“Earlier in this trial, the prosecution introduced a video of the police interrogation of the defendant, Andre La Cosse. Are you familiar with it?”
“No, I have not seen it.”
I got permission from the judge to reshow a portion of the interrogation on the overhead screen. In the segment, Andre La Cosse told Detective Whitten that he received a blocked call from someone named Daniel Price at about four-thirty the afternoon before the murder. As a security measure, he then asked for a callback number and the caller provided the phone number and a room number at the Beverly Wilshire. La Cosse said he called the hotel back, asked for Daniel Price’s room, and was put through. They made arrangements for escort service at eight p.m., with Giselle Dallinger being the provider.
I turned the video off and looked at Hensley.
“Mr. Hensley, does your hotel keep records of incoming calls to guest rooms?”
“No, only outgoing calls, because those are charged to the guest account.”
I nodded.
“How would you explain that Mr. La Cosse had the right name and room number when he called the hotel?”
Hensley shook his head.
“I can’t explain it.”
“Is it possible that because of the late checkout given the newlyweds, the name Daniel Price was still on the guest list that the hotel operator uses?”
“It’s possible. But once they checked out, the name would have been removed from the current guest list.”
“Is that a human process or a computerized process?”
“Human. The name is deleted from the current guest list at the front desk when someone checks out.”
“So if the person handling the assignment at the front desk got busy with other work or other guests, that process might have been delayed, correct?”
“It could have happened.”
“It could have happened,” I repeated. “Isn’t three o’clock check-in time at the hotel?”
“Yes, it is.”
“Is the front desk generally busy at that time?”
“It all depends on the day of the week, and Sunday check-ins are usually slow. But you’re right, it could have been busy at the desk.”
I didn’t know what any of this got me, but I felt that the jury might be getting bored. It was time to open the trapdoor in the Trojan horse’s belly. Time to come out of hiding and attack.
“Mr. Hensley, let’s move on a bit. You said in your earlier testimony that the hotel’s own investigation confirmed that the victim, Gloria Dayton, had entered the hotel on the evening of last November eleventh. How did you confirm that?”
“We looked at video from the cameras and pretty soon we found her.”
“And you were able to track her by different cameras and video as she moved through the hotel, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“Did you bring a copy of the video from the cameras with you to court today?”
“Yes, I did.”
He pulled a disc out of one of the pockets of his leather folder and held it up for a moment.
“Did you ever give a copy of that video record to the LAPD investigators who were working on the case?”
“The detectives came by early in the investigation and reviewed our raw feeds—this was before we put together a single video that tracked the woman they were interested in through the hotel. We later put that together and made all the material available, but nobody came to pick it up until a couple months ago.”
“Was that Detective Whitten or his partner?”
“No, it was Mr. Lankford from the DA’s Office. They were prepping for the trial and he came around to collect what we had.”
I wanted to turn and look at Forsythe, to try to get a read on whether he ever saw the video—because it sure never showed up on any discovery list I had seen.
But I didn’t look at the prosecutor, because I didn’t want to give anything away. Not yet, at least.
“Do you see Mr. Lankford here in court today?” I asked Hensley.
“Yes, I do.”
I then asked the judge to tell Lankford to stand, and Hensley identified him. Lankford looked at me with eyes that were as cold and gray as a January dawn. After he was reseated, I turned to the judge and asked if the attorneys could approach. The judge waved us up and she knew exactly what I wanted to talk about.
“Don’t tell me, Mr. Haller. You didn’t get copied on the videos.”
“That’s right, Judge. The witness says the prosecution has had this material for two months and not a single frame of video was turned over in discovery to the defense. That’s a direct violation of—”
“Your Honor,” Forsythe broke in. “I have not even seen these videos myself so—”