Redress of Grievances (33 page)

"Do
you believe that women in legal practice are competitive with their male
counterparts, or are there the same limitations women have in other
professions?"

"I
have found that anyone, male or female, who puts forth his or her best effort
practicing the law can be successful. At one time, I was a senior associate
with a large, well-known firm and didn't experience any difficulties because of
my gender. Unfortunately, there are women in every profession who might use the
gender issue as an excuse for their failure to move up. Just work incredibly
hard when you start, never believe that you are God's gift to the legal
profession, never stop learning, and everything will fall into place."

A
young man in the front raised his hand and stood, "Of the ninety-five
percent you know are guilty, have you ever felt you personally let any of them
down?"

"I
believe I have represented every client as well as I could have. Have I ever
let any of them down personally? I don't believe so. There have been clients I
wasn't crazy about representing, of course. But at that point you have to
overlook the person and remain faithful to the law and the spirit of the
law."

"Are
there any criminal defendants you would not take as a client?"

"I
like to think not."

"Are
you less zealous about representing clients who have been court appointed than
the ones who pay your full fee?"

"This
is certainly a money hungry little group you have here, Mr. Lazslo,"
Harriett said over her shoulder. "I am fortunate enough at this point in
my career for money not to be the determining factor in client selection.
Hypothetically, those clients who come to you through court appointments are
among the neediest clients. And incidentally, a rather large percentage of
those clients fall within the five percent I mentioned earlier."

"How
do you handle getting a client off when you know he's guilty?" a young
woman asked.

"That's
a difficult question to answer. However, if an attorney has performed his or
her duties with a clear conscience, then he or she will have to learn to take
it in stride. It certainly happens. Get over it and move on."

A
man in his mid thirties stood up near the middle of the auditorium. "Have
you gotten over the Wilkes case yet?" he asked.

For
a moment, Harriett didn't believe her ears. She couldn't believe that any of
the students would have known about the Wilkes case. Quickly, she glanced back
at Nick, who got up and joined her at the podium.

"Is
he one of your students?" she asked softly as Nick reached her.

"No.
I'll take care of it," Nick said, leaving her side.

Turning
back toward the man, Harriett cleared her throat.

"Ladies
and gentlemen, the case this gentlemen is referring to was resolved before it
came to trial," Harriett explained. "Occasionally, you may have cases
that, for one reason or another, are settled prior to the adversarial
process."

Students
in the auditorium watched as Nick approached the man and spoke to him briefly.
The man smiled as he spoke to Nick and finally shrugged. As he left the room,
he turned his head toward Harriett and grinned as he slipped on a pair of
sunglasses that looked suspiciously like the ones the mysterious jogger had
been wearing.

"That
concludes today's presentation," Nick said as he rejoined Harriett at the
podium. "Briefs for your assigned cases are due at our next meeting. Be
prepared to argue both sides."

Nick
stood with Harriett as the students began filing out.

"I'd
be willing to bet serious money that son of a bitch Collins was behind that,"
Harriett said.

"He
said he was paid by someone to show up here today, but didn't know who. Think
he's responsible for the jogging incident, too?"

"I
don't know. I'll ask Wayne to find someone to keep an eye on Collins. He might
just be trying to rattle me."

"Is
he succeeding?"

Harriett
looked at Nick. "Yes."

"I
THINK YOU should make this section on your burden stronger," Nick
suggested as he read Harriett's draft of her opening remarks to the jury that
afternoon. "Emphasize that you know the burden of proof is yours and that
you welcome it."

"Okay,
how about this...," Harriett said as the intercom buzzed.

"Yes,
Phyllis," she answered as she jotted notes in the margins of her
statement.

"Ms.
Raines from the Attorney General's Office is here to see you," Phyllis
said.

"I
called a friend about Collins," Harriett said, pressing the intercom
button. "Send her in please, Phyllis."

Harriett
moved around her desk and greeted Jess at the door to her office. Turning
toward Nick, she said, "This is my law partner, Nick Lazslo. Jess is an
investigator for the Attorney General."

Jess
approached Nick as he rose and extended her hand. As they shook hands, Harriett
noticed a pistol in a shoulder holster under Jess's jacket.

"Please
have a seat," Harriett said.

Unsure
what Harriett's co-workers knew about her personal life, Jess said, "I
understand you have a problem that may or may not involve my department at the
AG's office."

"Harriett
is representing a client who is accused of murder," Nick explained.

"Actually
multiple murders," Harriett added.

"And
that would be Sharon Collins Taggart?" Jess asked, looking at papers in
her portfolio.

"Yes,"
Harriett answered.

"You
had the case transferred here from Dallas County, and your client is pleading
insanity. Correct?"

"Yes,"
Harriett nodded. "Recently, my client's brother threatened me and my
family. Since then two incidents have occurred, one of which directly involved
my niece and caused me some concern for her safety."

"The
brother originally hired Harriett to defend her client and now isn't very happy
about the way her investigation is going," Nick added.

"Sounds
a little like you're biting the hand that feeds you," Jess frowned.

"I'll
do whatever is in the best interest of my client," Harriett snapped
defensively.

"I'm
not making a judgment," Jess smiled. "Just want to make sure I get
all the facts straight. Did you know the individual you had contact with?"

"No.
He claims he was hired anonymously to carry out the stunt at the law school,
and although I believe he was the same man involved in an attack on my niece, I
can't prove it. I need to know what my options are, other than filing a
restraining order. My client's brother is a member of the state legislature,
and I can't allow this threat to distract me from the case."

