The Victim's Wife Page 32

  “Did you listen?” I asked.

  “No, the words went right by me. We were already fighting. He was yelling. I was yelling. Things got heated.”

  “What happened next?”

  “Max pushed me.”

  “And how did you respond?”

  “I pushed back.”

  “Who got the knife first?”

  “Max did. He grabbed it and chased after me. I stood my ground. I took it from him. Without thinking about it, I stabbed him.”

  61

  The moment took on a surreal feeling because I had never in open court asked a client to confess to the thing he was charged with doing. An involuntary shudder ran down my back, and I wondered if I had made the wrong move. I could not help but glance over at the jury to see how they had taken it, even though I didn’t want to show my concern.

  They had heard my opening statement, and I had done my best to prepare them for this, but they were shocked by Mason’s admission.

  I could practically see several on the jury planning to vote to convict.

  We have nothing to hide, I told myself. This was the plan, but it was still hard to look at my strategy now and not have second thoughts.

  I steeled myself for the next question and asked it in a confident tone, glad I had specifically practiced this line of questioning prior to coming here today. “How did you feel after you did this?”

  Mason took his time in responding.

  “It was like I was not myself. I looked down at the knife. I looked down at the body of my partner and felt like it wasn’t me who had done it.” Mason held up his right hand. “That’s how I felt a few moments later once I had come to myself and the significance of what I had done fully registered. Before that, I was so incensed, and I was so angry that I could scarcely think straight. It took several minutes for reality to set in.”

  I nodded. “Have you ever felt this angry or uninhibited before in your life?”

  “No. Of course, I have been mad and angry to the point of wanting to lose my self-control, but I had never ever done anything like this before. You can ask my ex-wife, you can ask my present wife. I have always maintained self-control, even amid terrible anger.”

  “What do you think was the difference this time?”

  “Well, I learned that the candy bars had been laced with flakka. I think that certainly contributes—”

  “Objection!” Cindy was on her feet again, “this is hearsay.”

  “Sustained.” Judge Lewis looked at me. “You can have your expert testify as to what they found in the candy bars. We don’t need your client testifying to something he doesn’t know firsthand.”

  I nodded, though I had asked this question on purpose, intending to make sure I got the idea into the minds of the jury right after they had heard Mason’s horrible admission.

  I had to immediately frame this for them to keep them with me.

  A glance at a juror whose mind had looked made up moments before now looked like he was having second thoughts.

  What a crazy system of justice this sometimes is, I thought, basing it all on the whims of twelve people. I could tell juror number seven was going to be a problem. They would change their mind twenty different times between now and the time they were sent to deliberations.

  “Before you went into Max’s office, tell me more about how you felt.”

  “I was raging. I imagine that if I would’ve looked into a mirror that I would have seen myself with red cheeks, bloodshot eyes, looking for anything or anybody to take my aggression out on. That’s how it felt to me at the time.”

  “You never felt like this before?”

  “No.”

  “You’ve never hurt any of your children?”

  “No.”

  I paused for emphasis. Mason knew what was coming next. I hoped he told the truth. “Have you ever threatened your children?”

  “Yes, there was one time when things got a little out of control with one of my daughters. My other daughter called the police. Nobody was ever in danger, the daughter I threatened felt like it had been all a joke, but I had been angry at the time. I slipped up.”

  Mason shook his head ruefully. “The truth is that I knew I had crossed a line that day, even though my daughter thought differently. I looked at that situation afterward and spent a lot of time looking inward to make sure that nothing like that ever came close to happening again. You can ask my daughters. It never did. I learned my lesson. I learned that if I’m not careful, I can have a short fuse. That’s why I am careful. That is why I went for a walk that night.”

  “How is the jury expected to believe that you were out of your mind this time and not just angry?”

  Mason looked at them. “I’m telling you the truth. The way I felt that night is not who I truly am. Something was different that night. I—” He stopped himself and glanced over at Cindy. “I was different. I just was.”

  “I want to go back to something else,” I said after a moment, “you mentioned at the beginning of your testimony on this matter that Max was angry with you. Why didn’t you listen?”

  “I don’t know. I just wished I would have listened. I would’ve back down, but I was so furious, the words went in one ear and out the other. It’s not until later that I realized their meaning.” Mason shook his head. “This is another way that I blame myself. If I would’ve just listened, I would’ve known that something strange was going on.”

  “Did Max say anything else about what Vivian said to him?”

  “I renew my objection to this line of questioning,” Cindy said, jumping to her feet.

  Judge Lewis frowned. “Noted for the record. The witness shall answer the question.”

  Mason shook his head. “That was all.”

  “Have you ever asked Vivian if she said those things to Max?”

  “Objection, Your Honor,” Cindy said. “Hearsay, again. This whole line of questioning—”

  “Your Honor,” I said, cutting her off, “Vivian testified she did not speak with Max that night. If you recall, I asked her a second time just to be sure. We are allowed to present testimony that contradicts her own words.”

