Mercy (A Neon Lawyer Novel Book 2)

by Victor Methos

  “Thank you, Your Honor. The defense would call Ted Montgomery to the stand.”

  “Mr. Montgomery, please come forward.”

  Ted rose and hesitantly shuffled over to the stand. He was sworn in and sat down, unable to look anyone in the eyes. He kept his head low.

  “Your name, please,” Brigham said.

  Ted stated and spelled his name.

  “Tell us how you met your wife, Ted.”

  He grinned, looked up shyly for a moment and then back down. “She was the love of my life. We met in college. I was a TA for calculus, and she needed help in her math class. I was just randomly assigned to her by the college. Total fate. I think we were married a year later. Really fast. Few years after that we had our first child, my daughter, Monica. Best day of my life.”

  “How long were you guys married?”

  “Over twenty years. She got sick on our twentieth anniversary.”

  “What do you mean?”

  “That was the first night she complained about a pain in her abdomen, in her side. She said it was radiating and she thought she might have a kidney stone or something. We ignored it for a while, maybe like two weeks. She took ibuprofen and put up with the pain.” He paused. “She didn’t like hospitals. It was always a chore to get her to go to them. But I finally talked her into it. They did some tests and said they were worried. We came back the next day and they did a… CT scan, needle biopsy. That’s what they said it was. She stayed in the CT scanner, and the doctor shoved a needle into her abdomen for a tissue sample.” He stopped and looked down a long time before saying, “Three days later, they told us she had tumors the size of a quarter.”

  “What did you guys do?”

  “Um, we discussed the different treatment options. The cancer was really advanced at this point. It had spread all over her body. She began the chemo and the pills, the radiation treatments… it seemed to ease things for maybe two weeks. After that, things just got worse and worse.”

  “How?”

  “The pain, for one. The pain medications she was on stopped being effective. She got to doses so high the doctors were nervous she might overdose, so they cut her back. Marijuana might’ve worked, but it’s not legal in this state. So we didn’t really have anything. I mean, by the time she was admitted to the hospital, she was either screaming or crying. She couldn’t eat, couldn’t do anything. I took a leave of absence from work to be with her and…” He choked up, and in an instant the tears began to flow. “I never saw anyone in so much pain.” He breathed deeply, as though he couldn’t draw breath. “And I couldn’t do anything. I just held her hand and begged them for more medicine. What else could I do?”

  “How long did this last?”

  “Three weeks, maybe more. The doctors told us she was likely to be dead in ninety days, and definitely wouldn’t survive past six months. At that point we were really just waiting for the end. One day, she just turned to me and she was crying from the pain, and she just… she just asked if I could help her end it. She said she knew I would do it for her. We discussed it a few more times after that. And the pain was just getting worse and worse… she was so tired. She just wanted peace. That’s all. Just peace. And I gave that to her. No matter what happens to me, she has peace.”

  “Where’d you get the morphine?”

  Ted looked at him. He was silent a moment. “I don’t remember.”

  “You don’t remember where you got the morphine that supposedly killed your wife?”

  “No, some guy. I don’t know who.”

  Brigham stepped into the well and paced around a little. “Do you have a criminal record?”

  “No, you know I don’t.”

  “Ever been in trouble before for anything?”

  He shook his head. “No.”

  “And just outta the blue, you knew a guy who could get you enough morphine to kill somebody?”

  “Yes.”

  Brigham nodded. “No further questions.”

  Debra looked at him as if he were crazy. She stood up and took the lectern. “Did you give your wife an overdose of morphine, Mr. Montgomery?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did the doctors tell you to do it?”

  “No.”

  “You did it on your own?”

  “Yes, in consultation with my wife.”

  “Did anyone hear your wife ask for that other than you?”

  “No. I don’t think so.”

  “But you took her life anyway? Without making sure that somebody else knew she had asked for it?”

