Accused sf-2

by Mark Gimenez

  "No."

  "Did you then remove the knife?"

  "Yes. The knife handle was first bagged then the blade retracted from the body. It was photographed and measured then placed in an evidence bag and delivered to the criminologist who was attending the autopsy. There had been no medical intervention."

  "Which means?"

  "The deceased had not been administered medical treatment for the stab wound in an effort to save his life. So the wound was unaltered."

  "Would you please describe the wound?"

  "The wound was located approximately nineteen centimeters above the navel and measured four centimeters in width and extended almost through the entirety of the body. It was a fatal wound."

  "Did you then conduct an internal examination?"

  "Yes. I removed and examined and took tissue samples from all major organs and glands. I collected and examined the gastric contents and peripheral blood for a tox screen."

  "And did the screen come back with any positives?"

  "Yes. For alcohol and cocaine. So I collected liver and kidney tissue for follow-up tests. The deceased's blood alcohol level was point-two-six and there was cocaine in his system, six hundred nanograms per milliliter."

  "Indicating that Mr. Rawlins had drunk a significant amount of alcohol and ingested cocaine immediately prior to his death?"

  "Yes."

  "Thank you, Dr. Sanjeev."

  During a short recess, the D.A. stepped over to Scott and said, "Sanjay, he's a bit dry. Someone dies in a house fire, he calls it a 'thermal event.' "

  Outside, Renee was interviewing Dr. Sanjeev.

  After the recess, the county criminologist, Herman Deeks, thirty-five, took the stand. He looked nothing like the cool crime scene guys on CSI Miami. He looked more like the guy working behind the counter at the neighborhood video store. He had arrived directly from a murder scene in shirt sleeves. The judge gave him a hard look then said, "Mr. Deeks, is that blood on your shirt?"

  "What?" Deeks checked his shirt. "Oh, yeah. Nasty crime scene on the mainland, shotgun to the head. Blood splatter was pretty spectacular and-"

  "Thank you."

  Deeks testified on direct about his collection of evidence from the crime scene and from the body at the autopsy. He collected fingerprints from the murder weapon; fingerprints, handprints, and footprints in the bedroom, the outside deck, and elsewhere in the residence; blood samples from the victim and the defendant and from the scene; clothing worn by the defendant; bedding; sand from the bed and floor; sand and DNA from the defendant's underwear; hair from the victim, the defendant, and unidentified blond hair from the victim's closet.

  Bobby stood and asked, "Mr. Deeks, you were just at a murder scene?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you wear latex gloves while processing the scene?"

  "Yes."

  "Why?"

  "So I didn't get blood on my hands."

  "And so you didn't leave your fingerprints on the evidence?"

  "Yes."

  "And so you didn't disturb fingerprints already on the evidence?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you wear latex gloves at the Rawlins crime scene?"

  "Yes."

  "Mr. Deeks, what did you do with the prints you collected?"

  "Sent them to the DPS lab."

  "Were any prints found that did not belong to either the victim or the defendant?"

  "Yes. I found prints that belonged to Rosie Gonzales and three sets of unidentified prints-one set on the island counter in the kitchen, another on the headboard of the bed in the master suite, and another on the mirror in the master closet."

  "Have you subsequently identified those prints?"

  "I have not. I turned the file over to Hank Kowalski, the district attorney's investigator. I understand that he followed up on those prints."

  "Mr. Deeks, you examined and photographed Ms. Fenney that night, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "Did you find any evidence that Ms. Fenney had engaged in a recent physical struggle?"

  "No."

  "Did you find any skin tissue under her fingernails?"

  "No."

  "Did you find any bruises or abrasions on her knuckles indicating that she had recently hit someone?"

  "No."

  "What was the form of the DNA collected from Ms. Fenney's underwear?"

  "Semen."

  "And to whom did that belong?"

  "The victim. Trey Rawlins."

  "Indicating recent sexual intercourse?"

  "Yes."

