Chapter 1 - An Unknown Dilemma
Chapter 2 - A Story Emerges
Chapter 3 - Wars of Words
Chapter 4 - Entitled
Chapter 5 - The Evidence Mounts
Chapter 6 - Playing Favorites?
Chapter 7 - The Tables are Turned
Chapter 8 - Who's Guilty?
Chapter 9 - Aloha, Mom
Chapter 10 - Working as a Team
Chapter 11 - Breakthrough
Chapter 12 - What Money Can't Buy
Chapter 2 - A Story Emerges
Chapter 3 - Wars of Words
Chapter 4 - Entitled
Chapter 5 - The Evidence Mounts
Chapter 6 - Playing Favorites?
Chapter 7 - The Tables are Turned
Chapter 8 - Who's Guilty?
Chapter 9 - Aloha, Mom
Chapter 10 - Working as a Team
Chapter 11 - Breakthrough
Chapter 12 - What Money Can't Buy
Chapter 7 - The Tables are Turned
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Steve McGarrett tapped his fingers restlessly on a wooden table as he watched Walter Stewart brief Danny Williams on what to expect in court. Danno was attentive and listened quietly while Walter proceeded to give him a lecture. “Any good lawyer is going to know exactly what you are going to say before they ask the question. Stick to concise answers. Goulart’s goal is going to be to make you say more than you need to. If he doesn’t ask a question don’t say anything.”
Danny nodded as he said, “Got it.”
“Any questions?” Walter asked.
“No, sir.”
“Good. You’ll do fine.” Walter turned and looked towards Steve. “You ready?”
“I’m more than ready to have another go at Goulart.”
“Mike told me about that.” Walter’s tone grew stern. “Try to keep things within the realm of respectability this time.”
“I’ll behave if he does.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” the Attorney General murmured.
Steve ignored Walter as he continued his preparations and instead studied Williams. He was visibly tense which was understandable but Steve sensed that there was something else underneath it all. When Danno noticed Steve looking at him an expression of alarm flashed briefly upon his face.
Steve moved next to the young cop and pulled him aside. “Danno, what is it?”
“Nothing,” Danny insisted but the grimace that crossed his face at the mention of his nickname told Steve that Danno was lying.
“It’s okay to be nervous,” Steve said as he tried to reassure the young man.
“I’m not nervous,” Danny replied.
Steve was skeptical. “If you aren’t nervous then why are you so jumpy?”
Danno looked guilty as he confessed, “Look, I just want this over with that’s all.”
Steve sensed that there was something more but he also realized that he needed to be careful. Danno was worked up about something and just pushing him would only make matters worse.
“It’s time,” Walter called out.
Steve inwardly cursed Walter’s timing. His gut told him something was wrong with Danno and that it was something more than just nervousness; Danno had never looked at him in that way before. However, Steve was forced to enter the courtroom and hope that whatever was bothering Danno was something that they could deal with after the hearing.
As Danny followed McGarrett into the courtroom, he was relieved at Stewart’s timing. Steve was too perceptive and Danny wasn’t sure that he could share his concerns about this hearing and the risks he was taking with the detective quite yet. While it was clear that McGarrett cared, care and trust were two different things. After last night, Danny wasn’t sure that he trusted Steve McGarrett.
Danny sat in the back as the preliminary hearing began which placed a good distance between him and McGarrett, who was sitting behind the prosecution. The judge, a man by the name of Lawson, began the hearing and Danny pushed his worries from his mind as he attempted to follow the arguments as best as he could. The defense tried to show how the evidence led to the conclusion that Richard Mint had a hand in Susan Carver’s death while Goulart pushed back by arguing that the prosecution’s case required one to make leaps of logic by pointing out that the prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence and what Goulart claimed was shaky evidence at that.
After an hour passed it was Danny’s turn to take the stand. He was sworn in and then preceded to answer the Attorney General’s questions in calm factual manner. When Steward sat down, Steve sent him an encouraging look as Goulart approached the stand.
Every gesture, every word appeared to be careful calculated as Goulart looked at Danny and said, “Officer Williams, how long have you been a police officer?”
Danny remembered Stewart’s advice to be brief and sound professional as he replied, “Three months.”
“Three months,” the lawyer repeated. “And was my client your first DUI arrest?”
“No, there have been several others.”
“So would it be fair to assume that you are familiar with what the sign of a drunken driver are?”
