by Неизвестный
“ Dr. Anderson, what is the significance of this drug as it may relate to the death of Javier Molina?”
In his most effective and professorial style, Dr. Anderson responded, “ Mr. Johnson, this is a deadly, yet almost untraceable, toxin which causes the human heart to stop but leaves virtually no physiological fingerprints of its being administered or causing death.”
While Buck may not have heard a gasp in the courtroom gallery, there were clearly murmurs and scrambling on the prosecutor’s side of the courtroom. Judge Goodman maintained her unaffected, stoic demeanor.
Buck continued carefully. He did not want to embarrass Dr. Louden, both because of his professional respect for her and because it would not in any way help him with the jury.
“Would you have expected the Medical Examiner’s office to have run the test for this toxin?”
“No.”
“Please explain.”
“Nothing in the facts and circumstances presented to Dr. Louden would have indicated that such an expensive and sophisticated toxicological screen be undertaken. In my role of investigating, eliminating, or mitigating the potential causes of death, I suggested this test to you based on my own observation of the actual injuries to the body of Molina.
“In addition, it was my belief that the wounds from the physical beating should not have been serious enough to cause death.”
“Can you determine the method of introducing the toxin to Molina’s body?
“For this toxin to carry out its effect, it must enter the body very near the heart muscle.”
“On further examination of the body, I discovered a tiny, almost imperceptible entry point, the size of a pin prick, directly under a small blood scab on the upper left torso of the body just below the left pectoral muscle.” Dr. Anderson pointed to the spot on his own chest.
“It was almost undetectable, particularly in light of the totality of blood
and bruising from the beating.”
“ The toxin was injected by a small hypodermic and required less than 5 cc’s to be fatal. A person familiar with the toxin as a weapon of death could accomplish the task in mere seconds.”
Kyra was watching the courtroom clock tick toward the noon hour. She clearly needed to meet with Dr. Louden as soon as possible. Struggling to maintain a calm outward demeanor in front of the jury, Kyra had already dispatched her paralegal assistant to contact Dr. Louden to have her at Kyra’s office over the noon break. They had to talk!
“ Have you formed an opinion as to the cause of death?”
“Yes.”
“Does your opinion differ from that of the Medical Examiner?”
“Yes, for the reasons stated.”
“ Please state for the jury your opinion as to the cause of death.”
“It is my opinion that this young man died from cardiac arrest as the result of the injection into his system of the monkey root toxin referred to.”
Silence pervaded the courtroom.
Buck knew he had completed his exam of Dr. Anderson, but he looked up at the clock and saw it was almost noon so he decided to let Kyra go to lunch thinking that there were more bombshells to come.
“Your Honor, in light of the rapidly approaching noon hour, would this be a good time to break?”
Judge Goodman reminded the jury of the admonition not to talk about the case among themselves or with anyone during the noon recess.
“This court will be in recess until 1:30 p.m.”
Wednesday, November 9
Kyra O’Neill’s Office, 12:05 p.m.
Kyra was back at her office a few floors up from the court room. It was 12:05 and Dr. Louden was waiting. Kyra then handed Dr. Louden the toxicology report testified to by Dr. Anderson with a “what gives?” look on her face. Kyra described the testimony of Dr. Anderson, including his indication that he would not have expected Dr. Louden to run that particular test. Dr. Louden knew Kyra was looking to her for some direction as to how to handle this revelation from a medical perspective in light of its likely impact on Kyra’s case. Kyra’s stated position to the jury that Eddie contributed to the cause of death of Javier Molina was weakening quickly.
“Monkey Root!” Dr. Louden shook her head.
“Look Kyra, under the circumstances and given the toxin found,I would have no choice but to agree with Dr. Anderson.”
“ And it frankly fits in with the doubt I expressed as to how this beating, even though severe, could actually have caused the death of this guy.”
“The lab Anderson used is certainly credible and I would not suspect issues of samples being substituted or tampered with. I don’t see anything questionable there.”
Dr. Louden simply could not provide Kyra with any quick fix to her case. As all of this began to sink in, Dr. Louden was quickly becoming more concerned with how she missed the entry location of the hypodermic regardless of how small it was. She began to try to re-create in her mind the autopsy procedure on Molina as it had unfolded, trying to figure out what was missing. She returned to her office with the intent to go over the procedure step-by-step with her staff.
As to Kyra’s decision on what to do about cross-examination of Dr. Anderson, she had no ammunition from either Dr. Louden or any source to debunk his conclusion. As Dr. Louden left, Kyra thought to herself, “Monkey Root my ass. How could these kids get ahold of Monkey Root?”
She instinctively knew Buck would at least be trying to raise the question in the jurors’ minds, “Who could have administered the deadly dose?” The notion that the boys could have so swiftly and professionally administered this toxic drug on their own seemed preposterous.