  “Overruled.”

  I almost hid a smile. Cindy was playing right into my hands. This was set up to make it seem like she was trying to keep the jury from hearing the full truth.

  It would’ve been better for her to let the testimony come in without objection.

  “No, I never did ask her.”

  I refrained from giving Cindy a triumphant look. I had set up the question in that way, knowing she would object and knowing what the answer would be.

  If she was angry about the little trick I had played, it did not show. I could see the wheels working in her mind.

  She had figured out that I had set her up. I was certain.

  “As near as you can recall, what were Max’s exact words when you walked into his office?”

  Cindy made as if to jump to her feet, but apparently thought better of it and stayed in her seat.

  I had hoped she would object. She was catching on. Hopefully, it was a little too late.

  Mason nodded and closed his eyes. “I believe he said, ‘This is all your fault. Vivian was just in here and told me that you’ve changed all their minds and that we’re not taking the venture capital after all.’ Max slammed his hand down on the desk and jumped to his feet, pointing his finger at me. I was afraid at that point that he was going to attack, but he didn’t. His actions and words pushed me over the edge, and I was soon pointing my finger at him and yelling. It’s the purest irony that we were both yelling at each other about different, contradictory things.”

  “What are your thoughts today as you look back on all this?”

  “I wish I had just gone home. I wish I had never eaten those Snickers candy bars.” I half expected an objection from Cindy, but Mason went on so quickly that she probably decided just to let it slide. “I wish I had had never gone into Max’s office.”

  He loo
ked at the jury. “I regret ever taking that knife from him when he came at me. I regret turning it back on him.”

  I spoke quietly. “During our preparation for this case, I recommended we claim self-defense. Why did you reject that?”

  Mason hesitated. I refrained from looking over at Cindy, sure she was trying to think of some way she could object to this question without further engendering ill will from the jury.

  “Didn’t feel right to me. I was not myself.”

  62

  I flipped through my notes, wondering if I should continue with another line of questioning I had prepared but decided against it. When the jurors got to the deliberation room, I wanted them to have a clear idea of the issue and how I wanted them to decide.

  “I have no further questions at this time, Your Honor,” I said, sitting down.

  Judge Lewis looked over at Cindy. “Counselor?”

  “I have questions for this witness,” Cindy said, heading to the podium.

  “It must be difficult for you to be here today,” Cindy said sarcastically after she had opened her binder. It was a mistake. I could read on some of the juror’s faces that they felt sympathy for Mason’s situation. She would’ve been wise not to antagonize him or risk looking like she was making fun of him. If I had been in her shoes, I would have focused on what he had done, trying to prove he had an awareness while doing it.

  Mason just nodded and didn’t say anything. The judge made as if to say something, but then shook his head and leaned back while studying Cindy.

  “On the day you threatened your daughter,” Cindy said quickly, apparently to forestall the judge, “do you remember your exact words?”

  Mason shook his head. “I’m afraid not, it was a long time ago, and I regret it.”

  “How long ago?”

  “Last year sometime.”

  “So you expect us to believe that you became a new man in such a short time?”

  I was already on my feet when Cindy said, “Withdrawn.” She was visibly frustrated, and while I was inclined to accept this at face value, I decided to assume this was an act on her part. I had too much experience with her to think it was anything less.

  “Did you take a step toward your daughter or touch her in any way after you made the threat?”

  “No.”

  “Did you shake your fist?”

  “I don’t recall.”

  Cindy studied him. “What do you remember about that day?”

  “I was angry. Things got out of hand. I misspoke.” Mason leaned forward. “I love my daughter. I would never have hurt her. She’d done something to make me angry, and I was just having a bad day.”

  “Did you threaten to kill her?”

  Mason hesitated before nodding. “Yes, I did say that.” It looked like it pained him to admit this, but it came off in such a way that he looked ashamed for having threatened his daughter, not because it had come out here. I believed that this was a genuine feeling. Cindy seemed to take it that way as well and grimaced.

  “Did you mean it when you threatened her?”

  “No, of course not. She’s my daughter. I helped raise her from a babe. I would never do anything to harm her.”

  “Yet you threatened to that day, didn’t you?”

  This was getting redundant. I thought about objecting but decided against it. The judge glanced at me as if expecting me too as well but I remained seated.

  “Unfortunately, yes, I did. I regret it every day. I wish I could recall the words I spoke at that time. Luckily my daughter has forgiven me.”

  Cindy hesitated as if she were going to dive into it deeper, but then she went a different direction than what I expected.

  “What was the difference between the anger you felt toward your daughter and the anger you felt towards Max when you killed him?”

  “The anger I felt towards Max was uninhibited. I was not myself.”

