False Accusations by Jacobson, Alan (great novels of all time .txt) 📕

garage and the house, and the covering of the carport connects the two buildings.”

“So it seems perfectly reasonable that your dog might not have heard Miss Harding three stories below, in another building, doesn’t it, doctor?”

“Objection!”

“Withdrawn,” Denton said, moving back to his seat. Brittany Harding looked at Warwick, her eyes pleading with him to say something, anything, to help her. But Warwick was busy seething, grinding his teeth, impotently watching his adversary settle into his chair.

Denton shuffled a few papers, then faced the judge.

“The prosecution rests, Your Honor.”

Denton raised a glass and tapped it against Hellman’s. “We’re done. Your client did well. Warwick will really have to come up with something powerful to save Harding.”

Hellman swirled his beer, examining the sediment. “I, for one, would like to see her put away, not just for killing those people, but because she’s evil. And I know she’ll never leave Phil alone. She’s not only delusional, she’s obsessed with him, fixated on him. I don’t know how he’s held together as well as he has.”

“Please pass along my apologies again to him. I still feel we did the right thing given our original information. Even though it made a shambles of his life, he was, at that time, the most likely suspect. But, shit, nobody’s perfect. We just missed it.”

Hellman raised his eyebrows. He felt it was a bit flippant the way Denton dismissed the hell that he had put Madison through. Yet, he understood that in fact they were not perfect, and that they were just trying to do a tough job: put the person responsible for a heinous crime behind bars. “His life was a shambles before you got involved. Don’t get me wrong—it got worse after his arrest, but at least you realized the mistake before it was too late.”

Denton raised his glass. “To a smooth conclusion.”

“A smooth conclusion,” Hellman said.

CHAPTER 68

IN AN EFFORT to score a few quick and final points to neutralize some of the damage done by Madison, Warwick concluded his case by calling two witnesses: one was an expert on rape who testified that many women do not come forward immediately following the assault because of the embarrassment and grilling they would have to face at trial. It was therefore perfectly understandable, the expert psychologist testified, that Harding did not go to the police earlier. In fact, she pointed out, look what happened when she did decide to file a complaint—no charges were brought and no arrest was made.

On cross-examination, Denton elicited her concession that the reason no charges were filed was not that she came forward as a rape victim, and not that the police did not believe her, but that there was no definitive evidence to support a successful prosecution.

Denton leaned toward the psychologist. “In fact, her quest for money overshadowed her concern for finding justice, didn’t it?”

“I don’t follow you.”

“She hired an attorney to bring a civil case. And once her monetary demands were met, she withdrew the criminal complaint before the police even had the chance to complete their investigation.”

“Objection.”

“Withdrawn,” Denton said, smirking as he walked back to his seat. “Nothing further.” Although the comment had been withdrawn from the record, his point had been cemented in the minds of the jury. He viewed this exchange with the psychologist as a victory, but could not help but wonder what the female members of the panel would be thinking relative to Harding’s being portrayed as a rape victim. Sympathy to any degree could be deadly when dealing with reasonable doubt.

Warwick’s other expert, hastily arranged, testified as to the shortfalls of DNA testing. As soon as Warwick inquired about the weaknesses of PCR analysis, before the researcher could render an opinion, Denton requested a sidebar. He warned that if Warwick persisted in this line of questioning, he would request permission to reopen the prosecution’s case, as he expected to have the results of the RFLP testing within a day or two. He was confident of the outcome and would use the findings as rebuttal testimony.

Calvino asked Warwick if he was the gambling type. “Make the perceived weakness of PCR analysis the cornerstone of your case, counselor, and it could be blown clear out of the water should the RFLP test results corroborate the results of the PCR testing.”

Warwick chose to abandon his line of questioning, requesting the right to recall the witness should the RFLP test results support the defense’s position. The expert’s testimony was essentially reduced to harmless rubble and a few impromptu and pointless questions about the dangers of contamination and degradation. Denton promptly fired back the same questions he had asked his own expert, Dr. Ross, about how contamination or degradation could cause the results to match Harding’s DNA pattern. The answer was that it could not, and the witness was disposed of harmlessly.

Thus far, much to Denton’s satisfaction, there were no surprises during trial. He only hoped that the jury was seeing the events and circumstances as clearly as he viewed them. Although Warwick elected not to put Harding on the stand, a wise move considering her unpredictable and socially abrasive nature, the jury had been forcefed a dose of what she was truly like by the prosecution’s witnesses: from delusional nuisance to plotting extortionist to vengeful murderer.

The judge, having gestured to the court recorder, cleared his throat. “Mr. Denton.”

Denton remained seated, as was his custom when beginning his closing argument. “This was a gruesome murder of two innocent people, ladies and gentlemen. No one in this courtroom will dispute that. What will be debated, and what has been the subject of this trial, is who did it. Well, we feel that we know who did it. And we’ve presented evidence to you these past couple of weeks showing you who, how—and why. We’ve shown you the character of the person who stands accused over there,” he said, throwing out his finger and pointing at Harding, “and we’ve shown you the events which led up to