Chapter 13 Chapter Eleven Trial

For the past few weeks, I've found myself mired in the depths of disappointment, a blur, only a sliver of life, but that ray of life is so dark and sinister.I kept repeating the phrase in my head: Aaron Dow was doomed.I was floating around Clay's house like a ghost, wishing sincerely that I was dead, and Jeremy presumably caught on to my depression and left me alone. I didn't pay much attention to what was going on around me, and my father stuck to Mr. Wren's back all day, discussing with Mark Collier again and again. As the day of Aaron Dow's trial settled, I found the old gentleman trying to pull himself together for a good historical crusade.Occasionally seeing him, he would keep his lips tightly shut in silence.Apparently, he had pinned all his hopes on Collier, and then traveled around the city of Leeds himself, arranging local doctors to go to court to help the defendant conduct experiments; trying to break the veil of silence of the prosecutor's office, with little success.And finally telegraphed to New York City, urging his own doctor, Dr. Martini, to come to upstate New York for the trial.

All this work kept him and my father busy while I sat and waited, which was brutal torture.Several times I planned to visit Alan Deo in the cell, but I couldn't get in. I was blocked in the reception room of the detention center.If I follow Curlier, I should be able to go there. He is the defendant's lawyer and of course has the right to visit his client, but I still hesitate.I don't know why, I don't like this lawyer, and I always feel a little repulsed at the thought of being with Collier and facing Dow face to face in the cell. The days passed slowly, and "that day" finally came. The reporters and correspondents of the newspaper, the crowds in the streets, the hawkers, the restaurants full of people, and the lively discussions among the public, the trial unfolded in this carnival-like hustle and bustle. .From the outset, the whole situation was filled with drama, as an unexpected animosity developed between the prosecutor and the defendant's lawyer, and the guilt of the defendant became a secondary issue.Perhaps because of some uneasiness or hesitation of conscience, the young Hume shied away from coming forward directly and assigned one of his assistant prosecutors, Sweet, to prosecute the case.Sweet and Collier put all their strength into court as soon as they appeared in court, biting each other's neck like two hungry wolves in front of the judge.I believe they are sworn enemies, at least based on how they treated each other in court.They questioned each other in the worst terms, and were repeatedly reprimanded by the judge for inappropriate words and deeds.

On the other hand, I also saw from the beginning how hopeless the whole thing was.When selecting jurors, Currier fought mechanically to the end, which made the whole process extremely boring. As a result, it took three days just to select jurors.I've been avoiding looking at that miserable little old man, huddled in the dock, staring at the judge with wide-eyed eyes, glaring at Sweet and his entourage, muttering to himself now and then, and every few minutes He turned his head, as if trying to find a benevolent face.I knew, and the silent old man sitting next to me also knew who Alan Deo was looking for. His silent plea for help made me very uncomfortable, and also deepened the wrinkles on Mr. Wren's face.

We were sitting in the back of the press box with Elihu Clay and Jeremy and not far across the aisle was Dr. Ella Fawcett, twirling her short beard , while exaggeratedly sighing, trying to arouse the sympathy of the masses.I also noticed that Fanny Cather was sitting in the back of the gallery, very quiet, as if afraid of being noticed.Father Muir and Warden Magnus sat in the back, while I caught a glimpse of Carmichael sitting quietly to the left. When a jury, satisfactory to both defense attorneys and prosecutors, was finally selected and sworn in, we rested our minds and waited for the trial to proceed.Don't have to wait long, when Sweet uses circumstantial evidence to cast a net for Deub, and we know right away who has the upper hand.He called several witnesses to lay out the facts of the crime.After Chief Kenyon, Dr. Bull, and several other routine testimony, Carmichael was called to the witness stand. His solemn and polite attitude made Sweet think that the man in front of him was a fool for a while, but Carmichael quickly brought Sweet to his senses and proved himself a resourceful witness.I turned to see the dark lines forming on Dr. Fawcett's face.

The "secretary" played his role impeccably.He simply stated what he knew, and kept forcing Sweet to repeat questions in more specific terms, so that before the trial got to the point, Sweet began to lose his breath... Carmichael's testimony mentioned The half of the wooden box and the signature "Allen D'O" scrawled in pencil are among the exhibits. Warden Magnus then took the witness stand and repeated his testimony regarding Senator Fawcett's visit to the Algonquin Prison, though most of the testimony was taken off the record after Collier's vigorous protest. , but apparently had an indelible effect on the jury—most of whom were successful gray-haired farmers or businessmen.

The trial lasted several days, and the situation couldn't be more clear.When Sweet's preliminary arguments came to an end, his task of convicting the accused was arguably accomplished.From the constant nodding of the journalists' heads, and from the anxious and focused faces of the jury, I can already feel the atmosphere that the prosecution has completed its task. On the surface, Mark Collier was not disturbed by the ominous atmosphere in the courtroom. He continued to work calmly, and I quickly understood what he was thinking.He, my father, and Mr. Wren had decided that the only way to make the defense work was to simply state the details on which our theory was based, and then to draw the corollary to the jury.I can also see that the jurors selected by Collier before are quite smart. During the initial review, as long as any candidate juror showed a tendency to be dull, he would immediately find various excuses to reject it, so he selected A jury of fairly high intellectual quality.

