Second Degree (Benjamin Davis Book Series 2)

by A. Turk

  “You’re here voluntarily. You’re not under subpoena?”

  “You couldn’t subpoena me. I live outside the state of Tennessee. I’m here because I feel guilty. If I’d prosecuted this man, he would have been convicted, and that young woman would be alive today.”

  Pierce objected on the grounds of speculation, “He has no idea what outcome would have occurred if he tried Mr. Garcia. He obviously had very serious concerns, or he wouldn’t have suggested pretrial diversion.”

  Tanner sustained the objection, and Davis sat down.

  Pierce opted to ask no questions. Taylor was a dangerous witness, and he’d done his damage. No sense in giving him more of an opportunity to do more harm to her case.

  Lunch was called.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-SEVEN

  WINDING DOWN

  THE STATE’S PROOF

  Thursday, February 15, 2001

  In the afternoon Davis started by calling Jasper Wright, a musician and friend of Robyn. He played in several bands with Robyn and spent years on the road with her. He testified about Robyn’s addiction and her fear of needles. The purpose of his testimony was to humanize Robyn.

  On cross-examination Pierce ripped him up. He admitted he was an addict, only clean sixteen months. He admitted that addicts lied to get what they wanted, whether it was drugs or something else.

  “You want my client punished?”

  “I think he murdered my friend.”

  “You want revenge?”

  “Yes. He killed her.”

  “You’re an addict. You’d say anything to get what you want, right?”

  No response from Wright.

  “You want revenge, right?”

  “Yes.”

  Pierce next showed him pictures of the needle marks in Robyn’s groin. In response he testified he’d never been intimate with Robyn, and Pierce snidely inferred he was the only one.

  Davis next called Melissa Lemon, senior pharmacy tech at the Hewes County Super AAA Pharmacy off Highway 96. Davis used her because she was a familiar face in the community. Some people knew her by name, but most just knew her face. Her testimony boiled down to one point: you couldn’t just walk into a drugstore and purchase the syringes used by Robyn Eden. Eighteen-gauge syringes were special order, and ten millimeter required either a prescription or evidence of insulin dependence, such as producing a vial of insulin. Ms. Lemon testified that was her company’s policy and, to the best of her knowledge, every other chain pharmacy in the state.

  On cross, Pierce got Ms. Lemon to acknowledge she didn’t know the policies of independent drugstores selling syringes. The inference that Garcia provided Robyn Eden with the syringes was destroyed.

  Judge Tanner addressed Davis, “It’s four thirty. Who is your next witness?”

  “I’ve got two more witnesses to present. Neither of them will be short. I would prefer to complete these witnesses at one time rather than break them up.”

  He explained to the court that one of them was his expert, and his last witness was Senator Daniels.

  Judge Tanner explained the situation to the jury. He suggested a fifteen-minute comfort break, and they’d either go late tonight or they’d call it a day. The foreman of the jury, Randy Mayer, informed the court the jury was ready to plow on.

  Davis called Dr. Brian Limbaugh.

  Dr. Limbaugh strode to the witness box with absolute determination and confidence. He was a professional witness first and a psychiatrist second. His credentials were impeccable. Harvard undergrad, Johns Hopkins medical school, and he did his residency and fellowship in psychiatry at Bellevue Hospital in New York. He taught at Columbia and lectured worldwide. He came at the request of Morty Steine, who’d represented and saved from ruin a lifelong friend of the doctor.

  The moment he started to speak, Dr. Limbaugh commanded respect. His voice was warm but authoritative. The jury seemed to hang on every word.

  Davis asked why the doctor was testifying.

  “I’m here at the request of the state, so I’m here on behalf of citizens of this state, Tennessee. People like these jurors.”

  The line was actually Morty’s, and it worked.

  Davis turned to Limbaugh’s compensation. Dr. Limbaugh explained that he’d spent three hours interviewing Charles Garcia, read depositions that Mr. Garcia had given in other legal matters, and read the pleadings filed by both sides of the case. He’d spent a total of twenty hours of his time forming his medical opinions, to which he intended to testify.

