The Rapunzel Act, page 17
‘Yes, of course. I had just one more question regarding the glove for you, Inspector, as I will save the rest for our forensic expert. It does involve looking, once more, at the photograph of the crime scene we saw earlier. My instructing solicitor will hand up this clicker. Can you see? It enables you to point to things on the screen. Can you take it and can you point for us, to show where, on the photograph, the glove is lying?’
Inspector Dawson took the clicker from Constance and then peered at the photograph. ‘It doesn’t seem to be visible in this photograph. Is there another one I could see?’ he said.
‘This photograph is a slightly wider angle. Is the glove there?’ Judith allowed a hint of impatience to feed into her delivery.
‘I think it’s…in the dark area right at the bottom of the screen.’
‘Really? You must have better eyesight than me. Here’s another photograph of Rosie Harper’s living room. Can you point to the glove here?’
‘Perhaps rather than making Inspector Dawson run through all 272 photographs,’ Laidlaw was on his feet, with one eye over his shoulder, on the rest of his team, ‘it would be helpful if my solicitor were able to locate a photograph, showing the positioning of the glove and put it in evidence after the next break?’
‘Your honour, that would be perfectly acceptable to me, thank you. I have no desire to waste time or make things difficult for Inspector Dawson.’
Dawson swallowed noisily and his eyes met Judith’s. She looked away. ‘Moving on then, during the course of your investigation, you and your team have interviewed many potential witnesses, including people working every day with Debbie. Has any of those witnesses told you that Debbie has been violent towards them?’
‘No.’
‘Has any witness told you that they saw Debbie being violent towards Rosie Harper?’
‘No. But in my experience, domestic abuse often stays in the home.’
‘Thank you for expressing your opinion, but you are here today to answer questions on the facts.’
‘Which couldn’t be clearer,’ Laidlaw muttered loudly enough for the microphones to broadcast and the audience to smile in collusion.
‘Finally, your entry to the property. Your officers broke down the door to gain entry, is that correct?’
‘Yes.’
‘The door became damaged then, as did the lock?’
‘I suppose so.’
‘How could it be possible, then, to say, as you did, that this was not a forced entry to the property. Surely any evidence of a prior tampering with the lock, would have been totally obliterated by your men forcing their way in?’
‘What I know is that when my officers attended at the property, the door was closed and locked and appeared to be intact.’
‘What steps did they ascertain to ensure that the door was intact?’
Dawson took a deep breath.
‘No specific tests. They would have looked at the door and the lock.’
‘And no doubt, given the dog howling and the panicked call from Mrs Harris over the road, they would have, understandably, been keen to get inside. They probably didn’t spend too long in that examination.’
‘I think that’s probably right.’
‘Thank you. No further questions.’
‘Your honour, I have just one area to cover in re-examination,’ Mr Laidlaw said. ‘Inspector Dawson, you told Ms Burton that the officers who attended Rosie Harper, in February 2017, could not see any evidence of her being injured?’
‘That’s what I was told.’
‘And you were forced by Ms Burton here to accept that Rosie Harper herself did not expressly refer to any injury or violence on the call?’
‘I think forced is a little strong, your honour,’ Judith countered. ‘It suggests a degree of coercion.’
‘I will rephrase the question. You accepted, when questioned by Ms Burton, that Rosie Harper did not expressly refer to an injury on the call?’
‘Yes.’
‘In your experience, why do members of the public call the police, but then, later on, say they are “fine”?’
Dawson stared hard at Judith before replying.
‘Sometimes, especially if they are frightened of their partner or spouse, they play things down. They realise that the only way forward is to accuse the other person of an assault, and they worry what the consequences might be for themselves…and their children. Or they don’t want the publicity of a court hearing. Or the partner is the breadwinner and they worry how they will manage financially if they press charges.’
‘So, it is possible that Rosie Harper had suffered an assault, which had led to the call, but she then reflected and preferred to sweep things under the carpet?’
‘Mr Laidlaw. I’m surprised that Ms Burton has not been leaping out of her seat, especially as she took offence a moment ago at your far less offensive choice of words,’ Judge Nolan intervened laconically. ‘Members of the jury, Inspector Dawson’s thoughts on what is possible, even though he is no doubt an experienced and highly respected professional, is not evidence. I will remind you of this at the end of the case, when I sum things up for you. Do you have any other questions for this witness?’
‘No, your honour. Just one comment – correction really – a matter of which Inspector Dawson was clearly unaware. The lock on the front door was subjected to testing by forensic and this confirmed no evidence of tampering. This can be addressed by Dr Marcus, our forensic expert, when he gives his evidence.’
‘Thank you. I suggest we start again at 9.30am tomorrow and that will give you ample opportunity, Mr Laidlaw, to find those photographs you wanted.’
27
‘So, a fascinating first day in the Debbie Mallard murder trial. We have an action-packed evening for you.’ Monday night’s episode of Court TV BTS kicked off with Katrina back on the sofa. ‘First of all, I want to introduce Andy Chambers. Hello Andy.’
‘Hello Katrina.’
