RichEisbrouch

That's what I'm hoping for. Again, thanks for reading along.

Thanks.

23 Finally, Ben Carleson had only one more witness to put on the stand - Doug Hodges. They'd carefully gone over what Doug needed to include. He knew he had to describe what had happened from the time he and Brad left the Railroad Inn until as close to before the crash as he could remember. Carleson wanted Doug to be especially careful because he didn't want Stu Lee to have anything to object to. Carleson was afraid that might rattle Doug. Still, he didn't want his client to sound over-rehea

Yep about Cowboy, and yep about judges being people. And, as I've already mentioned, this presumed bias still could be Carleson's perception. Thanks for reading along.

Yep.

22 The next morning, Carleson began by calling two of Doug Hodges' doctors to testify. One was his primary orthopedist, who explained each of the injuries Doug had sustained as a result of the accident. The other was a doctor of physical therapy, who explained the specific follow-up treatments Doug had undergone. Both doctors were very detailed in their descriptions, and each used photographs and diagrams to indicate the severity of the injuries and treatments. While listening to this te

We'll just have to see.

Yep, Britt and Cowboy do tend to run away with the story. But Carleson wouldn't have gone to Staten Island if he didn't need Cowboy as a witness, and he wouldn't have gotten through to Cowboy if not for their mutual friendship with Britt. So the seeming detour was, indeed, necessary -- though maybe not the tour of the bus.

21 Actually, when he tried to be rational about it, Carleson realized the odds of him, Cowboy, and Brittany Savo all knowing each other weren't that bad. True, there were twenty million people in the New York metropolitan area, but there were only two million on Staten Island and in Nassau County combined. And when that number was narrowed to the legal profession, and considering how much the business operated through personal recommendations and word of mouth, it almost made it more of a qu

Yep, Cowboy certainly seems to have a life of his own, and it steers the trial as well as the book.

20 About all Carleson knew about Staten Island was where it was. That wasn't snobbery. There were lots of places in the large metropolitan area he'd just never made it to. So once back in his office, he asked one of his assistants for Cowboy's address and did what anyone else might - he Googled it. He loved Google Earth. The program fascinated him. Enter any address in the world, and up came arial and street views. Though when he entered Cowboy's address, the arial view looked differ

The seeming favoritism is annoying, but it could also be just a perception on Carleson's part. And, yeah, there's competition between lawyers, and manipulation is certainly what trials seem to be about. But we hope some truth and fairness gets in there somewhere.

That's important to know. I'll have to wait for more reactions, to put that in context. It's tricky to remind the readers of the information in play and what's at stake because of it. And by the time Lee says it again, it's the fourth time, each version presented slightly differently. Thanks.

19 Built on what Ahmed Patel had seen and testified to, Carleson was ready for his expert, Jonathan Feder, to go on and reconstruct the accident. Logically. Not using the theoretical and forensic evidence Lee's experts would use. Jonathan Feder specialized in reconstructing automobile accidents people had survived. He carefully built on established details from police reports and relied very little on speculation. He'd say what Jenkins' expert might have testified to in the first trial h

As indicated: for the first trial, the police seemed to feel that Jyoti Patel was a more direct witness, with almost a line of sight on the accident, so that's who they chose to take a statement from. Then that's what Lee used and legally had to make accessible to Jenkins. Lee almost immediately discovered there were conflicts in Ahmed Patel's statements, but since they didn't serve Lee's purpose in trying to build and win his case, there was no reason for him to bring them up. Had Jenkins discovered them on his own, Lee would have tried to diminish their importance in the first trial. And when Carleson discovered the inconsistencies in Ahmed Patel's statements and used them in the second trial, Lee had the good sense not to protest and, instead, to concentrate somewhere else. Also, I don't think the police were necessarily trying to interfere. This book really isn't about that or about conspiracies. I think the police were trying to get the clearest evidence with their own limited resources and time.

18 As mentioned in his opening, Carleson had a lot of supporting witnesses, and he slowly rolled them out, following part of Damon Jenkins' plan: Randall Uzoma - to establish how fast the Mercedes had been speeding down mainly residential Mill Road - where the limit was only thirty-five miles an hour. Issac Yoguez - to describe how dangerous the accident looked, with the Mercedes smashing into the light post, lifting into the air, and tossing out its passengers. Carleson purposely kept refer

No, it never comes up because the issue of who was driving -- and wildly speeding -- is far more important. There's enough being thrown at the reader to try and keep in focus.

17 Stu Lee was surprised to be working on the Coghlan case again. When the call came from the insurance company, he figured the rep would politely ask for his trial files. That was the routine. Instead, the rep offered him the chance to continue. He took it. The case seemed interesting enough, and it was easy money. Even though it would probably be a year before the case got back into court, he'd still be prepped. He'd be working against a sharper, better prepared lawyer this time, with

Yep. But I can't comment further because we're only two-thirds of the way through the book.

Absolutely. It may be the one thing TV and movies get consistently right: appearance often counts.

As established: because Jenkins didn't have access to the second report, he couldn't follow it up. And, unfortunately, because of his limited time and resources, he couldn't initiate his own investigations and had to go with what he had. Still, as you implied, other things weighed heavily in that trial, so even if Jenkins had the report, it might not have mattered.

Yep. Always good to have someone else's help in explaining. Thanks.

And the presentation of those details and the reaction to that.

You keep saying that, and the book keeps going on.

So you would think.