“I’m sorry,” she said. “Please go on.”
Whitlow continued. “Thank you. I have read the transcript of your trial. Michael Chen had it in for you. Of that there is no doubt in my mind.”
Tessa remembered Assistant District Attorney Michael Chen. She guessed him to have been in his early thirties at the time of her trial. He was smug, she remembered thinking. During the trial, he had done everything he could to draw attention to what he thought of as his brilliant mind, his superiority. That had been her impression even though what he did had little effect on how she felt. She had not really cared one way or another as her life was over whatever the verdict. The trial and Michael Chen’s display of arrogance were merely inconveniences to get through.
She had tried to pay attention to the witnesses, but she had been unable to stop the flow of the images that taunted her, the images of her two daughters and her husband that wracked her brain. She now believed she had been in a state of shock after her arrest, and most likely she had suffered from post-traumatic stress disorder.
What she did recall about the district attorney was an abundance of perspiration and body odor. He reeked of rotten onions and sour sweat. She wondered how his assistants could stand to be in the same room with him, let alone seated next to him at the prosecution’s table. And the words he’d spouted during his summation were as foul as his body odor. She also recalled that his teeth were crooked and unclean. He made a point of standing next to the defense table when he spoke. Tessa remembered how she would inwardly gag when he stood beside her chair. Short, fat, and smelly summed up this disgusting example of a human being.
“Michael Chen’s tactics during the trial were brought to my attention by Mr. McQuade.”
Tessa shot Sam a questioning look.
“I was a lawyer before I was a CEO,” he explained.
Somewhat stunned, Tessa replied, “I never knew.” All she really knew about Sam was he’d been friends with Joel during college, and for the past twelve years, he’d been CEO of Jamison Pharmaceuticals. She knew he held a couple of degrees but assumed they were in the medical and pharmacy field. Sam had been older, and she recalled Joel telling her this once.
“Emory Law,” he explained.
Lee Whitlow took the file from Steven Kilhefner. He opened the manila folder and removed a stack of papers. “This is a copy of the Florida Supreme Court’s recent ruling. Sam brought this to my attention five months ago, and I agree with the court’s decision.”
Tessa’s pulse increased, her eyes filled with tears. She knuckled the tears before they had a chance to fall. She had to be strong. Tough. If she were headed to death row, then so be it. Her daily thoughts of how she could end her existence were possibly being answered for her. Taking a deep breath, doing her best to evoke some inner sense of bravery, she said, “I do not understand. What does this mean?” She was sure she was correct in her assumption.
“We have asked for a new trial, and our request has been granted,” Lee Whitlow stated. “Your conviction has been overturned on the grounds that your Fifth Amendment rights were violated in your first trial.”
Feeling as though she had been punched in the gut, Tessa drew in a sharp breath. The room swirled, the fluorescent lights blurred, and a hand reached for her, steadying her as she almost fell from the chair.
It took a few seconds for her to regain her sense of sight and balance. When she had herself under control, she took one of the unopened bottles of water on the table, opened it, and took a long drink. Her throat was dry and her voice scratchy when she spoke. “I still don’t understand.” A question more than a statement, and she waited for an explanation. “Does Randall know about this?”
“He does, but he’s asked me to take the lead. I have read your trial transcript numerous times, as have my colleagues. During your trial, the prosecution sought and received testimony from numerous state witnesses who testified that you remained silent following the murder of your twin daughters and your husband after you were placed under arrest. As I’m sure you know, the state reminded the jurors of your silence repeatedly during their closing statement. Mr. Chen argued that the jury could weigh your silence after your arrest as evidence of conscious guilt. The case law, Florida v. Horwitz, was expanded several months ago prohibiting prosecutors from using a defendant’s pre-arrest, pre-Miranda silence as substantive evidence of guilt when a defendant chooses not to testify at trial. Because of the recent change in the law, Mr. Chen’s use of your silence violated your Fifth Amendment right against self-incrimination, something all are entitled to under Florida’s constitution as well as the United States Constitution. In simple terms, the facts that you didn’t speak to officers after your arrest, did not testify on your behalf, and the Fifth Amendment to the U.S. Constitution states you had the right to remain silent if you chose to, it should not have been used against you, but it was.” Lee Whitlow dropped the papers on the table.
Tessa felt all eyes on her. Unsure of how they expected her to react, she remained quiet, trying to absorb the information she had just heard. Never even giving a thought to leaving Florida’s Correctional Center for women, or as some of the other inmates crudely referred to it, Fucking Cockless Institute, she had accepted her sentence as it was ordered: three life sentences to be served consecutively, which was the rest of her natural life. How did one get past this? Shock, she thought as she tried to summon words to express what she was
