***
At the end of the day, Johnny Bob assembled Claudia, Lucy and her family, along with T. J. for a status conference in their assigned room. The conference was necessary, but of almost equal importance was his belief that the more he could keep T. J. away from the media, the better. Maybe the crowds would be gone and the reporters would be off to some watering hole if they remained in the building for awhile.
"End of day two," Johnny Bob announced. "Everybody doing okay?"
T. J. replied. "More important question is what do you think, Counselor?"
"Tell you what, let's get Claudia's assessment since she pulled the laboring oar today."
"Well, pardon my French, but I thought we kicked ass. We had the jury crying within the first two hours of testimony. Don't know about you, Johnny Bob, but that's a record where I come from. On top of that, they couldn't even think of a question to ask Joanna here. Jessie was straightforward and didn't hesitate to concede what she had to."
"Jessie's testimony brings up a small concern, Claudia," Johnny Bob interrupted. "When she was talking about Dr. Moyo, a couple of our black jurors didn't look very happy. Since you're our resident expert on the subject, what do you think?"
"I noticed it, too, Johnny Bob, and that can be a problem. Frankly, the brothers and sisters don't like to see attacks on one of their own, particularly by the system that they always have to fight. Still, we've got enough evidence. We'll bring them around."
Johnny Bob turned to Lucy. "Little darlin', you're gonna be first up tomorrow. You ready to go?"
CHAPTER 66
During the week before trial, Claudia helped Lucy buy several new dresses, each one plain and intended to help the jury envision her as a sympathetic young girl. On the morning when Lucy would take center stage, Claudia told her to wear the white dress with blue trim on the sleeves and hem.
"Lucy, introduce yourself to the jury, please," Claudia began. Lucy did as she had been instructed and said, "Good morning, my name is Lucy Baines Brady. I'm from Texas City and I'm now eighteen." She smiled tentatively, and most of the jurors smiled back.
Claudia skipped through her youth, hitting only the high points, because Lucy's mother had already adequately covered it.
"Lucy, how did you get pregnant?"
Silence.
Then, a quavering and soft voice replied, "Ma'am, I was raped by a boy at church.
"If you were raped, Lucy, did you call the police?"
"No, ma'am. We, uh, had known each other for some time, and I didn't think the police would do anything."
"How about your mother and dad, did you tell them about what happened with the boy?"
Tod had been quiet until now. With this question, he rose and in an almost apologetic manner, spoke, "Your Honor, Jan and I have allowed quite a bit of latitude to the plaintiffs. However, I must object to anything more in this line of questioning. There is no doubt that Lucy Brady became pregnant. That's why we're here. Her actions and thought processes leading up to her visit to Population Planning are not relevant to any issue in this case."
Claudia understood exactly what Tod was doing. He saw that she was painting Lucy as the victim, a sympathetic figure, caught up in a series of events she could not have predicted or prevented. "Your Honor, I don't intend to belabor this point, but the jury needs to know something about Lucy's state of mind leading up to the abortion. Her decision wasn't made in a vacuum."
"I agree, Ms. Jackson. I'll give you a little latitude here. Make it brief and get to the issues at hand," Judge O'Reilly ruled.
"Yes, ma'am. I'll move it quickly. Lucy, when you thought you were pregnant, did you talk to anyone about it, your mother, your father, anyone?"
"No, ma'am. I learned I was pregnant when I went to the drugstore and got one of those little kits. I was scared and didn't know what to do. I wanted to talk to my mother. Instead, I went to the computer. I read about pregnancy and abortion. The web site from Population Planning made it seem so simple that I called them. They are the ones that gave me advice."
"How long before you had the abortion did you first talk to someone at Population Planning?"
"Just a few days before, Ms. Jackson. The lady I talked to told me just to come on in whenever I wanted. They could terminate any pregnancy in a couple of hours. I could be back at school in a day or two. I thought about it a few days. Then, I took my money from baby-sitting and Christmas and caught the bus to Houston on a Friday when we didn't have school. They made it sound so easy."
