The Trial of Jordan Colmar - 5. Chapter 5: Reasonable Doubt

"How'd it go?" Mary asked as he returned to his office.

"Little prick all but gave me the finger." Martin let out a snort. "Told me another year wouldn't make a difference to him."

"And he'll get it, too." Mary returned to organizing the files they would need.

"Probably, but we'll deal with that another day." Seeing a green, egg shaped object on his chair he picked it up. Squishy, but firm. "What's this?"

She glanced up quickly. "Stress relief. Dan dropped it off for you. He swears by it."

Squeezing it a few times, he put it in his top draw next to his orange Nerf ball. "Speaking of Dan, did they come up with anything else over the weekend?"

"Nothing tangible." Sifting through her files, she took one out. "A few days after Jordan's first visit to Berimen, Hank Colmar transferred fifty thousand dollars somewhere, but it's an offshore account. The fed's might be able to go after Hank Colmar, but we can't say who it went to, let alone it was to secure Berimen's testimony."

"That was to be expected I suppose." Grabbing a pen he started to scribble a note. "What else?"

Mary stopped working on the case file. "Nothing other than the prison logs and phone call records from the prison. They were both very careful. Jordan just said he wanted to talk about Warren testifying for him at trial. Whatever Berimen thought, he didn't give it away on the phone."

"Did you subpoena the clerk?" Jotting down notes on one more area, he clicked his pen and slid it in his pocket.

"Yes, Martin." Her exasperated tone made him look up.

"What now?"

Shaking her head, she closed her litigation bag. "Just the same argument. I think you're playing with fire. Milton might bite your head off for this stunt."

"Doubtful." Flicking a speck of dirt from his suit jacket that hung on the back of his chair, he put it on. "First, this isn't a 'stunt.' It's a legitimate line of questioning."

"It's not impeachment, Martin. You didn't lay the foundation when Colmar was on the stand."

He cleared the corner of his desk and sat facing her.

"Yes, I understand your point, but this is not a normal situation. Besides, you need to stop thinking of this as impeachment. You're right I didn't set it up properly, but how could we when this was a surprise witness?"

Pausing, he waited for her nod, then continued, "But this is a legitimate area to delve into. It goes to Colmar's credibility. I think Milton will give me the latitude to explore this."

"What about the appeal?" She moved the lit bag aside, sitting heavily on the leather sofa. "Assume Milton does let you go there, aren't you worried about reversible error?"

He shrugged. "It's better to be defending the judge's ruling than challenging it."

"Right, but is it worth the risk?"

Was it? Did they really need this evidence? "I think so. The Superior Court would need to find that allowing this evidence changed the verdict. I don't think they will do that."

"Using that logic, if it doesn't change the outcome, why try to get it in?"

He laughed. "Nice try, but the two standards are different. On appeal, the evidence has to be so obviously game changing for the court to overturn a verdict; this isn't that. For us, the issue is, does it help our case and for that the answer is yes."

Slapping her hands onto the couch, she stood up. "You're the boss."

**

"Mr. Berimen, you pled guilty to participating in the assault of Peter Gregory, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"And you gave a statement to the court detailing your involvement, correct."

"It wasn't the truth."

"Objection, Your Honor." Martin knew this was going to get tedious soon.

"Basis, Mr. Pratner?"

"Non-responsive, move to strike."

"Mr. Rankin?"

"Of course it's responsive; it explains why he gave the statement."

"Sustained." Milton swiveled in his chair to face the Jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen, I'll instruct you again, not to consider Mr. Berimen's answer."

"Thank you, Your…."

"Mr. Berimen," Milton said, ignoring Martin. "That's the fifth time in twenty questions you've decided to not to answer the question. You're not a politician at a debate who gets to spew out talking points instead of answering questions. Either you answer the questions put to you, or I'll hold you in contempt and strike all of your testimony. Are we clear?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

The snide tone left Martin wondering if he should watch the jury or the judge for a reaction. He looked right and saw at least two jurors roll their eyes at the exchange. Hopefully that was for the witness's lack of respect.

"Once again, Mr. Berimen, you gave a statement at your plea, isn't that correct?"

"Yes."

"And in your statement you said Jordan Colmar was the one who organized the assault on Peter Gregory, didn't you?"

"Yes."

"But today, on direct, you said Jordan Colmar had nothing to do with the attack on Peter, isn't that right?"

"It is."

"Today you're testifying that it was Edward Portman who planned everything, is that correct?"

