CHAPTER 22

Garrett stood firm on his deal—five years in exchange for an early guilty plea.

He said it was as low as he could go. There was too much media coverage to go lower, he explained. There was an election coming up, and they couldn’t let someone who stole from sick children to walk away. Garrett saw the case as an easy win for the prosecutor’s office, and a chance to get their faces on the front page of the papers.

Palin rejected the deal. He said there was no way he was going to prison. Hennessy was sure if the State hadn’t frozen Palin’s accounts, he would’ve been on the next plane out of the country. And he was sure as soon as the accounts were unfrozen, Palin would withdraw every cent and make a run for the airport. If they won, Hennessy would need to ensure he was paid straight away.

Hennessy approached the courthouse for another pretrial hearing and paused outside, letting the early morning sun soak into his face. It had been years since he first walked these steps, a wide-eyed twenty-five-year-old fresh out of law school and hungry to make his mark. Back then, he’d been full of determination, buzzing with idealism and the belief that justice was absolute and that the law could fix anything. A lot had changed since then.

Ten years with the Circuit Solicitor’s Office had hardened him, each case leaving a mark. But it was the murder of his son that finally broke him. Charleston became unbearable after that—a city filled with ghosts and unanswered questions. He’d left, vowing never to look back. Yet here he was, on the other side of the fight, defending the people he used to prosecute.

Hennessy walked through security and stepped into the cool hallway. He stopped at its end, letting the familiar scent of varnished wood and old paper wash over him. He closed his eyes, inhaled deeply, and slowed his breathing. A few seconds later, he gave himself a small nod. He was ready.

The courtroom was quiet when he entered, the kind of quiet that always felt heavy with judgment. He moved to the defense table, setting down his laptop, files, and pens. He adjusted his legal pad so its edges aligned perfectly with the table. The black pen went beside the red, a small ritual that brought him calm before the storm. Another nod. Another breath. He was ready.

Five minutes after Hennessy arrived, Garrett arrived with one of his assistants. Garrett was well-dressed in a fitted suit, and an air of woody cologne followed him. When both lawyers were seated, the bailiff called the court to order. Hennessy stood and watched as Judge Clayton strode to the bench with purpose.

Judge Clayton sat down, opened his laptop, adjusted his files, and nodded to the bailiff. He confirmed the lawyer’s names and opened the floor for pretrial motions.

“Mr. Garrett, let’s begin with your pretrial motions.”

Judge Clayton moved a file in front of him. “I see you’ve submitted a motion to add fifteen names to the witness list. This seems late to be introducing new witnesses, Mr. Garrett.”

“Yes, we understand this is late, Your Honor. However, there are no surprises on the updated witness list.”

Garrett stood behind his desk. “We have added experts in white-collar crime and further specialists in forensic accounting. We’ve also added a former employee of the defendant and another law enforcement officer.”

“Any objections from the defense?”

“None, Your Honor,”

Hennessy responded.

“The motion to amend the witness list is granted,”

Judge Clayton stated. He typed several lines into his laptop and then looked at Garrett with raised eyebrows. “Next, there is a motion in Limine to exclude information from the trial that Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher have been reported as missing persons. Mr. Garrett, I’ll need a good argument for this one.”

“Your Honor, it’s prejudicial to include information that these two witnesses have been reported as missing persons. We don’t know why Mr. Tilly or Mrs. Fisher have gone missing. We don’t know whether they’ve chosen to or whether they’ve been the subject of foul play.”

“Your Honor,”

Hennessy interrupted. He stood to emphasize his point. “That’s an inflammatory statement. There’s no evidence that foul play was involved, and in fact, the two missing witnesses were having an affair for years before they went missing. It’s very likely that they’ve chosen to leave together and leave their spouses behind.”

“And this is the sort of language we wish to exclude from the trial.”

Garrett spread his arms wide for the argument. “The defense is trying to concoct a make-believe tale that these witnesses have had something to do with the charges, and they’re leveraging their disappearance to confuse the story.”

“We’re not leveraging anything, Your Honor. We’re merely telling the truth. Two former employees of the defendant were having an affair, and those two former employees had similar access to the bank accounts and computer systems as the defendant. Those employees have gone missing only days before the criminal trial when their information would be scrutinized in public. That’s the truth, and that’s what the jury should be presented with.”

“I agree, Mr. Hennessy,”

Judge Clayton stated. “This information is relevant, and excluding this information would impact the defendant’s right to a fair trial. I find the information that these two former employees of the defendant are recorded as missing persons is admissible to the court. The jury is entitled to hear all the facts pertinent to this case. The motion is denied.”

