Primal Fear (12 page)

“Oh please,” Venable said with disgust. “Principle? What principle? He was Miranda’d three times, assigned one of the best lawyers in the state—”

“Why thank you, Counselor,” Vail intervened.

She glared at him and went on. “And it is obvious from these interviews that Stampler understands the charges. He knew—”

Vail had returned to his desk and picked up a copy of the transcript. He walked back and forth, one hand hooked to a suspender, the other brandishing the stapled report.

“Your Honor,” Vail said, cutting her off again, “you will note that my client stated eight times, including once when he was first arrested, and consistently thereafter, that he is innocent of the crime. Furthermore, on page one of the prosecutor’s transcript, after Lieutenant Stenner read my client his rights, we see the following exchange:

STENNER:
Do you have an attorney?

STAMPLER:
No sir.

STENNER:
Do you wish the court to appoint you an attorney at no expense?

STAMPLER:
Yes sir, that would be most kind.

“There you have it, Judge.
Nebraska
versus
Flannery.
They should have stopped right there until Stampler had proper representation. And I have an objection before the bench, Your Honor.”

“The defendant signed three—
three!
—waivers,” Venable insisted.

“
If
he knew what he was signing. Your Honor …” Vail started, but Shoat held up his hand. He looked down at Jane Venable. “Madam Prosecutor,” he said, “I mean no disrespect toward your investigators nor am I implying that they—in any way—violated the defendant’s rights. However, there does appear to be precedent here and there could be a gray line and I think justice may best be served if you and Mr. Vail start off even-steven, so to speak. So I am going to sustain Mr. Vail’s objection. The transcripts are out, Miss Venable.”

“Exception,” she snapped.

“Exception noted,” Shoat said, nodding to the clerk. “Anything else?”

“I would request that the court have my client transferred to Daisyland during the period before the trial for the purpose of a complete psychiatric evaluation by the state.”

“That can be done here, Your Honor,” Venable said quickly. “No need to send him upstate. Daisyland’s a two-hour drive from here.”

“I assume then, that prosecution has no objection to the psychological evaluation?” said Vail.

“None,” said Venable. “We do object to moving Stampler to Daisyland.”

“That’s another reason we request relocation, Judge,” Vail countered. “As you know, this crime has generated a great deal of publicity. In fairness to Mr. Stampler, I feel we need to move him out of the city, away from the limelight. Since we can’t change venue, the next best option is to sequester him in Daisyland until just before the trial.”

“Well, sir,” the judge said, “I don’t see that locking him up at Daisyland is going to reduce the public’s attention any more than if he stays here. Conversely, if we are going to evaluate your client, it would seem that Daisyland would be the proper place to do it.”

“We would like easier access to the prisoner,” said Venable.

“Why?” said Vail. “He’s not going to say anything to you. He’ll take the fifth if you ask him his full name.”

“Can we save the squabbling for the trial, please?” Shoat said, trying hard to be gracious.

“The state objects to moving the accused to the state facility,” Venable said.

“Overruled, Counselor,” Shoat said. “I see no possible reason not to move Stampler up there. If you want to hear him take the fifth you can drive two hours to do it. The court hereby orders that Aaron Stampler be transmitted to the criminal section at Daisyland State Hospital and that he be evaluated by the staff there.”

“I would also like to request that my staff and I be given unlimited visitation rights,” Vail said.

Shoat nodded. “Yes, yes, Mr. Vail, contingent with the rules of the hospital, of course.” He stared over his glasses at the
lawyer. “I wouldn’t expect you to be dropping in at two or three in the morning.”

“No sir.” Vail smiled, then added, “Unless, of course, it’s an emergency.”

Shoat glared down at him but said nothing. He turned to his book and leafed through the pages.

“Anything else?” Shoat asked, leaning hard on the
else.

“Yes sir,” Vail said.

Shoat groaned. “Let’s hear it, Mr. Vail.”

“Defense would like to move at this time for suppression of the photographs taken by the coroner at the scene of the crime.”

Venable was back on her feet, but Shoat, holding up his hand like a traffic cop, stopped her before she could speak.

In the press box, Jack Connerman laughed. He leaned over to Odum and said, “Christ, Vail’s throwing everything at them. He’s trying the case at the fuckin’ arraignment.”

