Delayed Justice

by Constance Bretes

  “Once the sheriff and the deputy were in the room, what happened next?”

  “The deputy did most of the talking and he kept yelling at me, telling me that he had a hard time believing that I didn’t have anything to do with the bombing. He said some fingerprints were found at the scene that matched mine. Then Makeeta asked if I had anything to say, if I cared to make a confession. I stood my ground and vehemently denied ever having done something like that. But that deputy just kept coming at me, accusing me of covering up for someone and actually going into the pharmacy with the bomb to begin with. I asked what possible motive would I ever have to do something like that to anyone. Makeeta responded back saying that our breakup that past spring, and his subsequent engagement to Carol, made me look bad. I told him that I was simply at the wrong place at the wrong time. I told him then that I wanted my lawyer.”

  “How long did they talk to you about this before you asked for your attorney?” Dani asked.

  “I’d been there for about four hours. My back hurt, my legs hurt, my hip hurt, and I got cold. I needed my medication, and they weren’t ready to let me go.”

  “When did they decide to let you go?” Dani asked.

  “Makeeta came back into the room where they had me and stated that my fingerprint they’d found seemed to indicate that I tried to crawl over to Carol’s body and I touched the stuff as I crawled. He said then that they didn’t have anything to hold me on, so he let me go.”

  “What happened after you were released?” Dani asked.

  “I hobbled out of the station on crutches and there were people there chanting and yelling at me. Makeeta took me to his cruiser, and we got around the crowd and he took me home. I had my house up for sale and I had a buyer, so I contacted the real estate agent and finalized the deal. Then I found a cabin about thirty-five miles from here that I bought and fixed up. I started writing books full time. Neither Makeeta nor the sheriff’s deputy came by to see me or talk to me again until six months ago.”

  Chapter 14

  District Attorney Dani Spencer concluded her questioning of Sami, and the defense stood to start his questioning.

  Mr. Yates walked over to the witness stand and said, “So, you want us to believe that you had nothing to do with this bombing, yet you had motive and opportunity, not to mention that your fingerprints were found on the bomb pieces.”

  “Is there a question there, Your Honor?” Dani interrupted.

  “Ask your questions, counselor, and avoid talking for the witness,” Judge Harding said.

  “Okay, you’re saying then that you saw my client and another man walking down the aisle just prior to the explosion, is that correct?” he asked.

  “Yes,” Sami said.

  “Are you sure it was him? Is there any possibility of mistaken identity?”

  “No.”

  “You said that you did not know Carol Shields, is that correct?”

  “That’s right, I didn’t know her.”

  “Yet you knew who she was at the pharmacy?”

  “I’d seen her before, and I knew of her, but we were never introduced nor did I ever have any conversations with her.”

  “You knew she would be at the pharmacy at that time, didn’t you?” Mr. Yates asked.

  “No. I didn’t know she would be there,” Sami stated.

  “I think you know a lot more about all this than what you’re saying. I think you were involved in the bombing and you’re seeking to blame someone else. Isn’t it true that you wanted to turn the investigation away from you by claiming you saw two men?”

  “No. I was not involved in any way with the bombing, and I saw two men,” Sami answered tersely.

  “Why is it then that only you saw these two men? Didn’t Carol see them?”

  “No, I don’t think she saw them, or she would have said something to them,” Sami added.

  “The truth of the matter is that you were pregnant with Sheriff Robertson’s child, and you were recently rejected by him, and you set out to eliminate the competition by either bringing this bomb in yourself or having someone else in on this with you, and you proceeded to take out Carol so you could have Sheriff Robertson to yourself, isn’t that right?”

  “No. That is not right. If I had planted the bomb, I wouldn’t have stuck around to get injured as I did and lose my baby,” she said. She watched the attorney as he walked back and forth between the jury and the witness box.

  “Well, perhaps you mishandled the bomb and it went off prematurely?”

  “No.”

  “Isn’t it true that the reason the forensic team found your fingerprints on the pieces was because you held the bomb in your hands just prior to it going off?”

  “No, I did not handle any bomb.”

  “Isn’t it true that you talked the sheriff out of arresting you for the murder of Carol Shields?” Mr. Yates continued on.

  “No. I did not talk him out of anything.”

  “If you’re innocent, then why did you quickly sell the house and pack up at night and move out of town?”

  “I was being persecuted by the town and Cathy Shields. I couldn’t go anywhere without coming under bombardment by the people of this town, the news reporters, and Carol’s family. I got fired at my job at the hospital.” Sami inhaled, growing more intense as the questions kept coming at her.

  “Oh now, poor misunderstood Sami, woe is me, isn’t it accurate that the town turned against you because you were indeed guilty of the crime?”

  “No.”

  “So, you claim that you saw two men and conveniently can’t remember what the second one looked like. Is it possible that you know who the other person is and you’re protecting him?”

  “Objection, Your Honor. The defense is badgering the witness. She has answered his questions several times.”

  “Sustained. Move on, counselor,” Judge Harding said.

