The Justice Game

68

Jason Noble stood, took a quick look around the courtroom, and froze. Leaning against the back wall, arms folded across his chest, was Jason’s father. The bailiffs had closed off the courtroom earlier that morning when the seats were full, but his dad had must have used his law enforcement credentials to talk his way through.

Jason wasn’t used to having his father in the audience. Even in high school, the man always had an excuse during Jason’s soccer games. It got to the point where Jason didn’t even tell him the game schedule. But now he was standing there against the back wall, and he gave Jason a little nod, adding an extra jolt to the adrenaline already surging through his body.

Jason knew his first job was to take the emotion out of the courtroom. The jurors needed to use their heads, not their hearts.

“Some of you may have seen the movie A Beautiful Mind, the true story of a mathematical genius named John Forbes Nash. He won the Nobel Prize for economics. He may be the most impressive mathematical genius the world has ever seen.”

“Objection, Your Honor.” Kelly Starling was on her feet, a small smile on her lips. “Perhaps I’m in the wrong case. But if not, this can’t be relevant.”

Jason had not objected during Kelly’s entire opening, though he’d had plenty of opportunities. He thought objecting during opening statements made lawyers look petty and simply called more attention to what the other side was saying.

He spread his palms. “I’m getting to the point, Judge. If opposing counsel could give me sixty seconds or so before making her first objection, she’d see how it’s relevant.”

“Make your point quickly,” Garrison said, as if Jason had been stalling for hours. “Objection overruled.”

“Where was I?” Jason mused for a second. “Right. This brilliant man, John Forbes Nash, also believed that extraterrestrials spoke to him. As a result, he was confined to a mental institution. When a Harvard professor visited him and asked how a mathematician like him could possibly believe that extraterrestrials were sending him messages, Nash told him this: ‘Because the ideas I had about supernatural beings came to me the same way that my mathematical ideas did. So I took them seriously.’”

Jason paused and let the jury think about this. He had no notes and spoke matter-of-factly, like a lecturer in a college classroom. “Judge Garrison will give you the jury instructions at the end of this case. He will tell you that your job is to decide the case based on the facts and the law, using your own common sense. But you cannot let your emotions influence your decision.

“The left side of your brain uses logic, math, and science. It is detail-oriented, where common sense rules. But the right side of your brain uses feelings and emotions and is impetuous. What the judge will be saying is that anybody with half a brain can get this case right-I know, bad pun. But maybe not somebody with a full brain.

“To do justice, especially on an emotionally charged case like this, you need to use the left side of your brain. Because if you engage that right side, your emotions will overwhelm justice. And that’s what makes it so hard to render unbiased justice-because your thoughts and ideas, whether they are primarily based on logic or emotion, all seem to come to you the same way. They all seem to come from the same source.

“It will be your job to constantly ask yourself: Logic or emotion? Facts or feelings? In this case, you must work hard to separate your common sense from your emotions. ”

A few of the more favorable jurors seemed to have relaxed their tight facial expressions, but most still looked skeptical. The visual image of Rachel Crawford had been burned into their brains-right side or left, it didn’t seem to matter.

“I will help you do that as much as I can. I want you to know that I have sympathy for Mr. Crawford too. Nobody should have to bear the silence that Ms. Starling talked about. The question here is not whether life has been fair to Mr. Crawford. The question is who should be blamed.”

Jason hesitated. This next promise was a bit of a risk, but it was a manageable risk. The conventional wisdom was that a good defense attorney wouldn’t cross-examine an innocent victim like Blake Crawford who had no factual knowledge about the event itself. Plus, Jason already had the man’s video deposition. He could play the video if he needed it.

“I don’t want Mr. Crawford to be sitting there wondering if I’m going to put him through the meat grinder on cross-examination.” Jason turned slightly and caught a glimpse of Crawford. “So I’ll tell you and him right now. When Mr. Crawford takes the stand, I’ll have no questions for cross-examination. The man has already suffered enough.”

A few of the jurors gave Jason a curious look. They hadn’t been expecting that.

Jason picked up the MD-9 firearm that Kelly had left on the exhibit table and took it back to his own counsel table. He placed it in the middle of the table, a foot or so from Case McAllister’s legal pad. He had warned Case to keep the table clear of everything else.

“I want you to keep your eye on that gun,” Jason said. “The murder weapon. The one used by Larry Jamison. Sold by Peninsula Arms. Purchased by a man named Jarrod Beeson. And manufactured by my client, MD Firearms.

“I want you to watch it closely during my entire opening statement.”