Bad Behavior(15)

"First, Judge, Mr. Granade, though I'm sure he's a fine attorney, is not a member of the bar in the State of New York. He is not a true resident of the State of New York, and he certainly does not have citizenship here. Therefore, on that basis alone, he cannot bring any charges against my client in this state."

Judge Crane took the glasses off her nose and let them hang from their colorfully beaded lanyard. "Is that all you have, Evan?"

Evan shot me a look of pure poison.

"No, Your Honor. In addition to that, Mr. Granade has been stalking my client for over a year. Haunting his home, following his family, checking up on him. In this country, a defendant is innocent until proven guilty." Her voice rose along with her feigned indignation. "Mr. Castille, as he sits here today, is an innocent man under the law. But Mr. Granade has used the full force of the federal government to impugn and slander this man throughout the city of New Orleans and now here, in New York. Mr. Granade even has a private investigator tailing my client as we speak." 

Evan turned and pointed to a man toward the back of the gallery. "You, sir, stand up and tell the Court what you're doing here."

George, the tail I'd put on Castille for his time in New York, stood and looked from me to Evan and back again. I gave a slight nod.

George put his hands in his pockets, reticent to give anything away. "I, uh, I am a private investigator."

Speak up," Evan commanded.

George obliged. His voice was shaky and loud as he repeated his answer.

"Who hired you?" Evan asked.

George looked back at me. I nodded again. "Well, the federal government."

Evan's voice was a lash now. "Yes, but who specifically?"

George turned his head back and forth between Evan and me, as if he were watching the ball in a spirited round of tennis.

Evan put a stop to the match. "Look at me! Mr. Granade can't help you now. Answer my question. Who hired you?"

"Uh, Lincoln."

Evan turned back to the judge. I put a hand out and motioned for George to sit back down. Now that he was made, he'd be off the case. Evan just cost him his job.

"This is yet another abuse in a long line of overzealous prosecution actions that this Court should not condone, much less encourage, by allowing Lincoln Granade to continue his witch hunt against-"

"Judge, if I may?" I asked. Evan wasn't the only one who knew how to steal the spotlight.

Judge Crane turned her attention to me and gave a pleasant smile. "Please, go ahead."

"The man you see sitting right there"-I pointed to Castille-"has cheated and stolen and lied his way into the bank accounts of dozens if not hundreds of elderly New Orleans residents. I would be derelict in my duty as an Assistant United States Attorney if I did not thoroughly investigate each and every allegation of wrongdoing perpetrated by this man. And this is not for my protection."

I turned to look at Evan.

"It's for his. The Department of Justice takes great pride in bringing charges based on the veracity of the allegations and the ability to prove those allegations beyond a reasonable doubt. If I didn't do a thorough investigation every time I worked a case, then the chances of charging an innocent person would rise exponentially. However, because I did do my job and made sure Mr. Castille is just as dirty as I originally thought he was, the government has a vested interest in seeing him brought to justice. Now, if Ms. Pallida has an issue with the way I conduct my investigations into her clients, she may want to advise her clients to stop breaking the laws of the United States of America. That's the quickest way to get me off their case."

Wood clicked his pen with a rapid-fire sound, like a golf clap for attorneys.

Evan was smart enough to know that neither of her grounds was sufficient for disqualification. No, what she was doing was assassinating my character, trying to get me a black mark with the judge before I even had a chance to get started. Bad bitch.

Judge Crane nodded, her iron gray bob not moving a centimeter. "I see nothing amiss that would lead me to disqualify you on the basis of your investigation, Mr. Granade. Good legwork used to be a hallmark of the profession. Glad to see some of you younger lawyers are still keeping that tradition alive."

She turned her withering gaze back to Evan. "Ms. Pallida, if you can present me with a statute saying that an AUSA has to be a member of the bar in the state where he is bringing federal charges, then let me know."

"Not off the top of my head, Your Honor." Evan clasped her hands in front of her, looking almost penitent. She needed to work on that maneuver. Humble didn't ring true for even a moment on one such as her.