Free Legal Thriller: Michael Gresham: Secrets Girls Keep: A Courtroom Drama (Michael Gresham Legal Thriller Series Book 2) by John Ellsworth Page A

clerk to call the first case of her afternoon calendar.
    And we're off.
    Seventy minutes later, after the mid-afternoon break, the clerk calls State of Illinois vs. Jana S. Emerich . The spate of prisoners has been replenished with new blood; among them sits Jana, looking pale and keeping his eyes on the floor of the prisoner dock. Almost by reflex, I am on my feet and taking my place at the lectern. Jana is unclipped from the long chain binding him to twelve other unfortunates, and a burly deputy sheriff seizes his elbow and walks him to the lectern. He takes his place beside me, stands up straight, and draws a deep breath. His hands are shaking, and it is with great difficulty that he keeps eye contact with the judge as I have asked him to do.
    Judge Lancer-Burgess launches into the litany of rights, the purpose of the initial hearing, and basic data-gathering as required at the initial hearing. She speaks quickly, a communicating machine.
    Then she turns her attention to me, the attorney for the defendant, who, up until now, has had very little to say beyond yes and no.
    Again, without looking at the person she's speaking to, the judge asks, "Mr. State's Attorney, is there a position on bail?"
    "No bail!" the State's Attorney replies by rote.
    "Mr. Gresham, what say you? I'm sure you're seeking OR release on this first degree murder charge?"
    "No, Your Honor. I'm seeking a bail that you are satisfied will guarantee the defendant's appearance at trial. As the court is aware, the key detail the court must consider when setting bail is the defendant's ties to the community. In this case, Your Honor, the defendant's father is Frederic Bjorn, the head of the All-Saints-St. Thomas church barely five miles from here. Father Bjorn has requested that the defendant be released into my custody, Your Honor. I'm willing to accept that responsibility, as is my wife, who is also in court here today, if the Court sees fit to set bail on those terms."
    "How much bail, Mr. Gresham?"
    "I don't know what Father Bjorn has in the way of assets. My guess is that he knows people who will step up for him and help him make bail for his son."
    "Are you one of those people?"
    "Your Honor, it would be against the law for me to make bail for a client so of course I won't be doing that. However, it is quite within my rights to request that the defendant be released into my custody when he actually makes his bail. I am requesting that be done."
    "Mr. State's Attorney, the Court will set bail unless the proof is evident and the presumption great, and in those cases defendants don't get bail. What are you prepared to tell us about the proof and the presumptions at play here?"
    The State's Attorney comes to his feet and immediately launches into what he's been cleared by his superior officers to reveal today in court. This is usually a ticklish proposition for the prosecution because, one, they need to tell enough to stop the setting of bail, while, two, they don't want to give away the whole case against the defendant.
    "Judge," says the SA, "the victim in this case is the daughter of our Mayor, Abraham Tanenbaum. The girl's name is Amy and she was fourteen. Amy was last seen in the company of the defendant Jana Emerich at Wendover High School as she traversed the football field around to the public restrooms. Our witness will say she saw Amy enter the bathroom by herself. Our witness then turned away to watch the game and when she again looked up she no longer saw the defendant. She has no idea where he went, but she didn't see him again that night. The next morning, the dead girl's body was found underneath the bleachers where the night before she had sat beside the defendant, laughing and cheering as the game progressed. Also, the defendant’s red muffler was found near the girl’s body—evidence that he had been there with her beneath the bleachers. For these reasons—the fact the defendant was the last one seen with the victim and the fact no other