The 9th Judgment Read Free Page B

cheated on
     his wife. That’s true, and
so what?
The victim wasn’t a saint, but even imperfect people have a right to humane treatment. And they have a right to justice.
    “The defense has portrayed Adam Johnson as a hapless gofer who didn’t know an OD from a CD.
    “That’s fiction. Adam Johnson knew what he was doing. He’s admitted to all of it: the willful disregard as well as the fun
     he had that night, stealing and shopping and snorting coke and having sex while Dr. Harris lay dying.
    “That’s why there can be only one verdict. The People ask you to find Adam Johnson guilty on three counts: of grand larceny,
     of intent to deal narcotics, and of reckless disregard for the life of a human being—that is, manslaughter in the first degree.”

Chapter 6
    YUKI HUDDLED WITH Gaines in the hallway outside the courtroom during the ten-minute recess.
    “You knocked their socks off,” Gaines told her.
    Yuki nodded. She combed her mind for mistakes and didn’t find any. She hadn’t blanked, hadn’t sputtered or blown her lines,
     hadn’t come off as rehearsed. She had no regrets. She only wished her mom could have been here to see her.
    She said to her number two, “Jo-Jo did it. He said he did it, and we proved it.” Yuki’s heart was still pumping adrenaline,
     the good kind. A bit like champagne.
    Nicky nudged her, and Yuki looked up. She saw that the bailiff had opened the leather-paneled door. The pair re-entered the
     courtroom and took their seats. Yuki’s mouth went suddenly dry as the court was called into session.
    And now the fear factor started nibbling at her confidence. Asher would have the last word. Could he convince the jury to
     let Johnson off? She thought ahead to the worst possible result—a finding in favor of the defendant. After that, Asher’s dad
     would give his son a party at the Ruby Skye, and she would slink home alone.
    The humiliation would be all hers.
    Beside her, Nicky doodled a caricature of her with a star on her chest and a halo behind her head. She managed a smile, and
     then the room fell silent.
    Judge Rabinowitz asked Asher if the defense was ready to close, and he answered, “Yes, Your Honor, we are.”
    Like a Thoroughbred into the starting gate, Asher nearly pranced toward the jury box. He put his hand on the railing and—while
     standing no more than a yard away from the jurors in the front row, close enough for the foreperson to see the comb marks
     in his hair and the sparkle on his dental veneers—began his summation.
    “Folks, I don’t have any notes because Adam Johnson’s defense is as simple and as clear as day.
    “He’s not a doctor. He doesn’t know anything about sick people or about medicine. He didn’t know that Dr. Harris was in serious
     distress.
    “Adam Johnson is a handyman.
    “Lincoln Harris was a doctor of medicine.
    “And, as the medical examiner told you, Lincoln Harris didn’t die from cocaine overdose. He died from cocaine and a self-injected
     dose of heroin.
    “What happened is that those drugs interacted, and that proved fatal. Dr. Harris knew what drugs did to the body, and he took
     them anyway. For all anyone knows, he intended to die.
    “I think Mr. Johnson would agree that if he had it to do again, when he saw that Dr. Harris was ill, he would have immediately
     called nine one one. He probably would have done everything different that night, but he made some mistakes.
    “Yes, he’s guilty of stealing two thousand dollars from a rich boss who had given him his ATM pin number.
    “Yes, he’s guilty of giving those drugs to Ms. Wu, a known drug user and a prostitute, and while this is true, it’s a technicality.
     He wasn’t actually dealing. He used drugs for recreation.
    “As for consciousness of guilt, I submit to you folks that my client was just shooting the bull with Ms. Wu when they discussed
     ‘dumping the body.’
    “They didn’t do it, did they?” Asher asked rhetorically. “Mr. Johnson called