The Jury by Steve Martini Read Free Book Online

death, leaving aside what happened to the body afterward."
    Tannery is covering his bases, on the long shot that we try to defend on the theory that she killed herself, and Crone merely panicked for fear that he would be blamed, and disposed of the body.
    Schwimmer considers for a moment.
    "Well the ligature marks. The bruising on the neck was not consistent with hanging if that's what you mean. When a person hangs herself, assuming she could use this thing--this nylon cable tie to do this, you would get a V pattern of bruising on the neck."
    "A V?"
    "Yes. The result of gravity on the body, pulling it downward, and sagging of the ligature. Here you have a straight line, a ligature mark--in fact, in places it is so deep as to be an incision. It takes a straight line, almost level all the way around the neck. This is consistent with asphyxia by strangulation from behind."
    "And how do you know it was from behind, Doctor?"
    "Because when the body was recovered, the ligature was still tightened around the neck, embedded in the outer flesh. The yoke, where the cable tie is joined together in a continuous loop, was at the midline here." He reaches around to the back of his neck.
    "It was notched just slightly above the first cervical vertebra at the posterior midline of the neck."
    "And what did you conclude from this?"
    "That the victim died as a result of a criminal agency," say Schwimmer.
    "So the jury can understand, Doctor?"
    "She was killed by someone else. " "You're saying this was a homicide? A murder? The intentional killing of another person?"
    "That's correct."
    Tannery turns away from the witness for a moment as if to regroup for the next assault.
    "Doctor, would you say that the physical evidence as you observed it, the way the ligature was applied, indicated that some thought and preparation had been given to this act?"
    "Objection. Counsel is leading."
    "Sustained. Rephrase the question," says Coats.
    Tannery does so and gets the answer he wants, that some thought and preparation went into the act. Schwimmer has brought some cable ties with him for purposes of demonstration. Tannery has him take several from a bag. One he gives to the judge, who studies it briefly and lays it on the bench. Another is delivered to our counsel table by the bailiff. Two others, with the court's approval, start filtering through the jury box.
    "These are identical to the cable tie used to kill the victim, Kalista Jordan," says Schwimmer.
    "I believe they are made by the same manufacturer. They are designed as heavy-duty cable ties, thirty-four point-eight inches long, three-eighths of an inch wide, made of white industrial nylon. They have a tensile strength of two hundred and fifty pounds."
    One of the male jurors has actually snapped the open end of one of the ties into the yoke and is pulling on the closed loop as if to test its strength. It doesn't budge.
    "In order to apply the tie to the victim in the manner in which I
    believe was done in this case, it would be necessary first to make a loop by inserting the open end into the yoke."
    Schwimmer demonstrates. The tie is now a large white nylon loop in his hand like a buckled belt, only much thinner, with the tip sticking through the yoke like a tail a couple of inches at one end.
    "Why would that be necessary?" asks Tannery.
    "If the loop were not started in this fashion, and if the victim were to struggle, it would be very difficult if not impossible for the killer to insert the end into the small opening of the yoke. Like threading a needle," he says.
    "Very difficult to do if someone is jostling you, resisting. No, I believe it is clear that the cable tie was prepared in this fashion prior to the attack."
    "And this would indicate some thought and preparation by the killer?" Tannery is getting at the elements of premeditation and deliberation.
    "Yes. Also there is evidence that the killer used a tensioning tool for leverage," says Schwimmer.
    "A tensioning tool?"
    The coroner