Chapter Four
And Justice For All
A few weeks later, they brought Jorge Laquidera back to Hartford for trial.-He would be tried for the murder of their friend, Ramon Mendez.-Ed, Penny, Chrissy and Johnny were all summoned to testify before the jury.-The prosecuting attorney, Gene Bledsoe, felt quite confident that they had a good, strong case against Laquidera although most of it was circumstantial.-
They thought about seeing if Janet would want to watch Andy and Candy, but the twins had wanted badly to go and Ed and Penny decided they were old enough to understand at least a part of the proceedings so they decided they could go.-They explained the system in advance and what would probably be happening.
“The prisoner will be brought in and the charges against him will be read.-The jury, of course, will be hearing all of this.-The attorney who will try to get Laquidera convicted for murdering Ramon will tell the jury what they believe happened and basically how they hope to prove beyond a reasonable doubt that it happened that way.-Then the lawyer for the defense—that will be the attorney who will try to convince the jury that Laquidera didn’t do what he is accused of— will make a statement telling the jury how they hope to convince them that he is innocent of the crime of murder.”
“But how will the jury know who to believe if one lawyer is telling them one thing and the other lawyer is telling them something different?”-Candy was puzzled.
“It will depend on which one can show the most believable evidence and whose testimony they find the most convincing.”
“Then somebody is going to have to prove something before they decide.”-Andy was thinking about how the sheriff believed Shadowhawk had been guilty without any proof at all.
“That’s right, Andy.-Just remember, in this country since the constitution was adopted, any one accused of a crime is figured to be innocent until they are proven guilty in a court of law.”
“Okay, I think I understand.-Of course, we know he’s guilty because we saw it happen.”
“Not actually us; we were at school.-But you all saw it and you know he’s guilty but the court doesn’t just take your word for it because you, for all they know, could be lying.-I mean, I know you wouldn’t lie, but the jury doesn’t know that.-Is that right?”
“That’s exactly right.-There will be other people whose testimony will be heard, too.-And when it’s all over, the jury will have to decide who was most convincing.”
That seemed to be all the background they needed and they were looking forward to being in the courtroom and listening to everything that would be going on.
When the trial opened on Tuesday, June 17, they were all in attendance.-They heard the attorneys for the prosecution and the defense give their opening statements.-Then they began to call witnesses.-One of the sheriff’s men told of coming to the O’Reilly Place and seeing the dead body of Ramon Mendez after it had been so brutally battered by the bullets from the semi-automatic gun used by the killer.-
“His body had been all but cut in half by the rapid and prolonged gunfire.-We determined the type of gun and ammunition used by the recovery of the shell casings as they had been ejected onto the roadway.”
“Was a gun recovered at the time of the arrest of Mr. Laquidera?”
“Yes.-It was found on the person of Mr. Laquidera at the time he was arrested.”
“You were there and personally witnessed the weapon being removed from his possession at that time?”
“Yes.”
“Is this the weapon recovered from Mr. Laquidera’s possession?”
“Yes, it is.-Those are my markings right there on the weapon.”
“Thank you.-Were any tests performed on this weapon after its recovery?”
“Yes.-We have a battery of experts who tested the weapon and the test-fired casings were identical to those found on the roadway after the shooting and the bullets were the same in every way to those removed from the body of Ramon Mendez.”
“No more questions, Your Honor.”
“You may inquire.”-The judge motioned to the defense table.
“Can you tell this court for an absolute fact that the casings found on the roadway after the shooting of the victim, came from the gun at the time of the shooting of Mr. Mendez?-In other words, what if that gun had been fired there maybe a few days before and it was the bullet casings from that earlier shooting that you found?”
“It seems unlikely to me that the O’Reilly family would have been unaware of earlier gunfire in that proximity to their home.-Also, why would Mr. Laquidera have been there at an earlier time shooting his gun and leaving bullet casings to be found?”
“I’m supposed to ask the questions, Officer; you’re required to answer them.-No further questions of this witness.”
After a few more preliminary witnesses, they called Chrissy to the stand.
“Please state your name,” the bailiff requested.
“Christina Marie Wroe O’Reilly.”
“Please place your left hand on the Bible and raise your right hand.-Do you solemnly swear or affirm that the testimony you are about to give in the case now pending before this court to be the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth, so help you God?”
