“All rise,” the bailiff calls. “The Honorable Judge Tabitha Harris presiding.” We do as he says and the judge walks in a takes her place at the bench. We are told to sit down and all the official documents of the today’s case are read.
The judge asks Holly to stand. “Ms. Reynolds, you waived your Miranda rights and have confessed to murder by shooting of Gregory Meyer. Is this correct or would you like to amend your statement?”
“That’s correct, your honor,” she answers quietly.
“Alright then…does the prosecution have anything to add?” The judge reviews some documents while the prosecuting attorney speaks.
“No, your honor. What you have in front of you are the agreed upon terms. We’ve agreed to lesser charges should Your Honor agree that today’s testimonies help corroborate the defendant’s claims of mental anguish.” The prosecuting attorney gives Luke a nod, and Luke reciprocates. They’ve clearly straightened everything out already and today’s appearance before a judge is a mere formality.
“Then I guess that leaves it all up to you Mr. Weston.” The judge doesn’t say anything else, but sits back and lets Luke begin.
“Your honor, today’s proceedings are solely to present a defense in Miss Reynolds’ case for mental anguish. We’re not asking for an acquittal, but are hoping you’ll see that Miss Reynolds is not a danger to society. She acted rashly, without premeditation. As she watched the trial of Gregory Meyer – someone who had caused not only her own mother, but four other women, great pain – it was becoming clear to her that Meyer would not be made to pay for the anguish he caused so many. That day, Miss Reynolds heard the news reports of one of the jurors being murdered and, because of her experience with the deceased, truly believed he had something to do with it. She made a split second decision, found her father’s gun, went to the Federal Court House, and shot Gregory Meyer.
“Today I’ll be calling first hand witnesses who will testify to the abuse and yes, even terror, that Gregory Meyer was known for among those closest to him. You’ll hear similar testimony from all of the witnesses today as they detail the systematic, and often unimaginable, abuse they suffered. It is the defense’s hope that this testimony will paint a clear picture of the fear Miss Reynolds had that Gregory Meyer would continue to inflict pain and suffering on others as he did to his ex-wives, including her own mother, and that Your Honor will take this testimony into consideration when determining sentencing. Thank you.” Luke sits and waits to be told what to do next. I remember Luke telling me that, in court, you don’t do anything unless you have permission to do it. Some judges are sticklers for rules of conduct and will throw a contempt of court charge on you in a heartbeat.
“You may call your first witness then, Mr. Weston,” Judge Harris instructs.
“Thank you Your Honor. I’d like to call Loretta Morcos to the stand.” Luke turns around as Loretta stands and makes her way to the front of the courtroom. She’s not being sworn in since she’s not giving testimony to help determine Holly’s guilt or innocence, so she takes her seat and waits for Luke to begin. “Ms. Morcos, would you please tell us your relationship to the deceased?”
“I was his first wife,” she answers briefly.
“And can you tell the court the nature and course of your relationship?” Luke asks. He steps aside so that Loretta can speak almost directly to Judge Harris.
“Gregory and I met in college. It was the beginning of our sophomore year. He was pre-law and I was an English major. We had a very normal college sweetheart relationship. We went out when we could afford to go out, and when we actually had time. Most of our dates were study dates with pizza and beer. But…we were happy. We had been dating for a year when Gregory asked me to marry him. He proposed in our favorite spot in the park. There was a little pond where we would take a picnic and feed half our sandwich bread to the ducks. He got down on one knee and everything.” She gives a small laugh, remembering the good times with her husband.
I look to Eliana to see how she’s handling hearing Loretta’s story, but recall that she already knows it from both the written statements and then when she met with Loretta and Victoria the night before Will and I returned from our honeymoon.
“Were things always happy, as you put it?” Luke is paving the beginning of the path that is going to lead to hearing about the abuse that Gregory Meyer inflicted on all of his wives.
