Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series: Box Set One - Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series: Box Set One Part 14
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Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series: Box Set One Part 14

"How could you not be sure, Ms. Gioriano? September 26th comes after September 25th usually, doesn't it?"

"Objection, argumentative!" barked Stein.

"Sustained!"

"Now I would like to call your attention to Exhibit 13."

"Okay."

"Is this a letter from you to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh?"

"Yes it is."

"And the date of that letter?"

"September 25, 2008."

"Ms. Gioriano, can you please read the letter into the record?"

"Yes. Dear Mr. and Mrs. Marsh, I am writing to advise you that, as of September 25, 2008, Prudent Bank has taken over the assets of Tentane Mutual Bank, which assets include the servicing of the above-referenced loan and deed of trust. Please make all future loan payments to the address on the bottom of this letter, and reference your new loan number, which is indicated in the reference section. Welcome to the Prudent Bank family. We look forward to a long and mutually beneficial banking relationship."

"Ms. Gioriano, you state in the letter that, as of September 25, 2008, Prudent Bank has taken over the servicing of the Marsh loan and deed of trust, correct?"

"Yes."

"But that's not true, is it?"

"What?"

"It's a false statement, Ms. Gioriano, isn't it?"

"Objection, argumentative," barked Stein.

"Overruled. The witness may answer."

"We did take over Tentane Mutual."

"Yes, but not the Marsh loan, isn't that true?"

"Well, I..."

"Objection!"

"Sustained. Mr. Marks, please rephrase your question."

"The Pooling Service Agreement Trust closed in 2006."

"Yes."

"And the terms of the Pooling Service Agreement that we went over earlier state that all loans must be assigned by the closing of the Trust, correct?"

"Yes."

"This loan was not assigned by the closing date, isn't that correct?"

"It was in our inventory."

"Move to strike as non-responsive."

"Granted," said Masters. "The jury will disregard the answer."

"The loan was not assigned pursuant to the terms of the Pooling Service Agreement, isn't that true?"

"Yes, but..."

"And the assignment states that it was made by Tentane Mutual one day after Prudent took over its assets."

"Yes."

"So, on September 25, 2008 the day your letter went to Mr. and Mrs. Marsh, Prudent Bank did not yet have the right to service their loan, correct?"

"Well, I suppose so. But..."

"And, in fact, Prudent never had the right to service the loan, isn't that true?"

"No that is not true."

"Not only was the assignment a forgery, the collection letter was a lie, and Prudent collected money from Mr. and Mrs. Marsh under false pretenses, isn't that true?"

"Objection, argumentative!" said Stein.

"Sustained!"

"Ms. Gioriano, after your letter, do the collection records show payments made by Mr. and Mrs. Marsh?"

"Yes."

"To Prudent Bank?"

"Yes."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

They used to say in law school, "If the facts are on your side, argue the facts; if the law is on your side, argue the law; and if you have neither on your side, blow smoke." Stein had a difficult time rehabilitating this witness, because the ink had been dry on the documents for so long, but his undeniable skills and experience in blowing smoke lessened the blow of her testimony on the jury.

39.

Brent's next witness was Judy Solomon, the notary who had allegedly signed the assignment of the Marsh loan to the trust. She was the teacher type, in her late 40's to early 50's, with tortoise shell glasses over topaz eyes, black straight leg slacks and a white oxford shirt. She appeared to be very likeable, which was not good for Brent.

"Ms. Solomon, you are a notary public for the state of Minnesota, is that correct?"

"Yes I am."

"Calling your attention to Exhibit 5, can you identify the notary stamp on this assignment?"

"It looks like my stamp."

"How about the signature, can you identify that?"

"Well, as a notary for Prudent Bank, I sign my name thousands of times."

"Please answer the question, Ms. Solomon, can you identify the signature?"

"Well, it looks like it could be mine."

"Are you not sure if it's yours?"

"Well, I sign my name so many times, you know? It looks like mine, but I'm not sure."

"Do you remember signing this document?"

"I can't say that I do, no. I sign so many of these."

"Your Honor, may I?"

"Please proceed, Mr. Marks."

Brent put the exhibit on the overhead projector, and it projected a large image on half of the screen adjacent to the jury box. He handed Solomon a blank piece of paper.

"Ms. Solomon, would you please sign your name ten times on this blank piece of paper?"

"Objection, Your Honor, lack of foundation!" barked Stein.

"This is demonstrative, Your Honor. I have not moved its admission."

"Overruled."

Solomon signed her name ten times, and Brent put it on the screen next to the notarized signature. The signatures obviously did not match.

"What do you say now, Ms. Solomon? Is this your signature?"

"I'm still not sure," said Solomon.

"Ms. Solomon, did you authorize anyone at Prudent Bank or Tentane Mutual to sign your name and use your notary stamp?"

"Why no, that would be illegal."

"And you mentioned before that you signed a lot of documents for Prudent Bank. Were you employed by Prudent Bank at the time this document was signed?"

"Yes I was."

"This is an assignment to the trust pool created by Tentane Mutual in 2006. Why did you notarize this assignment transfer the day after Prudent took over Tentane Mutual?"

"Objection!" said Stein, lack of foundation, argumentative."

"Sustained."

Stein had coached Solomon well. Not only was she unable to express that the document contained a forgery of her signature, she waited for the objection to be ruled on before she answered. But the jury had already heard the question, and you could bet that they would be wondering why a Prudent Bank notary would be notarizing an assignment by Tentane Mutual after the takeover.

Neither Stein nor Black had any questions for this witness, and she was excused. The morning had been productive; full of victories and losses that would mean nothing unless the jury processed them correctly. Brent had noticed some of them nodding off, trying to fight the fact that their brains, sensing boredom, had hit the "hibernate" switch. The judge had called for a lunch break just in time.

40.

Michael Shermer, in his book, The Believing Brain, pointed out that human brains are "belief engines," designed to recognize patterns and create meaning out of them. Brent knew that once a belief had formed in the minds of the jury about the case, no amount of evidence or argument could shake the jury from that belief, and the fact that they would later deliberate and discuss their beliefs would reinforce similar beliefs of the other jurors.

Brent used the break to turn over Solomon's original signature samples to his handwriting expert, Dr. Albert Dutoit, who took the signature samples from the demonstration back to his lab to examine them. Dutoit was a board certified forensic document examiner, with a Masters in Forensic Science from George Washington University, an M.D. from Stanford, and a charismatic personality. Since the signature on the assignment was obviously not Solomon's, he was probably over qualified for the job. With the precious time Brent had left on the break, he called Angela.

"Don't tell me you're inviting me to lunch?" she quipped.

"No time, I just wanted to know if we had a match on that hair sample from the bar yet."

"Not yet. How's it going?"

"To early to tell. I'm hanging in."

"Well keep hanging."

Brent also checked in with Jack Ruder for an update. The District Attorney had decided to move forward with prosecuting Joshua Banks for the attack on Brent, citing the strength of his confession and the lack of any other suspects. Brent knew their case was hollow as an empty bottle.

41.