When Dean finished, Koch called for a short break. The judge and jury left the courtroom and the spectators filed out into the hall.
“How did you get copies of those letters?” Howie asked Marc referring to the papers Marc was putting back in his briefcase.
“I didn’t. I was bluffing,” Marc said and winked at Howie.
The rest of the day was used up by minor witnesses for each victim. After Judge Peterson, the prosecution continued with the victims in order. The next witnesses were the man who discovered the body of Eugene Parlow’s lawyer, Cara Meyers. He was followed by the police officer who was first on the scene. While the photo of Cara Meyers was displayed on the TV screen, each described what they did. The idea was again for the prosecution to build their case brick-by-brick. The Cara Meyers witnesses finished after lunch and before the afternoon break.
“Your honor, we’re running a little ahead of schedule and our next witnesses are not here,” Harris quietly admitted. The lawyers were arrayed at the judge’s bench.
“Do you have anyone else lined up to go this afternoon?” Koch asked.
“No, your Honor. We didn’t expect to finish with these until later today. We anticipated a longer cross-examination by Mr. Kadella,” Harris said in a weak attempt to lay the blame on Marc.
“Nice try,” Marc said.
“Very well,” Koch said. “We’ll adjourn for the day. But you’d better be ready to go first thing in the morning.”
“More gruesome details from the Crown of Thornes case,” Melinda Pace began the show by saying.
The first half of her show was taken up with a live Q & A between Melinda and Gabriella Shriqui. The value of the news was somewhat minimal but it did give Melinda an opportunity to display a picture of each of the victims. Of course, Melinda gave the audience the usual warning to get the kids away from the TV because of the graphic nature of the photos. This is, of course, designed to be sure to get everyone’s attention by letting the audience know something really juicy was coming.
The use of the photos caught Gabriella completely off guard. She had no idea that Melinda was going to do this. Plus, Gabriella was extremely curious about how Melinda got her hands on these pictures. Melinda would never admit she paid a thousand dollars in cash out of her own pocket to a source in Slocum’s office. It was a source who sold them with the full knowledge of Craig Slocum himself.
Later that evening, during the 6:30 rerun of Melinda’s show, Howie Traynor showed no emotion when the pictures filled the jail’s TV screen. Several of the other guests in the room made admiring comments while stealing short, quick glances at the celebrity inmate.
The finale of Melinda’s show, as usual, was a quick story of her selection for “Today’s Dumbest Criminal.” The county inmates sat enraptured by what they considered the best part of the show.
“From Tulsa, Oklahoma,” Melinda began, “We have today’s featured story.
“Jacob Canfield attempted to rob the Tulsa County Bank. He held a gun on the teller, a twenty-one-year-old woman by the name of Anna Sanchez, while she stacked the money on the counter. Instead of making Ms. Sanchez put the money in a bag for him, our would-be bank robber placed the gun on the counter so he could use both hands to stuff the money in his pockets. Anna, brave girl that she is, picked up the gun and pointed it at today’s idiot.
“Rather than surrender, Jacob turned and sprinted toward the door. Anna fired a couple of shots and one of them hit him in, well folks, I’ll be blunt, his butt. As he was going down from being shot, Jacob did a header into the unbreakable glass of the front door. He knocked himself out, gave himself a concussion and compressed neck. The Tulsa police found him unconscious on the floor while Anna stood over him still holding the gun.
“The report is he’ll be out of the hospital in a few days. He’ll probably hire a lawyer to sue the bank and contact the ACLU to file a lawsuit against the bank for violating his civil rights for excessive use of force. Would anyone be surprised? As for me, I am just sorry that this guy will someday father children and pass his genes along.”
FIFTY-SEVEN
Friday morning and Marc was again going through his ritual after parking his car. He opened the briefcase on the passenger seat and removed a yellow legal pad. While he remained seated in his car he read through the notes he had made in anticipation of today’s testimony.
True to his reputation, Tommy Harris did a competent, if not spectacular job of putting enough testimony into evidence to satisfy each element of each charge. The one exception being the kidnapping of Elliot Sanders.
For the past three days, Harris and Ramsey put on a parade of witnesses. Included were the people who found each body, the first responder, police officers and a CSU tech to testify about their procedures.
Harris saved the best for last. The medical examiner who performed the autopsies had to testify about the cause of death for each victim. The prosecution was also allowed to put more grisly photos in front of the jury. The M.E. explained the wounds from their throats being slit to the crushed fingers and toes when they were tortured. The real purpose of this gruesome display was to insight the jury with enough revulsion to get them to make somebody pay for this.
The medical examiner who conducted the autopsies, Clyde Marston, had to admit Peterson died from a heart attack. Marston insisted it was caused by the pacemaker being overcharged by the Taser and it was not natural causes. Marc also got him to admit that whoever did it, did not intend to induce a heart attack. This admission likely removed first-degree premeditation for the death of Peterson and probably second-degree murder as well. Given the list of murder charges Howie Traynor faced, this was a minor victory at best.
