In The Plan - 18. Chapter 18

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 referring to Brad Coghlan's car as a Mercedes rather than a car, automobile, or even a sports car because he wanted the jury to feel just a little of Brad Coghlan's privilege. Probably none of them could afford a Mercedes, even a very old one which needed extensive repairs. Even Carleson didn't drive a car that slick, though he wasn't driving a Kia.

Maybe a juror would even be curious about how a young, relatively newly hired police officer could afford a Mercedes. The juror could possibly think Brad Coghlan was a "connected cop" or a "dirty one." Carleson doubted that was true, but anything that weakened Coghlan's integrity or respectability certainly couldn't hurt. Because the one thing Carleson was sure about was that Stu Lee could never even begin to undermine Doug Hodges' credibility.

The third witness Carleson wanted was Joseph "Cowboy" Muraro. But no one had gotten through to him since the first trial, no matter how many phone messages were left, letters FedExed, or investigators sent. It wasn't just that Muraro could provide that valuable "in-court identification." His testimony further established that the Mercedes had been tearing down Mill Road at - as he put it - "a hundred miles an hour."

Lacking Muraro, but having established the accident, Carleson next focused on people in the bar - to show how very drunk Brad Coghlan had been and how sober Doug Hodges was by comparison. The intended message was that even if Doug Hodges had somehow been driving the Mercedes, he never would - almost morally never could - ever drive it as recklessly as so many witnesses had reported. To prove what a solid guy Doug Hodges was, Carleson brought out many of his long-standing bar friends - Bruce and Jocelynn Montelongo, Cole Grubaugh, Matt Hekmat, Jayson Zaragosa, even Robyn the bartender, Nolan the bar owner, and Greg Mackel, Brad Coghlan's business partner. Carleson reminded the jury that this group was "only representative - a very small part" - of the people Doug knew and saw almost every evening. But they were possibly the friends who knew him best, and - alone or collectively - they couldn't find a single thing to say against him.

The one advantage of missing Muraro - whose testimony would surely provoke Lee's questions - and going from Uzoma and Yoguez to the bar regulars is there was almost nothing Lee could object to. He'd already acknowledged in his opening that Uzoma and Yoguez had seen the accident and that everyone in the bar knew Brad Coglan was drunk. Lee essentially had to sit mute for a day-and-a-half besides a still unhappy Brad Coghlan - who in this trial was no longer protected by his police uniform.

Still, Brad Coghlan's appearance couldn't have pleased Carleson more. It wasn't just a frown that read, "What the hell am I doing in a courtroom again when I've already been proved innocent? And why the hell are all my friends telling strangers how drunk I was when they knew I was only fooling around?" It was also his physical appearance.

It had been three years since the accident, and while by the first trial - two years after the wreck - he'd regained his strength but had still been physically lean, he'd now gone back to being somewhat pudgy. Even if he'd still been in uniform, it wouldn't have fit him as sharply as it had a year before. He'd gotten his hair cut short again, military style, though that wasn't the more casual way he'd been wearing it the couple of times he and Carleson had met for depositions. And the youthful haircut on his rounder face just made him look older.

His suit and tie didn't help, either. They weren't badly made or chosen, but he clearly wasn't comfortable in them. They seemed more clothes than he was able to handle, so he was sweating. Maybe there was no easy solution to that, but a handkerchief might have been a suggestion. Instead, he'd wipe his fingers across his forehead then dry them on his jacket sleeve. It didn't exactly signal authority.

On top of looking sloppier when he'd met with Carleson, he'd also been uncooperative. They'd been in various law offices to go over statements, and he'd been flat-out rude to Doug Hodges, sometimes simply ignoring his former friend at point blank range. "He's stopped coming to the bar, too," Doug had mentioned. "Even though Greg's father-in-law owns it, and even though Brad has plenty of friends there. He's just cut us off. After all those years."