  “I didn’t think about it. I just wanted to give her peace. That’s all. That’s all I wanted.”

  “You had to leave work to take care of her?”

  “Yes.”

  “You had to be with her all the time, didn’t you? Feed her, clothe her, give her medication?”

  “Yes.”

  “Must be quite a burden to have someone else’s life in your hands like that.”

  “I didn’t mind.”

  “Really?” Debra grabbed a sheet of paper off the prosecution table. “Isn’t it true you once told a co-worker that it was getting to be too much? That you didn’t know how much more you could help her?”

  Ted hesitated. Brigham had seen the email and hoped Debra wouldn’t bring it up.

  “Yes,” he said. “It was hard. I admit that. But I loved her.”

  “You knew it was illegal, didn’t you? You knew that it was illegal to give her an overdose of morphine?”

  “Yes.”

  “But you did it anyway?”

  “Yes.”

  “And you killed her?”

  “Yes.”

  “But she could’ve survived. The doctors told you there was a chance, didn’t they?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t remember.”

  “You don’t remember if the doctors told you there was a chance your wife could live, or you don’t want to remember?” She stepped closer to him. “She could’ve lived, and instead you took her life. What if she would’ve survived, Mr. Montgomery? What if she would’ve lived? We’ll never know will we? Because you killed her without waiting to see.”

  Ted began to weep. He put his palms to his eyes and Debra stood there, watching him.

  “Nothing further.”

  Brigham shook his head as the judge looked to him.

  “Mr. Montgomery,” the judge said, “you may step down.”

  Brigham rose and Ted gave him an icy stare. As he brushed past, he whispered, “What the hell are you doing? You promised me.”

  Brigham hesitated only a moment, long enough to see a single image in his mind: Ted Montgomery at the end of his life in a white prison jumpsuit. His children no longer visiting him, no hope left, the intelligence once so prominent in his eyes long since dulled.

  “The defense would call Timothy Montgomery to the stand.”

  Debra was on her feet. “Your Honor, approach?”

  “Certainly.”

  The two attorneys beelined for the judge’s bench. Debra was speaking before they were even all the way there.

  “I was not given notice for this witness, and I would object to their testimony.”

  “It’s not a witness in my case-in-chief, Your Honor. I’m calling him as an impeachment witness.”

  “Who are you impeaching?”

  “My client.”

  The judge paused. “You’re accusing your client of lying in front of the jury?”

  “Yes.”

  “Mr. Theodore, that’s unethical. You can’t do that.”

  “Frankly, Judge, that’s an issue decided by a Bar ethics committee, not this court. I am allowed to impeach any witness with credible evidence. And I only found out about this witness’s testimony the day before the trial.”

  The judge said, “I don’t like this. I’m going to allow it, because you’re right, but I’m seriously considering being the one to file that Bar complaint against you.”

  “You have to do what you think is right,
Judge.”

  She eyed him a moment. “Okay, let’s see where this goes.”

  Debra said, “Your Honor, I have no idea what this witness is going to say. I would like a day to interview him and prepare.”

  “Then you better wing it because I’m not delaying this trial an entire day.”

  Brigham returned to the lectern as Debra sat down. Timothy was already on the stand. He looked nervous and pale and kept taking large sips of water.

  “Who are you, sir?” Brigham said.

  “No,” Ted said, jumping to his feet. “Your Honor, I don’t want this. I don’t want him to testify.”

  “Mr. Montgomery,” the judge nearly shouted, “take your seat, right now! I decide who can and cannot testify in this courtroom. Sit down. Now.”

  Ted, reluctantly, sat down. He lowered his eyes and didn’t look up again.

  “Um, Timothy Montgomery. I’m Ted’s, the defendant’s, brother.”

  “You’ve heard the testimony today. What did you think about it?”

  Timothy hesitated. He looked over at Ted and then back to Brigham with fear in his eyes, such an intense fear that Brigham wasn’t sure what he was about to say.