"I
certainly understand your
concern," Jess said as she ran her fingers through her short amber hair.
She knew that Harriett wouldn't breach her client's confidentiality. "But
there really isn't anything the Attorney General's office or the police
department, for that matter, can do until a criminal offense actually
occurs."

"Which
means what?" Harriett asked as she leaned forward on her desk.
"There's not a damn thing I can do to protect either myself or my
niece?"

Jess
answered, "I didn't say that. Give me a day or two to look into it. It's
really outside the jurisdiction of my section, but I'll check around to see
what, if anything, can be done. In the meantime, feel free to call me any time.
I'm used to phone calls in the middle of the night," she said, smiling at
Harriett.

"And
that's it?" Nick asked.

"Pretty
much," Jess shrugged as she stood up. "I'll do what I can, but I
can't promise anything."

"We'd
appreciate anything you could do," Nick said, shaking Jess's hand again.

Turning
to Harriett, she said, "Would it be possible for us to speak alone for a
moment?"

As
Jess looked at her, Harriett saw a penetrating intensity in her hazel-green
eyes that she hadn't seen before. Jess waited for the door to the office to
close before she spoke again. "Why didn't you call me about this before
now?"

Leaning
against her desk, Harriett nodded. "I can't compromise my client's
confidentiality because of an unsubstantiated threat against me."

"I
know you can't tell me anything about the case, but I wish you had told me
about the threat sooner, Harriett," Jess said pointedly. "I could
have found someone to watch you both."

"Well,
I've told you now," Harriett retorted as tears began forming in her eyes.

Stepping
closer, Jess reached out and drew Harriett to her.

"I
can't let anything happen to Lacey, Jess. I wouldn't be able to stand it,"
Harriett said weakly, tightening her grip around Jess.

Chapter
Thirty-Five

"LADIES
AND GENTLEMEN, Sharon Taggart is charged with causing the deaths of four human
beings and serious bodily injury to three others," Sean Lassiter began his
opening statement. "They had no relationship to her whatsoever. They were
simply random anonymous targets who happened to wander into her path. There is
no dispute about what Sharon Taggart did. She took a high-powered rifle, lay in
wait, and fired it at oncoming vehicles on a busy Dallas freeway not once, not
twice, but on seven separate occasions during a two-year period. In easily
understood terms, the law states that an action is murder in the first degree
if there is either the intent to cause serious bodily injury or the act that
caused the death of an individual was clearly dangerous to human life. No one
can argue that the defendant's actions meet both these criteria. Sharon Taggart
is responsible for the deaths of four innocent people.

"I
know what you're thinking, ladies and gentlemen. Anyone who would do such a
thing must be crazy. They must surely be insane. And we would all like to
believe that because it is incomprehensible to us that any normal person would
do what Sharon Taggart, in fact, did. However, in order for Sharon Taggart to
prove she is innocent because she is insane, she cannot rely on the medical definition
of insanity. Medically, she may very well be insane. That, however, does not
make her legally insane, and therefore, not responsible for her actions. To be
insane in the eyes of the law, Ms. Markham must prove by the weight of the
evidence presented that her client did not know the difference between right
and wrong at the time she committed the crimes. It's really a very simple test.
Either she knows she committed a wrongful, therefore, illegal act or she
doesn't.

"Because
the burden of proof in this case falls on the shoulders of the defense, I don't
have to do a thing. I can sit over there in that chair and listen to the
testimony the same way you will and still draw my salary. However, I represent
the interests of the people of the State of Texas, and I must challenge the
evidence the defense will present. I plan to do that vigorously so that Sharon
Taggart will not be able to look at any of you through the scope of a
high-powered rifle and snuff out your life or anyone else's as though it
wouldn't matter to anyone.

"The
State will call witnesses to challenge the claim of mental disease or defect,
as will the defense. However, I believe the State's witnesses will convince you
that Mrs. Taggart is, in fact, not insane. She is simply guilty. She has confessed
that she committed the offenses she is charged with, and the State will show
that she had the ability to form the requisite intent to commit those crimes.
By claiming that she was insane at the time, she is hoping that you will say
her actions were okay. That the lives of her victims didn't matter."

Smiling
at the jurors, Lassiter shook his head slightly. "You know, the
interesting thing about a plea of not guilty by reason of mental defect is that
if you, the jury, reject that plea, if Ms. Markham fails to satisfy her burden,
it means that Sharon Taggart is guilty of the crimes she stands accused of and
will be punished accordingly. If, however, you believe Ms. Markham's rendition
of the facts, Sharon Taggart will still be punished by being incarcerated in a
mental facility for an indeterminate length of time. Either way, Sharon Taggart
will be punished. Which institution Sharon Taggart will be sent to depends on
your decision. Thank you."

Taking
a deep breath, and smiling briefly at Sharon, Harriett rose from her chair and
approached the jury box, pulling her glasses off as she walked toward them.

"Ladies
and gentlemen, my name is Harriett Markham, and I represent the defendant in
this case, Sharon Collins Taggart," Harriett began, indicating who Sharon
was. Following Harriett's instructions, Sharon looked at the jury with little
emotion on her face.

"The
decision before you during these proceedings will be to determine whether
Sharon Collins Taggart is not guilty of the crimes she's charged with committing
due to a mental disease or defect. In essence, your job will be to decide
whether Sharon meets the requirements put forth by the State of Texas for
insanity or not. The decision will be yours alone. My job is to prove to you,
beyond a reasonable doubt, that my client is not responsible for her crimes
because she has a mental defect or disease that rendered her incapable of
knowing the difference between right and wrong, and therefore, incapable of
understanding the nature or consequences of her actions. In order for my client
to prevail, you must believe there is more evidence supporting her claim of
insanity than there is to disprove it.