman turned to me after asking it as if to get my approval. I nodded at her and smiled. The fact that she would even acknowledge me was a sign I had gotten to her with the last two objections.
    “We found a pair of gardening shoes and got a positive reaction for blood when we conducted a Luminol test.”
    “Luminol being one of the agents that reacts to blood under ultraviolet lighting, correct?”
    “That’s correct. It is used to detect locations where blood has been cleaned or wiped away.”
    “Where was the blood found here?”
    “On the shoelace of the left shoe.”
    “Why were these particular shoes tested with Luminol?”
    “First of all, it is routine to test all shoes and clothing when you are looking for the possibility of blood evidence. There was blood at the scene of the crime so you work under the assumption that some must have gotten on the assailant. Secondly, we had noticed in the backyard that the garden had been recently worked. The soil had been overturned and yet these shoes were very clean.”
    “Well, wouldn’t someone clean their gardening shoes before going into the house?”
    “Possibly, but we weren’t in the house. We were in the garage and the shoes were in a cardboard box that contained a lot of loose dirt, presumably from the garden, and yet the shoes were quite clean. It drew our attention.”
    Freeman forwarded the video to the point where the shoes were shown. They were sitting side by side in a box that said COCA-COLA. They were on a shelf under the workbench. Not hidden by any means. Just in the spot where they were probably routinely stored.
    “Are these the