“Yes.”
Goulart looked down at his notes but Danny figured that he was doing it for show. “I see here that you studied at the University of Honolulu, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“What did you study?”
“Psychology.”
“Would I be correct in saying that you are familiar with the concept of transference?”
Danny bit the inside of his check in worry. He had no idea where the lawyer was going with this but he didn’t think that it would be good. “Yes.”
“Please explain the concept to the court.”
“Transference is when a person’s unconscious places one’s emotions of a particular individual onto another.”
“So by your definition it would be possible for a person who is angry at someone to take that anger out on another individual believing that getting back at the original person who made them angry.”
Danny debated his answer before carefully saying, “Yes, it’s possible.”
Goulart nodded and then moved on. “Officer Williams, can you tell the court what happened on the evening of April 17, 1955.”
Danny turned white as he realized what Goulart was up to. He shot a worried look at the prosecution; they could read his uneasiness but none of them understood the significance of that date.
Stalling, Danny answered, “My high school baseball team made the city playoffs.”
The courtroom laughed and Goulart looked irritated as he said, “You know that wasn’t what I was asking.”
“It’s true,” Danny shot back forcing himself to keep the anger he felt out of his voice.
“What happened later that evening?”
Knowing that he had no other choice, Danny stated, “My mother died.”
McGarrett jumped up and immediately started whispering furiously into Stewart’s ear and Danny dared to hope that they would be able to put a stop to this.
The lawyer pressed on, “And how did your mother die?”
The Attorney General rose. “I object. An event that happened when the witness was a teenager holds no relevance to the current case.”
Goulart didn’t let Steward’s objection faze him as he faced Judge Lawson with somber expression on his face. “Your Honor, I assure you that my questions are very relevant to the case at hand.”
Looking directly at Lawson, Stewart stated firmly, “Your Honor, the witness simply investigated a wrecked car along his regular route. Williams’ personal history couldn’t have affected his responses.”
Judge Lawson seemed to consider the points for moment before answering, “Goulart, you better be right. This line of questioning may continue.”
Knowing that it would pointless to evade any longer Danny said softy, “My mother was killed in a car accident.”
Goulart looked like a hound on the hunt as he pressed, “Who was the person who killed her?”
Danny was beginning to wish that he was anywhere else as painful memories rose unbidden to the surface. “I don’t know; it was a hit and run. The police never solved the case.”
“But they did have a theory.”
Danny remained silent.
“Your Honor, will please direct the witness to answer the question?”
Before the judge could speak, Danny spoke up, “You didn’t ask a question.”
The lawyer acknowledged Danny’s point with a nod before asking, “What did the police theorize about your mother’s killer?”
Danny forced himself to keep the pain and the anger from his voice as he said, “From talking to witnesses they were pretty sure that the driver of the car that hit my mother was drunk.” There it was out.
Goulart seemed to have gotten what he wanted as he turned away from Danny and faced the judge. To Danny’s eyes Goulart looked like an actor preparing to take center stage as he began to speak. “Your Honor, the prosecution has gone to great lengths to unjustly tie my client to a murder that he did not commit. And not only is my client innocent, the prosecution would have him be tried for murder on the flimsiest of evidence that requires one to make great leaps of logic in order to arrive at a guilty verdict. Your Honor, we would be wasting the court’s time in taking this case to trial. For I find it odd the prosecution keeps on tying my client to a man they claim was in the room at the time of the murder, a man that they claim my client hired, a man that we all can see is not present in this courtroom. I hereby submit to the court that the evidence presented to this court by the prosecution ignores the presence of another man who we know was in contact with my client on the night in question. A man who is present in this courtroom, a man who had his mother tragically taken from him by a killer who was never found, a man who would have the motive to see a prominent member of our city be brought low by the results of a night of drunkenness.
“This court has heard Officer Williams explain the concept of transference and I offer to this court that when Williams saw my client drinking he projected his feelings of his mother’s killer unto to my client in order to make someone pay for his mother’s death.”
“I object!” Steward shouted as he jumped to feet. “There is absolutely no evidence to support this claim!”
The courtroom erupted in chatter as Danny sat stunned in the witness stand. He could hardly believe that someone would use his mother death to accuse him of wrongdoing!
“Order, order!” Judge Lawson shouted as tapped his gravel. “Unless the defensive can support their claims I will order the last exchange stricken from the record.”
