A Father's Name(70)

The judge cleared his throat. “I know it’s unusual for a judge to invite a convicted felon and the ADA who prosecuted him to lunch—”

“Unusual has never stopped you before,” the ADA muttered.

Other than his one trip to court, Tyler hadn’t had any experience with the judicial system, but even he knew that probably wasn’t the most appropriate way to speak to a judge, but the judge in question didn’t seem to notice and continued talking as if the woman hadn’t said a word.

“—but when ADA Kelley was telling me about the new information in your case, I’ll confess, I was a bit confused. After talking to Mr. Matthews, I was even more confused by your stance.” He paused, and leaned further toward the middle of the table and added, “And Mr. Martinez, I hate being confused. So I thought maybe you could explain it to us all over lunch.”

“Explain what?” Tyler asked, desperately wishing he was anywhere but here.

The judge looked exasperated. “Explain why you don’t want your name cleared.”

Tyler hadn’t expected such directness. “ADA Kelley—”

“You can call me Jackie, sir,” she told him. “We’re not in the courtroom and it’s really creeping me out to have you all keep using my title and it’s even worse when you ma’am me.”



“So let’s be informal and get right to the point,” the judge said. “Tyler, did you embezzle that money?”

The waitress came to the table and asked if they wanted anything, which gave Tyler time to choose his words carefully before she left with their drink orders and he had to answer. “I took a plea, went to jail and paid restitution for the embezzlement, sir. Is that something an innocent man would do?”

Mr. Matthews patted his hand. “Son, they know everything. Jason talked to Jackie here before his accident and he confessed. Signed some papers to that effect. He urged her to reopen the investigation and gave her dates and times to validate his claim.”

“And for the record, Mr. Martinez, I noticed that you didn’t answer my question,” the judge said in a stern voice. “Did you do it? It’s not like we can legally do anything more to you if you admit it. You’ve served your time. Just a yes or no answer, if you please. Did you do it?”

When Tyler remained silent because he simply couldn’t think of any way to wriggle an answer any more honestly, the judge continued, “I know what your friend said, though only through what ADA Kelley has told me about their meeting. And I know what Mr. Matthews here has claimed his son told him. But I didn’t hear it from your friend directly, so I’d like to hear it from you. Did you embezzle money from your firm? Yes or no, Mr. Martinez?”

Tyler didn’t respond.



“Tyler didn’t do anything but be a good friend—a brother,” Mr. Matthews said.

“And that, sir, is what I’ve been working with.” The ADA’s frustration was clear in her voice. “Like I said, Jason Matthews has confessed to the crime. I never felt particularly good about this case, but when you have someone taking a deal on a charge you take their plea at face value. But when Mr. Matthews came into the office and confessed, I pulled out our files and went through the evidence with a fine tooth comb. I’m not a handwriting expert, but I could see some discrepancies in some of the documents, so I had them tested. Our expert concluded the signatures in question were not Mr. Martinez’s, but were far more likely Mr. Matthews’s. Everything else that Mr. Matthews said checked out as well. I feel confident that we prosecuted the wrong man. Since Mr. Martinez isn’t seeking exoneration, it would be easy for me to walk away, except for this tiny little worry about justice.”

She turned to Tyler. “I took this job because I believe in the idea of justice and I have never lost any sleep about putting away a criminal, but I’ve lost sleep over this case because I truly believe I prosecuted the wrong man. That’s not justice. That’s not what I signed on for.”

Judge Bradley nodded. “Mr. Martinez, I’ve reviewed ADA…Jackie’s findings and I agree with her assessment. Mr. Matthews was a friend, I believe. I have a lot of friends, but I don’t think I’d take the fall for one who did something so stupid.”

“Tyler, you and I both know why Jason did what he did,” Bill Matthews said. “And it was stupid. I understand Jason’s desperation, but that doesn’t make what he did right.”