Judge Clayton typed several lines into his laptop. “And next, we have a motion for continuance. Please explain, Mr. Garrett.”

“Your Honor, given that the information about Mr. Tilly’s and Mrs. Fisher’s disappearance will be presented to the court, we wish to exhaust every avenue to find them. We’re aware that we’re close to the trial date; however, we have received information that may help us find them. We believe their testimonies are important to uncovering the truth, and we believe we will locate them given a little extra time. This information only came to us this morning, and we request extra time to explore this lead.”

Garrett passed a file to the bailiff, who passed the file to the judge. Garrett handed Hennessy a copy. “The Charleston Police Department received this information and are following this line of investigation.”

“Your Honor, this information is dated several weeks ago,”

Hennessy argued as he flicked through the two-page file. The file referenced the video footage from an ATM at a gas station in Alabama. “The police have had weeks to act on this information, and if there’s no further development, I cannot see how any extra time will help them. In fact, I would argue further time would make it less likely to find the witnesses. It’s already been several weeks since this information was made available to the police. If there’s no further development, in the interest of fairness, we should continue the trial.”

“Mr. Garrett, is there any further development from the Charleston Police Department other than these photos dated weeks ago?”

“Not at the moment, Your Honor, but we’re getting closer.”

“The defense objects to the motion, Your Honor,”

Hennessy responded. “The prosecution’s intent is obvious—they want this case to play out in the media and drag it out to win political points. However, I must state that this trial should progress in the interests of fairness and justice. In earlier pretrial hearings, the prosecution made it clear that the trial date was important, and this shouldn’t be changed. There’s no evidence of any foul play, and based on the witness’s statements, it’s the defense’s belief that the witnesses left because they wanted nothing further to do with this case. There’s no indication that extra time will assist the prosecution in finding these witnesses.”

“I agree, Mr. Hennessy. Given that weeks have passed since this sighting, and there have been no further developments, I don’t find any sufficient evidence that extra time would lead to finding these witnesses. Motion for a continuance is denied,”

Judge Clayton stated. “Any further motions from the State?”

“No, Your Honor.”

Judge Clayton looked over his notes. “And the defense motion, Mr. Hennessy?”

“Your Honor, the defense has lodged a motion in Limine regarding the written statements of the witnesses of Mr. John Tilly and Mrs. Debra Fisher. These witness names were redacted for the defense until a few days ago. Under your ruling, we were not given information about the witnesses until a week before trial, however before that time, the witnesses have gone missing, and we have not been able to question them about their statements. There is vital information missing from their statements that is relevant to the trial.”

“The defense had the opportunity to question the witnesses via email, yes?”

“We did, however, once the names were confirmed, we found information that Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher were in an extra-marital relationship. That is not mentioned anywhere in their witness statements. We have not been able to question them about that relationship and how their affair affected the evidence that they gave. Allowing these written statements to be presented without cross-examination would be a clear breach of the Confrontation Clause of the Sixth Amendment. The defendant has a constitutional right to confront his accusers, and these statements are not complete. We have not had the chance to confront them about it.”

Judge Clayton nodded. “Mr. Garrett, can you please confirm that neither of those witnesses mentions this relationship in their statements?”

“That’s correct, Your Honor, however, the witnesses were not questioned about their relationship either.”

“It’s clear that important information has been left out of the written statements.”

Judge Clayton stated. “Mr. Garrett, were you aware that Mr. Tilly and Mrs. Fisher were in an extra-marital relationship?”

“We’re aware of it now, however we were not aware of their relationship when we originally questioned them. And we maintain that their relationship had nothing to do with this case. Their personal relationship had nothing to do with Mr. Palin’s criminal actions.”

“Important information was left out of the witness statements, and the defense has had no chance to question that information. Considering that, I have no choice in this matter,”

Judge Clayton groaned. “After considering the arguments presented, the Court finds that the written statements of the missing witnesses are missing important details, and therefore denies the defendant their constitutional right to confront their accuser. The motion to exclude the written statements is granted. However, if Mr. Tilly or Mrs. Fisher were found before the trial date, I will allow them to testify in person. Any objection to that, Mr. Hennessy?”

“No, Your Honor.”

When Judge Clayton confirmed there were no further motions, he tapped his gavel and exited the room without fuss. It was a good morning for the defense. Hennessy looked at Garrett. Garrett’s jaw was tight, and his hands were clenched into tight fists.

“This isn’t over, Joe,”

Garrett growled through gritted teeth. “Not by a long shot.”