by Robert Scott
Lane often went over to Centralia to check on Frankie. He learned from the medical personnel there that she was never expected to walk again. Lane asked if Frankie had any feeling in her legs, and was informed that she did, but still the prognosis was not encouraging. Nonetheless, Lane told the male nurse if Frankie had some feeling in her legs, she shouldn’t be written off as having to spend the rest of her life in a wheelchair. Lane later noted, “What none of us knew at the time was how much of a fighter Frankie was. She was determined not to let David win.”
Fighter or not, it took all of Frankie’s strength and determination to fight through her pain and the incredible damage that had been done. Each day was a torment, not only physically, but mentally as well. And it was never a straight shot on the road to recovery. Every small gain was often counteracted by a sliding back toward disability. Each small step forward was measured in inches, not yards. She had a hard time getting meds that would ease her pain. One medication after another was tried, but all seemed to have very little effect or, on the flip side, put her into a stupor. One agonizing day followed another in a seemingly endless array of tests, treatments and pills.
Lane was also there to gather more background information about the relationship between Frankie and David. Lane knew that the assault case would one day go to trial, and he wanted as much down on paper as possible against Gerard. In one report Lane stated, “I interviewed Frankie Cochran at her residence in Centralia. Frankie told me that she and David Gerard had been together for about a year and had met at the Red Barn Restaurant in Grand Mound. They moved in together, initially at a sister-in-law’s residence, and then a short time later to a mobile home park in Mossyrock. Frankie described Gerard as being very possessive and she had to be with him twenty-four hours a day when he wasn’t working. He kept asking her to marry him, and even bought her a ring.
“Frankie said that Gerard drank rum and Cokes and would get belligerent with her when he drank. She described him as a big liar. When he got diabetes, he told the doctor that he gave himself insulin shots. She said it was a lie. She was the one who gave him the shots. Every time someone phoned their residence, he would want to know who was calling. He was very jealous. While Gerard was not necessarily physically abusive, she stated he was sexually abusive, demanding sex from her twice a day, every day. Whenever she didn’t want to have sex, he accused her of cheating on him. He told her that she loved her cats more than him. Frankie said that eventually she felt like a whore who was only there to satisfy him.
“I asked Frankie about other girlfriends that Gerard had mentioned. She recalled a woman named Tracy, who had two of Gerard’s kids. Gerard hated her for taking the two kids away.”
(Lane never saw any documents that David Gerard ever had children. He wondered if this was just one more of Gerard’s “big lies” that Frankie had spoken about.)
“Frankie told me that Gerard never did drugs. He never went to church, was not into pornography, books or movies. He liked to hunt, but he never had a hunting license, and worried that he would get caught.”
The charges against David Gerard were in two categories. Count I was an “attempt to commit murder in the first degree.” It included that “David Gerard did on March 17, 1999, with premeditation, attempted to cause the death of Frankie Cochran by assaulting her with a weapon or instrument, likely to produce death.” Count II was assault in the first degree. This stated that David Gerard at minimum attempted to inflict great bodily harm upon Frankie Cochran. At that time Gerard was noted to be 220 pounds and was five feet eleven inches tall. His hair was blond and his eyes were blue.
Gerard seemed intent on pleading not guilty and fighting the matter out, all the way through a jury trial. He seemed to be just as stubborn in this as he had been on insisting that he had driven the entire Loop of the day that Frankie Cochran had been assaulted with a hammer. Lane noted, “Gerard would dig in his heels and defend his position, no matter how ridiculous it looked to others. He wasn’t very bright, but he was persistent.” And all indications were that Gerard was going to duke this out in court, as various documents went into the court system from his lawyer.
The months went by as Lane and the other detectives gathered more and more information on David Gerard. Then Lane spoke with Gerard’s defense attorney again. He told the lawyer, “How do you think it’s going to look for your client when Frankie is wheeled into a courtroom with her head bandaged, and she raises a cast-covered arm to point at the man who did this to her?” This image must have been driven home, because several weeks later, Lane was informed that David Gerard was going to plead guilty to attempted murder.
On April 30, 1999, all parties sat down with Judge Mark McCauley and discussed the matter. David Gerard filled out an official form that he was freely and voluntarily going into the agreement, and that no one had coerced him to do so. He also agreed that no one had made any promises to him about sentencing at this point. On the form Gerard wrote: On March 17, 1999, in Grays Harbor County, Washington, with premeditated intent, I took a substantial step toward the commission of the crime of murder in the first degree by striking Frankie Cochran in the head with a hammer. Since Gerard often said he had trouble writing, he may have been walked through this particular wording by the others present. The document was signed by David Gerard, County Prosecutor Steward Menefee, defense attorney Brett Ballew and Judge McCauley. The next step before sentencing was going to be much more legally time-consuming and detailed.
Both the defense and prosecution sent briefs to Judge McCauley before the actual sentencing date. County Prosecutor Menefee sent the judge a list of people he intended to call as witnesses in that phase. The list included thirty names and covered key people in law enforcement, such as Detectives Lane Youmans and Dave Pimentel. It also included citizens, such as Polly Miller and Eugene Clark, and crime techs from the Washington State Laboratory, and doctors from Harborview Medical Center.
