Authors: Ruth Ann Hixson
"That's the spunk, girl. Don't let the rich and famous push you around." Chad shot her a grin as he held the door for them.
"Don't be nervous," Chad advised. "The justice could interpret it as lying. Don't worry. You'll do fine. Just tell the truth."
Elena and Darryl Bayshore came in and sat up front on the opposite side of the aisle. Scotty came in shortly before Mrs. Dale. They sat behind them. Some media personnel sat farther back. The intrusion of the reporters made Sherry more nervous.
The district justice entered the room and sat down at the desk on a raised platform. "Since you are all on your feet I shall swear you in. Everyone who will be testifying today raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth?"
There were murmured yeses and I do's. "You may be seated. The justice looked through some papers on his desk. "We shall begin today with the assault charge against Sherry Winnette since that is the one that will take the least time. I call Elena Bayshore to the witness stand. I remind you that you have sworn to tell the truth."
Elena mounted the two steps up and sat down to tell her version that had little resemblance to the truth.
"Is that all, Miss Bayshore?" the justice asked.
"Yes."
"You may step down." After she was down he said, "Wait a minute, Miss Bayshore, stay right where you are and turn facing me. Miss Winnette, will you please come forward and stand beside Miss Bayshore?"
Sherry complied though she felt uncomfortable being that close to Elena.
"All right. You may both take your seats. Next witness, Officer Scott Wade."
Scotty testified what Elena told him. "When I went in to speak to Miss Winnette, I intended to arrest her and take her to jail. But I didn't even get through reading her rights when she interrupted me saying it was self defense. At first I didn't believe her but she asked me a couple thought-provoking questions: What is the wealthiest woman around doing in a Laundromat and did I think she was fool enough to attack a woman who is a half foot taller than she is and weighs a good twenty-five pounds more? That made me listen to what she had to say."
He continued with what Sherry told him and what happened when he asked Elena to see the dress she was going to dry clean.
When Scotty walked back to his seat, the justice said, "Next witness, Sherry Winnette."
Sherry managed to keep her voice even as she related how Elena had come in the Laundromat and ripped the book from her hands. "I'm sure she saw my car and stopped to harass me."
"Please stick to the facts, Miss Winnette. What kind of car do you drive?"
"A brown, 1986 Oldsmobile station wagon. I have never seen another one like it here nor in New Jersey." She had to explain about the hiss, scratch and bite scenario. "She said I didn't pay attention to the hiss so I needed the scratch. She leaned over me with her fingers curled like claws. I knocked her hand away with a karate chop." She went on to describe what happened leading up to the punch on the nose. "I meant to hit her on her chin but she looked down and I hit her nose." She finished up with her conversation with Scotty.
"You may step down," the justice said. He continued, "After listening to this testimony I have determined that Sherry Winnette was defending herself when she punched Miss Bayshore on the nose. Case dismissed."
Chad leaned over and whispered to Sherry, "I told you so."
She smiled and squeezed Mark's hand. "That's a load off my mind."
"Next case is against Elena Bayshore. Miss Bayshore, you do have the right to waive this hearing and it will go to trial."
"I didn't do anything," she responded. "It's Sherry Winnette and Mark Blakely. They're trying to make me seem crazy. I want this hearing."
"If you insist. The purpose of this hearing is to determine if there is enough evidence to go to trial, not to determine guilt. Miss Bayshore, do you understand that you will not be allowed to defend yourself here? That will come in the trial, if there is one."
One by one, the witnesses told their stories. "I was almost in the middle of it," Rose Dale testified. "I had just stepped out of my car when Miss Bayshore made a U-turn at the intersection and came back. Miss Winnette froze mid-street. I thought of going after her but I heard Mr. Blakely holler, 'Run, Sherry, run!' He was running toward her. I knew he'd get to her before I could so I jumped back in my car and closed the door just in time."
"Is the driver of that car in this room?" the justice asked.
Rose pointed. "Right there; Miss Bayshore."
When Rose finished testifying, the justice called Scotty to the witness stand. "Chief Harvey and I were both at the station when the call came in. He took off after Miss Bayshore while I went to the scene. I got there right as Mrs. Dale had Sherry breathing again."
