The Fifth Witness Part 45

"Last year. I think it was in July or August when I filed papers for FLAG and started the website. I did it all at once."

"So let's make this very clear. As far as the website goes, anybody with a computer and the Internet has access, correct?"

"Right."

"But your Facebook page is a little more private and personal. To gain access a person has to be accepted by you as a friend. Is that correct?"

"Yes, but I generally friend anybody who asks. I don't know them all because there are too many. I just a.s.sume they've heard about our good work and are interested. I don't turn anybody down. That's how I got to a thousand in less than a year."

"Okay, and you have been making regular posts on your wall since you joined Facebook, correct?"

"Pretty regular, yes."

"In fact you've posted updates on this trial, have you not?"

"Yes, just my opinion of things."

I could feel my temperature rising. My suit was beginning to feel like it was made of plastic and was trapping my body heat inside. I wanted to loosen my tie but knew if a juror saw such a move during this questioning, it would send a disastrous signal.

"Now, can anyone go on the page and post a message under your name?"

"No, just me. People can respond and make their own posts, but not under my name."

"How many posts would you say you've put on your wall since last summer?"

"I have no idea. A lot."

Freeman held up the thick doc.u.ment with the Post-it sticking out.

"Would you believe that you have posted more than twelve hundred times on your wall?"

"I don't know."

"Well, I do. I have every one of your posts printed right here. Your Honor, may I approach the witness with this doc.u.ment?"

Before the judge could respond I asked for a sidebar. Perry waved us up. Freeman brought the thick doc.u.ment with her.

"Your Honor, what's going on?" I said. "I have the same objection I did yesterday to the prosecution's deliberate avoidance of discovery. There has been nothing about this previously, and now she wants to introduce twelve hundred Facebook posts? Come on, Judge, this isn't right."

"There has been nothing in discovery because this Facebook account was unknown until last night."

"Judge, if you believe that, I have some property west of Malibu I'd like to sell you."

"Judge, yesterday afternoon my office came into possession of a printout of all posts made by the defendant to her Facebook page. I was pointed to a set of posts from last September that are relevant to this case and the defendant's own testimony. If I can be allowed to proceed this will become very obvious, even to counsel."

" 'Came into possession'?" I said. "What's that mean? Judge, you have to be an invited friend to see my client's Facebook wall. If the government engaged in subter-"

"It was given to me by a member of the media who is friends with the defendant on Facebook," Freeman interjected. "There was no subterfuge. But its source should not be at issue here. Res ipsa loquitur Res ipsa loquitur-the doc.u.ment speaks for itself, Judge, and I am sure the defendant can identify her own Facebook posts for the jury. Counsel is simply engaged in trying to prevent the jurors from seeing what he knows is evidence of his client's-"

"Judge, I have no idea what she's even talking about. The first I heard about a Facebook page was during her cross. Counsel's view of-"

"Very well, Ms. Freeman," Perry interrupted. "Give her the doc.u.ment but get to the point quickly."

"Thank you, Your Honor."

As I sat back down I felt my phone vibrate in my pocket. I pulled it and read the text under the table and out of the judge's view. It was from Bullocks and she simply said she had access to Lisa's Facebook wall and was working on my request. I typed with one hand, telling her to check the posts from September, then pocketed the phone.

Freeman gave Trammel the printout and had her verify the most recent posts as coming from her Facebook wall.

"Thank you, Ms. Trammel. Could you now go to the page I have marked with the Post-it?"

Lisa reluctantly did as instructed.

"You will see that I have highlighted a series of three of your posts from last September seventh. Could you please read the first one to the jury, including the time of the posting?"

"Um, one forty-six. 'I am heading into WestLand to see Bondurant. This time I'm not taking no for an answer.' "

"Now, you just p.r.o.nounced the name Bondurant but it is misspelled, is it not, in the post?"

"Yes."

"How is it spelled in your post?"

"B-O-N-D-U-R-U-N-T."

"Bondurunt. I notice that the name is spelled that way on all posts in which he is mentioned. Was that intentional or a mistake?"

"He was taking away my house."

"Could you please answer the question?"

"Yes, it was intentional. I called him Bondurunt because he was not a good man."

I could feel the sweat moving through my hair. The hidden Lisa was about to come out.

