The Jury, by Steve Martini

images.jpg

Lawyer Paul Madriani is called upon to defend a brilliant research physician, Dr. David Crone, who may be guilty. Crone is a respected medical researcher mapping the human genome; some see a racial overtone in his work. He is charged with the murder of his assistant, twenty-six-year-old Kalista Jordan, an African-American research physician whose strangled and dismembered body washed up on a beach in San Diego Bay.

Several motives suggest Crone as a suspect. Forensic evidence links her murder with the material in Crone’s garage. Did he catch her trying to sabotage his research because he previously had conducted controversial studies about the intellectual capacities of the different races? Kalista had recently ended their affair and may have been deserting him professionally, moving on to a rival genetic research facility.

The main witness who can shed light on motive is found dead the day before he is scheduled to testify, leaving an incriminating note behind; Crone’s innocence seems confirmed – until Madriani hits upon a potentially damning loose end.”

Author Steve Martini again proves he is the master of the courtroom and this well-crafted book.

See Review of The Judge by Steve Martini on this site click here

Quotes

“In this country, a federal grand jury probe is closest to Courts of Inquisition or a Star Chamber. There are few rights, nothing that comes close to cross-examination, and no right to counsel inside the jury room. There are no real rules of evidence. The only thing they can’t do is torture you, and you must take the government’s word.”

“What Harry means is that he has a taste for “felonious voyeurism.” It happens. Lawyers, judges, cops, and jurors all find themselves thrilled from time to time by the stories of violence.