The number one issue facing the jury was still: who did this? All of the other issues, including the other first degree premeditated murder charges were still there. There were no eyewitnesses and no confession but the jury could easily infer premeditation from how the crimes were committed. The case would come down to whether or not the jury unanimously believed Howard Traynor did them. One conviction for first degree murder and Howie dies in prison.
Marc completed his last minute review of what he believed was coming today. The prosecution had timed their case perfectly. It was Friday and Marc saw them finishing their case this afternoon with their psychiatrist.
Marc was previously provided with a copy of the doctor’s report. His name was George Christie and of course, he came with impeccable credentials. Dr, Christie was head of the Department of Psychiatry at Vanderbilt University. He was also an acknowledged leading expert in the field of sociopathic mental illness.
Christie had been given all of Howie’s medical records back to his birth. According to his report, the doctor would testify that Howie Traynor was a sociopath from birth and as such his particular psychosis was untreatable. Therefore, his conversion to Catholicism and alleged transformation to a model citizen was a total scam.
Marc was too late to enter the courtroom through the front door. The hallway was already too crowded with the media and curiosity seekers. Instead, Marc used the security intercom and a deputy allowed him to enter through the back hallway.
When he did he was surprised to find Harris and Ramsey already seated at their table.
“We need to see the judge,” Harris said while Marc hung up his coat. Without waiting for a reply, Harris started toward the door leading to the chamber’s hallway.
Marc watched Harris with Ramsey trying to catch up then said, “Is it okay if I come with?”
Paul Ramsey turned his head to Marc, smiled and lightly laughed. Tommy Harris completely ignored the sarcastic question and marched through the door.
Marc caught up with the two prosecutors as they were taking their usual seats in the judge’s chambers. Before he could sit down Harris started in on the reason for this meeting.
“Judge, we want to reopen the issue of the cigarettes found on the roof of the building next door to Traynor’s apartment.”
&nb
sp; An alarm went off in Marc’s head and he said, “I want this on the record, your Honor.”
Koch, seated behind her semi-cluttered desk, looked at Marc and said, “I agree.”
Koch called her clerk in and they all waited for almost ten minutes while the trial’s court reporter came in and set up his equipment. When he was ready he let Koch know it. The judge then made a statement about the time and place of this in camera hearing.
“You may proceed, Mr. Harris,” Koch told Tommy.
“Thank you, your Honor,” Harris began hiding his disappointment that a complete record was being made. “We believe we should be allowed to submit testimony about the three cigarette butts with the defendant’s DNA. The test was delayed through no fault of the prosecution.
“I have two affidavits to submit from the head of the BCA lab and the technician who conducted the test,” Harris continued as he handed copies of both documents to Marc and Judge Koch. “Apparently there was some problem we were not aware of. We want to put the technician Burt Orland on the stand. He is on our witness list. I also have copies of case law, your Honor, to back up our position,” Harris said handing copies of the cases to Koch and Marc.
“Mr. Kadella,” Koch said to Marc.
“Absolutely not, your Honor. I received a copy of the test results the day Owen Jefferson blurted this information out in court and you ruled it was to be ignored,” Marc began.
“Clearly he’s had time to contest the report’s findings,” Harris interrupted.
Koch held up a hand to indicate Harris should wait his turn while Marc continued.
“A significant part of my defense was based on the fact that the police found no evidence that my client was ever in the janitor’s closet or on the roof. Now I’m being told that was not true and I believe it was deliberately withheld from me.”
Before Harris could protest Marc’s accusation Koch again held up her hand to stop.
“That’s a pretty serious claim, Mr. Kadella. If you can prove it, let’s hear it. Otherwise, be thankful we’re not in front of the jury or you’d be writing that check.”
Koch then turned to Harris and said, “I’m not pleased about this but I believe you’re right. This evidence was inevitable and the jury should hear it.”
“Your Honor, this could easily be reversible error,” Marc protested.
“Then your client will get me reversed on appeal,” Koch told him.
Koch looked at the clock on the wall and continued, “I’ll read this over,” she said referring to the documents submitted by Harris. “We’ll start at 10:00. Thank you.”
The morning session was taken up with the testimony of three men. They were all Hennepin County Sheriff’s deputies who knew Howie from his original trial; the one that got him sent to prison for the murder of Lucille Benson. Two were retired and one was still a deputy sheriff.
The three of them all had the same basic story to tell. They worked in the jail after Howie was convicted and heard his threats.
“Who were the people that Mr. Traynor threatened if you can recall?” was a question Harris put to each of them.
All three men answered almost exactly the same, having previously rehearsed their testimony. They all listed ten to twelve names including most of those he was charged with murdering. They also testified to remembering this because everyone in the jail, including the other inmates, were terrified of Howie Traynor.
Marc objected to them claiming what the inmates believed and was sustained. It was essentially a futile gesture. The witnesses could testify about what they felt about Howie. Each said the same thing. Howie Traynor was just about the scariest inmate they ever dealt with.
“What did you personally think of those threats? Did you believe him?”
