assign this criminal case to an associate of theirs, attorney Peter Sharp, who I’m sure you all know is familiar to this office.”
It looks like I’m back in business. I had a hunch that Morgan was involved, but I didn’t think that Myra would go after him just because he’s a Muslim. I can’t imagine what else she has on him, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough. Rather than break protocol by calling her at home this evening, I think it best to meet at her office tomorrow morning. I want to play this one strictly by the book, because it may turn into a high-profile case.
This meeting is the first one I’ve had here on a case since Myra got elected. I don’t know how much she knows, so instead of trying to convince her that my client is innocent, I decide to let her talk. A long time ago I was told that you can’t learn anything while you’re talking – only when you’re listening. Besides, I haven’t even had a chance to interview my client.
Indovine called first thing this morning, assigned the case to me, and messengered over a retainer check for over ten thousand dollars, which is just the beginning on a case that might lead to the prosecutor going for the death penalty. Before the call got to me, the kid let him know about the investigation expenses, so that was added to the check too.
Myra explains to me that Morgan was arrested for the usual reasons – motive, means, and opportunity, along with the fact that they found explosive devices in his house.
I already knew about his capability and opportunity, but was curious as to what she considered to be his motive for these crimes.
Myra explains that two of the owners of the vehicles have been customers at the dealership for over twenty years. During that period of time they were always bringing their cars in for service, and if there was a decision to be made as to whether or not a repair is covered by the factory warranty, it was always made by Joe Morgan.
The owners admitted to a long-running scheme of bribing Morgan to make decisions to have the warranty cover many unauthorized repairs. After the successful prosecution of a warranty service manager in Orange County for running the same scheme, the car owners got scared and told Morgan they didn’t want any part of the plan – and that they’d pay for their repairs, rather then go to jail.
The prosecution’s argument on motive is that Morgan wanted to scare them into realizing that they should keep on paying for him to authorize repairs. Each owner has agreed to testify.
“ Okay, I can see where you’ve got something to hang your hat on for the first two non-lethal explosions, but how’s your office planning to tie in the third explosion - the one that killed the two women? That vehicle was owned by the dealership, not the general manager. He didn’t have to pay for repairs, so he couldn’t have been involved in a bribery scheme with my client.”
Myra admits that I have a point there, but she promises that her office is working on another angle with the general manager – some other reason why Morgan wanted to scare him too.
“ Fine, but if you admit that all he wanted to do is scare these people, then I won’t expect you to be looking to stick a needle in his arm.”
She tells me that the results of the investigation aren’t in yet, so no decision has been made on whether they’ll be going for the death penalty.
I have only one more question to ask her, and I think I already know the answer to it. “Just one more thing, Myra, what turned you on to Morgan in the first place?”
She tells me that they received an anonymous tip from an informant. Just what I thought. Criminal defense attorneys have been dealing with the prosecution’s confidential informants and anonymous tipsters since the judicial system was created. Judges are very cooperative with prosecutors, so defense attorneys find it almost impossible to discover the identity of a confidential informant.
It looks like I’m back in business. I had a hunch that Morgan was involved, but I didn’t think that Myra would go after him just because he’s a Muslim. I can’t imagine what else she has on him, but I’m sure I’ll find out soon enough. Rather than break protocol by calling her at home this evening, I think it best to meet at her office tomorrow morning. I want to play this one strictly by the book, because it may turn into a high-profile case.
This meeting is the first one I’ve had here on a case since Myra got elected. I don’t know how much she knows, so instead of trying to convince her that my client is innocent, I decide to let her talk. A long time ago I was told that you can’t learn anything while you’re talking – only when you’re listening. Besides, I haven’t even had a chance to interview my client.
Indovine called first thing this morning, assigned the case to me, and messengered over a retainer check for over ten thousand dollars, which is just the beginning on a case that might lead to the prosecutor going for the death penalty. Before the call got to me, the kid let him know about the investigation expenses, so that was added to the check too.
Myra explains to me that Morgan was arrested for the usual reasons – motive, means, and opportunity, along with the fact that they found explosive devices in his house.
I already knew about his capability and opportunity, but was curious as to what she considered to be his motive for these crimes.
Myra explains that two of the owners of the vehicles have been customers at the dealership for over twenty years. During that period of time they were always bringing their cars in for service, and if there was a decision to be made as to whether or not a repair is covered by the factory warranty, it was always made by Joe Morgan.
The owners admitted to a long-running scheme of bribing Morgan to make decisions to have the warranty cover many unauthorized repairs. After the successful prosecution of a warranty service manager in Orange County for running the same scheme, the car owners got scared and told Morgan they didn’t want any part of the plan – and that they’d pay for their repairs, rather then go to jail.
The prosecution’s argument on motive is that Morgan wanted to scare them into realizing that they should keep on paying for him to authorize repairs. Each owner has agreed to testify.
“ Okay, I can see where you’ve got something to hang your hat on for the first two non-lethal explosions, but how’s your office planning to tie in the third explosion - the one that killed the two women? That vehicle was owned by the dealership, not the general manager. He didn’t have to pay for repairs, so he couldn’t have been involved in a bribery scheme with my client.”
Myra admits that I have a point there, but she promises that her office is working on another angle with the general manager – some other reason why Morgan wanted to scare him too.
“ Fine, but if you admit that all he wanted to do is scare these people, then I won’t expect you to be looking to stick a needle in his arm.”
She tells me that the results of the investigation aren’t in yet, so no decision has been made on whether they’ll be going for the death penalty.
I have only one more question to ask her, and I think I already know the answer to it. “Just one more thing, Myra, what turned you on to Morgan in the first place?”
She tells me that they received an anonymous tip from an informant. Just what I thought. Criminal defense attorneys have been dealing with the prosecution’s confidential informants and anonymous tipsters since the judicial system was created. Judges are very cooperative with prosecutors, so defense attorneys find it almost impossible to discover the identity of a confidential informant.
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