Chad was next. He explained how the call came out and he responded by having a rig park across both lanes of the highway. "Even after she got hit by the air bag in her car, she came up fighting. She clawed me like a cat. It was with pleasure I clipped those long nails at the hospital."
The justice studied the red marks still visible from the scratches. "Miss Bayshore did that?"
"Yes, Your Honor. She bit Trooper Turner. After that I got a little rough with her. But it still took both Turner and me to get the cuffs on her."
Mark was next. He backed up Rose's testimony that Elena was driving the car that tried to run down him and Sherry. He also told about seeing Elena follow Sherry home on Wednesday night and hearing the gunshot and how he and his father had gone over in time to see Elena pull out of the driveway. "I can't put her in the car or the gun in her hand but I can put her car at the scene. So can Dad." He told how Sherry had driven through the soybean field Thursday night to get away from Elena. "Sherry got inside and called. Dad and I went over. We got there in time to see Elena run from the breezeway to her car."
"She was inside the house?"
"Yes. In the breezeway. She had a key which correlates with the missing key from the key rack at home." He continued explaining about Sherry's flat tires and the scratches Elena put on Sherry's arm.
Sherry wasn't as nervous as the first time around. "Do you mind if I tell it in chronological order? It will be easier for me."
"That will be fine. I want you to tell me when and if you feared for your life."
Sherry started with the previous Tuesday night when Elena came in the dollar store and harassed her about staying away from Mark. "There was nothing between Mark and me. I'd only been here four days. I moved from Newark after Gram left me her house." Sherry continued telling in detail what occurred and how she felt at the time. "It was really weird," she recalled of the Saturday morning attempt on her life. "I was conscious but I couldn't breathe. I was afraid I was going to die. Mrs. Dale saved my life."
She saw the justice check his watch so she glanced at her own. It was past eleven o'clock. She paused to gather her thoughts and noticed the media reps in the back of the room were busy writing. She was glad no cameras were allowed in the courtroom. It was eleven-thirty when she was through. She finished with, "She has totally disrupted my life. I must be constantly on guard because I never know when or where she will show up."
"We'll try to do something about that," the justice said. "She has broken a court order for her to stay away from you. She will be going back to jail in a few short minutes. You may go back to your seat," the justice said. He rendered his determination before Sherry sat down. "It is the finding of this court that there is enough evidence for a trial. Court adjourned." They hardly had a chance to stand before he exited the room.
"I'm going to talk to Elena and tell her there can be nothing between us again." Mark crossed the aisle where Mr. Bayshore, his face red with anger, was talking low voiced to Elena.
Mark accosted Elena and began, "After the way you have treated Sherry there can never be a relationship between us again. Ever!"
"You egotistical ass! Do you think this is about you? It is more personal than that. I'll put that little bastard down yet."
"Elena, you are in enough trouble," her father scolded. "You will keep a distance between you and Sherry Winnette. Is that clear?"
Elena stormed off in anger right past Chad and Scotty where they stood talking about the case. She headed to the back of the room where Sherry was talking to Rose Dale to thank her for saving her life.
Despite her father's warning, she went up to Sherry. "You lying little bastard!" She gave Sherry a shove backward. Sherry landed on her behind. The jar sent waves of pain through her broken rib cage. Elena landed a kick in Sherry's right side. Sherry curled up in a fetal position, shielding her head with her arms.
"You can't do that." Rose grabbed Elena's arm but Elena still got in another kick, driving a stiletto heel in Sherry's right lumbar muscle. Rose jerked her away. The shoe came off Elena's foot and remained stuck in Sherry's back. With Elena's arm bent behind her back, Rose shoved her to the floor and put her knee on her back.
Chad and Scotty were the first ones there. "Nice take down," Chad said as he slapped the cuffs on Elena. He and Scotty hoisted her to her feet.
"My daddy's a cop in Philly. He taught us to take care of ourselves," Rose returned. "Don't pull that out!" Rose ordered as Mark reached to remove the shoe from Sherry's back. She knelt beside Sherry and looked up. "Do any of you men have a clean white handkerchief?"
