Mickey Haller 4 - The Fifth Witness

shown her photo and told to immediately report to our supervisors any sighting of her on bank property.”
    “Can you tell the jury what time it was when you saw Lisa Trammel walking east on the sidewalk?”
    “Yes, I know exactly what time it was because I was running late. It was eight fifty-five.”
    “So at eight fifty-five, Lisa Trammel was walking east in a direction that was moving away from the bank, correct?”
    “Yes, correct.”
    Freeman asked a few more questions designed to elicit answers that indicated that Lisa Trammel was only a half block from the bank within a few minutes of the 911 call reporting the murder. She finally finished with the witness at 11:30 and the judge asked if I wanted to take an early lunch and begin my cross-examination afterward.
    “Judge, I think it’s only going to take me a half hour to handle this. I’d rather go now. I’m ready.”
    “Very well then, Mr. Haller. Proceed.”
    I stood up and went to the lectern located between the prosecution table and the jury box. I carried a legal pad with me and two display boards. I held these so that their displays faced each other and could not be seen. I leaned them against the side of the lectern.
    “Good morning, Ms. Schafer.”
    “Good morning.”
    “You mentioned in your testimony that you were running late because of a traffic accident, correct?”
    “Yes.”
    “Did you happen to come upon the accident site while making the commute?”
    “Yes, it was just west of Van Nuys Boulevard. Once I got past it, I started to move smoothly.”
    “Which side of Ventura was it on?”
    “That was the thing. It was in the eastbound lanes but everybody on my side had to slow down to gawk.”
    I made a note on my legal pad and changed direction.
    “Ms. Schafer, I noticed that the prosecutor forgot to ask you if Ms. Trammel was carrying a hammer when you saw her. You didn’t see anything like that, did you?”
    “No, I didn’t. But she was carrying a large shopping bag that was more than big enough for a hammer.”
    This was the first I had heard about a shopping bag. It had not been mentioned in the discovery materials. Schafer, the ever-helpful witness, was introducing new material. Or so I thought.
    “A shopping bag? Did you happen to mention this shopping bag during any of your interviews with the police or the prosecutor on this case?”
    Schafer gave it some thought.
    “I’m not sure. I may not have.”
    “So as far as you remember, the police didn’t even ask if the defendant was carrying anything.”
    “I think that’s correct.”
    I didn’t know what that meant or if it meant anything at all. But I decided to stay away from the shopping bag for the moment and to steer once again in a new direction. You never wanted the witness to know where you were going.
    “Now, Ms. Schafer, when you testified just a few minutes ago that you were three lanes from the sidewalk where you supposedly saw the defendant, you miscounted, didn’t you?”
    The second abrupt change of subject matter and the question gave her a momentary pause.
    “Uh… no, I did not.”
    “Well, what cross street were you at when you saw her?”
    “Cedros Avenue.”
    “There are two lanes of eastbound traffic on Ventura there, aren’t there?”
    “Yes.”
    “And then you have a turn lane onto Cedros, right?”
    “Yes, that’s right. That makes three.”
    “What about the lane of curbside parking?”
    She made an Oh, come on face.
    “That’s not a real lane.”
    “Well, it’s space between you and the woman you claim was Lisa Trammel, isn’t it?”
    “If you say so. I think that’s being picky.”
    “Really? I think it’s just being accurate, wouldn’t you say?”
    “I believe most people would say there were three lanes of traffic between me and her.”
    “Well, the parking zone, let’s call it, is at least a car-length wide and actually wider, correct?”
    “Okay, if you want to nitpick. Call it a fourth lane. My mistake.”
    It was a grudging if not bitter concession and I was sure that the jury was seeing who the real nitpicker was.
    “So then you are now saying that when you supposedly saw Ms. Trammel you would’ve been about four lanes away from her, not the three you previously testified to, correct?”
    “Correct. I said, my mistake.”
    I made a notation on my legal pad that really didn’t mean anything but that I hoped would look to the jurors as though I was keeping some sort of score. I then reached down to my