Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

not germane. Twice the judge asked her to move along to other areas of testimony. And I began to believe she was trying to stall. She had to keep the witness going through the morning because her next witness was possibly not on hand and may have even flaked out on her.
    But if she was nervous about some problem, Freeman didn’t show it. She kept her focus on Gutierrez and steadfastly walked him through his testimony, finishing with what was most important—tying the Craftsman hammer found in the bushes to the wounds on the victim’s head.
    To do this she brought out the props. Following the Bondurant autopsy, Gutierrez had made a mold of the victim’s skull. He also took a series of photos of the scalp and had prints made that depicted the wounds in one-to-one size.
    Presented with the hammer that had been entered into evidence, Gutierrez removed it from its plastic bag and began a demonstration that showed how its flat, circular face fit the wounds and skull indentations perfectly. The hammer also had a notch on the top edge of its facing that could be used to hold a nail. This notch was clearly seen in the depression left on the skull. It all fit together in a perfect prosecutorial puzzle. Freeman was beaming as she saw a key element of proof solidify in front of the jury.
    “Doctor, do you have any hesitation in telling the jury that this tool could have created the fatal injury to the victim?”
    “None.”
    “You realize that this tool is not unique, correct?”
    “Of course. I am not saying that this specific hammer caused these injuries. I am saying it was either this hammer or one that came out of the same mold. I can’t be more specific than that.”
    “Thank you, Doctor. Now let’s talk about the notch on the strike surface of the hammer. What can you tell about the position of the notch in the wound pattern?”
    Gutierrez held up the hammer and pointed to the notch.
    “The notch is on the top edge. This area is magnetized. You put the nail in place here, the hammer holds it and then you drive the nail into the surface of the material you are working with. Because we know the notch is on the top edge we can then look at the wounds and see which direction they came from.”
    “And what direction is that?”
    “From the rear. The victim was struck from behind.”
    “So he may have never even seen his assailant coming.”
    “That is correct.”
    “Thank you, Dr. Gutierrez. I have no further questions at this time.”
    The judge turned the witness over to me and as I passed Freeman on the way to the lectern she gave me a deadpan look that transmitted the message: Take your best shot, asshole.
    I intended to. I put my legal pad down on the lectern, tightened my tie and shot my cuffs, then looked at the witness. Before I sat down again, I wanted to own him.
    “Around the medical examiner’s office, they call you Dr. Guts, don’t they, sir?”
    It was a good out-of-the-gate question. It would make the witness wonder what other inside information I knew and could possibly spring on him.
    “Uh, sometimes, yes. Informally, you might say.”
    “Why is that, Doctor?”
    Freeman objected on relevance and it got the judge’s attention.
    “Do you want to tell me how this ties into the reason we are here today, Mr. Haller?” he asked.
    “Your Honor, I think if allowed to respond, the answer Dr. Gutierrez will give will reveal that he has an expertise in pathology that is not in the area of tool patterns and head wounds.”
    Perry mulled things over and then nodded.
    “The witness will answer.”
    I turned my focus back to Gutierrez.
    “Doctor, you can answer the question. Why are you called Dr. Guts?”
    “It is because as you said I have an expertise in identifying diseases of the gastrointestinal tract—the guts—and it also goes with the name, especially when it is pronounced incorrectly.”
    “Thank you, Doctor. Now can you tell us how many times you have had a case in which you matched a hammer to the wounds on a victim’s skull?”
    “This would be the first one.”
    I nodded to underline the point.
    “So you’re sort of a rookie when it comes to a killing with a hammer.”
    “That’s right, but my comparison was painstaking and cautious. My conclusions are not wrong.”
    Play to his superiority complex. I am a doctor, I am not wrong.
    “Have you ever been wrong before in giving court testimony as a witness?”
    “Everyone makes mistakes. I am sure I have.”
    “What about