Lawyer Collier laid the groundwork for the camp step by step. He summoned Carmichael to sit on the witness stand, and Carmichael explained publicly for the first time that he had snooped outside the house on the night of the murder, saw the masked mysterious visitor, and that the murder took place. During that time, only one person entered or exited the house.Sweet made a point of cross-examining Carmichael's testimony, asking questions that I feared would lead to unfavorable answers; yet Carmichael calmly explained that he hadn't revealed it before because he feared losing his job— —and then deftly concealed his real mission of spying on the late Senator.I turned my head to look at Dr. Fawcett, his face was like a cloud before a storm, and I knew immediately that Carmichael's private investigation work for the government must be discontinued immediately.

The absurd farce continued, and Dr. Bull, Kenyon, my father, and experts from the local police department all - testified - gradually built up the foundations of my theory, and when Curlier deviously let everyone When the facts were duly recorded, he called Alan Dow to the witness stand. He couldn't have looked more wretched: terrified, licking his lips, murmuring oaths, stooping in his chair, his only one eye frightened. Collier quickly started questioning, and it was obvious that Deo had already received guidance. The question and answer focused on Deo's previous conviction for manslaughter ten years ago, and blocked the assistant prosecutor's way first, lest it would be his turn to question later, It will be used to make a big fuss and lead to testimony against the defendant.Sweet protested loudly on each issue, but when Currier gently pointed out that there was no need to protest on these issues that established the basis for the defense, Sweet's protests were dismissed by the judge one by one.

"Judge, gentlemen of the jury, I will prove," he said quietly, "that Senator Fawcett was stabbed to death by a right-handed man, and that the defendant was left-handed." We've reached a point where we can win; will the jury accept the opinion of the medical experts we've brought in?Did Sweet come prepared?I looked at his pale yellow face, and my heart sank.With the patience of a hunter, he was waiting for a showdown. Everything was over, the smoke of the war dissipated, and I sat blankly in my seat.Our experts!They screwed things up so badly that even Mr. Lane's personal doctor, a big-name medical practitioner, couldn't convince the jury.

Because Sweet also recruited a group of experts, and these people continued to question the theory that "when a person becomes right-handed, then he will also change from right-footed to left-footed", and a large number of doctors Their long and tedious testimonies ended in a stalemate, with each doctor sitting on the witness box overturning the previous one, and the poor jury had no idea which side was right. Time and time again, Mark Collier brilliantly simplifies our theories with care; but Sweet's rebuttals shatter them all.In desperation, Collier summoned Mr. Lane, me, and my father to the witness stand, hoping that the testimony of our experiments in Dow's cell would salvage the crushed opinion of the experts.Sweet, eager to accept the challenge, fought back violently during cross-examination, twisting our words and calling for another witness, the evil-looking guard at the detention center.

The guy viciously accused us of conspiring with rehearsals of foot reaction and Dow in advance, and Collier protested sharply, pulling the thinning hair on his head, and only missed the use of force on Sweet, but I knew that the damage had been done.The jury fell the other way, believing Sweet's charges to be true - and I sat for the next few hours just to see poor Alan D'O take the witness stand again and obediently use his The left hand pinches, hits, and holds; then steps on things, first with both feet, then with the left foot, then with the right foot—using various positions and doing various movements. In the end, he Panting, frightened, irritated, and very angry, he seemed to prefer to be convicted than to be tortured again.All this deepens the atmosphere of pessimism and uncertainty. When Collier gave closing arguments on the final day of the trial, we all knew the game was over.He had fought an uphill battle and lost it, and he knew it himself.However, he showed a tough side. I think that although he was defeated, he really did his best in return for the generous legal fees. "I want to tell you," he yelled at the listless and bewildered jury, "if you send this man to the electric chair, you will deal the worst blow to judicial and medical authority in twenty years! This case against the accused , was concocted by the prosecution's cleverness but fallacies, and it was a coincidence of fate that produced all kinds of reasonable circumstantial evidence to trap the poor fool. You have heard the testimony of experts, no matter where he is, he will appear Yu instinctively stamped out the burning paper with his left foot, but you already know that the murderer stamped it out with his right foot; moreover, only one person entered that room that night. How can you doubt that the accused is innocent Yes? Mr. Sweet is quite smart, but too smart. No matter how many experts he finds to testify against it, I will say that the main defense expert brought by the defendant is Dr. Martini, who is well-known in New York. Personal innocence, professional reputation, and profound professional knowledge cannot be slandered by the prosecution! "Gentlemen of the jury, however despicable the prima facie evidence, however cunning the idea of ​​collusion may have been instilled by the prosecutor, you cannot in good conscience declare that this poor unfortunate man has imposed upon him a piece of his flesh. commit an impossible crime, and send him to the electric chair to die!" After six and a half hours of deliberation by the jury, Alan Deo was found guilty of the charges against him. Because some of the evidence was controversial, the jury recommended that the judge be lenient in sentencing. Ten days later, Alan Deo was sentenced to life imprisonment.