Coach, Walt Sautter [ereader for android .TXT] 📗

banter of the crowd elevated.
As the time of the trial approached, Ricky lead by his attorney, the prosecutor, the court officials and the jury entered and took up their respective seats. The din became even louder.
At six o’clock precisely, one of the cops shouted over the noise of the crowd, “All rise for the Honorable Judge Jacob Somers”.
Silence instantaneously enveloped the room and the judge entered from the door of the fire chief’s office. The judge, a short, balding, older man in black robes stepped up to his perch, slammed his gavel and the trial began.
The prosecutor moved from behind his improvised desk and began to address the court. He was a portly man, appearing to be in his mid fifties, sporting an obvious toupee. His pants were belted well below his protruding belly and he wore an open sport jacket and tie of ancient vintage. His voice rang loud and clear throughout the room.
“Ladies and gentlemen we will prove that this person before you, Richard White, did on November twenty seventh of this year, travel to the home of our beloved Coach Myron Carter. At that location, he encountered Coach Carter and during an argument, proceeded to murder Coach Carter.
We will present evidence and witnesses to show clearly, the undeniable guilt of Mr. White.”
With that, he pointed directly at Ricky who was seated behind the defense’s improvised desk, and continued.
“At the conclusion of this trial, no one will be able to dispute his actions and you will find him guilty as charged” as he ended his opening address.
“Thank you, Mr. Hartly” announced the judge.
“And now, Mr. Gerity” and he nodded to the defense table.
Gerity was Ricky’s court appointed lawyer, a young man looking to be but a dozen or so years Ricky’s senior. He was tall, on the slim side, almost skinny and displayed a gawky presence as he walked from his seat. He was attired in a black suit, neat, clean and up to date, which appeared to be a Robert Hall special. Peering out from underneath his pant cuffs were dark brown, unpolished loafers.
“Judge Somers, members of jury, we intend to prove that Mr. White had no part in the demise of Coach Carter. We will show that he had no motive or opportunity to commit such a horrendous crime. We will show him to be guiltless and the unwitting victim of a hysterical and inferior investigation by Highburg police and the county sheriff’s office.
Mr. White was charged with this crime as the last ditch suspect that could be found and no substantial evidence or witnesses can convincingly link him to it. I am positive at the end of this trial you will find him not guilty and will respectfully return him to his family.”
The prosecutor then again addressed the court; “I would like to call Doctor Gordon Fink to the stand Your Honor”.
A tall, gray haired, bespectacled man in his fifties took the stand.
“Doctor Fink, you are the county medical examiner, is that correct?”
“Yes, I am.”
“You were called to the home of Coach Carter on the afternoon of November twenty seventh, is that correct?”
“Yes I was “, again replied Fink.
“What did you find when you arrived there?”
“I found Coach Carter in his car.”
“Was he alive when you found him?” continued Hartly.
“No!’
“Did you determine the cause of his death?”
“Not immediately but after a close inspection I noticed bruising in the neck area which meant he had been strangled. Later at the county morgue we found that the hyoid bone had been broken which fully substantiated strangulation as the cause of death.”
“Did you determine the time of death?”
“Based on the body temperature of the deceased it would appear that he died about two hours prior to my arrival.”
“At what time did you arrive?”
“Six ten in the afternoon.”
“Are you sure of the time?” questioned Hartly.
“Of course, I always record the exact time when I am called to any death scene,” answered Fink with certainty.
“So then we can assume that Coach Carter was murdered at about four o’clock in the afternoon, right?”
“Yes, that’s about right,” agreed Fink.
“Thank you Doctor Fink.
No more questions Your Honor” Hartly concluded.
“Mr. Gerity, do you care to cross examine the witness?”
“Yes, thank you Your Honor.
I have but one question for Doctor Fink.”
Fink nodded.
“Doctor Fink, are all the statements made by you in this court correct and uncoerced?” asked Gerity.
“Most certainly”, replied Fink.
“Thank you. No more questions.
The prosecutor then called Chief Simpson to the stand who testified at length about investigating the crime scene and how Ricky’s hat was found. As he spoke, he frequently interjected the words of praise and love that Highburg had for Coach and devastation the town had suffered from his loss. Gerity rose to object each and every time even as he was continually overruled.
When Hartly finished the judge responded.
“Mr. Gerity, do you care to cross examine the witness?”
“Yes, thank you Your Honor.
I have but one question for the Chief.”
The Chief remained seated nervously pumping his right leg up and down as the question was asked.
“Chief Simpson, are all the statements made by you in this court correct and uncoerced?” asked Gerity.
“Yes, absolutely” responded Simpson.
“Thank you. No more questions.
Moose followed the Chief and explained how he had picked up Ricky near Coach’s house on the day of the murder and driven him back to town.
“Mr. Marvich – Moose, they call you Moose? Is that correct?”
“Yes. They call me and the rest of my family Moose. I’m Moose, George my older brother is Big Moose, my little brother is Little Moose and Marlene my sister is Minnie Moose. We’re all Mooses”
A mild snicker rose from the crowd acknowledging Moose’s legendary simplicity and the judge’s gavel sounded obliterating the brief humor.
“You picked up Mr. White near Coach Carter’s house the day of the murder, is that true?” asked Hartly.
“Yes”-replied Moose.
