by the defendant.
“An act or omission.
“In other words, it’s no defense for MD Firearms to do nothing if a reasonable manufacturer would have acted.
“Oh, they’re good at pointing fingers.” Kelly turned and stared at her three adversaries-Jason Noble, Case McAllister, and Melissa Davids, who had obviously decided to be present for closing arguments-all sitting in that ridiculous position off to the side of the defense counsel table. She walked over to the table. “Mr. Noble is great at putting everybody else on trial.” She pointed to the empty chairs. “Larry Jamison. Peninsula Arms. Jarrod Beeson. He even added a seat for the ATF.”
She turned back to the jury. “Larry Jamison already got his verdict-at the hands of the SWAT team. Beeson’s in jail. Peninsula Arms is bankrupt. The ATF has qualified immunity. But for these individuals representing MD Firearms, this is their judgment day.”
Her voice grew tighter, angrier, more intense. “And it’s no defense for them to sit back smugly and say, ‘We did nothing. We hid behind the Second Amendment. We knew people were dying, we knew this dealer was supplying the black market, but we also knew we made nearly three million dollars from them the past three years, so we did nothing. ’”
Kelly stopped. Took a breath. Lowered her voice. She thought about her dad leading Communion, about the words of the liturgy that applied to her own life. We have sinned against You by what we have done, and by what we have left undone.
“MD Firearms didn’t pull the trigger. They didn’t make the illegal sale. Those were the wrong things that were done. But MD Firearms is guilty by what they have left undone. They knew about this renegade dealer but didn’t act. They knew people were losing their lives because Peninsula Arms was supplying the black market, and they turned their heads. They came into court and brought out the proverbial bowl of water and washed their hands of the matter, blaming everyone else.”
The jury was anxious to start their work; Kelly could see that. And most jurors had probably made up their minds already. She needed to keep this short. But she also needed to end with a little emotion.
“And so if you do what Mr. Noble suggests and use only your left brain, I respectfully submit that you will find in favor of the plaintiff. But I must say, ladies and gentlemen, that there’s a reason the left brain and right brain are connected. Because, you see, justice is not just a matter of the head; it’s a matter of the heart.”
Kelly stepped in front of the jury and turned to a dry erase board. She pulled the top off a red marker and wrote the name of Larry Jamison. “Follow the trail of blood,” she said, drawing an arrow. “From Jamison to Jarrod Beeson.” She wrote names and drew arrows as she spoke. “From Beeson to Peninsula Arms. And from Peninsula Arms to MD Firearms.
“No amount of fancy lawyering can remove the blood from their hands.”
She put down the marker, the red ink staining her fingers.
“Follow the trail of blood, ladies and gentlemen. It will take you straight to the door of Melissa Davids and MD Firearms.”
84
Jason stood and took only a few steps from his chair, trying to look calm and relaxed. His insides churned from the tension.
“In the ancient Jewish tradition, the priest would lay his hands on the head of a goat during the Day of Atonement and confess the sins of the people. The goat would then be cast out into the wilderness to make atonement for the people’s sins.
“The ancient Greeks had a similar custom when a natural disaster, like a plague or famine, would occur. They would pick a beggar or someone crippled from inside the city, place the blame on that person’s head, stone and beat him, and then cast him out of the community.”
Jason stepped into the middle of the courtroom, keeping his eyes on the jury. He would do his closing without notes. For the most part, he would keep his voice even and measured-the very picture of reasonableness.
“Scapegoating. It’s been around for thousands of years. But American plaintiffs’ lawyers have perfected it.”
“Objection!” Kelly said, and Jason wanted to thank her. “That’s improper argument, Judge.”
Judge Garrison looked a little perplexed. He told Jason to tread lightly and reminded the jury that this was just argument from the lawyers, not evidence in the case.
“A tragedy occurred on August 25, when Larry Jamison broke into the WDXR studios and executed Rachel Crawford in cold blood. A family was destroyed. A career was cut short. A wife was killed. A baby was lost. Somebody has to pay. And so Ms. Starling comes over and lays her hands on the head of my client, the manufacturer of the gun, and declares them responsible for all of this evil.”
Jason shook his head in disbelief. “Why? Because they pulled the trigger? No. Because they committed an illegal act in selling the guns? No. All they did was manufacture a perfectly legal gun and sell it to a perfectly legal dealer in a country that protects the constitutional right of its citizens to do so.”
By the skeptical looks on their faces, Jason could tell that some of the jurors weren’t buying this. Marcia Franks was not. Rodney Peterson was not. But Jason didn’t really care about them any more. He was talking to other jurors now.
“There’s been so much smoke and so many mirrors deployed in this case that I need to remind us all what this case is not about. It’s not about sound suppressors or fully automatic machine guns or whether ATF agents are Nazis. It’s not even about whether or not you like my client.” Jason turned and looked at Melissa Davids. Not surprisingly, she didn’t smile.
“I actually like Ms. Davids,” Jason said, as if that might surprise the jurors. “She’s a straight shooter, if you’ll pardon the pun. She has her convictions, and she’s not willing to compromise them. She’s a living example of how guns can level the playing field and help women protect themselves.
“But it really doesn’t matter whether you like her or you think she’s the devil incarnate. She’s not running for Miss Personality here. She’s at the bar of the court seeking justice. And Lady Justice wears a blindfold for a reason.”
Jason knew he had to deal with this next subject, unpleasant as it might be. Poole had been decimated on the witness stand. For the sake of appearance, Jason had to at least talk about the issue.
“This case isn’t about Chief Poole’s divorce either,” Jason said. “And you may think I’ve lost a lot of credibility by putting him on the stand.” Jason looked straight at Marcia Franks. “But if that’s the case, there’s something you need to know.
“Lawyers have certain obligations in what we call pretrial discovery. One of those is to turn over documents that we intend to use at trial. Before the first witness took the stand, I received the documents from Ms. Starling that she used this morning on cross-examination.” The jurors looked a little surprised-exactly the reaction Jason anticipated. “I didn’t share them with Chief Poole. I knew he would get crucified on cross-examination, and I put him on the stand anyway. From the looks on your faces, I can tell you’re wondering why.”
Jason took a few steps, looking down, giving the jury a moment to contemplate the issue.
“First, because I figured if he was trying to cheat on his ex-wife during their divorce proceedings, it probably needed to come out in open court. And second, because I knew that everything he said about guns being available on the streets is independently verifiable. Think about it-what does the fact that he cheated during his divorce proceedings have to do with his testimony concerning the availability of guns on the streets?”
Jason surveyed the entire jury, but he took special note of Marcia. She seemed to at least be considering this. “I put him on because I knew that you were smart enough to distinguish between the character of the man and the quality of his data. Thomas Jefferson wrote the Declaration of Independence yet never released his own slaves. Does that mean we should throw out the Declaration?
“You will recall that even though Ms. Starling made a fool of Chief Poole, she didn’t even try to attack the statistics the man presented.”
Jason took a deep breath and thought for a moment, drawing the jury in with him. He was no longer nervous.