  “You claimed that you grew up in a difficult home environment, and you were promiscuous when you were young and that you were saved by the bell, ugh, a Stephanie Powers, yet the real truth is you grew up in such environment that you thought the only way to make a better life for yourself was to get pregnant, just like your mother and your grandmother did, eliminate the competition, and everything would be okay, isn’t that true?”

  “No.”

  “You planned the pregnancy, did you not?”

  “No, I did not plan the pregnancy.”

  “You saw pregnancy as the ticket to get out of your meager existence so you could have someone to support you and provide for you, isn’t that correct?”

  “No,” Sami replied.

  “I’ve no more questions for this witness.” Mr. Yates walked away and sat down at his table.

  “Your Honor, at this time, the prosecution rests its case.”

  “Court will resume tomorrow at nine, where as you may present your case Mr. Yates,” Judge Harding said.

  The judge adjourned the court for the day. Sami looked around for Makeeta and she caught sight of him just as he stepped out the door. He quickly went to the elevators and left. She grew concerned and tried to reach him on his cellphone, but he didn’t answer.

  She felt helpless, and with nothing else to do, she took the familiar drive home to her cabin. She fixed herself some dinner and ate at the computer while writing down the stuff that happened that day in court. Later, in the early evening, she turned on the television to watch the news. The local station had coverage of the trial, and showed Makeeta leaving the courtroom abruptly when they turned the cameras on. Then Mr. and Mrs. Shields came out and talked to the reporters. Sami then decided to turn off the news as she just didn’t want to hear any more about it.

  As she flipped through the channels, she heard a vehicle pull up. Wondering who it could be, she got up and looked out the window. She turned the porch light on and saw that it was Makeeta.

  She opened the door to let him in. He had a deep frown, his expression was clouded in anger, and his eyes looked like they
were blazing.

  “You were pregnant with my child,” he accused harshly.

  “Yes. I’m sorry I had to tell you as I did today.”

  “Why didn’t you feel fit to tell me when you first learned that you were pregnant?” he asked angrily.

  “I was surprised to learn I was pregnant. The doctor told me that I would more than likely not be able to conceive due to cysts on my ovaries, so I wasn’t careful about using protection. When I discovered I was pregnant, you’d already ended our relationship because you were going to become engage to Carol. I didn’t want to interfere with your plans, and I knew you didn’t love me, so I decided to continue on with my plans to move to California and raise the child by myself.” She looked down at the floor dejectedly.

  “How do you know how I felt?” His anger mounted. “Did you even think of the consequences of all of this? Didn’t you know that had you told me you were pregnant, I would have taken care of you and the child?”

  “I didn’t want you to take care of me and the child. I wanted you, Makeeta, and I knew I would not have you.” Tears spilled out of the corner of Sami’s eyes.

  “You followed the exact path of your mother and your grandmother—both got pregnant and ended up with no one. Did you really want that, Sami?” Makeeta’s rage continued.

  “No, things were going to be different with my child, Makeeta. My child would be loved by me, I would never have rejected the child, or make the child feel unloved and uncared for.”

  “Did you even think about the fact that the baby would have been half Native American and with his birthright comes certain privileges that you would have denied him by not at least telling me you were pregnant?”

  “No, I didn’t think of that. I didn’t think the child would have any privileges since he or she was only half Native American. Makeeta…please…don’t be angry about this. It’s done with now. The baby didn’t survive the bombing. Let’s comfort each other and recognize that we had a child and the child won’t be forgotten.” She reached out to place her hand on his arm.

  He yanked his arm away and stared at her. His eyes were black. “I don’t understand why you would keep something like this from me. Whether I was engaged to Carol or not, I would have taken an active role in this child’s life. I would have provided for you and the child. You would not have ended up like your mother and your grandmother.” He gritted his teeth.

  Sami recoiled at his statement, then using the only defense she had, she lifted her chin up, meeting his angry gaze straight on and looking at his accusing eyes without flinching.

  “You can think what you wish. I shouldn’t have gotten involved emotionally with you, you warned me not to, and I accept responsibility for it, just as I accept responsibility for the pregnancy. I don’t expect you to understand, but it was an unplanned pregnancy, and at least I didn’t look at aborting the child as Carol was considering. In the end, I lost both you and the baby,” she said quietly and sadly.

  * * * *

  Makeeta walked out Sami’s house silently and got into his cruiser. He sat there for a few minutes thinking. She actually did this because she loved him. She got pregnant by mistake and decided not to tell him because it would have interfered with his plans with Carol. She had planned to raise the child by herself and she lost even that, and then the hell he put her through when he leveled accusations at her, and then he never went back to her until it was too late. He’d stopped by her house in town and discovered it empty and the real estate sign had been removed. He went to the real estate office that listed the house and learned that she’d sold the house and moved out.

  Now she was slipping through his hands again, even after their lovemaking the other night, when he told her he loved her. Damn it, he still loved her. He wanted to be with her. But his emotions were too raw right now. He was tired, and agitated. He’d wait for a few days then see if he could approach her. This weekend though, he needed to go see his parents. He had a plan formulating in the back of his mind. He needed to tell them what happened and what he planned to do about the situation. They probably wouldn’t be happy, but he wanted to live his life the way he saw fit.