"Yes, that's what happened."

"The plea you accepted, the government agreed to ask for twelve years at sentencing, correct."

"Yeah, that was the plea bargain."

"And at sentencing I asked that you get twelve years, didn't I?"

"Sorta. You said all these terrible things about me, then said you were still only asking for twelve years."

The urge to object nearly overwhelmed his self control. Despite being non-responsive, he wanted the answer.

"How many years did you get at sentencing?"

"Twenty-five years in total."

"Mr. Berimen, when you were first arrested, you were given bond, weren't you?"

Looking confused for the first time, Berimen's expression seemed less cocky. "Yes."

"You and the other defendants were granted bond, correct?"

"I guess so."

"You were there, weren't you?"

"Yes."

"In court along with the other five defendants, right?"

Yes.

And Judge Milton granted you and the others bond."

Rankin stood up. "Objection."

"Basis?"

"Beyond the scope of my direct examination."

"Mr. Pratner?"

Much as he wanted to blurt out his reason, he didn't want an angry judge when he asked for some leeway. "May we approach? I believe my explanation is better given at the bench."

Eyebrow raised, Milton waved them forward, turning on the static noise to prevent the jury from hearing them.

"Your Honor," he never looked at Rankin or Dan, focusing on Milton. "We have evidence that Jordan Colmar met with Warren Berimen at the prison on several occasions; all in violation of the 'stay away' condition you imposed on Mr. Colmar. We're seeking to elicit testimony that not only did they meet, that Berimen knew it was a violation of Colmar's 'stay away' and did it anyway."

"Your Honor, this is outrageous…." Rankin stopped speaking when Milton turned his stare away from Martin.

"I don't recall asking you for a response yet."

"My apologies, Judge."

"Pratner, you're trying to get into evidence through this witness, the fact that Colmar had to stay away from the co-defendants?"

"Not exactly, Your Honor. This witness can testify that he was in court when the 'stay away' order was issued. I'll have the courtroom clerk, who wrote up and handed out the orders, testify that one of Colmar's conditions was to stay away from Berimen."

He could feel Rankin bristling. Milton's eyes shifted from Martin to Rankin, without moving his head.

"So why do you think this is relevant?"

"Two reasons: One, Berimen is impeached by his own statement. This further adds to his willingness to do or say whatever he pleases without a care for the truth or the law. The second reason is perhaps more germane. The government is going to suggest to the jury that Colmar and Berimen concocted this story. That Berimen's story only changed after Colmar spoke to him in prison. That Colmar, not his lawyers, made the initial contact and that when he made that contact he violated a condition of his release. Since the defense's whole theory is Colmar and Berimen are telling the truth; the fact that he violated his release conditions to speak to Berimen is a valid area of cross examination."

"Why didn't you bring this up with Colmar?"

"It wasn't until we began to look into what Mr. Berimen was up to that we discovered Colmar had violated your order, Your Honor. Since that was after he testified and we can't call him back to the stand, we are asking for a bit of latitude with this witness."

"Mr. Rankin, your response?"

Martin turned toward his adversary and looked just beyond at Jordan Colmar. Smug little bastard didn't seem so cocky right now. Good.

"Your Honor, of course we object. This is ridiculous. Assume for the sake of argument, Jordan violated the 'stay away' order; how does that fact make it more or less likely that he committed the offenses with which he is charged? That's the key to whether it's relevant."

"So you suggest I ignore questions which go to credibility in determining relevance?"

"Not at all, Your Honor, but the law has always been clear that bad acts committed before or after the offense are not admissible because the prejudice is too great. Moreover, even if the probative value outweighed the prejudice - and we argue it doesn't come close - we're just now being told the government wants to present this evidence? Now?"

"Mr. Rankin, lose the indignation." Milton's eyes narrowed. "You sprang this witness on the government, then, when they dug into his background, they found your client violated my 'stay away' order. IF I find it's admissible, the lack of notice to you will not influence my decision one iota."

Index finger raised, Milton turned back to Martin. "What say you in response, Pratner?"

"Credibility is always an issue for the fact finder. Colmar acted deceptively when he ignored your order. He agreed to abide by it, then ignored it. If he'd risk having his bond revoked, he'd certainly not be above lying to the jury. It totally goes to credibility. Crimes or other acts that go to truth and veracity are the exception to the prior or post bad acts rule."

"Rankin? Last word?"

