"Capitol offence" - читать интересную книгу автора (Bernhardt William)

8

Ben stood shoulder to shoulder with his newly sprung and spruced-up client, staring at the vast array of microphones and minicams assembled on the plaza outside the Tulsa County courthouse. It was important that Dennis be present and that they all see him as he was, a good, intelligent, clean-cut professional who had recently lost his wife. Not a monster, not a violent man.

Just the same, Ben planned to do all the talking.

"We applaud Judge McPartland's actions. It would have been much easier to take the usual path and avoid controversy. But instead of jumping on the media bandwagon, he saw the facts and circumstances clearly and realized that Dennis Thomas is no threat to anyone. He does not deserve to be incarcerated, not now or at any time in the future.

"It is all too easy in this reactionary age to heighten the drama and act as if each and every crime is of equal horror, but that is simply not the case. Not every youth should be tried as an adult. Not every defendant should receive the maximum sentence. We can rise above the visceral need for retribution. We are better than that. Those old attitudes have produced the current mess in the criminal justice system-over 2.2 million people in prison, the highest incarceration rate of any nation, more than four times the world average."

Ben scanned his audience. So far they all seemed attentive. He suspected he was not swaying the reporter from Fox News, and several others as well, but at least no one was heckling. "The reality, which Judge McPartland recognized, is that Dennis was subjected to circumstances that would tax the mental stability of even the most solid citizen. Who could live knowing that the police department could have saved his wife-and chose not to do so? Who would not be tormented by that knowledge? Temporary insanity is not a gimmick dreamed up by lawyers; it is a very real and debilitating mental state, one that all of us could experience given the right circumstances. It is time that we as a nation recognize that fact and stop acting as if harsh punishment will solve all our problems. Dennis Thomas presents no threat to society. He should not be incarcerated."

Ben never directly said he should be found not guilty, but of course, that was the implicit message. Prospective jurors didn't have to wrestle with whether they genuinely believed in the concept of temporary insanity. That was the tool they would use. The goal was to convince the jury that this man should not go to prison, regardless of whether you think he committed the crime. So, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, make whatever finding you must to make sure he doesn't end up behind bars.

Ben briefly considered avoiding questions altogether, but the crowd had been so respectful during his prepared remarks that he decided, possibly contrary to the lessons of past experience, to give it a go. He pointed toward a woman standing in the front row. She had a ponytail and a fresh, friendly face. The quantum of makeup suggested that she was a television anchorperson, but she looked too nice to be mean.

"What would you say to Detective Sentz's two young daughters, now that you're advocating that their father's murderer should go free without any punishment?"

Ah, well. You can't judge a book…

"Forgive me for saying so, ma'am, but you're exploiting those children to drum up controversy and get yourself a lead story. And to avoid the main issue. Dennis Thomas has also been bereaved, if I may remind you. His wife suffered the most extraordinary pain imaginable for seven days running. I would hope that we could extend our sympathies to all the victims of this case. But the question here is whether Dennis Thomas should spend the rest of his life in prison, and I fail to see how that would help those two girls or anyone else."

In the rear of the crowd, he saw Christina tip her curls to him. Slowly but surely, he was getting better at this stuff.

"According to the police report, your client was found at the scene of the crime, lying over the murder weapon-and this is a quote-'apparently unconscious.' Can you explain what happened?"

Ben nodded. "I'm no psychiatrist, but the experts tell me that Dennis's grief reached such magnitude as to temporarily affect his behavior, causing him to potentially engage in activities he would not normally do and will never do again. Apparently at some point the brain, deluged with such potent emotion, reaches overload and shuts down, causing the blackout state." He paused. "I only wish it had kicked in earlier."

That went reasonably well. He tried another reporter.

"Is it true that your client threatened to kill Detective Sentz shortly before he did it?"

Ben hesitated a moment. He hadn't heard this before. He hoped it wasn't true. Unless perhaps the reporter had somehow learned that Dennis had been in Ben's office talking about murder. He hoped that also wasn't true.

"No. Dennis went to the police repeatedly, begging them, literally begging them to take action, to help him find his wife. And they refused. For seven days. While Joslyn Thomas, a physician who dedicated her life to helping others, suffered the most intense torture imaginable. I don't doubt that Dennis used strong words, trying to move the police into action. I know I would have, had I been in his hideous situation. But there was no death threat."

He pointed toward a reporter he recognized from the Tulsa World. "Isn't there a danger that the course you recommend could basically create a crime free-for-all? If your client escapes punishment, what's to prevent anyone with an axe to grind against the police-and I think there are many-to shoot first and claim insanity later?"

"With respect, Jim, I think that question is a typical argument ad absurdum and we both know it. This is not the first insanity plea. They go way back to General Dan Sickles in the first half of the nineteenth century. The previous cases did not trigger a wave of insanity slayings and this one will not either. Insanity is not contagious. Successful insanity defenses are rare. But this case presents unusual circumstances. We have a model citizen, a man without a blot on his record, driven by the most horrifying events to actions that would normally be far beyond his ken. That doesn't happen every day and it never will, thank heaven. But it is exactly why the temporary insanity plea exists. And we should not be hesitant to use it."

"May I have a few words?"

Ben turned and saw DA Guillerman standing behind him. Where had he come from? This was really in poor taste-crashing another man's press conference.

"Mr. Kincaid speaks very eloquently, but I think he misses the main point. I don't plan to argue my case here, in the media, in the full view of prospective jurors," he added, eyeing Ben sharply, "but I will make one point clear. My job as district attorney, the job to which the good people of Tulsa have elected me, is to ensure justice. And I will do that. No hocus-pocus. No-" He took a deep breath. "-fancy experts and psychobabble. Just justice." He leaned closer to the microphone. "No one will get away with killing a police officer on my watch. That's a promise."

Ben saw countless hands spring in the air, but Guillerman had the sense to ignore them. He'd made his point. He was done.

"Thanks for getting all these folks together," Guillerman said, slapping Ben on the back. "Appreciate the use of the microphone."

"Don't mention it," Ben mumbled back.

All at once, shouting burst out from somewhere in the midst of the assembled crowd. Ben turned and saw a path being carved through the reporters, but he couldn't tell what was happening. The reporters themselves seemed caught unawares. The minicams swung one way, then the other, trying to capture the action.

"Killer! Killllller!"

In the blink of an eye, Ben saw a wiry, dark-haired man spring out of the melee. He was waving a gun wildly back and forth.

"Murderer!"

Ben tackled Dennis, knocking him to the marble plaza. An instant later, the first shot rang out, followed by two more in rapid succession. Screams broke loose, then chaos. He heard the click of heels, police officers running forward.

Dennis was huddled in a pile beneath him. "Are you okay?" Ben asked.

"I seem to have escaped the bullets, although I think you may have fractured my arm."

"Just as long as you're breathing." Ben scrambled to his feet. Three police officers had the man face-first on the ground. One had captured his gun.

"Christina!" From the back, despite her height, or lack thereof, he could see her swinging her arms in the air. She was okay, thank God.

"He's a murderer! In cold blood!" The man was still screaming, even as the police hauled him away. "An eye for an eye! An eye for an eye!"

As he watched the crowd disperse, Ben felt Guillerman ease in beside him. "So, Ben, tell me again that part about how insanity isn't contagious."

Ben had no reply.