I sighed. I knew the real reason why the judge didn’t order it. He was afraid. He was afraid that if he forced Emma, who I thought was really Ava, to give her fingerprints, she would have a lawsuit against him. A lawsuit for an invasion of privacy. And I would imagine that the judge probably just didn’t want to deal with that.
So I was back at square one. I was just going to have to find a way to prove to the jury what my theory was.
The only problem was that I still wasn’t quite sure what my theory was. Even if the person who died in the house wasn’t Ava, but Emma, so what? What did that prove? Plus, she was poisoned.
I was back to square one and I was back to pushing a boulder up a hill.
Chapter 21
October 29, The First Day of Trial
It was the first day of trial, and I felt like I was as prepared as I could possibly be. After doing more investigation into this case, it suddenly came into view exactly what happened. At least, I think I knew what happened. It was just a matter of proving it, however. That was always the rub. You could have an excellent theory to present, but if you can’t prove it to a jury, you have nothing. In this case, my theory was going to be something that was going to be a crapshoot. To say the very least.
Harper agreed to second-chair me. I knew that she would. I was happy that she was going to be in the courtroom with me, because I needed her help.
Harper was unsure about my strategy. She thought it was kind of crazy, to say the very least. She, too, found it hard to believe that Silas would have no clue that his own wife had an identical twin. I didn’t know why that was something that was so hard for people to believe, but it was. But once I got into the case, everything became clear as to why it was that Ava and Emma did not get along, and why it was that Ava never bothered to tell her husband about her twin sister.
It also became clear to me as to exactly why it was that Emma, not Ava, died.
Unfortunately, I had one hurdle to clear – Ally had filed a motion in limine because she wanted to keep any kind of evidence out that the person who died in the house was not Ava Porter.
I saw Ally in the courtroom. “Why you gotta do me like this?” I said to Ally, only half teasing. “I think you know that my very case hinges on whether or not I can bring in evidence about Emma and Ava, and in this case, the evidence is simply trying to cross-examine your witnesses.” Ally had brought in both of Ava’s parents, David, and Emma as witnesses. She was going to use them to establish the fact that my client and Ava had a very strained relationship. My plan was to cross-examine them and try to break them down on the stand, but I was going to have to question them specifically on whether or not it was truly Ava who died in the house. When I thought about it, if I asked the right questions, I could probably establish what I needed to prove my theory.
“Of course, I know that your entire case hinges on whether or not you can question these witnesses on your theory. Why do you think it is I’m gonna try to prevent you from doing so? Listen, I hate to break this to you, but your client is a psycho. You know it, I know it. He’s a dangerous man, and he probably needs to be behind bars.”
“I think you know that what you’re saying is a crappy thing to say. You’re trying to prevent me from proving my case, because you feel that my client is psychotic and dangerous, and I dispute that, but even if he was, if he is not guilty of murdering his wife, then he doesn’t belong behind bars… End of story.”
“Well, we’ll see what the judge says today.”
At that, we looked up and saw Judge Pruitt coming on the bench. “Remain seated,” he said. “Now, as I understand it, this case is going to trial. And I also understand that the prosecutor has a motion in limine that she has filed. So, Mr. Harrington, Miss Hughes, please approach the bench, and you can both give me your arguments. After I decide on this motion in limine, we will impanel a jury, and we’ll get the show on the road. I also understand that you, Mr. Harrington, also have a motion in limine. I’ll hear yours first.”
I cleared my throat. “My motion in limine is that the prosecutor is not to bring in the fact that my client, at the age of five, was involved in a fire where his mother was killed. The reason for my motion is very simple. There is some kind of evidence that my client might have been the one who set the fire. Nothing has ever been proven, so I don’t want this fire to even be brought up in front of the jury. I don’t want the jury to be able to infer that my client was in any way, shape or form involved in it, and the only way to do so is to make sure that the incident does not even come into the evidence at all.”
“That’s a pretty open and shut motion,” Judge Pruitt said. “Obviously, if there was no evidence that your client was involved in setting the fire, and it happened when he was five years old, so even if he did set the fire, there’s no way that that fact can be brought in, there is no reason to even bring the fire into evidence. It’s irrelevant.”
I knew that that was going to happen. I knew that my motion in limine was going to be sustained. I had another one, however. I had a motion in limine to keep my client’s mental health issues out of evidence. I knew that Ally was aware that my client had been in a mental hospital. She also was aware that he had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. That was one thing I did not want to have brought into court. This was going to be a bit trickier, however. I had produced documents for Ally, at her request, about my client’s stay in the hospital, and about his diagnosis.
“My next motion in limine is for the fact that my client has been in a mental hospital. He has been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder. I want to make sure that that diagnosis does not come in.”
It was surprisingly difficult to find case law on this matter, however I also knew that the physician-patient privilege was very hard to break. I knew that the judge was going to go ahead and side with me. My client’s right to privacy was very strong. At the same time, I knew that the fact that he had been diagnosed with narcissistic personality disorder was something that was very relevant to the case. It was relevant to what Ally was trying to show – that my client was a cold-blooded killer. One who would not think twice about killing his wife, just because he found out that she was about to leave him for another man.
