Dead Peasants

by Larry D. Thompson

  “Let’s talk about William Davis. Do you remember him?”

  Allison tried to conjure up a memory or a face but failed. “I’m sorry, I don’t. We had a lot of employees and it’s been fifteen years since he worked for my company. I’m sorry, Ms. Davis, and sorry for your loss.”

  June squared her jaw and stared at him. She knew he was just putting on an act.

  Leyton wanted to move things along. He could tell the jury was inclined to like Allison and believe what he said. The jury had seen the exhibits. No sense in displaying them again. “Let’s talk about that agreement and the policy you had on William Davis’s life. “Is there any doubt in your mind that he signed that agreement?”

  “Absolutely not, ladies and gentlemen. I even made sure that my personnel staff explained the terms of the agreement. If Mr. Davis couldn’t read it, I know he had to have understood it. I thought I was doing my employees a favor, and it also benefited my company, too. They got a free life insurance policy. Ten thousand dollars was quite a bit of money thirty years ago. I might add someone like Mr. Davis also got free health insurance. I tried to take care of my employees.”

  Leyton wanted to be careful how he asked the next question. He had to face up to the fact that some jurors would eventually conclude that Willie’s life was not the only one insured with one of these policies. So, he carefully phrased the question, intending to follow up with a few more carefully prepared questions and answers on the subject. Leyton knew this series of questions would be critical to a successful defense. “Mr. Allison, was Willie’s the only employee whose life you insured?”

  “No, sir,” came the reply, just as they rehearsed. Then Allison forgot the most basic instruction every lawyer gives his client: Answer the question, shut up and let your lawyer take you through the minefield. Every trial lawyer has seen it happen. A lawyer has done everything he can to prepare his client, and the client still can blow the case with one wrong answer. Leyton would never know whether Allison had a lapse in memory or was so certain the jury was going his way that the salesman in him thought he could embellish the truth. Whatever the reason, Allison continued. “We were experimenting at the Cadillac store and a few others. We placed coverage on the employees in a handful of stores, for, I think, about a year, maybe two before we dropped the idea.”

  Dammit, Leyton thought. Now we’ve got a problem. My client has flat out lied, and he had to know it. Somehow the son of a bitch thought he could get away with it. He was supposed to be vague, claiming that it was too many years ago and any more details would have to come from his insurance department.

  At the other counsel table, Jack whispered to J.D., “We just got our opening.”

  Leyton tried to clean up the mess his client had created. “Are you sure about that? Shouldn’t your insurance department be the source to discuss other life policies?”

  Before Allison could respond, Jack was on his feet. “Objection, Your Honor. He’s now trying to impeach his own client, and he’s leading him to boot.”

  The judge had also recognized the problem and wanted to help Leyton out, but reluctantly said, “Objection sustained.”

  Leyton realized that he had played his last card for now and decided to rely on the good will that his client had created. So far, anyway, the jury didn’t know that Allison had lied. He had successfully fought Bryant’s attempt to get the other life insurance policies or even how many there were. Without that information, he figured that Bryant was still in the dark about them and had nothing with which to impeach Allison. Leyton decided it was better just to just leave well enough alone. “I’ll pass the witness, Your Honor.”

  The judge ordered a mid-afternoon break.

  Jack called J.D., Colby and June over to a corner of the courtroom away from the court personnel and reporters. “What’s your take, Colby?”

  “He did well and the jury likes him. We know he’s lying, but they don’t. Did he give you that opening you were talking about?”

  “Yeah.” Jack smiled. “He did. Now, I’ve just got to see if I can make it big enough to drive a bulldozer through. If the judge just gives me a little latitude, I can do it.”

  83

  “Mr. Allison,” Jack began. “You said this policy was a benefit to William Davis, a free benefit was I believe the phrase you used.”

  Warned to be on his guard by Leyton at the break, Allison replied, “Yes, sir.”

  “Yet even as we sit here today, months after Willie’s death, you’ve never paid that ten thousand dollars to June Davis, have you?”

