An Accidental Life (52 page)

For a minute she thought about telling him about the trial and about how she’d been involved and what this meant to her. He seemed to have completely missed all that news in the papers. But the look on his face told her that nothing mattered to him right now but his work, his patients.

So she nodded and picked up the stack of files on the counter near the file room. “I’ll get these ready, Doctor.”

“Fine. And hurry, please. I need you in room one.” He gave her a puzzled look and turned, walking briskly down the hallway to the room where Miss Waddington was waiting.

“All rise.”

A shiver ran through Peter as he stood. Dooney stood beside him. Never in his career had he cared so much about the outcome of a trial. Turning, he glanced over his shoulder at Rebecca. She was standing also, in the back row near the door with Molly beside her. Again, just in case. She smiled and wiggled her fingers. Mac, sitting right behind Peter, gave him a thumbs-up and grinned.

The courtroom wasn’t crowded, not yet. Word hadn’t gotten around, but it soon would be and anyone working in the building who could escape would manage to find their way to this courtroom, he knew. He looked around and saw that Stephanie Kand was here, a few rows back.

As he turned back to face the bench, he noticed a dark-haired woman with a frozen expression on her face. She stood alone, directly behind Charles Vicari. He wondered if she was the doctor’s new wife, Eileen Broussard. Across the aisle Vince McConnell was getting to his feet. He slipped his hand under Charles Vicari’s elbow as he rose, and Vicari, with a sharp movement shook him off.

Judge Calvin Morrow’s face, when he appeared in the doorway behind the bench, was expressionless. He lifted his arms from his sides like a great blackbird flapping his wings before he sat, adjusting the sleeves of the long black robe. There was a rustle as everyone sat back down, and then a heavy silence as the judge took his time settling into his place.

Morrow picked up several pieces of paper from the desktop before him. A few seconds ticked by as he looked at what he had written, then he turned his eyes toward the back of the courtroom and began speaking, almost as if to himself.

“I will admit that considering the verdict in this case has been the most difficult duty I’ve ever undertaken. A trial to the bench is a great responsibility.” His eyes seemed to drift toward the press, and then lowered, sweeping over the defense, then the prosecution. “I’ve read both briefs submitted by the parties.” He looked down and sniffed. Tapped the papers on the desk and looked up again.

The room was silent, except for a muffled cough from somewhere in the back.

“In the matter of the
State of Louisiana v. Charles Frank Vicari
,” he began.

“The Defendant, Dr. Charles Vicari, comes before this court charged by the State with having committed the crime of second degree murder under Louisiana Revised Statutes 14:30.1 against an infant born of Glory Lynn Chasson. Under Louisiana law second degree murder is the killing of a human being with specific intent to kill or to inflict great bodily harm.

“The evidence before the court, supplemented by briefs filed by the prosecution and defense indicates the following:”

Peter listened, his heart beating, beating, as Judge Morrow slowly and carefully described each fact in the case, in the order that it had occurred.

At last Calvin Morrow came to the decision. He looked up and recited the next lines without even glancing at the pages in his hand. “In reaching this verdict,” he intoned, “I considered the following questions to be appropriate:

“
First
, whether the expelled fetus was a ‘human being’ for purposes of Article 14:30.1. And if the answer was affirmative, then;

“
Second
, whether actions or omissions of the Defendant were directly responsible for the death of the infant Chasson. And if that answer was affirmative, then;

“
Third
—Did the Defendant have the requisite intent to kill or inflict great bodily harm on the infant Chasson when he failed, or refused, to provide medical assistance immediately after birth, and then wrapped a blanket around the infant’s head, covering his face?”

He cleared his throat and shuffled the papers, putting the top one down on the desk beside him. “As to the first question—was Infant Chasson, once expelled from his mother, a ‘human being’ for purposes of Louisiana law?

“Evidence leaves no question that Infant Chasson, a member of the specie
homo-sapien,
was born alive in that after complete expulsion from his mother, he began to breathe, his heart continued to beat, and two witnesses testified to seeing movement of voluntary muscles continuing for minutes after the birth. It is clear from testimony and the autopsy and pathology reports that Infant Chasson sustained life apart from the mother for an undetermined period of time.”

Here Morrow paused and looked up. “Except for the Supreme Court decision in
Roe v. Wade
nine years ago, that finding would be conclusive with regard to this first question. But the
Roe
Court overrode all Louisiana abortion laws when it enunciated a woman’s right to terminate her pregnancy. The question then becomes, what does the Court in
Roe
have to say about this small human being born alive, when the mother has chosen otherwise?

“In my consideration of this issue, the State’s brief submitted after closing arguments provided an answer.”

Peter looked up, elated. Rebecca’s brief!

Morrow went on. “Although the majority of the decision rendered in Roe does not deal with rights of an unborn child, the prosecution in its brief has pointed to several statements made by the Court in dicta seemingly acknowledging by implication that a line is, as the State has argued, drawn at live birth.”

Here he looked up. “One particular passage from
Roe v. Wade
quoted in the State’s brief was particularly persuasive in consideration of the verdict. It is stated in the negative and it is subtle, but it is there and it is clear. I quote: ‘The law has been reluctant to endorse any theory that life, as we recognize it, begins
before live birth
or to accord legal rights to the unborn, except in narrowly defined situations and . . .’” Here Morrow paused, looking up as he emphasized each word distinctly,
“‘and except when the rights are contingent upon live birth.’”

He looked up and out, over the gallery. His voice was clear and firm. “Second degree murder in Louisiana requires in relevant part, at this point, the killing of a live human being. Infant Chasson’s rights as a human being to protection of his life under laws of the State of Louisiana arose immediately upon live birth, thus, they were
contingent upon live birth.

