Nobody says anything.
Next, the bailiff calls Chris and I give Mason’s hand a squeeze, whispering, “No matter what happens, we’re going to get through it, all right?”
“Yeah,” Mason says, his eyes set on his brother.
Chris shuffles down from the jury box and stands next to a lawyer wearing an immaculately-fitted, $60,000 Kiton suit. What can I say? My dad’s an enthusiast.
Right now, we’re about to find out whether Chris took Mason’s advice to heart, or if he’s already worked out some shady deal to avoid as much responsibility as possible. After sitting through enough defendants to get an idea how this court is run, I’m just glad Chris didn’t get caught with a joint or he might be in real trouble.
Then again, I still haven’t heard exactly what they’re charging him with.
Before the judge starts, the prosecutor speaks up, saying, “Your honor, before we continue with this defendant, I would like to amend the indictment to include four additional counts of fraud and twelve additional counts of theft by deception. More victims of Mr. Ellis’s cons have come forward—”
“Your honor, I am unaware of any such witnesses, and I move that the charges against my client, including those Mr. Babish decided to wait until the last possible moment to try to get filed, be dropped,” Chris’s attorney retorts.
“I do apologize for the delay, but many of these witnesses have only just come forward, your honor,” the prosecutor says, handing a file to the bailiff who takes it up to the judge. “Given the serious nature of the crimes Mr. Ellis has committed over the span of numerous years along with his natural ability to con and his apparent predilection of committing such crimes, the people ask that Mr. Ellis be remanded, pending trial.”
“Your honor, I understand that Mr. Babish is trying to grandstand here, but he’s suggesting remand before my client—who has never been arrested—has even had a chance to indicate his innocence!” Chris’s lawyer says.
“What do you think?” I whisper to Mason. “Do you think he’s going to plead guilty?”
“No,” Mason whispers back. “Even if he decided to listen to me, he’d never give up a bargaining chip like that. I think the best we can hope for is that he doesn’t take any illegal shortcuts to get a better deal.”
The judge looks down at his desk, assumedly at Chris’s file or the papers the bailiff just passed from the prosecutor, and he looks back up, saying, “On the charge of fraud against James Bodine…” the judge holds up the pages in front of him for a better look. He sets it down and removes his glas
ses, asking, “Is this going to be a split plea where I’m going to have to go through each of the…” he looks at the paper again, “forty-some-odd charges against your client individually, or can we cover this by type of charge, Mr. Silver? I recognize that this is unusual, but this court does have a full schedule today, and I’m reasonably certain we’ll be here ‘til lunch if we do it the other way.”
“Split plea?” I ask Mason, but have to wait for the bailiff to turn away before I get a response.
“Guilty to some, not guilty for others, I imagine,” Mason says quickly as Chris’s lawyer continues.
“We are not looking at a split plea at this time, your honor,” Chris’s lawyer, Mr. Silver, replies. “We’re fine with a comprehensive plea.”
“In that case, Mr. Ellis, on the charges of fraud, how do you plead?” the judge asks.
“Not guilty,” Chris answers.
“On the charges of theft by deception, how do you plead?” the judge asks.
“Not guilty,” Chris answers.
“On the…” the judge looks down at the paper yet again. “On the surprisingly numerous charges of impersonating a doctor, how do you plead?”
“Not guilty,” Chris answers.
“A doctor?” I ask Mason.
He shrugs and the judge continues.
“On the charge of impersonating an officer of the law, how do you plead?” the judge asks.
“Not guilty,” Chris says.
The judge sighs and double-checks his page to make sure he’s covered everything. He finds something else.
“On the charge of resisting arrest, how do you plead?” the judge asks.
“He didn’t look like he was resisting,” I whisper to Mason.