The Price of Justice

by Marti Green

  Dani and Melanie got settled at the defense table, while Tommy took a seat behind them. Seated next to Tommy were Win’s parents and his grandmother. As the courtroom gradually filled up with news reporters and spectators, the volume of noise increased, making it difficult for Dani and Melanie to converse. Finally finished with his speeches to the cameras, Whiting entered the courtroom soon after, again trailed by the junior attorneys lugging his files. He sat down at the prosecution table, looked over at Dani, and nodded.

  At nine thirty promptly, the door at the front of the courtroom opened, and the bailiff entered. “Quiet down, folks,” he called out in a loud voice. “The judge will be entering soon, and there must be absolute silence or he’ll throw you out. Everyone got that?”

  A few spectators murmured, “Yes,” and others nodded their heads.

  Through that same door, Winston Melton, dressed in a navy suit bought off the rack and a blue-striped tie, entered the courtroom, escorted by a guard, and was seated at the defense table between Dani and Melanie. Dani had insisted that he couldn’t wear a custom-tailored suit. Doing so would only widen the divide between him and the jurors. Moments later, the bailiff called out, “All rise,” and Judge Hinchey took his seat on the bench.

  “Any motions before I bring in the jury?” the judge asked.

  Whiting had already renewed his objection to introducing the video deposition of Earl Sanders, and once again he’d been overruled. Both attorneys answered, “No,” and the judge turned to the bailiff. “Bring them on in, Walt.”

  A few minutes passed, and then fourteen men and women streamed into the courtroom and took their seats in the jury box. A silver-haired man whom Dani knew was a podiatrist settled himself into the foreman’s seat. She felt a sense of relief that it wasn’t one of the mothers with a teenage daughter.

  Judge Hinchey spoke to the jury about how the trial would proceed and about their responsibilities as jurors. When finished, he looked at Whiting. “Counselor, opening statement?”

  Whiting walked over to the jury box. “Ladies and gentlemen, you have a very important task ahead of you. A teenage girl, on the brink of womanhood, with all of life ahead of her, was brutally raped and murdered, and left behind in a wooded area in back of her high school to rot away. You will hear evidence that the last person seen with her was Winston Melton, the defendant. You will learn that they had a previous relationship but were no longer seeing each other. And you will hear that a strand of Mr. Melton’s hair was found at the site of the murder. Winston Melton and Carly Sobol were the only two people known to be in those woods.

  “Now, the defense attorney will tell you that someone else confessed to murdering Ms. Sobol. And I must admit that he makes a pretty good alternative. Earl Sanders was recently executed for murdering another young woman. If you believe him, he murdered altogether eleven women. If you believe him,” Whiting repeated, enunciating each word slowly, with his voice raised.

  “I don’t believe him, though, and when you hear all the evidence, you won’t either. Here’s why. There is no evidence that Earl Sanders was behind Palm Beach High School on the night Carly Sobol was murdered. There is no DNA that places him there, no strands of hair, no footprints, nothing. You’ll hear the defendant’s best friend say he saw Earl Sanders at the high school that night, but you’ll learn that this is the first time he’s claiming that. Not seven years ago when Carly was found murdered. Not when the defendant was arrested. And not at the defendant’s first trial.

  “So why would Mr. Sanders confess to murdering Carly Sobol? When he did so, he was weeks away from his own execution. He had nothing to lose by confessing. Did he want to play games with the judicial system? Maybe. Did someone pay him to confess in order to clear the defendant? Maybe. You don’t need to know why. All you need to know is that the evidence places the defendant at the murder scene, not Earl Sanders. And when you’ve heard all of the evidence, I know you will want justice for Carly Sobol and peace of mind for her family. And to achieve that, you will find Winston Melton guilty of her rape and murder. Thank you.”

  Dani took a deep breath before standing. Whiting’s opening was strong. She needed to match it. So much of a trial was theater—and who gave the best performance often trumped the facts and the law. This trial was Win’s last shot at freedom. And it rode on her ability to sell his innocence.