Kyra decided that further questioning along this line would only create support for Buck’s evolving theory of the cause of death, more likely supported by Anderson’s testimony, than death resulting from the assault. However, as far as she knew, no one had come forward with any evidence of anyone else at the scene other than the three boys.
If Buck continued with Dr. Anderson, she might have to come up with something for cross-examination; Rarity of the toxin? How is it acquired? Knowing how and where to inject it? She would have to rely on her instincts when the time came.
She couldn’t stop thinking of the absurdity of it all. Where would the boys get this toxin? What possible motive would they have to commit this crime in this manner? Where was the hypodermic needle, etc., etc.? It simply made no sense. What a few hours ago was a perfectly clear assault and beating turned deadly was now a complete mystery.
Wednesday. November 9
Department 6 of the Superior Court, 1:30 p.m.
Back at the courtroom at 1:30 p.m., Buck advised the court, “After consideration over the lunch hour, Your Honor, I have nothing further for Dr. Anderson.”
Somewhat taken aback by Buck stating that he had no further questions for Dr. Anderson, Kyra decided to hold off from any cross-examination and would recall Dr. Anderson when and if she had something further from Dr. Louden. There was simply no point in underscoring Buck’s alternative theory. She advised the court, “I have no questions for Dr. Anderson at this time, but I will reserve the right to call him later in my rebuttal case.”
From Buck’s perspective, Dr. Anderson had laid out the exculpatory path for Eddie McDermott, at least as to the most serious charges. But there was a lot more to add in order to secure an acquittal.
A new look of hope had clearly replaced most of the tears on Mrs. McDermott’s face. Eddie’s father had arrived at the court just in time to hear Dr. Anderson's big testimony. Buck told Eddie’s parents before court that day that a break may be in the wings and to keep their fingers crossed.
Buck now called Joe Sontag, his investigator, to the stand. After some preliminary questioning, he placed the original diagram introduced by Kyra back on the easel in a position all could see. While Buck could have had a high-tech computer presentation of the same, he preferred the old school, well-done board exhibit.
Buck had Joe go through the scene a
nd again remind the jury of the entire layout of the picnic area, bar, and surrounding environment. He had Joe emphasize the relative distances from the porch at Anderson’s Country Store to the picnic area at the side of Dante’s. He pointed out the obstacles surrounding the picnic area, including the old brick barbecue and wash basin.
He asked permission of the court to overlay a kind of velum that enhanced the area’s surroundings including the brush, shrubbery, and trees in back of the picnic area outside of the loosely-walled inner portion.
Buck appeared to be laying out his intended reveal of who was the real perpetrator in the case. The only problem was that he did not yet have that next piece of the puzzle. While feeling buoyed about the turn of events, he was certainly not comfortable yet.
Hardly a minor detail! But Buck at least, through Joe Sontag, created a number of places a murderer other than the boys could hide. But, damn it, there was no proof of any kind as of yet. Buck was always reminded of Eddie’s statement to him about a sense of someone else being there, but it was only a feeling. Moreover, the only way to get that sense into evidence was to put Eddie on the stand and he was not ready yet to make that most difficult decision for a defense attorney; the pros and cons of putting your own client on the witness stand.
Buck was approaching a crucial decision. Even though there was a “presumption of innocence” in criminal cases and even though the standard for conviction was “guilt beyond a reasonable doubt,” the age-old debate amongst the criminal defense bar tried to balance two principal concepts. If you put your client on the stand, he or she is likely to be subjected to grueling cross-examination, which the prosecution relishes. On the other hand, even with the admonition the jury receives on testifying against one’s self, the jury may never believe the story unless it comes form the defendant’s own mouth.
Buck would have some time still to make the decision as to whether to have Eddie testify. The court had previously advised the jury and counsel that this would be a short week of trial. Even though Judge Goodman, like any other judge, disliked nothing more than having the jury interrupted in the middle of a trial, she had no choice since she was scheduled to give an important speech to the California Judges Association. In her discussion with counsel the Friday before the case actually began, she had discussed it with Kyra and Buck, who raised no objection.
Nine times out of ten, counsel will welcome breaks to update their planning based on how the trial is going. Kyra particularly relished the break. Buck, although clearly on a roll, did not yet have all of his ducks in a row.
A few days off might give the next piece of his defense time to show up. He further decided to knock off for the night and resume his work in the morning.
Maybe a ride on the ole’ Harley might be in the offing. He’d have to see how he felt when he got home.
Thursday, November 10
Medical Examiner’s Office, 9 a.m.
