Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

conclusion that she will be needed to explain to jurors what the background was and what was happening at the time of the murder of Mr. Bondurant.”
    “And is it your plan to have her do double duty, both witness and defense counsel? That’s not going to happen in my courtroom, sir.”
    “Your Honor, I assumed when I put Ms. Aronson’s name on the final list that we would have this discussion with Ms. Freeman. The defense is open to the court’s decision in regard to this.”
    Perry looked at Freeman to see if she had further argument. She held still.
    “Very well then,” he said. “You just lost your second chair, Mr. Haller. I will allow Ms. Aronson to remain on the witness list but tomorrow when we start picking the jury, you’re on your own. Ms. Aronson stays clear of my courtroom until she comes in to testify.”
    “Thank you, Your Honor,” I said. “Will she be able to join me as second chair after her testimony is concluded?”
    “I don’t see that as a problem.” Perry asked, “Ms. Freeman, you had a second issue for the court?”
    Freeman stood back up. I sat down and leaned forward with my pen, ready to take notes. The movement caused a searing pain to cross my torso and I almost groaned out loud.
    “Your Honor, the state wants to head off an objection and protest I am sure will come from counsel. Late yesterday, we received a return on DNA analysis of a very small blood trace found on a shoe belonging to the defendant and seized during the search of her house and garage on the day of the murder.”
    I felt an invisible punch in my stomach that made my rib pain disappear quickly. I instinctively knew this was going to be a game changer.
    “The analysis matches the blood from the shoe to the victim, Mitchell Bondurant. Before counsel protests, I must inform the court that analysis of the blood was delayed because of the backup in the lab and because the sample being worked with was rather minute. The difficulty was accentuated by the need to preserve a portion of the sample for the defense.”
    I flipped my pen up into the air. It bounced onto the table and then clattered to the floor. I stood up.
    “Your Honor, this is just outrageous. On the eve of jury selection? To pull this now? And boy oh boy, that was sure nice of them to leave some for the defense. We’ll just run out and get it analyzed before jury selection starts tomorrow. You know, this is just—”
    “Point well taken, Counsel,” the judge interrupted. “It troubles me as well. Ms. Freeman, you’ve had this evidence since the inception of the case. How can it be that it conveniently lands the day before jury selection?”
    “Your Honor,” Freeman said, “I have a full understanding of the burden this places on the defense and the court. But it is what it is. I was informed of the findings at eight o’clock this morning when I received the report from the lab. This is the first opportunity I’ve had to bring it before the court. As to the reason for its coming in now, well, there are a few. I am sure the court is aware of the backup for DNA analysis at the lab at Cal State. There are thousands of cases. While homicide investigations certainly get a priority it is not to the exclusion of all other cases. We elected not to go to a private lab that could have turned it around faster because of the concern over the size of the sample. We knew if anything went wrong with an outside vendor then we would have completely lost the opportunity to test the blood—and hold a portion for the defense.”
    I shook my head in frustration while waiting for the chance to speak again. This was indeed a game changer. It had been a completely circumstantial case. Now it was a case involving direct evidence connecting the defendant to the crime.
    “Mr. Haller?” the judge said. “You want to respond?”
    “I sure do, Judge. I think this goes beyond being sandbagged and I don’t for a moment believe the timing here is happenstance. I would ask that the court tell the prosecution that it is too late to spring this now. I move that this so-called evidence be excluded from the trial.”
    “What about delaying the trial?” the judge said. “What if you were given the time to get the analysis done and get up to speed on this?”
    “Get up to speed? Judge, this isn’t just about getting our own analysis done. This is about changing the entire defense strategy. The prosecution is seeking to change this from a circumstantial case to a