Are You Positive?

by Stephen Davis

  Chapter Twenty-Six

  Sarah has been waiting patiently in the parking lot. Finally, Campbell walks through the Courthouse Annex door, heading to his car. Sarah catches up with him quickly.

  “Mr. Campbell, my name is Sarah Meadows,” and she hands him a business card.

  Campbell stops and shakes her hand, and while he reads her card, she continues. “I’m a reporter for the Arizona Tribune newspaper.”

  “Arizona? What are y’all doing all the way over here?” It isn’t said with a tone of distrust, but a sincere curiosity that comes naturally with southern hospitality. Sarah also notices that once out of the courtroom, Campbell has reverted to more of a southern drawl.

  Sarah is a little surprised that he doesn’t recognize her. “I’ve been covering this trial for almost a month.”

  “Sorry that I haven’t noticed you, but my attention has been elsewhere.” Campbell starts walking to his car again.

  “That’s okay,” Sarah says, following him. “Mr. Campbell, can I have a few minutes of your time?” Campbell stops again and looks at her, clearly undecided; so Sarah tries again. “Can I buy you a coffee?”

  Campbell relaxes a little and agrees, now that the judge had recessed the trial until Monday. He points across the street. “There’s a Starbucks just around the block.”

  “Believe me,” Sarah jokes. “I know the place well.” If he only knew!

  As they walk, Sarah decides not to waste any time. “Mr. Campbell, can I ask… I thought you were going to call Dr. Gallo as a witness?”

  “I was. I changed my mind.”

  “Why?” Sarah is clearly disappointed that she wouldn’t get to hear Gallo testify.

  “I guess the biggest reason is that I read the transcript of his testimony at the recent trial in Adelaide, Australia.”

  Sarah doesn’t understand. “And why did that make a difference?”

  Campbell glances at her. “Have you read it, Miss... Meadows?” He almost forgot her name, which is something he rarely does. Probably just tired, he thinks.

  “No, I haven’t.”

  “Well, you should. It’s amazing, really. Gallo contradicted himself so many times, and he clearly lied about some things – as he has been known to do in the past. I just decided that I couldn’t trust him to tell the truth in this trial, and felt he might well confuse the jury more than help our side. So….”

  Campbell holds the door open for Sarah as they arrive at Starbucks. Campbell offers to pay for Sarah’s coffee, but she declines. When they have found come comfortable chairs in a quiet corner, Sarah continues. “But I’m sure you could have gotten Gallo to admit to some very key points about the HIV tests, and his patent, and his announcement that HIV is the cause of AIDS.”

  “Probable cause of AIDS.” Campbell corrects her. “That may well be true, and I have a very long list of questions I wanted to ask him, but I became convinced that his answers would be so evasive… you’ve really got to read how he rambles on in that transcript. Frankly, I’m not sure whether he was just cleverly avoiding the questions, or frankly didn’t know enough science to have any idea what he was talking about, or is too old and senile to give a direct, clear response. At one point, when he was asked about electron microscopic photographs of HIV, he literally tried to write another new page in the science books, claiming that EM was no longer necessary for virus isolation. I simply couldn’t take the chance that what he might say would be considered expert testimony by this jury.”

  When he sees Sarah’s disappointment, he inquires, “Why were you looking forward to Dr. Gallo’s testimony?”

  Sarah knows the answers immediately. “I was covering the AIDS and AZT trails in Phoenix for the last few months, and I became very familiar with Gallo, and his criminal past; and I have been waiting for someone to expose him for who he is, and the damage he has done with HIV to our medical and scientific communities. Watching you in this trial, I thought you were the perfect one to finally get the truth out of him.”

  Campbell blushes very slightly. “I appreciate your confidence in me, but I’m afraid you’re going to have to wait for someone else. As much as I would have liked to – and was prepared to – it simply wasn’t in the best interests of my client.”

  Sarah takes a drink of her coffee. Campbell suddenly reaches for his briefcase, opens it, and pulls out a package of papers stapled together.

  “I will do this for you, if you want,” and he hands Sarah the papers. “These are the questions I would have asked Dr. Gallo if he had testified. They’re yours. Do whatever you want with them. They’re the result of a lot of research and time and effort, and each question is referenced with the scientific study that supports it. Maybe they won’t go to waste after all, if you can find a way to make them public.”

  Sarah leafs through the papers briefly, immediately aware of the goldmine she is holding, and has an idea. “Mr. Campbell, what if I posted these questions on a website where everyone can see them, so anyone who wants to can check out the studies for themselves?”

  Campbell nods his agreement. “Sounds like a good idea to me. Go for it, as they say.”

  Pleased with the way this is going, Sarah decides to keep asking questions. “Mr. Campbell, I’m also curious why you didn’t have Tyree Johnson testify on his own behalf either.”

  Campbell smiles. “For a lot of reasons, Miss Meadows, some of which I won’t discuss. But I can say that I felt our case was solid enough without his testimony, and I didn’t see what Mr. Johnson could say that would improve it in any way.” He pauses to take a drink. “You must also realize that it’s not unusual in a murder trial for the defendant not to testify. Remember that the defendant does not have to prove his innocence; the State has to prove his guilt; and if they haven’t done that, and can’t do that, there’s no point is having a defendant get on the stand and say he didn’t do it. The jury is much more likely to trust the evidence than anything a defendant says anyway.”

  Sarah really wants Campbell to agree to a lengthy interview at a later date, so she’s not ready to press him on these issues or argue with his answers right now. Since they have almost finished their drinks and she doesn’t know how much longer she has, she decides it’s time to broach the subject.

  “Mr. Campbell, I have my own personal reasons of why I am so interested in these HIV trials. Watching you, I think there might be more to it for you as well than just defending another murder charge.”

  Campbell looks at her intently but doesn’t answer.

  Sarah persists. “I mean, the amount of time and effort you put into this trial goes beyond the normal call of duty, and certainly more than you were paid for, wouldn’t you say?”

  Campbell still doesn’t answer.

  “I don’t mean to ask you to talk about something you don’t want to talk about, but I would really appreciate it if you would give me the opportunity to interview you about the reasons you took this case; the preparation you did to get ready for it; and why you think, as you said in your closing statement, that this trial is so important for the whole world. There’s a lot more to this than just the jury’s verdict, which is all the other papers will cover, I’m sure. Basically, I’d like to tell your story, above and beyond everything else.”

  Campbell leans back in his chair. He doesn’t say anything for the longest time, but Sarah has enough experience as a reporter to know not to say anything either. The trick is, once you’ve asked the question, put the microphone in the person’s face and don’t move it again until you’ve gotten the answer you want.

  Finally, after what seems like eternity, Campbell simply says, “Alright.”

  Sarah can hardly believe it, but holds back her surprise and elation. “How about the day after the jury comes back with their verdict?”

  Again, all Campbell says is, “Alright.”

  Now Sarah knows she has to go for it all. “And I would like this to be an exclusive interview for my paper – your agreement that you won’t talk to any oth
er reporter until our interview is published first.”

  Campbell finishes his coffee, picks up his briefcase, and shakes Sarah’s hand. “Agreed, Miss Meadows. But now I have to go. Give me a few hours after the trial to meet with my client, regardless of the outcome, and then call me on my cell phone.” He hands her his card.

  “Thank you, Mr. Campbell,” Sarah calls after him as he leaves.

  She sits there for a minute, then raises a fist in the air and yells “YES!” so loudly that everyone in Starbucks turns to look at her. She doesn’t care.