Tribes of Time, page 20
CHAPTER 26
DIAPHANOUS
T
he following morning Milford and Terrance continued the presentation of their prosecution after the Judge and jury were seated.
“You may call your next witness Counselor.” Judge Iwamoto directed Milford.
“Thank you Your Honor. I would like to call at this time Dr. Divac Kantzebedian.” Dr. Kantzebedian was escorted and sworn in by the Bailiff.
“Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?”
“Yes I do.” He answered.
“You may be seated.” Judge Iwamoto instructed.
“Would you please tell the court your full name and profession?” Milford asked.
“My name is Divac Ibrahim Kantzebedian and I’m the Coroner of Cumberland County in Ocelia Tennessee.”
“Could you tell me where you were on September 18th of this year Doctor?”
“I was in my office when I received a call from Sheriff Hutchison stating that he had uncovered six bodies out at Elmer’s Slough.” He responded.
“Could you tell us what happened next Doctor?”
“I and three assistants took three vans out to the area where the bodies were discovered. Once we received clearance by Sheriff Hutchison, we removed the bodies to the La Grande City morgue.” Milford wanted to make sure he took his time with the next question; he wanted the jury to hear that Vernon had taken precautions to maintain the integrity of the investigation.
“Why would you take them to La Grande, doesn’t Ocelia have a morgue?” Milford asked.
“Yes it does a rather nice facility I might add. I was instructed by Sheriff Hutchison to take the remains there to prevent the towns’ people of Ocelia from coming in to look at the bodies and further contaminate them.”
“How would you describe the conditions of the remains Doctor?”
“Some of them were pretty bad. Delbert Cutts was missing the entire frontal lobe of his head and the cranial vault was vacant.” He described.
“What would you say would have caused injuries like that?”
“Many things could have caused injuries like that, but since another victim had a shot gun wound to his mid thorax; I assumed it was a shot gun blast that killed him.”
“Could you tell the manner of death for the other victims Doctor?”
“Easily, I recovered medium caliber rounds in four of the victims. The ballistics on those recovered rounds revealed they were .40 caliber hollow points.”
“Would you say those rounds were capable of causing significant damage?”
“Just one round placed in the proper location could kill you instantly.”
“During your autopsy, did you find any victims with more than one wound from a .40 caliber round?” Milford prodded.
“Yes I did, one of the victim’s sustained three gunshot wounds causing massive internal bleeding and evisceration of major organ structures.” Milford took a page from Roderick the day before and strategically placed himself in front of the jury before asking his next question.
“Doctor, from your examination of that victim; where did you find the entrance wounds?”
“All three wounds were posterior in nature, meaning he was shot in the back.”
“In your estimation, were those wounds defensive or would you say an act of murder?” For the first time during Milford’s questioning Roderick lodge an objection with the Judge.
“Objection Your Honor, speculative. How can he determine what was transpiring in the mind of my client. Additionally, it hasn’t been established that the victims were murdered. Murder is a legal term, not an action.
“Sustained, Counsel is correct.”
“I’ll rephrase that question Your Honor. Doctor in your opinion, could those wounds have been sustained if the victim were advancing on the defendant?”
“Absolutely not, each entry wound was posterior.” Milford then went for the shock and awe by showing the gruesome pictures of the victims in their grave prior to being fully extricated from the hole. He also showed the jury pre and post-operative autopsy photographs, slowly passing each one out; making sure everyone had ample time to ingest in the gore. Once Dr. Kantzebedian finished giving his medical opinion of what happened, Roderick was asked if he had any questions for the witness.
“Counselor do you have any questions for this witness? Judge Iwamoto asked.
“I do not Your Honor; the Doctor was very thorough in his testimony. The question is not how the victims died; rather why they died”. Judge Iwamoto then dismissed the witness.
“You may step down sir.”
“Thank you Your Honor.” Dr. Kantzebedian replied. He then made his way to the courthouse vestibule, drained and exhausted. He had been on the stand for over an hour and he thanked God Roderick didn’t have any questions for him. Throughout the course of two weeks, minor witnesses were called to provide testimony as to their involvement in the investigation. Roderick and Milford battled each other with objections after objection; prolonging the proceedings. Milford had presented twelve witnesses over the course of thirteen days and still had not brought in Dr. Hearne and her testimony; Roderick was beginning to wonder what he had in store for her. Judge Masuda broke the trial for a short recess of an hour for lunch. Roderick and the legal team went to a corner bodega for Rueben sandwiches. While in the bodega, their conversation naturally turned to Milford’s holding of Dr. Hearne’s testimony until later in the trial, or he didn’t want to use her testimony.
“It’s the fourteenth day of trial and he hasn’t brought in his big guns yet.” Roderick stated.
“You mean googly-eyes.” Nilsson chided.
“Who’s googly-eyes?” Michaelson inquired.
“It’s nobody; now shut up and eat your sandwich.” Roderick said attempting to change the subject. Nilsson would not be denied his opportunity to get his cracks in.