  “I’ve agreed to a fee of fifty dollars an hour for my time. Mr. Davis refused to let me testify for free.”

  It was like playing softball. Davis lobbed the questions in, and Limbaugh hit them out of the park. Davis asked only about five questions, and Limbaugh spoke for thirty-five minutes. He used technical terms but explained them in the course of his testimony. He was not complimentary of Charles Garcia.

  “In layman’s terms, plain English, he’s a schemer and as egomaniacal and self-centered as a person can be. He sees the world as a place for only his purposes and everyone as his pawn to control and manipulate.

  “He spent his days making women who were his patients into his image. That confirmed he had absolute control over them. But after surgery, they went home to their husbands and families, and he lost that control. That’s why he needed Robyn Eden. She was his own private canvas. Even if they were a thousand miles away, he still controlled her.

  “They both at times believed that they were deeply in love and that their relationship was beautiful and meaningful. But then reality set in, and after rational review, they saw it for what it was: perverted and self-destructive.”

  After Davis asked Dr. Limbaugh whether Mr. Garcia felt any remorse for Ms. Eden’s death, Pierce objected.

  Tanner ruled, “I’m going to let the jury hear his testimony, but remember these are Dr. Limbaugh’s opinions. You give them whatever weight that you deem appropriate.”

  Dr. Limbaugh looked straight at the jury. There was no question he was focused just on them and no one else in the courtroom.

  “Dr. and now Mr. Garcia feels deep remorse but not for Robyn Eden. His remorse is for himself. He’s lost everything, and he’s lost control. The loss of control and the fact that he must be here in this courtroom to answer for what he’s done are the worst things that have ever happened to him. To him, control of his life and others meant everything. I’m sure he’s in a deep depression.”

  He deliberately turned and looked into the soul of Charlie Garcia.

  “You were her doctor. Ethically you never should have been her lover. If you wanted to be with her, ethically you were required to stop treating her. She died on your watch, and as her doctor, you knew the highest principle is first do no harm.”

  Davis sat down.

  Pierce rose and announced, “It’s six thirty-eight. Why don’t we call it a night? I’ll reserve my cross for tomorrow morning.” She was shaken by Dr. Limbaugh’s testimony and wanted the night to plan her cross. She outsmarted Davis. His expert’s testimony was broken up after all.

  Tanner agreed, and the jurors were taken by bus to dinner at a local steakhouse and then on to the hotel. Although Dr. Limbaugh entertained them, Davis knew it was time to wrap up the state’s case.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-EIGHT

  A RESTLESS NIGHT

  AND A BROKEN WOMAN

  Thursday-Friday, February 15–16, 2001

  Amy Pierce tossed and turned all night debating her cross-examination of Dr. Limbaugh. He’d be a tough witness, and then Davis would get to go all over again on redirect. Pierce was ready for Senator Valerie Daniels. Why not let the show begin rather than spend any more time with Limbaugh?

  Her evening was also marred by a phone call from her ex-husband, Dan. He wanted to resume visitation with their son, Carter. Pierce didn’t want her son hurt again by a father who’d abandoned him and was unstable. He was a drunk and a drug addict. He’d been a lawyer, so he at least understood that she was in the m
iddle of a trial. She was able to convince him to postpone their discussion until after the trial.

  In that frame of mind Pierce announced the next morning, “No questions. Let’s get to Mr. Davis’s final witness so the defense can put on its case.”

  She watched Davis’s face. She’d caught him a little flat-footed. He wasn’t prepared to start with Daniels first thing this morning.

  Daniels was eating breakfast at Mother’s on the square, waiting on his call for a progress report. Judge Tanner ordered a comfort break while Daniels walked to the courthouse.

  Valerie Daniels knew how to speak to a jury. They were voters, right? Davis spent only a few minutes on her background. She came from privilege, and because of that she had very little in common with the jury.

  Pierce knew Daniels was a two-edged sword, and in the end Pierce would find the sharper side.

