Brent Marks Legal Thriller Series: Box Set Two

by Kenneth Eade

  “Father Brown, please tell the jury about your background and experience.”

  “I have been a Catholic priest for over 50 years. I hold an M.S. in Psychology from Harvard and a PhD in Theology and Religious Studies from Oxford University. I am also a licensed clinical psychologist.”

  “Father Brown, have you counseled many individuals as a psychologist during your career?”

  “Oh, yes. As a psychologist and a priest, I have counseled thousands of individuals.”

  “And did you have the occasion to consult with my client, Joshua Banks?”

  “Yes, I have.”

  “As therapeutic counseler, or for a psychological evaluation?”

  “I evaluated Mr. Banks at your request.”

  “And, as a result of your evaluation of Mr. Banks, were you able to reach an opinion, with a reasonable degree of psychological certainty, as to whether he is suffering from any psychological condition?”

  “Yes. I determined that Mr. Banks suffers from obsessive-compulsive disorder of the religious subtype.”

  “Can you please describe this disorder, Father?”

  “Certainly. Obsessive compulsive disorder is a type of anxiety disorder which involves obsessive, worrisome thoughts that an individual with the disorder seeks to deal with through compulsions, such as excessive hand washing or other rituals. In the religious subtype, these worries are about sin, and the compulsive behavior involves excessive prayer, hypermorality and cleaning rituals. He is also a hoarder, which is a typical symptom of OCD; but in his case, he can’t throw away anything associated with religion. He saves bibles, bible study materials, and religious symbols.”

  “How does Mr. Banks’ obsessive compulsive disorder manifest itself?”

  “Mr. Banks is obsessed with God and terrified of committing sins. He compensates for his obsessions with hypermoral thoughts, excessive prayer, and excessive bible study. He has memorized thousands of verses from the new and old testaments, and recites them as part of his everyday speech.”

  On cross-examination, Chernow sought to destroy the vision Father Brown had painted of Banks.

  “Father Brown, isn’t it true that one of the symptoms of OCD can be obsessive violent thoughts, such as stabbing a loved one?”

  “That is one subtype of OCD, yes. It’s called 'harm OCD'.”

  “And isn’t it also true that people diagnosed with OCD can suffer anger attacks which manifest themselves in aggressive behavior and threats toward others?”

  “There are studies which so report, yes.”

  “Thank you, Father. No further questions, Your Honor.”

  “Mr. Marks?”

  “Thank you, Your Honor. Father Brown, there are many subtypes of OCD, are there not?”

  “Yes.”

  “And, in your evaluation of Mr. Banks, did you conclude that he suffered from the subtype, harm OCD?”

  “No.”

  “Thank you.”

  CHAPTER FORTY EIGHT

  Now that Father Brown had paved the way, Brent offered Joshua Banks as a witness. He knew that Chernow would use Banks’ homophobia to convince the jury of his guilt during cross-examination, but the more Brent thought about it, the more he just couldn’t see putting the case to the jury with the loose end of the bloody clothes hanging over it. There had to be an explanation for that, and Banks was the only one who could provide it.

  Banks walked up to the witness stand like a little kid who had been caught shoplifting. He looks guilty before he even opens his mouth! Brent had counseled him well on taking the affirmation to tell the truth, and he passed without any emotional outbursts. Here goes…

  Banks was stiff, and looked intently toward Brent, anticipating his question. He avoided looking at the jury.

  “Mr. Banks, you know why you’re here in court, don’t you?”

  “Yes, I do. God is putting me to a test.”

  “Mr. Banks, did you kill Ronald and James Bennett?”

  “No! No! As God is my witness, I did not! I could not!”

  “But you did throw a rock through their window, didn’t you?”

  Banks hung his head in shame. “Yes, I did that. It was a sin, a terrible sin.”

  “Mr. Banks, after your arraignment in this case, do you remember being on the Sheriff’s bus?”

  “Yes, I remember.”

  “What happened to you on that bus?”

