Almost.
Scott stood just inside the doors and glanced around. This courtroom was not like the vast old federal courtrooms in Dallas; this courtroom was small and new and modern with video monitors and a drop-down screen and overhead projectors. But new or old, small or vast, modern or antiquated, in this courtroom Rebecca Fenney's fate would be decided by twelve jurors sitting in that jury box… by the judge sitting at that bench under the Great Seal of Texas… by the district attorney sitting at that table… and by the defense lawyers sitting at the other table- where Bobby, Karen, and Carlos now sat.
Scott walked up the short center aisle past seven spectator pews occupied by exactly two people: Terri Rawlins, and her attorney, Melvyn Burke. He hadn't noticed them at first because they were sitting in the back pew tucked around the corner from the entrance doors. Under the ethics rules, a lawyer may not speak to another lawyer's client unless the lawyer is present. Melvyn was present, so Scott stopped.
'Melvyn.'
'Scott.' To his client: 'Terri, this is Scott Fenney, Rebecca's lawyer.'
'I'm sorry for your loss,' Scott said.
Terri Rawlins gave him a hard look. 'You should be. Your wife killed my brother.'
'Terri, do you think I'd be representing my ex-wife who left me for Trey if I thought she killed him?'
'Lawyers will do anything for money.'
'Not this lawyer. And she has nothing now. She's not paying me.'
'Is that why you want her jewelry?'
'No, Terri. Keep the jewelry.'
'I don't want it.' She reached down and came up with a brown bag. She held it out to Scott. 'Take it.'
He took it.
'Trey asked Rebecca to marry him that night.'
'No! He didn't! She's lying! He wasn't going to marry her.'
'Did he tell you that?'
She didn't answer.
'Terri, let Melvyn tell me what he knows about Trey's life. Waive the attorney-client privilege. Please.' Scott looked directly at Melvyn when he said, 'So an innocent person doesn't go to prison.'
'No-and she's guilty.'
'What are you hiding, Terri?'
'That's enough, Scott,' Melvyn said.
Scott gave Melvyn a long look then continued up the aisle and through the gate in the bar. He placed the bag on the table.
'What's in the bag?' Bobby asked.
'Her jewelry.'
A side door opened, and a deputy sheriff escorted Rebecca into the courtroom and over to the defendant's table. She now wore a white jumpsuit that dwarfed her slender body. GALVESTON COUNTY INMATE was printed across the back.
'You okay?'
She nodded, but her eyes took in the courtroom where she would be tried and either acquitted and set free or convicted and sent to prison for the rest of her life. The air of confidence she had exhibited just the day before was gone. The American criminal justice system had finally gotten to Rebecca Fenney. She was scared to death.
The D.A. and his assistant entered through the back doors. Ted Newman walked over to the prosecution table and Rex Truitt to Scott. They shook hands, and Scott introduced Rebecca to the D.A.
'Sarge treat you okay during booking? I've been working on his manners.'
Rebecca nodded at the D.A. but stared past him at the vacant jury box. The D.A. reached into his briefcase.
'Here's a copy of the indictment.'
Scott handed the document to Karen then turned back to the D.A.
'Did you see Renee Ramirez's report Saturday night?'
The D.A. nodded. 'I told you she was annoying as hell.'
'You also told me you don't try your cases in the press.'
A common prosecutorial tactic was to try a criminal case first in the press prior to trial-leaking evidence and having detectives offer personal views about the defendant's guilt-and then in a courtroom at trial. Evidence that is not admissible in court gets admitted in the press. By the time the jury is seated, every juror is convinced of the defendant's guilt. Which, of course, is the point: It's much easier to convict when you've stacked the jury.
'I don't.'
'Then why was that detective on the network morning shows, calling her the Guilty Groupie?'
The D.A. sighed. ' 'Cause Wilson's a prick, wants to be famous.'
'That's unethical.'
'Wanting to be famous?'
'Going on TV before trial, declaring the defendant guilty.'
'He's a cop. That's what cops do.'
'You think Wilson told Renee about the fingerprints? And the polygraph?'
'Renee's real friendly with the cops.'
'I figured she'd be here.'
The D.A. smiled. 'I didn't release the arraignment date.'
Just then the double doors behind them flew open, and reporters and cameramen surged forward, led by Renee Ramirez like a general leading her troops into battle. The D.A.'s smile faded.
'But I guess the judge did. Don't let her rattle you.'
'I've been here before.'
'And now you're here again.'
'Find your leak, Rex. And plug it.'
The D.A. went to the prosecution table but did not sit because a bailiff entered and called out, 'All rise!' From a side door, Judge Shelby Morgan appeared. She stepped up to the bench, sat, and gazed upon her courtroom like a queen upon her subjects-or a model posing for the cameras. Rex hadn't exaggerated: she was the most attractive judge Scott had ever encountered. The recessed lights above the bench seemed specifically designed to cast her in the best light-and did. She had blonde hair and lean facial features that made Scott suspect the black robe concealed a fit body. The bailiff called the case: 'State of Texas versus Rebecca Fenney. Arraignment.'
'Please make your appearances,' the judge said.
'Galveston County Criminal District Attorney Rex Truitt and Assistant Criminal District Attorney Theodore Newman for the state.'
'A. Scott Fenney, Robert Herrin, and Karen Douglas of Fenney Herrin Douglas, Dallas, Texas, for the defendant.'
'Mr. Truitt, would you please read the indictment?'
'Ted will.'
The Assistant D.A. read: 'In the name and by authority of the State of Texas…'
Ted Newman spoke in a monotone through the procedural parts of the indictment but put his drama club experience to use in the charging statement.
'… Rebecca Garrett Fenney, did then and there intentionally and knowingly cause the death of an individual, Trey Rawlins, by stabbing him with a knife, which act constitutes murder under section nineteen-point-zero-two of the Texas Penal Code. Against the peace and dignity of the State.'
'Will the accused please rise?' the judge said.
The 'accused.' His ex-wife. The mother of his child. Accused of murder. Scott helped Rebecca to her feet. Her body trembled.
'You are the Rebecca Garrett Fenney named in the indictment?'
'Yes.'
Her voice was almost a whisper.
'Ms. Fenney, how do you plead to the charge contained in the indictment?'