  She was her sister’s conservator and was legally responsible for her. “She was family. I loved my sister despite all of her faults. She was an addict. If you spent fifteen minutes with her, you’d know that. Mr. Garcia certainly knew it. He took advantage of my sister because she was an addict. She …”

  Pierce objected, and Tanner sustained.

  “Mr. Davis, ask a question, and I direct the witness to answer only that question.”

  Pierce thought that Daniels on direct did a good job but was not very exciting. Limbaugh would have been a better choice as the last state’s witness. I do believe that Davis goofed.

  Pierce questioned Daniels in detail about her childhood and her relationship with her sister. Those subjects were fair game. “You and your sister lived a privileged childhood.”

  Davis objected, and Tanner told Pierce to move on. The jurors could form their opinion without her characterization.

  After that, Pierce got rough. She got Daniels to admit that she knew about Robyn’s addiction and that her use began long before she met Charlie Garcia.

  “She’d used IV drugs before she met him?”

  “Yes.”

  “She made pornographic photos before she met him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Everything you did failed to save her?”

  “Yes.”

  “Your sister was pregnant with your niece or nephew, and she still couldn’t stop using IV drugs?”

  “Yes.”

  “That child didn’t have a chance, did it?”

  “I don’t know.”

  Daniels was about to lose it. She was a hardened politician, but this was a personal attack, not a political one.

  “Why did you think that Charles Garcia would have better luck than you had?”

  “I thought as the father, he might be able to convince her.”

  “In fact he’s in this mess because you dragged him into it. He wasn’t a drug addict, but he was addicted to her?”

  “Yes.”

  Pierce then played the telephone call between Daniels and Garcia the day after Robyn’s death. He came off very sympathetic, the grieving boyfriend. She came off angry at the world. It was powerful proof, and the state just had to sit there and take it.

  After that, Daniels was like a punching bag. Davis objected a few times, trying to help Daniels catch her wind, but it didn’t work.

  “You even had an intervention after she was terminated from Nichols & Garcia for stealing drugs out of the medicine closet?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Steine and Ms. Davis participated in her intervention, didn’t they?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Davis refused to participate, didn’t he?”

  “He didn’t refuse. He thought because he was the one who’d fired her, his involvement would be counterproductive.”

  “The intervention worked. She went into rehab, but she relapsed, didn’t she?”

  Davis always felt bad that he didn’t participate in that intervention. At this moment he felt even worse.

  Daniels was a powerful woman and tried her best, but Pierce overpowered her. She pounded Daniels for more than two hours.

  Davis tried to rehabilitate Daniels on redirect, but it was evident that Daniels’s heart wasn’t in it.

  Pierce did a short recross, and Davis closed his proof.

  Judge Tanner addressed the jury, “Ladies and gentlemen, the state has closed its proof. I’m letting you go to the hotel early today. I’ve got to hear some motions, and we’ll reconvene at nine on Monday. Have a good weekend, and remember: don’t talk about the case. I promise you’ll get an opportunity to deliberate when all of the proof has been presented.”

  The jury filed out.

  Tanner asked Pierce, “You have a motion to make, Ms. Pierce?”

  “Yes, sir. The defendant moves for a directed verdict.”

  In layman’s terms she was asking the judge to dismiss all charges without the need to put on any proof.

  “I can save us some time, Ms. Pierce.”

  “It’s your courtroom, Your Honor.”

  “I’ve read the briefs, and I’ve heard the proof. There’s a jury question here. I’m letting both counts go to the jury. Anything else?”

  She hated that the jury would decide the case, but Tanner wasn’t going to get reversed on this call. Almost everyone had left the courtroom to either enjoy the afternoon or get to work on other matters. Pierce planned to go home and spend some time with Carter.

  CHAPTER FIFTY-NINE

  A CONVINCING LIAR

  Monday, February 19, 2001

  Monday morning, the defendant’s proof began with Baxter first up. Pierce suggested him because he’d be an easy witness. She was right. He described Charles Garcia as the model parolee.

