The Advocate's Homicides

by Teresa Burrell

  "You will hear testimony that the word GOOF was written on Irving's forehead. You will also hear that goof is a street or prison term for a pedophile, suggesting that he was killed because of his pedophilia. However, we don't know that for certain because we don't know exactly when the marker was applied or how much time elapsed between his death and when the words were written on him. One may not have anything to do with the other.

  "You’ll also hear testimony that material was found in my client's possession with the word GOOF written on it. We will show that too many variables exist to prove that the handwriting on the body was that of my client's.

  "Tray Copley is the victim here, and if you find him guilty of this crime, he will be victimized once again. He is a young, innocent boy who fell prey to a horrible man. The medical examiner is unable to pinpoint an exact time of death, but he has narrowed it down to a twenty-four-hour period. All of Tray's time is accounted for in that time period. Therefore, Tray could not have killed Irving. Please do not victimize this child again."

  Marge Benson stood to make her rebuttal statement.

  "Please do not blame the victim here. Glen Irving is dead. He cannot speak for himself, so the people of the state of California have to do that for him. We know that Glen Irving allegedly did some despicable things in his life, but that doesn't give this young man the right to take Glen’s life. Tray's not claiming that it was an accident or self-defense. His defense is that it wasn't him at all. However, the evidence will contradict that. We will show that he wasn't where he claimed to be, that a witness saw him with the victim shortly before his death, and the evidence on the body was in fact that of Tray Copley. Listen closely to the evidence that is provided to you and you will know he is guilty."

  Chapter 30

  "A medium coffee and a cranberry bagel," Sabre told the clerk at Einstein Bros. Bagels on Friars Road.

  Bob ordered a coffee and plain bagel with cream cheese. He took out his wallet, but Sabre stopped him.

  "I've got this," she said. "It's the least I can do for your covering my dependency cases this week while I do the Copley trial." She paid, they took their food, and sat down.

  She took a stack of files out of her bag. "Once we had this trial date set, I didn't schedule anything else unless I was forced to, so it's mostly review hearings that were set six months ago. These are the files for today and tomorrow. The rest are in the car. I'll give them to you before you leave here since we're going different directions. My record sheets for the hearings are in the front of each file with all my notes on what I want you to do."

  "Of course they are," Bob said.

  Sabre ignored his remark. "The sheets are all color-coded, so it's easy to see what kind of hearing it is, and they are marked at the top if you forget the code."

  "Doesn't everyone color-code their files?" Bob said jokingly.

  She frowned at him. "Here is a list of the hearings with notes. I've seen all the minors, and the notes are in there on the home visits as well."

  "I’d expect nothing less."

  "Stop making fun of me. You'll be glad when you get into court and you don't have to go searching through the files."

  "I'll just wing it," Bob said.

  She knew he could do that, but she also knew he would do what she wanted him to do. And if the case went south, he would either deal with it or get a continuance. Her cases were in good hands.

  "Thanks for stopping here this morning," Sabre said.

  "Anything for you, Sobs." He took the wrapper off the bagel and opened it. "Are you nervous about your trial?"

  "I'm not nervous about doing it, but I'm scared to death of the outcome. What if Tray is found guilty?"

  "You still think he's innocent?"

  "I do. It would be a lot easier if I thought he did it because then if I lose, it's his fault for not having the right facts to support his case. But now if I lose, I’ll feel like it's my fault for not giving him the best defense." Sabre took her bagel out and set it on top of the paper sleeve.

  "Yeah, I know what you mean. That's why I like representing the parents instead of the kids. Most of the time the parents just screw themselves, no matter how much I try to save them. The mental patients are hardest for me because they really have little control over what they do." He picked up his coffee cup. "You and Chris will do just fine. I know you're prepared, and JP has thoroughly investigated. Speaking of JP, have you two been out again? I know you said you had a dinner date months ago, but I haven't heard you mention anything in a long time."

  "We had dinner, not a dinner date. We were working late and we were both hungry. That's all it was. And no, we haven't had any more 'working dinners' since then. We've both been so busy with this case that I can't think of anything else. I'll be so glad when it's over."

  Bob finished eating his bagel.

  "Are you going to eat? You haven't touched your food."

  Sabre put it back inside the paper sleeve. "I think I'll take it with me. We had better get going."

  They both stood up and walked out.

  "Hey, I hear Judge Charlie Bozo is back at work," Sabre said.

  "Yes, he's doing really well. I understand that the cancer is in remission."

  "That's great. He seems like a really good guy. I’m just sorry he didn’t get back a little sooner. If he had, we may not even have had to be downtown on this trial."

  They reached their cars and Bob gave Sabre a little hug. "You're going to do just fine."

  "Thanks." Sabre got in her car and drove away. She didn't feel fine. All she felt was concern and fear that she hadn't done enough, that she hadn't found the real killer, and that she had failed Tray.

  Chapter 31

  "Please call your first witness," the judge said to the DDA.

  Benson called Detective Greg Nelson to the stand. He testified that the body was found in a shallow grave in a remote area. He went into great detail about the word GOOF on his forehead, the positions of the word, the type of marker, and the lettering.

