The Defense Rests

“The death of Danielle Snyder was a tragic event and the loss to her family, especially to her children, will never be forgotten. This tragedy is a weight that Detective Starsky will carry with him for the rest of his life. However, her death was not caused with malicious intent but came about in the performance of his sworn duty to protect and serve. It was not caused due to recklessness or intent to endanger anyone, but an unintentional result of a sincere desire to reach the scene of an ongoing hostage situation as quickly as possible in order to save lives.”

“In light of this, I urge you to acquit the defendant of all charges in this case, not just for Detective Starsky’s sake but for the sake of all the officers of the Los Angeles Police Department, in order that they can carry out their duties without fear of reprisal.

As he wound up his closing arguments, the former detective turned defense attorney made eye contact with the last of the jurors and then turned to face his client. Starsky had to try hard in order to keep the pride from showing on his face as his watched his partner work. It wouldn’t do for the jury to see the defendant as anything but serious about the case, and he was serious. This was his life, his career. Everything was on the line. He knew that if Hutch lost- if they lost- it would be devastating to both of them. But Hutch wouldn’t lose.

Starsky turned out the prosecutor’s closing arguments, not wanting to have to listen again to the personal attacks that had characterized the trial. And then there was nothing left to do but wait.

The charges against Starsky stemmed from his involvement in a car accident while en route to a bank holdup. The severity of the indictment was partially a case of very bad timing as the incumbent DA was currently up for re-election. Yolanda Keating was making a supreme attempt to show she was tough on crime by cracking down on any impropriety or illegality on the part of the police department. There was some justification as the new scrutiny came in the wake of a scandal that had found thirteen officers involved in protecting drug dealers in exchange for bribes and in two other cases, conducting their own drug sales. But Hutch had succeeded in obtaining a reduction in the charges from second degree murder to involuntary manslaughter and reckless endangerment. And he was convinced that he could get Starsky acquitted.

At first Hutch had been reluctant to take the case, but Starsky had insisted. He simply didn’t trust anyone else to defend him. “You were a cop, Hutch, you know what it’s like out there. I know you can make a jury understand what we do. And what can happen when we do what we do. And you can make them understand that I never meant to hurt anyone. Sure as hell not a young mother of two. You’re the only one I can trust because you’re the only one who believes me.”

Now, Starsky looked at his attorney who outwardly appeared calm. But he knew how anxious Hutch was as they waited for the verdict in the most important case in his young career as a trial lawyer. Both men were terrified of the possibility of a conviction. Part of him wondered if he had pushed his partner too far in taking the case, but he had meant what he said. Hutch was the only one he trusted.

Throughout the whole ordeal Hutch had kept reassuring him. “You’re not going to jail, buddy, I promise you that. If this doesn’t go our way, we’ll appeal and I can probably keep you out on bail until we get the appeal heard. And if that doesn’t work, and that’s a big if Starsk, there’s always another way. It’s going to be all right I promise. There’s no way any jury could convict you, you were just doing you job. They’ll be convinced of that by the time we’re through.” Hutch’s certainty carried over to his actions in the courtroom as he constructed his arguments and examined witnesses. Seeing and hearing Hutch’s faith in him always made him feel warm inside.

It was actually too warm now that he thought about it. It finally registered in his sleepy brain that the heat emanated from his partner, who was wrapped tightly around him like a second blanket. He moved a little in the strong arms that held him but Hutch was deeply asleep and didn’t move. Starsky opened his eyes and took in the familiar surroundings of their bedroom. The knowledge that they both were safe made him smile. I wish I knew how the jury had decided. Id’ve loved to have known how it came out. Bet we would have won.

As he shook off the remainders of sleep he started to separate the dream from reality, starting with the comforting fact that he wasn’t currently under indictment for anything. The idea of the LAPD being held to strict account was true. Two cops that they had a passing acquaintance with had been caught up in the recent drug scandal and had been charged with both possession and sale of heroin, among other felonies. He and Hutch both had been gratified to see Mussina and Boone convicted and expelled from the force.

Well, that explains that part of the dream.Starsky wondered if the rest was his subconscious trying to tell him something. “Yeah, like slow down asshole,” he could hear Hutch say in his head. He decided not to mention it to his partner since Hutch would probably have lots more to add to that sentiment. But the intense dream did leave him with one hell of an idea and he decided to go with it.

He turned in his partner’s embrace and gently shook the sleeping man lying beside him. “Hey Hutch, wake up.”

“Whaa, huh, what’s wrong,” came the mumbled response. “Go ‘way, I’m tired.”

“You gotta wake up, it’s important. I got it!” Starsky declared triumphantly.

“Got what? It’s… ” Hutch lifted his head slightly to look at the clock on Starsky nightstand and then tiredly dropped it back onto Starsky’s shoulder. “It’s 3:27 in the morning. You’d better have either tomorrow’s winning lottery numbers or the secret of life to be waking me up. I’ve gotten about a grand total of three hours sleep tonight and that’s mostly your fault.”

“Un uh buddy, first round might have been my idea but the second take was all yours. I’m gonna be sore for days.” He put his arms around his partner and idly stroking the warm skin of Hutch’s back, figuring a little loving was in order if he wanted to get his way. Not to mention that he’d always take any excuse to touch him. Even after so many years as lovers, it was still special.

“Don’t get your hopes up for round three. Us mere mortals need sleep…. Mmm, but that does feel good.”

“Don’t fall back asleep on me here, buddy.”

“Why’d you wake me up in the first place,” Hutch asked. There was no real anger in the question and only a trace of annoyance. His lack of ire was probably due to the fact that he was too tired to be angry. So far, so good.