  “Ladies and gentleman, my esteemed colleague is correct. You do have a very important task ahead of you. You are charged with listening carefully to all of the evidence presented and deciding what is the truth. You will hear Winston Melton swear under oath that he did not rape or murder his former girlfriend, Carly Sobol. He will explain that he had no reason to do such a heinous act. It was he who broke off their relationship the previous summer. It was Carly who wanted to get back together. It won’t be just Mr. Melton who tells you that. All of Carly’s friends will say the same thing. He will admit that he walked behind the high school into the woods with Ms. Sobol the night she was murdered, and he will tell you he walked out alone, leaving her alive but disappointed that he’d rejected her again.

  “You will see a videotape of Earl Sanders, who has since been executed for a similar crime, confessing to the rape and murder of Ms. Sobol. He will provide details of the crime that were not released by the police. And then he will describe, in detail, nine other murders he committed of young women. You will hear testimony from the police who investigated those other murders that, once again, Mr. Sanders knew details of those crimes that were not released to the public.

  “Now, Mr. Whiting would like you to believe that the only witness to place Mr. Sanders at the high school is unreliable because he was Mr. Melton’s best friend. But you will hear testimony from people unrelated to Mr. Melton or his family that Earl Sanders, who moved around a great deal, was in the Palm Beach area during the time that Ms. Sobol was murdered.

  “You’ve been told by the prosecution not to worry about a motive for Mr. Sanders’s confession. But motive is the key to unlocking the truth in this case. As you listen to the testimony, and try to figure out the truth, think about who had a motive to murder Ms. Sobol. Someone whom she’d previously been intimate with, and whom she wanted back, or someone who had killed over and over again? When you’ve heard all the evidence, the answer will be clear. Mr. Melton is innocent. Thank you.”

  As she returned to the defense table, Dani kept her eye on Win. She’d spent hours drilling into him the importance of looking calm but not smug. She allowed herself a small smile when she saw him sitting upright, intent on the jury, without a trace of a smirk on his face.

  “Your first witness,” Judge Hinchey said to Whiting.

  The rest of the morning continued with routine prosecution witnesses—the first police on the scene, the lead detective investigating the murder, the medical examiner, and the forensic expert. Their testimony went in largely unopposed by Dani until the last witness, Gordon Bunting, the Palm Beach County forensic expert. Under direct examination, he’d testified that the DNA on the only strand of hair found at the scene matched Winston Melton, and that no semen was found in the victim, indicating that the rapist had come prepared with a condom. He also testified that no DNA matching Earl Sanders was found at the site of the murder, nor were any footprints found belonging to Sanders.

  Dani stood up and walked over to him. “You stated that no footprints were found belonging to Mr. Sanders. Tell me, did you find any footprints belonging to Mr. Melton?”

  “No, well, you see, there were so many prints on the ground, it was impossible to specifically identify any one set.”

  “So, it’s possible that Sanders was there even though you didn’t find any footprints belonging to him, right?”

  “Well, I can’t rule that out.”

  “And since no semen was found in the victim, isn’t it possible that Mr. Sanders is the one who came prepared with a condom?”

  “I
suppose so.”

  “Now, you said that only one strand of hair was found by the body, and it belonged to Mr. Melton, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “What if I told you that Mr. Sanders claimed he always wore a hairnet when he raped and murdered a woman? In that case, you wouldn’t expect to find any of his hairs, would you?”

  “It’s possible even with a hairnet that something could fall out if the victim pulled at it.”

  “But it’s also possible that there would be nothing, isn’t it?”

  “Yes, that’s a possibility, I suppose.”

  “Thank you. No further questions.”