  "Do you know when the word was written on the body?"

  "Not for certain. We have a witness that saw Irving on Saturday, May 4, around 11:00 a.m. Our best guess is sometime between then and when the body was found."

  "The medical examiner determined that the body was there about a week before it was found. Could the word have been written on the body after the body was buried?" Benson asked.

  “That was a dumb question,” Chris whispered to Sabre.

  Detective Nelson shifted a little uncomfortably in his seat. "If someone dug it up and wrote on it and then re-buried it, then it's possible but not likely," he responded.

  Nelson continued to testify as to the time and circumstances under which they found the body. He testified that the grave was dug about a foot-and-a-half deep and that the dirt was spread out in a slight mound over the body.

  On cross-examination, Sabre asked, "What direction was the word on his forehead written?"

  "If you were standing in front of the body, it was written from left to right."

  "So the person who wrote it would have had to be in front of him."

  "Most likely. If the body was on the ground and the writer was behind his head, it would have been upside down. We surmised that it was written from the front."

  "You stated that the grave was dug about a foot-and-a-half deep, correct?"

  "That's correct."

  "Could you tell if an instrument was used to dig the grave?"

  "It was not done by hand, if that's what you mean. Forensics determined that a medium-sized shovel was likely used."

  "How large a man was Irving?"

  Nelson looked down at his notes before he answered. "He was five foot nine and weighed 193 pounds."

  "My client is five foot two and weighs about 105 pounds." Sabre expected an objection since she was testifying, but when none came, she continued. "As you can see, he is not muscular. Do you think it would be difficult for him to move a body the size of Irving?"
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  "It would be difficult for him to lift the body, but he could have possibly dragged him."

  "There was no evidence that a body had been dragged to the spot where he was buried, was there, Detective?"

  "No, but some time had passed and he could have had help."

  "Do you have any evidence that two people were involved in this crime?"

  "No, I do not."

  Sabre looked at Chris and he nodded. "No further questions," Sabre said, and sat down.

  Benson called Detective James Smothers, the other detective who was at the scene, but she didn't get anything new from him. Defense declined to cross, but left it open for later questioning in case something arose.

  Next up was the medical examiner, who established the time of death to be within a twenty-four-hour span between noon on Saturday and noon on Sunday.

  On cross, Chris asked, "You're basing the noon on Saturday on the alleged sighting of Irving at Albertsons, correct?"

  "Yes, the time we determined had many factors which I explained earlier, but that is one of them."

  "Thank you. So if there was no witness, you might have a different time frame, correct?"

  "Based on his coloring, the bloating of the body, and the condition of his hair, teeth, and nails, we were able to pinpoint a time of death of around three on Saturday afternoon. From there we go several hours on either side, but since he was seen sometime between eleven and noon, we estimated within the next twenty-four hours. It's not an exact science. The longer the victim has been dead, the harder it is to pinpoint an exact time."

  "So if the witness made a mistake and didn't actually see Irving around eleven or eleven-thirty, he could have been dead around midnight on Friday night."

  "That's possible, although we believe it was closer to mid-afternoon on Saturday."

  The prosecutor then called Jerry Bartlett, the man who discovered the body. All Bartlett did was describe the crime scene and explain how his son found the body, making it a little more dramatic for the jury. It appeared Benson hoped his testimony would show the trauma it caused his son when they discovered the dead man, but it backfired. JP had done his homework.

  "How old is your son?" Sabre asked.

  "He's eleven," Bartlett answered.

  "Did you know Glen Irving?"

  "No."

  "Did you ever hear of him before you found his body?"

  "No," he said, shrugging his shoulders and cringing.

  "What school does your son attend?"

  "Objection," Benson said. "Relevance."

  "If the court will allow me a couple more questions, I'll show the relevance."

  "Proceed," the judge said.

  "He attends La Mesa Middle School."

  "Where did he attend last year?"

  "Dale Elementary in La Mesa."

  "Where Glen Irving worked as a custodian?"

  Jerry Bartlett wrinkled his brow and paused for a second, and then said, "I didn't know that."

  "No further questions," Sabre said, and sat down. They needed to create reasonable doubt and who better to point a finger at than the person who found the body. JP's investigation showed that Bartlett was at an ophthalmology conference that weekend, but she could at least show that there were other possible suspects. It was weak, but they didn't have much.

  The judge looked at the clock and then at the prosecutor. "Do you have redirect for this witness?"

  "Not at this time, Your Honor."

  "It's already 4:30,” the judge said. "How long do you need for your next witness?"

  "About an hour on direct, Your Honor."

  "We'll adjourn for today." Judge Miller faced the jury. "Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, I stated earlier that you are not to discuss this case during breaks with fellow jurors or anyone else. That still holds. When you go home tonight, you may be tempted to tell your family or friends what happened today. Do not do that. Also, do not do any research on your own, either about the case or the law pertaining to it. If that is understood, we'll see you all back here tomorrow morning at 8:30 sharp. I start my trials on time."

  Chapter 32

  "The State calls Sister Maria Luisa Hilasco," Benson said.