  "And was sand recovered from Ms. Fenney's underwear?"

  "Yes."

  "Which would indicate that the sexual intercourse occurred on the beach?"

  "Yes."

  The Department of Public Safety lab in Austin sent technician Stephen Haynes to testify about the fingerprints on the murder weapon. He seemed more concerned about his per diem travel allowance than his testimony. Under the Assistant D.A.'s questioning, he testified that Rebecca's right hand fingerprints were found on the handle of the knife and aligned with her thumb toward the end of the handle and not toward the blade, indicating that she had held the knife with the blade down as if to stab rather than with the blade up as if to cut. Bobby then questioned the witness.

  "Mr. Haynes, when were those fingerprints put on the knife?"

  "When?"

  "Yes, when. Were they put there on June fifth or May fifth or April fifth?"

  "I can't say."

  "Why not?"

  "I have no way of knowing that."

  "Why not?"

  "Because those prints could have been put on that knife the day before or the year before."

  "You're saying that Ms. Fenney could have handled that knife a year before the murder and never touched that knife again, and her prints might still be on that knife?"

  "Yes. That's what I'm saying."

  "Mr. Haynes, if I put on a latex glove and removed the murder weapon from the plastic bag and then grabbed the handle right now in this courtroom, would I leave my fingerprints on that knife?"

  "No. The glove would prevent that."

  "Would I obliterate Ms. Fenney's prints that are on the knife?"

  "Not necessarily."

  "Okay. So, Mr. Haynes, your testimony is in no way stating or implying to this jury that because only the defendant's fingerprints are on that knife that she is therefore the only person who could have stabbed the victim with that knife?"

  "No, sir, I am not saying that."

  "Mr. Haynes, would scrubbing a stainless steel countertop with Clorox and soap and Pine-Sol remove fingerprints?"

  "Most definitely."

  "Your Honor," Karen said. "Defense requests a recess."

  The judge looked from Bobby to Karen, who had a funny expression on her face.

  "Ms. Douglas, your co-counsel is conducting cross-examination. For what reason do you request a recess?"

  "My water broke."

  An eight-pound-two-ounce boy was born to Robert Herrin and Karen Douglas-Herrin at 7:37 P.M. at the UTMB hospital on Galveston Island, one of 2,500 babies born there in the first seven months of the year. UTMB was the charity hospital serving Galveston County.

  "Scott Carlos Louis Herrin," Bobby said.

  He stuck a big cigar in Scott's open mouth.

  "Wow, Bobby, I'm honored."

  "We're gonna call him Bud."

  "Oh."

  "Just kidding. You guys are like our brothers. What better names?"

  "You're a father now." Scott hugged his best friend. "Start saving money for college."

  Aligned along the glass window like visitors at the penguin exhibit at Moody Gardens were Scott and Bobby, Louis and Carlos, and Boo and Pajamae. The girls had their faces and hands plastered to the glass, oohing and aahing at the newborns.

  "I don't like looking at them through the glass," Boo said. "I want to touch them."

  Rebecca stood along the opposite wall. Scott glanced at her, and she motioned h
im over. He went to her; she lowered her voice.

  "Scott, if they send me to prison, don't bring Boo to visit. I don't want her to see me though a glass window like that. I don't want her to remember me that way."

  FORTY-THREE

  The second day of trial began with Detective Chuck Wilson giving his best Clint Eastwood imitation for the cameras. Scott could picture him pointing a gun at a kid trespassing on his grass and growling through clenched teeth, "Get off my lawn." He was fifty years old, he had a flat-top haircut, he wore a suit for his court appearance, and he had already retained a literary agent, a fact Scott had learned from Sarge. Wilson was an experienced homicide detective. He had worked the grimy Galveston murders for twenty-two years; now he had finally caught a glitzy tabloid murder. He was determined to make the most of the opportunity. He would present the prosecution's theory of the crime. District Attorney Rex Truitt questioned his star witness.

