Love Story: In The Web of Life (29 page)

She said that, because of the lateness of the
hour she would delay showing her video tomorrow morning.

Dr. Peter Gallagher testified that he and some
of his colleagues had reviewed her work and could find no fault in
it.

The judge adjoined the court at
five–fifteen."

****

Wednesday of the trial went quickly. Mr. S. and
his chaperones, Buster and his associate, and the lady reporter
from San Jose were in attendance. Elizabeth noted that several new
reporters, identifiable by their laptop computers, had shown up.
There were only a few other spectators at the trial.

I started by showing Candice's movie; the jury
was interested and amused.

I then called a Deputy Sheriff who gave the
timeline from the Incident log.

I then called the Search and Rescue Team member
who had found Lucy. He said by one-thirty in the morning the search
was about to be called off, and things were disorganized. He said
that on a hunch, he and his partner had decided to search down Bear
Creek. Nobody seemed to be in control then so they undertook the
search without the Incident Commanders permission.

I congratulated him on his
initiative.

I then called Jill Franklin, the Rocky Butte
Manager of Emergency Services Department. She verified that County
policy was to use all available resources in emergencies such as a
search and rescue incident. She said that it was reasonable and
on–policy for Incident Commanders to use civilians in search
operations. I asked whether the County might not be concerned about
liability lawsuits from civilians who were injured during searches
or rescues while under direction of county personnel. She said
there were "good Samaritan" laws that covered that and the Incident
Commander would further be insured by a small county self-insurance
pool, which covers smaller claims, and was further insured by a
very large policy with the California State Association of
Counties, Excess Insurance Authority.

Surprisingly, Dean Buttress didn't object. I
continued. "Does that mean there is a very large liability dollar
policy covering Sheriff Bogend and any settlement would be paid by
a State-wide insurance pool?

Jill replied, "Yes."

"That means that in emergency situations, any
liability the Incident Commander creates is insured against. He is
not risking County money that is used for paying teachers, fixing
potholes, or keeping the libraries open."

Butters looked as though he would object but
didn't.

Jill replied, "Yes."

"Is there any problem with paying search
professionals who show up, such as bloodhound handlers, if they
later bill you for professional services."

"Not if their fees are customary and
reasonable. We have to get many approvals for off-budget
expenditures, but we do it all the time."

"Thank you," I said, wondering if Dean Buttress
drank his breakfast today. I decide to go for it.

"One more thing, Ms. Franklin. I'd like to
clarify the idea of acting as a reasonable person during an
emergency.

Let me give you a hypothetical situation:
Suppose you had a cattle ranch and we were in the middle of a
drought and the cattle were dying of thirst. Further, suppose you
have an unused well drilling rig on your property. Then, a man who
claimed he was a water dowser showed up and said he had dowsed your
property and that water could be found if you drilled a well at the
far end of your corral.

Wouldn't a responsible person, who might or
might not believe in dowsing, drill the well at the end of the
corral if it wouldn't cost too much?"

I was shocked Buttress was letting me get away
with this.

Jill responded, "Yes, It would be irresponsible
for the man to let his cattle die of thirst solely because he
didn't believe in dowsing."

"The person should act?"

She answered. "A reasonable person would take
action"

I said, "Thank you."

Judge Cartright adjourned court for a
forty-five-minute lunch.

We adjourned to our conference room for our bag
lunches. Elizabeth shook her head in disbelief and said, "I can't
believe that Buttress sat there while Jill told the jury a huge
amount of money was in the pot and that it wouldn't come out of
county funds. He sat there while you drilled hypothetical wells.
Amazing!"

Elizabeth made a cell phone call to our next
witness.

After lunch, I noted that there were about
fifteen more spectators in the courtroom who looked more like
housewives than reporters.

Elizabeth seemed puzzled, "The local grapevine
must have been listening to my cell phone call."

After the court reconvened, I called Janice
Cloud, a thirty-something looking lady, dressed in a modest
sundress.

I asked, "Ms. Cloud, please explain to the
court how you know me."

"My friend, Ann Sodastrom, called me and asked
if I would organize a child-finding demonstration for the court. My
daughter Kerri is, or was in Lucy's grade, and I know all the
mothers in the school class"

The defense attorney, Dean Buttress jumped to
his feet and objected, saying, "One of the main issues in this
trial is scientific credibility: a simple demonstration is not
scientific proof of the legitimacy of psychic
phenomena."

I was surprised Buttress was awake and
responded, "The scientific credibility of 'psychic phenomena,' in
general, is not an issue in this trial. The issue is limited to Mr.
Manteo's credibility. This demonstration works toward that
end."

"Overruled. I'll allow the demonstration,"
responded the Judge. "I'd like to see this myself.

"Please continue, Ms. Cloud."

"I am the president of the PTA, and Ann thinks
I am a good organizer. She gave me your phone number, and I asked
for me to call you in Los Angeles. During that call, you asked for
me to get three other parents from Lucy's class to participate in
the child–locating demonstration. All they had to do was hide with
their daughters in separate location somewhere in town."

"Have I or any other person, contacted or
talked to you about this?"

"The phone call to LA is my only contact with
you before now. The other attorney, that lady over there, Elizabeth
McKenzie, met with me briefly. She gave me and explained some
written instructions for the child–locating demonstration. I have
them here."

