A pattern of Ryan Mitchell entering and exiting that server room at unusual hours in the weeks before March 14th, which turns a hole in the prosecution's case into a different case entirely. Gerald was quiet for a moment. How soon can you be at the courthouse? I'm leaving in 10 minutes, Emily said. She was there in 8.
Judge Watkins heard the emergency motion at 8:15 in her chambers with both legal teams present. The room was small and the judge's desk was large and Andrew Reigns stood across from Emily with his arms folded and an expression that was trying to project calm and producing something closer to controlled fury. Emily laid out the climate techch records with the efficiency of someone who had rehearsed this moment in her head enough times that it felt like muscle memory. The door event log, the badge access log, the weight sensor data, the calibration records, the timeline. Judge Watkins read without speaking.
Reigns interrupted twice once to question the reliability of the sensor data, once to question the chain of custody on the vendor records. Both times, Emily had already prepared the answer. Service certification records from Climate showing the systems accuracy rating. The notorized subpoena response establishing clean chain of custody from vendor to court. Range shifted tactics.
Your honor, the defense is attempting to introduce new evidence mid-trial that was available through the original discovery process. Their failure to request it earlier. The environmental monitoring system is operated by a third-party vendor with no direct contractual relationship to Meridian Technologies. Emily said it does not appear in Meridian's internal IT documentation, which is what the prosecution's evidence request specified. The existence of this system was not disclosed in any discovery document we received.
That's because it's irrelevant HVAC data. It records who enters a restricted server room, Emily said. That is not irrelevant HVAC data. Judge Watkins looked up from the documents. She looked at Reigns.
She looked at Emily. She set the papers down with the deliberate care of someone making a decision they intend to stand behind. Motion granted, she said. The climate records are admitted into evidence. Mr. Reigns, your team will have until noon recess to review them before they are presented to the jury.
I'd also suggest you use that time to think carefully about whether your current evidentiary posture is one you want to maintain. Reigns said nothing. He gathered his papers and left the chambers with the measured movements of a man who was recalculating everything. Emily waited until the door closed behind him. Then she let out a breath that was absolutely not a sigh of relief because she was not done yet.
And relief was a luxury for after. Judge Watkins looked at her over the top of her glasses. Miss Carter, your honor, you've done solid work. A pause. But I want you to understand that what happens next in that courtroom needs to be precise.
I've given you the door. Walking through it cleanly is your job. I understand, Emily said. Does your client understand? Emily thought of Marcus sitting alone in the holding area, the folded hands, the gray at his temples, the way he had looked at her yesterday in the corridor when he said she had become exactly who she was supposed to be.
He trusts me, Emily said. Then don't give him a reason to stop," the judge said. The morning session began with the jury looking tired and attentive in the particular combination that meant they had been paying close enough attention to feel the weight of what was being decided. Reigns gave no indication of the emergency hearing. He proceeded with the composure of a man who had not just had a significant piece of his case structure undermined at 8 in the morning.
He called a character witness, a former Meridian HR manager, who testified about Marcus' documented workplace performance reviews and the notes on file about his expressed frustration. It was damage maintenance. Reigns was reinforcing the walls he still had. Emily watched and took notes and let him because what she was about to do required him to have already said everything he wanted to say. It required the jury to have heard the prosecution's complete version of Marcus Walker so that when she showed them the truth, they could feel exactly how far the two were from each other.
Gerald leaned toward her. You're going to call Mitchell back to the stand. After lunch, Emily said, "He's going to have a lawyer present, his own lawyer." "I know. He's going to be prepared for the weight question."
"He'll be prepared for the weight question," Emily agreed. "He won't be prepared for the one after it." Gerald looked at her. "What's the one after it?" Emily wrote a name on her legal pad and turned it toward him.
Gerald read it. He sat very still for a moment. "How did you find that?" He asked. "Daniel Cho has a sister," Emily said.
"Who has a blog where she posts about her family?" She kept her voice low and even, including a post from 4 years ago about her brother's new job at Vantage Secure. And in the comments section of that post, a reply from a user whose profile links to a personal LinkedIn account. She paused. Ryan Mitchell liked that comment.
Gerald stared at her. Ryan Mitchell personally liked a comment about Daniel Cho's employment at a subsidiary of his family's company. Gerald said on a public blog 4 years ago when he presumably thought it didn't matter. Emily, it's circumstantial, she said immediately. I know, but it shows a pre-existing personal relationship between Ryan Mitchell and Daniel Cho that Ryan explicitly denied in testimony.
He said, "Professional overlap. Different companies." He could not recall specifics. She picked up her pen. He personally engaged with Daniel Cho's sister's blog post four years ago.
That is not professional overlap. That is a personal relationship. And lying about it on the stand is perjury. The lunch recess was 45 minutes. Marcus sat across from Emily in the conference room and ate half a sandwich and watched his daughter move through documents with the focused intensity of someone who had no awareness of time when she was inside a problem.
"Are you nervous?" He asked. She looked up about this afternoon about any of it. She considered the question seriously, which was something he had always loved about her. She never dismissed a question just because it was easier to er, she said.