The defendant, Paulson, was a burglar who primarily targeted homes of the wealthy who were on vacation, which made the robbery on River Road unusual. At the time, the business was Wallace Construction, owned and operated by Clark Wallace.
Cordell was the arresting officer, as per the computer file Matt had read last night. He’d been called to the scene when a silent alarm went off. He caught Paulson outside the building with a lock-pick set and detained him. Forensics proved that the defendants prints were on the door as well as inside the building, including on the CEO’s computer.
The CEO, Wallace, claimed that nothing had been taken. Forensics determined that the burglar attempted to access the CEO’s computer, but it was password protected and he was locked out after five attempts.
Matt pulled the rap sheet of the defendant. He wasn’t a tech guy—he didn’t break into houses with security systems. He was old school, lock picks or going through an unlocked window. He took things he could carry—jewelry, cash, small electronics like cell phones. Things that could easily be sold on the black market. Why had he changed his M.O. to steal from a business with nothing that could easily be fenced?
Matt flipped through the case. The business was a small construction company who often bid on local government projects—generally retrofitting for safety compliance. Matt ran both the business name and the CEO’s name through the database. Wallace had a DUI that was ten years old, a fine and suspended license for a year, but that was it for his record.
What about that address had tickled Alex’s memory?
And why had a criminal defense lawyer who primarily defended drug cases taken this case? It definitely stood out to Matt, and it would have at the time—but Matt had been in the Senate, not the D.A.’s office. What was in it for the lawyer? There wouldn’t have been a lot of money – in fact, it was a pro bono case, Matt noted upon further examination. Why would a high profile criminal lawyer who specialized in drug charges take a pro bono burglary case?
And had the defendant known something that got him killed in prison? Had he taken something Wallace didn’t want to admit was missing? Had Paulson been hired to steal something specific, then killed to ensure his silence?
Matt read the transcript from the trial. The trial lasted less than a day. The jury convicted him after an hour of deliberation.
A name jumped out immediately. Detective Jim Perry. He’d been on call when Cordell called in the crime. Except ... the address wasn’t in the City of Sacramento. It was in the county. Dispatch had routed the call to the closest patrol unit, which was Cordell, even though the address was across the river from the city boundary. Border areas were handled by either the Sheriff’s Department or the bordering city. But after securing the scene, Cordell should have contacted the Sheriff’s investigation unit, not Sac PD.
Nothing particularly wrong with what he did ... except for the fact that Tommy Cordell had been a corrupt cop, and this case was anything but common.
The testimony was straightforward. Perry had investigated the case, worked with Wallace, supervised the crime scene techs.
Nothing was taken.
This case should never have been brought to trial. The defendant could easily have pled to less than a year. He had no active warrants.
Cordell found a knife on his person when he was searched.
Problematic. But the business was empty when Paulson broke in after midnight.
Paulson didn’t testify on his own behalf. If he didn’t testify, why wouldn’t he have just pled? Why go through the farce of the trial? Travis Hart should have pled if only to save the taxpayers money. Why go for the max sentence instead of an easy one year plea for the non-violent crime? And Anthony Monteith didn’t do anything particularly extraordinary to try and get Paulson off. He was competent, but the prints, the lock picks, the knife, and history of thefts all led to an easy conviction.
And then he was killed. Without ever speaking on the record as to why he had broken into Wallace Construction in the first place.
Matt turned back to his computer and ran a search on all cases attached to the defense lawyer or his law firm. He didn’t exclusively represent members of the Russian mob, but there were enough names that Matt suspected a connection.
His phone buzzed. He grabbed it. “Yes?”
“I have the property records you asked for, Mr. Elliott.”
“Bring them in, Zoey. Thank you.”
His law clerk came in and handed him the file. It was a history of the property in question.
“Is there anything else?”
“No, thank you—Cynthia is in charge for the rest of the day. I have an outside meeting at noon. I don’t know when I’ll be back.”
She waited for more information. Matt knew that he was acting out of character—he always gave Zoey detailed information about his schedule. He had a secretary and receptionist as well, but Zoey was his rock.