Thursday, August 31, 1:00 p.m.
With my life focused on RJ and Justine, I had virtually forgotten about the bleeding statue at St. Wenceslaus. As the days inched by, Tina’s arrest became a distant footnote in my past. Tree Macon and the District Attorney, however, had prioritized her prosecution and were progressing at breakneck speed. They had sufficient probable cause and quickly brought a long list of charges, including aggravated child abuse, reckless endangerment, and attempted murder. The state of Pennsylvania was grumbling about extradition for the death of her first child.
At her initial appearance in Superior Court, the District Attorney made the case that Tina was a flight risk and the judge ordered her held without bail. He directed that all potential insurance money be held in escrow until a verdict was reached. He also froze her access to the insurance money she’d received after the death of her first child. Although the wheels of justice were grinding slower than Tree would have liked, Tina was about to be ground up.
A grand jury quickly indicted her. Unable and unwilling to turn the other cheek on what she had done, I quietly thanked God for raining down fire and brimstone on this vile woman, and prayed that Tina would go to prison … forever and ever, amen. On some days, even a life sentence seemed too lenient to me.
Rumors of my involvement swirled through town. When my parishioners asked about the case, I kept my bias against Tina to myself and used my seminary training to deliver noncommittal answers that deftly evaded the truth. I didn’t even reveal my role to Emily or Justine.
Shortly after Tina’s arraignment was scheduled, Dr. Taylor repeated Pablo’s EEG and scans, conceding that the child showed no evidence of improvement and little likelihood of recovery. Somehow the vultures in the press sniffed out the test results and splashed them across the headlines of local newspapers.
Tina’s defense lawyer immediately filed a motion for a gag order, claiming that information disseminated by the press would prejudice the proceedings and lead to a circus atmosphere. He also claimed that the initial publicity had tainted the jury pool and asked for a change of venue. The judge denied both motions.
Having heard Tina’s version of Tree Macon’s tactics in the interview, her attorney then filed a motion to suppress the search warrant, the evidence obtained with it, and all her admissions based on the tainted-fruit-of-the-tree doctrine.
This meant that as a witness to Tina’s police interrogation, I needed to appear at the hearing. I couldn’t sleep at all the night before the District Attorney prepared us for the big day. He had announced his intention to run for the Senate and the conviction of a woman who killed her children for money would virtually guarantee him a landslide victory, so he was anxious to go to trial. Consequently, he grilled Tree Macon extensively but didn’t spend much time on me. No matter how he asked the key question about the tape recorder, Tree calmly repeated the big lie without flinching.
At the hearing, the District Attorney was relaxed and in high spirits. When Tree asked him what was going on, he told us that Tina’s lawyer had been called away for a family emergency, and he’d sent a junior partner in his place. His exact words were, “Counselor Dumb has sent Counselor Dumber”—and Dumber proceeded to focus primarily on Tree’s testimony, paying little attention to mine. As expected, Tree was a stone wall, and the judge refused to grant the motion to suppress Tina’s recorded interrogation or the subsequent information obtained.
With the recorded police interview admitted as the primary evidence against Tina for the criminal trial, Counselor Dumber panicked. He petitioned the court for permission to depose all witnesses to the police interview prior to the trial—meaning me—citing a litany of legal gobbledygook. After hearing arguments pro and con, the judge finally consented.
When I asked about this, the District Attorney explained that the defense didn’t want to put a priest on the witness stand who could corroborate Chief Macon’s story in front of a jury, so he was hoping to break my version or get me to contradict Tree at the deposition, when no jury was present and he could be more ruthless. Not very reassuring.
Then Tina’s attorney attempted to plead the case down to a lesser charge. The District Attorney refused and as he left the courtroom, he reiterated his hang-em-high philosophy on child abusers in front of every reporter and TV camera in the county.
After the hearing, I stopped at the church to discuss minor repairs with the janitor. A nun dropped in with suggestions to improve attendance on Bingo night. When I arrived back at the rectory, I received a letter informing me of my scheduled deposition by Tina’s attorney.
I panicked, called Tree, and gave him hell. “When you asked for my help, I thought I was your consultant, not your stooge! Your shenanigans have painted me into an ethical, legal, and moral corner, damn it!”
“Get a grip, Jake, this isn’t about you. You’re not a shrink, but let me give you a peek inside my head. I don’t give a crap about playing fair with Tina, and I won’t apologize. She killed her babies! I’m sure of it. Period. As the father of three daughters, I don’t ever want her to see the light of day.”
“Tina’s lawyer will try to force me to admit that you turned off the tape recorder during the interview—making your evidence and the search warrant inadmissible, and making me an accomplice.” I was shouting and lowered my voice. “You know I can’t and won’t lie under oath.”
“I get it, buddy. Do what you have to do, but … do what you can for me.” Tree drew a long, deep breath, then added, “You’re an ingenious guy, and you understand the stakes.”
I did, indeed. If the fancy footwork that I’d learned in seminary wasn’t nimble enough to dance around the truth, I might end Tree’s career, open Tina’s cell door, and take her place behind bars for obstruction of justice or perjury. And given Justine’s condition, if I went to jail, RJ would end up back in foster care.
No pressure there.