“Well…we were happy for a long time, I think. We were engaged for a year before we married. We honeymoon in Cape Cod. My parents had some friends with a summer home there. They let us stay there for free, which was good because we were still totally broke college students.” She smiles again and I can’t help but believe that she’ll be the only former Mrs. Meyer that will do that on the stand today. “We had been married about a year and a half when I found out I was pregnant. We were both very excited. I was teaching and Gregory was in in law school. We were busy but, we made it work, and we were confident I’d be able to stay home with the baby, or maybe just teach part time.” Loretta sighs and I know she’s about to talk about the transition Meyer took from loving husband to control freak.
“Take your time, Ms. Morcos,” Luke says reassuringly.
“I…developed some complications mid-pregnancy and was put on bed rest for a month. Gregory was wonderful during that time. He took me to more doctor appointments, and started coming home early so I wasn’t by myself for too long, and also so he could make dinner for me even though he was in a very prestigious internship.” Gregory Meyer knew how to cook? I would have never guessed! “Eventually all the time he was spending taking me to the doctor and leaving early caught up with him and he was dismissed from his internship. It was at that point that a switch got flipped.”
“What do you mean by that?” Luke asks.
“Well, he became very distant from me. He stopped asking how I was doing, or how the baby was. He started drinking more often, and more expensively.”
“What was his behavior like when he was drinking?”
“He became physically and verbally abusive. I got on in my pregnancy but moved a little slower as a lot of very pregnant women do. He would shove me into the counter in the kitchen, and he slapped me across the face a few times. Then there were the insults about my weight, telling me I better lose all the baby weight because he couldn’t have a fat wife.” Loretta pauses to collect her thoughts. I watch her and wonder if it’s just as difficult to talk about now as it was then. It seems that the pain of the one person who’s supposed to love and support you most speaking to you and treating you so harshly wouldn’t go away easily, or ever.
“I finally broke down and told my mother what was happening. She got in the car the next day and drove four hours to come and get me. We packed up all my things and I left. I intentionally left my mother’s phone number in the note so that Gregory would have it right there to call me. A week went by before he called, but only to tell me he needed half of the rent. That’s when I knew it was absolutely over. I had our daughter Erin three weeks later. My mother called him before we left for the hospital, thinking that maybe he might get there in time if he left right away. She was hopeful but I knew not to expect him. He never showed up.
“I reached out to him several times and he never responded. I sent pictures of Erin, but clearly that didn’t mean anything to him. When Erin was almost a year old, and Gregory had not being involved in any way shape or form, I sent him the documents requesting him to relinquish his parental rights. I sent them on a Monday and I had them back by the following Monday.”
“Thank you, Mrs. Morcos. I appreciate your time and honesty here today.” Luke takes his seat and jots something down on his legal pad. Maybe something he thought of asking Loretta but decided just to wait and pose it to the next witness.
“Thank you, Mrs. Morcos. You may be seated,” Judge Harris instructs. “Mr. Weston, you may call your next witness.”
“We’d like to call Victoria Meadows to the stand,” Luke says, turning
and nodding at Victoria. Michael, sitting next to her, doesn’t flinch when she gets up from his side and walks to the front of the courtroom. I can’t see his face, but I imagine he’s completely stoic.
Victoria takes her seat in the witness box and, after stating that she was Gregory Meyer’s second wife, Luke poses the same question to her as he did to Loretta about the nature and course of their relationship.
“Gregory was very charming when we first met. I was the receptionist at a law firm and he was opposing counsel on a big case our firm was handling. He was frequently at our office for meetings. He eventually asked me out to dinner. I wanted to say yes, but wasn’t sure if it would be a conflict of interest or not. When I mentioned it to him, Gregory said not to worry and that he would take care of it,” she explains.
“Did you ever find out what take care of it meant?” Luke questions her.