"Violating a 'stay away' order is not even in the same law book as crimes of truth and veracity. Those type of crimes are theft, embezzlement, robbery, perjury, bad checks and the like. Ignoring a court order, if it even occurred, is not what the exception had in mind."

"I disagree, Mr. Rankin." Milton stared over Rankin's shoulder for a moment. "Telling the court you agree to abide by a condition of release, then violating it is deception. He has a duty of candor to the court. By coming in and not saying anything, he acknowledges he is abiding by the rules and conditions. If he's not, well that does go to his credibility and I'm going to allow it, subject to the government being able to establish the order existed and they have proof he violated it."

Out of the corner of his eye, Martin watched the tense exchange that took place when Rankin returned to his seat next to Colmar. Rather than continue, he let the silence linger, forcing the jury to watch the defense confer. Finally an associate nudged Rankin, nodding toward Martin. Ignoring the daggers defense counsel shot him with his eyes, Martin checked his notes for his place.

"You were in court when the judge issued the release conditions for you and Jordan Colmar, correct?"

"I was."

"You were ordered to stay away from each other, isn't that true."

"I was, but it wasn't included in my sentencing order. I didn't violate anything."

"Understood, Mr. Berimen. But when you and Jordan Colmar were initially released, you were ordered to stay away from each other, isn't that true?"

"Yeah, and I didn't violate that order."

"You would agree that before you pled guilty to assaulting Peter Gregory, you didn't have any contact with Jordan Colmar, wouldn't you?"

"Yes, I followed the 'stay away'."

"And Jordan didn't contact you before you pled guilty, did he?"

"No."

"You never contacted him before you pled guilty, right?"

"Right."

"But on Saturday, July 24th, 2010, Jordan came to see you at Camp Hill State Correction Facility, didn't he?"

Berimen's face lost some of its color. "Ye…yes."

"In fact, since the 24th of July, he's visited you…" he looked at his pad for emphasis, "three more times, correct?"

"Yeah, he visited me. And so what? I wasn't ordered to stay away from him after I was sentenced."

"Understood." Martin nodded to Mary, who handed him a tape recorder. "Mr. Berimen, I'm going to play you a tape and ask if you recognize the voices."

Keeping his best poker face, he played the first of three tapes of calls between him and Jordan Colmar. Let's see Rankin twist this.

***

"Gentlemen, anything else?" Milton began to unzip his robe.

"Just one more matter, Your Honor." Martin adjusted his cuff links without peering down.

"Yes, Pratner?"

"The Commonwealth is asking that you revoke Colmar's bond in view of his repeated violations of your 'stay away' order."

"What?" The voice boomed from the back.

"Mr. Colmar." The zipper snapped up. Pulling his chair back, the judge sat down. "If you make another outburst like that, you will be removed and not allowed back in for the duration of the proceedings. Am I clear?"

Not turning, he assumed the man nodded when the judge turned his attention back to the lawyers. "Mr. Rankin, any reason not to grant the government's request?"

"Yes, Your Honor." Rankin licked his lips, gesturing for Jordan to sit. "The so called violations have not been authenticated. All we have is the word of an admitted perjurer."

Away from the jury, Milton rolled his eye and snorted. "A witness whose credibility in the eyes of the jury you moved heaven and earth to maintain. A witness whose veracity you vouched for when you put him on the stand, Mr. Rankin. Since I don't want to believe you violated your ethics and put a person you believed would lie to the court on the stand, I'm going to accept his testimony at face value. But, even where I to question the credibility of Berimen's testimony, I have the audio tapes and prison logs to back up what he said. By my count, Colmar violated the 'stay away' order at least six times."

"Your Honor, my client has a right to prepare his defense. Speaking to Mr. Berimen resulted in the defense procuring a valuable witness for its case." Rankin shifted from foot to foot, his fingers tapping the table. "He also waited until this court locked up Mr. Berimen, so he didn't violate the spirit of the order which was to prevent the defendants from coming together and possibly commit a new offense."

"Is that the spirit of my order?" Leaning forward, he kept his focus on the defense table. "Funny, I thought no contact meant no contact."

"Your Honor." Rankin drew a deep breath, another bad sign for his client. "Locking up my client would have a chilling effect on the ability of an accused to present a defense. Warren Berimen had valuable evidence to provide to the jury. Jordan knew this and he knows the witness. It was only his personal appeal to Berimen to do the right thing that brought this reluctant young man forward to give the truth about what happened that night. To penalize Jordan for doing whatever it took to prove his innocence doesn't seem fair."

