Justice Delayed (Innocent Prisoners Project)

by Marti Green

  “This is a death-penalty case,” the judge said. “I’m going to allow the defense latitude. We’ll reconvene tomorrow morning.”

  Dani sat back down next to Osgood and patted his arm. She always hated to give a defendant hope. It was crushing when it didn’t pan out. But she couldn’t help herself. She didn’t have Melanie by her side, and she needed to say this to someone. “I think we’re going to beat this,” she said with a smile. “I really think we will.”

  At 7:00 p.m., Dani sat down to dinner with Meghan Milgram in a French country restaurant with gingham tablecloths and a lit candle set in a round amber glass on each table. Every table in the small restaurant was full, many with people she recognized from the courthouse.

  “It’s my favorite place to eat in Lawrenceville,” Milgram said. “For my money, it rivals any restaurant in Manhattan.”

  They placed their orders, and while waiting for their first course, Dani began. “I can’t help thinking it’s someone from Stone Ridge, someone who knew Kelly. Her boyfriend back then is the obvious one to look at, but I don’t want to focus in on him if he doesn’t fit the profile of a serial killer.”

  “Actually, serial killers tend to prey on strangers, not people known to them.”

  “If that’s true, then we have no chance of finding who really killed Kelly.”

  Milgram nodded. “They tend to be caught in the act, or close to the time of their most recent kill. Not twenty-two years later.”

  Dani reminded herself that it wasn’t her job to unmask Kelly’s killer. With the witness Tommy was bringing to court tomorrow, she had plenty to create reasonable doubt. But, even if Osgood was acquitted of Braden’s murder, he still had another trial to face. And that judge might not be as willing to bar testimony on bite-mark analysis. “So, you think it’s unlikely that the murderer was someone Kelly knew?”

  “I wouldn’t rule it out completely. It’s possible that Kelly’s murder was an accident, that he didn’t plan to kill her. But when he did, it triggered something in him that made him want to repeat the experience.”

  “What kind of trigger? It wasn’t a sexual thrill. None of the girls were raped.”

  “It might have given him a sense of power, of control.”

  “What kind of person becomes a serial killer?”

  “Don’t get bogged down on profiles. Remember, they’re compiled based on characteristics of previously known serial killers. There can always be an outlier, and then that person’s profile will be added to the mix.”

  “Still, I’d like to know. If there’s even a slight chance it was someone from Stone Ridge, it’ll help me.”

  Milgram sat back in her chair. “All right. First of all, most serial killers wouldn’t necessarily appear strange to others. They often have families, have jobs, and own a home. It’s because they can blend in so seamlessly in a community that they’re especially difficult to catch.”

  “But there must be something that causes a person to kill, and keep killing?”

  “It’s no surprise, I’m sure, that many come from unstable home lives, often with child abuse. Many times, aberrant behavior is evidenced from a young age—torturing small animals, for instance, or frequently starting fires. Antisocial behavior, from childhood on, is another frequent characteristic. Usually, there isn’t one single thing that causes one to become a serial killer. It’s a combination of biological, social, and psychological factors.”

  “So, I should rule out anyone who doesn’t have any of those factors?”

  “No, unfortunately. It’s not that simple. Some of the newer research strongly suggests that head injuries in children and adolescents are linked to killing, especially injuries to the frontal lobe.”

  “Head injuries?” Dani straightened in her seat. “What about from playing football?”

  “Well, more often, the injuries are from a car accident or from physical abuse, but yes, conceivably from a football injury. But I’d look for some other factor or factors as well, maybe an unstable family. Obviously, not everyone who suffers a serious head injury will become violent, but studies seem to show that those who do become violent often had some damage to their brain.”

  Interesting, Dani thought. I’ll have to let Tommy know. The waiter came with their salads, and talk of serial killers was put aside as they ate. In the back of her mind, though, Dani kept wondering if it was just a coincidence that Greg Johnson, Kelly’s rejected boyfriend, had played football.

