Total pages in book: 179
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 173733 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 869(@200wpm)___ 695(@250wpm)___ 579(@300wpm)
We hope, I think, despite my more confident thought a moment before. We never know how a jury will respond in a trial, but then Reese stands up, and my nerves fade. This is Reese’s wheelhouse. He’s a master. He will win over the jury and I can’t wait to watch him work. I poise my pen over my notepad, ready to take notes, irritated that I haven’t yet evaluated the jury. In all cases I follow, I like to see them in all phases of the trial from beginning to end. I like to read their state of minds before and after each opening. I quickly take as many notes as possible and then Reese begins:
“First I want to thank each and every member of the jury, and of course our honorable judge, for taking the journey to justice with me. I’m proud of being a part of a court system that ensures innocence until you are proven guilty. I, for one, find comfort in knowing that I’m protected. No one, not even the press, can convict me of a crime. They can demonize me. They can humiliate me. But they cannot take my freedom. Or can they? Those things in today’s media outlets become prisons in ways that you cannot escape. No matter what your ruling, the press will say it’s wrong. No matter what your ruling, the press will assume they know what you do not even though you are right here in this courtroom. No matter what your ruling, my client is already guilty because the press says so and the prosecution has made it clear by charging that they believe she is guilty. It’s a scary thing to sit in a chair and hear a guilty plea be read with no evidence. It makes you fear that you could be next. It makes you fear that if the wrong people were against you, you could go down for something you didn’t do. That’s where a jury comes in, where you come in. No matter how much you like or dislike the person being charged, you rule based on facts. If you have any doubt that the person is guilty you legally must rule them not guilty. That’s reasonable doubt. If I give you reason to doubt guilt, the ruling is not guilty. If the prosecutor tells you the defendant is guilty, they must prove that guilt with evidence, not words.”
“That comes back to me. I don’t defend guilty people. Ever. We’ve all heard the phone call that was leaked. My client sounded angry and that anger had people asking me if I regretted my choice to represent her. My answer was and is no. Her father was a brutal man with many enemies. She was angry, hurt, scared. She was human. She wanted to walk away from everything just to escape. This is not an escape. My client didn’t think she could shoot her father and inherit. Her father was vicious to her and everyone around him. He destroyed people and laughed about it. She might have wished him dead but you’ll learn during this trial, that so did a long list of other people.”
“I’m asking you today to remember your responsibility to assume innocence and make the prosecution prove guilt. My client inheriting her father’s fortune does not make her his killer. The list of suspects, of those people I just mentioned that wanted her father, the victim, dead, is excessively long and completely ignored by the prosecutor. The prosecutor’s office wanted an easy win, not justice. Therefore, they decided you, the jury, would be so small minded, so ignorant, that you would put someone in jail for no reason other than she inherited money. They picked the person the public would prosecute rather than doing their job, finding the real killer, and coming to court with evidence. Why? Because if the press and public prosecute my client, then it puts pressure on you to follow. But the press and the public won’t see the facts and evidence. That’s your honor and responsibility. To see the evidence and rule on the evidence. Your responsibility is to rule not guilty if you have reasonable doubt. Your responsibility is to rule guilty if the prosecution proves without a shadow of a doubt that my client killed her father. That means they must provide evidence, not assumption. None of us want to live in a country where we can be accused and convicted without proof. Make the prosecution live in America with us. I have confidence in you to make the right decision. The prosecutor brought this case because he has confidence that you don’t care about our country, our laws, and real evidence.”
Reese closes his opening statement, and I breathe out. He did well. The jury responded well. They didn’t like the idea that they were being looked at as stupid by the prosecutor. “That was brilliant,” Lori whispers.