"Stand up, Mr. Colmar." Milton didn't give Martin an opportunity to respond. "You're a bright young man, smart enough to understand what no contact with your co-defendants mean. Not only did you violate my release conditions, you went out of your way to do it. I won't comment on what I think really happened, but I will note you travelled a great distance, endured the visitors' requirements to enter a state correctional facility and had to make special efforts to get onto Mr. Berimen's approved call list; all in violation of my release conditions. This wasn't a chance meeting, or even a onetime thing."

Tilting his head up, he seemed to be daring someone to interrupt him.

"I don't know who you think you are, or why you think the rules don't apply to you. Your bond is revoked. Maybe another stay in the county jail will remind you that my orders are not options."

"NOOO!" Rebecca Colmar's voice ripped through the courtroom. "Don't lock up my baby!"

Martin turned and found Freeman and Hicks had quietly moved to block the gap in the railings. No one in; no one out, who didn't have permission.

The Judge sat stone faced, looking unmoved by the mother's plea. Rebecca lurched forward, restrained by her husband and daughter. Unable to get past, she turned toward the bench.

"Please, Judge Milton, don't lock him up again with those horrible people! Pleasseeee!"

Martin pushed his chair back, blocking any avenue of escape Colmar might consider. Scanning the doors, he wondered when….

The back doors swung wide and three deputies surged into the room. Two more came from the side door and the sixth from the Judge's entrance. Milton must have hit the panic button the moment Rebecca screamed. Soon there would be more deputies than spectators.

"Empty the court room except for the defendant and the lawyers." Milton kept his eyes locked on the gallery.

It took a few minutes to clear everyone, including the hysterical mother of the accused. Quiet finally descended around him. He didn't need to look around to know the number of deputies tripled since he made his request.

"Stand up, Mr. Colmar."

Pale, shaking slightly, Jordan pushed himself up.

"I was prepared to revoke your bail for the remainder of the trial, but I appreciate that you didn't make a bad situation worse. For that I'll give you credit. Your bond is revoked, but I'll reconsider it in the morning. Take him away, deputies."

***

"Was that really necessary?" Rankin waited until the door shut behind the judge. "You had to be that much of a prick?"

Freeman and Hicks loomed closer, but he shook them off. "It was very necessary. Your client and his family bought that witness. Don't…." He held up his hand stifling any comment. "I pulled their bank records. Three days after Jordan met with Berimen, fifty-thousand dollars suddenly went from Hank Colmar's business account to a newly created offshore account. Want to bet that when I dig deeper, and I will, the Berimen family is connected to that account? Nothing I can get into evidence, but we both know what happened. That little… your client is a slimy, conniving, cowardly, criminal. He arranged to attack Peter Gregory and then bought a witness to try to cover for him. Everyone in this court room, including you and your client, knows it.

"Bring your big guns tomorrow, Rankin, because I am NOT letting Milton release your client without a fight." He grabbed his briefcase, then spun back. "And another thing, since you don't practice in this court house; just because the judge is gone, doesn't mean the recording system is off. By now your 'off the record' comments about me have made their way to the judge's desk. Have a wonderful night."

***

"He didn't let you speak?" Dan appeared only mildly surprised.

Martin shook his head, hanging his coat over his chair. "Not a word. He called us into chambers, told us he was releasing Colmar, then offered his Robing Room for Colmar to change into his suit."

The older man arched an eyebrow at the last part. "Robing Room, eh? That doesn't sound like Lawrence."

"Lawrence?" He chuckled. Who called the old guy by his first name?

A twinkle in his eye, Dan shrugged. "We're contemporaries, it's allowed."

"Well, Daniel, you'd be proud of me; I kept my mouth shut. It was clear he'd decided this before he left last night, so there was no point in fighting him. But..." He smirked at the memory. "Lawrence fined Rankin a thousand dollars for calling me a prick in the courtroom."

"Really?" He ran a hand over his jacket which was draped over the arm of the couch. "He's been itching to do it, and calling you a prick in the courtroom is easily defensible without jeopardizing the appellate record."

His index finger rolled over the notes for his closing argument. "Well, he suspended the fine, telling Rankin that if he behaved for the rest of the trial he'd forgive the money. Then in true, Lawrence fashion, he told Rankin if he did it again, the $1000 plus a much larger fine would become due, so he'd better have cash in his checking account."

Dan looked slightly disappointed. "Probably just an empty threat at this point."

