Chapter 24
Waiting
Most residents of Toronto will admit that their city can be quite a cold place in the winter. On some days, when one is standing on the street corner, it can feel like -28 degrees Celsius when the wind-chill is factored in. That, along with the fact that many transit commuters have to wait outside for the bus or subway meant that by the time one got to the office, chances were they're completely frozen.
Such was the case in Elijah's office, where Elijah was standing next to a floor heater he had bought, trying to get warm.
"I told you that you should have bought a thicker coat," Becca said.
"A thicker coat would wrinkle my suit jacket, meaning that I would have to change once I get here. That is simply not an option. No, I am happy to sit here and warm up. Give me 10 minutes and I'll be just fine," Elijah said as rubbed his hands together.
"Suit yourself," Becca said as she picked up a folder off of the table.
"What's that?" Elijah asked.
"This is the application to appeal the conviction and sentence that was just filed with the court of appeals in the Simon Donovan case."
"So it's done then? We're ready to start the appeals process?"
"We're as ready as we're ever going to be. Seeing that there weren't any errors in law at the trial, and we don't have any new evidence to present, I don't know how we're going to win the appeal. This case is about as dead on arrival as I've seen us defend recently," Becca said.
"Even still, we must give it a try. After all, there was just something funny about that case that I can't quite put my finger on, but I believe will prove crucial to solving it. I don't know if it was something that was said at trial or the condition of the crime scene, but something just wasn't right. I mean if you're going to kill the Chief Justice of Ontario, you better make sure you do it well, or you're going to get caught. And yet, if Simon did it, he either didn't plan it too well or was sloppy, both of which do not fit well with his character. I mean as a doctor he was trained to be extremely deliberate and careful, why would he leave himself open to such amateur mistakes?" Elijah said.
"Well Elijah," Becca said, "as Samantha said in this case, people may be well trained in their field, but few people are well trained to be murderers. And even when one is trained, seldom are there no clues for the police to go on. No, even though there are many unsolved murders, I still believe that there is no such thing as the perfect murder. There are just lucky criminals. That being said, I don't think Donovan is one of them. I don't know what you see in him, because I believe he is guilty of murder and he did it just as the crown said."
"Maybe, but that doesn't change my gut feeling, and it doesn't change the fact that we've got to provide him with the best appeal possible. Get Cameron on the case to see if he can dig up anything we could use to get a new trial."
"As you wish," Becca sighed.
At about 10:30, Elliot and his wife, obviously seeking refuge from the cold, knocked on the office door, then came in and sat down.
"Is there any word yet?" Elliot asked.
"The jury just started deliberating 90 minutes ago, so no there's no word yet," Elijah said.
"When do you expect the call?" Pamela said, sounding worried.
"It's hard to say. The crown attorney gave a great closing statement, considering her case was basically blown to bits. It all comes down to which side do you believe?"
"Do you think he'll be acquitted Mr. Deville?" Pamela asked.
"With juries you never know. Based on the evidence, I feel there is sufficient reasonable doubt to acquit, but then again I'm partial-- I'm supposed to believe reasonable doubt is always present. We also have to prepare for the possibility that 1 or 2 jurors aren't convinced one way or another, resulting in a hung jury."
"Is that likely?" Elliot asked.
"In this case probably not. Either the jury will convict if they believe you acted out of self preservation or they'll acquit you if they believe that Daniel and Audrey framed you just as they framed you for the embezzlement. In any case, the jury would have to deliberate for many days before the judge would let them come back deadlocked. Toronto's court system is too log jammed as it is, the last thing we need is to have to re-try this case," Elijah said.
"But if that happened," asked Pamela, "when would the trial be re-scheduled"
"In that event, you're probably looking at any where from late June, early July to early September. You see the courts usually take much of the summer off, sparing time only for bail hearings and preliminary court dates. That is why your trial sped through the system, because your previous lawyer didn't ask for adjournments and because the major portion of the trial, the preliminary work, was completed during the less busy summer session."
"Wow, you say that this trial happened fast, I thought 6 months was rather slow," Elliot remarked.
"Actually, this case traveled at warp speed compared to most murder trials," Becca interjected. "If the crime was committed in another jurisdiction, you could have easily waited 2-4 years for resolution. These places are so backlogged, that their courts just began scheduling trials for crimes committed in 2007."
"How does that fit with the right to a fair and speedy trial?" Pamela asked.
"It doesn't really," Elijah said. "But the reality is that the court system has no money. With times being tough, no government is willing to spend much money on anything, so the courts are understaffed when it comes to judges and underutilized when it comes to space. The effect of this is that trials take a long time. Sometimes lawyers are able to convince a judge that a case has taken too long to resolve itself, but such motions are often denied. This is why many clients plead guilty to crimes they didn't commit. They see it as a way to avoid hefty lawyer fees and a way to move on with their lives. Unfortunately, once they get out of jail, they realize that a criminal record really inhibits their prospects of landing a good paying job. Penny-wise and pound-foolish almost always leads to trouble, especially when it comes to criminal justice."
"Speaking of money," Elliot said, "I have talked to your finance department and they said that you accept monthly payments in order to pay off your fee."
"We do accept monthly payments, however, if you choose to not pay in full by the time the case is resolved, we would give you 1 year interest free starting from the date of the last court appearance. After the one year term has expired, the remaining balance is subject to a 5.4% interest rate which is compounded annually until the balance is paid in full. I highly advise that you pay completely as soon as possible because those interest charges can really come back to haunt you," Elijah explained.
"That's what we thought, but we did want your advice as to the easiest way to pay you," Pamela said.
"All you have to do is write a check to the company and give it to the finance department and they'll handle it from there," Becca said.
The four of them spent the next hour in pleasant conversation as they awaited any news from the courthouse. As noon rolled around, Elijah warned them that they were about to have to go home for the day as he had an afternoon court date and then had to prepare for his Thursday night Evidence Law lecture. Just as they were about to part ways, the phone rang in the office and the room fell silent. Elijah picked it up and the clerk of the court told them that the jury had reached a verdict which would be read at 9:00 am on Friday morning. Elijah then hung up and smiled.
"Three hours, that's good right?" Pamela asked.
"I certainly hope so, ma'am, I certainly hope so. Go home, get a good night sleep and be at the office at 7:30 AM sharp. I'll quickly go over the procedure for the morning, and then we'll take the subway up to the courthouse."
Becca then showed the Ravenwood's out and smiled at her brother as she closed the door to his office. Elijah had gone through many trials before, but waiting for the verdict and the anticipation of what it would be always tied his stomach in knots. On this particular occasion
though, he felt a unique sense of calm, knowing that win or lose, he put up the best defense possible given the deck that he was dealt. After a short pause, Elijah went to his computer to go over his notes for the evening lecture.
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