"Could you please read the next highlighted post? With the time."

"Two eighteen. 'They wouldn't let me see him again. So unfair.' "

"And now please read the next post and time?"

"Two twenty-one. 'Found his spot. I'm going to wait for him in the garage.' "

The quiet in the courtroom was as loud as a train.

"Ms. Trammel, did you wait for Mitch.e.l.l Bondurant in the parking garage at WestLand National on September seventh of last year?"

"Yes, but not that long. I realized it was dumb and he wouldn't even be out until the end of the day. So I left."

"Did you go back to that garage and wait for him on the morning of his murder?"

"No, I didn't! I wasn't there."

"You saw him in the coffee shop, you became enraged and knew just where he would be, didn't you? You went to the garage and waited for him and then-"

"Objection!" I yelled.

"-you killed him with the hammer, didn't you?"

"No! No! No!" Trammel yelled. "I didn't do it!"

She burst into tears, loudly moaning like some kind of cornered animal.

"Your Honor, objection! She's badgering the-"

Perry seemed to snap out of some reverie as he watched Trammel.

"Sustained!"

Freeman stopped. The courtroom was again silent except for the sound of my client sobbing. The courtroom deputy came over with a box of tissues and Lisa's tears finally subsided.

"Thank you, Your Honor," Freeman finally said. "I have no further questions."

I asked for an early morning break so my client could compose herself and I'd have time to decide whether to continue on redirect. The judge granted the request, probably because he felt sorry for me.

Lisa's tears did not undercut the fact that Freeman had been masterful in setting her trap. But all was not lost. The best thing about a setup defense is that almost every piece of d.a.m.ning evidence or testimony-even when it comes from your own client-can become part of the setup.

After the jury was led out I walked up to the witness stand to console my client. I pulled two tissues out of the box and handed them to her. She took them and started dabbing her eyes. I cupped my hand over the microphone to avoid broadcasting our conversation across the courtroom. I tried my best to control my tone.

"Lisa, why the h.e.l.l am I finding out about Facebook now? Do you have any idea what this could do to our case?"

"I thought you knew! I friended Jennifer."

"My Jennifer?"

"Yes!"

Nothing like having both your junior a.s.sociate and your client know more than you.

"But what about these posts from September? Do you know how damaging they are?"

"I'm sorry! I totally forgot about them. They were so long ago."

It looked like another cascade of tears was coming. I tried to head it off.

"Well, we're lucky. We might be able to make this work for us."

She stopped dabbing at her face with the tissue and looked at me.

"Really?"

"Maybe. But I need to go outside and call Bullocks."

"Who's Bullocks?"

"Sorry, it's what we call Jennifer. You sit tight and pull yourself together."

"Am I going to be asked more questions?"

"Yes. I want to do some redirect."

"Then can I go fix my face?"

"That's a good idea. Just don't take long."

I finally got out to the hallway and called Bullocks at the office.

"Did you see the entries on September seventh?" I asked by way of a greeting.

"Just saw them. If Freeman-"

"She already did."

"s.h.i.t!"

"Yeah, well, it was bad but there might be a way out. Lisa said you're her friend on Facebook?"

"Yes, and I'm sorry. I knew she had a page. It never occurred to me to go back and look at previous posts on her wall."

"We'll talk about it later. Right now, I need to know if you have access to her list of friends."

"I'm looking at it right now."

"Okay, first I want you to print out all the names, give them to Lorna and have Rojas drive her over here with them. Right away. Then I want you and Cisco to start working the names yourselves, find out who these people are."

"There's more than a thousand. You want us to run them all all down?" down?"

"If you have to. I'm looking for a connection to Opparizio."

"Opparizio? Why would-"

"Trammel was a threat to him, just like she was a threat to the bank. She was protesting fraud in foreclosure. The fraud was being committed by Opparizio's company. We know through Herb Dahl that she was on Opparizio's radar. It stands to reason that somebody in that company was checking on her through Facebook. Lisa just testified that she accepted anybody who asked to friend her. Maybe we'll get lucky and find a name we know."

There was a silence and then Bullocks tumbled to what I was thinking.

"By tracking her on Facebook they would know what she was up to."

"And they could have known that at one time she waited for Bondurant in the garage."