"Probably," he agreed. Pointing to the papers with his closing. "So any glaring problems?"

Dan licked his lips and gave him a small shrug. "It seems rather succinct. Are you sure you want to be so brief?"

Shaking his head, he collected the papers. "You know that's my style; just the facts in my closing. I save the big guns for rebuttal."

Dan's head bobbed up and down. "Ah the joys of having the first AND last word. It's one of the things I miss about being the government."

"It's a perk I make full use of. I always felt it was a mistake to give away my bet arguments in my closing; it gives the defense a chance to address them in their closing. Sticking to only the facts that prove the elements of the crimes keeps me from using the good stuff too early."

"Now that you mention it," a huge grin split his face, "I seem to remember this urban legend going around the courthouse involving you."

"Oh? What would that be?" He knew what was coming.

"There's this story about how you once gave a ten minute closing in an attempted murder of a police officer trial and an hour plus rebuttal." Closing one eye, he stared down his nose at Martin.

"Myth." He tried to keep a straight face, but under Dan's continued glare, he lost it and smiled. "The closing was twenty-five minutes, the rebuttal forty-five."

"Sounds like you might threatened that record with this case."

Shrugging, he adjusted his cuff links. "Never know."

 ***

Rankin slid closer to the pad he left on the defense table. Martin nearly fell asleep listening to him thank the jury on behalf of Jordan, tell them how much Jordan appreciated their attention, repeating that Jordan was innocent unless and until they found him guilty beyond a reasonable doubt and that Jordan had confidence they would treat him fairly.

Inching closer, yet not too close, Rankin smiled. "So, let's discuss the evidence. The government wants you to believe that Jordan is the mastermind behind the horrific beating Peter Gregory sustained on October 7, 2009. But what evidence do they offer to support this theory? An inconclusive video; a victim who was in a coma for days following the assault; the boyfriend of the victim who has a personal grudge against Jordan; one of the leaders of the attack who is seeking to lessen his sentence by helping the Commonwealth convict Jordan; and a police officer trying to advance his career and who was out of his patrol area at the time he saw the events.

"Against this flimsy and suspect testimony, you have the testimony of Warren Berimen, another young man who admitted his involvement in the attack, but who refused to fabricate what happened in the hopes of minimizing his punishment; and Jordan Colmar, a young man who's never been in trouble, who was there trying to help the boyfriend of someone he still considered a close friend.

"Taking the government's evidence in order, let me go over why there is more than just a mere reasonable doubt that Jordan is innocent of this terrible tragedy.

"The video you were shown, by itself, says very little about what Jordan did that night. Although it shows the attack on Peter Gregory, it's impossible to determine who is who in the video and more to the point, it can't tell you where Jordan was or what he was doing. Can anyone really say that they knew for certain which person was Jordan? Not even he could tell you which dot was him. Warren Berimen couldn't point to himself and he told you in great detail what he did that night.

"Interestingly, Officer Bennett had no trouble pointing to everyone, as if he has super vision none of us possess. You watched the video on a big screen, but still, only the officer was willing to say who was who. But why should you believe him? He was out of his area, rogue, freelancing, looking to score a big arrest to advance his career. And lucky him, he found just such an incident.

"But finding an incident and getting the big conviction are two different things. For Officer Bennett, saving Peter Gregory wasn't enough. No, he needed a slew of convictions to bolster his application for promotion. To him, everyone there was involved and guilty regardless of the truth. The more convictions, the better; the easier to justify his dereliction of duty for leaving his assigned area. Jordan was there, he told you that, so to the officer he was guilty. Another notch for his promotion belt.

The next piece of evidence presented was Peter Gregory. Ladies and Gentlemen, no one; not me, not Jordan, not the government; no one, denies Peter was brutally beaten that night. The medical records speak to that. We never challenged those injuries. But remember what the doctors told you; among Peter's many injuries, was blunt force trauma to the head with substantial swelling. The fluid was squeezing his brain inside his skull.

"When he thankfully emerged from his coma, who's the first person he saw? Jason Tellerman, his boyfriend; the boyfriend he'd been fighting with. The boyfriend he went looking for to apologize to and make up with. What does Peter learn from Jason? Jordan and his fraternity brothers beat him."

Rankin paused, sweeping his eyes across the jury box. "But how did Jason know that? He wasn't there. He didn't see it. He hadn't spoken to Jordan or the others. So how could he say that it was Jordan who led the attack? He heard about it from someone else.

