Chapter 22
Taking the 5th...Sort of
The next day in the courtroom, Elijah sat down with a much better disposition than the one that he had left with the day before. Once the judge entered the courtroom, she asked Elijah how he wished to proceed.
"If I may interrupt Your Honor," Samantha said, "the crown has something that it wishes to say."
"Go ahead Ms. Howard," the judge said.
"Due to the testimony presented yesterday, the crown wishes to dismiss the charges of fraud and theft against Mr. Ravenwood, but will proceed on the top count of murder in the 1st degree."
"On the motion of the crown, those charges are dismissed. The jury will now not render a verdict on those counts of the indictment. Even with this being the case, you still can consider this evidence as a possible motive for the top count of Murder in the 1st Degree." After a short pause, the judge again asked Elijah how he wished to proceed.
"Your Honor, I wish to continue my examination of Audrey Taylor."
Audrey Taylor, now being escorted to the stand by a bailiff, was reminded by the judge that she was still under oath.
"Mrs. Taylor, my what a difference a day makes. I mean when you entered this courtroom yesterday, you were a free woman, and now you have to be brought into court by a police escort."
"Objection Your Honor, the defense counsel is badgering the witness and is trying to illicit testimony that is irrelevant to this case."
"The objection is sustained. Mr. Deville please refrain from commentary and start asking questions," Justice Richardson said.
"Yes Your Honor," Elijah responded. "Yesterday you shocked this court in revealing that when you left the airport at around 5:25, you went to a hotel on Century Rd. and checked in around 5:45 PM with Daniel Morris and remained there until 2:30 AM the next morning. Is that still your testimony?" Elijah asked.
"It's the truth Mr. Deville," Audrey said.
"Yes, and we confirmed that you did check in with Mr. Morris at 5:45 PM, you did order room service at 8 PM and 11 PM and that the waiter remembers seeing both of you at one time or another throughout the night. What is interesting though is that he never reports seeing both of you at the same time. I mean on two occasions you answered the door and on two occasions Daniel answered the door. He remembers that he never saw both of you standing in the room when he arrived."
"That probably means that one of us was in the bathroom because neither of us left all night."
"Oh I don't believe that is true, not for a minute. Last night, I was brooding over that question for a few hours, for I knew in my heart of hearts that both you and Daniel killed your husband, but I couldn't prove that you had in fact left the hotel. I couldn't prove it until listening to last night's news report that is.
Upon hearing the report about the hit and run accident that took place on the 407 on June 30th of last year, all the pieces began to fit into place. First of all, your husband hated driving on the 407 did he not?" Elijah asked.
"Yes he did, he felt it was a waste of money," Audrey responded.
"But you like driving on it, is that correct?"
"I would drive the 407 whenever it got me to where I was going. It helped me avoid the horrendous traffic of the 401."
"You see, the fact that you liked the 407, but your husband hated it always bugged me a little. If your husband hated the 407 so much, why did he drive on it twice the night before he was killed? And if you loved the 407 so much, why didn't you drive on it after leaving the airport? After looking at your toll statement, one that will be placed into evidence as Defense exhibit G; your husband's license plate only appeared on the bill 3 times in the last six months, all three on June 30, 2010. Your license plate appears nowhere on the bill on this date.
The bill also shows that he didn't even let you drive on the 407 the next day when you told me that you drove the family to the park. Then it hit me, what if he wasn't driving his car that night," Elijah said.
"You're joking! Of course Scott was driving his car. He always drove it."
"Yes he did, but you and your husband owned twin Mercedes Benz convertibles did you not?"
"Yes we did."
"You told my associate Rebecca, that as a special feature, you had identical keys made for the doors and ignition of the car, so that either person could use either car without needing an extra set of keys. Is that correct Mrs. Taylor?"
"Yes it is, but we never got our cars mixed up."
"Sure when they were in the driveway. You had your spot and he had his. You parked on the left side of the driveway and he parked on the right side of the driveway. Except at the park, the situation would have been reversed. You see the CEOs car would have been parked on the left, and right next to it, on the right, a guest of the CEO was able to park. I checked the signage myself just to be sure. According to security, this spot was normally empty unless you visited the park. You did visit the park the night before the murder didn't you? After checking into the hotel, you quickly left so that you could get to the park before your husband departed for the evening. You see, you needed your husband's ID badge in order to get into the park later that night. You were careful not to take the toll highway so that there would be no record of your visit. However, when you got there, you overheard the now famous argument between your husband and Elliot and got a brilliant idea. Instead of making the crash appear as just a freak accident, you decided to frame Elliot for the murder. But in your haste to leave and get Daniel to buy an acetylene tank using Elliot's name, you rushed out of the park and drove off in your husband's car. Since your husband stormed out in a rage a few minutes later, he probably didn't notice that his car wasn't in its normal spot and as a result, drove your car home. Isn't it true that it was your husband's car that you were driving that night? Isn't it true, while driving that car, out of a force of habit, you entered the 407 at 7:11 PM and got off at Exit 39 at 7:30 PM? Isn't it true, that you returned to the park later that night, again driving your husband's car? Isn't it true that you stole your husband's pass and used his fingerprint to bypass security that night so you could sabotage the ride? Isn't it true that it was you who asked Daniel Morris to buy the torch in Elliot Ravenwood's name? Isn't it also true that you were the mysterious "A." in the note found in Scott Taylor's notepad? He wasn't accusing Elliot Ravenwood of theft. He was reminding himself to chew you out for racking up $500 per month bills driving on the Highway 407, or as it is otherwise known, the 'Express Toll Route'. Isn't all of that true?"
