4th of July (Women's Murder Club 4)

“Finding the defendant guilty is the only way we can make sure a tragedy like this one never happens again.”

Chapter 101

YUKI CLOSED HER NOTEBOOK and stepped out onto the courtroom floor. She turned her lovely face to the jury and greeted them. I clasped my hands tightly together and tried to think past Mason Broyles’s powerful closing speech.

“This is a very emotional case,” Yuki said. “On the one hand, we have a tragedy that will remain with the Cabot family forever.

“On the other hand, a damned good cop has been unfairly accused of causing this incident.

“Because this case is so emotional, because the Cabot kids are and were so young, I want to state the facts again, because your job is to decide this case based on facts, not emotion.

“It’s a fact that if a cop wants to have a couple of margaritas on a Friday night when she’s off duty, there is absolutely nothing wrong with that. Cops are people, too. And while police officers are there for the public twenty-four hours a day, it would have been perfectly okay for Lieutenant Boxer to have told Inspector Jacobi that she was busy.

“But this officer cared intensely about her work and went beyond the call of duty, and in so doing she put herself in harm’s way.

“You’ve heard the plaintiffs say over and over again that Lieutenant Boxer was drunk. In fact, she was not intoxicated. And while her alcohol consumption may have been a condition of this incident, it was not the cause.

“Please don’t lose sight of this distinction.

“Lieutenant Boxer did not make any errors of judgment on the night of May tenth because her reactions were slow or her thinking was faulty. If Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer did anything wrong that night, it was because she showed too much compassion for the plaintiffs.

“The two people who were the cause of the death and injuries to Sara and Sam Cabot were the Cabot children themselves. The fact is that two young, spoiled, rich kids had nothing better to do on the night in question than go out and cause injury and misery to other people and eventually to themselves.

“Ladies and gentlemen, Sam and Sara Cabot caused the events of May tenth with their reckless behavior and with their use of deadly force. They introduced deadly force into this affair, not Lieutenant Boxer. And that is a crucial fact.”

Yuki paused, and for a terrible second, I thought she might have forgotten where her closing statement was headed. She lifted her pearls from the front of her silk blouse and ran her fingers over them, then she turned back to the jury, and I realized she was simply gathering her thoughts.

“Usually when a cop goes on trial it’s a Rodney King- or Abner Louima-type affair. A cop pulled the trigger too quickly or beat the hell out of someone, or abused his or her authority.

“Lindsay Boxer is being accused of doing just the opposite. She holstered her gun because the Cabot children seemed helpless and in fact they were in danger. And the plaintiffs want to turn her humanity toward these children into a ‘failure to follow police procedures.’

“Forgive me, but this is bull.

“Lieutenant Boxer followed procedures when she approached the car in question with her gun drawn. Then, based on the visible injuries to Sam Cabot, she rendered aid to the victims of a car accident.

“That was the right thing to do.

“Inspector Jacobi, another damned good cop, with over twenty-five years on the SFPD, did the same thing. You heard him. He holstered his gun. After he and Lieutenant Boxer freed the Cabot kids from their vehicle, he tried to get them medical assistance.

“Isn’t this the kind of behavior we all want from our police force? If you were in an accident? If these had been your kids?

“But instead of thanking these officers, the Cabot children fired guns at them with intent to kill. Sam kicked Inspector Jacobi in the head after he’d been shot. Was their vicious and potentially lethal aggression caused by the use of drugs? Or were they just bent on murder?

“We don’t know.

“But we do know that Lieutenant Boxer was shot first and that she returned fire in self-defense. That’s a fact. And defending herself, ladies and gentlemen, is ‘proper police procedure.’

“Lieutenant Boxer told you she’d give anything in the world to have Sara Cabot alive today and for this young man to have the full use of his body.

“But the fact is, the events of May tenth did not happen because of a fire that Lindsay Boxer set. She tried to put that fire out.”

I felt a rush of gratitude that almost spilled from my eyes. My God, to be defended with such heart and eloquence. I bit my lower lip and watched Yuki as she finished her summation.

“Ladies and gentlemen of the jury. You’ve been very patient this week through a lot of testimony and harassment from the media. I know you are looking forward to your deliberation.

“We ask that you find Lieutenant Lindsay Boxer guilty of being the kind of cop we should all be proud of: a compassionate, dedicated, selfless officer of the law.

“And we ask that you find her innocent of the outrageous charges that have been brought against her.”