Angie Boyter
asked:
MILD SPOILER INCLUDED I loved this book , but there were a few things that puzzled me. In the courtroom scene Molly's lawyer Charlotte questions Molly on the stand, although Molly is not the defendant and Charlotte is not the prosecutor. I am aware that the author is Canadian and the book is probably set in Canada. Is this done in Canada? Under what circumstances?
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The Maid,
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Judith
To me, the bigger question about the courtroom scene is how Molly could blatantly lie on the stand, perjure herself, withhold evidence, & let Rodney take a murder rap, & rationalize it all away with one of Gran's mottoes. Even she has to know how wrong that is, but says she has a "clean conscience" at the end. Not cool.
Michael
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Caitlin
American criminal defense lawyer here. I don't know anything about Canadian procedure and wondered the same thing myself. It's not that unusual for a witness to have a lawyer present, especially if the witness is potentially in trouble with the law, but that lawyer wouldn't do either the direct examination or the cross-exam.
Whitney
Came here to ask this too. Not gonna lie, kind of ruins the book for me because it's such a ridiculous mistake to make. And, like someone else pointed out below, there's no way a lawyer would interview a client with a third party present.
Michael
Yeah, I suspect this was a mistake. Kind of a big one.
Sue Fitz
This really bugged me, especially since the author is an experienced editor and I assumed the book was heavily edited and reviewed by other profesionals before publication. I mean...it's a seriously amateur mistake, IMO. And yes, I am a lawyer, but as I said in my own review, anyone who has watched a few episodes of Law and Order would know this was incorrect. And it also seems like an error that the country where the story takes place wasn't made clear.
Shianne
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Rebekah
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Amanda
I was so confused by this. Was she always a prosecutor, and that is why the bail hearing judge said she had friends in high places? But if that is the case, she couldn't be the prosecuter on the case after being Molly's lawyer. There is no way.
Kathleen
I just wrote that in my review. Just part of the overall poor construction of the novel in my opinion. Agree with the perjury as well. Certainly violates Molly's sense of right and wrong.
Edward
This puzzled me too. It was one thing if Charlotte coached Molly and Juan Manuel before the trial, but why was she there? It makes absolutely no sense.
Justin Neisuler
yeah that was super ridiculous
James
I'm not at all an expert in this area. But in great Britain criminal cases are prepared by the CPS solicitors and presented in court by private barristers.
Nicole Normand
I'm in Canada. For sure, anything criminal charges will be examined and cross-examined. Sometimes, the judge will also ask questions.
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Jun 26, 2022 08:57PM · flag
Jun 27, 2022 08:19AM · flag