Proof Positive (2006) (22 page)

That fits the evidence, but it doesn't make a lot of sense, Doug responded. It was cold and nasty that night. He's not going to run out in the rain in a T-shirt. He's going to put on the sweatshirt first.

But let's assume you' re right. What did he do after he changed his clothes? Doe was really worked over. If he did any damage after he returned to the body there would be blood on the sweatshirt.

I admit there's a problem for the state here, Amanda said, but, given the other evidence, I don't see a jury acquitting because Cohen was wearing a T-shirt and sweatshirt with no blood on them when he was arrested.

That's true, but everything makes sense if Mr. Cohen is innocent and the killer put the bloody shirts in the garbage bag.

Amanda looked unhappy. There are a number of problems with that theory, Doug. Cohen admits that the shirts are his, so the killer had to take them from the car, get blood on them and put them back. When did the killer do that? The ME concluded that Jane Doe was killed in the lot, so the shirts had to be planted after the murder and before the cops arrived.

Jacob could have been so distracted after he found the body that he didn't notice the murderer going to the car and planting the evidence, Doug said.

Okay, but when did the killer get the shirt? He didn't do it while Cohen was in the car, so he had to take it from the car after Cohen went to the body. Then he had to run over to the body while Cohen was there and get blood on the shirts without Cohen seeing him. Cohen thinks the devil is the killer. The devil could make himself invisible and do that, but I can't think of any human who could.

Cohen also said that he waited for a long time before he built up enough courage to see what had happened. Why would the killer wait around in the rain all that time and then go to the car and risk discovery?

Those are good questions, Doug said. I'm afraid I don't have any answers for you.

Yeah, well, neither do we, Amanda said, sounding frustrated. And there is the most damaging piece of evidence the pubic hairs. How did they get on the victim's thigh, secured to her leg by her own blood? If Cohen is innocent, someone had to figure out a way of getting his pubic hairs, which means that there was an elaborate plan to frame Cohen for this murder. What possible motive would anyone have to do that?

Before Doug could answer, Frank Jaffe walked in.

Working on Jacob Cohen's case? he asked.

Yeah. Doug, this is my father, Frank Jaffe.

Pleased to meet you, Frank said, nodding in Doug's direction. I'm sorry to interrupt, but Henry Tedesco just dropped by and gave me some information about your case that might be important. They' ve identified the Jane Doe. She's Mary Clark, a criminalist at the crime lab.

That's not good, Doug said.

Why does that make a difference? Kate asked, confused by Weaver's reaction.

When I met with Jerry Cochran about Cohen's attempted rape case he let me go through the file. Mary Clark testified in court against Jacob at his trial for assault and attempted rape.

Didn't Clark do some of the lab work in Prochaska's case? Amanda asked.

Frank nodded. That's why Henry was here. It turns out that she was a heroin addict. The lab found traces of heroin in her blood, and heroin that was stolen from the crime lab was found in her house. The police think that Clark went to the lot to buy drugs. Henry suggested that someone who had a grudge against Art and Martin may have found out about Clark's habit and blackmailed her into framing Art. Martin thinks that we should double-check the lab work in Art's case.

Paul's doing that, isn't he? Kate asked.

Yes, and we should tell him about this new development.

How did they figure out that Clark is the victim? Amanda asked.

When she didn't show up at work for several days, a cop went to her house. She and her car were gone. The car was found near the lot and someone connected the dots.

Thanks for the info, Dad.

My pleasure. I'll leave you to your work. Nice meeting you, Doug.

This is all we need, Weaver said as soon as Frank left. Now Graves can prove opportunity, means, and motive. We had a good argument that Jacob was insane when it looked like Jane Doe's murder was a random killing. Graves can counter our assertion that Jacob was too crazy to know what he was doing by showing that he knew the victim and had a motive to kill her.

The brainstorming session went on for another hour. Before it ended, they agreed that Kate would work up a list of lay and expert witnesses for the penalty phase. Doug volunteered to put together a set of penalty-phase jury instructions and research legal issues that pertained to the specialized field of death-penalty sentencing. The assignment would be easy for Doug, who had prepared jury instructions and memos on sentencing issues in his other cases and would only have to bring himself up to date on the latest case law.

When Doug left Amanda's office, he was feeling upbeat. She had gone out of her way to be friendly, and she had treated him as an equal. She also seemed pleased with his analysis of the case. The only negative feelings Doug carried away had to do with the hurdles they would have to overcome to save Jacob Cohen's life.

Chapter
31.

MIKE GREENE IS HOLDING ON THREE, THE RECEPTIONIST TOLD Frank.

What's up? Frank asked as soon as he picked up.

I'm afraid I'm the bearer of bad tidings, Frank. The body of Juan Ruiz, a small-time drug dealer who works for Felix Dorado, was discovered in the woods a few days ago. He'd been shot in the back of the head, execution-style, just like Vincent Ballard. We compared the bullets that killed Ruiz with the bullets that were found in Art Prochaska's closet. They' re a perfect match. And it gets worse for your client. The lab conducted a ballistics test on the gun we found in Prochaska's house. There's no doubt that it fired the bullets that killed Ruiz.

I take it that you' re going to charge Art with this murder, too.

I'm afraid so. I'll be going to the grand jury tomorrow. I'll call you when I have an indictment and we can set the arraignment.

Frank hung up and swiveled his chair so he could look out at the West Hills. The dark clouds that hovered over them fit his mood perfectly. Until Mike's call, Frank believed he had a fighting chance to win Art's case. No witness put Prochaska who was not easy to miss at the Continental. Cashman would testify that bullets like those found in Art's closet had killed Ballard, but he couldn't swear that the bullets actually came from the box found in the closet, and he had testified at the preliminary hearing that Art's Glock had not fired those bullets. Any advantage Frank had would disappear if a judge let Mike introduce evidence of a second similar murder committed with bullets like those found in Art's house and fired from Art's gun.

