Conviction by Kelly Loy Gilbert Read Free Book Online Page A

knew it was going to be bad. The thing is, I met this cop once before,
and it was when I was worried about my kid, so we’d, you know, exchanged words. And I’ll admit I said some things I shouldn’t have, but I didn’t think he handled the whole
situation real professionally, so afterward I called up and complained to the station about him. And he knew it. You could tell he knew it and that it did something to him. That, and the fact it
was late and there was no one around, that I had no protection—he thought he was above the rules. He kept getting closer and closer to me, getting more and more threatening. And I was yelling
back, I was getting hot under the collar, too, but I miscalculated. He was out for me. When he went for his gun, I panicked he was going to hurt my son. I panicked. He drew the gun, and I had to
get away.’”
    He puts down the paper he’s holding. “Sound right?”
    “I mean, do people think you should just stay somewhere and let someone shoot you?”
    “So you’ll testify that Reyes threatened you with a loaded firearm.”
    There’s a buzzing in my ears that makes me want to swat at imaginary bees. But then, I’ve always hated guns. “I really think my dad would give a better testimony than I would.
He’s a lot better at that kind of thing.”
    “It’s simply too risky to have the defendant testify in capital cases.” He writes something down on his pad. “Your father says he was left distressed and very shaken
after the encounter with the cop.”
    “Yes. That’s definitely true. He was really upset. It kind of…I mean, it sort of made him not completely—”
    Mr. Buchwald holds up a hand to stop me. “Your father backed up and then drove out into the road when he was what felt like a safe distance away.”
    I nod.
    “He says that when he felt the car hit something, he thought he’d hit a pothole.”
    “There’s tons of potholes there.”
    “You felt the car hit something, too, I presume.”
    “I guess I—”
    “But you didn’t believe it was Mr. Reyes?”
    “How could anyone even think he’d do that on purpose? If you knew you hit a person, you wouldn’t take off. You’d get out and make sure he was okay, and if he
wasn’t, you’d try to save him or at least wait there with him and call nine-one-one. That’s what any halfway decent person would do.” My chest and face feel like someone
rubbed Icy Hot all over them. I look toward the kitchen again. It would be stupid to ask Trey to come sit in here; I’m capable of having this conversation myself. And I’m not on trial
now
. This is probably nothing compared to what it feels like saying this kind of stuff in court. “I just—I really think you should have my dad talk about all this instead. He
talks for a living. And he obviously has a better memory of everything that’s happened, so—”
    “Son, I know this is unsavory, but these questions will come up again.”
    I hate when people call me
son
. “Okay, but if there’s a trial and I screw it up, then what? It’s going to be twelve random people who’ve never met him and who
might have made up their minds about him already, and you said yourself it’s a death-penalty case. So if I mess things up—”
    “You’ll have ample time to prepare, Braden, don’t worry. I am very heavily invested in making your testimony as clear and as compelling as possible, and you’ll be seeing
quite a bit of me as we prepare. Now, do you have any questions?”
    “What about bail? Can he get out on bail?”
    “I’ll make a motion at the preliminary hearing, but it’s unlikely. Judge Scherr is up for reelection in the fall, so he’ll be treading carefully.”
    “And if my dad doesn’t get bail, then I’m just…not allowed to see him or talk to him the whole time this is going on?”
    “Most likely no. Occasionally letters are approved. Anything else?”
    It’s clear he’s not actually asking, but I ask anyway. “Whose idea was it for me to