Compelling Evidence (21 page)

"You mean to say that you cut your hand the day that M. Potter was killedt' "Yes sir."

"I remind you, Mr. Townsend, you are under oath. To nit' lie now is to commit pe@ury. That is a serious crime."

Townsend did a lot of swallowing here. f1is Adam's apple sa,.‐f`q@ the trip up and down his throat several times. I don't lie," he said. "Are you certain you did not injure your hand on another perhaps after Mr.

Potter was killed, or long before the swie T@ Nelson, unable to shake the man, was offering him one honorable way out of a lie. No, it were that day, or the day before, but I think it were that I'm sure of it." o much of his testimony had been compromising to Brown Cheetam, that it was difficult to believe that he would lie on point. Townsend's words had the soulful ring of truth, and son backed away. I wondered whether with all of his foibles etam, and Talia by his proxy, would now‐after all of thisily profit from some happy coincidence. I would not wonder long. Thank you, nothing more of this witness." heetam beamed like the Cheshire cat. "Shaunasy looked at him. "Redirect?" Nothing, Your Honor."

Very well, your next witness." The defense rests, Your Honor." r.

Nelson, do you have any rebuttal witnesses?" Just one, Your Honor. The state would like to recall Dr. rge Cooper." Any objection?" heetam looked mystified but at a loss to raise any grounds for ction. e smiled.

"None, Your Honor." oop was called from the hall outside, where witnesses were mbled or held for further testimony. He took the stand and reminded that he was still under oath. Dr. Cooper, you took blood samples from the body of the im, Benjamin Potter, following death, did you not?" did." And the single drop of blood that was found in the service ator‐did you gather and process this evidence from the e?" did."

And finally, were you able to obtain a blood sample from one inald Townsend, a janitor in the building, a witness for the rise?" did so, yes." Doctor, can you briefly describe for the court that system of d‐type classification commonly known as A‐B‐0 and explain yman's terms how it works?" As you know, there's two types of blood cells, red cells white cells. The A‐B‐0 system keys on red cells only. It tifies chemical structures present on the surface of these cells called antigens. Under the A‐B‐0 system, a type A 91 donor would have A antigens on the surface of his red 6WIM a type B, B antigens, a type AB would have both A and antigens and a type 0 would have neither. In. addition, IV! is one other common factor in this blood‐typing system. (t the so‐called D antigen or Rh factor of the blood. Those @.,iv the D antigen are said to be Rh‐positive; those without it it Rh‐negative."

"So if both Mr. Potter and Mr. Townsend were classified type B‐negative blood donors, all that means is that they had only type B antigens on the surface of their red blood ‐6Wr and that neither had the so‐called D

antigen present, so they negative as to the Rh factor?"

"That's correct."

It was a polished routine, like Abbott and Costello. '6774r,"71 was disclosed as a witness for the defense before the trial, required in discovery. It was clear Coop and Nelson had M‐1 over this ground in preparation. There was no wasted effort. "Now this A‐B‐0 system, is it the only method for typing classifying blood?"

"No. It's the most common system of classification used hospitals for purposes of transfusions and other medical cedures. But in answer to your question, there are more I "" hundred other different blood factors that have been s o n exist. In theory at least, no two individuals, except for 'romtsoltwins, can be expected to have the same combination of all lersl" factors."

Cheetam's face sagged with this thought. He had spent r" much time trying PI cases and too little chasing deadbeat Mr. on paternity raps to be familiar with the nuances of by blood. "Doctor, can you describe and explain some of these blood factors, as you call them?"

"Well, besides the A, B, and D antigens, there are other gens in the blood that serve as markers or can be used to lem, a specific individual, or at least exclude other individuals 0.: consideration.

These can be detected, though it's difficult @.47' you're dealing with dried blood."

