Trial Junkies

— 10 -

When the defendant made her first appearance in court, nearly four months ago, the judge asked her if she was willing to waive her right to a speedy trial.

Under state and federal statutes, once a suspect was arrested, the court had a hundred and twenty days to put her in front of a judge and jury. The idea being that they didn't want a prisoner rotting in jail for a decade before anyone remembered she was there.

If the defendant waived that right, and was free on bail, a few weeks or even months were tacked on to the deadline to accommodate the court's schedule and give the prosecution and defense additional time to prepare for trial.

This could work to the advantage of both parties.

But because Ronnie had been charged with a capital offense, bail was set at two million dollars, and there was little chance she'd be able to raise the ten percent bond to set her free. So not only had she offered the judge a resounding "Not Guilty" at her arraignment, she had demanded that she get her day in court as soon as the law permitted.

Today was that day.

Hutch knew all of this because he'd been at that arraignment. Sat in the back of the courtroom as she gave her plea.

That night outside The Monkey House he had stood there speechless as the police had recited Ronnie's Miranda rights and escorted her to the cruiser, Ronnie glancing back at him with wide, unblinking eyes, as if to say, get me out of this-please.

And that had been Hutch's first instinct. To help her.

He couldn't fathom why they'd be charging her with Jenny's murder. At the time, it just didn't make any sense to him. He had immediately run inside to tell the others, then they all jumped into their cars and headed down to central booking, where Hutch had every intention of bailing Ronnie out.

But when they got there, they had been turned away, told that the police would be holding her until her arraignment three days later. Nobody was allowed to see or speak to her, except for her lawyer.

But what lawyer?

Hutch doubted she had one on retainer.

Still in a state of denial, he had decided he'd find her a good one. But then Nadine and Tom Brandt pulled him aside in the station house lobby and Nadine said, "You sure you want to do that?"

Hutch had frowned at her. "What do you mean?"

"We were talking about this on the ride over. And let's face it, like Matt told us, the cops have had somebody in mind for this for several days now. They wouldn't have arrested her if they didn't think she was guilty."

"We're talking about Ronnie, remember? Our Ronnie."

"She hasn't been our Ronnie for years. And if you don't think she's capable of this, don't forget that story she told us back in college. About how she sent her mother to the emergency room."

"With a kitchen knife," Tom said.

Hutch remembered the story and shook his head. "She was defending herself. Brought the knife up when her mother went to slap her. She was doing the dishes at the time."

"That's her side of it," Nadine said. "Maybe her mother has a different story."

Tom nodded. "Let's look at this logically. By her own admission Ronnie has a history of violence, she and Jenny never really got along, and Ronnie herself said they'd been in contact recently."

Hutch balked. "One night. At a play."

"Maybe it's been more than that."

"Even if that's true, why would she kill Jenny? What's the motive?"

Nadine thought it over, shrugged. "Envy, maybe?"

"Envy?"

"Jenny was everyone's golden girl, and look at Ronnie. She's a dog groomer, for godsakes."

"So? You're a real estate developer, Tom's a professor, I'm a washed-up actor. What's the difference? We're all servicing somebody."

Nadine studied him impatiently. "That isn't how Ronnie sees it, okay? She was envious of Jenny. First with you-"

"Me?"

"Don't pretend you don't know she always had a crush on you. But that's just part of it. She looked at Jenny and saw the life she wanted but would never get."

"So she kills her?"

"Maybe she cracked. Maybe she's had issues for years and they all just came to the surface when she saw Jenny at the Godwyn."

Hutch couldn't believe what he was hearing. "You're serious about this."

"All I know is about a month before the murder, she called me out of the blue and started rambling on about Jenny. Sounded a little obsessive and borderline incoherent."

"Or maybe she was just drunk," Hutch said. "Believe me, I know the territory."

"Maybe. But as much as I hate to say it, the first name that popped into my head when I found out about the stabbing, was Ronnie's."

"It all fits together if you ask me," Tom said.

Hutch shifted his gaze between the two of them. "Are you even listening to yourselves? We all envied Jenny, we've all done some crazy shit, and by your logic, any one of us could have killed her."

Tom nodded, looking solemn. "Except Ronnie's the one they arrested."