Hostile Witness

CHAPTER 16

CHAPTER 16

"I don't know. I figure she did it but she'll probably get off. I mean she's rich, right? If you're rich you get off in Los Angeles." - Steven, 21, man on the street interview regarding Hannah Sheraton

In the four days that followed, the lab technician testified that the charred matches found in the debris of the Rayburn fire were damn near one of a kind or, at least, very unusual. Each matchstick was carved into a tiny octagon, the Chinese symbol for good luck was almost microscopically stamped on each shaft and the sulfur on the head was a neon rainbow of colors. The company that manufactured those matches was in Taiwan. They had a decent foothold on the East Coast but only a handful of customers on the west. The Coffee Haus in the Palisades Village was one of them. Hannah Sheraton was a regular at the Coffee Haus.

Josie asked the lab tech if the charred matches found on the first floor of the Rayburn house came from the box found in Hannah Sheraton's room. He could only be certain that the matches at the scene were exactly the same as those in the box found in Hannah's room. Josie asked if anyone could be sure they came from a particular box.

No, probably not, but . . .

Josie cut him off but a quick look at the jury told her she'd gained no ground. They liked the connections Rudy had already made with this witness. Rudy called the detective who searched the Rayburn home when it was determined it was a crime scene.

How many boxes of matches from the Coffee Haus had he found in the Rayburn home?

"Two," said the witness. "The Coffee Haus matches logged with my mark and entered as exhibit eleven were found in a foyer table that was situated between the front door and Ms. Sheraton's bedroom. The Coffee Haus matches logged with my mark and entered as exhibit twelve were found in Hannah Sheraton's bedroom, hidden beneath her mattress along with marijuana and a small stash of pills. There were no other matches of that particular brand found in the rest of the house."

"Did you conduct a thorough search of the Rayburn home including the wing that was damaged in the fire?"

"Yes, the house was thoroughly searched and no, I did not find a Coffee Haus box in the wing where the fire occurred."

"So you only found two boxes of those particular matches. One in a hall table near the defendant's room, the other hidden in Hannah Sheraton's room," Rudy asked.

"Yes," came the answer.

Rudy wanted to know about the other things the detective found hidden in Hannah's room. Josie objected. The question was overly broad. Rudy got more specific.

"What kind of pills did you find hidden in the defendant's room?"

"Vicodin. Prescription pain relievers."

"Were the pills in a prescription bottle?"

"No," came the detective's reply

"Did you find a prescription for Vicodin in Hannah Sheraton's name anywhere in the house?"

"No."

"Did you determine what bottle the pills in Hannah Sheraton's room came from?"

"Objection, Your Honor. Speculation. There is no way to know if those pills were taken from a specific bottle," Josie insisted.

"Sustained.

"Didn't you find a prescription bottle on the premises?" Rudy would connect the dots another way. "There was a bottle of the same medication in Justice Rayburn's bathroom."

"Was the bottle damaged?"

"The bottle was dirtied with soot and slightly melted, but the label was intact."

"And what did you conclude?"

"I found that a prescription for Vicodin had been filled for Fritz Rayburn the day before the fire. There were seven pills missing from the Justice Rayburn's bottle; six pills were found in Hannah Sheraton's room. The autopsy showed that Justice Rayburn had ingested one pill approximately five hours before he died."

"Did you find any fingerprints other than those of Justice Rayburn on the pill bottle?"

"We found a partial that matched Hannah Sheraton's right thumb."

"What did you conclude from this?" Rudy asked.

"That Ms. Sheraton had taken pills from that bottle sometime before the fire started."

"Why are you sure she touched that bottle before the fire started?"

"The defendant's right hand was burned in the fire. We could not get a clear thumb print during our booking procedure because of her burn but she had been fingerprinted after an arrest earlier this year."

"I see." Rudy nodded sagely. "It is sad when someone will go to such lengths for drugs."

"Move to strike," Josie called.

"So stricken. Watch it, Mr. Klein."

Rudy barely acknowledged the judge as he went on.

"You also found marijuana cigarettes during your search."

"I did. One was partially smoked."

"Where did you find the marijuana, the Vicodin, and the matches?"

"I found all of these things in a small box. The partially smoked marijuana cigarette was in the matchbox. All these things were hidden in the defendant's bedroom."

"And did the matchbox carry any identification?"

"Yes, it came from the Coffee Haus in the Palisades village."

"The same coffee shop that was referred to by the lab technician?"

"Yes."

"Asked and answered," Josie objected.

"Could you tell if a match from that box had been struck recently?" Rudy moved on.

"Yes. There were marks and sulfur residue on the scratch strip of the box."

"Can you tell when the match or matches had been struck?" Rudy asked.

"Not precisely but the sulfur residue was fresh."

"Was there sulfur residue on the second box?"

"No."

"Were there fingerprints on the first match box found in Ms. Sheraton's room?"

"Yes. They were Hannah Sheraton's fingerprints."

"And on the matchbox found in the hall?"

"There were partials we couldn't match."

Rudy turned to Josie.

"Your witness."