“I told you, I had an idea.”

“And you’re not going to let me go back to sleep until you tell me about it, right.” It wasn’t a question.

“Right.”

“This better be brilliant. And keep doing that,” Hutch requested, leaning into Starsky’s gentle touches.

“It is,” Starsky promised as his continued his caresses.

“That would be a first,” Hutch muttered under his breath.

“What?”

“Nothing, Starsky. Okay,”, he said with an air that indicated he had resign himself to entertaining another one of his partner’s nutty schemes. “Hit me.” Starsky ignored the slight and proclaimed “You can fix that speeding ticket I got last month. All you gotta do is pass the bar exam.”

“You woke me up to tell me to go back to law school? That’s one of the nuttiest ideas you’ve ever come up with, and with you that’s saying something. Get someone else to take care of it. You’re a cop. You know people, you fix it. Or you could just pay it off already. Whatever you do, leave me out of it.” Finishing his speech, Hutch moved toward the other side of the bed away from Starsky and pulled the blanket over his head.

Starsky promptly pulled it back off, holding it far enough away so his partner couldn’t grab it back. Leaning over him, he ducked in for a quick kiss. “Oh come on Hutch, you’ve already done most of the work,” Starsky wheedled. “All you gotta do is take a class or two to brush up on the details and you’ll pass the exam. Piece of cake. Then you can use those legendary oral skills of yours,” he continued with a leer in his voice, “and convince the judge to cancel the ticket. Nothing to it.” He planted another kiss on his partner’s lips in an attempt to win him over.

“Let me get this straight. You want me to go back to law school and take the bar exam, so I can defend you in traffic court.”

“Yep,” Starsky answered without a hint of remorse, ignoring the sarcasm. “That’s it.”

“Starsky, I took those classes years ago. Forget it. I was right, you are nuts. Just pay the damn ticket before they suspend your license. And you’d better do it before Dobey finds out you got another one, you know how he is about officers with outstanding violations. Especially repeat offenders,” he said pointedly. “Of which you are a blatant example. The way you drive is criminal. And give me back my blanket,” he finished reaching up to pull it out of Starsky’s hands.

“You’d make a great lawyer.” Starsky wasn’t going to give up easily.

“I like being a cop, thank you very much. Although I’m starting to think it’s time to cart my partner up to Cabrillo State and find someone sane to work with. I heard Morrison is looking for a new partner since Lee retired.”

“Trust me Hutch, no one else would have you. We’re stuck with each other. And I could just see you in court arguing in front of a jury. You’d be great.”

“Well this attorney would really like to rest.”

“I hate to tell you this, but you’re not anywhere near as funny as you think you are.”

“That wasn’t a joke. I’m exhausted and I’m going back to sleep.” He rolled over away from Starsky, pulling the blanket with him.

“But I’m innocent here. Isn’t part of your job as my partner to defend me? I’ve been unjustly accused here. I need legal help.”

“You need mental help. May I remind you were going 30 in a 50 zone with no lights and no siren. And no excuse. You’re not going to get out of this one. I’ll cover you when you’re right. This time your on your own.”

“At least it was a industrial area and not residential neighborhood. It wasn’t that bad. And I had a good reason.”

“You were lead footing it because you wanted to get home to see the game.”

“It was a great game. You have to admit that Gibson’s home run was a thing of beauty. What a way to win,” Starsky said, almost reverently.

“Yeah, well, that thing of beauty is going to cost you $80 in traffic fines, plus the late fee, plus whatever salary you lose if you get suspended without pay for carrying on about this. Just pay the damn thing so I don’t have to hear about it any more and don’t do it again.” Finishing his lecture, Hutch flopped back on his back and let out a loud yawn which did nothing to deter Starsky.

“So if I ever got arrested for murder, you wouldn’t become a lawyer to defend me?”

That elicited a loud sigh from his partner. “Starsk, that’s not a question you ask someone at quarter of four in the morning even if he is the love of your life. Now will you let me get some sleep?”

“Huuuuuuutch”, Starsky pleaded using the distinct whine of his that he had perfected over the years. As usual, it worked.

“Sleep? Who am I kidding?” Hutch rolled over again to face him. “Starsky, if you ever got arrested for murder, I’d probably be right there in it with you as an accessory or something. Or I’d do what you did for me, find out who really did it. And we’d deal with whatever we had to. But I dropped out of law school for several reasons, one of which was I hated the idea of all that posturing and grandstanding.. . and that was before I became a cop and spent what seems like half my life testifying in court.”

“But..”

“But if you needed that from me, I’d do it in a heartbeat and you know it. Now can I please go back to sleep?”

It wasn’t the most earth shaking declaration of love and devotion that Starsky had ever heard but the reaffirmation of how deep their bond ran made him feel as warm as he had in his dream.

“Yeah, but I’m still going to fight it out in court.”

“Fine. I’ll pick you up when it’s over after your license gets suspended.”

“Thanks partner.” Starsky’s voice was soft as sleep started to reclaim him but he mustered the strength to reach out and pull Hutch close to him before he drifted off. His last thought was to wonder if he could talk Hutch into going to med school. They could have a lot of fun playing doctor.

Author’s Note:

Author’s note for the non baseball fans. Kirk Gibson of the LA Dodgers hit a pinch hit home run in the bottom of the 9th inning in Game 1 of the 1988 World Series vs. the Oakland Athletics to win the game. The Dodgers went on to win the Series. This was Jack Buck’s famous “I don’t believe what I just saw!” radio call. Gibson was playing hurt at the time, which made the home run all the more miraculous. I see Starsky as rooting for the Dodgers, it’s against my religion for him to be a Yankees fan.