  The next morning, Dani met Tommy, along with Clemson detective Lou Hammond and Detective Peter Wilson from the Madison, Florida, police department. Dani had spoken to Tommy after she’d returned from dinner the night before and learned that the circumstances surrounding the second girl’s death, like the first, were identical to Kelly’s. She found an empty room, then spent a half hour going over the details of those cases. At 9:30, she and Tommy entered the courtroom. Osgood was brought up from the holding cell, the judge took the bench, and then the jurors were led in. When everyone was settled, Dani called Detective Hammond to the stand. She ran him through the cold case from Clemson, stopping periodically to highlight the similarities between his case and that of Kelly Braden, especially the bite mark.

  When it was Luckman’s turn, he asked Hammond, “Isn’t it possible that the perpetrator in your case was a copycat? Kelly Braden’s murder was well publicized.”

  “Maybe well publicized for twenty-two years ago, but it didn’t reach us. Otherwise, we would have put it together as a similar crime.”

  “Still, let’s say the perpetrator in your case had been living in Georgia and had followed the case. Couldn’t he have traveled to Clemson and copied exactly what he’d read about?”

  “It’s possible.”

  “Thank you. You can step down now.”

  Dani called Peter Wilson next and went through the same questions related to the Florida case. When it was Luckman’s turn, he, too, did the same cross-examination. When Wilson left the stand, Dani called Captain Cannon. He’d remained in the courtroom, following the trial ever since he’d finished his own testimony.

  Luckman shot up from his seat. “Counsel has already had her cross-examination of this witness,” he said to the judge.

  “I’m calling him as a rebuttal witness, Your Honor.”

  The judge nodded. “Go ahead.”

  Once he was seated, the judge said, “You’re still subject to the oath you took yesterday, Captain Cannon. Do you understand?”

  “Yes, ma’am.”

  “Your Honor will do.”

  Cannon blushed as Dani went ahead with her question. “You’ve heard the testimony of Detectives Hammond and Wilson, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Do you recall their testimony about the bite marks on the arm of each of those girls?”

  “I do.”

  “And is their description of the location of the bite mark the same, or similar to, the location of the bite mark on Kelly Braden’s arm?”

  Cannon shifted in his seat. “Yes,” he said.

  “Now, prior to the trial, did the Stone Ridge police department release any information about the bite mark on Ms. Braden’s arm?”

  “No,” he said more quietly, though still loud enough to be heard. “We held that back.”

  “As far as you know, did any media outlet report on the bite mark prior to Mr. Osgood’s trial?”

  “None that I’m aware of.”

  “And you heard Detective Hammond state that the murder in his case took place five months after Kelly Braden’s murder, correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “And how long after Braden’s murder did the trial take place?”

  “About seven months.”

  “Let’s turn to the murder in Madison. That was five years after Ms. Braden’s death, right?”

  “Yes.”

  “And at Mr. Osgood’s trial, there was a great deal of testimony about the bite mark on Ms. Braden’s arm, right?”

  “Yes.”

/>   “Were you in the courtroom for that testimony?”

  “I was.”

  “Do you recall any mention at that trial of the location of the bite mark?”

  “Yes. There was testimony that it was on her arm.”

  “Just her arm? Not where on her arm?”

  “I don’t believe so.”

  “Your Honor, I’d like to mark as defendant’s Exhibit A the transcript from Mr. Osgood’s trial, which will clearly show there was no testimony about where on her arm she was bitten.”

  “So marked.”

  Dani turned back to Cannon. “So, just to reiterate, although there was no mention of where on her arm Ms. Braden was bitten, in those other two cases, the bite mark was in the exact same area, right?”

  Cannon looked over at Luckman with a sheepish look on his face. “That seems to be the case.”

  “Thank you. I have no further questions.”

  “Recross, Mr. Luckman?”

  “Just a few, Your Honor.” He walked up to Cannon. “If the victim had her arm up trying to ward off her attacker, where would her arm be bitten?”

  “Just where it was. On the outer arm, midway between her elbow and shoulder.”

