"No, Your Honor. I believe the psychiatric examination is probably called for in view of the nature of the offense and the defendant’s background. I would have hoped this motion could have been filed earlier. My only concern is that the court rather than defense council select the doctor to be used.”
Burgoyne took objection to that but Mortenson stepped in and ordered that three psychiatrists examine Pratt and report to the Court. The judge would select one, the prosecutor one and the defense council the other.
With that the hearing was adjourned to be reconvened after the reports were complete in about four weeks. Psychiatric examination was the only exception to the ninety day limit. The following four weeks would be exempted from the time period. Burgoyne had successfully continued the trial passed the three month limit and there had been nothing Springman could do to prevent it.
~
Following the hearing, Mortenson sat alone in his chambers and reflected on the two attorneys he had just seen. Springman seemed properly diligent and Mortenson suspected that the state’s case was in competent hands. Burgoyne was slipping. His alcoholism showing, especially to one who had known the man for over twenty-five years.
Now we'll see, Mortenson thought.
Judges were theoretically screened from many aspects of criminal cases so they might rule impartially when the trial came. Any break in that impartiality could result in the judge being found prejudiced and removed from the case. Mortenson had no way of knowing if Pratt was guilty. Most likely he was guilty of something or he would not have been charged. But the judge had arranged this day to find something out for himself. If Burgoyne selected a psychiatrist noted for incompetence or for selling his
opinion than Mortenson would know Burgoyne represented a guilty man. The judge could just as easily have selected all three doctors himself but he wanted to know what Burgoyne thought, if for no other
reason than idle curiosity.
But there was more to what the judge did than that. It helped, he felt, to know when the defense lawyer considered his client to be guilty. The best justice always came out in the end,
Mortenson believed, if the judge knew in advance who was guilty.
CHAPTER TWENTY-THREE
It was not four weeks but rather five and one half before all three psychiatric reports were available to the court. The psychiatrist selected by the court returned his report within two weeks and Springman’s doctor was ready within three. Burgoyne's man ran into delay after delay, finally submitting his report only after the judge’s secretary had become insistent. His report was delivered five days later than ultimately promised.
The Omnibus Hearing was reconvened in late November. The thirty-eight days since the last meeting had been exempted. Judge Mortenson called the hearing into session late on a Thursday afternoon. Both Springman and Burgoyne took some time to discuss the relative merits of each of the three reports available to them.
The court's psychiatrist had found Pratt mentally ill and dangerous, but fit for trial, capable of understanding the proceedings and able to assist in his own defense. Springman's psychiatrist had termed Pratt “psychotic” but currently in remission, able to understand the nature of the proceedings against him and also able to assist in his own defense.
Burgoyne's psychiatrist had declared Pratt incapable of assisting in his defense, catatonic, suffering from delusions and hallucinations. The doctor, a well-known alcoholic with a floundering practice, also recommended immediate court placement in the state hospital.
"I see no major differences in these three reports," Burgoyne said. "Each of these men says, in one way or another, that my client is very ill and in need of psychiatric intervention. It is apparent to me that we should not proceed further but should have the poor boy committed for the help he so desperately needs. I believe it would be a travesty of justice to continue further with these proceedings at this time."
Springman spoke up. "I disagree. The conclusion of two of the three reports is that the defendant is perfectly capable of proceeding to trial. We are not a social service agency here to help the needy."
The judge interceded. "Spare us the social commentary, Mr. Springman."
"Yes, Your Honor. I only want to make the point that two out of three psychiatrists agree that Pratt is capable of proceeding to trial and I believe that is exactly what we should do."
Burgoyne cut in and for forty minutes asserted his position but Springman's argument won the day as Burgoyne had known it would. The purpose of a Rule Eleven was after all, solely to determine the defendant's suitability for trial within very clearly defined areas. Pratt did not fit the criteria according to two of the doctors.
"Gentlemen," Mortenson said, "I have heard your arguments. I am of the opinion that I must go along with the majority of the doctors and continue to trial."
"Well, Your Honor, if a majority vote is at issue," Burgoyne said, “then let’s get three more opinions. Certainly a matter of this import dictates that all due caution be exercised before a ruling is made."
"Your Honor, I object to that. I see absolutely no reason...” Springman began but stopped abruptly upon seeing a scowl from the judge.
"Allow me to comment if I may? This is after all my court. I disagree Mr. Burgoyne. The Court is satisfied with Mr. Pratt’s mental competence and is prepared to rule accordingly. Unless there are additional motions I am prepared to set a trial date."
Burgoyne reached for his slim briefcase and cleared his throat. Here we go again, Springman thought, his face revealing nothing.
