Jaywalker had come into Alonzo Barnetts case a full year and a half late, and had had not one predecessor, but three of them. The day after his second sit-down with Barnett, he took stock of what those lawyers had done, or failed to do, before his arrival.
First was the fact that none of them had made a serious attempt to get bail set in the case. While that might have made sense early on in the proceedings, at a time when Barnett had a parole violation detainer on him and couldnt have gotten out in any event, thered soon come a time when the detainer had been lifted. Barnett had had so little time remaining on his parole that the authorities had simply terminated him, marking his file closed with the notation unsatisfactory adjustment. Whether whoever was representing him at the time had noticed or not, or even bothered to check, was unclear. The result had been that on the new arrest, Barnett continued to be held in remand status. Jaywalker checked, of course, and when he discovered the omission, he went back in to see his client and bring him the news.
Is there any amount of bail you could make? he asked. Anything at all? He knew that even a defendant on a bad case with a bad record had a chance of getting a reasonable bail in Shirley Levines courtroom. And in addition to knowing his client would much prefer to be out than in, Jaywalker had selfish reasons of his own in mind. Its much easier for the lawyer when he can meet with a defendant in his office than it is when hes got to visit him in jail. Even a jail around the corner from the courthouse, like the Tombs. And after all, Barnett had been caught selling heroin, and in pretty substantial amounts. It was only logical to figure he might have some money stashed away somewhere.
But Barnett surprised him.
Dont get me bail, he said.
Which marked a first for Jaywalker. Because the thing is, every detainee ever locked up in the history of the world wants to get out, with the possible exception of some homeless drunk in the middle of winter whos happy to have three hots and a cot while he sleeps things off.
But Alonzo Barnett was neither homeless nor drunk, and instead of it being midwinter, it was mid-May. So Jaywalker was forced to ask him why he didnt want to get out.
But Alonzo Barnett was neither homeless nor drunk, and instead of it being midwinter, it was mid-May. So Jaywalker was forced to ask him why he didnt want to get out.
It would be too hard on my daughters, Barnett said. Ive told them to give up on me, that I wont be coming out for a very long time, if ever. And it would be too hard on me, knowing Id be living on borrowed time and would have to turn myself in sooner or later. I might decide to do something stupid, like run away. I couldnt do that to my girls. Although, he added, Ive got no place to run away to.
In the end, Jaywalker convinced Barnett that it made sense to have a bail amount set, even if he had no intention of ever trying to post it, and the following day went before Judge Levine and had her set bail at $25,000. If nothing else, it downgraded Barnetts classification as a threat within the Tombs, freeing him up from having both his cell and his person subject to constant searches.
Another thing the trio of earlier lawyers had screwed up were the pretrial motions. Theyd filed them-at least Lawyer Number 2 had-but done a pretty half-assed job. Long on paper but short on persuasion, theyd failed to recite sufficient grounds for the ordering of any evidentiary hearings prior to trial. The only thing that remained to be decided was how many of the defendants convictions the prosecutor would be able to bring out if Barnett were to take the stand. As for discovery, a lot of things had been asked for, but Daniel Pulaski had successfully resisted turning over just about all of them. As a result, Jaywalker knew the dates and approximate times and locations of the three sales, as well as the amounts of heroin involved in each. That and the fact that the prosecution claimed to know of no exculpatory material that might in any way materially assist the defense.
Not much to work with.
But in addition to being a compulsive overpreparer, Jaywalker was a former investigator. Not all of his time at the Drug Enforcement Administration had been spent buying narcotics. When he hadnt been undercover, Jaywalker had been, like any other federal agent, an investigator. He knew how to slip a lock, tap a phone and bug a room. He could make a crime scene speak to him. He could walk into an apartment or pull over a car, and have a pretty good idea where the drugs were hidden. He was good with a camera and had a working knowledge of ballistics. He knew how to lift a fingerprint and match it to one on file. And he knew the back channels, the ins and outs of the criminal justice system.
It was that last piece of knowledge that he put to work now. And he began at the only place he could possibly think of.
Other than the cops and agents and state troopers whod made the case against Alonzo Barnett and werent about to speak with a defense lawyer, there was only one person who was in a position to know anything at all about the facts. His name was Clarence Hightower, and he was the guy whod called in the favor. According to Barnett, Hightower had been arrested only minutes after Barnett himself, though for possession, rather than sale.