"Lucy, when you had the abortion, did they explain anything to you about what problems might happen?"
"No, ma'am. Not really. I just talked to a woman named Sylvia and all she wanted to do was make sure that I had enough money. I didn't, and she told me I could sign a note."
"Lucy, do you remember anything about the abortion, itself?"
"No, ma'am, not much. I remember that it hurt a whole lot and I cried with the pain."
Dr. Moyo scribbled a note to Tod. "That didn't happen. I never had that happen with a patient of mine."
Claudia saw Dr. Moyo hand the note to his lawyer and asked Lucy, "Do you recognize the abortionist?" The last word was said with distaste like she was asking Lucy to identify a cockroach. Lucy pointed her finger at Dr. Moyo and said, "It was that man right there."
Dr. Moyo felt every eye in the large courtroom shift to him and he didn't like the feeling. It was even worse because Marian, his wife, had to endure the moment.
"Lucy, what happened after the abortion?"
"Ms. Jackson, they gave me some pills to take and said I could go to school on Monday. I caught the bus in front of the clinic and went home. I took my pill that night. Then I got nauseated and threw up. I don't know if the pill worked or not. The next morning, after my mother had gone to work, I called the clinic and told the nurse that I was having some bleeding and cramping and thought that I should go back to have them check me. She goes, 'Just take some Advil, and you'll be okay'."
"Were you worried, Lucy?"
"I was really scared, and they didn't want to help me. Then, the next morning, I had to lie to my mother and tell her I was catching the flu to get out of church." Tears formed in her eyes as she looked at her mother.
Olga Olsen, a mother and grandmother, thought that the clinic better have a damn good excuse for ignoring this little girl.
"I called the clinic back and talked to another nurse. By then the bleeding had stopped, but I was really hot and cramping. This nurse told me the same thing as the first one. Just to take Advil and go to bed. I'd be all right."
"Were you all right, Lucy?" Claudia asked in a low voice, calculated to cause everyone in the courtroom to strain to hear and to pay attention.
This time Lucy broke down and tears rolled down her cheeks. The bailiff handed her a Kleenex box. Judge O'Reilly asked her if she needed to take a break.
"No, ma'am. I'd rather get this over."
Claudia continued. "Okay, Lucy, try to relax. I'll be through in a few minutes. What do you remember next?"
"Nothing, ma'am. Not until I was leaving the hospital. My mother told me I was in the hospital a long time, but I don't remember anything about it. After I was discharged, I went to stay with my Aunt Jessie in Fort Worth because my mother needed to go back to work and couldn't take care of me full time."
"How do you like living with Aunt Jessie, Lucy?"
"It's okay. She has a really big house and I have my own room looking out on the garden."
"Could you walk when you first got there, Lucy?"
"I don't know, Ms. Jackson. They said that I could, but for some reason I just couldn't make my legs move the way they were supposed to. So, I stayed in bed or the wheelchair just about all the time."
"How did you meet The Chosen, Lucy?"
"See, my aunt has been going to his church for a long time and is on the board or something, like she said when she testified yesterday. She made me start going to church with her. Well, she didn't make me. I like
church, particularly the singing, and when she said that she wanted me to go with her, I said, 'okay'."
"I understand that one Sunday morning, you started walking when The Chosen commanded you to do so."
"Yes, ma'am. He's the one who got me up out of my wheelchair." As she commented about The Chosen, she turned and smiled at him before continuing. "He put his hands on me and I just felt warm all over, a good kind of warm, not like a fever or anything. He goes, 'Lucy, stand up' and then, 'Lucy, follow me.' I heard a voice somewhere saying that he was a special messenger from God and that I should do his bidding, whatever he asked. So, I stood and walked."
Several of the jurors looked over at T. J., clearly wondering just who this man was. T. J. returned their stares with a look of confidence, as if to say it was just all in a day's work when you're a messenger from God.
