'You're going to learn that Kendra Martin hasn't lived the kind of life
that most thirteen-year-old girls get to live. She's going to get on
the witness stand and tell you very personal facts about her home life
and her background. And she'll tell you that she's not proud to admit
that when the defendant kidnaped, raped, and sodomized her and then
left her to die, she was a runaway girl engaging in prostitution to
support a growing heroin addiction. She'll also tell you that she
initially tried to tell the police what Frank Derringer did to her
without admitting her own troubles.
'But I believe that when she explains to you why she initially withheld
some information from police, you will understand. You will also
understand, and you'll determine from the rest of the evidence and from
your own common sense, that Kendra Martin did not deserve what Frank
Derringer did to her. She never consented to be tortured and left to
die near Multnomah Falls.
'You will hear evidence that Frank Derringer plotted this crime in
advance and then took extraordinary steps to avoid detection.' I gave
them a detailed preview of the evidence that Derringer had shaved his
pubic hair during the days before the attack and then painted his car
and replaced its interior the next day.
'You'll also hear from Detective Mike Calabrese. He'll tell you that
he found Kendra Martin's purse in a trash can about a mile away from
where the defendant and his accomplice dumped Kendra to die. An expert
in fingerprint technology with years of training in this type of
evidence will testify that a fingerprint left on the strap of the purse
belongs to Frank Derringer.'
I paused and looked across at the face of each juror to make sure that
the jury realized the impact of the fingerprint evidence.
'After you've heard from all these witnesses and experts, I'll have a
chance to talk to you once again. At that time, I think you'll find
that the State's evidence is going to measure up to the strong case
I've outlined for you here. And based on that evidence, I'm going to
ask you to return verdicts of guilty on all counts. I'm confident that
once you hear the horrendous facts of this case, and the overwhelming
evidence establishing Frank Derringer's culpability, returning that
verdict will be the easiest part of this entire trial for you.'
Legal strategists say that jurors make up their minds about a case by
the end of opening statements. At the end of mine, I felt like I had
them. I took my seat at the state's counsel table, closest to the jury
box.
When Lesh nodded to Lopez to indicate she should proceed, she rose from
her chair, put her hands on Derringer's shoulders, and said, 'Members
of the jury, Frank Derringer would like nothing more than for you to
hear the truth about what happened in this case right now, because he
is an innocent man who wants to go home. But, your honor, as his
attorney, I have decided to withhold my opening statement until the
State has put on its case.'
Lisa apparently had even less confidence in her case than I thought. I
wondered if she had reserved opening to delay locking in her defense
until she knew for certain what we had.
But Lisa had gone a little further than that, insisting that Derringer
was innocent. Most attorneys go out of their way not to use that word;
all they really want to hear is 'not guilty,' and in a courtroom 'not
guilty' is a far cry from innocence. If I wanted to be a stickler, I
could argue that she made an opening statement by referring to the
merits of the case. But what did I care? Better for me to put on a
one sided show.
I'd be putting on my witnesses earlier than I thought. So far, so
good.
My first witnesses were Brittany Holmes and Parker Gibson, the high
school students who found Kendra in the park and called the paramedics.
With their preppy good looks, they could have been a couple of
teenagers you see sailing and splashing water on each other wearing
hundred-dollar khakis in those mail-order catalogs. But they were
polite and articulate, so they were good witnesses.
The kids described their terror when they realized that they had
tripped not over a log but over the bloodied and unconscious body of a
young girl. What came across unmistakably was that when they saw
Kendra, they saw a girl just like one of their friends or little
sisters. They showed no judgment.
The EMT's testimony went just as well. Whether it was seen from the
fresh outlook of a shocked teenager or through the lens of a skilled
professional experienced in dealing with violence, this crime was a
serious one. The people who were there to witness her condition
firsthand all agreed that Kendra had been treated horrifically.
Mike Calabrese was up next, to explain how he and Chuck supervised the
crime scene. He summarized the basic mechanics: marking off a
perimeter, keeping a log of everyone who entered and exited, collecting
and maintaining anything that looked like it might be physical
evidence. That kind of stuff impresses juries.
Around the time they finished processing the crime scene, they got word
from the hospital that the suspects had sodomized Kendra with some type
of stick. 'We didn't find anything in the immediate crime scene that
