【Episode 43 – What If the Case from
“I say this every time, but the coffee here at the Queens District Attorney’s Office is truly delicious. What beans do you use? Ethiopian?”
“Folgers.”
Folgers is America’s top-selling ground coffee—roughly the equivalent of Maxim instant coffee in Korea.
“I knew it. Where? Did you buy it at Costco? In bulk?”
“Get to the point. Is that why you’re getting told you’ve ‘fallen’ by some junior lawyer?”
“Who? Which good-for-nothing punk said that?”
“There is one.”
Carl Shane glanced at Samuel Lane through the window.
When he’d heard that he was the protagonist of the Camille Case, the man had been hovering outside for no reason.
“Ah, and if you’re going to make an appointment, courtesy demands you call at least a few hours in advance. What on earth do you call contacting me thirty minutes before you arrive?”
“A notice?”
“Are you actually a lawyer who came here to plea bargain with a prosecutor?”
“Carl, don’t make it so obvious.”
“Make what obvious?”
“That you’re a prosecutor desperate to dump cases before the re-election.”
*Damn genius.* He knows too well.
The American prosecution system is quite different from Korea’s.
It will be discussed in more detail later, but American District Attorneys are elected by popular vote.
At first glance it seems more fair, but it has its pros and cons.
First of all, American prosecutors are political. They officially support specific political parties and campaign for District Attorney elections through those bases.
“So, are you accepting it or what?”
“No, I came here to refuse.”
He had a feeling that was the case. He’d had a bad feeling ever since Danny showed up in the morning spouting unfunny jokes.
“If you’re thinking of getting it down to a year or less, don’t even dream of it.”
“I’m planning to argue not guilty.”
“What?”
“I came to give you a heads-up as a friend. If we go to trial and you lose a manslaughter charge, only for the defendant to walk free, it’ll be humiliating. So I’m telling you to add an assault charge as a fallback.”
“Haha. Isn’t that a violation of attorney ethics just now? It sounded like you were telling me how to keep your client locked up.”
“Either way, Ms. Go Jaesuk isn’t going to prison.”
Cheeky. But it’s a necessary trait for a lawyer.
Carl Shane had been bothered by the file folder Danny had been fidgeting with since earlier.
“A man is dead, and you want me to add an assault charge? Are you planning to argue a break in causality or something?”
“Bingo.”
“Hahaha. You of all people should know that won’t work, and yet you’re acting this cocky over such a weak hand? Someone was right—you’ve really hit rock bottom.”
“That ‘someone’—was he the guy who was here when I came in earlier? The one growing a beard that didn’t suit him at all?”
“Does that matter? Denny, do you know how many medical malpractice disputes are filed in New York State courts each year? Over twenty thousand. Number one in the entire United States. You know why better than anyone. Those people in your office, those so-called lawyers who stir up lawsuits—that’s why. Don’t fall that far, Denny Duncan.”
Denny, who had listened calmly to Carl’s attack until the very end, rose from his seat and finally threw the file folder he’d been holding onto Carl’s desk.
“Carl, you’re sorely mistaken if you think I came here to lay the groundwork for a medical malpractice suit. If that were my aim, I’d have sued the hospital from the get-go. I wouldn’t have bothered coming all the way here to plea bargain. This is evidence I’ll be submitting to the court this afternoon. Review it.”
Carl reluctantly picked up the file and began skimming through its contents.
“It’s evidence of how severely the deceased, Go Hyeonmuk, habitually insulted his wife, the suspect.”
“We already submitted this kind of thing.”
“No, these are different. Far more extensive evidence. Records spanning over a decade.”
“What?”
“Ah, there’s also a statement from the daughter. Make sure you read that carefully too.”
“We already submitted that as well.”
“Come on—it’s different. Testimony about how right before his death, Ms. Go Jaesuk tried so hard to persuade her husband to go back to the hospital, yet he stubbornly insisted he was fine, which is how it happened.”
“Hmph, you’re trying to argue the victim’s own negligence caused his death. You should know better than anyone how many precedents utterly demolish that argument.”
“Among all those precedents you know, was there ever a perpetrator who loved and protected the victim the way she did?”
“That’s……”
There wasn’t.
At least among the cases he could recall, the perpetrators were all criminals. Despicable criminals who used the negligence of third parties or the victim as an excuse to mitigate their own guilt by any means necessary.
“She’s a pitiful woman who blames herself for the accident, grieving her husband’s death. Carl, your job is to prosecute criminals on behalf of the citizens. Do you really feel like putting a woman like that in prison? Is there any need to?”