"Jason told you, he was mad at Jordan. Jordan outed him to his family and friends. He was bitter, angry, and refused to let Jordan apologize for what Jordan told you was a mistake he deeply regretted. Jason Tellerman had no first hand information, yet he was not only ready to accept Jordan had a role in the attack, he wanted to believe it. Wanted his ex-best friend to be guilty so he'd pay for what happened to Peter.

"Now when Peter wakes up, there's Jason to say, 'Jordan did this to you.' Bam." He clapped his hand for emphasis, drawing all eyes to him. "Peter has a name to put on his attacker, a name he otherwise would never have come up with on his own. Through no fault of his own, Peter was eager to believe his boyfriend, wanted to believe him, wanted to make Jason happy. They'd been fighting, he felt guilty about the fight, for not supporting Jason when he needed it most. He was searching for Jason to make things right when he was attacked. And the first face he sees when he wakes up is Jason's; the person he most wanted to see before he was beaten. Of course he'd believe whatever Jason told him. Jason wouldn't lie to him. So if Jason said it, it must be true.

"So you can see how Peter, still gravely injured, could come to believe that Jordan was the person in front of him even thought it was someone else. Peter Gregory sounded one hundred percent certain Jordan Colmar was the person who instigated the attack, because in his mind, that's what he believed. And he believed that because when he was at his most vulnerable, Jason Tellerman, Jordan's disgruntled ex-best friend who wanted Jordan to pay for what he'd done to ruin Jason's life, told Peter, 'Jordan's the one who did this.' And that's all it took for Peter to believe Jordan Colmar was involved."

Stepping back, Rankin returned to his pad, glancing at the writing. Turning back to the jury, he raised a hand, drawing all eyes back to him.

"Now, the government told you that you can trust Peter Gregory's account, because it is supported by the testimony of Edward Portman. Edward Portman, the most guilty of the group; the one who tried to break Peter's back with the bat; the one who's now in line to get the least amount of time.

"Portman was facing one hundred years in jail. One…hundred…years. An entire lifetime. If he pled guilty without cooperating, the government was only going to ask for twenty-five years. Still too much time. So how did he get that down to just seven years? By agreeing to say Jordan Colmar was involved in a crime he didn't commit.

"Remember Portman's testimony. He admitted he was involved in the attack and it was he who used the bat against Peter. That's a horrible act, one that's hard to overcome. So then the government offers him a deal; cooperate and help us convict everyone else and we'll ask for less time. Did the Commonwealth's attorney tell Mr. Portman what to say? Of course not. Edward Portman knew that if he was to have any value, he needed to provide evidence against someone, someone who the government otherwise wouldn't be able to convict.

"Think about it, ladies and gentlemen. He knew who was involved, because he was part of the attack. Portman had the bat. He orchestrated this entire affair, with four," he held up four fingers for emphasis, "of his fraternity brothers. There were only five assailants, not six. Jordan wasn't involved and Portman knew it. But Jordan was charged anyway.

"Doesn't take a Nobel Prize winner to realize the government would need evidence against Jordan, because there wouldn't be any. How could there be? Jordan…wasn't…involved. So Portman, after hearing what the government believed happened during the assault at his detention hearing, told the prosecutors and the police exactly what they needed to hear in order to secure a favorable sentence for himself. He implicated an innocent man.

"How do we know this? Because Warren Berimen told you that Portman was lying. Warren Berimen had nothing to gain by coming to court and testifying. In fact, he knew he would probably get in trouble for coming to court to tell you what really happened. He knew the government would likely file new charges against him and try to pile more time onto his sentence. And despite that, he testified anyway? Why?" Rankin threw his arms out, pausing as the jurors looked at him expectedly. "Why would anyone testify for someone else if doing so would cost them more jail time? Because it was the right thing to do. Because it would prevent an injustice. Because Jordan Colmar was innocent and Edward Portman was trying to weasel out of punishment by throwing Jordan under the bus to save his own skin.

"As you can see, ladies and gentlemen, the government's case relies almost entirely upon a convicted criminal, a person who took a bat to Peter Gregory because he didn't like homosexuals. Knock out that one piece and you can see how quickly their whole case falls apart. And Edward Portman's motive to lie is reason enough to doubt the government's case.

With a slight nod, Rankin slowly moved his head from left to right, making eye contact with each of the jurors.

"Now I'd like to talk a bit about what the government said about the credibility of Jordan and Warren."