“I do.”-Chrissy was motioned to take a seat in the witness chair.
“What were you doing on the afternoon of February twenty-eighth of this year, Mrs. O’Reilly?”
“Well, I had baked some sugar cookies and decided to take some to my husband, my father and the workers who were helping with the construction of our new house.”
“When you came out of the house with the cookies, what, if anything, did you see?”
“I saw a long, black car coming up the road toward where we were living.”
“Where were the men?-This sketch is an approximate drawing of the vicinity of your property, is it not, Mrs. O’Reilly?”
“Yes, it is.-The men were under a tree right here.”-Chrissy indicated with the pointer the bailiff had handed to her the area underneath the tree where the men had been resting.
“You were coming out of the trailer, here?”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“The car came on up the driveway.-The portion of the road was not visible to the men because the bulk of the house blocked their view until the car was almost past the site.-Then suddenly, I heard gunfire and I saw Mr. Mendez begin to run as hard as he could.-He started to go between the house and the trailer; but then he saw me and called out to me to go back into the house at once.
“Did you go back into the house?”
“No.-I felt frozen to the spot.-I just stood and stared as the man in the car continued to shoot in the direction of Mr. Mendez.-Then after several bursts of fire, I saw Mr. Mendez pitch forward and lie still.”
“And then what transpired?”
“The man in the big black car continued to shoot and I could see that the bullets were hitting the unmoving form and I started to run toward Mr. Mendez to see how badly he was hurt.-I looked toward the tree where the men had been resting and it seemed the remainder of the workers including my father and my husband were too dumfounded to move.-Finally, the shooting stopped and the big car turned around abruptly and went back the way it had come.”
“Was Mr. Mendez hurt badly?”
“My husband, Johnny, came to me and stopped me from going forward to see to Mr. Mendez.-Johnny told me he was dead and completely beyond help.”
“And then what?”
“I was still dazed by what had happened.-My father and Johnny helped me back into the trailer and they called the sheriff.”
“Can you identify the shooter who killed Mr. Mendez, Mrs. O’Reilly?”
“Oh, I wish I could!-But, no, he was too far away for me to see him clearly enough to say for sure who he was.-However, in size and coloring, he appeared to resemble the defendant quite closely.”
The defense attorney spoke up.-“I move to strike, Your Honor.-Several hundred men could be thought to
resemble the defendant.”
“Overruled.-The witness has the right to state her observations.”
“No further questions of this witness, Your Honor.”
“You may step down.-The hour is getting late, ladies and gentlemen.-This court will recess until nine o’clock in the morning.”-The judge banged his gavel and court was adjourned.
The twins had several questions on the way home and they were all good questions.-What did it mean when the judge said ‘overruled’?-Or when he said ‘sustained’?-
“I was very proud of you today.-You behaved so well and didn’t try to ask questions while everything was happening.-And then you still remembered what you wanted to ask when it was over.-I was truly exceptionally proud of you.”-Penny was sincere and Ed agreed.-Then they explained that if the judge said "overruled" it meant that he disagreed with whatever the attorney had said.-If he said "sustained," it indicated that the judge agreed with the attorney's comment.
"You see, if the attorney objected to a question the witness was asked and the judge said 'sustained' then the witness wouldn't have to answer the question; but if one of the attorneys made an objection and the judge said 'overruled', then the witness was required to answer the question.-Do you understand, now?"
"But how does the judge know who should do what?"-Candy wasn't quite through.
"He reads law books that tell him what other judges have thought was proper and what was improper.-Then there is a-'supreme court' and that group reads the laws that have been passed and they decide if the judges have made the right decisions.-All the judges have much information on which to base their rulings."
"That sounds like everybody would get treated fairly, right?"-Andy was still thinking about Shadowhawk's being punished just because he was an Indian.
"That's what the system tries to do, Kids.-Treat everybody the same.-That's why they say 'Justice is blind.'-It means that the law doesn't care if you're black or white or red or yellow; rich or poor or in between; a Christian or a Jew or a Muslim or an atheist; the law isn't supposed to see any of that and just treat everybody equally."
"Of course, nothing is perfect and sometimes human beings, no matter how hard they try not to, make mistakes; but we feel that it's the best system in the world."
"You know what, Candy?"-Andy was very serious.-"I think we just had our first civics lesson.-And I liked it."
"Me, too."-Candy had the same feeling.