Читать книгу Guilty or Not - Alice Zogg - Страница 4

Rachel Penrose’s trial for the murder of her fiancé, Steven Moretti, was in full swing on this fifth day of the court proceedings at the Pasadena Superior Court. Rachel sat at the defense table next to her legal counselor, oblivious to the drama unfolding around her. She caught bits and pieces of testimony, but most of it remained a blur to her. Her mind had long shut all emotion out, and she thought, let’s just get this over with.

Following the jury selection on Friday, August 10, the actual trial began on Monday, August 13, with opening statements from both the district attorney in charge of the prosecution and Rachel’s defense attorney, David Wachterman. There ensued testimony of a string of witnesses called by the prosecution, consisting of police officers, medical doctors and toxicology experts. The twelve jurors plus two alternates paid keen attention, although some of the experts’ monologues seemed beyond their comprehension. The authorities had found poisonous oleander mixed in with Steven Moretti’s loose leaf tea. Oleander is an evergreen perennial bush containing the toxic glycoside oleandrin, and as little as one leaf of the plant may be toxic enough to cause death in human beings.

Now the prosecution called Rufina Ramos, the housekeeper, as witness to be sworn in by the bailiff. She stated her name and position in the Steven Moretti household, and then the DA performed his direct examination.

Clearly uncomfortable in the limelight, dressed in her new suit, Rufina answered his questions about the tea brewing habits of her employer to the best of her knowledge. His query proceeded to what she saw on April 5 from an upstairs window looking down onto the backyard - - or more to the point, what she failed to see. On cross-examination, David Wachterman wanted to know the exact date of the last tea shipment arriving in the mail as well as its country of origin.

As the housekeeper ’s testimony evolved, Rachel thought, what difference does it make? They found the damned oleander in the tea, regardless of where the tea was shipped from or how long it had been in the house!

The prosecutor called the next witness, and Jasmine Dewitt strutted up to the witness stand. No denying she looked great in her little black dress and four-inch heels. She had pulled up her blond hair into a demure bun, applied a minimum amount of makeup, and wore understated stud earrings for the occasion, but nothing demure showed in her body language. Obviously, the young woman enjoyed the spotlight.

Rachel tuned out and kept her stoic expression during Jasmine’s testimony. Why go through that horrible day once more? She had re-lived it in her dreams and most of her waking hours time and time again. Much easier to ignore it all and retreat into a world of her own. Toward the end of Jasmine’s statement, Rachel became aware of sudden silence in the courtroom, which made her come out of her reverie and focus on the proceedings playing out before her.

The prosecutor took a couple of steps closer to the witness stand, lowered his voice a notch, and asked, “Tell us, Ms. Dewitt, what was the defendant’s reaction when she walked in on you and Steven Moretti in the bedroom?”

Jasmine replied, “First she just stared, and then she lost her cool.”

“Do you remember her exact words?”

“Yes, I do. She pointed at Steven and shouted, ‘You disgusting bastard, I’ll kill you for this!’ and ran out the door.”

There were excited murmurs among people in the spectator seats, and the judge called for a lunch recess. Rachel thought, why is everyone surprised? The bimbo told the truth.

Tina Brook, the last person called to testify on that fifth day of the trial, made her way over to the witness stand. Tina and her husband Shane were good friends of Steven Moretti and Rachel Penrose. By no means pleased to appear before the court and jury, Tina had no choice in the matter when subpoenaed. She settled into the stand and had a great shock when briefly glancing down at her friend seated at the defense table. Rachel had dwindled to skin and bones, and the sunken-in eyes told of sleepless nights. Gone were the healthy, outdoorsy complexion and spunky joie de vivre attitude.

Tina had only been in the hot seat for about 20 minutes, but the relentless questioning made it seem like hours. The prosecutor grilled her on events as far back as Rachel and Steven’s engagement party, which had been such a joyous event that she failed to see his point. Then he switched to the more recent past, and since she was under oath, she had no alternative but to make some statements damaging to her friend.

The DA said, “I understand that you were the person who informed Rachel Penrose of Steven Moretti’s death. Correct?”

“That’s right.”

“How did that come about?”

“I thought that she might not know; naturally, she moved out of the house after what happened. Wouldn’t you?”

The judge said, “Please, Ms. Brook, just answer the questions.”

“Yes, your Honor.”

The prosecutor prompted, “So you called the defendant. Correct?”

“Yes. I couldn’t think of a delicate way to put it and just said, ‘I have bad news: Steven is dead.’”

“And what did Rachel Penrose reply to that shocking news?”

Tina mumbled something, almost in a whisper.

The judge intervened again, “Speak up, please!”

Tina stated, “She said, ‘I hope he rots in hell.’”

Rachel glanced at the jurors and noticed shocked expressions on some of their faces. She mused, why is it so hard for people to accept the truth?

Next to her, the defense lawyer cringed seeing her nod in agreement to Tina’s statement. She must be out of her mind, he thought. I’ll take a great risk by putting her on the stand. She may go completely berserk and plead guilty. A good thing I don’t have to make the decision whether or not I should let her testify this very moment.

The prosecutor stated, “No more questions.” And with a hand gesture toward David Wachterman he said, “Your witness.”

“No questions; I do not wish to cross-examine.”

The DA stated, “The prosecution rests.”

The judge excused the jury while the lawyers argued with him over the merit of the evidence.

David Wachterman said, “Your Honor, there is clearly a lack of evidence here. I ask for a motion of demurrer.”

The judge did not accept the motion challenging the legal sufficiency of a case against Rachel. After the jury assembled again, he proclaimed, “Court adjourned until tomorrow morning at ten o’clock.”