“Absolutely,” or a variation of this was given by each of the men n turn.
Harris also elicited an admission that convicted inmates often made threats toward the people who they believe are responsible for their incarceration.
“Sure,” each agreed. Most of these threats are made in anger and after a while, the inmate cools down and nothing ever comes of it. Howie Traynor’s threats were different. His were not made in anger. In fact, he was icy cool at the time and by the look in his eyes, he meant it.
Marc objected to their mind reading ability and was again futilely sustained. His cross-examination was basically obtaining admissions that Howie’s metamorphosis in prison could have changed him. Knowing what was coming from the prosecution’s psychiatrist expert left Marc feeling his cross-exam was a little weak.
“Previously, you heard testimony that the defendant’s DNA was found on the roof of the building next door to his apartment,” Koch said addressing the jury after lunch. “At that time, I ordered you to disregard it. You are about to hear from witnesses who will give testimony contrary to that order.” The judge then turned to the prosecutor’s table and said, “You may call your next witness, Mr. Harris.”
The first witness was an officer of the MPD, Carrie Sinclair. She testified that she was the one who found the cigarette butts on the roof. She admitted that she found them three days after Howie Traynor’s arrest. In order to maintain the chain of custody, she identified the evidence bag they were in and her initials on the bag.
Following Officer Sinclair was the CSU tech who checked them out of evidence and delivered them to the lab at the Bureau of Criminal Apprehension in St. Paul. It was there that they were to be tested for DNA. They were delivered to the BCA the day after they were found on the roof of the building next to Howie’s apartment.
Finally, the lab technician with the BCA took the stand. His name was Burt Orland. Orland was on the stand for over an hour and by the time he finished almost everyone in the courtroom was totally confused. His explanation about why the testimony took so long was barely plausible and his testimony about how DNA was tested almost incomprehensible. At the end, the only thing the jury or anyone else could grasp was his claim that the DNA was a 99.6% match to Howie Traynor.
Mark limited his cross-exam to making Orland admit there was no way of knowing how or when the cigarettes came to be on the roof. Marc also obtained an admission that they could easily have been planted by someone else. It was possible that, because Howie’s car was impounded, someone could have removed the three butts from the car’s ashtray and placed them on the roof. The obvious inference being it was the police who did it since they had custody of the car. It was enough to at least argue reasonable doubt.
The final witness for the prosecution was the psychiatrist, Dr. George Christie. It was not a coincidence that he took the stand as the last witness for their case and the last witness on a Friday afternoon.
During the trial, Father John was in attendance seated directly behind the defense as much as possible. Both Marc and Howie made an effort to speak with him as often as they could to let the jury know the priest was there on behalf of the defendant. Of course, this was done deliberately to make a good impression on the jurors. Christie would try to convince the jury that Howie’s conversion to Jesus and model citizen was a ruse.
Harris started off with a long dissertation of the doctor’s credentials. By the time this was done, even Marc was impressed, especially by the number of books the doctor had published on the subject of sociopathology. Slocum had brought in the best hired gun to be found.
Marc and the lawyers and staff in his office went through every book, treatise and article Christie had published on the subject. In addition, Jeff Modell the office paralegal and resident computer geek searched online for anything they might have missed.
What they hoped to find was some written statement from the doctor admitting sociopaths could change. The best they could find was a couple of references to serious drug therapy used to control this behavior. Even those references were qualified and of little use.
Essentially, what the doctor told the jury was that Howie was pulling a scam and that his sociopathic personality was not a learned behavior but
was part of his DNA, as much as his height or eye color.
Marc’s cross-examination was about as good as one could be to show the doctor’s bias. He tried to paint him, with some success, as a hired gun who testified exactly the way the prosecution wanted. He also admitted he only testified for the prosecution.
“Isn’t it true, Doctor, you only testify for the state because your one hundred-thousand-dollar fee is too steep for all but the wealthiest defendants?”
At the sound of the amount Christie was paid, every juror sat up straight and looked wide-eyed at Harris. A hundred thousand dollars is still a lot of money to most people.
“I wouldn’t know,” Christie answered.
“Isn’t it true you did not spend one minute with the defendant?”
“It wasn’t necessary…”
“Nonresponsive, your Honor,” Marc said.
“Answer the question,” Koch ordered.
“Yes, that’s true.”
“You got all of your information and formed your one hundred-thousand-dollar opinion…”
“Objection,” Harris jumped up. “Mischaracterization and argumentative.”
“I’ll sustain the objection on the grounds of it being argumentative,” Koch said. “I’m not quite sure what mischaracterization means. Rephrase, Mr. Kadella.”
“You obtained all of your information and formed your opinion about Howie Traynor from reading things that other people wrote, isn’t that true?”
“Yes,” Christie admitted.
Marc silently thought about if he should continue. He obtained about all he could from the shrink. Marc also knew he had his own expert to call who would refute what Christie said and she had spent several hours actually meeting with Howie.
Marc Kadella Legal Mysteries Vol 1-6 (Marc Kadella Series) Page 175
