Chapter 19 Chapter Nineteen

Ashley Paterson was about to be hanged on the gallows when a policeman ran up and said, "Wait a minute, she should be electrocuted." The scene changed and she was sitting in the electric chair.A guard reached out to pull the switch when Judge Williams ran in and shouted, "No. We're going to inject her." David woke up with a start and sat up on the bed, his heart pounding.His pajamas were drenched with sweat.He started to get up and suddenly felt dizzy.He had a bad headache and he felt a little fever.He touched his forehead with his hand.His forehead was burning hot.

As David started to get out of bed, he felt dizzy. "Oh no," he moaned, "don't have a headache today. Don't have a headache now." It was the day he had been looking forward to, the day the defense would begin its case.David stumbled into the bathroom and doused his face in cold water.He looked at himself in the mirror: "You look terrible!" ※※※ When David arrived at the courthouse, Judge Williams was already sitting on the bench.Everyone is waiting for him. "I apologize for being late," David said, his voice hoarse. "May I come to you?"

"Can." David walked up to the judge, followed by Mitch Blynon. "Your Honor," said David, "I would like to ask for an adjournment." "For what reason?" "I... I don't feel well, Your Honor. I'm sure the doctor will give me something, and I'll be all right tomorrow." "Why didn't you put your assistant in your place?" Judge Williams said. David looked at her in surprise. "I don't have an assistant." "Why didn't you, Mr. Singer?" "because……" Judge Williams leaned forward. "I've never seen a homicide trial like that. You're a single-handed hero, aren't you? Well, you can't do it in this courtroom. I'll tell you something else. You probably think I should cancel my case." Disqualification because I don't believe your 'the devil made me do it' defense, but I won't disqualify myself. We're going to let the jury decide whether they find your client innocent or guilty. Is there anything else , Mr. Singer?"

David stood watching her, the room spinning.He wanted to tell her to fuck herself.He wanted to get down on his knees and beg her to be fair.He wants to go home and sleep.He said in a hoarse voice, "No. Thank you, Your Honor." Judge Williams nodded. "Mr. Singer, it is your turn. Don't waste any more time of this court." David walked to the jury box, trying to forget his headache and fever.He said slowly: "Ladies and gentlemen, you have heard the prosecution's testimony intended to make a mockery of the facts of multiple personality disorder. I believe Mr. Brannan did not intend to be so vicious. He made that statement out of ignorance. The truth is, He obviously doesn't know anything about Multiple Personality Disorder and some of the witnesses he called on the stand had the same condition. And I'm going to get some people who actually know about it to talk to you. These are reputable Doctor, you are an expert on this matter. When you hear their testimony, I believe you will have a completely different view of what Mr. Branen said.

"Mr. Branen has spoken of my client's guilt after those horrific cases. That's a very important point. Guilty. First of all, for a murder to be proven, there must be not just a culpable act but a A culpable intent. I will show you that there is no culpable intent in this case because Ashley Paterson's homicides were not in control when they happened. She had no idea they were happening. There were several well-known doctors who were going to To testify in court that Ashley Paterson has two personalities, or alter ego, one of which is in control." David watched the faces of the jurors.They seemed to dangle in front of his face.He rubbed his eyes for a while.

"The American Psychological Association recognizes Multiple Personality Disorder. So do some of the leading physicians around the world who have treated patients with the disorder. One of Ashley Paterson's multiple personalities committed homicide. But, It's a personality she can't control—an alter ego." His voice grew louder. "In order to understand the issue clearly, you have to understand that the law does not punish an innocent person. So there is a paradox here. Imagine that conjoined twins are tried for murder. The law states that if a guilty person is punished it will It is inevitable to punish another innocent person. Then, the guilty person will go unpunished." The jury listened intently.

David nodded to Ashley. "In this case we are dealing with not two but three personalities." He turned to Judge Williams. "I want to summon my first patient. Dr. Yoel Assanti." ※※※ "Doctor Assanti, where do you practice medicine?" "At Madison Hospital in New York." "Are you invited by me?" "No. I read about the trial in the papers, and I wanted to testify myself. I've been treating patients with multiple personality disorder, so I think I'd be able to help the trial if I could. Help. Multiple Personality Disorder is more common than the public realizes, so I want to try to dispel misconceptions about it."

