Page 122 of Resurrection Walk

“I’m sorry, Mickey. But the important thing is that Lucinda’s DNA is not on the GSR pad. This proves your theory of the crime. Are you saying you won’t be able to use this in court?”

“I don’t know. I really don’t know. But I need you to get back to the courthouse as soon as you can with whatever reports you have there. Get the name of the tech from before and whatever documentation there is about the contamination. You’ll probably have to explain everything in an evidentiary hearing before the judge. I’m going to go ask for that now.”

“Okay, Mickey, I’ll grab an Uber.”

I disconnected and tried to compose myself, channeling the ghost of Legal Siegel.Breathe it in. This is your moment. This is your stage. Want it. Own it. Take it.

I got up off the bench and reentered the courtroom.

41

OVER MY OBJECTION,Judge Coelho held the evidentiary hearing behind closed doors. The Latin term for it wasin camera,which sounded like the opposite of a private meeting. I had opposed it because if the judge ruled against the introduction of the DNA findings, I wanted the world to know it and share in my outrage. But my argument for an open hearing fell on deaf ears, and I found myself sitting next to Hayden Morris in front of Coelho and her massive desk in chambers. My client was deemed unnecessary to the hearing and was waiting in the courtside lockup for me to tell her how things shook out.

“Before we begin, we need to inform Mr. Morris of what has transpired over the past five days,” Coelho said. “Last Wednesday, Mr. Haller came to me and informed me that evidence from the earlier adjudicated case had been located. He asked for sealed orders that would allow him to pursue the testing of this evidence.”

“What was the evidence?” Morris asked. “And what tests are we talking about?”

“It gets complicated, Mr. Morris,” the judge said. “I’ll let Mr. Haller explain the details.”

She nodded to me and I took up the story.

“Yes, Your Honor,” I said. “During the initial prosecution of the case five years ago, defense counsel — a lawyer named Frank Silver — asked for a split of evidence so he could conduct independent testing. There were two gunshot-residue pads presumably used to swipe Lucinda Sanz’s hands, arms, and clothing. As you know, GSR was a key piece of the prosecution’s case. The court gave him one of the two pads to have independently tested for gunshot residue.”

“This was before the plea agreement?” Morris asked.

“Exactly,” I said. “The pad was transferred to Applied Forensics, an independent lab out in Van Nuys that still operates today. While that was happening, plea negotiations began, and as we all know, Lucinda Sanz took the plea deal. She went off to prison after pleading nolo, and Silver never bothered going back to Applied Forensics to retrieve the evidence. We learned of this Wednesday, checked it out, and the evidence was still in storage at the lab — largely because Silver never paid the lab’s bill.”

“You’ve got to be kidding me,” Morris said, shaking his head. “This sounds like a setup if I’ve ever heard one. Your Honor, why are we even considering this?”

“Let Mr. Haller continue,” Coelho said.

“Think what you want,” I said. “But I came to the judge Wednesday and asked for orders to have the remaining pad tested for DNA, because if the pad was actually swiped over my client’s hands and clothes, we would find her DNA — her touch DNA — on the pad. I have a forensics expert who backs me up on this. The judge then ordered the U.S. Marshals to swab Sanz and take her DNA sample to Applied Forensics.”

“I don’t care who backs you up,” Morris said. “This is incredibly unusual and the wrong protocol. This should have been handled by either the sheriff’s lab or the state DOJ’s crime lab, not some fly-by-night lab in the Valley.”

He said it in a tone that suggested all of the San Fernando Valley was a haven for fly-by-night businesses and people.

“Mr. Haller asked me to seal the orders,” the judge said. “He wanted the evidence analyzed privately because of his concerns over obstruction from within the government agencies. I agreed. The orders were sealed until there were results. If this goes any further, you will have the opportunity to test the evidence at the lab of your choice, Mr. Morris. Now, Mr. Haller, I assume you called for this session because you have results?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” I said. “The lab results are in. The GSR pad did contain gunshot residue. Two unique DNA profiles were also identified and compared to my client’s profile. There was no match. That pad was never swiped over my client’s body, and this is proof that she was framed for her ex-husband’s murder.”

“It’s proof of nothing,” Morris said. “This is incredible. The court has been manipulated by this… this grand master of smoke. Your Honor, this evidence, if you want to call it that, is clearly not admissible.”

“I believe that is a decision for the court to make, Mr. Morris,” the judge said. “And perhaps you would like to explain how the court has been manipulated. I’m sure Mr. Haller has witnesses and documentation of every step of this process over the past five days. I’m sure his forensics expert, whom we have already heard testimony from, is standing by to render her expert opinion that a pad wiped over a person’s body and clothing would have to pick up that person’s DNA. Where is the manipulation of the court?”

“Your Honor, I’m sorry if I impugned the integrity of the court,” Morris said quickly. “That was not my intention. But this story is too far-fetched. It’s eleventh-hour pyrotechnics by counsel designed to distract the court from the evidence of direct culpability that has always been there.”

“If it is eleventh-hour pyrotechnics, I’m sure the state’s lab will bring it to light,” Coelho said, annoyance in her voice.

“There is also a bit of a complication,” I said.

Coelho turned her annoyance in my direction.

“What complication?” she said.

“As I said, there were two unique DNA profiles found on the GSR pad,” I said. “One remains unidentified. The other has been identified as a lab tech who previously worked at Applied Forensics.”

Morris threw his hands up in exasperation.

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