  “It’s a damn lie. Ted didn’t put that morphine into her IV. I did.”

  A few murmurs went up, and one of the jurors mumbled something like “Shit.” Brigham waited a moment, letting that sink in. He glanced at Debra, who was sitting with her arms folded across her chest, no expression on her face.

  “Explain, please.”

  “Ruby was just so… I mean, I’ve never seen a change that quick. In a few weeks she was just a different person because of the pain. I couldn’t even talk to her on the phone anymore. She was gone. And Ted and I talked about the conversation he had with her, about ending it, but he told me he couldn’t do it. I mean, it was his wife of twenty years. What kinda man could do that? Even if she was in pain? So I came down. I got the morphine from this pharmacist that went to my gym. I looked up on the internet how much would kill a person.”

  “What did you do when you got here?”

  “I went to the hospital, and I called Ted and told him what I was about to do. He begged me not to, started crying. He’s always been like that. Really emotional. So I told him to get his butt down there because in fifteen minutes I was giving it to her, and she would only have about half an hour after that.”

  “Did he come down?”

  “Yeah, he rushed down with all three kids. I’d already given it to her by the time he got there. She was really peaceful, you know? Just smiling and putting her arm around her kids. She was loopy and her eyes kept rolling into the back of her head, but she was there—the old Ruby, from before the cancer.” He swallowed and looked down at the floor before staring at Ted. “The kids got to see her one more time and say goodbye.”

  Brigham looked over and Ted was in tears. He was trying to hold them back as well as he could, but they were flowing down his cheeks and leaving little circular wet marks on his tie.

  “Why would you do this, Tim? Ted asked you not to.”

  “I know, but I knew it was for the best. And I knew he couldn’t do it, even if he knew it was for the best, too. Someone had to. No person deserves to go through that much pain. No one. Someone had to help her, and her so-called doctors basically just said, ‘tough, suck it up.’ Someone had to help her.” He looked to the jury. “I love my brother. But I’m not lying about this. He tried to protect me. He said that I was younger and I have a baby on the way. I’m up here knowing that I will probably be arrested over this. But I can’t let him go down for something I did. I killed Ruby Montgomery. Ted had nothing to do with it. And you shoulda seen her face when I told her why I was there. She was so happy. Just so… damn happy that it was over.”

  Brigham stood a moment at the lectern just to allow the words to hang in the air. Then he said, “Nothing further,” and sat down.

  Debra was motionless, as though she hadn’t even realized Brigham’s direct had ended. Then she rose and bypassed the lectern so she could stand right in front of Timothy. “You guys are brothers?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “You don’t look that much alike.”

  “Same father, different mothers.”

  She paced near the jury and then stopped. “So you drove all the way down from Oregon to kill your sister-in-law?”

  “End her suffering. She was suffering more than I’d ever seen anyone suffer.”

  “And you just happened to know someone who could get you morphine on the fly?”

  “Yes. I know people who know people. It wasn’t that hard.”

  “And yet there’s no mention of you ever having come to visit Ruby. No sign-ins, no witnesses that saw you there.”

  “I was family, and no, they didn’t have any place to sign in. You would get to these double doors and the secretary or whatever would buzz you in. She checked my ID and then asked Ruby if it was okay, and she said yes.”

  “What room was she in?”

  “Um, I don’t remember.”

  “What was she wearing?”

  “Like, a hospital gown.”

  “What color?”

  He hesitated. “I think it was blue.”

  “Was her hair done up or was it just hanging down?”

  “I don’t remember.”

  “Was the television on?”

  “How the hell am I supposed to remember that?”

  Debra stepped closer to him. “You’re saying you killed this woman and you don’t even remember what she was wearing? That seems like the kind of thing you’d remember. Unless of course you make a habit of going around killing people in hospitals.”

  “Objection,” Brigham said.

  “Sustained.”

  Debra paced a bit more. “Which wrist was the hospital ID tag wrapped around?”

