“Because I watched her every day for three weeks, and she didn’t look like a woman who had a chronic back problem. She walked around in those . . . those stilts. Anyone with that type of a condition could barely stand up straight.”
People in the courtroom began to mumble, and Judge Fritz banged his gavel for silence.
“Mr. Lippe, do you have pictures, film, or anything else that will back up your findings?” Kyle asked.
“Why, no. I am the chief—”
“We know your position, Mr. Lippe. Thank you for reminding us. So you have no physical proof, and you expect the jurors to believe you because you are the chief inspector for the welfare fraud department?”
“This is bullshit! I have never lost a case in any of my years of investigating fraud.”
“And I haven’t lost a case since I became a lawyer, but neither my track record nor yours is in question here today. Are you trying to tell me that you went to East Orange, New Jersey and sat in the ghetto on Main Street and watched the activity going on around the doctor’s office?”
“Objection, Your Honor!”
“What’s your reason for the objection?” Judge Fritz asked Prosecutor Swartz.
“He’s badgering the witness.”
“Sustained.”
By now Mr. Lippe was furious because Kyle would not allow him to shine like he’d done with Prosecutor Swartz. Not only that, Kyle was twisting his words, and that made him even more frustrated.
“So, in other words, Mr. Lippe, you have no proof, besides your word?”
Mr. Lippe squinted so hard at Kyle, it looked like he would burst a blood vessel in his eyes. “My word is more than enough solid proof,” he said through clenched teeth.
“No further questions, Your Honor.”
Kyle simply walked away.
“Counselor, would you like to question the witness?” Judge Fritz asked Kendall.
“No questions at this time, Your Honor,” Kendall felt the witness only knew about Diamond and had nothing on Dante.
Diamond smiled at Kyle when he sat down, showing him her approval.
“You may step down, Mr. Lippe,” Judge Fritz told him, and that quickly, the inspector’s moment of fame was over.
THIRTY-THREE
The State versus Reed and Reed
2003
It had been a grueling two months, and all the attorneys were tired. Both teams of attorneys had pulled out all the stops questioning several witnesses, but there hadn’t been a spectacular breakthrough in the case.
Kyle had questioned two young boys from the crew that Diamond had given them. The boys gave good statements and surprising didn’t supply Prosecutor Swartz’s team with any information that could be held against the defendants. Kendall questioned Dante’s old boss from the Extra supermarket he used to work at, and several teachers from his high school, including his basketball coach. They were all credible witnesses for the defense and had nothing but good things to say, but their statements weren’t strong enough for what the state had against the Reeds to relieve them of the harsh charges.
Prosecutor Swartz and her team sat at their table and waited patiently for court to begin. The spectators were still outside, so it gave her some much-needed peace to meditate before the trial began. She was still seething over the main witnesses that were killed.
It was the last day of trial, and the jury would be sent out for deliberations. She rubbed her temples while the two members of her team softly talked amongst themselves. Peter, the youngest attorney on her team, was missing. She hadn’t heard from him since the night before but wasn’t worried, since she didn’t need him for the last day.
The defense attorneys weren’t feeling as peaceful. With the way the case had been going, it seemed as if they were competing against each other, instead of working as a team. Each time a brother questioned a witness, he would badger the witness to testify against the other defendant. So Kendall and Kyle sat there with stoic expressions, not speaking to one another.
The courtroom doors opened, and in walked Peter. He made his way down the aisle at a quick pace. He plopped down in the chair next to Prosecutor Swartz and smiled. “Guess what?”
“What?” she asked, looking at him like he was crazy.