“About what time was that?”
“I’d say four o’clock.”
Moose paused for a second.
“Yeah - four o’clock. I’m sure. I remember the guy on the radio sayin’ it was four”, he added emphatically.
I knew that he was feigning sincerity and I was sure that Prosecutor Hartly had worked hard with Moose to ensure a credible sounding response. I had ridden with Moose many times and his radio rarely worked and when it did, it could hardly be heard over the roar of the glass packs on his car’s exhaust system.
“What day was that?”
“A sunny and warm day” came the answer.
“No – what of the week was it, Sunday, Monday…?”
“Oh! It was a Sunday.”
“Did he say what he was doing out there? That’s about two miles from town, isn’t it?”
“He said he went to get his hat.”
“Get his hat?” asked the prosecutor sounding as incredulous as possible.
“Yeah” answered Moose.
“What was his hat during there?”
“He said that he had dropped it there the night he and his friend went to Coach’s house, on Mischief Night, to soap Coach’s windows for fun” Moose replied.
“Did he tell you exactly what happened on Mischief Night?”
“No – but everybody knows what he said about that night.”
“And what is that?” asked Hartly.
Gerity leapt to his feet.
“The prosecutor is asking for hearsay evidence,” he protested.
“From what’s been said here so far I’d say that what he’s about to say is common knowledge and I am therefore allowing him to respond” cited the judge with a slam of the gavel.
“Go on Mr. Hartly.”
“Thank you Your Honor.
“What happened on Mischief Night based on what you have heard?” continued Hartly.
“Well sir, Ricky, I mean Mr. White and his friend said they saw Coach and one of the guys doin’ some bad stuff.”
“Queer stuff, ya know,” answered Moose timidly.
“Do you believe that?” asked Hartly.
“No – Coach would never do that stuff. He coached me and my brother real good. He was a great guy, Coach was.”
“Why do you think they said that then?”
“I don’t know. Maybe they just didn’t like him and they wanted to get him in trouble, I don’t know.”
Hartly ended his interrogation.
“Mr. Gerity, do you care to cross examine the witness?”
“Yes, thank you Your Honor.
I have but one question for Mr. Marvich.”
Gerity paused, looked at the jury and then turned towards Moose. Moose sat uneasily awaiting Gerity’s question.
“Mr. Marvich, are all the statements made by you in this court correct and uncoerced?” asked Gerity.
“Yeah, sure” replied Moose.
“Thank you. No more questions.
Moose rose to leave the witness chair. As he did, Gerity turned back towards Moose and exclaimed.
“Oh, excuse me Mr. Marvich! I’m sorry, I do have one more question.”
Moose sat back in the chair.
“Is it true that your sister Marlene works in Chief Simpson’s office as a matter of fact right next to the Chief?”
Moose hesitated.
“Yes” he answered.
“Thank you. No more questions” announced Gerity.
Moose again rose from the chair, this time very slowly, unsure of another challenge from Gerity. None came and he left the stand.
Moose left the stand. I looked up and down the row of seated jurors. Most all were familiar faces, people who had lived in Highburg their entire lives. Several were ex players, one was even known to be Coach’s golfing partner.
All appeared somber, stoned faced to be precise. It was as if they were at Coach’s funeral all over again. One of the woman stared straight forward in a trancelike state with her tear filled eyes about to overflow. Another’s eyes darted back and forth in the direction of the defendant while a third appeared to mutter obscenities under his breathe.
“Your Honor, I would like to call Donald Wheeler to the stand” announced Hartly.
“Mr. Wheeler, are you also known as ‘Flash’ to your friends?”
“Yes” answered Flash meekly.
“Is Mr. White one of your friends?”
“Well, urr, sorta, I mean I know him pretty well.”
“How do you know him?”
“I’ve given rides many times, him and some of the other guys” Flash replied more confidently.
“Did you drive Mr. White and his friend to Coach Carter’s house on Mischief Night of last year?”
“Yes! He asked me too.
But I only dropped them off there. I didn’t stay around at all,” he nervously added.
“Why did they go there?” continued Hartly.
“To soap Coach’s windows.”
“Did you see them afterwards?”
“Yes!”
“How did they say they got back to town?”
“They didn’t” replied Flash.
“What did they say happened?”
“They told me they didn’t do nothin’ and they asked me not to tell anybody about it. They said they didn’t want anybody to know that they chickened out.”
“But you did drive them there?” Hartly repeated.
“Yes.”
“Was Mr. White wearing a hat when you took him there?”
“Yes he was wearing the hat he always wore, the Cleveland Browns hat.
He loved that hat and I don’t ever remember seein’ him without it” answered Flash.
“Was he wearing that hat when you saw him later?”
“No. He was very upset when he discovered that he’d lost it.”
“When was that?”
“When he was in the back seat of my car after they came back from Coach’s house” replied Flash.
“Did he say he lost it at Coach Carter’s house?”
“No. He wasn’t sure where he lost it but from what he said, I kinda got the idea that he thought he lost it there.”
“Thank you Mr. Wheeler. No more questions.”
“Mr. Gerity, do you care to cross examine the witness?”
“Yes, thank you Your Honor.
I have a question for Mr. Wheeler.”
Gerity approached Flash.
“Mr. Wheeler, are all the