Mistaken Identity

“That’s right,” the witness said. “I heard arguing that night, a little before eight o’clock. I was trying to put the baby down. To bed, you know. Her bedtime was at seven forty-five then, and I was watching the clock.”

A woman juror in the front row nodded, and Lambertsen caught her eye and smiled back. Be

“Mrs. Lambertsen,” Hilliard said, “you’ve already testified that you lived in the rowhouse next door to Detective Della Porta and the defendant. Does that mean you shared a common wall?”

“Yes, and it’s a thin wall, too. You can hear sounds, kind of muffled. I used to worry all the time that they’d hear the baby crying. I did hear them argue, a lot.”

“How often would you say the defendant and Detective Della Porta argued, Mrs. Lambertsen?”

“Well, she moved in in September, I think. I would say the arguing started in October.”

Beside Be

“Did their fighting have a pattern you could discern?” Hilliard asked, and Be

“It seemed like they fought at night, mostly,” Lambertsen answered.

“Could you make out anything they said during these fights?”

“Objection, hearsay,” Be

“You may want to rephrase that, Mr. Prosecutor,” Judge Guthrie said after a moment, which Be

Hilliard paused to act exasperated. “Without telling the jury what the words were, Mrs. Lambertsen, could you make out who was speaking?”

“Only sometimes, when they really yelled. I tried not to listen, I didn’t want to invade their privacy. I just heard voices shouting at each other.”

“In general, again without telling us the words, whose voice was generally louder during these fights, the defendant’s or Detective Della Porta’s?”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Be

Hilliard held up a hand, flashing a large class ring of garnet and gold. “I’ll rephrase. Mrs. Lambertsen, when you heard arguing coming from the apartment shared by the defendant and Detective Della Porta, whose voice was generally louder, the woman’s or the man’s?”

Be

“Thank you,” Hilliard said. “Now, going back to the night of May nineteenth, how long did the argument last?”

“Fifteen minutes, at the most.”

“Do you recall what happened after the argument?”

“I heard a noise. Sometimes after they argue I hear a door slam. This time it was a gunshot.”

Two of the jurors looked at each other and several stiffened in their seats. Hilliard paused to let it register. “What did you do after you heard the gunshot?” he asked.

“I went to the door to see what was going on. I have one of those chains on the door, so I left it on and peeked out.”

“Wait a minute, why did you go to the door, Mrs. Lambertsen?” Hilliard asked, apparently spontaneously, and Be

“I’m not sure exactly,” Lambertsen admitted. “The gunshot came from next door, but I couldn’t go next door, so I went to my door and opened it a little. Just to see what was going on. Like, a crack.”

“What did you see when you went to the door?”

“I saw Alice, Alice Co

The jury shifted, though Co

“Worried, scared, kind of in a panic. Like you’d look after a fight, but worse.”

The jurors listened to every word, caught up in the story. Be

“Mrs. Lambertsen, after you saw Alice Co

“I called 911 and told them what I had seen, and the police came.”

Hilliard continued by eliciting the details of the 911 call and found an excuse to take Lambertsen again through the gunshot and Co

Be

But she couldn’t think about that now.

68

Be

“Yes.”

“Did you hear male and female voices arguing, or did you just hear voices raised in argument?”

Lambertsen thought a minute. “I guess I just heard voices.”

Be

“Uh, no.”

“Do you remember what type of shirt she had on?”

“I didn’t notice, or if I did, I don’t remember.”

“And you didn’t see what she was wearing on the bottom, jeans or shorts, did you?”

“No.”

“Was she carrying anything?”

“I don’t know. I didn’t notice that either.”

Be

“Yes. It was always a fight then, it still is. She doesn’t want to miss anything.” Mrs. Lambertsen smiled, as did the young mother in the front row. It was a warm moment, and Be

“Mrs. Lambertsen, how old was your baby on May nineteenth of last year?”

“About two months old. She was born on March twenty-third, so she was a newborn.”

“And what is her name, by the way?” Be