Mistaken Identity

The reporter beside him coughed again, louder this time, and Lou looked over. “You gotta quit smoking, kid,” he said. “Now they got the patch, they got gum. I had to do it with one of those plastic cigarettes, like a smacked ass.”

“What do you know?” the reporter snapped.

“What do I know?” Lou repeated slowly. He considered spanking the kid but then got a better idea. “Let’s see, I know that cop over there, his name is Joe Citrone.” Lou pointed, and the kid followed his fingers. “He’s filthy as the day is long. He’s buddy-buddy with two other cops, named Sean McShea and Art Reston-”

Another reporter turned around at the names. “Did you say something about McShea and Reston? Those cops who testified in the Co

Lou nodded. “The very same. McShea and Reston aren’t from the Eleventh, but they and Citrone, that tall cop behind the family, they’re all in business together, ru

“Drug business?” asked another reporter, turning around, joining the group forming around Lou.

“They take and sell the drugs from busts and protect dealers like Pace Brunell, down in the projects. Wait, it gets better. Citrone is responsible for the murder of his partner, named Bill Latorce, who was supposedly killed in the line of duty. One of you smartasses oughta be looking into why a domestic got an experienced cop dead, you ask me.”

The reporters started interrupting, but Lou put up his hands. “My advice to you is to get on this story right away. It’ll be the story of the decade. Probably win a Pulitzer. Does anybody say ‘scoop’ anymore?”

Then Lou turned to the kid next to him, whose cigarette hung by its paper from his open mouth. “Put that in your pipe and smoke it,” he said, and walked away.

88

Be

“Ladies and gentlemen, I made the highly unusual decision not to put on a defense case for Alice Co

Be

“Objection, Your Honor,” Hilliard barked. “There is no record evidence of such shootings.”

“Sustained,” Judge Guthrie ruled, but Be

“There are no witnesses to this killing, at least the Commonwealth could not produce one, and there are many other facts that the Commonwealth didn’t prove, all of which add up to more than reasonable doubt. First, the Commonwealth didn’t produce the murder weapon. The prosecutor wants you to forget about the gun, but can you, fairly?” Be

Be

“Objection, Your Honor,” Hilliard said. “Ms. Rosato misstates Dr. Pettis’s testimony.”

“Sustained,” Judge Guthrie ruled, before Be

“Let’s consider the laundry list of other facts the Commonwealth didn’t prove. One, the Commonwealth didn’t prove motive. A fight? Every couple has rough patches. I myself haven’t spoken to my boyfriend in days, but I’m not killing him.” The jury smiled, and Be

The videographer laughed, as did the young black man in the back row. It was Mr. Speaker, the talkative one. Be

“Unlike the prosecution, I don’t think conspiracy involves little green people. You know that there are many crimes that take more than one person to commit. Think of the Mafia. Think of the Oklahoma bombing. Those are criminal conspiracies, and you don’t have to believe in little green people to know that conspiracies are real.” Be

“Objection, Your Honor!” Hilliard shouted. “There’s no evidence in the record to support these allegations! The only evidence in the record is that Officers Reston and McShea were the arresting officers. Anything else is an unfair inference from the record and pure conjecture on the part of defense counsel!”

Be

“The objection is sustained.” Judge Guthrie’s mouth closed firmly, setting his jowls like a French bulldog. “Comment no further on the arresting officers, Ms. Rosato, and resume your argument.”

Be

Judge Guthrie frowned deeply. “You may present an alternative scenario, counsel, but there is no record evidence that any specific police officers were involved in Detective Della Porta’s death. You may not confuse or mislead the jury in closing argument. You can present your theory without mention of any purported role of the arresting officers. Please proceed.”

Be