Defending Jacob(114)
“Was Ben Rifkin around when Jacob produced the knife that day?”
“No. Nobody knew Jake had the knife. That’s the thing. He was just walking around with it. It was like Jake had this secret.”
“Where did he carry the knife?”
“In his backpack or his pocket.”
“Did he ever show it to anyone else or threaten anyone with it?”
“No.”
“All right, so Jacob had a knife. Was there anything else that made you suspicious of your friend Jacob in the hours and days after Ben Rifkin was murdered?”
“Well, like I said, at the very beginning nobody knew what happened. Then it kind of came out that Ben got killed with a knife in Cold Spring Park, and I just kind of knew.”
“Knew what?”
“Knew—I mean, I felt like he probably did it.”
“Objection.”
“Sustained. The jury will disregard the last answer.”
“How did you know Jacob—”
“Objection.”
“Sustained. Move on, Mr. Logiudice.”
Logiudice pursed his lips, regrouped. “Did Jacob ever talk about a website called the Cutting Room?”
“Yes.”
“Would you tell the jury, what is the Cutting Room?”
“It’s like a porn site, kind of, only it’s just stories and anyone can write stories and post them there.”
“What kind of stories?”
“Like S&M, I guess. I don’t really know. It’s, like, sex and violence.”
“Did Jacob talk about the site often?”
“Yeah. He liked it, I guess. He used to go there a lot.”
“Did you go there?”
Sheepish, blushing. “No. I didn’t like it.”
“Did it bother you that Jacob went there?”
“No. It’s his business.”
“Did Jacob ever show you a story on the Cutting Room that described Ben Rifkin’s murder?”
“Yes.”
“When did Jacob show you this story?”
“Like late April, I think.”
“After the murder?”
“Yeah, a few days after.”
“What did he tell you about it?”
“He just said he had this story he wrote and he posted it on this message board.”
“You mean he posted it online for other people to read?”
“Yeah.”
“And did you read the story?”
“Yes.”
“How did you find it?”
“Jacob sent me a link.”
“How? Email? Facebook?”
“Facebook? No! Anyone could have seen it. I think it was email. So I went to the site and I read it.”
“And what did you think of the story when you read it the first time?”
“I don’t know. I thought it was weird that he wrote it, but it was kind of interesting, I guess. Jacob was always a really good writer.”
“Did he write other stories like this one?”
“No, not exactly. He wrote some that were, like—”
“Objection.”
“Sustained. Next question.”
Logiudice produced a document, laser-printed, thick with text on both sides. He laid it on the witness stand in front of Derek.
“Is that the story the defendant told you he wrote?”
“Yes.”
“Is that printout an accurate record of the story precisely as you read it that day?”
“Yeah, I guess.”
“Move the document be admitted in evidence.”
“The document is admitted and marked Commonwealth’s Exhibit … Mary?”
“Twenty-six.”
“Commonwealth’s exhibit twenty-six.”
“How do you know for sure that the defendant wrote this story?”
“Why would he say it if it wasn’t true?”
“And what was it about the story that made you so concerned about Jacob and the Rifkin murder?”
“It was just, like, a total description, every little detail. He described the knife, the stabs in the chest, the whole thing. Even the character, the kid that got stabbed—in the story Jake calls him ‘Brent Mallis,’ but it’s obviously Ben Rifkin. Anyone who knew Ben would know. It wasn’t like totally fiction. It was just obvious.”
“Do you and your friends sometimes exchange messages on Facebook?”
“Sure.”
“And three days after Ben Rifkin was murdered, on April 15, 2007, did you post a message on Facebook saying, ‘Jake, everyone knows you did it. You have a knife. I’ve seen it.’ ”
“Yes.”
“Why did you post that message?”
“I just didn’t want to be the only one who knew about the knife. It was like, I didn’t want to be alone knowing that.”
“When you posted that message on Facebook accusing your friend of the murder, did he ever respond?”
“I wasn’t really accusing him. It was just something I wanted to say.”
“Did the defendant respond in any way?”
“I’m not sure what you mean. I mean, he posted on Facebook, but not really responding to that.”