Chapter 17 Chapter Seventeen

"Jess?" "David, I know I shouldn't interfere, but I think you should ask for a mistrial." "What happened?" "Have you been on the Internet in the past few days?" "No. I've been busy." "Well, this trial is all over the damn Internet. And in the chat room, that's what they're all talking about." "That makes sense," said Davy, "but what's the..." "It's all bad, David. They're saying Ashley is guilty and she should be put to death, and they're saying it so vividly. You can't believe how vicious they are."

Suddenly realizing something, David said, "Oh my God! If any of the jurors get online..." "It's likely that some of them are online and they're going to be affected. If it were me, I'd ask for a mistrial, or at least quarantine the jurors." "Thanks, Jess, I'll do that." David put the receiver back.When he came back to the restaurant where Sandra was waiting, she asked, "Bad?" "very bad." ※※※ Before court the next day, David asked to see Judge Williams.He was ushered into her office, with Mitch Branen. "You asked to see me?"

"Yes, Your Honor. I learned last night that this trial has become the number one topic on the Internet, it's the central topic of conversation in all the chat rooms, and they've found the accused guilty. It's very biased. I file a motion for mistrial because I am convinced that some jurors have computers with Internet access, or have talked to friends with Internet access, which would seriously harm the defense." She thought for a while. "Motion denied." David sat there, desperately restraining himself. "Then I file a motion for the immediate sequestration of the jury so that..."

"Mr. Singer, every day the journalists come out to court in full force. This trial is the number one topic on TV, radio and newspapers all over the world. I warned you it was going to be a circus and you didn't want to hear it. ' She leaned forward. "Well, here's your circus, and if you want to sequester the jury, you should have moved the motion long before the trial. And even then, I probably won't grant it. Anything else? " David sat there, his stomach churning violently: "No more, Your Honor." "Then let's go to court." ※※※ Mitch Blaine consults Sheriff Dorian.

"Did Sheriff Blake call you to tell you that he was going to spend the night at the defendant's apartment to protect her? Did she tell him that someone was threatening her life?" "right." "When did you get another call from Sheriff Blake?" "I...I didn't. I got a call in the morning that his...his body was found in the alley behind Miss Paterson's apartment building." "Of course you went there right away?" "certainly." "So what did you find?" He stammered: "Sam's body was wrapped in a blood-stained sheet. Like the other two victims, he was stabbed and castrated."

"Like the other two victims? So all these murders were committed in the same way?" "Yes, sir." "As if they were killed by the same man?" David stood up. "be opposed to." "The objection is valid." "I take that back. What did you do next, Sheriff?" "Well, Ashley Paterson wasn't a suspect until then. But after this case, we caught her and took her fingerprints." "and then?" "We sent them to the FBI, and we got a positive identification of her." "Can you explain to the jury what you mean by positive identification?"

Sheriff Dowling turns to the jury. "Her fingerprints matched some of the fingerprints on file that were taken from the scenes of previous homicides." "Thank you, Sheriff." Blynon turned to David. "Go ahead and ask." David stood up and walked over to the witness stand. "Magistrate, as we have heard in this court testimony, a bloodstained knife was found in Miss Paterson's kitchen." "That's right." "How is it hidden? Wrapped in something? Hidden in a place where it cannot be found?" "No. It's just exposed."

"It was exposed. It was put there by a man who had nothing to hide. This man was innocent because..." "be opposed to." "The objection is valid." "No more questions." "Witnesses can go down." Branen said, "If the court will allow..." He went into the back of the courtroom and beckoned to someone, and a man in overalls came in, holding the piece from Ashley Paterson's medicine cabinet Glass, on it, written in red lipstick: YOU WILL DIED. David stood up. "what is this?" Judge Williams turned to Mitch Branham. "Mr. Branen?"

"This is the bait the defendant used to lure the sheriff's adjutant to her apartment so she could kill him: I'd like to number this the fourth exhibit. It came from the defendant's medicine cabinet." "No, Your Honor. It has nothing to do with the case." "I'll prove there's a connection." "We'll see. Now, you start." Takerai was able to place the mirror where the jury could see it clearly, "This mirror was taken from the defendant's bathroom." He looked at the jurors, "As you can see, it says 'You are going to die'. It was the defendant's excuse for having Adjutant Blake go to her apartment that night to protect her." He turned to Judge Williams, "I want to call my next witness, Miss Laura Niven."

