Bicycle Shop Murder 10

It was Wednesday, 9:05 AM. Greg Tenorly and his eleven fellow jurors were in their places. He tried to forget Troy Block­erman was sitting three seats away. The prosecutor, the Assis­tant D.A., and the defendant and his attorney were at their respective tables. Everyone was waiting for Judge Ragsdale to appear.

A young woman walked hurriedly into the courtroom and whispered something to Angela Hammerly. By the time the woman made her departure, all eyes were on her.

The bailiff shouted, “All rise. Court is now in session. The Honorable Judge Rayburn Ragsdale presiding.”

Unlike some judges, who rushed to the bench in an effort to minimize the showiness of their entrance, Judge Ragsdale moved slowly, almost majestically, to the bench.

No sooner than everyone sat down, Angela Hammerly said, “Your Honor, sidebar?”

The judge motioned for the two attorneys to come to the bench. Greg strained his above-average hearing, but only caught bits and pieces, which he could not assemble into any­thing coherent. Judge Ragsdale seemed very disturbed by what­ever Ms. Hammerly was saying.

As the lawyers returned to their seats, the judge said, “The Court is saddened to have to inform you that Arabeth Albertson, who testified in this courtroom yesterday, was found dead this morning in her back yard. A neighbor discovered her body. Apparently she tripped and fell down the stairs sometime last night.”

Kyle Serpentine wasted no time. “Your Honor, with all due respect, in light of the fact that the prosecution’s only witness is not able to complete her testimony, and the fact that her tes­timony is the only evidence submitted by the District Attorney, I move that all charges against my client be dropped.”

Angela Hammerly was holding up a piece of paper. “Your Honor, we have the report from Mrs. Albertson’s eye exam yes­terday. Her corrected vision was excellent. And we know that she was wearing her glasses on the night in question. So, she would have had no problem seeing the defendant.”

Judge Ragsdale said, “Mr. Serpentine, your motion is denied. The jury has already heard the bulk of Mrs. Albertson’s testi­mony, and—”

“—but, Your Honor, I wanted to do a demonstration for the court to check her vision in low light. Older people have more trouble seeing at night.”

“It’s not a good practice to interrupt me when I’m speak­ing, counselor. You would do well to remember that.”

“Yes, Your Honor. I apologize,” Kyle said—but not very con­vincingly.

“The trial shall proceed, Mr. Serpentine.” The judge glared at Kyle Serpentine over the top of his glasses. “You’ll have an opportunity to make your argument to the jury about the night vision of us older folks. Ms. Hammerly, do you have any fur­ther witnesses?”

“No, Your Honor.”

“Okay, then the defense may call their first witness.” The judge leaned back in his plush, high-backed chair.

Kyle Serpentine quickly regained his composure and stood. “The defense would like to call Ella Jamison to the stand.”

Ella Jamison was 45, but looked at least ten years older. Per­haps it was Kantrell who added those extra years to her face.

Kyle Serpentine began what was obviously a rehearsed exchange. “Mrs. Jamison, please tell the court what your rela­tionship is to the defendant.”

“I’m his mother.”

“Do you know where your son, Kantrell, was on the night of April 1, 2006?”

“Yes. He was with me and my daughter, Jolee, all night.”

“And where were you? At home?”

“Yes, we were watching a movie.”

“Okay. About what time did the movie start and when did it end?”

“It was a DVD. We started it at around seven. The movie was over two hours long.”

“Are you saying that you, your daughter, and Kantrell were together for the entire time?”

“Yes. From about seven until after nine.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jamison.” Kyle made eye contact with the jury before walking to his seat.

Angela Hammerly scribbled something on a pad and slid it over to A.D.A., Andrea Newly. Then she addressed Ella Jami­son from her seat.

“You testified that you were watching a DVD. Can you remember the name of the movie?” She stood and walked to the witness stand.

“Yes, of course—it was Narnia. Jolee and I really liked it, but Kantrell was not too thrilled with it. But he still watched it all with us.”

“I see. Now, what kind of movie is that?”

“You know—it had the lion and other animals that were animated, but the people were real. I think it was a Disney movie.”

“Right. And you are certain that The Chronicles of Narnia is the DVD you watched on the night of April 1, 2006?”

Ella Jamison would not be intimidated by the D.A. “Yes. I’m sure.”

Angela Hammerly looked back to Andrea Newly, who was holding up her PDA. She walked over the Andrea and took the device from her hand. She was trying not to smile as she stud­ied it and walked back to the witness stand.

“Mrs. Jamison, this fancy electronic gadget can access the internet wirelessly. Now, I’ll confess that I don’t know much about these things, but the Assistant District Attorney does.” She nodded in Andrea’s direction. “And she’s looked up some information about the movie, The Chronicles of Narnia. You have testified that you, your daughter and Kantrell were watching the Narnia DVD on April 1st, yet that DVD was not released until April 4th. How do you explain that, Ma’am?”

Kyle Serpentine looked as though he wanted to object.

“I don’t know. That must be wrong.” Ella appeared a bit shaken.

Ms. Hammerly stared at Ella for a few moments, as though she expected further explanation. Then she turned toward the jury. “I see. I have nothing further for this witness, Your Honor.”

“Mr. Serpentine, redirect?”

“Yes, Your Honor.” He got up and walked toward the wit­ness stand. “Mrs. Jamison, where did you get the DVD that you and your family watched on the night of April 1st?”

“I believe that Jolee had borrowed it from a friend.”

“So, it could have been a pirated copy—an illegal copy of the movie that someone got off the internet. It could have been downloaded before the DVD was officially released, right?”

“I guess so. I don’t know where Jolee’s friend got it.”

“Thank you, Mrs. Jamison. We appreciate your testimony here today.” Kyle Serpentine walked back to his seat.