Apex Predator

by J. A. Faura

  As was to be expected, opinions ranged from complete disbelief and a certainty that this was some sort of stunt to complete acceptance and a definite opinion that this had been a long way in the making. Scientists, lawyers, pseudo-experts and laymen alike ranged across the entire gamut of opinion. Whatever the experts might say, public opinion in general was decidedly in favor of Steven, even if it was spilt almost down the middle as to whether his legal argument had any merit. It was a dichotomy. People considered him a hero, but they were not so sure whether his legal argument had any merit or would hold up in court.

  Steven had called his family to give them notice that the article would be coming out, and they had decided to make their way to his in-laws’ summer house where any stranger would be immediately spotted and sent on their way. The property had been in the Delaney family for three generations and they were well liked by the locals. Steven knew they’d be safe there from the glare of the media. The only individual to make any statement to the media had been David Neill, who had spoken in platitudes about ‘being sensitive to the horrible events’ that had led to this point and ‘upholding the law, as he had been elected to do,’ but said nothing of consequence or any real insight. Even Max, who was used to this type of media attention, had demurred. He was a savvy veteran and knew how to use the media to his advantage, but he was in unchartered waters here and he’d told Drew he was going to be out front.

  After the first two days of being chased, hunted really, by every form of media, Willis understood why Zeidler had deferred to him. Steven had gone online a few times, just to get a sense of what was going on out there. He was amazed to find 1.2 million more new results for him and the Riche case than when he’d begun. Everything from new blogs about the real Boogeyman to the expected mentions of ‘The X Men’ science to real scientific blogs and posts that mentioned Leonard, Grossman, Schultz and many others he had not heard about. He was amazed by how many newly minted experts seemed to be coming out of the woodwork. He knew very well that Leonard and many of the other pioneers had been ridiculed in scientific circles for their work. Now, with the possibility of CNN, the BBC, and every other form of electronic and broadcast media interested, people with dubious credentials were coming out from every direction with an opinion or insight.

  Steven had also been concerned about Leonard and Scoma and the other legitimate experts, the people who really had dedicated their careers to this. He had not had the opportunity to call them and warn them about the article coming out. His concerns were put to rest, however, when he saw both Leonard and Scoma on television, clearly energized about the attention their discoveries were getting. Leonard, especially, seemed even more charismatic on television than he had in person, if that was even possible. He was gratified to see that the scientist was in high demand and that even with all the other jokers out there proffering their opinions, the real science was getting more attention than it had ever gotten in the past.

  As far as Steven was concerned, he had already won. He had brought attention to something that could in fact represent the most dangerous and real threat to humanity since the Black Plague. These beings were far more dangerous, in fact, than any known pathogen. They could utilize intelligence to lull their prey into complacency, to engender trust, even affection, in order to do nothing but victimize, to hunt.

  The term ‘Apex Predator’ had been used countless times as the media covered more and more of the science, but Steven doubted if anyone who used it or heard it could comprehend exactly what it meant. ‘Well,’ he thought, ‘if they didn’t understand it before, they will understand it soon.’ The truth was, however, that those that had in fact fallen prey to the new species, that had felt the destruction, fear and devastation that they could deliver to anyone at any time, would be the first to understand it.

  For their part, the DA’s office had released a statement about his position and his planned defense. It hadn’t been unexpected, but it was still troubling. It explained that the DA’s office considered all of the science, the claims, and the proposed defense as nothing more than a stunt aimed at deflecting attention from the facts of the case. They went on to elaborate on the fact that such a claim had not been litigated in any court anywhere in the country and that it would not distract them from pursuing the charge of first-degree murder as prescribed by the laws of the state of New York. He knew it would come, but it was still difficult to hear the office that would be prosecuting him articulate it in a statement.

  He had been bombarded by interview requests from every direction. Once he had given Garcia the initial interview, it was inevitable. Everyone at GIC knew the situation, and the company had been put on lockdown. No one was to speak to the media or make any statement without running it by the CEO himself. That was the reason Steven had been so surprised to hear from Stephanie, his assistant. She had told him that a Dr. Nigel Barlow had been calling every day, twice a day, requesting an audience with Mr. Loomis. Along with that call, he had heard from Max and Drew. They had found a case in Tennessee where a man accused of three counts of murder had used genetics to mount a defense. They told him that there had been a mountain of evidence against the man and that he had been looking at the death penalty. The defense had argued that because of his genetic makeup, the defendant had been predisposed to acts of extreme violence. In other words, he was born with that gene and could not be held completely accountable under the law. His attorneys had just been hoping to avoid the death penalty with the argument, but what theyd gotten instead was a guilty verdict for voluntary manslaughter. Drew had explained that this was the first recorded case where forensic genomics had been used in a courtroom setting. So there was a precedent, perhaps not exactly the same, but in the same context at least. Now there was a legal precedent where who had done it and how they had done it had not been at issue and where the defendant had not claimed insanity, temporary or otherwise.