  “So, if those other girls had their arms up trying to stop an attack, is that where you’d expect them to be bitten?”

  “Yes, it’s the likely spot.”

  “Thank you. No further questions.”

  Dani stood. “The defense rests, Your Honor. I renew my motion for a directed verdict.”

  “I’ll take that under advisement. Let’s adjourn until tomorrow morning. If I deny the motion, be prepared with your closing statements.”

  Dani left the courthouse with Tommy and the two detectives. Once they were outside, she filled them in on the information Milgram had given her the night before concerning serial killers. “Now that it appears the cases are connected, will you reopen yours?”

  Both Hammond and Wilson said they would.

  “There doesn’t seem to be an obvious connection among the three girls,” Hammond said, “but we’ll look more closely for one. Maybe we can identify someone who’s been in all three communities. Or nearby at least.”

  “I know Dr. Milgram said it’s probable that all three girls were strangers to the perp,” Tommy said, “but I still think Greg Johnson should be looked at.”

  Dani flipped through her notes. “She did say the first could have been more spur-of-the-moment. Maybe the murder wasn’t planned, and in that case, it could be someone she knew.”

  “I’ll check him out,” Wilson said. “Believe me, I’d like to solve this case as much as you.”

  “Ditto to that,” Hammond chimed in.

  The next morning, Dani and Tommy were back in court. Once again, Osgood was brought in to sit beside her. When Judge Beiles took the bench, she announced, “I rarely award a directed verdict, but in this case, it seems clear to me that the prosecution hasn’t even come close to a threshold showing of guilt beyond a reasonable doubt. The paucity of evidence on its direct case alone would be sufficient for a dismissal of this case. But when one looks at virtually identical circumstances in two additional murders, including the striking similarity in appearance of the victims, both of which took place when the defendant was imprisoned, there can be no other result here than judgment in favor of the defendant.”

  Dani turned and hugged Osgood.

  “What does this mean?” he asked.

  “It means the judge said you’re not guilty of killing Kelly Braden.”

  A smile broke out on his face. “So, I can go back to the home?”

  “Not yet. There’s still a trial in the other case. But I’m going to see if we can get bail now.”

  As the sheriff’s deputy took Osgood away, Dani was struck once again by how well she and Tommy worked together. She knew she was a good trial attorney, but a gun wasn’t effective without bullets. And Tommy always provided her with the ammunition she needed. Whenever she asked for the impossible, he always seemed to come through for her. She couldn’t imagine walking away from that. Yet, that’s just what Doug wanted her to do.

  The Bradens were waiting for her outside the courtroom. The strained look that Dani had seen on Susan Braden’s face throughout the trial was gone. “I understand now,” Susan said. “Just promise me—you’ll try to find who really did kill our daughter.”

  As soon as the verdict was read, Cannon stood and left the courtroom. Tommy followed him out.

  “What do you think now?” Tommy asked him when they were in the hallway.

  “I’m thinking a guilty man just got off. I’m hoping the jury for the Atlanta girl corrects the mistake.”

  “Come on. You heard about those other girls. The MO is the same for all. And Osgood was in custody then.”

  “Osgood’s bat. Lisa’s blood on it. And Osgood’s teeth matching the bite mark on Kelly’s arm. The jury didn’t get to hear that. That’s why he got off.”

  “The jury didn’t hear it because it’s bullshit.”

  “Tommy, I think you’re a decent guy. But you’ve been swayed by the work you do now. You want to believe everyone’s innocent.”

  Tommy chuckled. “Just the reverse. I’m the one who always needs to be convinced.”

  “Well, you haven’t convinced me.”

  “I’m meeting with Hammond and Wilson now. Why don’t you join us?”

  Cannon shook his head. “I’ve wasted enough time on this.” He shook Tommy’s hand, then strode down the hallway to the elevator.

  When Lou Hammond and Peter Wilson exited the courtroom, Tommy sat down with them and gave them everything he knew about the Braden murder.