  He shrugged. “I don’t know. Left, I think.”

  “How many chairs were in the room?”

  “Two.”

  She placed her hands on the witness box, staring at him. “Which arm was her IV in?”

  Timothy hesitated. “The left.”

  She nodded and sat back down. “No further questions.”

  “Redirect, Mr. Theodore,” the judge said.

  “None.”

  “Okay, well, Mr. Montgomery, you may step down. Next witness, Counselor.”

  “Actually, Your Honor,” Debra said, “before he continues, I have an impeachment witness of my own. I would like to recall Nurse Mecham to the stand. And she stated if I needed her again it would take her about half an hour to get down here.”

  Brigham looked at the judge. An impeachment witness could go up at anytime, and the preferred time was right after the testimony of the witness they were impeaching. But he didn’t want to stop the flow of testimony. All he had left was Monica, and he wanted to get her in right after Timothy, but he certainly didn’t want Nurse Mecham to be the last witness the jury heard.

  “No objection,” Brigham said.

  “Okay,” the judge said as she looked to the jury. “Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we are going to take, well, let’s just say an hour break so you can get something to eat. We’ll consider this an early lunch. Please be back here in exactly one hour and, again, do not discuss this case with anyone else.”

  The court rose for the jury as they filed out. Brigham looked at Ted, whose eyes were down on the table. He said in almost a whisper, “I didn’t want this. He has his whole life ahead of him.”

  Brigham turned and walked out of the courtroom, not waiting for anyone else. His stomach was growling, but more than food, he just wanted to be alone, to find somewhere to zone out and run everything through in his mind.

  A Mexican restaurant around the corner had decent food, but they’d been closed several times for health code violations. Not many people went there. Brigham had a sneaking suspicion it was just a front business for something seedier.

  He didn’t see a rack for his bike there, so he
rolled it inside and leaned it against the wall. A hostess seated him at a table by the window. Two Hispanic men in greasy overalls with dirt caked under their nails spoke quietly in Spanish, and no music was playing.

  Brigham ordered a cheese quesadilla, figuring there was no way he could get food poisoning from it, and a Sprite. He stared out the windows so long that he was actually surprised when his food came.

  He ate in silence and then just sat there, watching the people on the sidewalks and the cars in the street. Salt Lake had become his home, but he still felt like a foreigner sometimes, placed there out of the blue and trying too hard to fit in. He had an irrational fear that everyone could see this, too, and knew he was a fraud.

  He rose and hurried back to the courthouse with ten minutes to spare. Nurse Mecham was in the hallway with Debra and gave him an icy glare. He ignored them and entered the courtroom. Rebecca was already at the defense table, but Ted wasn’t.

  She looked at him and raised her eyebrows. “This is nuts. They never taught you this stuff in trial ad.”

  “They don’t teach you much in law school. Much you can use, anyway.”

  The doors opened and Ted came in. He looked sullen, weak. He sat between them and didn’t say anything. Brigham didn’t have anything to say to him, either, and the three of them sat in silence. Rebecca said, “I read about this fungus that, like, zombifies ants. It’s really interesting, actually. Apparently it takes over their brains and has them perform things they don’t want to do.”

  Brigham looked over at her and then forward again. She cleared her throat and mumbled something under her breath, but neither man said anything.

  The judge came out and asked if there was anything that needed to be addressed before they brought the jury out. Debra rose and said, “One issue, Your Honor. I have another impeachment witness, as well. Devan Montgomery.”

  Brigham was on his feet. “He’s ten years old and has nothing relevant to add.”

  “Timothy Montgomery has claimed that he was the one who killed the victim. Devan was there when his father admitted that he was the one who killed her. I’d like to hear from him.”

  “Then she should’ve put him on in her case-in-chief. There’s no impeachment value to his testimony.”

  “Then I would ask for an in-camera review by Your Honor to determine if that’s true.”