The Tenth Justice Read Online Free PDF Page A

application for a death penalty stay.”
    “What are you talking about?” Ben asked, throwing his briefcase on his desk.
    “Here it is!” Lisa proclaimed, pulling a card from the Rolodex. Turning to Ben, she explained, “There’s a murderer in Missouri who killed three little kids. He was sentenced to death about ten years ago and his case has been appealed through the courts since then. The execution was set for October, but for some reason, the state bumped up the date to tomorrow. He’s allowed an appeal to the Supreme Court, so we now have twenty-four hours to find Hollis and get his opinion.”
    “How do we reach him?” Ben asked.
    “That’s what I’m trying to figure out,” Lisa said, holding out the Rolodex card. “He left me the number where he was staying in Norway, but apparently he went traveling for a few days. I took his Rolodex from his office. I know he has a sister who lives in California, so I’m going to call her.”
    Ben picked up his phone, dialed information, and asked for the number of the U.S. Marshals Service. Looking at Lisa he said, “Every justice has to have a marshal with them at all times. They must know where he is.”
    “Hi, Mrs. Winston?” Lisa asked. “I’m so sorry to wake you, but I’m a clerk for Justice Hollis and we need to reach him. It’s an emergency.”
    “Hello, is this the Marshals Service?” Ben asked. “This is Ben Addison calling from Justice Mason Hollis’s chambers. We need to reach the justice. It’s an emergency.”
    “She doesn’t know where he is,” Lisa said, hanging up her phone as Ben explained the situation to the Marshals Service.
    “Uh-huh. Okay. Yes, definitely,” Ben said.
    Lisa smacked Ben on the arm. “What’re they saying?”
    “They know where he is,” Ben said, hanging up. “They won’t give us the number, but they’re contacting him, and they’ll have him call us.”
    “Did you tell them it’s an emergency?” Lisa asked. Noticing the do-you-think-I’m-a-moron look on Ben’s face, she said, “Sorry, just making sure.”
    Ten minutes later, the phone rang. Pulling it from its cradle, Ben calmly said, “Justice Hollis’s chambers…Hello, Justice Hollis. How’s Norway? Yes, I hear it’s beautiful this time of year. No. Yes, the office is great. Lisa’s been terrific. We just had a little emergency. A death penalty appeal just came through, and they want to execute the defendant tomorrow morning. So, uh, what should we do?” After scribbling some notes to himself, Ben finally said, “We’ll call you there later this afternoon.”
    “What the hell did he say?” Lisa yelled as soon as Ben put down the phone.
    “Here’s what has to happen,” Ben said, flipping the page on his pad to make a list. “First, we have to let every justice know that their votes are due by eight tomorrow morning. We need five votes to get a stay of execution. If only four vote for the stay, this guy dies tomorrow. Then after we notify all the chambers, we have to write a memo recommending whether Hollis should vote to grant the stay.”
    “All the relevant case history will be in the lower federal court papers,” Lisa said.
    “Exactly. And he told me how to get those. He said we probably won’t be done until early tomorrow morning, but he said he wants the completed memo by six A.M. tomorrow. I have his fax number.” Flipping on his computer, Ben said, “I’ll write the official request so we can get the court papers.”
    “I’ll let all the other chambers know what’s happening.”
    “After you tell them, make sure you put the whole story in a memo so they all have official notification,” Ben said as Lisa darted for the door. “Then none of them can say they didn’t know about it.”
    Lisa nodded and ran out.
    An hour later, nine boxes of official court papers were delivered to the office. “We’re dead,” Ben said when he saw the boxes being wheeled in.
    “There’s no way we’ll be able to read through all