Damian
I’D FILEDdozens of motions in my career, but none had ever felt this personal. My fingers hovered over the keyboard as I reviewed the language one final time before sending it to Sandra for formatting.
“Motion to vacate mistrial and grant new trial on grounds of jury tampering and newly discovered evidence.”
Simple. Direct. The foundation for dismantling Marcus Delaney’s carefully constructed façade.
My office door opened and Sandra entered with a stack of documents.
“The detective called. Marcus is in custody, no bail as expected. It sounds like he’s not going to try and get a plea deal either, he’s insisting he’s innocent.”
I nodded, feeling a weight lift from my shoulders. “Good. That gives us room to manoeuvre. How’s the motion looking?”
“Finished formatting. I’ve included the recording transcript, medical documentation from Alex’s new injuries, and Detective Mathers’ preliminary report.” She placed the documents on my desk. “I also pulled precedent cases where mistrials were vacated due to jury tampering. That wasn’t easy, there aren’t many cases of jury tampering within Canadian case law.”
“Perfect. I want this filed within the hour.”
Sandra hesitated. “There’s something else. Mitchell did some digging into the two holdout jurors. One of them bought a new car three days ago. Cash purchase.”
I raised an eyebrow. “That’ll make a nice addition to our motion.”
“And…” Sandra lowered her voice, “I heard from Judith in court administration. They’re assigning judges for new trials this afternoon.”
I understood her meaning immediately. Judge assignments weren’t supposed to be influenced, but information often flowed through unofficialchannels.
“Any word on who might be handling our case?”
Sandra’s expression remained carefully neutral. “Nothing definite. But Judith mentioned Justice Sommers has been taking on cases involving vulnerable witnesses and has a specific interest in our case.”
I tried not to smile. Justice Sommers would be fair—which was all we needed against someone like Marcus.
“Let’s not count on anything until it’s official,” I cautioned, though hope flickered inside me.
After Sandra left, I phoned Alex. He answered immediately.
“They’ve arrested him,” he said before I could speak. “Detective Mathers called.”
“I heard. He won’t be making bail this time.”
“I still can’t believe it.” Alex’s voice was quiet, tentative, as if speaking too loudly might shatter this fragile new reality.
“Believe it. I’m filing for a new civil trial today based on the jury tampering. With the criminal charges pending, we’re in a much stronger position.”
“What about the judge? Will we get Patterson again?”
I considered how to answer without making promises. “The case will be reassigned. There’s a strong chance we might get Justice Sommers.”
“The one who helped us with the protection order before?”
“Yes. But regardless of who’s assigned, the evidence of tampering changes everything. No judge can ignore that.”
“Damian?” His voice shifted, grew serious through the phone line. “What happens when this is all over? With the case, I mean.”
The question caught me off guard. I’d been so focused on the immediate legal battles that I hadn’t allowed myself to think beyond them.
“You’ll be free to rebuild your life however you choose. Your artwork, your career—everything Marcus took from you. It can all be yours again.”
A pause stretched between us, filled only by the soft sound of his breathing.