"Such as the blood in the service elevatort' "Right. In this case the easiest factors to isolate are ;4sv,.kulj!j; these are markers, proteins on the red blood cells that 1‐14z, many of the body's chemical reactions." pparently in this case, given the slap‐dash nature of Cheetam's se, Coop didn't think it was necessary to go to the expense trouble of exotic screenings. DNA tests were on the cutting , but required sophisticated labs and expensive equipment. blood would have had to go to a private lab. Were you able to isolate blood enzymes in this case?" fes. In the case of the dried blood taken from the service ator we were able to isolate an enzyme known as PGM. PGM enzyme is not the same in every person and comes iree common variations. We call these PGM‐1, PGM‐2‐1, PGM‐2. The dried bloodstain from the service elevator in case was PGM‐2, actually somewhat rare. About six percent ie population carry this variation of the enzyme." 14ow tell us, doctor, were you able to isolate the PGM enzyme e blood taken from Mr. Townsend?" Yes, it was PGM‐l." Then it did not match the blood found in the elevator?" No." Can you tell us, doctor, whether the PGM enzyme found in blood of the victim, Benjamin G. Potter, matched the blood the service elevator?"

Yes, it did." Therefore, is it safe to say that the blood in the elevator nged to the victim, Benjamin Potter?" I can't say that with certainty, but I can say one thing with rance. It did not belong to Reginald Townsend. The enzyme excludes Mr. Townsend as a possible source of this blood. I also say that since the PGM‐2 enzyme is carried by only six ent of the population, and that since type B‐negative blood is ilarly rare, only twelve percent, there is a very high probability this blood belonged to the victim." No further questions, Your Honor." ow, instead of being merely mortally wounded, Cheetam'd his ass blown clean out of the water, in full view of the rt‐the entire world. He had to do something to save face. leaned over and looked at me, a higid, vacant expression in eyes‐it was the first time I had seen it in him. It was the look fear. He was so shaken that it took a second for the brain to age the mouth. "Can you take him on cross?" he said. sat there stunned, caught between the devil and the deep e sea‐‐Cheetam who was fear‐struck, and Talia who sat re staring at me expectantly, as if at this late hour I could save M*0 from Nelson's rolling juggernaut. My hesitation caused him to bolt. Before I could lean over :wfl@@ say anything to him, Cheetarn addressed the court. "Your Honor, if the court pleases, cross‐examination w‐S Cooper will be handled by my associate, Mr. Madriani." :rn, pushed himself back from the table and refused to make ;k%,. contact with me, looking instead off in the general direction the empty jury box. I could feel fire out to the tips of my ears. If the place had

"Tr empty, I could easily have killed. Here I was, about to earn ulcer in a battle over the insignificant, some blood in an 44717s, that was now central to our case only because Cheetarn had Mr7" to defend on a plausible theory. He had pursued the case as suicide with the dogma of a chief inquisitor, but with none the success. I rose, my thoughts a shambles. In a mental buzz, I ‐,I the witness box, my mind racing for some loose thread, iose;41117, to take hold of. I scanned the few notes I had taken from direct testimony. I was stalling for time.

Coop sat there looking at me, the familiar Southern smirk his face. I knew that inside he was laughing at how I'd sandbagged by Cheetam. He was having a good time, now UP‐1. this was at my expense. I would never hear the end of MM was sure. "Doctor, these tests‐these so‐called enzyme tests7‐1 waving my arms, flapping my note pad in the air for effect, if I was referring to a bag of witch doctor's bones. "Are IM', tests absolutely reliable? Have you ever known them to ‐1;4 e false result?"

"People can make mistakes in administering them, but the T7,", themselves are reliable." The asinine smile returned to Vvet," face. "Is it possible that a mistake might have been made in case. He looked at me, a bit of soulful Southern charm, then 14M51% head slightly. "No."

Like

"Fry the next door, Charlie." He 7171, was dabbling in the dark. He was almost laughing. It might 7' been funny but for the stakes. "Did you perform these tests yourselft

"I did."

I was chasing rainbows. , r f

"Now doctor, you say in your testimony

that there was a high probability that the blood in the elevator was that of Mr. potter?"

"No, I said there was a very high probability that the blood in the elevator belonged to the victim:' He was playing all the buzz words. I referred ‐to Ben as

"Mr. pottef'9‐‐a little sleight of hand to

decriminalize Talia's situation. He came right back‐"the victim."

"Excuse me, doctor, a very high probability. Now does that mean that there is a possibility that this blood could also belong to someone else?"

"There is that possibility, though it is remote."

For a long moment there was a still silence in the court, punctuated only by a hacking cougher in the audience. I considered whether to ask the question‐‐the one set up by Coop's answer. I rechecked my notes, the quick calculation I had made while Nelson was getting the answers he wanted. It was a risk, but it was weighed against void on the other side, for I had no other line of inquiry. "Just how remote is the possibility that this blood sample in the elevator could belong to someone else?"