  "Detective Wilson, what time did you arrive at the crime scene?"

  "Approximately four-thirty A.M. on Friday, June fifth."

  "And how did you enter the house?"

  "Through the front door."

  "Who was present when you arrived?"

  "Two patrol officers, the criminologist, and the defendant."

  "And where were they?"

  "In the bedroom. The crime scene."

  "And what did you see when you entered the bedroom?"

  "I observed the victim lying on the bed with a knife in his chest

  … the bed soaked in blood… bloody footprints on the floor leading to the French doors… blood stains on the white curtains and on the wall around the light switch… blood on the phone… and blood on the defendant's white nightgown and body."

  It was time for the crime scene photos.

  "Detective Wilson, would you please look at your computer screen, and I direct the jury to the screen above the witness."

  Scott observed the jury when the first photo was displayed on the video screen on the wall. He expected a noticeable reaction from the jurors-gasps, recoiling in horror, averted eyes, something-but he got nothing. They acted as if a color blow-up of a bloody crime scene was nothing out of the ordinary. And then he realized it wasn't. They viewed similarly graphic scenes every night on television. It was just like watching a cop show.

  "Detective, does this photo accurately represent the bedroom as you observed it?"

  "Yes, it does. This is a view of the bedroom from the door on the north side. The French doors you see are to the south. Through those doors is the outside deck. On the east side of the room is the bed. The victim is lying on the bed."

  "That is the way you found the victim, with the knife still in him?"

  "Yes, it is."

  "And would you identify this photo?"

  The next photo was shown on the screen, a close-up of the deceased. Still no reaction from the jurors. Did they even understand that this was real? That a human being had died?

  "This is a shot of the bed and the victim. He was naked and bled out profusely. The bed is covered in his blood except where the defendant had been lying, as the blood flowed over and around her body."

  "And this photo."

  The screen now displayed a photo of Rebecca from that night. She was covered in blood.

  "That is the defendant as she was found that night wearing a short white nightgown and an undergarment. Blood is on her nightgown and her hands and arms and legs and face. Her hair was matted with blood."

  "Is this the woman you saw that night?"

  "Yes, it is."

  "And is that woman in this courtroom?"

  "Yes, she is. She's the defendant."

  "Rebecca Fenney?"

  "Yes, sir."

  The D.A. gave the jury time to fully absorb the image. They did. Scott had instructed Rebecca to keep her head up and to look straight ahead without expression. She did.

  The D.A. led Detective Wilson through a dozen more crime scene photos then asked, "Detective, did you ask the defendant what happened that night?"

  "Yes, sir, I did. She said she woke up with a chill, went to shut the doors but stepped out onto the deck, realized she was wet, returned inside and turned the lights on, whereupon she saw the victim lying in blood on the bed with the knife in him."

  "Did the defendant say who killed the victim?"

  "No, sir, she did not."

  "Did you ask her if she killed him?"

  "Yes, sir, I did. She denied killing him."

  "Did you subsequently investigate this homicide?"

  "Yes, sir, I did."

  "And did you find any evidence that a third party, that is, a person other than the defendant or the victim, had entered that bedroom that night?"

  "No, sir."

  "And the only prints on the murder weapon were the defendant's?"

  "Yes, sir."

  "What did that evidence lead you to do?"

  "Arrest the defendant and refer the case to your office with a recommendation that the defendant be charged with the murder of Trey Rawlins."

  "Thank you, Detective."

  The judge called for a short recess. The D.A. came over to the defense table.

  "Who are these people? Those jurors didn't even blink an eye at the photos." He shook his head in apparent disbelief. "I need to retire."

  Karen Douglas sat propped up in her hospital bed nursing her new baby boy and watching the murder trial on the TV and listening to Renee Ramirez's narration. She had her laptop up and running.

  After the recess. Bobby cross-examined Detective Wilson.

  "Detective, when did you arrest Ms. Fenney?"