Goulart inclined his head toward Judge Lawson. “Of course I would never think of making such a bold claim without proof of wrongdoing.” Danny heart leapt into his throat as the lawyer appeared too confident, too sure of himself to be making a mere supposition. Danny held his breath as Goulart continued, “I have a witness who will swear that he saw Dan Williams meet my client in the Last Call Bar and I have proof that my client was not the one who wrecked a car on the Old Pali Road.”
Danny could feel his temper rising with every word that came out of Goulart’ mouth. He then watched as the lawyer showed the court a vial of blood and said, “This blood was taken from my client shortly after he was released on bail. A physician at the Queens Hospital confirmed that my client’s alcohol content was above the legal limit for driving but he also discovered the presence of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, in my client’s blood. GHB is odorless and it is impossible to detect when mixed with alcohol and it can cause dizziness, hallucinations and amnesia; effects that are enhanced and can last for several hours when mixed with alcohol.”
Goulart paused to let his words sink in. “With what my client had in his system it would have been impossible for him to drive a car let alone reach the location where the prosecution claims he crashed; a location that just happened to be along an empty stretch of road that this witness patrols.”
Stewart was whispering furiously with McGarrett and Chief Dann. Danny wished that he knew what they were saying. Did they blame him for not warning them that is his mother’s death could hurt his creditability in this case? Did they believe the lies that Goulart was spewing?
“I submit to the court that when Dan Williams visited my client at the Last Call Bar that he placed the drug in my client’s drink, that Dan Williams then drove my client to the place of the wreck, and then Dan Williams conveniently “found” my client when he was on patrol. And as for the murder of murder of Susan Carver I would say at least that it was coincidence that she was killed on the evening in question and at worst she was a victim of William’s plot to ensnare my client.”
Livid, Danny jumped to his feet and screamed at Goulart, “That’s crazy! I never ever heard of your client before that night so how in the hell am I supposed to have set him up?”
“Order! Order!”
Danny didn’t hear the judge; he was too caught up in the rage of the moment. “What do you think you’re doing, you slimy bastard? Do you command a higher fee for spewing blatant lies and outrageous stories?”
Judge Lawson was beside himself as he slammed his gravel down. “Order! Officer Williams, sit down and behave yourself or I will have you removed from this courtroom.”
“Danno!”
That one word from McGarrett’s lips brought Danny back to reality as he realized that he had totally lost control. His whole body was shaking as he slowly sat down in his seat and tried to figure out what possessed him to cuss out a defense attorney in a public courtroom.
Danny didn’t have to look at the prosecution to know that he had screwed up. Goulart was opening grinning as he said, “I hereby submit to this court that not only is there not enough evidence to charge my client; I say that the evidence points to serious case of malfeasance by Officer Dan Williams of HPD.”
Danny nodded as he said, “Got it.”
“Any questions?” Walter asked.
“No, sir.”
“Good. You’ll do fine.” Walter turned and looked towards Steve. “You ready?”
“I’m more than ready to have another go at Goulart.”
“Mike told me about that.” Walter’s tone grew stern. “Try to keep things within the realm of respectability this time.”
“I’ll behave if he does.”
“That’s what I’m afraid of,” the Attorney General murmured.
Steve ignored Walter as he continued his preparations and instead studied Williams. He was visibly tense which was understandable but Steve sensed that there was something else underneath it all. When Danno noticed Steve looking at him an expression of alarm flashed briefly upon his face.
Steve moved next to the young cop and pulled him aside. “Danno, what is it?”
“Nothing,” Danny insisted but the grimace that crossed his face at the mention of his nickname told Steve that Danno was lying.
“It’s okay to be nervous,” Steve said as he tried to reassure the young man.
“I’m not nervous,” Danny replied.
Steve was skeptical. “If you aren’t nervous then why are you so jumpy?”
Danno looked guilty as he confessed, “Look, I just want this over with that’s all.”
Steve sensed that there was something more but he also realized that he needed to be careful. Danno was worked up about something and just pushing him would only make matters worse.
“It’s time,” Walter called out.
Steve inwardly cursed Walter’s timing. His gut told him something was wrong with Danno and that it was something more than just nervousness; Danno had never looked at him in that way before. However, Steve was forced to enter the courtroom and hope that whatever was bothering Danno was something that they could deal with after the hearing.
