A Reasonable Doubt by Susan Sloan (free novels .txt) 📕

of arrests that involved drugs?”

“No, I don’t recall seeing anything about drugs.”

“How about assault?”

“No, not as I recall.”

“How about battery?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“How about murder?”

“No, of course not.”

“How about anything recent -- anything at all?”

“No, Ma’am,” Cady conceded.  “We checked.  There was nothing on his sheet for the past five years.”

“So, for five years, as far as you knew, Jason Lightfoot was living his life peacefully, he was minding his own business, and he was staying out of trouble, is that right?”

“As far as we knew.”

The jurors had been given pads and pens to take notes, if they wished.  Several of them were now writing furiously on their pads.

“About that long sheet he had, listing all those arrests for minor offences -- who was the arresting officer involved?”

“Mostly, it was Detective Scott -- well, I guess he was Officer Scott back then.  It was before he got promoted.”

“I see,” Lily said.  “So would it be fair to say, then, that Jason Lightfoot knew Detective Scott -- in fact, knew him quite well?”

“I guess you could say that,” the police officer confirmed.  “I guess you could also say he harbored some serious resentment toward him.”

“Serious resentment?” Lily echoed.  “How would you know that?”

Cady shrugged carelessly.  “Well, he killed him, didn’t he?”

“Did he?” the defense attorney said in surprise.  “I‘m sorry, did I miss something here?  I didn’t realize the charges had already been proven, and he had already been convicted by the fine members of this jury.”

“Well, I meant -- ”

“Yes, I think we all know what you meant, Officer Cady,” Lily declared.

“Look, it was a good collar,” Cady retorted.  “He had the weapon, he had the motive, and he had the opportunity.”

“So you say,” Lily said.  “But if it’s all the same to you, I’d prefer to present all the evidence to this jury, and then wait and hear what they say.”

“Well, of course,” Cady murmured.

“Now, when the defendant came out of his box, at your request, how did he appear to you?”

“I’m not sure I know what you mean, Ma’am?”

“I mean -- was he acting normally?” Lily specified.  “Did he appear to be impaired in any way?  Did you notice anything about him that would have indicated if he was under the influence of alcohol or on medication, perhaps?”

“He seemed pretty normal to me.”

“You mean, he was acting perfectly normally -- his eyes were clear, he wasn’t stumbling, he wasn’t slurring his words?”

Cady glanced over at the prosecutor, as if hoping for guidance, but there was none forthcoming.  He sighed deeply.  “He may have been stumbling a bit,” he said.  “And he may have been slurring his words some.  But then, we had just woke him up.  I stumble around and slur my words sometimes when I get woke up.”

“And his clothes, Officer Cady,” Lily pressed.  “Did you detect any particular smell from the clothes he was wearing?”

“Yes,” the officer was compelled to reply.  “They reeked of dirt and sweat  and alcohol.”

“I see -- they reeked of dirt and sweat and alcohol,” the defense attorney repeated thoughtfully.  “What about his breath?  What did that reek of?”

“It was awful,” Cady said.

“Awful, as in -- ?”

“Okay, yes, his breath smelled of alcohol, too,” Cady allowed.  “But that just meant he’d been drinking, not that he was drunk, if that’s where you’re going.  The breathalyzer said his alcohol level was zero.”

“And when was that, Officer Cady?” Lily inquired.  “How long after the time of Dale Scott’s death did you get around to testing the defendant’s alcohol level?”

At the prosecution table, John Henry cringed.

“It was maybe about twelve hours later,” Cady conceded.

“Twelve hours?” Lily echoed.  “And just how reliable have you found that test to be -- twelve hours after the fact?”

“I wouldn’t know,” the officer had to admit.

“No, I don’t suppose you would,” she murmured.  “Just one more thing then -- when you tried to take the defendant into custody, you said he attempted to run?”

“That’s right, he did,” Cady confirmed.

“But you caught him?”

“Yes, we did.”

“And after you caught him -- did he put up a fight?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“He didn’t assault you?”

“No, Ma’am.”

“He didn’t try to get your gun away from you?”

“No, Ma’am,” Cady said with a slight snicker.  “He sure didn’t.”

“So you hit him behind his knees with your baton, he crumpled to the ground, and then you stood over him and beat him almost senseless, while he did nothing but try to protect himself.  Is that about right, Officer Cady?”

The police officer grit his teeth.  “Okay, maybe I shouldn’t have done that.  But you have to understand, he killed a cop -- one of my brothers, and then he tried to run.  I had to subdue him.”

“Yes, of course,” Lily conceded.  “And while you were subduing him, did he make any attempt to fight back?”

“No, he didn’t do anything but curl up and try to cover himself.”

“He never fought back -- not in any way?”

“No, he didn’t,” Cady said.  “But he would have been stupid to.  He could see that we were police officers.  And that we had guns.  He knew he wouldn’t have stood a chance.”

“Yes, that’s right, isn’t it?”  Lily said with a sudden smile.  “He may not have known you personally, as he did Dale Scott, but he knew you were police officers.  And you had guns.  And he knew he wouldn’t have stood a chance against you.  Thank you, Officer Cady.  I have no further questions.”

A few of the jurors were still scribbling in their notebooks.

. . .

“How did the defendant know you were a police officer?” John Henry inquired on redirect.

“I was wearing my uniform,” Cady replied.

“And your partner,” the prosecutor asked, because he knew there was nowhere else to go, “was he also wearing his uniform?”

“Yes, he was.”

“Thank you, Officer.”

Cady was dismissed.  He scowled as he left the witness stand and strode up the aisle, out of the courtroom, and out of the courthouse.

It wasn’t the redirect that bothered him -- it was the cross-examination.  He didn’t know what he had said to make the defense