Lindsay had never appeared before this judge, and she knew she was making a terrible first impression. “I was working to lock down the details of important evidence that I hope you’ll be open to hearing this morning, Your Honor. This entire situation has been a rush to judgment on the part of law enforcement.”

Judge Harper’s expression made it clear that she was unimpressed. Nunzio was on his feet before Lindsay could speak again. “That actually brings us back to the threshold issue we opened with, Your Honor, which you were reluctant to take up prior to Ms. Kelly’s belated arrival. As stated previously, the People move to disqualify Ms. Kelly as defense counsel in light of a conflict of interest that we believe could jeopardize any conviction we might obtain against Tara King, aka Hope Miller, were she to proceed with Ms. Kelly as her representation.”

“There’s no conflict of interest, Your Honor. This is a blatant attempt to interfere with my client’s Sixth Amendment right to counsel, which the police already violated yesterday by refusing to permit me access to my client while she was in their custody.”

“Despite the fact that Ms. Kelly knew that police were actively searching for the defendant as a material witness, police happened to locate the defendant in the very same room as Ms. Kelly when they were in the process of executing a search warrant.”

“My client sought me out for legal advice as soon as she learned that police were interested in contacting her. That does not create a conflict of interest. In fact, it evidences the existence of a meaningful attorney-client relationship, which the state is actively attempting to undermine.”

Nunzio shook his head and asked the judge for permission to approach the bench, which she granted. In one hand, he held a thin notebook with a dark-green cover. In the other, he held two sheets of paper, which he handed to Lindsay before stepping toward Judge Harper.

The photocopy of the journal entry confirmed Lindsay’s suspicions. She objected immediately. “Your Honor, this is outrageous. The police removed years of my client’s diaries from her home—private journal entries that have absolutely nothing to do with the crimes police were supposedly investigating. A search warrant is not blanket permission for a fishing expedition. The law requires that the evidentiary nature of property must be ‘readily apparent’ for it to be seizable.”

Nunzio was prepared for the argument. “Your Honor, the search warrant expressly authorized police to search for and seize any evidence, including documents and writings, that pertained to the defendant’s true identity or to any prior contact between her and Alex Lopez. Journals authored by the defendant would be an obvious place to look in light of the unusual circumstances of this case. It was only in the course of scanning those journals for evidence that we came upon this.”