  “A demon appeared: a most vile and disgusting creature.”

  “Mr. Banks, are you saying that you saw a demon?”

  “Yes, an unclean spirit, who appeared to me in the guise of an angel.”

  Brent did not anticipate the demon talk to come out so quickly, so he approached Banks with a photograph of Clairborne.

  “Mr. Banks, can you identify the person in this picture?”

  “That is no person, Mr. Marks. That is the demon, in his human form. I saw him.”

  “You say he came to you as an angel. Did he take you out of the bus?”

  “Yes, he did. I thought he was trying to save me, but he had no such intention.”

  “What happened to everyone else on the bus?”

  Banks began to cry. “The demon slaughtered them!”

  “Did you see him kill them?”

  “No, I was asleep. But I heard their cries in my dreams.”

  God, did I make a mistake calling him? He’s completely departed from the coaching I gave him.

  Brent ran with it. “Did you see the truck hit the bus?”

  “No, but I heard a terrible crash. Like thunder from the depths of hell.”

  “And were you injured?”

  “I was unconscious.”

  “Did you awaken?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “The demon lifted me out.”

  “How did you know that everyone else had been killed?”

  Banks wailed. “God, I saw the blood, the bodies, as the demon carried me out!”

  “And where did the demon take you?”

  “I don’t know where.”

  “Did he hold you as his prisoner?”

  “Yes! He locked me away. No food, no water for days.”

  “Did you finally escape from the demon?”

  “Yes.”

  “How?”

  “God helped me. And he sent me you, Mr. Marks.”

  “How did God help you?”

  “I awoke, and looked around. The room was spinning. I was dizzy. The demon was nowhere to be found, so I saw my chance to escape. The doors were unlocked.”

  “Did you leave?”

  “I couldn’t. I was naked.”

  “What did you do?”

  “I looked for clothes. I didn’t know where I was or what was happening, but I knew I needed clothes.”

  “Were you able to find your own clothes?”

  “No, no. I found some clothes the demon had left behind, and put them on.”

  “Then what did you do?”

  “I ran.”

  CHAPTER FORTY NINE

  Chernow’s objective in cross-examination was to push Banks’ buttons, and he started pushing right away.

  “Mr. Banks, you testified that you threw the rock through James and Ronald Bennett’s window, is that correct?”

  “Yes, I did. And God has forgiven me for that.”

  “Does God forgive all sins?”

  “Yes, he does.”

  “Would God forgive you of murder?”

  “Through our Lord, Jesus Christ, all sins of the believer are forgiven.”

  “Even murder?”

  “Even murder.”

  “And you are a believer in Christ, correct?”

  “Yes, sir, I am.”

  “You threw the rock at the Bennett’s window because they were gay, isn’t that correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And homosexuality is a sin, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “It is a sin punishable by death, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.�
��

  “You know that because it’s in the Bible, isn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “Where is it in the Bible, Mr. Banks?”

  Banks stood up. The judge turned her head and raised her voice. “Mr. Banks, sit down.” Banks looked at the judge like he had been caught with his hand in the cookie jar. He sat down slowly.

  “Where is it in the Bible, Mr. Banks?”

  Banks pointed his finger upwards, as if it was an antenna to God. “Leviticus 20:13 says: 'If a man also lie with mankind, as he lieth with a woman, both of them have committed an abomination: they shall surely be put to death; their blood shall be upon them!'”

  “And you told this to Ronald and James Bennett outside of court in the case concerning their same-sex marriage, didn’t you?”

  “Yes, I did.”

  “You are a servant of God, aren’t you, Mr. Banks?”

  “Yes, I am.”

  Chernow rose from the counsel table and approached Banks with the photograph of Dusty Clairborne.

  “You testified that this was the demon you saw in the bus, correct?”

  “Yes, yes, that’s him.”

  “Is this the first photograph you ever saw of him?”

  “Yes.”

  “Is this exactly the way you remember him?”

  “Well, not exactly.”