“……”
“Look deep inside your heart and ask if you really want that. It’s the end of the year, so I’m sure you have plenty of cases to handle. I mean cases involving people who actually belong in prison.”
Carl Shane shot a glare at Denny Duncan, about to retort, “That’s none of your business.”
But the words wouldn’t leave his mouth.
Danny’s eyes were saying, “If you argue for the sake of argument without properly reviewing the evidence brought to you, you’re admitting that you’re a pathetic prosecutor.”
“Fine. I’ll look it over and decide before I leave today. But if this doesn’t convince me, there’s no plea bargain.”
“If this doesn’t convince you, then look forward to it—I’ll convince the judge no matter what.”
He meant it. The punk’s eyes shone fiercely, completely different from when he had first entered.
*This kid’s a real pain when he gets that look in his eyes…*
“Ah, actually, I wasn’t planning to give you this, but…”
Denny Duncan, who had been heading out the door, pulled a document from his briefcase as if something had just occurred to him.
“It’s a legal memo written by the paralegal who works with me.”
Carl Shane looked at his Harvard classmate with an expression that said, “So what?”
“It’s too good to keep to myself. I’m giving it to you off the record, so take a look. It’ll help when you’re reviewing the evidence in that file.”
A legal memo is an internal document written to explain matters to a client or fellow attorney.
Because it’s drafted to accurately assess the likelihood of litigation, it also contains weaknesses.
Therefore, it’s not a document shown to opposing counsel or prosecutors.
Nevertheless, the reason he gave Jeheon’s legal memo to Carl Shane was that he sincerely considered it “too good not to share.”
A memo that even turned points that outwardly appeared to be weaknesses into complementary strengths.
The arguments were so well-written that he wanted to submit them to the court as-is.
Satisfied, Denny Duncan left the office with a swaggering gait, like a victor.
---*---
Riiiing. Riiiing.
“Hello.”
-Heon?
“Speak.”
-Can’t you change that name? Every time I call, it makes me question my sexual identity.
“If your identity is shaken by something as trivial as a name, you should’ve come out a long time ago. Don’t use my name as an excuse.”
Denny snickered. He liked that.
Denny Duncan had made his decision. From now on, he would like the kid (without prejudice).
“I just got a call from the prosecutor’s office.”
“Is it regarding Ms. Go Jaesuk’s case?”
“They offered to reduce the charge to assault and recommend a six-month sentence.”
“Then will Ms. Go Jaesuk be released? She’s already spent six months in jail.”
“If she accepts the plea bargain, she’ll be released. So, what do you think? Satisfied? Or do you need anything else? Like a full acquittal?”
That was impossible. She had struck him with an iron, after all.
“No.”
“Whew—I was worried you’d ask for something ridiculous. Then, will you go persuade the daughter? You’ve buttered her up so much she won’t listen to me.”
“Of course. I’ll contact her right away.”
He had obtained everything he wanted.
Jeheon hung up the phone, eager to contact Ms. Go Jaesuk’s daughter as soon as possible.
“I’ll call you back right after I speak with the daughter.”
“Ah, and.”
“Yes.”
“By any chance, would you be interested in working as a paralegal at my office?”
An unexpected reward.
The Queens County District Attorney’s Office offered to reduce Ms. Go Jaesuk’s charge from first-degree manslaughter to assault in the third degree and recommend a six-month sentence.
There was no reason to refuse the offer.
Even if they went to trial, it would be difficult to get a lower sentence than this.
Moreover, since she had already spent six months in detention, agreeing to the prosecution’s plea deal meant she could be released immediately.
Naturally, Ms. Go Jaesuk accepted the plea bargain offer.
“Oh my, thank you, lawyers. Without you lawyers, this old woman would have died in prison. Thank you. Thank you so much.”
“Thank you, lawyer. We should be paying you… but we don’t have anything proper to give you… This is kimchi. Our family’s kimchi is pretty tasty. Please try some.”
Though they had corrected them numerous times that they were students, not lawyers, Ms. Go Jaesuk and her daughter kept calling them “lawyer.”
Only after thanking them more than twenty times did Ms. Go Jaesuk let go of their hands, and her daughter gave each of the four of them a 5-liter stainless steel container filled with kimchi.
“If you ever need dress shirts or suits laundered, come anytime. We’ll always put the lawyers’ clothes on express service.”
“Mom, seriously, these people live in Manhattan. Why would they come all the way to Flushing to drop off laundry?”
“It’s because I feel so sorry. I need to do something for them, but there’s not much I can do… We also clean down and leather, so if you have anything difficult to wash, please bring it.”
And so, they even received laundry coupons.