“She never asked me to. I wanted to, of course, but she preferred coming to my place.”
“Was your relationship sexual?” asked White.
“That’s pretty personal.”
“So is murder.”
He sighed and sat back. “At my place quite a few times. And once, in a hotel.”
“A hotel?” said Decker.
“We went to Miami. It was over a weekend.” He paused and added, “Her divorce was apparently quite liberating for her.”
“How so?” asked White.
“In law school she was quite the shy, demure type. Didn’t even drink. I tried to date her then, but it went nowhere. Down here, all these years later, it was a different story. After her divorce she had become…well, you know, kind of…wild. Did what she wanted to do, how she wanted to do it.”
“Yeah,” said White. “With men I think they call it being secure in their own skin.”
“Right,” said Langley with a glib smile.
“We understand that the judge broke things off with you,” said White.
“I saw it as mutual. We had some good times and then those good times ended.”
“You were described as controlling,” said White.
“I like to think of myself as forceful and decisive, but Julia was no shrinking violet. If she didn’t want to do something, I wasn’t going to convince her otherwise. The fact that we only had sex at a place of her choosing? I think that speaks volumes. I sure as hell wasn’t controlling her.”
“Do you own a gun?” asked Andrews.
“I do. I have a concealed-carry permit for it.”
“Can you provide it to us?”
“For what? Ballistics?”
Andrews didn’t answer.
“Sure, I can get it for you. It hasn’t been fired in months. I just occasionally take it to the shooting range.”
“Do you need a gun?” asked White.
“Well, the Second Amendment says I can have one regardless of whether Ineedone or not. And Florida law is very liberal on gun rights. And I’m a criminal defense attorney. My clientele can be violent. And when they don’t like the job I did for them? And they have relatives and friends who might want to send me a message? So I bought a gun.”
“Did you ever appear before Judge Cummins?” asked White.
“Come on. Julia would never have allowed that. We were friends from law school even before we started dating. She would have recused herself.”
“So, you have a gun and you broke up with the judge who described you as controlling to someone,” said Andrews. “And she had inquired about getting security because she had received threats.”
“I also have an alibi. And I never threatened Julia. I would never have hurt her. And, like I said, I’ve moved on.” He studied Andrews. “Come on, Doug. Just because I routinely beat the Bureau in court is no reason to come here and act all pissed off.”
Decker glanced sharply at Andrews. “I didn’t know you two knew each other.”
Langley chuckled. “I’m president of the local criminal defense lawyers’ association. I’ve gone up against the Feds more times than I can remember. My record speaks for itself.”
“I will concede that you have gotten more guilty people off than not,” said Andrews through gritted teeth.