‘Andy is chief legal adviser to Court TV, he’s a practising criminal barrister and he’s here to answer all your questions from today’s action – and we’ve had plenty. Then, later on, we’ll be hearing from body-language expert, Katy Moover, who’ll analyse what people were really saying, even when they weren’t speaking.’
* * *
Constance poured herself a second mug of coffee and called Judith.
‘You need to watch,’ she said.
‘I have to prepare my cross-examination for tomorrow.’
‘They’ve got a body-language expert and Andy Chambers.’
‘Andy Chambers? You mean the Andy Chambers we know?’
‘The same.’
‘What’s he doing on there?’
‘He’s “chief legal adviser” and he’s going to answer the public’s questions.’
‘Is he really? How enterprising of him. And who’s the body-language expert?’
‘Someone called Katy Moover. Oh! Katy Moover?’
‘What is it?’
‘She contacted me a few weeks back. Asked if we wanted any help with the case.’
‘I hope you told her that lawyers defended criminal cases –not some jumped-up acting coach.’
‘I politely declined, yes.’
‘Listen, I really do need to get on. I can’t believe Andy Chambers is going to say anything earth-shattering. He’s a decent barrister, as you know, but fairly pedestrian.’
Constance noticed that Judith did not tell her, directly, to switch off, to spend her time more profitably. She was leaving it up to Constance to decide her priorities.
She looked across at her open laptop, containing the day’s transcript. Ordinarily, she would comb through it, eager to find the tiniest inconsistencies, the leads Judith could pick up and develop tomorrow or the day after. And the things Judith had asked her to cover? If she carried on watching, they would all have to wait. And when would she sleep? While she remembered Greg’s kind offer to watch the TV coverage and report back, there really was no way to take this material in vicariously. It had to be consumed first-hand, to savour all the flavours.
* * *
Andy began with some nondescript background, explaining who everyone was in court and their role, with Katrina prompting him, where appropriate. He also summarised, very broadly, the content of the witness evidence from the day in court. Then, suddenly, in his ear, he heard a low voice talking. This is great, Andy, but move on to something a bit more challenging now. The voice distracted him, momentarily, from Katrina, but he tuned back in to hear her saying: ‘…the tactics employed by Judith Burton. She’s the lawyer defending Debbie Mallard. You’ve worked with Judith before, haven’t you?’
Andy hesitated. He hadn’t expected the opportunity to discuss Judith’s performance quite so soon, to promote his own agenda. Then he remembered that he was supposed to be helping the public understand what was going on, not getting personal. And what did the voice in his ear mean by ‘challenging’ and how could he reconcile all these different objectives? Perhaps he could allow himself to be a little provocative, after all.
‘Yes,’ he said, feeling his pulse begin to quicken, the anticipation of undertaking something really naughty kickstarting his sympathetic nervous system into action.
‘And when was that?’
‘A year or so back, I was prosecuting a case against a Syrian refugee and Judith was defending.’
‘And she won, if I’m not mistaken?’ Katrina was smiling gently. When Phil had talked about research in rehearsals, Andy hadn’t appreciated Katrina might be researching him.
‘The defendant was acquitted, which was clearly the right decision in that case,’ he said. There, he’d been totally fair and avoided pointing fingers.
‘No hard feelings then?’
‘No.’ Andy hadn’t felt bad about Ahmad Qabbani’s release at the time, so why was it causing him so much embarrassment now?
‘I understand that, where cross-examination is concerned, Judith is a true veteran,’ Katrina was saying. ‘Can you explain, for our audience, what methods she’s employing with Chief Inspector Dawson and why she’s so successful?’
Andy paused again. Now was his opportunity to be magnanimous, to laud Judith’s skills. But, something held him back. Should he do this? Give away the secrets of great cross-examination technique, honed to perfection by years of practice? However much praise he directed towards her, it might lay Judith’s systems bare and vulnerable to future attack. And was this even what the public wanted? Katrina was waiting for his answer. When it didn’t come, she went further.
‘For example, one of the main pieces of evidence against Debbie Harper was an emergency call she made back in 2017.’
‘Yes,’ Andy said.
‘Can you analyse, for the benefit of our viewers, how Judith dealt with that?’
Andy was boxed in. There was really no way out. Katrina knew her brief. He had to answer – and with more than a monosyllable.
‘Yes,’ he repeated. ‘This really was a masterful piece of cross-examination by Judith.’ If he stuck to saying positive things, he couldn’t be criticised, could he? ‘As we discussed, she begins with a call which, to any casual listener, sounds like a woman reporting violence by her husband against her, and that’s how the prosecution presents it. Then Judith breaks it down into its constituent parts, to show the jury that the call is not what it seems. That’s her aim in any event. To say, forget your overall impression of the call, examine it really closely and you’ll see that Rosie Harper never says she’s hurt, or that anyone hurt her.’
‘Is this one of Judith’s tactics, then?’
‘I wouldn’t call it a tactic; that sounds rather underhand.’ Andy swallowed hard as the camera closed in on him, ‘It’s her job to analyse the evidence carefully. It’s the right thing for a defence lawyer to do.’
‘Why did she make the police officer, Chief Inspector Dawson, read out Rosie Harper’s words?’
