“Your Honor, the defense proffers as follows: the evidence will show that Richard Trofino was present in Ms. Goodwin’s office on the day of the murder, sometime after six. Lieutenant Velasquez has already testified to this, but we also expect that Mr. Trofino will confirm that fact when he takes the stand. We don’t know if Mr. Trofino will admit to being alone in Ms. Goodwin’s office, but even if he were to deny it, that denial will be rebutted by the testimony of one of the secretaries at the DA’s office, who will say that she saw him alone in Ms. Goodwin’s office for several minutes. So on that front, we think we have strong evidence of Mr. Trofino being alone in Ms. Goodwin’s office.”

Judge Gold interrupts to get to the point. “There’s a big difference between proving that Mr. Trofino was alone in Ms. Goodwin’s office and establishing that he took her phone. What evidence do you have on that score?”

“Lieutenant Velasquez has already testified that Ms. Goodwin told him that she lost her phone,” LeMarcus says. “The receipt from the Apple store shows that Ms. Goodwin replaced her phone the day of the murder—”

“Why shouldn’t I conclude from your statement that Ms. Goodwin sent the text and then got rid of her phone and bought a replacement?” Judge Gold interrupts.

“Because her husband will corroborate that she did not have her phone when she got home, which was hours before Ms. Wright was killed.”

The look on Judge Gold’s face indicates that he sees nothing wrong with LeMarcus’s theory. When it’s my turn, I tell him why it’s very wrong.

“Your Honor, the prosecution has multiple objections to the proffer just made by Mr. Burrows, but the main one is that the testimony he’s promised has absolutely no credibility. Specifically, Ms. Goodwin’s testimony that she lost her phone before the murder is all based solely on her word. And her husband’s so-called corroboration is just as self-serving. He can be expected to lie to protect his wife and the mother of his young son from a murder conviction. By contrast, the People’s proffer is that Mr. Trofino will deny all of it. He will testify that he did not take Ms. Wright’s phone and he never sent the text at issue.”

“Talk about self-serving,” Burrows says, trying to talk over me. “Every word out of Richard Trofino’s mouth is a lie.”

“Okay, thank you both,” Judge Gold says, trying to reestablish some order. “I’ve heard enough.”