As Danny followed McGarrett into the courtroom, he was relieved at Stewart’s timing. Steve was too perceptive and Danny wasn’t sure that he could share his concerns about this hearing and the risks he was taking with the detective quite yet. While it was clear that McGarrett cared, care and trust were two different things. After last night, Danny wasn’t sure that he trusted Steve McGarrett.
Danny sat in the back as the preliminary hearing began which placed a good distance between him and McGarrett, who was sitting behind the prosecution. The judge, a man by the name of Lawson, began the hearing and Danny pushed his worries from his mind as he attempted to follow the arguments as best as he could. The defense tried to show how the evidence led to the conclusion that Richard Mint had a hand in Susan Carver’s death while Goulart pushed back by arguing that the prosecution’s case required one to make leaps of logic by pointing out that the prosecution’s case was based on circumstantial evidence and what Goulart claimed was shaky evidence at that.
After an hour passed it was Danny’s turn to take the stand. He was sworn in and then preceded to answer the Attorney General’s questions in calm factual manner. When Steward sat down, Steve sent him an encouraging look as Goulart approached the stand.
Every gesture, every word appeared to be careful calculated as Goulart looked at Danny and said, “Officer Williams, how long have you been a police officer?”
Danny remembered Stewart’s advice to be brief and sound professional as he replied, “Three months.”
“Three months,” the lawyer repeated. “And was my client your first DUI arrest?”
“No, there have been several others.”
“So would it be fair to assume that you are familiar with what the sign of a drunken driver are?”
“Yes.”
Goulart looked down at his notes but Danny figured that he was doing it for show. “I see here that you studied at the University of Honolulu, is that correct?”
“Yes.”
“What did you study?”
“Psychology.”
“Would I be correct in saying that you are familiar with the concept of transference?”
Danny bit the inside of his check in worry. He had no idea where the lawyer was going with this but he didn’t think that it would be good. “Yes.”
“Please explain the concept to the court.”
“Transference is when a person’s unconscious places one’s emotions of a particular individual onto another.”
“So by your definition it would be possible for a person who is angry at someone to take that anger out on another individual believing that getting back at the original person who made them angry.”
Danny debated his answer before carefully saying, “Yes, it’s possible.”
Goulart nodded and then moved on. “Officer Williams, can you tell the court what happened on the evening of April 17, 1955.”
Danny turned white as he realized what Goulart was up to. He shot a worried look at the prosecution; they could read his uneasiness but none of them understood the significance of that date.
Stalling, Danny answered, “My high school baseball team made the city playoffs.”
The courtroom laughed and Goulart looked irritated as he said, “You know that wasn’t what I was asking.”
“It’s true,” Danny shot back forcing himself to keep the anger he felt out of his voice.
“What happened later that evening?”
Knowing that he had no other choice, Danny stated, “My mother died.”
McGarrett jumped up and immediately started whispering furiously into Stewart’s ear and Danny dared to hope that they would be able to put a stop to this.
The lawyer pressed on, “And how did your mother die?”
The Attorney General rose. “I object. An event that happened when the witness was a teenager holds no relevance to the current case.”
Goulart didn’t let Steward’s objection faze him as he faced Judge Lawson with somber expression on his face. “Your Honor, I assure you that my questions are very relevant to the case at hand.”
Looking directly at Lawson, Stewart stated firmly, “Your Honor, the witness simply investigated a wrecked car along his regular route. Williams’ personal history couldn’t have affected his responses.”
Judge Lawson seemed to consider the points for moment before answering, “Goulart, you better be right. This line of questioning may continue.”
Knowing that it would pointless to evade any longer Danny said softy, “My mother was killed in a car accident.”
Goulart looked like a hound on the hunt as he pressed, “Who was the person who killed her?”
Danny was beginning to wish that he was anywhere else as painful memories rose unbidden to the surface. “I don’t know; it was a hit and run. The police never solved the case.”
“But they did have a theory.”
Danny remained silent.
“Your Honor, will please direct the witness to answer the question?”
Before the judge could speak, Danny spoke up, “You didn’t ask a question.”
The lawyer acknowledged Danny’s point with a nod before asking, “What did the police theorize about your mother’s killer?”
Danny forced himself to keep the pain and the anger from his voice as he said, “From talking to witnesses they were pretty sure that the driver of the car that hit my mother was drunk.” There it was out.