"I'm grateful for that, doctor. Is it not uncommon in these cases to find a patient with two personalities or alter egos?" "In my experience, people with multiple personality disorder often have many more alter egos than this, sometimes as many as a hundred." Alina Tucker turned her head and whispered something to Mitch Branen.Blaine smiled. "How long have you been treating multiple personality disorder, Dr. Assanti?" "It's been fifteen years." "Is there usually a dominant alter ego in a patient with multiple personality disorder?"

"yes." Some jurors are taking notes. "So, does the host—the person with those personalities attached to it—know that other alter egos exist?" "It varies from person to person. Sometimes some alter ego knows all the other alter egos, and sometimes they only know some of them. Often, though, the host is unaware of their existence until after psychotherapy." "That's really interesting. Can multiple personality disorder be cured?" "It's often treatable. It requires long-term psychotherapy. Sometimes up to six or seven years." "Have you ever cured a patient with multiple personality disorder?"

"Oh yes." "Thank you, Doctor." David turned and looked at the jury for a moment.Interested, but not yet convinced, he thought. He looked over at Mitch Blynon. "Go ahead and ask." Blaine stood up and walked over to the witness stand. "Dr. Assanti, you testified that you flew all the way here from New York because you wanted to help the trial?" "right." "Haven't your coming here had anything to do with the fact that this is a high-profile case, and that publicity would be beneficial to..." David stood up. "Against. Controversial."