  “You get to know your parolees. They open up to you. Mr. Garcia was highly intelligent, and he was dedicated to being a doctor.”

  He went on, he knew the man; they’d spoken weekly. They actually talked about Robyn Eden and his relationship with her. Her addiction dragged him down. He wanted to save her, but she was too self-destructive. Baxter said, “Dr. Garcia’s crime is, he failed to convince her to go into rehab.”

  Davis, by objection, got the last answer thrown out, but a jury never really forgets an answer, no matter what the judge instructs.

  Pierce next called Dr. Gene Albertson from Bio-Tech Labs.

  Davis jumped to his feet and asked if the jury could be excused rather than addressing his objection in open court or by a sidebar. The court recognized that this dispute was considered by Davis important and granted Davis’s request. When the jury was gone, Davis moved to the podium.

  “Dr. Albertson is not on the defendant’s witness list, and I assume that because he’s a doctor, he’s also an expert witness.”

  Judge Tanner turned to Pierce. “What do you have to say, Ms. Pierce?”

  “Dr. Albertson is an impeachment witness, Your Honor. The state put on proof through the TBI lab technician that the only DNA found on the sex toys was that of Robyn Eden. That’s not true. This court by its order allowed the defendant to conduct independent DNA testing, and Dr. Albertson is here to tell the jury his contradictory findings. That makes him an impeachment witness, and therefore his name didn’t need to be on our list.”

  Tanner now turned to Davis. “Well, Mr. Davis?”

  Davis turned to Sammie, who addressed the court. “Your Honor, in early September 2000, after the independent DNA testing, I spoke with Ms. Pierce, and she told me that the report would not be on her exhibit list. She implied that its findings were consistent with those of the state and therefore not necessary.”

  Pierce spoke up, “Ms. Davis is partially correct. I did say the independent report would not be on my exhibit list, and it wasn’t. I never stated or implied that it was or wasn’t consistent. She must have assumed that conclusion, and she was wrong. I assure the court this is critical evidence, and to exclude it would be reversible error.”

  “Ms. Davis, other than my order are there any written communications with Ms. Pierce on this subject?”

  “No
, Your Honor.”

  “I can’t rely on the conflicting memories of two lawyers. Dr. Albertson is a conflicting witness, an impeachment witness. He will testify, and his report will come into evidence despite the fact he wasn’t on the witness list.”

  Sammie sat down at the prosecution table. Morty leaned over and said softly, “Lesson learned. Always send a confirming letter. You can’t trust your opposing counsel, especially Amy Pierce.”

  Dr. Albertson testified that he tested five sex toys and that Robyn Eden’s DNA was on each of them. He also testified, “I did find another person’s DNA on Exhibit 146, a double dildo. Ms. Eden’s was on one side, and the DNA of Danny Nix was on the other.”

  He explained that Ms. Pierce introduced him to Danny Nix at his lab; that he sampled her DNA and determined it was on one side of Exhibit 146. His report was made an exhibit.

  Davis asked for a fifteen-minute comfort break, not to relieve himself but to talk to his team. He knew what was coming next, Danny Nix. The consensus was, if you don’t know the answer to a question, then you shouldn’t ask the question. There were no further questions for Dr. Albertson.

  Danny Nix, a forty-year-old self-proclaimed lesbian, was up next. Davis renewed his objection for the record, but Tanner directed Pierce to begin her questioning.

  She’d known Robyn Eden for four or five years. With one look at her, anyone could tell Nix had once been a beautiful woman, but she’d hit hard times. Two nasty divorces and alcohol abuse aged her. She sold drugs but knew not to use them. She had a special relationship with Robyn Eden. Pierce got right to the point.

  “I traded drugs for sex at least fifteen times. I supplied her with hydrocodone and oxycodone, and she did whatever I asked.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “I enjoy strapping on a dildo and going at it. Robyn for a few pills would accommodate my desires. She was very accommodating.”

  Harrelson thought her testimony was credible. He knew the jurors wouldn’t like her. That wasn’t what was important, though. They needed to believe her.