Page 7 of Breakdown
“Could you please point him out to me?” He looked solemnly at Nik’s outstretched finger. “Will the record please reflect that the witness has identified the defendant, Mr. Giannopoulos.” Booth paused, just long enough that it seemed more contemplative than like he was playing at dramatics. “No further questions, your honor.”
The judge nodded and waited until Stuart sat back down at the prosecutor’s table. “Your witness, Counselor Luskey.”
Galen Luskey was handsome in a predatory way: lean and hungry, all coiled energy as he moved toward the stand. He’d done a decent job whittling away at the last few witnesses. Though, to be fair, they weren’t particularly credible in the first place: one of Stav’s occasional drug buddies, a surly liquor store employee, and a CI who’d flipped on the Giannopouloses to save his own skin were the only other people to put Stav in the area that night. Nik seemed a beacon of decency in comparison.
Luskey handed something to Nik as he began. “This is a copy of the statement you gave to the police the night in question, isn’t it, Mr. Petrakis?”
Nik looked it over. “It is.”
Stuart prepared him for this. The fact that Nik took almost two years to come forward to identify Stavros wasn’t ideal, and the statement he gave to the police was frustratingly broad. Booth warned Nik that the Defense would try to pick it apart.
Peter had read the statement. Nik wasn’t much of a liar, and Peter secretly suspected that Nik really hadn’t seen much. But both Stav and Stasia all but confirmed that Stavros pulled the trigger that night, and the lie didn’t weigh on Peter’s conscience much. Stavros had looked vaguely ill throughout the whole trial, as though he wasn’t quite sure he wanted to be found innocent. As long as Nik could live with it, Peter didn’t see any point in tipping Booth or anybody else to the fact that Nik was stretching the truth a little.
“Can you please read the highlighted portion for me?” asked Luskey.
“‘It was dark in the alley, and I did not see much,’” Nik read.
“You know, you have a lovely accent. Very musical. English isn’t your first language, is it?”
“No.”
Peter’s stomach clenched. This line of questioning hadn’t come up at all in Stu’s practice session.
“It’s Greek, right?” asked Luskey pleasantly.
“Yes.”
“And what’s your immigration status, Mr. Petrakis?”
Nina dug her fingernails into Peter’s hand. He didn’t like where this was going any more than she did, and clearly, neither did Booth.
“Objection, your honor, irrelevant.”
Luskey sunk in his teeth, ignoring Booth and continuing before the judge could respond. “Did you know that a green card is based on the holder having quote ‘good moral standing,’ Mr. Petrakis? And that an offence—like perjury on the stand for example—puts that status at risk, up to and including deportation?”
“Objection!” Stuart was up out of his seat and halfway to the bench.
“Sustained. You don’t have to answer that question, Mr. Petrakis.”
Nik looked offended. “I am a legal US citizen.”
The judge frowned at Luskey. “Counselor, make your point.”
A small crease appeared between Luskey’s eyebrows, but he seemed otherwise unshaken. Peter guessed he knew that already about Nik, but was fine with sowing a little xenophobia among the jury if he could find it. “Still, you would agree that perjury is a very serious crime for any American citizen to commit, wouldn’t you, Mr. Petrakis?”
“Yes, I suppose so. Not so serious as murder, perhaps, which was what I thought this trial was about,” Nik said, unable to suppress a flash of indignation.
Luskey ignored him. He was on a roll.
“And insurance fraud? Impeding an active investigation? Both serious crimes as well, yes?” Luskey gave the jury a conspiratorial look. “‘It was dark in the alley and I did not see much,’” he repeated. “Do you recall making this statement to the police?”
“I do.”
“And that’s your signature at the bottom, verifying that you agree with what’s written on that page, isn’t it?”
“It is.”
“And yet you testified earlier that you saw my client leaving the crime scene? Even though ‘it was dark’? Even though you ‘didn’t see much,’” Luskey asked smugly, and Peter wanted to punch him in the face. “I’ll remind you that you’re still under oath.”