A middle-aged woman came to the witness stand on crutches and was sworn in. "Where do you work, Miss Niven?" "I'm a counselor for San Jose County." "What do you do?" "I'm a handwriting expert." "How many years have you worked for the county, Miss Niven?" "Twenty-two years." Blaine nodded to the mirror. "Has someone shown you this mirror before this?" "yes." "Have you checked it?" "Checked." "Did anyone else show you a sample of the defendant's handwriting?"

"yes." "So there was a chance to check it too?" "yes." "So did you compare the two?" "Compare." "Then what is your conclusion?" "They were written by the same one." Everyone in the court gasped in unison. "So what you're saying is that Ashley Paterson wrote the threat to herself?" "right." Bryant looked over at David. "Go ahead and ask." David hesitated. He glanced at Ashley.She was staring at the table, shaking her head. "no problem." Judge Williams looked at David. "No problem, Mr. Singer?" David stood up. "No. All this testimony is meaningless." He turned to the jury. "What the prosecution has to do is prove that Ashley Paterson knew the victims ① (Note: The original text here is the defendants [those defendants], suspected to be the author's clerical error, pretending to change.—Annotation), and had a motive go……" Judge Williams said angrily: "I've warned you before. This is not the place for you to teach the law to a jury. If..." "Somebody's gotta tell it," Davey exploded, "you're distracting him..." "Enough, Mr. Singer. Come to me." David walked up to the judge. "I'm summoning you for contempt of court, and I'm going to sentence you to spend a night in our beautiful prison after this case is over." "Wait a minute, Your Honor. You can't..." She said harshly, "I've already sentenced you to one night in prison. Would you like to try two nights?" David stood where he was, glaring at her, panting. "For my client's sake, I will... I will control my emotions." "A sensible decision," Judge Williams said briefly, "to adjourn." She turned to the bailiff. "I want you to take Mr. Singer into custody at the close of this case." "Yes, Your Honor." Ashley turned to Sandra. "Oh my God! What's going on here?" Sandra clutched her arm. "Don't worry. You have to trust David." ※※※ Sandra called Jess Queller. "I've heard it," he said. "It's been on the news, Sandra. I don't blame David for losing his temper. She's been prodding him since the beginning. What the hell did David do to make her so Can't you go with him?" "I don't know, Jess. It's horrible. You should see the faces of those jurors. They hate Ashley. They can't wait to convict her. Well, the defense witnesses come in next. Day Will change their minds." "Keep that expectation going." ※※※ "Judge Williams hates me, Sandra, and it's hurting Ashley. If I don't do something about it, Ashley will die. I can't let that happen." "What can you do?" Sandra said. David took a deep breath. "Get out of the case." They both knew exactly what that meant.The media would declare him a failure. "I should never have agreed to take over this case," said David ruefully. "Dr. Paterson trusted me to save his daughter's life, and I've..." He broke off. Sandra wrapped her arms around him, drawing him close to her. "Don't worry, honey. Everything will have a happy ending." I've let everyone down, Javie thinks Ashley, Sandra... I'm going to be kicked out of the company, I'm going to lose my job, and the baby is coming soon, "everything will have a happy ending." right. ※※※ In the morning, David asked to meet with Judge Williams in her office.Mitch Blycan was there. Judge Williams said: "You asked to see me, Mr Singer?" "Yes, Your Honor. I would like to withdraw from this case." Judge Williams said: "On what grounds?" David said cautiously: "I don't think I'm the right lawyer for this trial. I think I'm doing my client a disservice. I want to be replaced." Judge Williams said calmly: "Mr Singer, if you think I will let you walk away from this case and then have to start the trial all over again and waste more time and money, you are very wrong. Wrong. The answer is no, do you understand me?" David closed his eyes for a moment, forced himself to remain calm, raised his head, and said, "Yes, Your Honor. I understand you." He is stuck.