Dr. Louden had called a meeting of her entire staff for 9 a.m. that morning. She had been advised at the end of the previous day of the hiatus in the trial until the following Monday. She planned to let her staff know that she was not pleased with what had been revealed. Not with respect to whether a more detailed toxicology was called for, as that was obviously her decision, and not being challenged by the defense. If that were the issue, she clearly had the self-confidence and self-esteem to accept responsibility for that decision.
Rather, what she was clearly more concerned about was the failure to discover the hypodermic injection site. Even though the puncture point was tiny, she and her lab tech staff were trained to look for and discover that sort of thing. Even though this had appeared to be a routine death by blunt force, she could not excuse the failure to discover it, especially given proximity to the most vital of the life organs. A bruise would not cover it up to the trained professional. While she was clearly singling out Che in her mind, she intentionally presented her comments to the entire staff both as a lesson for the future and in hopes that someone might come forward with something observed or heard. She would deal with Che later.
Because the corpse had never been claimed and because it was the subject of a pending murder trial, the office had kept the victim’s body in storage. At the conclusion of the group meeting, she summoned Che over to her and tersely told him to meet her at the storage drawer where Molina’s body was kept. When they both arrived a few minutes later, Che was standing by the drawer making no comment or small talk, awaiting instructions from Dr. Louden.
Dr. Louden pulled open the drawer and zipped open the body bag. Knowing of Dr. Anderson’s testimony but being relatively certain that Che was not aware of it, she went right to the location of the injection. While there was a small scab there, it was not attached in any way but rather appeared to almost be laid on the body, not having been washed off during the procedure.
She pulled back the small scab, looked at Che and said, “How did we miss this?”
The normally self-assured and talkative Che seemed momentarily at a loss for words but then responded, “I have no idea. I’m so sorry, but I’m not sure what the big deal is.”
Dr. Louden briefly told Che about Dr. Anderson’s testimony.
“Che, it’s pretty damn obvious we blew it as to this hypodermic injection point and the likely cause of death. We put this McDermott kid’s life at risk, or at least certainly affecting how he may spend his future.”
Dr. Louden was not forgetting in any way in her own mind that this boy, Eddie McDermott, and his buddies still engaged in a vicious and, apparently, unprovoked attack on the victim, but that was far different than what he was potentially on trial for.
Che apologized again, but offered no explanation for the error and said nothing further.
While the determination of who administered the fatal injection remained in Dr. Louden’s mind, for the time being all she had was a mistake by her office and the embarrassment that came along with it. She felt somewhat confident that the boy on trial may well be exonerated of the most serious of the crimes charged. While she continued replaying the autopsy over and over in her mind, she could not come up with any further explanations as to what had gone wrong.
Thursday, November 10
Buck Johnson’s Office, 9 a.m.
Buck had a message waiting for him from Jack Thomas when he arrived at the office. “Buck, it’s Jack Thomas, are you available to meet for a cup of coffee at about 10 or 10:30?” Buck had his secretary call back and confirm the exact time and location. Although no subject was specifically referred to, Buck knew this was likely feedback from their prior conversations.
Thursday, November 10
Starbucks Coffee Shop, 10:30 a.m.
Buck met Jack at a Starbucks just down the street from Jack’s office. They found a quiet corner and Buck asked directly, what, if anything, Jack had learned. Before he answered, Jack asked Buck, “How’s the trial going?” In their agreed “off the record” format, Buck let Jack know about the toxin as the cause of death but clearly remaining was the question of who committed the act and why?
Jack was conflicted as to what to say next. He owed Buck the follow-up on what he had discovered but obviously was concerned about their case against José María Cardozo. He decided to be completely candid with Buck, confiding that he needed a part of Buck’s case almost as much as Buck’s case needed Jack’s information.
As they left the Starbucks, Buck was ecstatic by what he had learned and, within the parameters of his agreement with Jack Thomas, Buck set out to unveil the matter to the court and jury. During their conversation, they had discussed further suspicions surrounding what had evolved and it was now clearly up to Buck to unfold the story. Testing unconfirmed suspicions at trial was dangerous, but Buck felt confident his plan could not hurt his client and would only help toward exoneration of at least the most serious of the crimes charged.
Buck contacted Kyra O’Neill and told her that he would like to put Dr. Louden back on the stand when they resumed on Mon
day morning. Buck knew he was going to be doing some “fishing” as to what her further testimony might actually be, but he had no choice and determined his instincts told him it was worth the risk.
Monday, November 14
Department 6 of the Superior Court, 9:15 a.m.
Monday morning at 9:30 a.m. sharp, court was again called into session. Buck announced, “Your Honor, the defense recalls Dr. Louden to the stand.”
Buck prefaced or phrased almost all of his questions to Dr. Louden in a manner not to call her competency into question. He asked her, “Would you please tell us again the highlights of your exam of Javier Molina?”