Just as I thought, however, Judge Pruitt nodded his head. “Motion sustained. Now, Ms. Hughes, do you have any motions for me?”
Ally nodded her head. “I filed a motion in limine to suppress any evidence that the defense might have that the person who was killed in the house was not Ava Porter. As you can remember, we were in court on this very issue several months ago, and you agreed with me that Mr. Harrington’s theory was unlikely, and you also agreed that when he tried to prove it, that it would be an invasion of privacy for Mrs. Porter’s identical twin sister, Ms. Jackson. Ms. Emma Jackson is currently on the witness list, and she is scheduled to testify.”
Judge Pruitt shook his head. “Your motion in limine is overruled. Mr. Harrington has the right to question witnesses. He has a right to cross-examine them, and if on cross-examination, he cares to question them about his theory, I will allow it.” He looked at me. “Of course, that assumes that Ms. Hughes opens the door on direct examination for such questions. I’m assuming she won’t. I do see that all of Ms. Hughes’ witnesses are also on your witness list. So I assume that you’ll have to probably go ahead and ask these questions in your case in chief. Unless of course, Ms. Hughes wants to cooperate, and open the door on direct so you can cross-examine them.” He looked over at Ally. “Now, I don’t want to tell you how to do your job, and I certainly don’t want to dictate your strategy, but it might be worthwhile, and in the interest of expediency, for you to go ahead and open that door on direct examination. You know that Mr. Harrington is going to call all of your witnesses, and that he’s going to ask those questions on his direct examination. You might as well just kill two birds with one stone and open the door when you direct examine these witnesses. Just a suggestion to move things along.”
I looked over at Ally. I didn’t know if she was going to cooperate in that way, but she might. After all, the judge was right – if I couldn’t cross-examine her witnesses on the matter, I was going to call them as my own witnesses. My entire case was dependent upon whether or not I could prove what I needed to prove on this matter, and there was no way I was going to let that go.
She sighed. “I’ll think about it.”
She was defeated. I knew she was. At least, on this matter she was. “Listen, I know you don’t want to cooperate with me, because I’m the defense attorney and you’re the prosecutor. But the judge makes a good point. Either you open the door, or I will. If you want to get done with this trial early, my suggestion is you go ahead and open the door, and allow me to cross-examine them on this issue.”
She bristled. I saw her grit her teeth, and hunch her shoulders. I knew that she didn’t want to give any kind of quarter to me. “I’ll think about it.”
Judge Pruitt looked at Ally. “Think hard about it. In the meantime, if there is no other motion in limines that I need to entertain, I suggest that we start bringing in the jury, and starting our voir dire.”
Within a half-hour, 50 men and women of all ages and colors were seated. 12 of them were seated in the jury box, while the rest were seated in the gallery.
Ally started with her voir dire. She asked questions of the jurors about if they knew anybody who was involved in the case, and if they knew either the judge or the defense attorney or herself. She asked all the standard questions that people ask of jurors. With the raise of the hands, one by one people gave an answer.
And then it came to me. What I was looking for was somebody with an open mind. “Do you believe that there are some people in this world who would willingly give their life to protect a person that they loved?” This was a relevant question for me, because of the theory that I was working on. The theory that had formulated over these past few months was that Emma Jackson was actually a willing participant in this entire scheme.
Several jurors raised their hands. I called on them one by one. They each said that they thought that there were people in the world who were that selfless. But, all of them indicated that they thought that that kind of person was a rarity. To say the very least.
“What if a person was dying? Do you think it’s out of the realm of possibility that a dying person, somebody who has only a few months to live as it is, would willingly give their lives to protect someone that they loved?”
With that, more people raised their hands. “I believe that that’s a situation that is very plausible,” one man said. “After all, if you’re already not long for this world, you might as well make your death count. Right?” He looked around at the other jurors, and he saw that some of them were nodding their heads along. I made a note of the people who were nodding their heads.
Another lady stood up. “I agree with this gentleman. I mean, if you have a terminal diagnosis, and you have a chance to help somebody who’s close to you, why wouldn’t you do it? Even if that brings your death on prematurely, at least you could die knowing that you helped somebody.”
I made a note of the people who I thought agreed with this theory, and was going to try to get each and every one of them on the jury. Unfortunately, I knew that Ally was also making a note of the people who agreed with the statements, and she was going to try to keep them off the jury. But as long as I got at least a few of them, people who would possibly be able to convince the other jurors my theory was correct, then I thought that I could probably have a chance with this case.
I asked a few more questions, and then the potential jurors were asked to sit quietly while Ally and I made our selections. I started with some peremptory strikes, and so did Ally. I had a couple of strikes for cause, and so did she. But after about 1/2 hour, we were able to agree on the 12 people who would be sitting on the jury and deciding Silas’ fate. I got three of the people that I wanted – three of the people who I knew agreed with the statement that if somebody is dying, it is a good thing to use your death to help somebody else out. I knew that with those jurors on the panel, my argument was going to be at least halfway there.