  Steven had not thought about how the science he was planning to cite would be used in another context, by people like Riche rather than people like him. He imagined that if Riche had gone to trial and his defense team had gotten wind of the Tennessee case, they might have argued the same thing. No use worrying about it now. It was good news for his case and now he knew that what he had thought was true, that unless it was a case like this one, with these facts, in this city, the world would remain ignorant about the science and its consequences. He’d never heard of forensic genomics before his situation and doubted most people had heard of it either.

  He hadn’t been out of his house since being released on bail and he was a getting a bit stir-crazy. It was after hearing the good news from Drew and being in his house without leaving for over a week that Steven had agreed to meet with Dr. Nigel Barlow. He’d told Stephanie that he was interested in speaking to Steven about the case and the science of his proposed defense. He was most likely another researcher or scientist who had heard about the case and wanted to learn more about his defense from a scientific perspective. He would just have to tell the man that he would only speak to him if he could agree not to print or publish anything about his case. The last thing he wanted to do was to encourage any more interview requests from the media. Stephanie had asked Steven if he wanted to meet with the man at his home and Steven told her that he would meet with him at his office. He didn’t think Barlow would become a pest, but the man had been very persistent, and he didn’t want anyone he didn’t know intimately in his home. Stephanie had set the appointment for 8 o’clock the following morning, per his instructions. He wanted to be able to leave the building without a throng of reporters and photographers following him and he thought that time would be better than in the middle of the day when all ‘live reports’ and ‘man-on-the-scene updates’ would be in full swing.

  Chapter 20

  At Max Zeidler’s office, there was an air of charged expectation. Everyone was acutely aware of the implications of the case they were working on and what it would mean as a legal precedent. It
was pushing the envelope, something they were all quite used to doing, but none were used to doing it to this extent. This was groundbreaking stuff, something that would forever change the way criminal defense and the legal system itself viewed murder and all of its included related offenses. If a man who was by all rights completely guilty of murdering not one but three people, could get convicted of voluntary manslaughter using science, then Steven Loomis and his defense had a shot, a real shot, at beating the first-degree murder charge against him.

  A case in a small, obscure town in Tennessee didn’t hold a candle to New York, not when it came to public perception and not when it came to media attention. As far as Americans were concerned, New York was the capital of the world, period. All of this meant that everyone involved, from clerks to paralegals to research and appellate attorneys, was on their A game. This was the type of case that could make someone’s career, and everyone knew that as well.

  Drew was in his office, still going over the transcripts of the case in Tennessee. He was absolutely fascinated. The man, Louis Norton, had been charged with killing three women. His defense had absolutely nothing to work with and yet an early report by a sharp psychiatrist had engendered enough interest in one of the court-appointed attorneys to have them look into the possibility that Louis had been born with a predisposition to extreme violence. This predisposition coupled with some childhood abuse almost assured that Louis would grow up to do exactly what he had done.

  The defense had concentrated on his childhood and teen years and had brought a number of witnesses to testify to the abuse. The testimony from the experts, two geneticists from the University of Tennessee, had provided highly technical and complex testimony about the effect that what they called the “Warrior gene” could have on whoever was born with it. Drew doubted that the jury, a jury from small-town Tennessee, had the requisite understanding of genetics, biology, evolution and so on to make a decision as to whether it was solid science or not. The prosecution had blundered in that they had not put on any rebuttal witnesses with the experience and expertise to discredit the science the defense presented. That and the defense’s closing statement, where they put the science in terms that the jury could understand, had obtained the final verdict. It had been brilliant: Louis Norton was born an innocent, the way we all are, but he’d been born with a body that was predisposed to do harm to others; it wasn’t something he’d decided to do out of the blue, it was something he was predestined to do. They’d explained the abuse in his early life and how that abuse made sure that Louis had no chance to avoid doing what he did. They wouldn’t hold a man with only one arm responsible for not being able to hold on to a lifeline for a drowning man, would they? Would that man be faulted if he let go of the rope? No, everyone would understand that he was physically unable to do it. And that’s what the case was here; Louis was simply not physiologically able to avoid doing what he did. It had been wrong and he knew it had been wrong, but he shouldn’t be held responsible for something he’d had no hand in.

  Drew thought the parallel the defense had drawn was a bit of a stretch, but it had been a brilliant stroke. The defense lawyer had known his jury, had known the respect they had for how someone was born, for ‘God made every one of us,’ and he had used it to his full advantage. Brilliant!