By presenting mitigating circumstances, Gerard’s defense attorney was, of course, trying to minimize the years David would serve in prison. In one document the defense attorney wrote to Judge McCauley that David only finished eighth grade and never got his GED. The document claimed that Gerard had a very difficult time reading and comprehending material. Ballew listed Gerard’s employment record as being a farmhand and farmyard truck driver.
Then the document noted that the defense had spent time with Gerard in his jail cell and had shown him police reports about what he had done to Frankie Cochran. The defense attorney wrote, Whenever I read to Mr. Gerard the portions of reports which referred to injuries sustained by Frankie Cochran, Mr. Gerard wept and sobbed. I believe this to be showing sincere remorse.
It was added that after viewing the police reports, David Gerard decided to plead guilty. In the words of the defense, Gerard did so because he did not want to put Ms. Cochran through the ordeal of a jury trial. In his bid for leniency it was asked that Judge McCauley impose a standard range sentence, plus twenty-four months that included the deadly weapon enhancement.
Steward Menefee, for his part, was having none of this leniency business. The day after the defense sent this document to Judge McCauley, Menefee sent a document of his own. The document began with a retelling of the incident of March 13, 1999, when Gerard had physically pulled Frankie Cochran out of his car and she had thrown a cup of coffee on him. After she had done that, Gerard, of course, had gone to a toolshed and grabbed a hammer, threatening to beat her in the head with it. That is exactly what occurred at Clark’s Dairy on March 17.
Menefee also noted that Gerard’s alibi of driving around the Loop didn’t hold any water because of the road closure on Highway 101. And Menefee added that Gerard was caught on videotape at the Del Cris Grocery & Deli in Elma, at the exact time he was supposedly driving around the Loop. Menefee stressed all the physical and emotional damage David Gerard had inflicted upon Frankie Cochran. Menefee noted that even at this point in time Frankie’s condition was judged to be “fragil
e.” If the swelling in her brain got worse, she might not survive another surgery. Addressing Gerard’s supposed feelings of remorse, Menefee wrote, The brutal nature of the crime, in combination with the seriousness of the attack, warrants that David Gerard should receive the harshest possible sentence allowed by the law.
Along with the documents sent to Judge McCauley by the defense and prosecution, there were also letters sent to him from Frankie Cochran’s family members. These letters were hopeful that Judge McCauley would give Gerard a stiff sentence for the brutal, and nearly fatal, attack upon Frankie. One letter was from the Physical Medicine and Rehabilitation Program of Centralia, Washington. The letter stated: Ms. Cochran is severely brain injured from a beating she received on March 17, 1999. She will have severe permanent impairment in her ability to think and function physically. It was signed by Dr. Greg Carter.
Another letter came in from Debbie Winkler, Frankie’s aunt. She said she had been visiting Tucson, Arizona, when she learned about the assault upon her niece. Winkler took a flight to Seattle the next day. Winkler said that she suffered from depression, and now she carried a double load, trying to be with Frankie every day, and keeping her spirits up.
Winkler wrote, Frankie says quite often, that she can’t keep going on like this. She has pain every second of the day. She fears that David Gerard will send a friend to finish her off. She is having a hard time in dealing with how she looks and with all of the injuries. With me trying to constantly help her, I have been draining myself.
Winkler said that between the time Gerard had pulled Frankie out of the car, a week before, and the hammer attack, he had stalked Frankie. Gerard had even come around Winkler’s residence, where Frankie was staying that week. During that period of time, Winkler said, her neighbor had been scared to death by Gerard’s activities. The neighbor had seen him go to Winkler’s door, and Gerard had pounded so hard on it, the neighbor thought he would break it down.
Winkler hoped that Judge McCauley would give David Gerard the severest sentence possible for his attempt to kill Frankie, as she termed it. She wrote, In doing what he did, he took away her livelihood and made her an invalid with psychological problems for the rest of her life.
Frankie’s grandparents agreed with that assessment. They wrote the judge that David Gerard had totally destroyed Frankie’s life. It is a miracle that Frankie is still alive with the injuries that she received. As a matter of fact, we understand that she could still die, since her condition is so fragile. The grandparents listed all of Frankie’s injuries and the therapy she continued to receive. Then they wrote, Please, Judge. Give this girl a break and put that man away for good.
The letter from Frankie’s parents was just as adamant in their hopes that Judge McCauley would give Gerard the most stringent sentence possible. They started out by writing, We did not realize the impact of this incident until writing this letter. All the strength that we thought we were portraying was nothing but a false front. Just being there was not facing the long term consequences of the terrible act that David Gerard inflicted on our daughter.
Frankie’s parents stated that for years to come she would have “demons” to contend with, and at present she was very confused. As she stared off into space, they often wondered where her mind was. Frankie’s parents, Gary and MaryLou, began listing the long set of burdens that Frankie was enduring then, and things she would have to endure in the future. These included short-term memory loss, long-term memory loss, constant fear of being attacked again, frustrating confusion about what had occurred and terrible nightmares.
