BooksBarbecue
Back The Hallows Save as PDF
Chapters (89)
  1. TITLE PAGE
  2. COPYRIGHT PAGE
  3. DEDICATION
  4. CONTENTS
  5. 1
  6. 2
  7. 3
  8. 4
  9. 5
  10. 6
  11. 7
  12. 8
  13. 9
  14. 10
  15. 11
  16. 12
  17. 13
  18. 14
  19. 15
  20. 16
  21. 17
  22. 18
  23. 19
  24. 20
  25. 21
  26. 22
  27. 23
  28. 24
  29. 25
  30. 26
  31. 27
  32. 28
  33. 29
  34. 30
  35. 31
  36. 32
  37. 33
  38. 34
  39. 35
  40. 36
  41. 37
  42. 38
  43. 39
  44. 40
  45. 41
  46. 42
  47. 43
  48. 44
  49. 45
  50. 46
  51. 47
  52. 48
  53. 49
  54. 50
  55. 51
  56. 52
  57. 53
  58. 54
  59. 55
  60. 56
  61. 57
  62. 58
  63. 59
  64. 60
  65. 61
  66. 62
  67. 63
  68. 64
  69. 65
  70. 66
  71. 67
  72. 68
  73. 69
  74. 70
  75. 71
  76. 72
  77. 73
  78. 74
  79. 75
  80. 76
  81. 77
  82. 78
  83. 79
  84. 80
  85. 81
  86. 82
  87. 83
  88. ACKNOWLEDGMENTS
  89. ABOUT THE AUTHOR

“You carry a gun, too?” I said, taking a guess. More than half the people in this county were hunters and carried.

“Sometimes.”

“You carry this knife and gun for protection, right?”

He thought a second. “Yeah. I guess.”

“And the trooper, the night of the arrest, searched you for weapons like all good troopers do, right?”

“Yeah.”

“And he didn’t find the gun.”

“No, I didn’t have it on me.”

“It’s a felony to possess a firearm with illegal drugs. You’re aware of that, right?”

“Um. No.”

“No you are, or you aren’t aware of that?” I took a step closer to him. His grin was gone.

“Um, no I didn’t know that.”

I lifted the police report off the prosecution table and stepped closer to him. “Show me in this inventory of the car where your gun is listed.”

He glanced down and said, “It’s not there.”

“You left it at home.”

“Yeah.”

“And if the trooper had found the gun in the car, they would’ve charged you with a felony possession of a firearm, right?”

“I don’t know.”

“They could even charge it as a federal offense.”

He shrugged and his eyes had grown wide. He kept glancing at his lawyer, but I wasn’t saying anything objectionable, so there wasn’t anything he could do.

“Where did you learn that possessing a gun around drugs was a felony offense? On a website or from a buddy?”

If you wanted more than a yes or a no, you always presented the witness with an option and let them pick. It was like choosing the two best outfits for your kid to wear and letting them decide so they thought they had the victory. He had already stated he didn’t know it was a felony, but you just had to rephrase questions a little bit and people didn’t realize what they were being asked.

“Um, I don’t know . . . I don’t know.”

“You don’t know or don’t remember? Go ahead and jog your memory. We’ll wait.”

Silence in the courtroom while we sat there. I folded my arms and stared into his pupils. “Well?”

“Um, I guess I heard it from someone.”

Bingo.

“And your buddy that told you having guns near drugs was a felony told you that you should leave the gun at home when transporting drugs anywhere.”

He looked to his lawyer and I stepped between them. The lawyer stood up and said, “Objection. Relevance.”

I looked to the judge and said, “Do I even need to respond to that, Judge?”

“Overruled,” he said without looking at either of us.

I turned back to Chad. “So your buddy with experience in these things said transporting drugs with a gun is worse than drug dealing and you should leave the gun at home.”

He shrugged. “I guess.”

“You left the gun at home.”

“Yeah.”