  “Not exactly? Exactly what did this demon look like, Mr. Banks?”

  “He was foul-smelling, and had a thousand eyes protruding from his skin.”

  Chernow looked at the jury and repeated the answer. “A thousand eyes?”

  “Yes.”

  “What else did he have, Mr. Banks?”

  “He had horns growing from his head.”

  Chernow looked back at the jury, with skepticism. “Horns growing from his head?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Banks, when you threw that rock, you wanted to punish James and Ronald Bennett, didn’t you?”

  “Yes.”

  “That was a sin, wasn’t it?”

  Banks cried again. “Yes! Yes!”

  “And you were forgiven for that sin?”

  “Yes.”

  “But the punishment for their sins was death, wasn’t it?”

  “Yes.”

  “And that’s what they got, isn’t it, Mr. Banks?”

  Banks looked confused.

  “Objection, argumentative!”

  “Overruled. The witness may answer.”

  “That’s what they got, didn’t they, Mr. Banks? Death!”

  “Yes.”

  “And you delivered that punishment, didn’t you?”

  “No! No!”

  Banks stood up again.

  “Sit down Mr. Banks, or the Bailiff will restrain you.”

  “I didn’t!”

  “Sit down, Mr. Banks.”

  “But God will forgive you for killing Ronald and James Bennett, won’t he?”

  “Objection, argumentative!”

  “Overruled.”

  “No, no, the demon did it!”

  “The demon was inside you, wasn’t it, Mr. Banks?”

  “No! No! No!” Banks broke down and cried, his head in his hands. “It was the demon!”

  CHAPTER FIFTY

  A confident Bradley Chernow approached the jury for his final argument. He put his hands on the railing and looked every juror in the eye.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the State of California and the County of Santa Barbara thanks you for your jury service. It is one of the most important obligations we have as citizens, and you have performed your duty well. After the judge instructs you on the law to apply to this case, you will be charged with making a most important decision.

  “We all have heard about man’s inner demons. But this is figurative speech; symbolic. The defendant, Joshua Banks, actually claims to see them. And he uses this demon as an excuse for his own murderous sins.”

  Chernow looked at the jury, then glared at Banks, who was having difficulty sitting still.

  “The evidence, in this case, leads to no other reasonable interpretation. The defendant expressed his hatred toward and had already committed a violent act against the victims. You’ve heard from his own mouth that homosexuality is punishable by death. And you heard him admit that he warned the victims that death would be their punishment.

  “The evidence shows, ladies and gentlemen, that the defendant is the only person who had a motive to kill Ronald and James Bennett. He was found wearing clothes stained in their blood! Yes, ladies and gentlemen, the blood of Ronald and James Bennett was on the defendant’s hands!

  “Mr. Marks will try to convince you that somebody else was responsible for this crime. But there is no evidence that directly links Dusty Clairborne to these murders. Was he the driver of the hit and run tow truck? There is no evidence of that. It is a smokescreen, meant to instill doubt in your minds.”

  Chernow carefully and methodically laid out all the evidence in his case. During his presentation, the jury paid attention. If they were working on their shopping lists or thinking about their favorite TV shows, it was not evident from their expressions.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, the evidence in this case points to one perpetrator, and one alone; and that is Joshua Banks, the defendant…”

  Chernow pointed his finger at Banks, who cowered at counsel table.

  “It was Joshua Banks, whether he was the demon or the demon was inside him, who committed this horrific murder, with a knife. It was he who decided to execute them for what he perceived to be their sins, punishable by death, and this, the People have proven beyond a reasonable doubt. Your duty, ladies and gentlemen, is to return a verdict of guilty as charged.”

  Chernow returned to his seat, and the judge checked the clock.

  “It’s about time for the lunch break. We will recess now until 1:30. Mr. Marks, please be prepared to give your argument at that time.”