Claudia moved on as it was approaching the noon lunch break. She led Lucy through her life since she was healed by The Chosen. She established that it was hardly a life one would expect for a teenager. She was trying to get her GED with the help of tutors that her aunt brought to the house. She saw Dr. Coates three times a week for counseling. In spite of pills for depression and pills to help her sleep, she still had nightmares that caused her to wake up crying nearly every night.
"Lucy, have you been examined by an obstetrician?"
"Yes, ma'am. Several times since I got out of the hospital."
"What has the obstetrician told you about your ability to conceive and bear children?"
Lucy teared up again, answering, "He told me that because of all that happened to me after the abortion, I probably wouldn't be able to have any children of my own."
"And how does that make you feel, Lucy?"
"Like I'm not even sure that I want to live the rest of my life."
"Pass the witness, Your Honor," Claudia said as she received a pat on the back from Johnny Bob for a job well done. Three women jurors were wiping their eyes.
During the lunch break, Tod and Jan conferred about how to handle Lucy's cross-examination. Her testimony had touched several of the jurors, maybe all of them. Jan had to tread gently, but there were a number of points to be made. While she had some reservations, Tod insisted that Jan ask questions about her ability to conceive. Their expert in obstetrics, certainly one of the world's authorities, had studied Lucy's records and was certain that she could have children. Tod wanted to lay the foundation for that testimony, to come at least a week away, maybe more.
Jan started her cross-examination with the positive aspects of Lucy's recovery and life. She was able to walk and use all of her limbs. She was doing well with her tutors and was on track to complete her GED in three months. Lucy had talked about wanting to go to community college and then to the University of Houston. She even volunteered that if she did well in community college, Aunt Jessie said that she would pay her way to any four-year college in the country. She agreed that she and her Aunt Jessie were going out more and more frequently. They had been to all of the museums and zoos in the Fort Worth/Dallas area and Jessie had begun to take her to the theater every month or so. Because of her love of singing, she particularly liked the Broadway musicals that would come to Fort Worth or Dallas as they toured the country.
Tod watched the jury as Jan was getting these concessions out of Lucy, portraying quite a different version of her life than the one painted by Claudia. She had been able to get Lucy to drop her guard with a gentle, compassionate manner, something he as a male probably could never have accomplished. Jan was scoring with the jury and was down to her final two major points.
"Your Honor, may I approach the witness?"
"You may, Counsel," Judge O'Reilly replied.
"Ms. Brady, I'm handing you what we've marked as Defendant Exhibit Number One. Can you identify it as the consent form that you signed before the pregnancy termination?" Jan's decision to refer to her as "Ms. Brady" was as calculated as all of the other decisions made in a trial of this magnitude. Claudia called her Lucy to emphasize that she was still just a girl. Jan referred to her as Ms. Brady to convey the impression that she was an adult, which she was now in the eyes of the law. Jan hoped the jury understood that very little had changed in the year since the abortion other than the celebration of an eighteenth birthday. Certainly, her ability to read, comprehend and make decisions for herself was the same a year ago as today.
Claudia was on her feet. "Objection, Your Honor. Lucy had no capacity to sign that document. Therefore, it's not relevant. It's a matter we discussed when we did the limines."
"I remember, Counsel. Bailiff, please escort the jury to the jury room. This is a matter that needs to be taken up outside their presence."
After the bailiff had taken the jurors out, the judge continued. "Let's see if I remember this correctly. The plaintiff signed the form when she was seventeen. Further, in Texas at that time a girl under the age of eighteen could have an abortion without parental consent. Am I getting it right so far?"
"Yes, ma'am, you are," Claudia answered. "Our position is that Texas law is very clear that no one in Texas can be bound by anything they sign until the age of eighteen. There are no exceptions to our knowledge. In fact, even that note that the clinic had her sign was not worth the paper it was written on."