In his ear, the voice intervened once more. Come on, Andy, I want something controversial here, it said.
‘Again, to make the jury really focus on what was said, not jump to conclusions,’ Andy’s voice quivered as he hovered on the brink, then decided to dive right in. ‘But, you’re right,’ he said, ‘making Inspector Dawson read out Rosie’s words was brilliant, because it made the whole incident sound less hostile, having a man – and a physically strong man – read out those words, no one felt for a second that Rosie was really being threatened.’
‘I understand.’ Katrina smiled again, enveloping the public at home with her warmth and radiance. ‘That’s a wonderful insight into how defence barristers unpick the prosecution evidence. By the end of that exchange, we’re persuaded, or at least some of us were – we were debating the issue before we came on air this evening and we were fairly evenly matched in our views – that Rosie had wasted police time with that call.’
‘There are twelve people on the jury; they may be equally divided.’ Andy grinned. He was on safer ground, now. But Katrina remained one step ahead.
‘I was going to add, though, that, while we’ve been talking, we’ve had a number of calls to the show, all of them condemning Judith Burton for her cross-examination, saying it belittles the whole issue of domestic violence, particularly against women. What do you think about that?’
‘Oh, I…I am sure that was never Judith’s intention.’ Andy refused, still, to call Judith out.
‘Perhaps not, but if that’s the effect, does that matter?’ Katrina said.
‘The key point to remember,’ Andy was trying to remain in control, reminding himself he was chief legal adviser, not the person sitting opposite him, ‘is that Debbie Mallard is entitled to have the evidence against her tested, and tested thoroughly. I would suggest those viewers who are calling in challenging Judith’s cross-examination ask themselves the question whether, if that call was being held up as evidence against them, they would want their lawyer to question it or just to give up. And, you’ve also got to remember that the person giving evidence is a police officer. He’s not personally involved in the case, and he’s used to giving evidence, so he’s a pretty robust witness, which barristers always consider before they ask their questions.’
‘Thank you, Andy. We’ll be hearing more from Andy later on, after more questions have come through. But now, we’re turning to Katy Moover, psychologist, voice coach and body-language expert. Hello Katy.’
Andy shifted to the right on the sofa to allow the expert in. Well done! the voice in his ear said warmly. And Andy thought he probably had done fairly well, for his first outing.
* * *
In her flat, Constance fidgeted and stared at her phone, half expecting Judith to call any moment, to express indignation at Andy’s deconstruction of her performance. But all was quiet. Judith must be occupied elsewhere.
* * *
Katy Moover began with some background, explaining some of the usual ways she would judge if a person was being truthful, simply from the way they moved their faces and bodies. After a few minutes of scrutiny of both Laidlaw and Judith in full flow, Katrina directed Katy to the footage of Dawson talking about the motorbike glove.
She paused the recording at the point at which Dawson took the clicker from Constance.
‘If you watch the Chief Inspector here,’ Katy said, when he says the glove “doesn’t seem to be visible” he crosses his legs, see, and folds his free arm around his body.’
‘What does that show?’
‘It’s very defensive.’
‘Do you mean he’s lying?’
‘No, not necessarily. Rather, he feels sensitive about this question; he knows it’s an area of weakness. And then,’ she shifted on a few frames to the second, wider-angled photo, ‘now when he identifies the shadow at the bottom of the screen as being the glove, look how he sticks out his chin.’
‘And what does that mean?’
‘It’s a sign of obstinacy. He’s saying, with his body, “I’m sure that’s the glove and I’m not budging”.’
* * *
Constance awoke with a jolt. She was lying on the sofa and the end credits of Court TV BTS were flashing across the screen. She knew that she ought to rewind and find out what Andy had said in his second session, what questions the viewers had posed, but, instead, she stretched out her aching limbs and shuffled off to bed.
28
Judith leaned against the wall of the toilet cubicle, breathing heavily, trying hard to relax. Five minutes earlier, when she had picked up a garbled message from Constance that she was going to be late, she had forced her way, alone, through an agitated crowd, demonstrating outside the court building. Jeremy Laidlaw, just ahead, had been cheered. A woman carrying a banner reading ‘Laid-ies Champion’ had handed him a bunch of carnations as he passed by, kissing him on the cheek. In contrast, a man had called out to Judith.
‘Hi there, Judith? How’s it going, do you think? Judith? Judith, over here!’
Judith had nodded non-committally and kept moving, alarmed to be plucked from anonymity so abruptly.
‘Are you a role model for young women?’ was his follow up. But this was met with some raucous laughter, which quickly morphed into a chorus of booing and hissing, growing in volume as she headed towards the thickest part of the crowd. Then someone shouted ‘shame on you’ and, within seconds, the call was taken up, the chanting of ‘shame on you’, ‘shame on you,’ assaulting her ears, as she dived through the doors.
It must be something associated with whatever Andy Chambers had said about her last night, Judith concluded. Constance had given her a précis, but perhaps she had sanitised it or not provided all the angles. Judith wished now she had watched the programme herself. It was so much easier to respond, to fight back, if you understood who the enemy was and why they were all fired up in the first place.
