Page 88 of Desert Loyalties

“Agent Munez, when you first saw this video… what was your immediate reaction?”

Cheng rises. “Objection. Relevance.”

Christina doesn’t miss a beat. “Your Honor, I’m laying foundation for the agent’s mindset and subsequent actions.”

Judge Keller glances toward Munez. “Overruled. The witness may answer.”

Munez shrugs. “I thought he was in trouble. Mr Donahue, I mean.”

“And what did you do next?”

“I went to his residence to check on him. He was missing.”

“What else was missing?”

“A few things, his motorcycle, some cash…”

Christina steps back toward her table, retrieves a document. “According to your own notes, Agent, the safe had been emptied, Mr Donahue’s clothes, passport, and his registered sidearm were also missing. Correct?”

Munez nods, frowning. “Yes.”

She walks to the judge. “Your Honor, I’d like to enter this affidavit into the record, Exhibit 28. Apologies for the delay, it came in just this morning.”

Judge Keller nods. “So entered.”

Christina turns back to Munez. “This is a sworn affidavit from Mr. Donahue’s next-door neighbour. She states that she saw him come home around 8 p.m. and leave again with a duffel bag at 8:30. Agent Munez, were you aware of this?”

“No,” he admits.

“Did you investigate any of Mr Donahue’s out-of-state family or run a financial trace after he disappeared?”

“No.”

“Did you investigate anyone else in the club with motive or means?”

Munez glances at Cheng, then back. “No.”

Christina nods slowly. “No further questions.”

The courtroom is quiet again. Then Judge Keller lifts her chin and looks at Cheng.

“Mr. Cheng, do you intend to call additional witnesses or introduce new evidence?”

Cheng stiffens. “No, Your Honor. Prosecution rests”

The judge turns to Christina. “Ms. LaGuerta?”

Christina glances down at her notes. “Defence rests.”

Keller folds her hands. “Very well. Closing arguments are waived, I take it?”

Both sides nod. And then…

The judge exhales and addresses the court: “This case has been marked by speculation, selective investigation, and frankly, a lack of credible foundation. The evidence presented is not only circumstantial, it’s inconsistent, poorly corroborated, and in many respects, undermined by the government’s own witnesses.”

She eyes Cheng.

“It troubles this court deeply that the U.S. Attorney’s Office saw fit to bring this matter to trial without conducting a full and fair inquiry. I will be making a formal report to the District’s Chief Judge and to the DOJ regarding resource misuse and investigative deficiencies in this case.”