Normally, a prosecutor could not tell a jury about a crime that was not charged in the indictment, but there were exceptions to the rule. One exception allowed the state to introduce evidence of crimes so similar that the natural inference would be that the person who committed one had most probably committed the other. Mike would argue that Ballard and Ruiz were drug addicts executed in the same manner by bullets from the same batch. Frank wasn't sure that it would be error for a judge to allow the introduction of evidence from the Ruiz murder in the trial of the Ballard homicide, and he bet that Mike was researching the case law on the admissibility of evidence of other crimes at this very moment.

A knock on his door distracted Frank. Got a minute? Kate Ross asked her boss.

Is your meeting over?

Yeah, we just broke up.

I was going to buzz you anyway. I just received a disturbing call from Mike Greene.

Frank told Kate about the new development in Art Prochaska's case.

That sucks, she said when he finished.

That it does. Frank shook his head in frustration. Damn. I thought we got a break when you told me what you found out at the motel, but we may have to start thinking about a deal. Now, why did you want to see me?

I wanted to know if Tedesco gave you an address for Clarence Edwards or the names of the men who came out of Ballard's room.

No. I did ask him about the Continental but he got very cagey. He wouldn't even admit he was there. But I'm not worried. If Martin finds the men who killed Ballard we'll know. He'd do anything to save Art. How's Amanda's case going?

Not great. I'm meeting Paul Baylor at the crime lab this afternoon to look at the evidence in the Prochaska and Cohen cases. I'll let you know if anything exciting happens.

Amanda and Frank had gotten court orders that permitted Paul Baylor to take several pieces of evidence from the Oregon state crime lab to his private lab for testing. Kate and Paul had arrived at the state crime lab at three, and it was almost five by the time Paul collected the items he wanted to inspect and completed the paperwork.

Where is Mary Clark's car? Paul asked Carlos Guzman just before he was ready to leave.

Out back, Guzman said, his face showing the sadness he still felt every time Mary's name was mentioned.

I feel bad about Mary, too, Paul said. I just can't believe she was using heroin.

You' re not the only one. Everyone here is still in a state of shock. I'm just glad we got the bastard who killed her, Guzman said, forgetting that Kate and Paul might not agree with him, but it won't bring her back. Guzman sighed. You want to see the car?

If we could, Paul said.

Guzman fished the keys out of the case file. Then he looked up at the clock.

Damn, I don't have anyone to babysit you, right now. We had a crime wave this afternoon. Everyone's out at scenes or working on rush jobs.

Don't make me come back, Carlos, Paul pleaded.

All right, I'll go out with you. I can use the fresh air.

Guzman led Kate and Paul down several hallways and outside to the back lot.

This shouldn't take too long, Paul told the lab chief. Your guys didn't find anything connecting Cohen to the car when they went through it. No prints, no blood. I'm just double-checking to be thorough.

Guzman paced around while Paul checked the interior of Clark's car and looked under the hood.

Find any smoking guns? Guzman asked as Paul wandered around to the back of the car.

I'm not telling you, Paul answered with a smile as he opened the trunk. Kate peered over Paul's shoulder and saw a rumpled plaid blanket, a baseball cap, and other objects that Mary had tossed in. Paul pushed them aside and lifted up the mat covering the well that held the spare tire and the jack. The tire was screwed into the base of the trunk. Paul looked at the tire briefly and was about to lower the mat when Kate stopped him.

Hold up a sec. Do me a favor and unscrew the tire, will you? I want to make sure there's nothing under there.

Like what? Paul asked.

Clark was stealing dope from the lab. Maybe she hid it in the tire well.

Paul unscrewed the bolt that held down the tire and lifted the tire out of the trunk. At first, Kate thought there was nothing in the tire well. Then she realized that there was something lying there. Kate studied the object while Paul rested the tire against the fender.

Get a picture of this, will you? Kate asked Baylor.

What did you find? Guzman asked as Paul took a digital camera out of the bag he'd brought to the lab.

Whoever put it in there wrapped it in cloth that's so dark it blends into the shadows, Kate said.

As soon as he finished shooting the package, Paul slipped on a pair of latex gloves, lifted the object out of the car, and unwrapped the black cloth, revealing an evidence bag containing a hammer. Kate looked through the clear plastic. She noticed brown smears on the hammer, which she recognized as dried blood.

Why would Clark hide this evidence bag? Kate asked the lab chief.

I have no idea, Guzman said as he stared at the surprise package.

That's a coincidence, Kate said.

What is?

She pointed at the label with the case name, which was attached to the evidence bag. This is from the Raymond Hayes case, the guy who was executed. His attorney, Doug Weaver, and Amanda are co-counsel in Jacob Cohen's case. I just met him today.

Paul turned to Guzman. Was heroin involved in Hayes?

Not that I know of. Guzman frowned. A day or so before Mary disappeared I asked her to go through some closed cases to see if we could destroy or return evidence. Hayes was one of them.

I'll call Doug when we get back, Kate said. Maybe he knows about a tie-in between Hayes and Mary Clark. She pointed at the hammer. What do you want to do with this, Paul?

I can't see how it has anything to do with Clark's murder, but I'd like to go over it, just to be certain. He looked at Guzman. Can I take this with me?

I'm not going to turn it over until our lab looks at it and Hannah Graves says it's okay.

Carlos is right, Paul said. His people should get the first look. If the DA objects, Amanda can go to court for another order.

Chapter
32.

HEY, BERNIE, CARLOS GUZMAN SAID. JUST GETTING IN?