Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert Read Free Book Online

defense. And certainly they knew you’d be a critical witness. You and Alexander Reyes were the
only ones who were there.”
    He leans forward and shuffles through the papers. “Now, what I want to begin doing today is discussing what you’ll be saying during the trial so I can start thinking about how
that’s going to fit into my larger, cohesive strategy.”
    “Which is what, exactly?”
    He narrows his eyes and runs his tongue along the inside of his cheek, and I get the impression he’s deciding how much he feels like telling me. “I’m sure you’ve noticed
there’s…how shall I say this? A sizable contingent of individuals who are positively rabid in their desire to see your father punished.”
    I nod. Like I said, I’ve read some of the hate mail, a lot of it from people who seemed to take the accident personally and can barely type. And then there was the billboard, and I saw on
the news there was a protest one night, even (protesting what, exactly, I don’t know), and that same night on the news there was an interview with this columnist in San Francisco who’s
always hated my dad. I switched it off two sentences in; I didn’t need to see him gloat.
    “Well, what you’re seeing isn’t entirely unusual in a high-profile criminal case,” Mr. Buchwald says. “The police and the prosecutors talk in public, and the
defense waits for the trial, so it’s not revolutionary for public opinion to feel tilted toward the prosecution before then.” He pauses. “But my personal theory is that Laila
Shah, the deputy DA who’ll be prosecuting the case, is testing the waters and trying to gauge the temperature of the public. I feel quite certain she’ll try to convince the jurors that
an act like this is in character for your father.”
    The words settle around my shoulders. “She doesn’t even know him.”
    “Laila is quite new to the position. She’s supposed to be a rising young star from Hastings Law—although so far I’ve not been terribly impressed—but it’s been
my experience that her type is often…bitter, really, and stridently angry, and constantly on the hunt for a scapegoat. Originally, she wanted to try the case as a hate crime. I think
that’s as telling as it is appalling.”
    This isn’t how I thought court cases were supposed to work. It’s definitely not what we learned in Civics. “Okay, well—is that what juries base their decisions on?
Whoever just happens to seem like a better person, or what?”
    “It all depends on the jury, of course, but I think her angle is going to backfire on her. She could have picked a better poster child for her crusade. I’ve looked quite extensively
into Reyes’s history. A delinquent in uniform is just a better-dressed delinquent.” He picks up the coffee cup and blows on the top of it with wet, pursed lips. “Now, to return to
the matter at hand. I understand you and your father had one previous encounter with Officer Reyes. Can you tell me about that?”
    I would give a lot not to, but I don’t make it a habit to talk back to adults. “A little while ago, I kind of went to LA without telling my dad, and he got worried and he called the
cops and Officer Reyes was one of the ones who came. And Officer Reyes was—yeah. He and my dad got into it, and he told me he wished something worse had happened to me. But I wasn’t
there for when the two of them were—”
    “Hm.” He marks something down. “Your father has maintained that he was forced to flee the scene of the accident as a safety concern. Can you explain that to me?
Actually”—he holds up one finger—“I’ll read the statement he gave me, and you may fill in as you wish.”
    He deepens his voice and sits up straighter when he’s reading my dad’s words. I’ll bet my dad intimidates him. He has that effect on people. “‘I was speeding a
little bit, I’ll admit that. I deserved a ticket and I would’ve paid one, too, but right away, when I saw him, I