“We started seeing each other and then after the third date or so, I was let go. It wasn’t an unpleasant situation, and at the time they didn’t say it had anything to do with me seeing Gregory. It wasn’t until Gregory and I had been dating for several months that he told me he was behind it. He told me that he wanted to take care of me, which is why he discouraged me from getting a job. He had risen to the top of his firm almost right out of law school…a real power house consistently winning nine out of ten cases. He was doing well enough that I didn’t have to work. It was nice to be taken care of by him. I had always worked. I’d had a job since I was 14, and I was 23 when we met.
“We got married about a year after we first met. Things seemed wonderful at first, but I was very lonely. Gregory worked all the time and since I wasn’t allowed to work, I didn’t have many friends. I told Gregory that I wanted to do something, get a part time job, but he wouldn’t have it. One night I pushed him to talk with me about why I couldn’t get a job. It turned into a huge argument and he eventually slapped me across the face.”
“Tell me about your relationship after that first incident,” Luke directs. He’s got to lead each one of the exes into telling the story of what a maniacal monster Gregory Meyer was. How he charmed his wives and then turned on them in the end.
“He became increasingly cold and distant. Any affection I could get from his was like feeding a starving animal. He barely spoke to me so the only time I could have any connection with him was when we were intimate, but…I use the word intimate loosely,” she tells Luke, lowering her head seeming to just realize that she’s talking about her sex life in open court. I remember Eliana telling me the same thing about being intimate with Meyer and I can’t fathom having to beg Will to be with me. It would be an embarrassing feeling, and a devastating blow to any woman’s self-esteem.
“He began rationing our funds in a way that left me with little to work with for food and other necessities, and he became more verbally and physically abusive when I wasn’t as compliant as he required,” Victoria explains.
“Can you tell us about the day Gregory Meyer served you with divorce papers?” Luke inquires.
“Yes. I told him the day before that I was pregnant. I was nine weeks pregnant and my husband told me he wanted a divorce,” she begins.
“Mr. Weston,” Judge Harris interrupts. “I understand you intend to call two more ex-wives to give similar testimony of their marriages to Gregory Meyer. Is this correct?”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Luke answers with a quizzical tone. I look at Will and furrow my brow, confused.
“Mr. Rossen, will the prosecution stipulate that the rest of the defense’s witnesses will give similar testimony as Mrs. Morcos and Mrs. Meadows?” the judge asks. She seems a bit annoyed, but it could be the black robe and pedestal she’s seated on.
“For the most part, Your Honor. I would stipulate that the rest of the testimonies to be given resemble Mrs. Meadows’ more than Mrs. Morcos’s,” he answers.
“But you will agree that the remaining testimonies will not provide any information that greatly differs from what we’ve already heard, including the testimony of the defendant’s mother,” Judge Harris reiterates, now slightly even more perturbed.
“Yes, Your Honor,” Rossen says with the same confused tone as Luke’s.
“Excellent. I’m ready to sentence. Will the defendant please stand,” she instructs.
We all look at each other, not understanding exactly what is happening. Is this is a good thing? Doesn’t she need to hear what all of the ex-wives have to say? If she doesn’t let Marlene testify, she’ll never know about how Meyer tried to force her into an abortion. If she doesn’t let Eliana speak, she’ll never hear about how Meyer constantly threatened to take Will away from her if she tried to leave.
Maybe she just feels that the testimonies are an unnecessary formality. Perhaps she had enough dealings with Gregory Meyer to know that, while Holly has to face some consequences for her actions, what she did really was a service to the community. Yes, I’m sure that’s it.
“Holly Reynolds, you have pleaded guilty to the murder of Gregory Meyer. You’ve agreed to a plea of manslaughter and the prosecuting attorney has submitted a sentencing recommendation for five years.” Judge Harris pauses, reviewing the documents in front of her. “Based on the heinousness of the crime, I’m hereby sentencing you to the maximum 144 months, or 12 years, including the seven months you have already served. You may be eligible for parole in 72 months, or six years.”