"Your Honor, I have another motion for the Court at this time. It is a Motion to Suppress. It is our position that all evidence taken and all charges filed as a result of the alleged actions on the part of my client last August ought to be suppressed from further Court review as the entire episode constitutes clear and flagrant entrapment. I also would like an opportunity for oral arguments after Mr. Springman has replied."
Springman held his hand forward and received his copy of the lengthy motion.
"How long will you need for a reply, Mr. Springman?" Mortenson asked.
Springman glanced over the motion and arguments. Shit six months, he thought, to do it right. But he had known all along this motion was inevitable and he had already prepared the general reply he intended. How long it would take depended on how tricky Burgoyne had been.
"It's difficult to commit myself at this time, having only just received the motion. Trial should be set within two weeks if I've done the time computation correctly." A Motion to Suppress did not provide for a suspension of the time rule. "Let us set the oral arguments for three days prior to the trial date. That should give me enough time for my reply and the Court enough time to hear the matter before jury selection starts."
"Your Honor. I don't believe this matter could be disposed of in only three days," Burgoyne argued.
"Allow me to suggest that the hearing be set next week, so the court will have ample time to hear and consider the oral arguments."
Burgoyne had worked over one month with his assistant on this motion and wished to give the opposition less than one week to prepare its reply. Delay and establishing the grounds for appeal had been the motives behind the Rule Eleven but now he wished speed, speed that would not permit Springman adequate preparation time. The entire case could hinge on the Motion to Suppress. This was to be Burgoyne's best shot at having the entire case thrown out of Court for all time.
Arguments were bantered back and forth until in the end Mortenson grew weary of it all. He found increasingly these days he grew weary of it all. My God, he had once remarked to his wife, I've spent most of my adult life refereeing arguments between lawyers.
"Unless there is something new," he began without pausing to allow anyone to say that there was, "I will take this matter under advisement. I will have a minute entry out on it tomorrow and will instruct my secretary to call each of your offices with the date I select."
On that note the hearing was adjourned.
<
br /> ~
Saturday morning's paper carried a predictable evaluation of the Pratt’s case to date. The readers were advised of the outcome of the Rule Eleven, that Pratt was competent, the trial to begin in thirteen days and that a Motion to Suppress hearing had also been set to begin four days before the jury selection.
The article contained a rehash of the Pratt’s arrest along with explicit details and a photo of the scene of the death of Tracy Fremont. There were also comments from Mrs. Fremont in St. Louis concerning the fate her daughter met in Phoenix and the need to bring her sadistic murderer to justice.
No direct connection between the current Pratt’s case involving the abduction of police officer Colson and the death of the Fremont girl was made but the inference was clear. Pratt was described
as the only suspect in the Fremont murder.
~
Springman worked fifteen hours a day, every day, preparing his written reply to Burgoyne's Motion to Suppress. The care and detail taken with the motion tipped Springman that this was Burgoyne's best shot and the one in which he hoped to win.
Springman was determined that his reply be no less competent. Entrapment was an interesting step-child of the law. Told in theoretical terms it was quite clear but once reduced to the nuts and bolts of reality and most specifically a certain case with precise acts, it was much less clear.
Burgoyne alleged that by placing a seductively attired, attractive young woman on a street corner who beckoned Pratt to her, the police had created a situation which had not existed heretofore and so had created the climate and setting for the crime and hence they were responsible for its origin. Accordingly, nothing that followed from the moment the hapless Pratt had responded to the siren's call could be used in a court of law and all charges stemming from what occurred, and all evidence seized, must be suppressed "with prejudice", meaning never to be used again.
Springman's position was to be that the police had not placed the idea of the crime into Pratt’s head, that he had been a free agent who had to do nothing more than continue driving. Instead, the accused had elected on his own to abduct the woman and hence all that he did was entirely admissible and the fact that the victim had been a police officer was irrelevant to the factual basis of the case.
As simple as it sounded in summation, Springman knew that it would become vastly more complicated in the courtroom. The police officers would be required to testify, Pratt himself might, expert witnesses most assuredly would. Burgoyne would seek to complicate the issue while Springman would endeavor to simplify.
It would not be easy. Springman had to respond to each issue of the written motion and his original reply had ballooned into a ponderous document in which he feared the truth, in its simplicity, was lost. For every paragraph he refined or struck from the reply two more reared their ugly heads.
My God, Springman thought, it's like fighting the hydra.
It was the Sunday following the day the Motion to Suppress was filed when Springman at last left his office at nine-twenty three and headed for home. He knew what he was in store for. He'd had enough time to carefully examine Burgoyne's motion and he feared the outcome. He was not at all certain he would prevail. Compared to this, the earlier motions had been child’s play.
Springman toyed periodically with the idea of becoming a confirmed bachelor. His single brush with the prospect of matrimony had left him embittered and slightly cynical. He enjoyed his freedom and in these times he had no need to sleep alone except by choice. Nevertheless, he had been reared in an elegant home and saw no reason to deny himself one now that he was an adult.
