The Tenth Justice Read Online Free PDF

this by tonight,” Lisa said.
    Ben read the sides of the boxes, which were labeled by year. “How about I start with the oldest stuff, and you take the newest? I figure we’ll hit the middle together sometime this winter.”
    Lisa agreed and the two began to plow through the mountain of papers.
    At two P.M. , Ben’s phone rang. “Justice Hollis’s chambers. This is Ben,” he said.
    “Hi Ben, this is Rick Fagen. I was a clerk for Justice Hollis three years ago. I was just calling to see how things were going. It’s a tradition for the older clerks to give you a call every once in a while. I know things can seem imposing in the first few weeks.”
    “It’s a hell of a time, all right,” Ben said.
    “Who is it?” Lisa asked.
    Covering the phone, Ben whispered, “It’s one of Hollis’s old clerks.”
    “Perfect,” Lisa said. “I got a call from a clerk last month. They totally know how to deal with this crap. Ask him what we should do.”
    “Rick, can I ask you a question?” Ben said. “We just got a death penalty case—”
    “Unbelievable,” Rick said. “They always do this early in the term. I assume Hollis is away?”
    “Sunning and funning in Norway,” Ben said. “And we have to read a truckload of documents to recommend whether he should grant a stay.”
    “Okay, here’s what to do,” Rick said, with a reassuring confidence in his voice. “If this case has been floating around for a few years, chances are you’ll never be able to read all the supporting documents. You should concentrate on the legal issue this final appeal is based on. All the other issues are unimportant. What I’d do is go on to one of the legal databases and key your search to the single legal issue you’re looking at. If it’s habeas, do a habeas search; if it’s a jury instruction question, do that. Westlaw is definitely the easiest way to—”
    “I already went through Westlaw,” Ben said. “The problem is the record’s a mess. We can barely tell where to start.”
    “Just focus on the original trial transcript, since so much of the appeal is usually based on a screwup that happened at the lowest level. Have any of the other justices reported in yet?”
    “No,” Ben said, still writing down Rick’s instructions. “It just came to us this morning.”
    “If you’re lucky, five of the other justices will grant the stay before you guys are done. That way you don’t even have to sweat it out.”
    “And what are the chances of that?” Ben asked as Lisa read over his shoulder.
    “It depends on the issue. If it’s a Fourth Amendment issue, Osterman and the conservative crew will never touch it. Dreiberg might pick it up, though. The key for you guys is that you understand you’re not writing
your
opinion, you’re writing Hollis’s. You may think this defendant got screwed, but you have to base it on what Hollis might think. Traditionally, he won’t touch a death penalty appeal unless it’s an innovative legal issue. Otherwise, he’s pretty happy to put his faith in the lower court’s decision.”
    “What if it’s based on factual innocence?” Ben asked, twisting the phone cord tightly around his finger.
    “That depends on the facts,” Rick said. “If you have a case where the defendant was truly denied his rights, Hollis may take it. You have to be careful, though. You’re not Sherlock Holmes, so don’t think you can solve the case from your office. If the defendant maintains that he’s factually innocent, you better be sure there’s a mistake in his trial. Don’t waste Hollis’s time by just saying you have a hunch and that you feel it in your gut that the defendant didn’t do it. Hollis has been sitting on the bench for twenty-three years. He may have a weak spot for First Amendment issues, but he doesn’t give a squat about your hunch.”
    After a long pause, Ben said, “What if you really, really know that this guy is innocent? I mean, you feel it in your gut and your chest and