The Night Swim(76)
Rachel thought about his remark as she ran across the beach back toward town. Wisps of clouds marred the otherwise perfect sky as she jogged toward her hotel in the far distance. It was Friday, the last court session before the weekend. Rachel’s gut feeling told her that it would be a dramatic one.
All week, court had started the same way. Judge Shaw asked Mitch Alkins if Kelly Moore was returning to the stand. Alkins told the judge that Kelly’s psychiatrist said she wasn’t quite ready. That she needed a little more time. Alkins had bought time all week with that response. He wouldn’t get away with it for much longer. Dale Quinn was running out of witnesses and Judge Shaw was running out of patience.
44
Guilty or Not Guilty
Season 3, Episode 10: Cross-examination
Tempers are short in court as we get to the business end of the trial. There’s been no more banter about what the jurors ate for lunch. The mood is too tense. Judge Shaw is on edge. His tongue is pure acid. I’ve heard people say they haven’t seen him this acerbic since he was last reversed by an appeals court seven years ago.
The jury is showing signs of exhaustion. Too many long days of hearing testimony that is complex and oftentimes harrowing. It gets to a person after a while, trying to figure out who to believe.
Today the jury heard the forensic expert for the defense give his testimony. Professor Carl Braun earned an estimated thirty thousand dollars to tear apart the prosecution’s forensic case with surgical precision. He said there was zero evidence that indicated K was sexually assaulted. Zero. That is reasonable doubt right there. If the jury believes him, that is.
Remember Dr. Wendy North. She was the expert witness for the prosecution. She’s considered one of the leading forensic sexual assault experts in the country.
Professor Braun contradicted all her findings with a certainty that I found staggering. The Harvard academic who hasn’t been in clinical practice for decades said repeatedly on the stand that there was no indication of sexual assault. Just signs of rough sex. Two clumsy teenagers rolling in the hay. That’s the way that he tried to make it sound.
Professor Braun is a tall man. Six foot two, I’d say, at a guess. He has wiry steel-colored hair. He wears rimless reading glasses and tucks a handkerchief in his jacket pocket. He’s old-school. He talks in a deep baritone that resonates with a godlike authority. This is a man who has no doubts. At least not about his opinions. Sure, the jurors liked Dr. North. But Professor Braun is in a league of his own when it comes to confidence.
The prosecution’s forensic case had been strong, until Braun ripped it apart. I can’t say whether his points had any basis to them. To tell you the truth, at times it sounded to me like doublespeak. But it was doublespeak delivered with an arrogant assurance that would be hard for a jury to dismiss. We may not have seen the last of Professor Braun. He may be recalled to the stand after K testifies, presumably to undermine whatever she says during cross-examination from a forensics point of view.
Regardless, there is no doubt that Braun’s testimony changed the stakes. The defense has thrown a good dose of reasonable doubt on every aspect of the prosecution’s case. Braun’s testimony has severely damaged the prosecution’s forensic evidence. Now more than ever, K needs to return to the stand.
Today in court, Dale Quinn asked Judge Shaw to set a deadline. He said it can’t drag out much longer. Here are his exact words: “Every day that passes without me being able to test the complainant’s evidence through cross-examination hurts my client’s chances of a fair trial. Her unchallenged testimony gets further embedded in the jury’s minds. I believe the defense has been patient, but we need a date. When will she testify?”
Judge Shaw fidgeted with his reading glasses, evidently just as perturbed by the delay. “This is a sexual assault case. I have some latitude to give the complainant time. However,” he said, turning toward Alkins, “the court’s patience in this matter is not endless.”
“She is a young girl going through a very bad time,” said Alkins. “I urge the court to be sympathetic and patient. We are very close.”
Quinn’s chair scraped the floor as he pushed it back and rose to his feet. “I couldn’t be more sympathetic about the complainant’s emotional troubles,” he said. “But it can’t be at the detriment of my client’s rights under the law. Our inability to cross-examine her severely damages my client’s constitutional right to a fair trial. I can cite dozens of cases.”
Judge Shaw leaned forward in his seat and snapped into the microphone, “I am aware of the Constitution, Counselor, and the relevant case law.”
Judge Shaw’s eyes flashed with anger at his being put in such an awkward position. He turned to Alkins and told him in no uncertain terms that he expected K to be in court on Monday, ready to testify. He said the upcoming weekend should give K’s parents and doctors enough time to get her ready for the stand.
Judge Shaw didn’t say what would happen if K wasn’t on the stand on Monday, but it doesn’t take a rocket scientist to figure it out. If, by Monday morning, K isn’t in court testifying, then Scott Blair will likely walk free. Whether he can rebuild his reputation and relaunch his champion swimming career is a different matter. But freedom he shall have.
I’ve been watching Mitch Alkins closely throughout this trial. He keeps his cool. He never shows his emotions. But today in court, he looked as if he knew that his case hung by a tenuous thread.