Coop reached into the inside pocket of his coat and pulled out a small hand‐held calculator. He looked at his notes, then punched a few buttons and looked up. "Fewer than eight people in one thousand will carry the combination of these two markers in their blood."

To statisticians such odds may be remote. To a trial lawyer in trouble, these numbers opened all the avenues of opportunity I was likely to get.

I turned for a moment and looked out over the railing at the bar. Two hundred sets of eyes riveted on me. A couple of artists were in the jury box doing my profile. For an instant there was the sensation, a little stage fright, the familiar flutter‐of fear as it rippled through my body, tinged by excitement. I turned back to Cooper to suppress it and reassembled my thoughts. "That means that in an area such as this, witwm‐l made a face in estimation‐‐@'a million and a half people in the greater metro Politan area, there are what, almost twelve thousand people living m this area alone who could have dropped that blood in the elevator. Isthat rightt' :"Your figure," said Coop. "Is it right, doctort' : "Objection, Your Honor. The doctor's not a oamtxmimim Nelson remained in his chair, but leaned toward the bench little. "Your Honor, it was Doctor Cooper who pulled the OWMW from his pocket."

il Cooper smiled broadly and started to hand me the *irmt tor. I stepped back, avoiding the thing like it was some machine.

11 "Sustained. The numbers will speak for themselves." t Given what I had to start with, I'd done better than I had oi@,' right to expect, though my argument was more likely to 611)AM jury than this judge. It ignored the facts that Townsend, .TIMM010‐V prime candidate for the blood, was not among the twelve M‐TIM., souls I'd fingered, and that Ben was. It worked once so I trotted it out again, this dead horse that 4@

on numbers. "Doctor. Do you have any idea how many people work in building where Mr. Potter had his office?"

C "No. "Would it surprise you if I told you there are nearly four I'm", sand people who work in that building? That doesn't count men, vendors, repair people who come and go, , I MH I was dealing totally in the dark, testifying and pulling smiolf, from the air. I had no idea how many people work in the 41‐17, Tower. Coop shook his head. "It wouldn't surprise me," he said.

11 "Then assuming a random distribution in the general !Us of 4 these two so‐called blood markers‐the B‐negative blood and the enzyme factor‐and using your figure of eight thousand, that means that of the four thousand people in building at or around the time that Mr. Potter died, there as many as thirty other people besides Ben Potter who there who might fit the blood characteristics or factors of 171e., found in that elevator. Is that correctt' My question ignored the obvious, that trendy spiked heels and executives.in thousand‐dollar suits don't erally travel in service elevators. Cheetam had left me no ‐Ir but to go boldly where no man had gone before‐1 was five‐minute mission to evidentiary la‐la land. Coop made a face of concession. "Am I right?"

"I haven't made a precise statistical calculation." : Thank God for little favors, I think. Nelson was twitching in his chair, but so far had refrained from any objection. "That might be close," said Coop. I had what I wanted, a tiny slice of shadow in the prosecutor's bright light, some ray of doubt. I could tell from his face that Coop now wished he'd done DNA. I considered pushing it just a little further. But I looked at him sitting there in the witness box, waiting, like an alligator submerged at the bank except for the eyes. Two blips on the surface. I'd taken it as far as I could. I thought better than to offer myself as a meat in a losing cause. Save it for the trial, I thought.

"That's all for this witness."

As I returned to the counsel table Cheetarn was all over me. Cheap kudos and handshakes. Talia was more reserved, with a warm smile and eyes that knew the truth. Quibbling over blood in an elevator was not going to avoid an order binding her over for trial. Now she is shaking. Time is drawing short and she senses that a new horror is about to envelop her.

The bailiff saunters out of chambers with furtive looks behind him. He's running interference for O'Shaunasy. She's a ‐dozen steps behind him with a sheaf of papers in her hand, Talia's fate. She mounts the bench.

"Come to order. Remain seated, municipal court of Capitol County, department 17, is now in session, the Honorable Gail O'Shaunasy presiding." The bailiff takes his place off to the side of the courtroom. O'Shaunasy clears her throat and shuffles the papers until she has them in proper order. She looks directly at Talia before she speaks, then off to some broad undefined horizon beyond the bench. 1