"That is absolutely not true! You can't prove a word that you just said. I didn't kill my husband!" Audrey yelled.
"I most certainly can prove it-- and I will," Elijah said indignantly. "Have you ever witnessed an accident on the 407?"
"Yes, I have," Audrey replied.
"Did you witness one on the night of June 30, 2010.
"I don't know, but if you're talking about the hit and run accident that orphaned a little girl, then yes I saw the aftermath of that accident."
"Well then that's a problem. The accident you just described took place on June 30, 2010 at 7:00 PM about 1 km east of Exit 39 of the 407. Your car was never recorded as being on the 407 that night. Your husband's car on the other hand, was on the 407 that night, in fact, the car got off on Exit 39 twice that night, once being right around the time of this accident. My question to you though is this: if you didn't leave the hotel that night, and if your car, the one that you left the airport in, was never on the 407 that night, how did you witness the aftermath of that accident, the one you described to Elliot and Rebecca in such vivid detail? The only way you could have witnessed that accident was if you were driving your husband's car. And the only way you could be driving your husband's car was if you visited the park that night. You drove your husband's car that night. You returned to the park, and you sabotaged the ride. You killed Scott Taylor, didn't you?" Elijah asked.
After about 15 seconds Audrey res
ponded, "Mr. Deville, you have all but convicted me for embezzling money, I'm not going to let you do the same for murder, so I respectfully invoke my 5th Amendment rights and refuse to answer any more questions until such time that I can speak to my attorney."
Elijah chuckled rather loudly and remarked, "You see that's one of the problems of American TV being broadcast up here in Canada. People watch shows like Law and Order, CSI and Criminal Minds and come away thinking that Canada's Justice system is exactly the same as America's Justice System. First year law students come to law school with the same misconceptions.
Mrs. Taylor, you can't claim your 5th Amendment rights, because Canada does not have a 5th Amendment. Now I've had students tell me that we have the Charter of Rights and Freedoms and Section 13 of that document contains the same right against self incrimination as the 5th Amendment of the U.S. Constitution.
But is that truly the case? Let's examine the two documents to find out. In the U.S., the 5th Amendment reads as follows:
'No person shall be held to answer for a capital, or otherwise infamous crime, unless on a presentment or indictment of a Grand Jury, except in cases arising in the land or naval forces, or in the Militia, when in actual service in time of War or public danger; nor shall any person be subject for the same offense to be twice put in jeopardy of life or limb; nor shall be compelled in any criminal case to be a witness against himself, nor be deprived of life, liberty, or property, without due process of law; nor shall private property be taken for public use, without just compensation.'
That is a very powerful right, one that many criminals have availed themselves of. But the question is, does Canada grant the exact same right? Let everyone in this courtroom be the judge. The 13th Section of the Charter of Rights and Freedoms says that:
'A witness who testifies in any proceedings has the right not to have any incriminating evidence so given used to incriminate that witness in any other proceedings, except in a prosecution for perjury or for the giving of contradictory evidence.'
The parts on self incrimination are similar though not the same. In the United States, everyone has the right not to incriminate themselves in courts of law or anywhere else, and can refuse to answer any question if they are afraid of doing such. In Canada, suspects do not have to answer questions unless they're in court. If you are called as a witness (though an accused cannot be compelled to testify), you must answer all questions. The answers you give in court though cannot be used against you at another trial. What this means Mrs. Taylor, is that you must answer the question. Just so you remember, I asked you how you could have seen the aftermath of an accident on the 407 at around 7:30 PM when you were supposed to have never left the hotel until early the next morning."
Audrey, glaring back at Elijah, responded, "Mr. Deville, I told you that I was no where near the park that night. I don't know who was driving Scott's car but it wasn't me. I did not kill my husband and you can't prove that I did. There's nothing you can say that will convince me to change my story."
"Maybe not Mrs. Taylor, but I don't have to provide definitive proof that you killed your husband, that's the work for the police and the crown attorney. My job is to show this jury that there is a reasonable doubt that Elliot Ravenwood killed your husband, and I believe I have done that.
With that being said, all of the evidence points to you and Daniel Morris as the killers of your husband. It will only be a matter of time before the police find a witness who saw you in a car near the park that night. When that happens, I hope you can find a good lawyer, because the charge will be Murder in the 1st degree. No further questions."
"Does the crown wish to cross-examine this witness?" the judge said.
"No, Your Honor," Samantha said quietly.
"The crown now has the opportunity to call any rebuttal witnesses. Does it wish to do so?" Justice Richardson asked.
"We don't have any, Your Honor."
"The time is now 4:00 PM," Justice Richardson stated. "Even though it is late in the day, I see no reason that we should not proceed to closing arguments. Mr. Deville, you're up."
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