“He’s gonna piss Shoat off,” Odum replied.

“Hell,” said Connerman, “he’s been doing that for years.”

“Excuse me, Miss Venable,” Shoat said. “I’m sure you object to the motion about the pictures. Let’s let Mr. Vail explain himself. Counselor?”

“The photographs will only inflame the jury, Your Honor,” said Vail. “We will not deny murder was done, nor will we object to the introduction of the coroner’s findings or the autopsy report. But the introduction of these pictures, particularly to a lay jury, would be both shocking and prejudicial. We would agree to perhaps a single long shot, to establish the environment. But the photographs themselves have nothing to do with my client’s guilt or innocence.”

Shoat looked at Venable for a response.

“Your Honor, they identify the heinous”—and she looked at Vail and smirked—“nature of the crime. This is not just a murder case, this is a case of mutilation, possible torture, emasculation … all integral to the state’s case. The jury has a right to perceive the brutality of the crime. If counsel for the defense admits the crime was done, then he should have no objections to the official pictures of the scene and the victim.”

“I repeat, Your Honor, to pass a dozen gruesome pictures among the unsophisticated men and women on the jury is prurient,” said Vail. “It smacks of a kind of sick voyeurism.”

“It shows it the way it was,” Venable said flatly. “Part and
parcel of the crime, Your Honor. Next he’ll be objecting if we introduce the murder weapon.”

“I wouldn’t give him any ideas, Counselor,” Shoat said with what amounted to a grin. “As for the photographs, Mr. Vail, I’ll take your motion under advisement. I would appreciate your cooperation on that score. Will you withdraw your objection and reenter it at the time of trial?”

“Well, sir,” Vail said, “we would like a ruling before the case goes before the grand jury. We would like the photographs suppressed before that time.”

“I see,” Shoat said, and glowered down at Vail. “I’ll do my best, Counselor. Now is there anything
else
?”

“Your Honor,” Vail said, “I would call your attention to the 1978 Georgia Reports,
State
versus
Appleby,
volume 156, page 978, in which the court ruled, and was upheld by the state supreme court, that Mr. Appleby was improperly arraigned for the crime of rape because he was mentally retarded and therefore did not understand the charges brought against him. We contend that Mr. Stampler cannot be charged with any crime until the psychiatric board rules on his competence to understand the charges.”

“Oh really!” Venable wailed. “What do you want us to do, Counselor, let him go?”

“No, I am saying that he will voluntarily enter the criminal section of the state facility for the purpose of psychological evaluation. The board will determine whether he is capable of standing trial.”

“Judge …” Venable started.

Vail shrugged. “Georgia code, Judge.
State
versus
Appleby
.”

Shoat read the section Vail had cited. He pulled his spectacles off and leaned back in his chair and chewed on the stem of the glasses.

“Well, he’s got a point, Counselor,” he said to Venable with a tone of resignation.

“He’s
voluntarily
submitting?” Venable growled.

“I understand your consternation, Miss Venable. I would suggest that you proceed with the grand jury and get an indictment as quickly as possible so that we may proceed in the event Mr. Stampler is deemed adequate to stand trial. Meantime, we can go ahead and set a trial date for April twenty-sixth.” He smiled at both of them. “Bright and early.”

“Your Honor,” said Vail. “We respectfully ask the court for at least ninety days to prepare our case.”

“Tuesday, April twenty-sixth, nine
A.M.
, Mr. Vail. Ample time.”

“In that case, Your Honor, we object.”

“To what?” Shoat demanded.

“Setting the trial date.”

“On what grounds, sir?” Shoat exploded.

“On the grounds, Your Honor, that Mr. Stampler is not charged with a crime so you can’t possibly set a date to try him.”

In the press box, Connerman threw back his head and laughed. “Beautiful,” he said.

Shoat glared at Vail. Venable stood to challenge the objection but realized Vail was correct. The judge could hardly arrange to try someone who was not officially charged with anything. “Why don’t we just let him loose?” she spat at Vail. “Maybe he can get a cardinal or even the pope next time!”

“How about a prosecutor? Really do the world a favor,” Vail shot back with a smile.