  Drew had watched an interview with the lead attorney and he had gotten the distinct impression that the man was a bit uneasy with the verdict he had gotten. He had just been looking for a way to keep his client from getting the death penalty and he’d never expected he would only be convicted of manslaughter. Now that it had happened, it was clear that the attorney believed that his client should be held for as long as the law allowed, either in prison or in another appropriate institution. He’d never said that, of course, but the tone of the interview and his own knowledge let Drew know that’s exactly what was on the man’s mind.

  As he was reading the transcripts of the sentencing hearing, Max came into his office looking pensive, which was pretty rare for the man. He was usually giving instructions, explaining something or otherwise being loud in some way. Now, he sat across from Drew and looked like he was trying to find an answer to some complex riddle.

  “Listen, I’ve been thinking about it and I think we need to bring someone else into the case.”

  Drew leaned forward on his desk, surprised and a bit offended, “What? Why? Listen, Max, I know I don’t have anywhere your experience in high-profile cases, but I know what I’m doing and I’m a good litigator, you know that.”

  Max smiled, leaning back in his chair, “Relax, kid, I don’t mean for you, I mean for me.”

  Drew, now leaning back himself, was confused, “What are you talking about, Max? You said you’d back me up on this.”

  Max stood up and paced, “I am backing you up and I intend to stay with the case, but I think we need an older, seasoned attorney who’s not attached to the firm to be a part of the defense team.”

  Drew started to say something, but Zeidler raised his hand, “Listen, we need someone who can be seen by the jury as being experienced and credible without seeming too flashy. I don’t fit that bill, unfortunately. I’m too well known, I have been in the public eye for a long time now and most people think of me as a flashy, no-scruples old hand who defended the mafia dons back in the day, and that just won’t work. It’ll seem like it’s some sort of publicity stunt, no matter how much we explain the science and our position. No, we need someone who will come across like a wise old man, like that wizard in the Lord of the Rings movie.”

  Drew chuckled, “Gandalf?”

  Max turned, “Yeah, that guy. We need him to be the Gandalf of the case. He only needs to handle the scientific testimony from our experts. I know it’s a crucial part of our case and that’s the reason I think we need someone to do it who will be seen as credible and not the least bit flashy. Someone people will think would never be involved in the case if it didn’t have merit, and that, my young friend, is not me.”

  Drew thought about it. He could see what Max was saying and it made sense. People in the media were already making statements about his involvement in the case and how Max had most likely concocted the story about a new species in order to try this in the media instead of in the courtroom. The more he thought about it, the more he agreed with his partner’s position. He had someone in mind who might fit the bill, but he wasn’t sure if Max also had someone in mind. If he did, Drew would defer to his judgment.

  “Do you have someone that fits that description?”

  Max stopped pacing and put his hands in his pockets, “Not yet. I’m thinking, but everyone I know just doesn’t seem right. They’re all high rollers and more likely to engender contempt rather than people thinking of them as Gandhi or Gandolfini or whatever that guy’s name is.”

  Drew smiled, “Gandalf. I have someone. His name is Ray Gretche and he’s prefect. Late 50s, tough as nails, and an incredible mind for controlling law and precedents. I represented one of the defendants on a huge drug case and he defended another one.

  “He is incredible in cross-examination, made a senior vice detective look like a bumbling rookie patrolman and did it with style. He looks like the wise old man, like he’s seen everything and knows best. I swear he looks like a sage grandfather imparting wisdom.”

  Max narrowed his eyes as he searched his memory.

  All of a sudden his eyes widened, “You mean Big Ray? I know him, know him well, actually. His last name is Gretche? I didn’t know. I’ve just known him as Big Ray for as long as I can remember. He’s older than his mid-50s, though, quite a bit older, actually. He’d already tried a number of high-profile murder cases by the time I started practicing law. You’re right, he is perfect. Alright, do you want to contact him or do you want me to do it?”

  Drew thought for a couple of seconds, “Why don’t you let me contact him. With everything being covered in the media, he might think it really is a stunt. If I contact him, he’ll know w
e’re on the up and up.”

  Max nodded, back to his perpetual-motion, good-natured self. The weight was off his shoulders, “Fair enough. If you need a hand with it or if you want me to go with you, let me know.”

  He turned and left leaving Drew almost talking to himself, “I’ll do that.”

  Steven had gotten into the building before seven that morning and as he had thought, there weren’t more than a few news trucks outside, no reporters and a handful of photographers hanging out around the building. He knew that would change before too long. He was still amazed that there was that much media interest a week after the story had come out in the paper. He was starting to realize that it was not likely that the media attention would die out. If anything, it was beginning to sink in that this was just the beginning, that it would only get more intense from here.

  He was going over some of the deals he had put together that were now being handled by his VPs. It vexed him to not be able to finish what he’d started. He had seen every single deal to its conclusion since he had come onboard at GIC. Part of the price he had to pay.