Finding Hightowers papers in the courthouse turned out to be a bit tricky, because theyd been sealed. The No Public Record stamp on the file could mean only one of three things, Jaywalker knew. First, that Hightower had been a juvenile or a youth, and Jaywalker knew hed been neither. Second, that his case had ended with a dismissal or an acquittal. Or third, that hed been convicted, but only of a violation, a minor noncriminal offense. Which struck Jaywalker as a bit unusual, seeing as Hightowers criminal record was in pretty much the same league as Barnetts, if not worse.
So he found a friendly clerk hed known for years, gave him a sob story, and convinced the guy to look the other way for a few minutes. The clerk was taking a chance, but not all that much of one. Had they been caught, he knew Jaywalker would have taken the weight, explaining that hed swiped the file without the clerks knowledge. The clerk knew this because thats exactly the kind of thing Jaywalker had done in the past, whenever one of his little capers had been discovered. Even as it had led to a few of Jaywalkers overnights at Rikers Island, it explained his reputation as a stand-up guy who could be trusted if the shit were to hit the fan.
One of the things Jaywalker always looked for in a court file was a photograph of the defendant. He liked to put a face on things. When he found Hightowers mug shot, two things immediately jumped out at him. First, the guy wasnt much to look at. Second, hed never win a best-dressed contest, not in his stained and ratty blue denim work shirt.
So much for first impressions.
According to the file, Hightower had indeed been arrested on October 5, 1984. It seemed that hed walked right into the middle of things, not realizing that the three or four guys in plainclothes surrounding Barnett were handcuffing him and reading him his rights. Jaywalker already knew this, having heard it from Barnett, whod explained that Hightower had walked over intending to hit Barnett up for some of the money left over from the transaction, just as he had after the second one. Hightower had been promptly rewarded for his greed by being stood up against a wall and searched, and the search had revealed a tinfoil packet containing a small amount of white powder.
Jaywalker continued combing through the file until he found the lab report. Unlike the drugs bought and seized from Barnett, which had been delivered to the United States Chemist for analysis, Hightowers tinfoil packet had been considered no big deal and had therefore been taken to the NYPDs lab. There, according to the report, it had been found to contain heroin, as well as lactose and dextrose-two sugars commonly used as additives-and quinine. Because the total weight had come to just under a tenth of an ounce, less than the eighth-of-an-ounce threshold required for a felony, Hightower had been charged with only a misdemeanor. Still, it could have cost him up to a year in jail, as well as a violation of his parole. But luckily for him, hed been permitted to plead down to disorderly conduct, a violation, receiving the maximum permissible sentence of fifteen days, which by that time hed already served. Jaywalker looked through the papers, hunting for the name of the judge whod been so kind as to approve such a generous plea bargain: Robert H. Straub, Criminal Court Judge.
Now, if Shirley Levine was a plus fifteen on a scale of leniency, Ronald Straub was a minus twenty. Which explained why hed handed out the longest sentence he possibly could, but not why hed gone along with the plea arrangement in the first place. That, Jaywalker knew, could only have been due to the urging of whatever A.D.A. had stood up on the case: Jonathan Hillebrand, Assistant District Attorney.
Jaywalker knew better than to question Judge Straub about the matter. He no doubt had been dealing with a calendar of over a hundred cases that day, and a year and a half later could hardly be expected to remember a plea that had probably taken two minutes at most. Besides, Straub might become curious about how Jaywalker had learned the disposition of a case that was supposed to have been sealed.
Jonathan Hillebrand was another matter. Jaywalker found him in one of the Criminal Court trial parts. He was a regular assistant, not in Special Narcotics like Daniel Pulaski. Which made sense, since Pulaskis office took only felonies, and Hightowers case had been a misdemeanor.
Not surprisingly, Hillebrand had no recollection of the matter. It wasnt my case, he told Jaywalker, adding that he might have remembered the name had it been. The way it works, he explained, is that I get handed a bunch of files in the morning. Each one has a note on it from the assigned assistant, telling me to answer ready for trial or ask for an adjournment, and if theres an offer, what it is. The case youre asking me about must have had a note saying to offer the defendant a violation and fifteen days.
And the thing was, Jaywalker knew from experience that that was exactly how it worked.