Page 74 of Shadow of Justice
“It was good. Jamie was great. I’d dated my share of losers up until that point. Jamie was different. He was thoughtful. He asked me about my family. He seemed secure with who he was, you know?”
“How long did you end up dating?”
“It was over a year.”
“You described things as going great. Did that change?”
“Oh yes. And I mean itreallychanged.”
“What do you mean?”
“Well, I wanna say things were good all that term and through most of that summer. But as we moved into the next school year, I don’t know. Jamie became really controlling.”
“In what way?”
“He just … he was always asking me where I was going. Like wanting my schedule. I had a cell phone at the time. An old clunky flip phone my dad wanted me to carry. If I had a call, Jamie always wanted to know who it was. I just started getting a bad vibe.”
“Did you talk to Jamie about that?”
“I did. I wasn’t happy. If I went out with other friends, Jamie would call me constantly. Like every hour, wanting to keep tabs on me. Then he’d just show up in places. Once I went to a strip mall to buy new clothes for this job interview I had lined up. Jamie was in the parking lot. He acted like it was a coincidence, but I knew it wasn’t.”
“Objection,” Cutler said. “Calls for speculation.”
“Sustained,” Judge Saul said. “Please disregard the witness’s last statement about whether Mr. Simmons’s appearance was a coincidence or not.”
“Ms. Landon,” I said. “How did your relationship with Mr. Simmons end?”
In the course of telling her story, Deena Landon gained more confidence. She sat straighter in her chair. Her voice became more clear. And she looked right at Jamie before answering my question.
“I ended it,” she said. “I told Jamie I wasn’t comfortable with how jealous he was becoming. I felt smothered. He didn’t take it well. He got … we got into a fight. He …”
“Objection! Your Honor, may we approach?”
I expected this. In truth, I was surprised Cutler waited this long for this particular battle. As I gathered my notes and walked up to the bench, I prepared for the worst.
“Your Honor,” Cutler said. “I think we’re going to need to argue this one outside the jury’s presence. I need everything on the record.”
Judge Saul nodded. She instructed her bailiff to send the jury out of the courtroom. I took my position back behind the prosecution table.
“Your Honor,” Cutler started. “Ms. Brent’s entire line of questioning is improper under Rule 404(B). She is attempting to introduce the defendant’s alleged prior bad acts.”
“Ms. Brent?”
“Your honor, this witness can testify about the defendant’s habits. His behavior with the victim in this case fits a pattern of conduct that is relevant to the issues here.”
“Is this witness going to talk about domestic violence?” Judge Saul asked.
“I believe she is.”
“She’s lying!” Jamie shouted. It was the first peep I’d heard out of him during the whole trial.
“You’re the liar!” Deena shouted back. “How can you sit there and pretend I don’t know who you are, you piece of …”
“Enough!” Judge Saul banged her gavel.
“Your Honor,” I said. “Again, Jamie Simmons’s behavior with this witness establishes a pattern of conduct that he has repeated time and again. They are similar to the current crime he’s charged with. As such, we fall under the exception to the rule and this witness’s testimony should be allowed. She has been on my witness list that was duly filed with the defense. Her testimony isn’t a surprise.”
“That’s not the standard,” Cutler said. “It’s well-settled law that evidence of any other crime, wrong, or act is not admissible to prove a person’s character in order to show that on a particular occasion the person acted in accordance with that character. Additionally, Mr. Simmons has been charged with murder. Whatever this witness thinks she experienced, it’s not similar to the current charge. The state’s argument doesn’t fall within any recognized exception. Frankly, I’d ask that Ms. Landon’s entire testimony up until this point be stricken. The jury shouldn’t have even heard from her at all.”