  “Maybe we can find someone who did some work for each of the families,” Hammond said. “Or had some business in each of the towns.”

  “How about Greg Johnson?”

  “Since it’s interstate, we can link in the feds. They might be able to track his movements. It’s going back pretty far, so it’s probably a long shot.”

  “Anything you guys can do, it’s appreciated,” Tommy said.

  Hammond spread his arms out, his palms up. “Hey. Someone is killing teenage girls. We’ll do everything we can to stop him.”

  CHAPTER

  38

  The following morning, Dani returned to Superior Court in Fulton County. Craig Franklin, a local assistant district attorney, was by her side as she asked Judge Kahn to allow bail for Jack Osgood in the Alison Grant arrest.

  “Your Honor,” she began, “the only reason Mr. Osgood was arrested for that crime was because of his prior conviction for a markedly similar murder twenty-two years ago. That conviction has now been overturned. The police have no real evidence against Mr. Osgood. He’s already been wrongfully imprisoned for most of his adult life. He shouldn’t spend any more time behind bars without the State proving, beyond a reasonable doubt, that he committed this crime. We ask the court to set bail at two hundred fifty thousand dollars.”

  “The fact that he was acquitted doesn’t mean he wasn’t guilty,” Franklin said. “The judge in Gwinnett County didn’t allow the jury to hear highly relevant information that clearly implicates the defendant in that murder.”

  The judge leaned forward in his seat. “What evidence is that?”

  “Bite-mark evidence. Judge Beiles wouldn’t allow an expert forensic dentist to testify that the bite on Kelly Braden’s arm came from Jack Osgood.”

  Dani jumped in. “There was a good reason for that. Bite-mark analysis has been found to be unscientific and unreliable.”

  “Not by the Supreme Court of Georgia,” Franklin countered.

  “Is that so, Ms. Trumball?”

  “It’s true so far. But there hasn’t been a case that’s gone to the Supreme Court of Georgia refuting bite-mark analysis in more than five years.”

  “Still, it has to give me pause. Bite-mark analysis has been a staple in my courtroom for decades. I’m not inclined to throw it out until the top court tells me
I have to. I see no reason at this time to change my earlier ruling. Bail is denied.”

  Dani fumed as she left the courtroom. It was too unfair! She left the courthouse and made her way to the county prison. She needed to give Osgood the bad news. They’d both been so excited by yesterday’s acquittal. He should be a free man now. Instead, because of outdated thinking and a group of dentists who refused to admit their own failings, he would remain in jail. It would be at least six months before he was tried for Grant’s murder. Another six months without his freedom. Unless, before then, the real killer was unmasked.

  Tommy was relieved that he was no longer alone in trying to find who’d killed Kelly Braden and Alison Grant. Two police departments, and maybe the FBI, had joined the hunt. That meant he needn’t rely on his hacker source anymore. It always bothered him when he turned to John Doe, or JD—the name he always called him on the off chance someone listened in on his phone calls. After all, if Edward Snowden was to be believed, the government was listening to everyone’s phone conversations.

  He’d helped JD escape a federal rap for hacking once. It was back in his FBI days, and he’d seen a smart kid with a bright future who deserved another chance. Since then, his faith in JD had mostly paid off. He’d gone to college, made his parents proud with a straight-A average, and graduated magna cum laude. He now held a high-level job with a West Coast tech company, pulling down big money, and had put hacking behind him. That is, unless Tommy called in a favor. It always gave Tommy a twinge of guilt when he did so, but he justified it by the results he got—helping to free the innocent and identify the guilty.

  He knew he should let Hammond and Wilson go about their jobs, but something kept nagging at him. He picked up the phone and dialed Emily Halstein, the principal at Stone Ridge High School. When she came on the line, he asked, “By any chance, is the school’s football coach from 1992 still there?”

  “I’m afraid not. He retired six years ago.”

  “Do you know, is he still in the area?”

  “Moved to Florida, he and his wife. I think they’re in the Tampa area.”