"invalid objection." Dr. Assanti said calmly, "I have already said why I am here." "Yes. Since you have been practicing medicine, doctor, tell me, how many patients with mental disorders have you cured?" "Uh, about two hundred." "Of those cases, how many would you say were multiple personality disorders?" "A dozen cases..." Bryant looked at him in feigned surprise. "From two hundred patients?" "Uh, yes. Look..." "What I don't understand, Dr. Assanti, is how you can consider yourself an expert if you've only dealt with so many cases. If you'd like to give us some evidence that either proves or disproves the existence of multiple personality disorder, I would be very grateful." "When you talk about evidence..." "We're in court, doctor. Juries don't make verdicts based on theory and 'what if. After that, I decided to use the alter ego in her as an excuse so that she..." David stood up. "Against! That statement is contested and leading witnesses." "invalid objection." "Your Honor……" "Sit down, Mr. Singer." David glared at Judge Williams and sat down angrily. "So what you're telling us, Doctor, is that there is no evidence that will either prove or disprove the existence of multiple derangement?" "Uh, no. But..." Blaine nodded, "That's all." ※※※ Dr. Lois Salem took the witness stand. David said, "Dr. Salem, have you checked Ashley Paterson?" "I checked." "Then what is your conclusion?" "Miss Paterson suffers from Multiple Personality Disorder. She has two alter egos who call themselves Toni Prescott and Aliette Peters." "Does she have any power over them?" "Not at all. When they took control, she was in a fugue amnesia." "Can you explain that, Dr. Salem?" "Fugue amnesia is a condition in which the patient does not know where they are or what they are doing. It can last for minutes, days or weeks." "During that time, would you say that person was responsible for his or her actions?" "No." "Thank you, Doctor." He turned to Branen. "Go ahead and ask." Brennan said, "Dr. Salem, are you a consultant to several hospitals and you teach all over the world?" "Yes, sir." "I presume that your colleagues are talented and able doctors?" "Yes, I'd say they are." "So they're all in agreement on multiple personality disorder?" "No." "No? What do you mean?" "Some of them disagree." "You mean, they don't believe it exists?" "yes." "But they were wrong and you were right?" "I've treated such patients, so I know there's something like this. When..." "Let me ask you something. If there was such a thing as multiple personality disorder, would there always be an alter ego in charge of telling the host what to do? The alter ego said 'kill him' and the host would Followed?" "It doesn't have to be. I have varying degrees of influence by not asking." "So the host can be responsible?" "Of course, sometimes." "Most of the time?" "cannot." "Doctor, where is the evidence for the existence of multiple personality disorder?" "I have witnessed the complete physical transformation of patients under hypnosis, and I know..." "And that's the basis of the facts?" "yes." "Doctor Salem, if I hypnotized you in a warm room and told you that you were naked in an arctic blizzard, would your temperature drop?" "Uh, yes, but..." "Just ask here." ※※※ David went to the witness stand. "Dr. Salem, is there in your mind the slightest suspicion that these alter egos exist in Ashley Paterson?" "Not at all. And they're perfectly capable of taking power and dominating her." "And she doesn't know anything about it?" "She doesn't know anything about it." "Thank you." "I want to subpoena Shane Miller to the witness stand." David watched him take the oath. "What do you do, Mr. Miller?" "I'm a supervisor for Universal Computer Graphics." "How long have you worked there?" "About seven years." "Was Ashley Paterson employed there?" "yes." "Did she work under your supervision?" "yes." "So you know her fairly well?" "right." "Mr. Miller, you have heard doctors testify that some of the symptoms of multiple personality disorder are suspiciousness, nervousness, anxiety. Have you ever noticed any of these symptoms in Miss Paterson?" "Uh, I..." "Didn't Miss Paterson tell you that she felt someone was following her?" "Yes. She did." "And she had no idea who that might be, or why anyone would do something like that?" "right." "Didn't she say once that someone used her computer to threaten her with an image of a knife?" "yes." "And did it get so bad that you ended up sending her to the psychiatrist who works for your company, Dr. Spiekman?" "yes." "So Ashley Paterson does exhibit the symptoms we're talking about?" "right." "Thank you, Mr. Miller." David turned to Mitch Branen, "Go ahead and ask." ※※※ "How many employees are under your direct supervision, Mr. Miller?" "thirty." "And out of thirty employees, is Ashley Paterson the only one you've ever seen getting emotionally upset?" "Uh, no..." "Oh, really?" "Everyone gets emotionally irritable at times." "You mean, other employees have to see your company psychiatrist too?" "Oh, sure. They keep him pretty busy." Brannon seemed impressed. "Is that so?" "Yeah, a lot of them have problems. Hey, they're all human." "No more questions." "Ask directly again." David approached the witness stand. "Mr. Miller, you just said that some of your employees have problems. What kind of problems?" "Uh, maybe it's about arguing with your boyfriend or husband..." "anything else?" "Or it will be about the economy..." "anything else?" "Or their kids make them mad..." "In other words, are these normal family problems that any of us might face?" "yes." "But no one went to see Dr. Spiekerman because they felt they were being followed, or because they thought someone was threatening to kill them?" "No." "Thank you." At lunchtime, the court adjourned. ※※※ David drove through the park in a car, depressed.The trial went badly.The doctors were unable to conclude whether multiple personality disorder existed.If they can't even agree, David thought, how can I get a jury to agree?I can't let anything happen to Ashley.I can not.He drove up to a restaurant near the courthouse, Harrods, parked his car, and went in.The waitress smiled at him. "Good afternoon, Mr. Singer." He is famous.Notorious? "This way please." He followed her to a cubicle and sat down.The waitress handed him the menu, kept smiling, and walked away, her hips twitching provocatively.Celebrity privilege, David thought to himself. He wasn't hungry, but he could hear Sandra's voice saying, "You've got to eat something to keep you strong." In the compartment next to him were two men and two women.One of the men was saying, "She's a lot worse than Lizzy Bolton. Bolton only killed two people." Another man, Byun, said, "But she didn't castrate them." "What do you think they'll do with her?" "Are you kidding? Of course she will be sentenced to death." "It's too bad this hag can't be sentenced to death three times." That's the public talking, David thought.He has a very depressing feeling that if he walks around the restaurant, he will hear comments that are more or less the same.Brannon had made her into a monster.He could hear Queller: "If you don't put her on the stand, that's the image that jurors have in their minds when they walk into the jury room to make their verdict." I had to take the risk.I had to let the jurors see for themselves that Ashley was telling the truth. The waitress came to him. "Are you ready to order, Mr. Singer?" "I've changed my mind," David said. "I'm not hungry." He could feel those malevolent eyes following him as he stood up and walked out of the restaurant.I hope they don't have guns, David thought.