  As Dani sat down, Judge Hinchey declared it was a good time to end for the day. After the jury was led from the courtroom, a guard took Win back to a courthouse jail cell. The day had gone as she expected. Whiting made his points, but she’d managed to chip away at them. Dani gathered up her files and turned to leave the courtroom. Still seated in the first row of the spectators were Win’s parents. Donald Melton was squeezing his wife’s hand in a grip that looked to Dani as though it could break the bones in her delicate hands. The look on Lucy’s face was one of relief, but Donald’s face was ashen, his eyes downcast, as though it had been unbearable to watch the trial unfold.

  Dani stopped next to them and placed her hand on Donald’s. “Soon,” she said. “Soon everyone will know that Win is innocent.”

  Donald looked up at her with tears in his eyes. “Th-thank you.” He said no more but rose, along with Lucy, and followed Dani and her team out of the courtroom. When they exited the building, Donald pointed out Carly’s parents, standing on the courthouse steps.

  Dani walked over to the Sobols. “I’m so sorry for your loss, and for having to go through a trial a second time. But I truly believe Winston is innocent.”

  Chip Sobol glared at her. “You’d better be right. Because it’s torture for us to endure this again. We turn on the news, and all we see are pictures of our little girl and commentators talking endlessly about her murder.” He turned and looked at his wife, whose face was set in an impassive mask, and put his arm around her shoulder. “This is tearing us apart.”

  “I understand. But I promise you. After you hear Earl Sanders’s confession, you’ll know that Win is innocent.”

  “We’ll see. We’re going to be here every day, and we’ll make up our own minds, no matter what the jury decides.”

  CHAPTER

  26

  The next morning, they were back in court, ready to continue the trial. Whiting called Greg Kincaid to the stand. Once he was sworn in and the preliminary questions were out of the way, Whiting said, “Tell me about the last time you saw Carly Sobol.”

  This was the first time Dani had seen Kincaid. He was smaller than Win, plainer looking. His shoulders drooped, and he sat hunched over in the witness chair.

  “It was the night she was murdered,” Kincaid answered. “She was my date to a dance at the high school.”

  “Had you been dating long?”

  “A few months.”

  “Were you aware that she’d previously dated the defendant?”

  “Sure. Everyone knew that.”

  “Did you see the defendant at the dance that night?”

  Kincaid squirmed in his seat, looking as though he couldn’t find a comfortable spot in the chair. “Yeah. I saw him. Standing by the door. Carly saw him, too.”

  “How do you know?”

  “I saw her staring at him.”

  “Did either of you speak to him?”

  Kincaid shook his head, then answered, “I didn’t. I went to get us some drinks, and when I got back, Carly was gone.”

  “Did you look for her?”

  “I didn’t have to. I knew she left with Win.”

  Whiting walked back to his table and picked up a photograph, then brought it over to the witness. “This is a picture of Earl Sanders. Did you see anyone looking like him on the night in question?”

  “No.”

  “Thank you. I have no further questions.”

  Dani stood up and walked over to him. “Did you actually see Carly leave with Winston?”

  “No.”

  “Did you see either Carly or Winston after that?”

  “No.”

  “So even if they’d left together, you have no idea how long they were together, do you?”

  “Long enough for him to kill her.”

  Dani immediately turned to the judge and said, “Strike that. It calls for a conclusion.”

  The judge looked over at the jury. “That answer is stricken from the record. You should give it no weight in your deliberations.”

  “I’ll ask you again. Do you have any direct knowledge as to how long they were together?”

  “No.”

  “So, it’s possible that they spoke briefly and then Winston left her, isn’t it?”

  “I wouldn’t know.”

  “That’s the point. You don’t know. No further questions.”

  The remainder of the day was filled with other students who had seen Win at the high school, including a few who’d seen him leave with Carly. Dani questioned them lightly, since she didn’t plan to deny Win was there, or that he’d walked into the forested area with his former girlfriend. She did ask each witness if they’d seen Win return to the gym. All said they hadn’t.

  At the end of the day, the prosecution rested its case. Two days for a capital-punishment case. Their evidence was so sparse, it had only taken them two days to ask the jury to send a young man to his death. Dani shook her head in disgust.