Carleson was careful not to call Coghlan "Officer Coghlan," though he occasionally - indirectly - reminded the jury that this man who'd been so recklessly driving was also a trusted member of the police force. "Now which job was Mr. Coghlan coming from?" Carleson would casually ask a witness. "The deli or his other one?" Or "You said he played basketball with the guys in the firehouse across the street. Did he also play basketball with the guys at his regular job?"

The first couple of times, the judge let it pass. Then she started to object. There was no grounds for that, and, of course, when she explained her objection privately to Lee and Carleson at her bench, the jury was still reminded. More than once, Carleson caught Stu Lee smiling at the judge right after she'd reprimanded Carleson, and she'd almost reflexively smiled back. It wasn't that they were in collusion. Carleson was sure it didn't go that far. But there sure was favoritism.

Once Carleson built his first base, he started on a second, which was as important. This was the launching pad for his crash reconstruction expert, Jonathan Feder. Just from the witnesses Lee called, Carleson knew Lee's case would still be centered around his two experts from the first trial. One would testify - theoretically, using trajectories that no one could easily understand - that Doug Hodges had to be driving the Mercedes. The other would as theoretically state the same thing - only using medical injuries as support, and they were as confusing as trajectories. "Left zygomatic arch." "Left pubic rami." "Fractured acetabulum." The guy couldn't even say Doug had smashed his cheek, broken his pelvis and smacked up his hip.

To counter these theories, Carleson had the true, clear, testimony of a close-up eyewitness immediately after the accident - the liquor store co-owner, Ahmed Patel. Carleson would stay far away from the fact that Patel had made conflicting statements to Stu Lee's own investigator - reports that Lee had chosen to ignore in the first trial. That was Lee's right, especially since the official police report had ignored Ahmed Patel all together. But Ahmed Patel had seen Brad Coghlan lying on the driver's side of the car. He'd seen Brad Coghlan's legs extending into the open driver's side door. He'd seen Brad Coghlan's feet under the gas, clutch, and brake pedals of the Mercedes. There was no getting around those absolute facts, and Ahmed Patel had no connection to anyone in the accident. So there was no reason for him to lie.

And why had he changed his story? Why had he told Lee's private investigator one thing and Officer Dominic Guerra another? On the same day, hours apart? Fortunately, those were questions Carleson didn't have to consider.

The first thing Carleson did ask Ahmed Patel was where - exactly - he'd been when he first became aware of the accident. Patel had dressed up for the occasion. He wasn't wearing his usual logoed T-shirt and raggedy jeans. And he seemed to treat being in court as a special event.

"Well, I'd been sweeping up the sidewalk," he began. "I'd just finished and was coming into the store - I was partway into the entryway. Both sets of doors were open - we really only need them in the winter - to keep the hot air in - or in the summer when we have the air conditioning on - to keep the hot air out. But that night, they were all open."

This wasn't what Carleson was interested in, but if Ahmed Patel wanted to ramble, it wouldn't hurt anything. It might even make him feel more comfortable.

"Anyway, Jyoti - that's my wife - was ringing up a sale when we both heard this horrible crash. It wasn't right behind me - it's not like we were in danger. That was the second, smaller crash when the sports car skidded into our van. But this was a huge crash, and I quickly turned to see."

"That's what we want to hear," Carleson thought.

"Well, I couldn't see anything," Ahmed Patel went on. "Our van was in the way. But Jyoti was standing at the register, and that's on the counter right against the window. So she was basically looking right at the accident."

He detoured to explain.

"She likes doing that - looking out the window. It can be pretty boring in the store sometimes, especially during early afternoons, when there are no customers. So Jyoti sits on her stool - it's a high stool - at the counter and watches the world go by. I think that's why the police took her statement. She's so used to seeing everything."

He seemed to be justifying what might have been the truth, but Carleson knew to stay away from why the police hadn't taken Ahmed Patel's statement. A quick glance told him Lee wasn't going near it, either.