The court erupts in gasps and Holly covers her face with her hands. Luke and Mr. Rossen look at each other wide-eyed, confused as to why the judge would hand down such an extreme sentence when Rossen made a clear recommendation for a five-year sentence. I see Holly’s body shaking either from crying or sheer shock.
“Your Honor, Mr. Rossen’s office has reviewed the evidence and agreed that a five year sentence is truly a fitting punishment for Ms. Reynolds. She has no prior charges and is not a threat to her community. I urge you to reconsider…” Luke begins with a respectable fury.
“Counselors, approach the bench,” Judge Harris demands.
“What’s going on?” I ask Will.
“I don’t know. I don’t understand why she would give Holly the maximum sentence. At least she didn’t change the charges to murder and give her the death penalty,” Will says. He’s looking at Holly with sad eyes. As angry as we both were with her the last time we saw her, we never wished this on her. We were all so sure that she’d be out in five years like Luke said.
“The judge had to have been totally duped by Meyer,” Wes says, leaning across in front to Eliana. “Why else would she give Holly the max? It’s almost like she’s taken Meyer’s death personally.”
I watch Holly’s parents. Gordon leans over and brushes Holly’s back sweetly. Marlene doesn’t move an inch and I can’t help but wonder if she’s relieved. Now Marlene has all the time in the world and won’t have to worry a bit about pretending she’s going to save any of Will’s monetary gift for her.
Luke and the other attorney are dismissed from Judge Harris and take their places at their respective tables. Luke makes it known that he plans on appealing her ruling, to which Judge Harris replies, “Duly noted, Mr. Weston.” The judge adjourns court, we all stand, and Holly is escorted from the courtroom back to jail.
The family and ex-wives gather in the hall outside the courtroom while we wait for Luke. I see Agent Croft and wonder if he had been there the whole time.
“Agent Croft,” I call to him as I approach. “When did you get here?” I ask him.
“I slipped in right after everything got started. I don’t like all the pomp and circumstance,” he says with a smirk. “Crazy how things went down in there.”
“I know. I’m dying to know what the judge told Luke and the other attorney,” I tell him. I can’t stop shaking my head in disbelief. “Is Agent Lassiter here?”
“He was, but had a meeting. I was hoping you’d get to meet him. He’ll be at the exchange on Thanksgiving, but probably already in place when you and Will arrive.”
“I guess we’ll just have to connect after, you know, everything,” I say awkwardly. I’m not well versed in how to casually discuss things like meeting a possible murderer to give him $250,000 in exchange for information on where to find the person her murdered.
Luke bursts through the doors of the courtroom and finds us immediately while the other attorney takes off down the hall. “We’ve got a problem,” he says. “I don’t know what they’re relationship was, but Judge Harris and Gregory Meyer had to have had something going on.”
“What did she say?” Claire asks her slightly frantic husband.
“She lit into us about what an upstanding citizen and outstanding attorney Greg was, and how she couldn’t believe that we would even think to charge Holly with anything less than murder,” he explains.
“But I thought you said the judge has to sign off on the charges that are being laid against the defendant. If she signed off on them, why would she be so furious?” Eliana asks. Wes is holding her by the waist with her hand in his.
“A judge has the right to reject the sentencing agreement. They’re not legally bound to the number of years we’ve agreed on, even if they sign off on it. But…she didn’t sign off on it. Judge Bell was assigned to this case. He had a heart attack last week and has been in the hospital. Just Harris only got the case on Thursday. Had there been enough time, she probably would have rejected the plea agreement. In that case Rossen and I would have worked something else out. Not that it would have mattered.” Luke starts moving us as a group down the hall and toward the exit. “Rossen is still in agreement with five years for manslaughter, so at least we’re straight there. But I think I’m going to have to do some digging. I don’t know Harris well. She was a prosecutor when I was with the firm, but I never had any cases with her. She’s a new judge, which makes me think she and Meyer had something going on at some point.”
Safe Harbor (The Lake Trilogy, Book 3) Page 29