“Good morning, Mr. Thomas Masi,” Austin’s first witness was the police officer who arrested Lauren. He asked Masi a series of questions that explained what the crime scene looked like when he got there. Mr. Masi talked about how Lauren leaned over the victim's body without any emotion on her face. She was eerily quiet and had blood smeared on her hands and clothes. Austin asked him about the gun and he answered saying that the gun was positioned on the opposite side of where Lauren was sitting. The questioning went by smoothly without any objections from me. Then it was my turn to speak to him.
"Hello Mr. Masi," I give him a smile which he returns. "You testified that you saw my client opposite of the murder weapon when you arrived at the crime scene, correct?"
"Yes I did." He nods.
"Was the murder weapon anywhere near her hands?" I question him.
"No."
"Was it near the body of the victim?"
"No, it was a few feet away from the body, next to the doorway."
"So, if the weapon wasn't near my client or the victim and was near the doorway, then the killer could've dropped the gun before attempting to escape, correct?"
“Objection, calls for conclusion.” Austin stands and says.
“Sustained, continue.” The judge says to me.
"Its possible," he said, uncertain.
"No further questions, your honor." I say and return to my seat.
"Counselor?" Judge Iglesias asks Austin.
"No further questions for the witness, your honor."
"You may step down, Mr. Masi."
Next, Austin called Dante to the stand. Dante was not only a gun expert but a blood splatter expert. He was able to explain, in detail, where Regan was shot first. Along with Dante's testimony, Mahone showed a handful of photos of Regan's lifeless body on the floor along with the blood surrounding her.
By the time that it was my turn to question, I had one main question in mind, "Does the position of Regan's body along with the blood splatters tell you who committed the crime?"
"No." He said simply with a smile.
"No what about the gun? What type of gun was found at the crime scene?"
"A Beretta M9 that belongs to my sister." Dante knew where I was going with this.
"Now what type of bullets are used in that gun?"
"Simple, 9x19mm parabellum bullets."
"Objection," Austin said, "relevance?" Judge Iglesias looked at me.
"I'm getting to it." I tell her and give Austin a look.
"Overruled. I will allow it." She brushes off Austin’s outburst.
"To recap," I continue again, "The gun found was, in fact, a Beretta M9 that uses 9x19mm parabellum bullets, correct?" Dante nods. "What kind of bullets were found at the crime scene?"
"The bullets found at the crime scene were .45 ACP bullets that are slightly taller and wider than 9x19mm parabellum." A loud wave of whispers filled the the courtroom. A few flashes went off in the room and I heard a handful of reporters trying to contact their bosses. I smiled brightly when I heard all the shocked responses.
"Order. Order." Judge Iglesias commands the courtroom to quiet down before the get escorted out.
"What kind of gun uses those bullets?"
"An M1911." I nod and notice someone out of the corner of my eye stiffen. I turned my head and realized that it was Dinah who tensed up after hearing the name of the gun.
"No further questions, your honor." I take my seat and notice Austin giving me a dirty look.
"You're doing great, Camila." Lauren whispers to me. "And you look pretty fucking great doing it." She says as she subtly rubs my upper thigh. This is so not the right time to be turned on.
Austin’s next witness was the 911 dispatch operator. He asked her a series of questions that explained Dinah’s emergency call. The operator explained that Dinah called because she heard the gunshots and was scared for her safety. She also stated that Dinah seemed very shaken and nervous, causing her voice to crack numerous times. With that testimony, Austin brought out a recording of the operator’s conversation with Dinah. Then it was my turn to question her.
“Can you please repeat to me how Dinah’s voice sounded during the call?”
“She sounded very nervous and shaken. It was to the point where her voice even cracked.” The operator said simply.
“No further questions.” I saw Dinah watching me out of the corner of my eye.
Austin then asked Dinah to approach the stand. He asked her about a what she saw before the crime occurred.
“All I saw was Regan walking into the apartment before I hear the gun shots.”
“Did you hear the gun shots right after she walked in?” Austin asked.
“No,” she shook her head, “I heard them a little while after she walked in.”
“So the murderer must’ve already been inside of the apartment by the time she got home, correct?”
“Objection,” I stood, “calls for speculation.”
“Sustained.”
“Let me rephrase the question,” Austin started again, “Did you see anyone else enter the apartment aside from Regan?”
“No.”
“No further questions your honor.” He says with a smile.
“Hello Dinah,” I greeted her kindly. “Do you mind if I ask you a few questions?” she shrugged her shoulders and avoided my eye contact. “You are Lauren and Regan’s neighbor, correct? Meaning that you live almost directly beside them?” Dinah nodded. “I’m sorry bout would it be alright if you say that out loud for the jury to hear?”
“Yes.” She forced out.
“So it would take less than five minutes to walk from your place to theirs, correct?”
“Yes.”
“Ms. Hansen, what was your relationship with Regan and Lauren?” Dinah visibly tensed. “Ms. Hansen?”
“We were neighbors.” She said in a monotone voice.
“Only neighbors? And nothing more?” Dinah shook her head. “So to clarify you and Regan were just friends, correct?” I put emphasis on the word friends. Dinah nodded and I turned to give Lauren a smile. “Were you aware of Regan’s affair?”
“What?” She tried to avoid the question but I could see right through her facade. We were barely halfway through with her testimony and she was already sweating bullets.
As a defense attorney, I have no obligation to turn in any of the evidence that I find. I walked over to the table and held up a DVD that had the video of Regan and Dinah at the restaurant. “This DVD contains very important video footage that I believe is relevant to this case. But you can be the judge of that.” I lace the DVD into the player located at the front of the courtroom. The room was silent as we all watched the video of Dinah and Regan shamelessly flirting with each other. Towards the end of the video, it showed the two sharing a kiss over the table. I stopped the video and saw the look of panic that washed over Austin’s face. He was searching through his papers to find something that would make him look like less of an idiot. Once again, the courtroom was filled with whispers and gasps after the video ended. “So Ms. Hansen, you and Regan were just friends?” I asked her again.
“Objection-” Austin wasn’t able to finish his sentence.
“Overruled. Sit down Mr. Mahone.” Judge Iglesias interrupted him.
“Thank you, your honor.” I gave her a kind smile which she returned. “Ms. Hansen, may I remind you that you took an oath saying that you will speak of nothing but the truth, correct?”
“I know.” Dinah said quietly.
“Good. Now I will ask you again, where you and Regan just friends?” Dinah stared into my eyes for a moment, begging me not to do this to her. She subtly shook her head. “Can you please say that outloud, Ms. Hansen.”
“No, we weren’t.” She said sassily. A collective gasp was heard throughout the room before everyone went completely silent.
“Are you saying that you were Regan’s mistress? That you were her other woman? That you purposefully stabbed Lauren in the back?”
“Objection, compound question.” Austin stood. The judge acknowledged him for once and shot me a warning look.
“My apologies, your honor.” I turned back to Dinah. I knew that I wasn’t going to get any answers to my previous questions, “No further questions.” Lauren gave me smile when I reached my seat.
The entire courtroom watched as Dinah shamefully returned to her seat with her head hanging down.