For this reason he had gone deeply into hock to purchase a lovely older house just south of Encanto Park, a stately house with fully matured trees and shrubs. An elegant house, complete with faulty plumping, dangerous wiring and a leaky roof. The house was eating him alive financially but he loved it.
He rented two bedrooms out to young attorneys he knew and that helped towards meeting the mortgage payments. In the last three years the house had doubled in value but Springman had no intention of selling. He loved it; leaky roof, rusty plumping and faulty wiring all.
That Sunday night he stopped off at a bar he frequented occasionally, on older place, family run that had shown the good sense to never introduce a jukebox or television into the quiet establishment. He drank several draughts of ice cold beer and pondered the Pratt case.
Springman had a strong sense of fair play that in the light of Burgoyne's attack he realized was naive. If he insisted on following his code of fair play he might very well loose this one and Springman had no intention of losing it. Now was not the time to let some archaic code of sportsman-like conduct interfere with justice. Burgoyne ate alive those who played fair.
What I need, Springman thought, knowing himself to be mildly intoxicated, is an edge. He thought a very long time and when the bar closed he knew he had one, if only he could find a way to use it.
~
Worthington had placed the Pratt’s case carefully out of his mind ever since the end of the preliminary hearings of revocation of probation in September. The new case involving the Colson woman was not at this point in time a matter of concern to him. Viola Pratt had called twice tearfully pleading for Worthington's assistance in allowing bail to be set for her son. They had not been pleasant calls but Worthington had long before grown accustomed to unpleasant calls as a fact of life.
Freddie the Fireman had been busted and Worthington was absentmindedly handwriting the Violation of Probation Report when the phone rang. Worthington was surprised to hear the caller identify himself as the prosecutor of the Pratt’s case.
"What can I do for you, Mr. Springman?"
"I've arranged to be assigned the violation of probation matter as well as the new charges. I'm calling to discuss the situation with you."
"O.K. Let's discuss."
"I've been reviewing the violations of probation you alleged as well as the Supplemental Petition you filed containing the new charges as well. Why did you file the first allegations at that particular time, Mr. Worthington?"
Worthington was ready with his response. "Detective Killian had been to see me about Pratt and I had as a consequence reviewed the file. I knew that Killian had an interest in Pratt and thought that the case deserved more attention than I had been giving it. After reviewing the file I decided that it was past time to take him before a judge primarily because he refused to work. I added the other allegations because I had them and because it’s not good to go in with only one count. I had thought to have the judge chew him out but before it got that far the new charges arose and I filed the supplemental."
Springman thought about that a moment and decided that there was more to this than first appeared but decided to let it pass for now. "How would you assess Pratt’s performance on probation prior to your requesting the warrant for his arrest?"
"Obviously I didn't feel he was doing as well as he could have been or for that matter as well as he should have been."
"Before that, say four or five months ago."
Worthington shrugged even though Springman couldn't see it over the telephone. "O.K., I guess. Not really very good. He has never held a job since he got probation. He usually sees me when I tell him to but he never has anything to say. He sees a shrink once a month, that's about it."
Springman perked up. "Shrink?"
"He's been seeing Dr. Hendricks ever since he was placed on probation. Counseling was one of the terms and its one I insisted on."
"I don't suppose Dr. Hendricks would be interested in talking to me about his client."
"Patient. Dr. Hendricks is a psychiatrist, a medical doctor. He has patients, not clients. He took the Hippocratic Oath so I doubt if he'd talk to you at all and even if he did, Pratt could sue the hell out of him and win hands down. If Pratt is as sick as I think he is, Hendricks knows it and if Burgoyne is one tenth the lawyer his reputation says he is, he knows how sick Pratt is and there is no way
in hell either Pratt or Burgoyne is about to allow you free access to Hendricks. No way."
"Didn't he forward reports to you?"
"No. We just spoke by phone from time to time. Usually just to confirm that Pratt was seeing him. Nothing about treatment or progress. Hendricks is first class and professional as they come."
"Which judge heard the violation hearings?" Springman asked, changing the subject.
"Judge Vaughn. He's the one who put Pratt on probation originally. He's a bit old fashioned and has all the cases he puts on probation marked with his name so if the defendant is violated, Vaughn hears the case. If it comes down to revoking someone, Judge Vaughn wants the same judge doing the guy, not some new face on the bench."
"You're saying that Judge Vaughn is the same judge who put Pratt on probation to begin with last year and that he has a policy of having all cases he places on probation brought back to him if a violation occurs?"
"Right. Just like the Wild West. You should see him when he gets going. He demands to know why the guy screwed up after he trusted him with probation. Nine out of ten times they just stand there and don't say a thing. Then he sends them away."
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