Goulart seemed to have gotten what he wanted as he turned away from Danny and faced the judge. To Danny’s eyes Goulart looked like an actor preparing to take center stage as he began to speak. “Your Honor, the prosecution has gone to great lengths to unjustly tie my client to a murder that he did not commit. And not only is my client innocent, the prosecution would have him be tried for murder on the flimsiest of evidence that requires one to make great leaps of logic in order to arrive at a guilty verdict. Your Honor, we would be wasting the court’s time in taking this case to trial. For I find it odd the prosecution keeps on tying my client to a man they claim was in the room at the time of the murder, a man that they claim my client hired, a man that we all can see is not present in this courtroom. I hereby submit to the court that the evidence presented to this court by the prosecution ignores the presence of another man who we know was in contact with my client on the night in question. A man who is present in this courtroom, a man who had his mother tragically taken from him by a killer who was never found, a man who would have the motive to see a prominent member of our city be brought low by the results of a night of drunkenness.
“This court has heard Officer Williams explain the concept of transference and I offer to this court that when Williams saw my client drinking he projected his feelings of his mother’s killer unto to my client in order to make someone pay for his mother’s death.”
“I object!” Steward shouted as he jumped to feet. “There is absolutely no evidence to support this claim!”
The courtroom erupted in chatter as Danny sat stunned in the witness stand. He could hardly believe that someone would use his mother death to accuse him of wrongdoing!
“Order, order!” Judge Lawson shouted as tapped his gravel. “Unless the defensive can support their claims I will order the last exchange stricken from the record.”
Goulart inclined his head toward Judge Lawson. “Of course I would never think of making such a bold claim without proof of wrongdoing.” Danny heart leapt into his throat as the lawyer appeared too confident, too sure of himself to be making a mere supposition. Danny held his breath as Goulart continued, “I have a witness who will swear that he saw Dan Williams meet my client in the Last Call Bar and I have proof that my client was not the one who wrecked a car on the Old Pali Road.”
Danny could feel his temper rising with every word that came out of Goulart’ mouth. He then watched as the lawyer showed the court a vial of blood and said, “This blood was taken from my client shortly after he was released on bail. A physician at the Queens Hospital confirmed that my client’s alcohol content was above the legal limit for driving but he also discovered the presence of gamma-hydroxybutyrate, or GHB, in my client’s blood. GHB is odorless and it is impossible to detect when mixed with alcohol and it can cause dizziness, hallucinations and amnesia; effects that are enhanced and can last for several hours when mixed with alcohol.”
Goulart paused to let his words sink in. “With what my client had in his system it would have been impossible for him to drive a car let alone reach the location where the prosecution claims he crashed; a location that just happened to be along an empty stretch of road that this witness patrols.”
Stewart was whispering furiously with McGarrett and Chief Dann. Danny wished that he knew what they were saying. Did they blame him for not warning them that is his mother’s death could hurt his creditability in this case? Did they believe the lies that Goulart was spewing?
“I submit to the court that when Dan Williams visited my client at the Last Call Bar that he placed the drug in my client’s drink, that Dan Williams then drove my client to the place of the wreck, and then Dan Williams conveniently “found” my client when he was on patrol. And as for the murder of murder of Susan Carver I would say at least that it was coincidence that she was killed on the evening in question and at worst she was a victim of William’s plot to ensnare my client.”
Livid, Danny jumped to his feet and screamed at Goulart, “That’s crazy! I never ever heard of your client before that night so how in the hell am I supposed to have set him up?”
“Order! Order!”
Danny didn’t hear the judge; he was too caught up in the rage of the moment. “What do you think you’re doing, you slimy bastard? Do you command a higher fee for spewing blatant lies and outrageous stories?”
Judge Lawson was beside himself as he slammed his gravel down. “Order! Officer Williams, sit down and behave yourself or I will have you removed from this courtroom.”
“Danno!”
That one word from McGarrett’s lips brought Danny back to reality as he realized that he had totally lost control. His whole body was shaking as he slowly sat down in his seat and tried to figure out what possessed him to cuss out a defense attorney in a public courtroom.
Danny didn’t have to look at the prosecution to know that he had screwed up. Goulart was opening grinning as he said, “I hereby submit to this court that not only is there not enough evidence to charge my client; I say that the evidence points to serious case of malfeasance by Officer Dan Williams of HPD.”