  "Friday morning, about eight."

  "At the time of her arrest, did you have the results of the fingerprint evidence on the murder weapon?"

  "No."

  "Then what evidence did you have establishing probable cause to arrest her for the murder of Trey Rawlins?"

  "She was present at the scene and she was covered in his blood."

  "How did you know it was his blood?"

  "No one else was bleeding."

  "So that's all the evidence you had?"

  "That was enough. Besides, we got the prints back Monday, it became a mute point."

  "Moot."

  "That's what I said. It became a mute point-"

  "Your Honor." The Assistant D.A. was on his feet. "The U.S. Supreme Court ruled that an illegal arrest does not invalidate a subsequent conviction."

  "We're aware of that ruling," Bobby said, "but there has been no conviction. And don't interrupt my cross-examination unless you have an objection." Bobby turned back to the detective. "So, you arrived at the crime scene, saw Ms. Fenney covered in blood, and decided right then and there that she had committed the crime?"

  "Pretty much."

  "Detective, after you arrested Ms. Fenney, did you take her to the police station?"

  "Yes."

  "And did you interrogate her there?"

  "Yes. Until she called her lawyer, and he instructed us to stop."

  "Because the Constitution requires that you cease interrogation when counsel so instructs pursuant to an accused person's right to remain silent?"

  "Yes."

  "I mean, you can't waterboard an American citizen, can you?"

  "Unfortunately."

  The detective smiled, but no one got the joke.

  "Detective, when you investigate a homicide, is it your practice to develop a list of potential suspects?"

  "Yes, it is."

  "And did you develop such a list in this case?"

  "Yes, I did."

  "Who was on your list?"

  "Rebecca Fenney."

  "Anyone else?"

  "No."

  "Why not?"

  "It was obvious that the defendant had stabbed the victim."

  "And why was that obvious?"

  "No one else had made entry into the room and only her prints were on the knife."

  "The French doors leading to the back deck w
ere open, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "And the back deck was accessible via stairs down to the beach, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "And no blood was recovered from those doors?"

  "No."

  "Which means that those doors were not opened by Ms. Fenney after she woke covered in the victim's blood?"

  "Correct. She stated that they slept with those doors open."

  "And you believe that to be the fact that night?"

  "Yes."

  "So while they slept a third-party could have entered the house through those open doors?"

  "Yes."

  Bobby picked up the murder weapon off the evidence table. "And if I wore latex gloves and picked up this knife I would not leave my fingerprints on the knife, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "But I would also not obliterate any fingerprints already on the knife, correct?"

  "Yes."

  "So Ms. Fenney could have put her prints on this knife some time before the murder but someone else could have worn latex gloves, grabbed the knife from the kitchen, and stabbed Mr. Rawlins?"

  The detective snorted. "Could have? Sure. Anything could have happened."

  "But your investigation of this homicide began and ended with Ms. Fenney?"

  "Yes."

  "And why is that?"

  "Because I deal in reality. The fact that someone could have done all that doesn't mean someone did."

  "Fair enough. But is it also fair to state that you never even considered the possibility that anyone other than Ms. Fenney might have killed Mr. Rawlins?"

  "Yes, that's a fair statement."

  "Now, Detective, when investigating a homicide, after having a suspect or a list of suspects, do you attempt to determine the suspect's motive in committing the murder?"

  "Yes."

  "What did you determine was Rebecca Fenney's motive to kill Trey Rawlins?"

  "I could not determine her motive."

  "Well, do you think she killed him for money?"

  "No."

  "Do you think she killed him in a fit of rage?"

  "No."

  "Was there any evidence of a struggle?"

  "No."

  "Do you think she killed him because of a love triangle?"

  "Maybe."

  "But you have no evidence to tie Ms. Fenney into a love triangle?"

  "No."

  "So that night, Ms. Fenney and Mr. Rawlins drank alcohol, ate dinner, used cocaine, and had sex, correct?"