Darryl Bayshore handed her a crisp linen one before he turned to his daughter. "Of all the stupid things you've done! Have you lost your mind?"
"Step back, Mr. Bayshore," Chad advised. "This young woman is going to jail right now. Deputy Smith, you can help Scotty take her while I go to the hospital to see about Sherry. Give me her other shoe. In jail, that would be considered a dangerous weapon."
"Loosen her belt so I can reach beneath her top," Rose instructed Mark. "Now when I get this under there to bandage the wound, I want you to pull out the shoe. Now." She pressed the handkerchief over the hole in Sherry's back and put pressure on it. "Let's slide her belt up and tighten it to hold the bandage."
Chad reached down to take the shoe. "That's evidence. I need a big plastic bag to put these in."
Rose dug down in her purse and came up with a folded up rain hood. "It pays to be prepared. Mark, go drive your truck around to the front while Trooper Wertman and I get Sherry outside. Move it! There will be media hounds out there waiting for us."
"Do you think you can stand up and walk?" Chad asked Sherry as he bent down to assist her to her feet.
"I'll manage," she said. "It's not that bad."
"Bad enough." Rose took her arm. "The blood is already soaking through that bandage. She must have hit an artery. We have to get her to the hospital in a hurry."
Chad went ahead to clear the media so they could get through to Mark's truck quickly. One woman reporter was persistent and shoved a microphone under Sherry's nose. "Back off!" Chad warned. He opened the back door and Rose climbed in.
"Just lift her up here and I'll fasten her seat belt."
Sherry felt strong arms lift her and then Chad slammed the door shut. "Go!" he shouted to Mark. Mark mashed down on the accelerator and drove away. By the time he pulled in at the Emergency Room doors, Chad was right behind him, the lights on his cruiser flashing.
Chad and Rose got Sherry out of the vehicle and hustled her inside while Mark went to find a parking space. Rose grabbed a wheelchair right inside the door and they set Sherry in it. "I'll take it from here," she said. She bypassed the check-in desk and went straight to the emergency room. "I got a girl here who is bleeding profusely," she called as she wheeled Sherry in. "We need a bed right now."
Mark and Chad parked beside each other and walked in the hospital together. "I'm going to find out if they'll let me talk to her now. I know what happened but I have to write a report." Chad went to the emergency room.
Mark went to the check-in clerk to give her Sherry's information. "It's the same as Saturaday. I know that she doesn't have insurance. I'll pay but I don't have the money on me right now."
"I'll pay." Darryl Bayshore stepped up beside Mark. "I'll pay for Saturday's visit, too. After all, my daughter caused the injuries."
After he'd signed the papers and gave the clerk his credit card, he motioned Mark to come with him outside. "I want to talk to you about Elena. Did you notice any strange behavior before this trouble between her and Miss Winnette?"
"I know she was cheating on me as far back as January. Chad Wertman saw her in Haley's when he was called to break up a knife fight in the lounge. She's been unpredictable and getting worse. Why?"
"I'm going to ask the court to require a psyche eval. I want to find out if there is a physical problem causing all this bizarre behavior. She can't be out in public if she's going to attack people."
"Good luck. Someone needs to do something. Sherry can't withstand much more." Mark turned and went back inside.
They wouldn't allow Mark back in the ER. "The doctor's with her now," the nurse told him. "It will best for you to wait in the waiting room. I'll call you when it's okay to be back here." Mark wasn't happy with that but he knew he had to wait. Still, he wondered what they could do if he just walked in. He didn't want to cause a commotion so he waited. And waited; and waited.
Finally Chad came out. "You can go bring your truck around. Rose is helping her get dressed. The doctor stapled the wound and they did a scan. She now has four broken ribs."
They walked to the parking lot together. "She's one tough little lady," Chad said. "But this is starting to wear on her. I can see it in her eyes. Handle with care. She's very fragile emotionally."
"I hear you. Soft and tender it is." Mark opened the door to his truck and stepped up. When he drove around to the emergency room door members of the media were there.
One woman reporter stepped up in front of him. "Mr. Blakely, can you tell us what happened?"