The Lincoln Lawyer: A Novel by Michael Connelly Page B

son.”
    “But if I leave, how will Louis get home?”
    “I have a driver. I will get him home.”
    She looked at Dobbs, hoping he might have higher standing and be able to overrule me. Dobbs smiled and stood up so he could
     pull her chair back. She finally let him and stood up to go.
    “Very well,” she said. “Louis, I will see you at dinner.”
    Dobbs walked her through the door of the conference room and I saw them exchange conversation in the hallway. I couldn’t hear
     what was said. Then she left and Dobbs came back, closing the door.
    I went through some preliminaries with Roulet, telling him he would have to be arraigned in two weeks and submit a plea. He
     would have the opportunity at that time to put the state on notice that he was not waiving his right to a speedy trial.
    “That’s the first choice we have to make,” I said. “Whether you want this thing to drag out or you want to move quickly and
     put the pressure on the state.”
    “What are the options?” Dobbs asked.
    I looked at him and then back at Roulet.
    “I’ll be very honest with you,” I said. “When I have a client who is not incarcerated, my inclination is to drag it out. It’s
     the client’s freedom that is on the line—why not get the most of it before the hammer comes down.”
    “You’re talking about a guilty client,” Roulet said.
    “On the other hand,” I said, “if the state’s case is weak, thendelaying things only gives them time to strengthen their hand. You see, time is our only leverage at this point. If we refuse
     to waive our right to a speedy trial, it puts a lot of pressure on the prosecutor.”
    “I didn’t do what they are saying I did,” Roulet said. “I don’t want to waste any time. I want this shit behind me.”
    “If we refuse to waive, then theoretically they must put you on trial within sixty days of arraignment. The reality is that
     it gets pushed back when they move to a preliminary hearing. In a prelim a judge hears the evidence and decides if there is
     enough there to warrant a trial. It’s a rubber-stamp process. The judge will hold you over for trial, you will be arraigned
     again and the clock is reset to sixty days.”
    “I can’t believe this,” Roulet said. “This is going to last forever.”
    “We could always waive the prelim, too. It would really force their hand. The case has been reassigned to a young prosecutor.
     He’s pretty new to felonies. It may be the way to go.”
    “Wait a minute,” Dobbs said. “Isn’t a preliminary hearing useful in terms of seeing what the state’s evidence is?”
    “Not really,” I said. “Not anymore. The legislature tried to streamline things a while back and they turned the prelim into
     a rubber stamp because they relaxed hearsay rules. Now you usually just get the case cop on the stand and he tells the judge
     what everybody said. The defense usually doesn’t get a look at any witnesses other than the cop. If you ask me, the best strategy
     is to force the prosecution to put up or shut up. Make them go sixty days from first arraignment.”
    “I like that idea,” Roulet said. “I want this over with as soon as possible.”
    I nodded. He had said it as though a not-guilty verdict was a foregone conclusion.
    “Well, maybe it doesn’t even get to a trial,” Dobbs said. “If these charges don’t hold muster—”
    “The DA is not going to drop this,” I said, cutting him off. “Usually, the cops overcharge and then the DA cuts the charges
     back. That didn’t happen here. Instead, the DA upped the charges.That tells me two things. One is that they believe the case is solid and, two, they upped the charges so that when we start
     to negotiate they will deal from a higher ground.”
    “You’re talking about a plea bargain?” Roulet asked.
    “Yeah, a disposition.”
    “Forget it, no plea bargain. I’m not going to jail for something I didn’t do.”
    “It might not mean going to jail. You have a clean