  Allison squirmed in his chair and folded and unfolded his arms. Small beads of sweat popped out on his forehead. He kept intending to write a check for the $10,000, but at the end of every month he postponed it to pay other more pressing bills. “I’m sorry, Mr. Bryant, Mrs. Davis. That was an oversight in our accounting department. Here, let me write a check this very minute.”

  Allison reached into his coat pocket and extracted a checkbook. He hurriedly scratched off a check to June Allison for ten thousand dollars and signed it with a flourish. Then he wasn’t sure what to do. “Judge, can I hand this to Mrs. Davis?”

  “Just give it to the bailiff and he can give it to Mr. Bryant. I must say, Mr. Leyton, this is most unusual.”

  Leyton nodded.

  “Let me see if I’ve got this straight,” Jack said. “It’s been all these months since Willie’s death. I delivered your check for $400,000 to you right after I received it. But you required June to file a lawsuit and get you on the witness stand before she finally got what was coming to her.” Jack shook his head in disgust.

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Leyton said halfheartedly.

  “Sustained. Jury will disregard.”

  Jack nodded and moved on, knowing he had made his point.

  Allison was losing the credibility he and Leyton had so carefully crafted. Two of the African American jurors were looking at Allison with disgust. Jack was now standing at his table. “Now, let’s talk about that Cadillac store where Willie worked, one of those where you experimented with dead peasant policies for a year or two.”

  “I, I may have been off a little on that, Mr. Bryant. It could have been more stores and several years,” Allison said, remembering the counseling Leyton had given him at the break. Actually, it was more than counseling. Leyton chewed his ass up one side and down the other when they went up to their bench on the third floor. Given the chance, Leyton told him to inject more stores and more years into the testimony in an effort to clean up the problem his prior testimony had created.

  Jack ignored the answer and continued. “You still have seven thousand dead peasant policies in place this very day, don’t you, Mr. Allison, about half of them on former employees?”

  Several jurors looked back and forth between Jack and Allison, wondering where that number came from and, more importantly, its significance.

  “Objection! Objection, Your Honor.”

  “Your Honor,” Jack replied. “Mr. Allison has testified that he had dead peasant policies on a few employees at the Cadillac store and a couple of others. Now, he’s wavering. I’m entitled to explore his credibility on this issue.”

  The judge leaned back in his chair, his hands behind his head as he stared up at the ceiling. “Overruled. Mr. Bryant, I’ll let you have a little latitude here, but hear me good. Don’t push it too far.”

  Jack nodded his understanding. “Mr. Allison, you actually have seven thousand, three hundred and fourteen of these dead peasant policies still in force, even to this day, even after cutting the number of dealerships you own in half?”

  “Since the issue came up, I, uh, checked during the break with my insurance department. I’d be curious to know how you got your information since it seems you know more about those life policies than I do, but you’re exactly correct.” Allison turned to the jury. “I apologize, ladies and gentlemen. It’s been a lot of years and I just lost track.”

  Leyton looked up from his notes with a
quizzical look, likewise wondering where Jack got such precise information and now having to figure out how the hell to downplay Allison’s earlier lie. Maybe Allison had handled it the best he could. Then another thought entered Leyton’s mind: Was there a mole in Allison’s insurance department?

  “Mr. Allison, let me see if I can just cut to the bottom line. Isn’t it true that nineteen of your employees have suffered violent deaths in the last six months, and you’ve collected benefits on every one of them?”

  Leyton rose to object, but before he could open his mouth, Allison had interrupted. He jumped to his feet and banged both of his hands on the rail before him. “Dammit, Mr. Bryant. Okay, I did collect on those policies, but you’re suggesting that I had people killed. There’s no way I’d do anything like that.” He turned to the jury. “I’m sorry. I can’t explain those deaths.”

  McDowell had enough of the disruption in his courtroom. “Mr. Allison, please take your seat and lower your voice. Otherwise, I’ll have the bailiff escort you from the courtroom.”