  Dani began the next morning with the videotape of Earl Sanders’s deposition. Before she played it, Whiting asked to approach the bench. The judge nodded, and he and Dani walked up to him. “Your Honor, I renew my objection to playing this tape. It’s—”

  “Save your breath. I’m not changing my ruling.”

  “Then, at the least, his confession to the other murders shouldn’t be shown. They bear no relation to the case at hand.”

  “Do you plan on challenging his confession to the murder of Ms. Sobol?” Dani asked.

  “Of course I do.”

  “Then it’s highly relevant, Your Honor. It goes to Sanders’s credibility. If those confessions are verified, then it tends to show he’s telling the truth about this murder.”

  “I agree,” Hinchey said, then looked at Whiting. “Seems like you’re in a pickle. Either don’t challenge his confession—in which case this trial is over. I’ll rule from the bench that he’s not guilty—or accept that the whole videotape comes in.”

  Whiting glowered at the judge. “I guess you leave me no choice.”

  They stepped back from the bench, and Dani informed the jury that they were going to see the videotape of someone who was now deceased.

  Every juror’s eyes were focused intently on the television, watching this man whose shifty eyes and gnarled hands seemed to shout, “Guilty.” They listened raptly as he described stalking Carly for several days, watching her house, watching as she drove to school. He described her house, her car.

  “Then, after a couple of days, I saw this skinny guy pick her up at her house. She was all dressed up in some fancy dress, her tits practically hanging out of it. She looked real pretty. They drove to a high school. I hung out behind the school, a spot where I could see his car, know when she was leaving. But she didn’t leave with him. Came out of the school with this other guy, bigger, broader than the guy who took her there. They walked past the parking lot, back to some trees, then I didn’t see ’em no more. ’Bout five minutes later, the guy came out alone. He walked over to a car and waited there. I knew this was my time. I always know when it’s my time.” He stopped, then laughed. “I guess I was wrong with the last one. That’s why I’m here.”

  He was prompted to continue. �
��I slipped a hairnet over my head, then walked into the trees. After fifty yards or so, I saw her leaning against one, crying. She didn’t hear me walk up behind her. First thing I did, I grabbed her hands and tied them with a ribbon, real fast, so she couldn’t scratch me. I usually use rope, but she had a ribbon in her hair—a purple one—and I just grabbed it real quick. Then, I put my hand around her neck and started squeezing, forcing her to the ground. After I got on top of her, I loosened my hand a little. I like to hear them beg, and she sure did.”

  “Then what?”

  “Well, what I always do. I choked her ’til she stopped her babbling. Sometimes that kills them. Sometimes it just knocks them out. But it always shuts them up. Then I did her. I used a condom, can’t leave DNA behind. When I finished, I checked her breathing. Deader than a doornail. If she weren’t, I’d have slit her throat. I never left witnesses.”

  Dani paused the tape for a moment and let that testimony sink in. There was total silence in the courtroom.

  When the tape continued, Dani was heard asking, “Did the young woman have any identifying marks on her?”

  “A purple-and-turquoise butterfly, on her right hip. I saw it when I pulled her panties down.”

  “Is there anything else you remember about that night?”

  “Well, there was a carving on the tree we were under. A heart, with initials inside it. ‘ES + PG.’ I remember ’cause ‘ES’ were my initials, and I thought what I was doing certainly wasn’t a PG rating. Tree had no leaves on it, but it was real high, with a big trunk.”

  Dani stopped the tape. “Your Honor, I’d like to pause the tape at this point and call a witness.”

  Hinchey nodded, and Dani called Detective Pete Harmon to the stand. He had already testified for the prosecution as the lead detective investigating the murder of Carly Sobol. Dani hadn’t cross-examined him then, but she’d reserved the right to call him later. Since he’d been on Dani’s witness list, he’d been outside the courtroom during the playing of the videotape. Once he was settled in his seat, Dani said, “You previously testified that Ms. Sobol’s body was found under a large oak tree in the forested area behind Palm Beach High School, correct?”