CHAPTER 8

“Mr. Hennessy.”

Aaron Garrett greeted Hennessy with a solid handshake and a slight nod. “Thank you for making time before our motion hearing.”

“You said you wanted to discuss a deal.”

Hennessy opened the door to the conference room on the first floor of the courthouse. “Any decent lawyer would take time out of their schedule to discuss an early end to the case.”

Garrett stepped inside the conference room and sat at the head of the rectangular wooden table. Hennessy closed the door and sat to Garrett’s left. The room was filled with natural light, streaming through the window at the far end and cooled by the hum of the air-conditioner. The smell was musty in the windowless room.

“I saw your motion for discovery about the redacted witness information, and along with my superiors, we gave some thought to a better deal for Mr. Palin. We all want an early end to this case,”

Garrett said as he leaned back in his chair. “What we would like is that your client pleads guilty to the fraud charges, makes a statement of apology, and then serves some time in prison.”

“What are you offering?”

“Five years prison, the rest of the sentence suspended.”

“With offers like that, he should take his chance in court.”

“He needs to consider it,”

Garrett implored. “If he takes this to trial and loses, he’s looking at fifteen years plus behind bars. If he doesn’t take this deal, he’ll spend the rest of his life locked up.”

“I’ll take it to him, but he wants to walk away without any prison time.”

“You and I both know that can’t happen after what he did.”

Garrett sighed. “He stole money from sick children, Joe. The public thinks it’s a disgraceful action, and we agree. He needs to do some prison time. Work with us. Convince him to do some time and then live the rest of his life.”

“I expected a better offer, but I’ll take this one to him.”

Hennessy nodded, picked up his briefcase, and exited the room.

A few moments later, he was in courtroom 105, sitting in the gallery, waiting for his case to be called. Garrett entered the courtroom after a few minutes, carrying a steamy coffee in a to-go cup. He removed the lid, blew steam off the hot drink, and sipped it. He leaned close to Hennessy and whispered, “Did you call Palin?”

“I’ll call him this afternoon.”

Hennessy shook his head. “He’s busy today.”

“Is he walking around the hospital asking sick children for money?”

Hennessy ignored the jibe, and a moment later, the court clerk read their case number. The clerk’s voice boomed across the courtroom, and the lawyers took their places at their respective tables. Judge Clayton had to move through five cases that morning, and he needed each hearing to be quick. He had no time to waste on lawyer games. Hennessy walked through the bar, with Garrett a step behind him. Garrett appeared confident—his chin was up, his shoulders were back, and a smug smile was on his face.

Judge Clayton groaned as he read the file. “I see we’re back again, gentlemen.”

Judge Clayton was still reading the brief as he waved at the lawyers. “A Motion to Compel Discovery for the list of witness names?”

“Thank you, Your Honor,”

Hennessy began. “We’ve lodged a motion to compel discovery under South Carolina Rule of Criminal Procedure Rule 5. We’ve been forced to file this motion to receive discovery information that the prosecution is determined to withhold from the defense.”

Judge Clayton responded and turned to Garrett. “Care to explain, Mr. Garrett?”

“Certainly, Your Honor,”

Garrett stated. “The State has adhered to all the requests for discovery, including all the evidence, the witness statements, depositions, and forensic accounting required in this case. However, five witnesses feared for their safety and wished to keep their names redacted in the witness statements until the trial date.”

“Which severely reduces the defense’s ability to prepare for trial,”

Hennessy interrupted. “It’s a constitutional right for the accused to confront their accuser, and the prosecution is denying that right.”

“Your Honor,”

Garrett snapped. “The safety of the witnesses needs to be paramount. This is not a decision that we took lightly. In fact, we went through several options until we decided this was the right course of action. The prosecution has adhered to discovery rules in this case with the defense; however, we’re concerned about the safety of these five witnesses. More than a hundred witnesses are listed in the discovery material, but five witnesses have expressed safety concerns.”

“And what are those concerns?

“The defendant, Mr. Palin, made direct threats on the lives of all five of these witnesses.”

“And how did he make those threats?”

“Via email, Your Honor. He made the threats to their lives directly to their personal emails. He told these witnesses that if they ever testified against him, they or their families would be punished. As he reportedly made the same threat to many people, we believe he currently doesn’t know the names of the witnesses, and for their safety, we would like to keep their names suppressed for the next five weeks while we arrange for their protection.”

Garrett passed a folder to the bailiff, who passed it to the judge. He read over the emails and then sighed. “That’s hard to argue with. Are you applying for the reversal of bail?”

“Not at this stage, Your Honor. We would like to note that the court can deny this motion to compel if there’s a substantial risk to the witness that outweighs the usefulness of the disclosure.”

“I’m aware of the rules.”

Judge Clayton grunted. “And this hasn’t been raised previously?”

“Not that I’m aware of, Your Honor,”

Hennessy responded. “My client’s previous lawyer, Mr. David Jones, did not request these details from the State.”

“Very well,”

Judge Clayton said. “And we’re set to start this trial in five weeks?”

“We are,”

Garrett replied. “And the State requests the suppression of the witnesses’ names to continue until the trial. The witnesses’ lives are at stake, and we need to keep them safe, as is their right. Justice shouldn’t run from threats of violence.”

“That’s inflammatory, Your Honor,”

Hennessy argued. “The lack of information weakens the defense’s ability to prepare for trial. The entire first two pages of Witness One’s statement has been redacted.”

“It’s been redacted for the witnesses’ safety,”

Garrett argued. “It contains identifying information.”

“And it’s no coincidence that the five redacted testimonies are the five most important testimonies in this case,”

Hennessy continued. “The lack of information about these witnesses disadvantages the defense. We need to research the witnesses to assess their credibility.”

“But you have the redacted witnesses’ statements, Mr. Hennessy?”

“The statements are missing vital information.”

“Your Honor, we’ve redacted any identifying information from the witness statements, and we have not redacted any vital part of their testimonies, as Mr. Hennessy suggests,”

Garrett argued. “We’re currently arranging for protection for these witnesses, but they live complicated lives, and the process takes time. And we have a limited budget to work with. The State is asking for the identifying information in the witness statements to continue to be redacted until the ability to protect these witnesses is put in place. This is a standard procedure in this situation.”

“And when do you intend to release the witness names to the defense?”

Judge Clayton asked.

“A week before the trial. That should be enough time for the defense to prepare.”

Judge Clayton nodded. “Anything further, Mr. Hennessy?”

“Your Honor, the defense has the right to investigate the credibility of these five key witnesses. That right is defined in the Constitution.”

“I agree, Mr. Hennessy. However, the safety of the witnesses must be paramount. Given the very real threats against the witnesses, I understand the prosecution’s concerns. Considering that the defense has the witness statements available and can conduct depositions via email, I don’t believe the defense is unfairly disadvantaged. In the interest of a fair trial, the names of these five witnesses will be withheld until one week before the trial. The motion to compel discovery is denied.”

“Thank you, Your Honor.”

The lawyers stated in unison.

The clerk called the next case number, and the lawyers packed up their briefcases, quickly replaced at the tables by the following case. Garrett couldn’t wipe the smile off his face as they exited the courtroom.

“The deal for five years is still on the table, Joe,”

Garrett stated once they were in the hallway. “I suggest Palin accepts it because if he takes this to court, we’re going to throw all our resources at it, and we’ll make sure that man never walks free again.”