  Allison took his seat. “I’m sorry, Judge. I got carried away. Besides, Mr. Bryant, as I told you, my company has turned the corner and is in very good financial shape. I didn’t need the life insurance proceeds on Mr. Davis or any of those other employees to keep going.”

  McDowell looked around the courtroom and saw that several of the jurors were shaken, either by the testimony or the witness’s demeanor. “That’s enough for the day. We’ll recess until nine in the morning. Counsel please remain in the courtroom.”

  When the jury was gone, Judge McDowell looked at both lawyers in turn. “So, what do you propose we do at this point? This trial is now overflowing with evidence of dead peasant policies that I intended to keep out, and on top of that Mr. Bryant has injected that Allison has not only collected on the William Davis policy but a bunch of others. Mr. Leyton, do you have a motion?”

  Leyton rose to address the court. “Again, I am reluctant to do it, but I move for mistrial. I think we better start over on another day?”

  “Not necessary, Your Honor.” Jack was on his feet. This was a critical motion that he had to win. “My insurance expert has testified that even if an employer took out these policies when they were legal in Texas, once the legislature banned them, the employer was in violation of the Texas Insurance Code if he continued to carry coverage on a terminated employee. If he violated the Insurance Code, I can ask the jury to award treble damages as punishment. That’s $1,200,000 on top of the $400,000 insurance proceeds.” Jack thought for a moment and added one more argument. “Evidence of the other policies and Allison’s admission that he collected on nineteen of them shows a pattern and practice under the Deceptive Trade Practices Act. It’s also relevant to impeach Mr. Allison on the financial status of his company and goes directly to his credibility as a witness. We expect to show that his company is still under water.”

  McDowell stared at the clock on the back wall as the second hand made a full circle before he spoke. “Mr. Leyton, I’m going to deny your motion at this time. I invite you to raise it again at the close of evidence if you choose.”

  84

  Jack, Colby and J.D. sat out by the pool, re-hashing the day’s events.

  “Okay, Dad, I got one question. How did you know you were going to be able to do that after the judge ruled for the third time that the dead peasant policies were out?”

  Jack sipped his bourbon. “Twenty-five years as a trial lawyer and the instincts that come with it. I just needed a little crack, and once I got my foot in the door, I knew I could kick it open. Allison did us a favor by lying. I know damn well that Leyton didn’t want him to do it, but it was too late. And the bonus is that he admitted to everything we learned about the policies. Your work paid off, J.D., and I suspect my law license is safe. Leyton and Allison are wondering about how we learned the specifics about the policies, but all they have is suspicions.”

  “Were you worried about Leyton’s motion?” Colby asked.

  “Yeah, just a little,” Jack conceded. “I was really pushing the envelope on that testimony. Sometimes you just have to skate where the ice is thin. I think we’ll be okay. Besides, this has really become Colby’s case at this point. I’ve talked to June and she’s in agreement. She wants me to do whatever it takes to get those charges dropped. I still intend to get her a good payday, but if I don’t, she understands.”

  “What’s next, Dad?”

  “We’ve still got Allison on the stand, but I’ve done about as much damage as I can with him unless he says something else dumb. If the jury believes Gamboa, they already have the impression that Allison is an employer just preying on his employees and waiting for them to die to collect on the dead peasant policies.”

  85

  Jack woke at five. This time he didn’t even try to drift off to sleep. He had six hours of rest and that would get him through the day. He put on his cut-offs, T-shirt and running shoes and was out the front door with Killer on his leash. A good walk with Killer would clear his mind and help him concentrate on what was to come. Jack’s mind was at the courthouse as Killer trotted along in front of him. There was a rustle in some bushes, and a man stepped into their path. Jack couldn’t see him well, but it looked like the same man that had confronted him two weeks before at the courthouse. He had a gun.

  “You just wouldn’t listen, would you, Mr. Bryant?”

  Before he could say anything more, Jack said in a low voice, “Go, Killer.”