"Would you read them aloud to the court,
please."

She read, "Please contact and identify three
other parents of children in Lucy's class who would be willing to
participate in a one hour demonstration. Only you and the other
parents are to know of the planned demonstration. They should give
you a copy of the their children's classroom portrait, taken last
spring when they had 'picture day' at the school. On a given day
during the Sodastrom versus County of Rocky Butte Trial, you will
be asked to call each of the other three parents and ask for them
and their children to leave home and go to a place of their
choosing in the vicinity of Rocky Butte. Each place should have
strong visual clues, a place you would recognize if given a photo
of that place. They should stay at that location for one hour or
until they are called on their cell phones. They and their
daughters may engage in any normal activity to entertain themselves
while they are at the place."

I asked; "Were you given any other
instructions?"

"No"

"Do you have the three pictures?"

"Yes."

"Please write the name of the child on each
picture and the cell phone number of the person who is with
them."

She wrote on the back of each picture, and I
entered them into evidence.

Then, I asked, "Do you know or know of a Mr.
Steve Manteo?"

"No, I have never met or had any contact with
him that I know of."

"Thank you very much for your assistance in
setting up this demonstration."

I then called Steve Manteo who was dressed in a
grey business suit and tie.

I gave the three pictures to Steve and said,
"Here are pictures of three classmates of Lucy's. Their names are
on the back. Do you know any of these children or families with the
same surname?"

Steve examined the pictures and then said, "No,
I don't know any of these children nor do I know any families with
the same last name. I haven't had any contact whatsoever with any
of them that I know of."

I then gave him map of Rocky Butte and vicinity
and said, "Each of these children is somewhere in the vicinity of
Rocky Butte. Will you please mark on the map where you perceive the
three children to be and describe what the children are
doing?"

Steve took the first picture in both hands and
then closed his eyes. Everyone in the courtroom was in complete
silence, and I could feel the tension building. Then, Steve opened
his eyes and turned the picture over, read the name, marked an X on
the map, closed his eyes and said, "Kerri Legar is in a building,
she is near a high arched window, looking out. She is unhappy and
doesn't want to be there. She is with her father. I can perceive
that she is on the second story, looking out the window at
something moving by."

He took the next picture, read the name, closed
his eyes for a while, marked the map, closed his eyes again,
paused, and said, "Amie Archerfish is in the outdoors playing. She
is happy, having fun. She is going back and forth, like on a swing.
She is at the school on the edge of town, in the
playground."

The audience murmured and Judge Cartright was
about to bang his gavel and then, as Steve took the third picture,
the audience grew quiet.

He looked at the third picture, closed his eye
for a minute and then said, "Janet Nestle, is here," as he marked
the map and then again closed his eyes. In a minute he said, "Janet
is enjoying something to eat, cold. She is not inside, but under
some sort of roof or arbor. There is a blue structure nearby. There
are objects, probably cars going by. She is at the Tasty Freeze on
the edge of town."

I had earlier arranged for the clerk to have a
speakerphone on her desk. She dialed the number on the back of
Kerri's picture. We, including the jury, heard, a male vice answer,
"Hello, Richard Legar here."

"Mr. Legar, this is David Willard calling from
the courthouse. Where are you and is Kari with you?"

"I am in the library on the second floor. Kari
is bored and driving me nuts. Can we go home now?" Richard Legar
answered in a very stressed voice.

"Yes, thank you very much. Your service to the
court is appreciated."

Then, we called Joyce Archerfish and she
verified that her daughter, Amie, was at the school, playing on the
swings. Dorothy Nestle verified that her daughter was at the Tasty
Freeze on the edge of town.

I entered the map Steve had marked into
evidence.

Opposing counsel declined
cross-examination.

I thanked everyone and then rested my
case.

The judge declared a forty-five minute recess
for lunch.

The defense then presented its case.

First, Dean Buttress, presented his scientific
expert witness, an emeritus Physics Professor, Charles Young, a
gentile, kindly looking man, from the Bowdon University of
California. He gave the expected expert testimony that there is no
physical way for Lucy to communicate her status to Mr. Manteo over
two miles away. I impeached his testimony by asking what year he
was awarded his PhD (1973) and how long it had been since he
published his last scientific paper (more than fifteen years) and
if he had ever done any theoretical work that dealt with more
dimensions than four (no). He said he had never heard of Minkowski
and then admitted he had not kept up with advances in physics for
the past ten years.

I was amazed at how poorly this witness had
been prepared by Dean Buttress.

Dean Buttress called Altos Kozinsky who
described himself as president of the Sacramento chapter of an
organization dedicated to exposing frauds in claims of paranormal
experience. He cited a study that surveyed Police Departments of
the 60 largest cities in the United States and Canada. The
published report said that only forty percent of the departments
said they ever used psychics, and none said they had ever received
information of great value.

In cross-examination, I asked Mr. Kozinsky what
his profession was.

"Real estate broker," he replied.

"Did you study science in college?"

"No, I didn't go to college."

I asked, "When was the study you described
done?"

He said, "1973."

"Do you know of any similar studies since
1973?"

"No."

"Was it published in a peer–reviewed journal
and reviewed by scientists not involved in the study?"