  She took the stand and the clerk swore her in.

  "What is your occupation?"

  "I'm a Sister Servant of the Blessed Sacrament, a religious order in which we are devoting our lives to the Holy Eucharist and to educating our youth. Presently, I'm a teacher at St. Kieran Catholic School."

  "You are a nun, correct?" Benson asked the witness who was wearing her habit.

  Sister Maria glanced down at her clothes and said, "That's correct."

  Sabre did all she could to keep from chuckling. The court clerk snorted.

  Benson ignored it. "How long have you been a nun?"

  "She's driving that point home," Chris whispered to Sabre.

  "Twenty-three years," Sister Hilasco said.

  She went on to testify that she had seen Irving at the Albertsons supermarket with Tray somewhere between 11:00 and 11:30 on Saturday, May 4. She recognized Irving because he had been hanging around the school the previous week. She explained that when she saw his picture in the newspaper, she told the police about seeing Irving on that Saturday.

  “Do you see the young man who was with Irving at Albertsons on Saturday, the fourth of May?” Ms. Benson asked the witness.

  “Yes,” Sister Hilasco said.

  “Will you point to him, please?”

  The nun pointed at Tray Copley sitting at the defense table.

  “No further questions,” Benson said, and sat down.

  "Ms. Brown or Mr. Firmstone, who is cross-examining this witness?" Judge Miller asked.

  Sabre stood up and responded, "I am, Your Honor.”

  “The man you saw in Albertsons whom you identified as Glen Irving, how was he dressed?" Sabre asked.

  "He had a gray t-shirt, a light brown jacket, a baseball cap, and I think he was wearing jeans."

  "Was he wearing glasses?"

  "He had sunglasses on."

  "Long or short hair?"

  "Kind of long, just below his ears."

  "Was his cap on backward or forward?"

  "Forward with the bill down."

  "So his hair was around his face, he had sunglasses, and a cap on, correct?"

  "Yes, that's correct."

  "I believe you stated earlier that he kind of kept his head down, is that right?"

  "That's right."

  "So you never got a good look at his forehead, correct?"

  She paused for a second. "No. I never saw his forehead."

  “So you wouldn’t know if anything was written on his forehead at that time, correct?”

  “No, I wouldn’t.”

  "No further questions."

  "It's nearly twelve o'clock. We'll break for lunch. Jurors, remember you are still under the same instructions. I'll see you all back here at 1:30."

  "No surprises in the nun's testimony," Chris said.

  ***

  Sabre was back in court before anyone else. She spent a few minutes going over her notes before the other parties arrived.

  "The State calls Dr. John W. Bell to the stand," Benson said, giving Chris and Sabre a smug glance.

  "Damn it," Chris whispered to Sabre. "They must know that Bell didn't have that last therapy session with Tray."

  "I guess we'll find out," Sabre said. "Bell called me last night and I missed the call. When I tried to call back this morning, it went to voicemail. I’ll bet that's why he was calling."

  After Dr. Bell was sworn in and his credentials were established, Benson asked him about the timeline of the therapy sessions. Dr. Bell explained that the sessions had started about nine months ago and had continued until Tray was incarcerated.

  "When was your last therapy session with Tray Copley?"

  "About a week ago."

  “So you have continued to work with him while he has been incarcerated?”

  “Yes.
He still needs therapy, probably more so than ever. He’s a good kid.”

  “Objection. Nonresponsive,” Benson said.

  “Sustained as to everything beyond ‘yes,’” Judge Miller said.

  “Move to strike the last sentence.”

  “It will be stricken.” The judge proceeded to admonish the jury to ignore the last sentence.

  “Prior to Tray’s incarceration, when was the last therapy session you had with him?”

  “I don’t recall just when it was.”

  “Would it help your recollection if you reviewed your calendar?”

  “Yes.” Dr. Bell pulled out his phone and looked at his calendar. "It was on a Wednesday."

  "And the date?"

  "May 1."

  "Of last year?"

  "Yes."

  "And that was your last appointment with him before his arrest?"

  "Yes, that's the last time I saw him."

  "He's trying not to tell about the canceled appointment," Sabre whispered to Chris.

  "I see that, but Marge knows; you can tell by her questioning," Chris said.

  Marge took a deep breath. "Yes, Doctor, it's the last time you saw him for therapy, but were there any canceled appointments after that?"

  Sabre stood up. "Objection. Asked and answered."

  The judge hesitated for just a second. "Overruled. You may answer the question."

  "We were scheduled for another appointment on Saturday, but I had to cancel it."

  "You canceled the appointment?" Benson asked.

  "Correct."

  "Did you notify Tray's foster parents of the cancellation?"

  "I don't believe I did."

  "You're not sure?"

  "I intended to, but time got away from me. I had to get ready for my trip to Africa."

  "Did you tell Tray that it was canceled?"

  "I believe I did."

  "When?"

  "At the last therapy session."

  "The Wednesday before you left?"

  "Correct."

  "No further questions," Benson said.

  Sabre leaned over to Chris. "You can see he wants to help Tray. I'm asking a few questions."