  He now realized what his granddad was talking about when he gave him a lecture on forgiveness. He knew that without complete forgiveness, the relationship wasn’t going to work. His granddad told him that he needed to not only earn Sami’s forgiveness, but he needed to forgive her. How could he not forgive her since she’d done nothing but try to do good by him? His walking out on her just now was not going to help his cause. Makeeta let out a deep sigh.

  He drove back to town and called his parents and told them he’d be there this weekend to talk to them.

  He called Sami, but his call went to voice mail. He left her a message. “Sami, this is Makeeta. I wanted to let you know that I’m going to be out of town for a few days, and we’ll talk about this more when I get back.”

  * * * *

  Shadow Dancer went to Sami’s house at daybreak to visit. He’d heard about the testimony on the news and he’d become concerned about her and Makeeta.

  When Sami answered the door, she was messy and unkempt and in a foul mood.

  “What’s wrong, Sami?”

  “I had words with Makeeta last night,” she replied flatly.

  “What did you have words about?” Shadow Dancer quietly and gently pushed her.

  She looked at him with unshed tears misting in her eyes. “I had to tell him, before I testified yesterday, that I got pregnant with his child.”

  Shadow Dancer took a few minutes to take in what she had said. This was the secret that he’d been warned about. “I assume he didn’t take the news very well?”

  “He didn’t have much time to react when I told him. He came by last night and we had words—he got pretty ugly with me. He said that I was just like my mother and my grandmother. Unloved, with no one, and I lost the baby as well.”

  “I’m sorry that it ended the way it did,” Shadow Dancer remarked, looking at Sami sadly.

  “He is correct though. I have ended up like my mother and my grandmother. Except, I don’t have a child, and I am alone, with no one to love me.”

  Shadow Dancer wanted to take this lovely little form into his arms and comfort her. He loved her as a granddaughter he’d never had. But he felt it wasn’t appropriate to wrap his arms around her and comfort her, so he refrained from touching her.

  “That’s not entirely true, Sami.” Shadow Dancer reached out and took her hand in his. “I love you like a granddaughter.”

  She looked up at him, and the tears started spilling out on to her cheeks. “After all that I’ve done to your family, you can actually sit there and say you love me?”

  “You haven’t done anything to my family. Makeeta needs time to digest this information. I think my grandson is deeply in love with you.”

  “I’m sorry, Shadow Dancer, but he won’t have the opportunity to reject me again. Two times is enough for a person to bear. I don’t know that I can take him back now after everything he said.”

  “Time has a way of healing wounds, Sami. You’ve got a lot of love in you. I think you’ll be okay.”

  * * * *

  Sami sat by herself in the back of the courtroom when the bailiff called the session to order on Friday morning, day four of the trial. The judge turned the floor over to the defense. Sami noted that Makeeta did not come to the courthouse that day.

  “I’d like to call Mr. Blaine Rappaport to the stand,” Mr. Yates said.

  Mr. Rappaport was sworn in and sat in the witness box.

  “Please state your name and your occupation for the jury.”

  “My name is Blaine Rappaport, and I’m a criminalist for the state of California.”

  “Now, you have heard testimony from the prosecution’s witness stating that the fingerprint found on a piece of scrap at the bombing site at Glacier Pharmacy matched my client, did you not?” Mr. Yates asked.

  “Yes, I heard the testimony,” Mr.
Rappaport stated.

  “Did you examine my client’s fingerprint and the fingerprint they found at the crime scene?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “Mr. Duncan stated that the fingerprint was a twenty point match. Do you consider this print, and the print of my client to be a match?” Mr. Yates held up two large displays of Tom Wilkes’s fingerprint and the fingerprint found at the crime scene.

  “I would not have made that a perfect match, no. Because of the fact that it was a latent print, and they are often smudged, distorted, or fragmentary. The widespread public perception that fingerprint testimony is infallible is incorrect.”

  “In this case, what would you have done differently in terms of seeing if these fingerprints match or not?”

  “In cases of latent prints, I’d go to at least thirty-forty point match, and find other collaborating evidence to substantiate the claims.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Rappaport. I’ve no further questions, Your Honor,” Mr. Yates said.

  * * * *

  Judge Harding asked the prosecutor, “Do you wish to cross-examine?”

  “Yes, Your Honor. Thank you. Mr. Rappaport, you stated that in this case, using latent prints, you’d go to thirty or forty point match and find other collaborating evidence. I believe that we have provided a sufficient amount of collaborating evidence even without the fingerprint. We not only have a witness, but also the evidence found at another crime scene which this defendant is responsible for, do you agree?” Dani asked, walking over to the jury and looking at them.

  “The collaborating evidence may have been sufficient to go to trial with, but not the fingerprint.”

  “Thank you, Mr. Rappaport. No more questions, Your Honor.” Dani went and sat down.