  “Were you saying things you didn’t mean to Max?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you say things to your daughter you didn’t mean?”

  “Yes.”

  “So, in both instances, you said things that you didn’t mean.”

  It was a good line of questioning. She was going to score points with this.

  “Yes, that is correct, I suppose.” Mason was starting to look doubtful now. I silently willed him to be confident. We had a good case, especially after I got our expert witness on the stand.

  “Did you do things you didn’t mean?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “According to your testimony, you didn’t mean to stab Max, is this correct?”

  “Yes.”

  “Did you mean to slam your fist down on the table at your home in the kitchen that day?”

  I covered my surprise at the question. Either she had spoken to Max’s daughter, or she had some inside information that was not included in the police report

  Officer Baranski probably wasn’t hostile towards her when she called him.

  Mason hesitated. “I don’t recall if I did that or not.”

  “You don’t recall, or you don’t want to recall?”

  I could’ve found an objection, but I decided against it. I didn’t want it to come off as if I were trying to protect Mason. Part of my purpose for putting him on the stand was to let her beat him up a bit, to let the jury feel sympathy as he squirmed under her attack.

  “I’m sorry, ma’am, I don’t remember.”

  “Would it be fair to say that you probably did something like that?”

  Mason hesitated, glancing my way, but he didn’t keep his eyes on me for long.

  “Probably.”

  “So you did things you didn’t mean in both instances, is that correct?”

  Mason hesitated, I could see him trying to find a way out of giving her the answer she wanted, but in the end, he could not. “It’s a fair assessment.”

  “So how do you expect the jury to believe that there is a difference between those two days?”

  “There is, it’s difficult for me to describe, other than I can say that I wasn’t myself. On the day I killed Max,” he paused here as the gravity of his own words settled on him. It was another genuine emotion that should play well with the jury. “It was like somebody else was driving, and I was in the backseat. I don’t know how else to describe it other than to use those words. My experience with my daughter was very different. I was all there. I own up to what I did that day.”

  “You don’t own up to what you did to Max?”

  “I admit that I did it. I’ve admitted that in open court. There was some drug in my system that—” I could see Cindy trying to decide if she was going to suppress what he was gonna say, but he went on to quick “—that blocked my inhibitions. Without that, I never would’ve done it.”

  “Have you ever taken drugs?”

  “Nothing that wasn’t prescribed to me or over the counter,” Mason leaned back a little in his chair now and seemed a great deal more confident.

  “So you never did LSD, marijuana, cocaine, methamphetamines?”

  “No. Never.”

  “Not even in college?”

  “I was too busy studying. I had a demanding double major in physics and accounting. I needed every last minute I had. I could not afford to mess around with something that would screw with my mind.”

  “Do you drink?”

  “Only occasionally.”

  “Did you drink that night?”

  “No. I did not. I knew that I was liable to get angry, so I decided not to order my usual beer at dinner.”

  “So you could tell that you were on the verge of losing it before you ate your Snickers bars?”

  “I don’t know that I would say I was on the verge of losing it. I don’t think you recognize that bringing in venture capital would’ve meant a lot of money to me personally. While it was not the direction I wanted to go, it was not a completely undesirable direction.”

  “So you would’ve been okay if the
venture capital had come through?”

  “Yes. In fact, that’s kind of what’s happened since. I have fully divested myself of any ownership in the company.”

  “Why was that? A guilty conscience?”

  “No.” He stopped and gave her a frown. “I didn’t want the company to tank. I spent many years of my life building it. I wanted to see it flourish.”

  “So it wasn’t about the money for you, was it?”

  “How do you mean?”

  “You killed Max because he was taking your company in a direction you didn’t believe in, isn’t that so?”

  “No.”

  “You killed him because he came in and had the charisma you lacked, you were jealous, you were envious.”

  Mason shook his head, unruffled by her accusations even for the briefest moment. A smile crossed his face as if he found them amusing. “I’m afraid not. I regret Max’s death more than anyone. He brought so many difficult to define qualities to the company. The company is successful, largely because of his efforts. You already heard testimony from Vivian that I fully supported Max’s position as CEO of the company.

  “The last thing I would intentionally do to him is kill him. I was not myself that night.”

  “Who were you then?” Cindy muttered as if this was a rhetorical question, but Mason answered as if it was not.

  “I wish I understood it. I have spent a lot of time thinking about it. It wasn’t until Mitch told me about the candy bars that I started to piece things together.” He shrugged. “That’s all I can tell you. I don’t have a way to define it, especially if you’re not going to let me talk about what we’ve learned afterward, so all I can say at this point is that I was not myself.”

  The questioning went on from there.

  As it did it became obvious that Cindy’s primary strategy was to make Mason angry. She wanted him to lose his cool. She wanted the jury to see him lose his temper and yell.

  I had to give Cindy credit. She was doing an excellent job of trying to bring that about.