The jury was picked, so we all took a break, and when we came back, it was gonna be time to begin.
I knew that I had a battle in front of me, but I thought that it was a battle that I could win.
Chapter 22
Ally was the first to give her statement. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury,” she began. “You’re going to hear a story that is one that is going to be hard to hear. To say the very least. It’s a story of a man, Mr. Silas Porter, who is a very troubled man. You will hear evidence on just how troubled his relationship was with Ms. Ava Porter. The evidence will show that Ms. Ava Porter displayed bruises when she visited her parents. Her parents will testify that they strongly suspected that Mrs. Porter was being physically abused by the defendant, Silas Porter. The evidence will also show that Mr. and Mrs. Porter had a volatile relationship, to say the very least. Mrs. Porter had sought and obtained two restraining orders against him, because she was fearful for her life. She was fearful about what he would do to her.”
“You will hear the evidence propounded by an expert witness, an expert on the field of domestic abuse. This expert will testify that a woman is most in danger when she is threatening to leave her abuser. You will also hear evidence that this is exactly what had happened here. You will hear evidence from both of Mrs. Porter’s parents, and her fiancé, David Taylor. Mr. Taylor is a golf pro who was a friend of the family, and he and Mrs. Porter had begun a relationship while Mr. Porter was in Europe on a business trip. By the time Mr. Porter got back from his business trip, the victim, Ava Porter, was already engaged to Mr. Taylor, and she had already told Mr. Porter that she was going to be leaving him in favor of Mr. Taylor.”
“Here is what happened in this case, ladies and gentlemen. First, the defendant chained the victim to a wall in a guesthouse that he had behind his main house. This was a guesthouse that was used for people who were staying overnight. It was not, contrary to what Mr. Porter will try to tell you, a dungeon for BDSM activities. It was nothing more than a simple guesthouse. And he chained her to this wall, and made her helpless. He made her helpless, and then he set the guest house on fire.”
Ally approached the jurors, and looked at them one by one in the eye. “Imagine that. Imagine being made helpless by your husband. Imagine that your husband is 6’3” and 190 pounds, and in amazing shape, while you are only 5’5” and 110 pounds. Imagine him carrying you to a building, and then forcefully putting your hands into a pair of handcuffs that are attached to a wall. Try to imagine her terror as she realized what he was doing. Accelerant was found at the scene. He deliberately set that fire. He deliberately set that fire, and he murdered his wife in this gruesome manner.”
“This is a very disturbed mind, the mind of this defendant. Only a disturbed mind would do something like that. Only someone who was depraved would make sure that his wife died in such agony. And, that’s exactly what Mr. Porter is. He is depraved.”
She paced back and forth. “Think about it ladies and gentlemen. Think about what kind of person would make sure that he not just murdered his wife, but he murdered her in such a way that she died in agony.” She pointed at Silas. “And that’s exactly what this man did. This man who is before you – he is an animal. No, scratch that. To call him an animal is an insult to animals everywhere. This man is someone who is deeply, deeply disturbed. And he deserves to be behind bars for the rest of his life. Only there, in a prison, will society be safe from him. That is why I urge you to find the defendant guilty of murdering his wife. I urge you to find him guilty, and I urge you to sentence him to the maximum sentence possible. He deserves to spend the rest of his life behind bars.”
“Thank you very much.”
Ally sat down, and I stood up. I cleared my throat. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you heard the prosecutor’s arguments. And they do
sound compelling. I would agree with you. I’m not going to argue that there were restraining orders against my client. It would be pointless to argue that point, because there were restraining orders against him. However, that is the only fact that I will stipulate to, because everything else the prosecutor has told you has been a lie.”
“Are you going to hear evidence that Ava’s parents noticed that she had bruises on her arms? Yes, you are going to hear evidence about that. However, you will also hear evidence from my client about where those bruises came from. He will testify that the bruises came not from him, but from other men who she was seeing. You see, Ava was a submissive. I’m not sure what the jury knows about the concept of BDSM – bondage – discipline – sadism – masochism. What I can tell you is that my client, Mr. Porter, and the victim, Ava Porter, were involved in a dominant-submissive relationship. Mr. Porter will testify as to what kind of relationship they had, and how it involved bondage. And, my client will testify that this was as far as they went. He would bind Mrs. Porter during sex – he would put her in a body bag, or into a small box, and restrict breathing. He would use handcuffs with her. Blindfolds. And other elements like that. However, they were not involved in the more physical aspects of the BDSM relationship. Specifically, my client will testify that he did not want to beat his wife. Or whip her. However, she desired that, so he allowed her to take other sexual partners. People who would do that for her. He knew that she needed that, and so he allowed her to stray.”
“So that’s where those bruises came from. Not from my client, but from the other men that my client’s wife, Ava Porter, was seeing on the side. She was seeing these men, with the express consent of my client, Silas Porter. He, too, had other sexual partners. That was the nature of their relationship – it was open. They allowed one another to see other people.”
Secrets and Lies Page 13