  Killer’s training immediately kicked in. He saw the man with the gun and let out a deep growl. With two leaps, he was on the man, his mouth on the assailant’s gun hand. Killer crunched his jaws until something snapped in the man’s wrist. The man screamed and fell to the ground as he jerked his hand out of Killer’s mouth. He was big enough that he threw Killer to the side and then was up and turning to run.

  “Heel,” Jack called, worried that the man might have a second gun. Killer stood and let the man disappear. Jack picked up the man’s gun and patted Killer. “Good dog. You get a full bowl of treats this morning.”

  Jack returned to the house to find both Colby and J.D. up early and having breakfast. J.D. was reading the Star Telegram.

  “Dad, Hampton laid out yesterday’s events very well. He’s not painting a very pretty picture of Allison.”

  Colby looked at Jack. “You look a little pale. Are you feeling all right.”

  Jack poured his coffee and sat down. “I’m okay now, other than the fact that someone just tried to kill me.”

  “Oh my God, Jack. What happened?”

  Jack described the event and how Killer came to his rescue. Killer perked up his ears as he heard his name several times in the conversation.

  “Jack, I think it’s time you called Joe Sherrod.”

  “I agree. It’s still a little early, though. I’ll call him about seven, after I’m dressed.”

  Jack was ready to go to court when he picked up his cell.

  “Damn early to be calling the Tarrant County District Attorney. This better be important,” Sherrod growled.

  “Joe, someone just tried to kill me.”

  Joe sat upright in his bed. “Shit, Jack. What happened?”

  Jack described the event.

  “I’ll send a squad car right over.”

  “Sorry, Joe. I don’t have time to give a statement right now. I’m on the way to the courthouse.” Jack looked at his watch. “If they can be here in fifteen minutes, I can show them the location and give them the gun. The guy was wearing latex gloves. So the only prints on the gun are mine. Maybe you can trace the ownership. He may also have left some footprints that may be useful.”

  Ten minutes later a police car stopped in front of Jack’s house. He talked briefly to the officers and handed them the gun. Then, he got in the back seat and directed them to the location. One officer called CSI and waited at the scene. The other returned Jack to his house with the understanding that they would meet in Sherrod’s office a
t the close of the trial that afternoon. When Jack went back into the house, he told Colby and J.D. that he would need to meet with Sherrod after the trial today. Not knowing how long it would take, he suggested that J.D. drive the Hummer. Colby would ride with Jack.

  Trial lawyers must constantly change strategy as the evidence unfolds. Jack had several more pages of typed notes with questions for Allison. As they drove to the courthouse, he mentally tossed them in a waste can. He had made the points he needed.

  Colby interrupted his thoughts. “Are you sure you’re going to be okay today, Jack? How can you possibly concentrate on the trial after what happened to you this morning?”

  Jack turned to Colby while they were stopped at a light. “I’ve learned to compartmentalize. Trust me. That attack will be out of my mind until we visit Joe’s office this afternoon. By the way, I want to thank you for all your help in the trial. I know how much you have to struggle just to keep your sanity.”

  “I’m hanging in there. Striplings come from strong stock. Call it woman’s intuition or whatever, but I now believe that we’re all going to be okay in a few days. Are you going to tell the judge about the attack?”

  “No reason to, but I want you to watch Allison when he sees me for the first time and knows I’m still alive.”

  “You think he set it up?” Colby asked

  “Right now I’d say he’s at the top of the list, and the list doesn’t go beyond his name. That reminds me. Tell J.D. to go to the clerk’s office and get a subpoena issued for Beauregard Quillen to appear at one o’clock this afternoon. Let’s just see how truthful Allison was when he said that Allison Southwest is doing well financially.”

  86

  Jack had unpacked his briefcase and was talking to the bailiff about TCU’s opening game on Saturday, acting as if he had a refreshing night’s sleep and an uneventful morning. J.D. joined in the conversation as they discussed their prospects away from home with Rice.