  ***

  Brent mustered up all his energy for this final argument. He had doubts as to whether putting Banks on the stand was the right thing to have done, but it was too late now. He confidently stood in front of the jury and made eye contact with each one of them.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, this is the stage of the trial where the lawyers get a chance to persuade you. Mr. Chernow has made a very persuasive argument, but it is not the arguments that you are to consider in this case. You may consider only the evidence. And you must look at every piece of evidence through the looking glass of reasonable doubt.”

  Brent moved close to the jury, and put his hand on the balustrade of the box as he paced and outlined every element of the crime, emphasizing that the prosecution had not proven them beyond a reasonable doubt.

  “This is a case of circumstantial evidence. Are Joshua Banks’ religious beliefs that homosexuality is a sin sufficient to infer that he is guilty of these murders? No! He admits throwing the rock at the window, expresses remorse for it, but does not admit that he committed these murders. The prosecution did not find the knife. We did. The exact type of knife used in the murders was found in the possession of Dusty Clairborne, who was the primary suspect in the theft of the tow truck.

  “And what about the so-called hit and run accident? Joshua Banks’ leg was shackled to the frame of the bus. His hands were handcuffed and his torso chained. It was virtually impossible for him to get out of those restraints without aid. The prosecution has no explanation for how this happened. They want you to believe that the bus was struck by a hit and run driver and that somehow Joshua was able to not only survive the crash, but also slip out of all those restraints and escape. Surely common sense tells us that this couldn’t happen by magic. Joshua didn’t say abracadabra and poof! his chains disappeared.”

  Despite the seriousness of the subject, the men on the jury were smiling at this comment.

  “No, ladies and gentlemen, there is no evidence as to how he was able to free himself from these restraints, except for his own explanation: Dusty Clairborne, the d
emon personified. The only reasonable inference to draw from the facts is that Dusty Clairborne drove that tow truck into the Sheriff’s bus and killed everyone on board except for Joshua Banks, whom he kept prisoner, as his patsy. He drugged him with PCP to keep him at bay and then, when the time was right, discarded him as his fall guy. He knew there was no physical evidence connecting Joshua with this crime, so he made sure that Joshua would do the only logical thing when he started to wake up from his drugged stupor and had the urge to run. He provided the bloody clothes that Joshua needed to wear – which also served as the frameup for this crime. And what about the clothes? They don’t fit! They are Dusty Clairborne’s size, not Joshua’s.

  “The People have failed to satisfy their burden of proving every element of this case beyond a reasonable doubt, and you have the duty to return with a verdict of acquittal.”

  Chernow was allowed to have the last word, and he did not waste that opportunity.

  “Ladies and gentlemen, at the conclusion of the People’s case, it should have been very clear to each one of you that the People have proven every element of murder in the first degree beyond a reasonable doubt. Nobody had a motive to kill James and Ronald Bennett except for the defendant. He threatened them with death in front of dozens of witnesses, then he carried out that threat in cold blood, stabbing the life out of each of them over twenty times.”

  Chernow slapped his hand on the balustrade. “Twenty times! And this motive is connected with the physical evidence, ladies and gentlemen: the clothes that Joshua Banks was wearing were stained with the blood of the victims. Given these facts, there can be no reasonable doubt that it was the defendant who killed Ronald and James Bennett in cold blood, and your duty is to render a verdict of guilty.”

  The final battle was now over, and the judge gave instructions to the jury on the law to apply to the evidence they had heard, and sent them off to deliberate. Brent was so exhausted that he almost nodded off in his chair during the recitation, which took a little over an hour.

  CHAPTER FIFTY ONE

  Brent made it home just in time for the call from Melinda that the jury had reached a verdict, and it would be announced the next morning in court. Not a good sign. An early jury verdict usually means a guilty verdict. Brent sweated over the verdict all night in his third night of no sleep. The sleeping pill he took put him out for the first two hours, and after that he spent the night tossing, turning, and thinking. Drifting in and out of sleep, he dreamed of shooting Clairborne, saw the blood spurting from each bullet hole in slow motion, and watched his head explode. Brent finally decided to relieve his tortured soul from the job of trying to sleep and got up.