"If I may be heard, Your Honor," Jan interrupted. "If Texas law permits her to consent to an abortion, then inherent in that law must be a duty on the part of the doctor and the clinic to inform her of the risks of the procedure and the duty on her part to give consent after being so informed. In this case, it shouldn't be a hard call. It's not like she was thirteen. She was over seventeen, a junior in high school. No one has suggested that she was not mature enough to understand what she was told."
Judge O'Reilly turned to Claudia, "Is that right, Ms. Jackson? Are you suggesting that she did not have the capacity to understand what she was told or what she signed?"
"No, ma'am," Claudia conceded. "That's not our objection."
"Very well, then. Whichever way I rule, I can see this going up on appeal. I'm going to let this document into evidence. Your objection is noted. Bailiff, call the jury back in."
In the jury room, the talk had turned to Johnny Bob's attire. "You notice that Lawyer Tisdale is wearing something red every day?" Joshua Ferrell, the night student, asked.
"Not today," replied Bert Marino. "Saw him wearing red suspenders the first day and a red tie yesterday, but nothing red today."
"No, man. You're wrong. Look at his boots. They have black bottoms but the tops are red. Look the next time he crosses his legs. Must be his favorite color or something."
Before the discussion could continue, the bailiff knocked on their door and escorted them back to the courtroom. Joshua was right. The tops of Johnny Bob's boots were red.
"Ms. Akers, you may proceed."
Jan approached the witness again and handed her the document, "Ms. Brady, can you read to the jury the name of this document?" "It says 'Request for First Trimester Abortion.' But…but, I didn't read this."
"Ms. Brady, I haven't asked you about reading it yet." As she continued her question, she placed the document on an overhead projector that magnified it several times for the jury to observe on the screen. "Are these your initials beside each one of these twenty numbered paragraphs and is this your signature at the bottom?"
"Yes ma'am," Lucy answered, not sure what such an admission would do to her lawsuit.
"Ms. Brady, isn't it true that every one of these risks of pregnancy termination was discussed with you before you decided to go forward with the procedure?"
"Uh, well, if they did say any of that stuff, I don't remember it," Lucy answered as she looked down at her hands to avoid eye contact with jurors.
"Thank you, Ms. Brady," Jan responded as she turned off the projector and returned to her seat at counsel table.
"By the way, on that Saturday morning when you talked to the nurse at the clinic, did you tell her about your nausea and throwing
up the night before?"
"I don't know, ma'am. I mean, I guess I don't remember. I probably didn't."
"Last question. I don't mean to embarrass you with a personal question, but the jury needs to know. Have you had a relationship of any kind with a boy or man since you left the hospital?"
Lucy sat up straight in her chair and spoke forcefully into the microphone. "No, ma'am. I certainly have not. I haven't even been alone with any man except for counseling."
"Since you mention it, Ms. Brady, who have you sought counseling from?"
"Dr. Frederick Coates, ma'am, and a few times with Reverend Luther on Sunday nights when I would go out to The City for youth fellowship. Both of them have been trying to help me understand all that has gone on. Without them and Aunt Jessie, I don't think I could have made it this far."
"Thank you, Ms. Brady. No further questions for this witness, Your Honor."
Nodding her head to Jan, the judge turned to Johnny Bob, asking,
"Mr. Tisdale, who's your next witness?"
"Your Honor, we'll be calling Dr. Moyo as an adverse witness."
"Do I assume correctly that he will be a fairly lengthy witness, Mr. Tisdale?"
"I expect that with my exam and that of the other side, we'll take at least a day, maybe a little more."
"Then, why don't we quit a little early today and we'll start with him tomorrow. Jurors, let me remind you of my instructions. Don't talk to anyone about this case, not even your spouse. Further don't put yourselves in a situation where you might see or hear anyone else commenting about this trial. You will decide this case only on what I permit you to see and hear in this courtroom. I'll see you all in the morning."
So Help Me God Page 36