Bronx Justice Read Online Free PDF Page A

directly into Jaywalker’s eyes and said, “I want the test.”
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    On Friday morning Jaywalker drove to the Bronx County Courthouse, which housed all of the Supreme Court parts. It covered then, as it covers now, an entire city block, from the Grand Concourse on the east to Walton Avenue on the west, and from 160th Street to 161st. From its upper floors you could see then, as you can still see today, the elevated train tracks above Jerome Avenue, and Yankee Stadium just beyond.
    Jaywalker took one of the elevators to the sixth floor. The building was laid out around a square center courtyard, and no matter how many times he’d been there, he always foundhimself disoriented as soon as he stepped off the elevator. As usual, he walked three-quarters of the way around just to get to a courtroom that would have been right around the corner, had only he chosen to walk the other way.
    Darren, Charlene, Inez and Marlin Kingston were waiting for him outside Part 12. They exchanged greetings and went inside. Jacob Pope was already there. He handed Jaywalker a copy of the indictment.
    SUPREME COURT OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK COUNTY OF BRONX
    â€”—————————————————-x
    THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK
    x
    x INDICTMENT
    â€”against—
    x 5476/79
    DARREN KINGSTON, x
    Defendant.
    â€”—————————————————-x
    THE GRAND JURY OF THE COUNTY OF BRONX, by this indictment, accuse the defendant of the crime of RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, committed as follows:
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    The defendant, in the County of Bronx, on or about August 16, 1979, being a male, engaged in sexual intercourse with Eleanor Cerami, a female, by forcible compulsion.
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    SECOND COUNT:
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    AND THE GRAND JURY AFORESAID, by this indictment, further accuse the defendant of the crime of RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, committed as follows:
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    The defendant, in the County of Bronx, on or about August 16, 1979, being a male, engaged in sexual intercourse with Joanne Kenarden, a female, by forcible compulsion.
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    THIRD COUNT:
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    AND THE GRAND JURY AFORESAID, by this indictment, further accuse the defendant of the crime of AN ATTEMPT TO COMMIT THE CRIME OF RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, committed as follows:
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    The defendant, in the County of Bronx, on or about August 17, 1979, being a male, attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with Tania Maldonado, a female, by forcible compulsion.
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    FOURTH COUNT:
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    AND THE GRAND JURY AFORESAID, by this indictment, further accuse the defendant of the crime of AN ATTEMPT TO COMMIT THE CRIME OF RAPE IN THE FIRST DEGREE, committed as follows:
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    The defendant, in the County of Bronx, on or about September 5, 1979, being a male, attempted to engage in sexual intercourse with Elvira Caldwell, a female, by forcible compulsion.
    And that was only page one. The indictment went on to charge Darren with additional counts of first-degree sodomy, sexual misconduct, sexual abuse, assault against two of the victims, and criminal possession of a weapon—a knife—on each occasion. In all, there were twenty-three separate crimes charged. The only pieces of good news, if they could be called that, were that from the original five victims, it seemed now they were down to four who were willing to testify, and of those only two had apparently been actually raped; the other two counts were of attempted rape. Still, Jaywalker could do the math in his head: two completed rapes, each carrying a maximum sentence of twenty-five years, plus two attempts, worth fifteen each. Add them all up, and Darren was facing eighty years in prison.
    The case was called in its turn, and Jaywalker accompanied Darren to the podium. The clerk asked how the defendant pleaded, and Darren answered, “Not guilty.” His voice was soft, but he didn’t stutter. Perhaps