Page 92

CHAPTER 90

AFTER JUDGE WALDEN had shut down the shouts and murmurs, she asked Yuki if she was ready to go on.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Yuki again turned to the jury, making eye contact with each of them as she asked, “Why would the defendant kill his friend? What was his motive? The witness, El Gato, was sitting in the back seat of the car behind the driver. Miguel was talking to him. And he will tell you about that conversation. Miguel was telling El Gato, bragging actually on behalf of his friend, about Dario’s many sexual exploits—and he named some of the women. Seven of these women have disappeared, and a few have been found dead.”

“Objection, Your Honor,” Credendino called out as he got to his feet. “The prosecution has no basis for this implication that Mr. Garza knew these women or that he had any part in killing them. This is hearsay, pure and simple. It’s also an outrage and should be struck from the record.”

“Objection sustained,” Judge Walden said emphatically, and she instructed the court reporter to strike the contested section of the prosecutor’s statement.

“I’ll rephrase,” Yuki said, not showing any sign that under different circumstances the defense could have demanded a mistrial. And she was thrilled with her deft implantation of that bad seed in the jurors’ minds.

“Be careful, Ms. Castellano,” the judge said.

“Yes, Your Honor.”

Yuki went on. “The defendant’s friend who survived that night will be speaking to you by secure video link. He will tell you what triggered the defendant’s murderous anger and what went down after that. Additionally, as we said, we will introduce other witnesses regarding the decapitation of Miguel Hernandez and his hasty burial. You will also hear from two women who went out with Mr. Garza, and they will describe events of their dates.

“By the end of this trial, we will ask you to find the defendant guilty of the murder of Miguel Hernandez, who was unarmed and unthreatening but did not understand that the defendant had a limit to his self-aggrandizement … Unsatisfied with Miguel’s murder, the defendant also committed abuse of a corpse by severing the deceased’s head and putting it on display out of petty conceit.” Yuki took a deep breath, and thanked the jury in advance for their attention, then walked over to the prosecution table.

The judge said, “Mr. Credendino. Does the defense wish to respond?”

“Yes, Your Honor,” said the accused’s imposing defense attorney. As Yuki took her seat next to Gaines, Jon Credendino put his note cards down on the table and walked into the small well between the counsel tables and the jury box. And under the laser-focused eyes of the judge, Dario Garza’s lawyer began to speak.