Bronx Justice by Joseph Teller Read Free Book Online Page A

Kingstons and followed Pope over to the large window that overlooked the building’s center courtyard. He wondered if he was about to hear that Darren had once again been spotted by one of the victims.
    â€œI spoke to my boss,” Pope said. “We’re willing to give your man a polygraph.”
    â€œWonderful!” said Jaywalker, making no attempt to hide either his surprise or his pleasure.
    â€œIt’ll be with the usual stipulation,” Pope continued. “I don’t know if you’re familiar with that or not.”
    â€œVaguely,” Jaywalker lied. Stipulation?
    â€œIf he passes, we D.O.R. the case. If he flunks, the jury gets to hear that he did. I’ll go ahead and set up a date with Detective Paulson, who’ll administer the test. I suggest you call him in a day or two and get the date. I know he’s pretty backed up right now, so it’s likely to be a month, at the least.”
    â€œGood enough. And I appreciate this,” Jaywalker felt compelled to add. Because he really did.
    â€œLet me put it this way,” said Pope, all business all the time. “I’ve got four girls who say they’re sure of their identifications. I believe them. But who knows? I could be wrong.” And with that, he shrugged, turned and walked away.
    Jaywalker lost no time in sharing the news with the Kingstons, who seemed every bit as elated as he was. And if Darren was secretly apprehensive about the sudden reality of undergoing a lie detector test, he never once showed it.
    Jaywalker went over the ground rules, explained that a “D.O.R.” meant a discharge on one’s own recognizance, the functional equivalent of a dismissal of all charges. He added that the flip side, the defense’s agreement to let thejury know if Darren flunked the test, was unenforceable. Pope no doubt knew that, and had to assume that Jaywalker did, too. But as a practical matter, the bargain generally served its purpose. Defendants who flunked polygraph exams tended to fold their cards soon afterward and plead guilty.
    â€œNext,” said Jaywalker, “we’ve got to decide whether we want to go into the test cold, or schedule our own private one beforehand.”
    Marlin was the first to speak. “We leave it up to you, Jay,” he said.
    â€œYou can’t leave it up to me. It’s not my money. And it could cost anywhere from three hundred to five hundred dollars.”
    Marlin took a moment to ponder that. In addition to the strain of having posted Darren’s bail, he had Jaywalker’s fee to contend with and was also responsible for paying John McCarthy, the investigator. The burden had to be enormous for him.
    None of the other family members spoke. Inez may have been the ranking expert on child rearing, and Jaywalker had the sense that she ran a pretty tight ship at home, but on matters of money, they all deferred to Marlin.
    â€œLet’s take the private test first,” he said finally.
    Jaywalker caught himself wondering if that amounted to a hedge of sorts. Did Marlin, too, harbor second thoughts about his son’s innocence? But it was a question that went unasked and, therefore, unanswered.
    â€œFine,” said Jaywalker. “I’ll set it up as soon as I can. Okay with you, Darren?”
    â€œOkay with me, Jay.” His broad smile completely trumped his father’s hesitancy, and with it, Jaywalker’sown doubts. Once again, it was as though the case was shadowed by a giant overhead pendulum, which would swing one moment in the direction of guilt and the next moment back to innocence.
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    In a year and half of private practice, and in two before that with Legal Aid, Jaywalker had never had a client take a polygraph examination. There was a reason for that. Polygraph results—unlike fingerprint evidence, blood typing (and now DNA tests), ballistics comparisons, hair and fiber analyses, and even handwriting and voice