would interrupt as
frequently as he could. It served the dual purpose of rattling the witness and
distracting the jury from her story.
Moffett
shrugged and reluctantly waved us up. He made Paige step down to the side as we
huddled before the bench. "What is it?"
"I'm
having trouble hearing Ms. Vallis. I'd like permission to move my chair over
there." Robelon pointed to a spot behind my seat, directly in front of the
jury panel.
"Sure.
Go-"
"I'll
just ask the witness to keep her voice up. Peter can sit exactly where he's
supposed to."
"What's
your beef, Alex?" Robelon asked.
"You
ought to use one of your client's bayonets to clean the wax out of your ears.
The only time you develop a problem is when a witness is testifying and the prosecutor's
back is turned. The last time you repositioned yourself between me and the
twelve angry men in the box, you spent the entire time rolling your eyes at
them in disbelief and mumbling under your breath just loud enough so they could
hear your comments."
"Cut
it out, you two," Moffett said, turning to Paige. "Do you think you
can speak any louder, young lady? Mr. Robelon needs to hear everything you
say."
"I
can try, Your Honor."
He waved
us back to our seats and I picked up my questioning.
"I'm
going to direct your attention, Ms. Vallis, to the evening of February
twentieth. Would you tell us where you were and how you met the
defendant?"
"Certainly.
I attended a lecture at the Council on Foreign Relations, at their building on Park
Avenue. I'm a member of that organization, and I had arranged to meet a
girlfriend at the event, which started at seven o'clock. Then we were going to
go to dinner together."
"Did
you keep that plan?" I asked.
"No.
I mean, I did go to the lecture, but my friend's plane was held on the runway
in Boston because of snow. She called on my cell phone to tell me she wouldn't
be able to make it."
Paige
Vallis paused. "There was a cocktail reception after the lecture. I knew a
number of the people there, so I decided to stay and chat for a while."
"Did
you have anything to drink or eat at the reception?" Bring it out on the
direct case, so that it didn't look like I was trying to hide any alcohol that
was involved.
"Wine.
I had a couple of glasses of white wine. Two. Nothing to eat."
"Did
Mr. Tripping approach you that evening?"
"Objection.
Leading."
"Overruled.
Ms. Cooper's just trying to set some background up here."
Paige
waited for the judge to tell her to proceed. "Three of us were standing
together, talking about the situation in the Middle East, and what our own
personal experiences had been there. Andrew must have heard me-"
"Objection
as to what he might have heard."
"Sustained.
Just tell us what he said or did."
The
objections had their desired effect. Paige Vallis was shaken each time Robelon
called out the word, as though she had done something wrong.
"Andrew
Tripping asked me about Cairo," she said. "He wanted to know when I
had lived there and for what reason."
Tripping
started fidgeting as she spoke, trying to get his lawyer's attention. Robelon
brushed him off, continuing to take notes on the details in Vallis's testimony
that he had not heard before. The defendant put his head together with Emily
Frith, whispering to her, distracting several jurors from the flow of the
testimony.
"What
did you tell him, exactly?"
"I
talked about my father's career and told him what I remembered of his tour of
duty in Egypt. I hadn't been back there since finishing high school."
"For
how long did you talk?" I asked.
"Probably
half an hour."
"Did
you leave the council alone?"
Paige
Vallis blushed and picked up her water cup again. "No, no, I didn't.
Andrew told me he knew a nice restaurant in the neighborhood and invited me to
go to dinner."
"Did
anyone else-"
I started
to ask the next question but Paige Vallis wanted to explain her decision to the
jury. "I don't normally do that. I mean, go off somewhere with a man I
don't know. But I
frequently as he could. It served the dual purpose of rattling the witness and
distracting the jury from her story.
Moffett
shrugged and reluctantly waved us up. He made Paige step down to the side as we
huddled before the bench. "What is it?"
"I'm
having trouble hearing Ms. Vallis. I'd like permission to move my chair over
there." Robelon pointed to a spot behind my seat, directly in front of the
jury panel.
"Sure.
Go-"
"I'll
just ask the witness to keep her voice up. Peter can sit exactly where he's
supposed to."
"What's
your beef, Alex?" Robelon asked.
"You
ought to use one of your client's bayonets to clean the wax out of your ears.
The only time you develop a problem is when a witness is testifying and the prosecutor's
back is turned. The last time you repositioned yourself between me and the
twelve angry men in the box, you spent the entire time rolling your eyes at
them in disbelief and mumbling under your breath just loud enough so they could
hear your comments."
"Cut
it out, you two," Moffett said, turning to Paige. "Do you think you
can speak any louder, young lady? Mr. Robelon needs to hear everything you
say."
"I
can try, Your Honor."
He waved
us back to our seats and I picked up my questioning.
"I'm
going to direct your attention, Ms. Vallis, to the evening of February
twentieth. Would you tell us where you were and how you met the
defendant?"
"Certainly.
I attended a lecture at the Council on Foreign Relations, at their building on Park
Avenue. I'm a member of that organization, and I had arranged to meet a
girlfriend at the event, which started at seven o'clock. Then we were going to
go to dinner together."
"Did
you keep that plan?" I asked.
"No.
I mean, I did go to the lecture, but my friend's plane was held on the runway
in Boston because of snow. She called on my cell phone to tell me she wouldn't
be able to make it."
Paige
Vallis paused. "There was a cocktail reception after the lecture. I knew a
number of the people there, so I decided to stay and chat for a while."
"Did
you have anything to drink or eat at the reception?" Bring it out on the
direct case, so that it didn't look like I was trying to hide any alcohol that
was involved.
"Wine.
I had a couple of glasses of white wine. Two. Nothing to eat."
"Did
Mr. Tripping approach you that evening?"
"Objection.
Leading."
"Overruled.
Ms. Cooper's just trying to set some background up here."
Paige
waited for the judge to tell her to proceed. "Three of us were standing
together, talking about the situation in the Middle East, and what our own
personal experiences had been there. Andrew must have heard me-"
"Objection
as to what he might have heard."
"Sustained.
Just tell us what he said or did."
The
objections had their desired effect. Paige Vallis was shaken each time Robelon
called out the word, as though she had done something wrong.
"Andrew
Tripping asked me about Cairo," she said. "He wanted to know when I
had lived there and for what reason."
Tripping
started fidgeting as she spoke, trying to get his lawyer's attention. Robelon
brushed him off, continuing to take notes on the details in Vallis's testimony
that he had not heard before. The defendant put his head together with Emily
Frith, whispering to her, distracting several jurors from the flow of the
testimony.
"What
did you tell him, exactly?"
"I
talked about my father's career and told him what I remembered of his tour of
duty in Egypt. I hadn't been back there since finishing high school."
"For
how long did you talk?" I asked.
"Probably
half an hour."
"Did
you leave the council alone?"
Paige
Vallis blushed and picked up her water cup again. "No, no, I didn't.
Andrew told me he knew a nice restaurant in the neighborhood and invited me to
go to dinner."
"Did
anyone else-"
I started
to ask the next question but Paige Vallis wanted to explain her decision to the
jury. "I don't normally do that. I mean, go off somewhere with a man I
don't know. But I
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