“Under the reasoning of
Roe v. Wade
as described above, Infant Chasson’s legal rights—including the right to life—having been vested upon him at birth, are entitled to protection by the State, and they supercede the woman’s right to choose his death. After a live birth, the woman’s right to choose life or death for the newborn infant ends. Any decision made from that point on must be made solely in the best interests of the child, and following—in this court’s view—a full and professional medical assessment of the child’s medical condition.”

Peter heard a low hum rising in the courtroom behind him.

“I am persuaded that this subtle, but clear, exception in the
Roe
decision is applicable in this case, and it creates for us a governing rule. Regardless of what any one of us may believe about when life begins, the Supreme Court has made it clear that
after live birth
an infant is a ‘human being’ and is entitled to all the rights of any other human being born alive in this country.”

Here Judge Morrow looked up and for an instant, caught Peter’s eye. “This principle is well established. In
Weber v. Aetna Casualty & Surety Co.
for example, on certiorari to the Supreme Court of Louisiana, and in other decisions, the law is clear that the guarantees of the Fourteenth Amendment of our Constitution protect the right to life of all infants born under its jurisdiction, not merely those that are wanted.

Again he paused, seeming to take a deep breath before adding, “Based upon the foregoing, this Court finds that under
Roe v. Wade
a line is drawn at birth, and that after separation from his mother, Baby Chasson was a living human being free of his mother’s choice, with a right to life. And this is true, whether the victim drew ten breaths or a thousand.”

Peter listened, stunned at this first small victory, yet frustrated. In reality, why should the line be drawn at birth? Gatsby, and every other child on earth existed, lived, from the moment of conception.

But that was an argument for another day.

When Morrow glanced up as he spoke these last words, Peter saw suffering reflected in the judge’s eyes. This conclusion probably conflicted with everything that he’d believed before this trial; it was something the judge had never thought about before. Peter just stopped himself from shaking his head at the finding that should have been so obvious. Behind him Peter heard the reporters scribbling the news:
The line is drawn at birth. Roe v. Wade offers protection for accidental live-birth infants.

Judge Morrow continued. “Having concluded that Infant Chasson was a human being, and a person upon birth for purpose of meeting the first requirement of the State’s charges, we must now determine the
cause and manner
of Infant Chasson’s death to answer the second question.

“The coroner’s reports do not give us an answer as to whether the Defendant’s actions directly caused Infant Chasson’s death—they merely state the medical cause of death as respiratory failure. But testimony of Nurse Clara Sonsten at trial was that the Defendant refused to allow her to render medical assistance to the infant, refused to allow her to call for an ambulance to obtain medical assistance for the infant, and then wrapped the blanket around the infant’s head, covering his face and rendering him for that moment unable to breathe. The Defendant then ordered her to take the infant out of the room and to leave him in the utility room.”

He looked up. Morrow’s face was tense, strained. “And,” the judge continued, “the witness was concise and clear as to what she saw and heard, and she spoke under oath. Furthermore, I am persuaded that the subsequent circumstances in this case also lend support to her testimony. For what other reason would Nurse Sonsten have held the infant for over an hour in an empty room in the clinic after she left the procedure room, other than the Defendant’s refusal to render medical aid? In that regard, a second witness testified that she saw Miss Sonsten holding the infant in that room twenty minutes after the time of birth, long enough to have cleared the infant’s air passages and call for help.”

Peter sucked in his breath and across the aisle he heard Vince McConnell do the same. Judge Morrow looked up and said, “Therefore, I am persuaded that the Defendant’s actions in covering the infant’s face with the towel, and instructing the nurse to take it to the utility room, and his inaction—his failure to render medical assistance or to permit his nurse to do the same—all led to one certain consequence that night, Infant Chasson’s death. It is therefore the opinion of the Court that the Defendant’s actions and his deliberate inaction, were the direct causes of the death of Infant Chasson.”

He exhaled. From the corners of his eyes Peter saw Charles Vicari turning to Vince McConnell and grasping his arm. Again Peter heard the murmuring behind him. He turned his head slightly to the right and saw the press corps bent once again over their notepads.

Morrow picked up the last piece of paper. “And now, we are bound to consider the last element of the charge of second degree murder against the Defendant, that is, whether Charles Vicari specifically intended to kill Infant Chasson when he covered Infant Chasson’s face with the towel, and failed to render assistance to the infant, or whether this was all due to negligence.”

62

In the glow of the judge’s
praise for the brief she’d written for Peter, Rebecca felt a deep radiating pain, at first an aching pain, and then a sharp stabbing pain. Perspiration bloomed on her face, and then a glistening rose over every inch of her flesh, covering her in a delicate sheen of moisture. As the pain continued and deepened, she muffled a cry and drawing her arms across her middle, she doubled, resting her head on the back of the bench in front of her.

“Rebecca, are you all right?” Molly’s voice, whispering into her ear. Raising her head she could see Peter at the front of the courtroom, his attention riveted to Judge Morrow. She nodded, half-straightened, and put a finger over her lips.

“I think it’s time,” she whispered.

Molly’s eyes widened as she reached her arm across Rebecca’s back, holding onto her waist.

“Can you help me up? I don’t want Peter to know. I don’t want him missing this.”

“Well sure.” Molly’s voice trembled as she spoke, but with a glance around, she tightened her grip and said, “Lean on me and see if you can stand. If we can make it to the lobby, I’ll get my car. It’s close by, and we’ll go on to the hospital.”