The list went on to detail about a spinal fluid leak that was causing dangerous levels of fluid to enter her brain. The blows from the hammer had not only crushed her skull, but had sent dangerous pieces of bone into her brain, which caused problems. There was a constant concern about infections to her brain.
Anytime Frankie moved from her bed, she had to wear a football-type helmet. It was not only a nuisance, but it gave her shots of pain. The prospect that she would at some point have to have the bone fragment reinserted into her skull by surgery made Frankie terribly frightened. They also noted that when Gerard stabbed her in the neck, it caused damage to the arteries in the brain.
Dealing with Frankie’s paralysis, her parents noted that her entire left side was paralyzed. This impaired the muscles in her face to function properly, and it would eventually lead to a sagging aspect in that part of her face. They said Frankie had always been prideful of her looks and appearance, and it would be one more blow to her psychological condition. There were doubts that Frankie would ever be able to use her left arm again.
Frankie’s right hand, which she had tried to use to protect her head, was still broken and not healing well. This would require more surgery. The left quadrant of both of her eyes had suffered damage, and they would never be the same as before the attack. Her eye sockets and eyebrow area had suffered extensive damage. Although those injuries were repaired, her parents noted: Someday she will have to look at herself in a mirror again. That day will be very tragic for her.
There were still problems in her neck area where she had been stabbed by Gerard. These problems required more surgery in the future. Frankie’s lungs had been compromised, and she had to be constantly monitored in this area, to prevent serious problems from the fluid building up there.
And there was the matter of pain. It was a constant, and it promised to be a factor for the rest of her life. The idleness of her being in bed most of the time was going to cause problems for her muscles in the future as well. And her bladder did not properly function. Frankie was having to use a Foley catheter. In the future a tube might have to be inserted into her bladder.
In closing, asking for a severe sentence, Gary and MaryLou wrote, Frankie will forever be a prisoner to a wheelchair, and her freedom will be restricted to a piece of metal and wheels. Her physical handicap is extensive, but her emotional state will have to be dealt with constantly.
Perhaps the most graphic and impassioned letter of all came from Frankie herself. Since she could not write the letter, because of her injuries, the letter had to be dictated to her mother, who wrote it instead. It began by asking David Gerard: Why? Why had he done this terrible thing to her? She said that any reason she tried to come up with, she could not find any justification in that reasoning. So then she began telling him how she felt.
Frankie explained that pain and confusion were only the beginning. She said that a pastor who regularly came to visit her told her that she had to get over her hatred of David. That it was consuming her. And then she stated, God is the only one who knows how long it will take to heal my heart and mind.
That being said, her feelings toward David were extremely hateful: You have robbed me of my life as I knew it. Even simple things, such as taking a walk on the beach, or taking my children on an outing are forever out of reach. Both my children and my family have suffered greatly because of your thoughtless deed.
She was particularly angry at how the assault had affected her children. Keith, who was ten, had never come to see her after the attack because it was so traumatic to witness her condition. Billy, who was thirteen, cries at the drop of a hat, and walks around, very confused about life. Frankie declared that Amber, at fifteen, should have been thinking about what kind of car she was going to get, school dances and all the things that teenage girls were interested in. Yet, not unlike Billy, seeing counselors and psychiatrists were now a constant part of her life.
Frankie listed her parents, aunts, uncles and grandparents as people who suffered because of his act. They worried about her constantly and wondered how they were going to take care of her in the years to come. She said she could no longer walk, and David didn’t deserve to. She was constantly in pain—as he deserved to be. Her mind didn’t function the way it used to, and she wished his mind were equally inhibited.
Frankie related, I should end the letter with, ‘“May God have mercy on your soul.” But I won’t, as I
really don’t feel that you deserve any. A life sentence is what I think you deserve, for that is the inhumane and vicious sentence that you inflicted on me with every blow of the hammer.
On July 19, David Gerard appeared before superior court judge Mark McCauley for sentencing, and Judge McCauley handed down a very stringent thirty-seven-year sentence. As Lane noted, “Everyone was surprised. I couldn’t wait to tell Frankie.” This thirty-seven-year sentence was as harsh as it could be. Most court observers and detectives thought that Gerard would receive fifteen to twenty years at most. But Judge McCauley obviously took into account the brutality of the attack and how it had changed Frankie Cochran’s life forever. She was never going to be free of pain, to some degree. More than just live, she was going to have to endure.
Judge McCauley did not detail at length why he had handed down such a harsh sentence, except to say, “As a result of the defendant’s assault of the victim, the victim has endured and continues to endure severe pain and suffering, partial and possibly permanent paralysis, probable long-term disability and multiple future surgical procedures to attempt to repair the damage done by the defendant’s assault. For that reason the court’s findings justify a sentence which exceeds the standard range sentence of two hundred forty-nine months.” In essence, David Gerard was getting 444 months of prison time.
In addition to having to serve thirty-seven years in prison, Gerard was ordered to pay $500 for a victim’s assessment fee, $100 for a criminal filing fee, $400 for a court-appointed attorney and $100 for a crime lab fee. Gerard was also never to contact Frankie Cochran, her family or friends for the “rest of his natural life.”