“Googly-eyes is that Doctor from the body farm, Rod here was practically drooling when we went to see her.”
“Fraternization with the enemy is punishable by death.” Michaelson added to Roderick’s misery.”
“Alright I’ll admit she’s sophisticated and attractive, two traits you don’t normally find packaged together; especially with this electronic generation.” The rest of lunch was geared around Roderick’s interest in Dr. Hearne and if he was going to make a move on her.
“Now see there, with you young guys it’s all about making the moves and not letting the mood take you there. Courting is more than lame ass lines and displaying all kinds of bling; that’s the behavior that attracts only gold diggers. Never show a woman how much money you have up front.” Roderick espoused.
“Why would you say something like that lover man?” Michaelson asked.
“Because if a woman knows how much money you have upfront, she’s already thinking about how much she can spend of it. Now if she thinks you’re just a hard working man and is still interested; that’s a keeper.”
“Spoken like a true Casanova.” Nilsson said with a smile.
“Look who’s talking the Swedish Valentino himself, all the ladies in Georgetown have his number on speed dial.” Roderick cracked back and Nilsson feigned as if he was struck in the heart.
“Ouch! Good one Rod.”
“As fun as this is, we have to start heading back to the courthouse.” Roderick said as he was clearing his place at the table. The men walked back over to the courthouse and took their places. The Bailiff announced the entrance of the Judge, and then escorted the jury back to the gallery.
“Court is now in session!” the Bailiff announced.
“Is Counsel ready to proceed?” Judge Iwamoto asked the attorneys. Both answered almost in unison.
“Yes we are Your Honor.”
“Then call your next witness.”
“Your Honor, I would like to call Dr. Janine Hearne to the stand.” Milford announced. Nilsson leaned over and whispered in Roderick’s ear. Roderick turned in his seat to watch her walk in; which he didn’t do for any of the other witnesses. The Bailiff swore her in as he had done the previous witnesses and had her take a seat in the witness box. Milford stood up and walked over to her.
“Would you please state your full name and profession?”
“My name is Dr. Sueko Janine Hearne, but I prefer to be called Janine. I’m a professor at the University Of Tennessee’s Entomology Department.” She answered.
“Could you tell the court what you were doing on September 16th of this year?”
“I was doing what I always do on a daily basis; I was inputting data into my computer, documenting the decay of human flesh when I received a call.”
“Can you tell us what that call consisted of?” Milford asked.
“The call was from a Deputy William Bougalaise asking if I could come out to Cumberland County the following day and excavate a site which they believed contained the remains of six missing persons.”
“Why would they call you Dr. Hearne, isn’t there a Coroner in Cumberland County?”
“They called me because I’m not only an Entomologist, I’m also an Anthropologist and I’ve worked with many law enforcement agencies to excavate remains.” She answered while stealing a glance over at Roderick.
“There must be some special technique you employ during your excavations that would make you in such high demand Doctor?”
“I don’t just trowel out the dirt covering the remains, I also look for insect colonization; which can provide a fairly accurate time of death based on the growth cycle.” Milford was now loading the proverbial smoking gun in his case.
“What else can that information tell you Doctor?”
“As you know each genus or life form has its own genetic makeup what we know as DNA. Even if another life form is eaten by something; it still maintains that DNA. Basically whatever you eat and defecate out will still have its DNA signature.”
“Sounds very scientific, so let me try and clarify for the court. What you’re saying is that you can take an insect and if it’s eaten anything, you can take the droppings and extract the DNA to tell me exactly what that insect had eaten?” Milford had carefully crafted that question to illicit the response he was looking for.
“Most definitely, I would only need to have a sample to compare it too; or have a known DNA genus on file.” Milford looked over in the direction of the Defense table with an “I got you motherfucker” look; and then returned to questioning Dr. Hearne.
“During your DNA analysis did you come across the DNA of the Defendant Haines Johnson?”
“Yes I did.”
“And where was that DNA found Doctor?”
“I recovered the DNA from insects that were in the grave with the remains.” She answered.
“So it would be safe to say that the DNA was deposited before the remains were covered up.”
“Yes it would.”
“Dr. Hearne what happened with all of the information you gathered.”
“I generated a report and submitted it to the Cumberland County Sheriff’s office.” Milford then introduced Dr. Hearne’s report into evidence. Roderick knew it was incomplete, but he didn’t object, he wanted Milford to hang himself with his own evidence.
“Let the record reflect People’s exhibit A” Judge Iwamoto instructed the court reporter.
“In your professional opinion Doctor, the only way that DNA got into the grave was someone needed to have had contact with the bodies prior to being interred?
“Correct.” Dr. Hearne answered. Milford turned to the Judge and stated.
“I have no more questions Your Honor.” Judge Iwamoto then asked Roderick if he had any questions for the witness.
“Not at this time Your Honor, but I reserve the right to recall during my defense.
“So Noted Counselor.” Judge Iwamoto ordered. Milford stood up and spoke.
