The Justice Game

70

After lunch, Kelly put Blake Crawford on the stand to tell his story. His lips forced a smile or two as he talked about Rachel, but his eyes never joined in. The dark circles under them reflected a lifetime of sadness at the age of thirty-two.

Kelly walked Blake through several old videos and still photos to illustrate the life and times of Rachel Crawford. Blake was careful not to turn his wife into a saint. Rachel had an ornery side, he said-that was part of the reason he loved her. But she also had this sense of justice. If the good Lord intended for Rachel to die young, then at least she died while fighting for something she believed in-the rights of young international students who fell victim to Larry Jamison’s human-trafficking schemes.

Kelly had provided Blake with a general outline of the questions she would be asking, but she hadn’t gone over them word for word. She wanted the testimony to be spontaneous, and she was hearing many of the answers herself for the very first time. As she listened, she realized that she had been so focused on Blake as a client that she had really not spent much time thinking about Rachel.

“You quoted Martin Luther King Jr. in your opening statement,” Blake said. “One of the things that motivated Rachel was another quote from Dr. King: ‘Injustice anywhere is a threat to justice everywhere.’ It’s why she did investigative reports on people like Larry Jamison.”

At that moment, Kelly realized how much she and Rachel were alike. Their mutual desire to help the poor and oppressed. Their crusader mentality. Even the focus on this particular issue: human trafficking.

A few minutes later, as Blake struggled to explain what it was like not having Rachel in the house, he choked up, fighting back emotion. Kelly felt tears stinging her own eyes, both in sympathy for Blake and in the stark recognition that Blake and Rachel had enjoyed something together that Kelly had never experienced.

“Do you need to take a break?” she asked.

He shook his head, as she knew he would. “I’m sorry,” he said. Kelly could tell every jury member wanted to tell him there was no need to apologize. “I just miss her so much.”

Kelly let that statement linger and then started a series of questions about the plans Blake and Rachel had for a family. It was the part of Blake’s testimony that Kelly had been dreading most, but she found it easier to get through than she had anticipated.

At the end of nearly three hours of testimony, interrupted by only one fifteen-minute break, Kelly circled back to Rachel’s quest for justice.

“Did that sense of who Rachel was-the way she fought for fairness and justice-did that impact your decision to file this suit?”

Kelly half expected an objection from Jason, but her opponent hadn’t objected once during the entire testimony. He sat there in his chair next to his client, legal pad on his lap, looking both pitiful and silly as he tried to make do without a table to write on.

“I’m not one for conflict and confrontation,” Blake said. “I believe in forgiveness. But if we can save one other family from going through this kind of pain, it will be worth it. I know it’s what Rachel would have wanted me to do.”

“No further questions,” Kelly said, returning to her seat.

Jason stood up at his chair and didn’t even move toward the witness. “I’m sorry for your loss, Mr. Crawford.”

“Thank you.”

“Your Honor, I have no questions for this witness.”

During the remaining hour of court on Wednesday, Kelly called Bob Thomas, the WDXR news director, to the stand. She wanted to end the first day strong and emblazon that video footage on the jury’s mind.

Thomas had been in the studio when Jamison entered, and it was Thomas who had called 911 for help. After the initial round of shooting, he had been hiding from Jamison behind some equipment. While plotting a strategy to thwart Jamison, Thomas had been pointed out by Lisa Roberts. After that, he had gone into the control booth to make sure the WDXR feed was live on the air as Jamison had demanded.

He described in vivid detail how he had watched Jamison threaten both Lisa and Rachel with his gun, spewing his vitriol for the live television audience. Thomas described how helpless he felt and how it seemed like forever before the SWAT team arrived. At the end of his testimony, Kelly asked him to identify the tape and then introduced it into evidence. At a few minutes before five, she asked the judge if she could show the tape to the jury again.

Jason stood. “They’ve already seen it once, Judge. How many times are we going to make them watch it?”

“I’m entitled to show it once during opening and again during the case,” Kelly said.

“I don’t think it’s changed any,” Jason countered. “And the jury’s got a pretty good memory. But if you insist, I’ll withdraw my objection.”

You jerk, Kelly thought. Jason’s well-timed objection had just blunted the effectiveness of her second showing. Now it looked like Kelly was just trying to play to the jury’s emotions.

Which, of course, she was.

Still, she had no choice but to roll the tape a second time. She noticed that the jury’s reaction was more muted this time. Halfway through, she wished she had saved it for closing.

The tape concluded at a few minutes after five. “No more questions,” Kelly said.

Judge Garrison looked at Jason. “Shall we save cross-examination for tomorrow?”

Jason stood and shrugged. “Actually, I only have a few quick questions. No sense making the witness come back a second day.”

Garrison frowned. “Make it quick.”

Jason positioned himself in the middle of the courtroom. “So if I understand this correctly, for a while you were hiding from Jamison.”

“That’s correct.”

“How far away-ten feet, twenty?”

“I don’t know; probably more like thirty or forty.”

“Okay. Did Jamison ever have his back turned toward you?”

“Yeah. Once or twice.”

“Do you own a gun, Mr. Thomas?”

“No.”

“On that particular day, do you wish you’d had a gun?”

The witness hesitated, shifting in his seat. “I wish I could have done something to stop that madman. So, yes, I guess I would have liked to have had a gun.”

“No further questions,” Jason said, returning to his seat.

Before he sat down, Kelly was on her feet. “Redirect, Your Honor. Just one question.”

Garrison nodded.

“On that day, Mr. Thomas, do you wish Larry Jamison had not had a gun?”

“Oh, most definitely.”