Shoat lost it. He put his fist on the end of the flexible ruler, raised the other end and let it smack hard on the bench. Both Vail and Venable were startled by the sharp report that sounded like a pistol shot. The judge stood up and leaned forward toward the two lawyers.

“That will be quite enough, both of you!” Shoat yelled. “If you have something to say, you will address the bench, is that perfectly clear? This trial—if we ever get around to it—is not going to turn into a cat-and-dog fight.” He shook his head angrily. “I hereby remand Mr. Stampler to the officials of the state hospital for a complete psychological evaluation. I also order the district attorney’s office to expediently seek a formal indictment from the grand jury on these charges. Any information gathered from Mr. Stampler prior to the time Mr. Vail was retained as his counsel is inadmissable to the grand jury and the court. Any further questions? Good. Bailiff, call the next case.”

Connerman settled back on the bench and stretched his arms out and shook his head.

“The son of a bitch did it again,” he said.

“Did what?” E. J. Odum said.

“Well, right now the state doesn’t even have Stampler in custody, the state hospital does. The interviews have been suppressed, the pictures probably will be, Stampler hasn’t been
charged with anything and Shoat can’t even set a trial date until Stampler gets evaluated, which could take a couple of weeks.”

“So?” Odum said with a shrug. “Vail gets his ninety days. Big deal.”

“Think about this, E.J. Suppose the shrinks up at Daisyland rule that Stampler’s incompetent to stand trial? He’ll end up in the funny farm. That keeps Stampler out of the chair—which is exactly what Vail wants.”

“What happens now?” Aaron asked Vail as the press began to surge forward.

“We get out of here,” said Vail, motioning to the marshal, who escorted Aaron out of the room. Vail motioned to Goodman, who was sitting behind him in the first row of the courtroom. They both followed Stampler and the marshal into the holding room.

“Aaron, this is Tom Goodman, my investigator. He’s working on your case with me.”

“Yes suh,” the boy said, and shook hands.

“You understand they’re going to move you up to Daisyland.”

“Yes suh.”

“Have you heard of Daisyland?”

“That’s the insane asylum.”

“Well, they’re a little more generous than that, Aaron. They call it the state mental health institute. Thing is, you’ll be comfortable there. You’ll get proper attention. And you’ll be treated as a patient rather than a prisoner.”

“Well, I guess it sounds okay.”

“Trust me,” said Vail. “It’s all part of the plan.”

“Plan?”

“Don’t worry about it. I’ll find out when they’re moving you. We’ll talk some more before you go. We have our own psychiatrist coming in. His name is Dr. Arrington. He’ll be testing you as well as the state’s doctors.”

“You comin’ up thair?”

“Bet on it,” Vail said, and winked reassuringly. “Before we leave, Tom has a question or two to ask you.” Vail held out his hand with the earring in his palm.

“Aaron, have you ever seen an earring like this before?” Goodman asked.

Aaron looked at it for a minute and shook his head.

“You don’t know anybody wears earrings like this?”

“No suh. Whaired y’get it?”

“I pulled it out of somebody’s ear. In your stander.”

“In my place?”

“That’s right. He jumped me when I was checking the place out. Why would somebody attack me in there? Is there something of value hidden in the stander?”

Aaron shrugged. “I had a radio ’n’ some books.”

“I got the books, but by the time I got there the place had been ransacked. Wasn’t much left.”

“Weren’t much thair t’ start with,” Aaron said with a sad smile.

“We’ll hang on to the books for you,” Vail said.

“No reason to. I read ’em. It was just nice t’ have books around, y’know?”

“I’m sure they have a library at Daisyland,” Vail said. “Hopefully you’ll have some time to yourself.”

The boy beamed innocently. “I’m plaised t’ hear that, sir.”

Two days later, Aaron Stampler was indicted by the grand jury for first degree murder.

Vail sat at his desk and stared bleakly at the photographs of the murder, which he had attached with pushpins to a bulletin board that rested against the bookshelves. Now, over a cup of coffee and a cigarette, he was contemplating the visual impact of the photographs. He felt sure Shoat would rule against him on the motion to suppress the photos.

And there were other questions to be answered. Motive. What could possibly have been Stampler’s motive for committing this crime, if in fact he did it. Perhaps Tommy’s trip to Kentucky would shed light in a lot of dark corners.