“Your Honor Prosecution rests its case.” Milford was more than confident that he had planted enough reasonable doubt in Roderick’s self defense plea to convict him of murder; now it was just the song and dance of listening to the defense’s argument. By the time Dr. Hearne had finished her testimony it was 3:15 pm in the afternoon and the courts closed at 4:00 pm. Judge Iwamoto instructed the jurors that were still under sequester and could not speak to anyone other than other jurors; nor were they allowed to read any newspapers or watch television. He then released them for the day.
“What the hell Roderick, why didn’t you jump on that report and point out its discrepancies?” Michaelson asked.
“In due time, I have something else planned for that report.”
“I hope so; googly-eyes kicked our butts in there.” Michaelson stated.
“O Ye who have little faith.” Roderick said as the men packed up for the day, tomorrow he would have his turn of flinging arrows.
CHAPTER 27
RECONDITE
R
oderick’s alarm went off at 6:30 am the next morning, he reached over to shut it off without looking at the time; he had been awake hours long before its ungodly shrieking. He slowly rolled out of bed and headed for the shower. His mind was racing back and forth about the day’s witness list. Roderick had already decided that Michaelson would handle the cross examination of Dr. Hearne and Nilsson would handle the cross for Sheriff Hutchison. Roderick had prearranged a wakeup call to all the other rooms except Cyrus’; he wanted him to get as much rest as possible before he was called to the stand. The agreed upon time for everyone to meet downstairs was 8:00 am, so they could arrive at the courthouse as a cohesive unit. The anointed hour for court began with the usual formalities of seating the Judge and Jury; once that was conducted the Judge called court in session.
“Is the counsel for defense ready to call their first witness?”
“I am Your Honor.” Michaelson answered.
“The defense calls Dr. Janine Hearne to the stand.” Dr. Hearne was escorted into the courtroom by the Bailiff and sworn in. Once she had taken her seat Michaelson began his cross examination.
“Good Morning Doctor.” Michaelson said.
“Good Morning Sir.” She responded.
“We already know your full name and profession from yesterday’s testimony. What we want to do is revisit some of that testimony today Doctor.”
“Sure, that’s fine with me.” She replied. Michaelson walked back over to the defense table and read through some of his notes before asking her a question.
“Doctor yesterday you mentioned something about secondary extractions, could you tell the court what that means exactly?”
“A secondary extraction is the process of elimination or inclusion. At the scene my team and I found a total of twenty three DNA samples; eight of them we confirmed who the donors were.”
“And who were the confirmed donors Doctor?” Michaelson asked.
“The confirmed donors were the six victims, your client Haines Johnson and a Cyrus Davies; whom I’ve never met.”
“That leaves fifteen unidentified contributors of DNA material. How come the secondary extraction process wasn’t completed?”
“My investigation was shut down by Sheriff Hutchison on the seventh day.”
“In your previous excavations for other law enforcement agencies, were you ever prematurely shut down after finding such a mother lode of evidence?”
“Only once and that was because Methane Gas was present in the abandoned coal mine where the body had been discarded.” She answered.
“Would it be safe to say the only reason you were shut down was to hide something?” Milford jumped up and lodged an objection.
“Objection Your Honor.”
“On what grounds?” Judge Iwamoto asked.
“Conjecture Your Honor, the witness would have no knowledge of the fact.”
“Sustained.” Judge Iwamoto opined.
“Dr. Hearne, let me rephrase that last question. When the Sheriff shut you down, did you find it suspicious?”
“Objection!” Milford lobbed at the Judge.
“Foundation Counselor?” Judge Iwamoto asked.
“It’s speculative.” He replied. Michaelson then added to the conversation.
“Your Honor how can it be speculative when it’s her own opinion?”
“Defense counsel is correct, you may answer the question.” Judge Iwamoto opined “I’ve never worked with an agency that didn’t want more evidence, especially irrefutable evidence such as DNA. I thought of it as more than a little peculiar”
“With that said Doctor, I’d like to draw your attention to People’s exhibit A, your report.” Michaelson then handed her a copy of the report Milford had presented as evidence.
“Is that your report Doctor?”
“Yes it is.” She replied.
“To the best of your knowledge, is that a complete and detailed report you provided to the Sheriff’s Office in Cumberland County?”
“No it is not.”
“Why is it not a complete report in your estimation Doctor?” Michaelson pressed.
“The report is missing five pages and those pages contain the information of the fifteen different DNA samples.”
“What does that report contain Doctor?”
“It only contains the information specifying that Haines Johnson and Cyrus Davies’ DNA was found on the victims.”
“I will now show you another report sent from your office, does it look familiar.”
“Yes it does, it’s the same report.” She replied.
“Can you tell me the difference?” Michaelson asked.
“This report was delivered under our protocol of a clear hard plastic report cover and a punched hard spine. The only way to separate the pages is to break it apart intentionally.”
“I see, now look at the report submitted as People’s exhibit A; what is the difference?”
“You can clearly see that the report is stapled at the top left corner, and I believe it’s a photocopy since there are no holes along the sides where the binding would have been.” Michaelson then took the report and handed it to the Judge.