"Anyway, I dropped the broom I'd been using - sort of quickly leaned it again the entryway window - then I ran outside. Jyoti couldn't follow me 'cause she was ringing up that customer, and there were other people in the store."

Next was the important part, so Carleson was ready to guide Patel if he needed it. But only if he needed help.

"The first thing I saw was that the light pole was down. That's right in front of our store. Well, not right in front - not on our sidewalk. It's in the parking lot, maybe thirty feet away. And it was down."

"Facing what direction?" Carleson asked. He wanted to help the jurors see that the Mercedes had been heading right at the store. This was in addition to using blown-up pictures and exhibits.

"Well, the top of it was facing us. The head part - the part with the light bulbs and things. That was like only ten feet away. Because the pole - normally - must be twenty feet high."

"Go on."

"And the base - the concrete base the pole was usually connected to - that was still rolling around the parking lot."

"Was it anywhere near you?"

"No. As I said, I wasn't in danger. So I ran around our van - which was still blocking my view - and right behind it was the red car."

"The Mercedes? The sports car? Brad Coghlan's car?"

"Yes. All of those. It's the same thing."

"And what did you see?" Carleson asked.

"Well, there was a guy lying right next to it - kind of parallel to the passenger door - which was still closed. He must've gone over the top. I went right past him 'cause he looked dead, and there was nothing I could do. And I wanted to see what else had happened."

Carleson almost laughed. In earlier versions, Patel said he went past "the guy 'cause the red car was smack against our van, and I wanted to see if there was damage." There was no weighing lives against personal property, Carleson knew, but that wasn't the question here. So he prompted Ahmed Patel to go on.

"Well, there was a second guy lying on the ground - also face up - and his legs were stretching into the car, past the passenger door. That was open, but it was bent around kind of funny - almost pinned between the Mercedes and our van."

"Did you see where this man's feet were?" Carleson asked, keeping Patel focused.

"Oh, yeah," Patel said, as if he was glad to be reminded. "They were right under the pedals. Like the left one was under the clutch and the right was between the brake pedal and the gas. It was a sports car, so it was stick shift."

"And could you tell who this man was?"

"Well, I couldn't see his face - if that's what you mean - 'cause it was under our van. His whole upper chest was. And I knew not to move this guy, either, 'cause he didn't seem to be breathing. I was just reaching for my cell phone to call the cops when I heard sirens. So I knew they were coming."

"But you stayed around?"

"Well, yeah, of course. You don't leave an accident - we're told not to. I think you can get arrested."

"Did you see the man's face when he was pulled from under your van? The man with his feet just under the pedals?"

"Well, I didn't see it clearly," Patel admitted. "I didn't see it close up or anything. I was trying to stay out of the way 'cause there was a chance the paramedics could save these guys' lives - and they did! But I wasn't far away, either, 'cause, well..." And he stopped to smile there. "Well, frankly, this was the most exciting thing that had happened in a long time."

There was a little laughter in the courtroom and among the jury. Even the judge smiled slightly. Carleson waited for the room to quiet.

"But did you see the man's face?" he asked Ahmed Patel again.

"No... but I knew he was the younger guy. That's what everyone was saying. That's what I heard while standing in the crowd. There was a younger guy and an old one, and the young one was a cop - we somehow found that out - and he was driving. And he was the guy halfway under our van. That went around the crowd, too."

"That was the man whose feet were under the pedals of the car?"

"Yes. Like I said before. The cop."

"I just wanted that to be clear. Thank you."

And he indicated to the judge that he had no more questions.

Lee didn't really, either. He dwelled for a while on the fact that Ahmed Patel had never actually seen the face of the man who was under the liquor store van. That he was relying totally on gossip, and gossip was often proved extremely wrong. But it seemed Lee wanted to get away from the whole subject - he almost needed to. Because his case was built on the fact that both passengers had been thrown completely out of the car, well before it landed. Only then had Brad Coghlan's body rolled entirely under the van. Where it was found. That's what Lee's expert needed to hear.