| |
It was late summer when Renee walked off the aeroplane and into the terminal at Auckland Domestic Terminal. She was there as a witness in the case against her ex-husband to testify that he had been violent against her during their marriage.
She had accepted Aza and Sofia's offer to stay with them during her stay in the city and had been told that she would be met in the lounge near the Air New Zealand counter. She found her bag and arrived at the meeting place where passengers were walking through or just waiting around in a typical airport scene. There was, though nobody that looked remotely like either Aza or Sofia.
One heavily pregnant woman who stood nearby turned and Renee gasped.
"Aza!" she exclaimed when she recognised the face. "You never told me you were pregnant. How..."
Aza moved across and hugged her.
"Surprise, Renee. Even when we were having video chats on the iPhone, I made a point of not showing my somewhat enlarged tummy."
"Who?" Renee stuttered and corrected herself. "Sorry, I guess it is none of my business."
"Of course it is," Aza replied. "After all, it happened at East Ridge."
"Ian?"
"Yes, I proved to be particularly fertile those eight months back. We did it on a few more occasions while I was there but without Sofia's knowledge; back here in Auckland, too."
"But you're still living with Sofia. Didn't you say you planned to buy a little house or apartment together?"
Aza laughed. "We did."
Renee frowned, "And Ian? I'll be meeting him before the trial but he spoke of nothing personal. How does this pregnancy affect everything?"
Aza sighed. "I took your advice."
"What advice?"
"The one about pretending to be bisexual for Sofia's sake. We sleep in a double bed now and I find... oh hell Renee, do I have to spell it out for you?"
"And Ian?"
"Oh he moved on. I believe he picked up with an old partner he's now living with but she doesn't know he fathered my child."
"Couldn't you have got an abortion?"
"Actually, I was going to but Sofia dissuaded me. She said that if we were going to be a family we needed children. " Aza grinned. "It wasn't planned but I got the job."
"And males?"
"We have a liberal arrangement. Ian visited me on occasions until he moved in with this Paige, his old partner. She's a lawyer too, I think. After the baby is born, who knows?
"Oh hell."
Aza grinned. "I know. If my parents were alive they'd disown me, not only for becoming pregnant out of wedlock but also for living with Sofia. They were quite religious in one of those narrow-minded faiths that I rejected as soon as I turned eighteen. Never been back, since."
"So how's Sofia?"
"Just the same. She's waiting in the car at one of those five-minute parks. She thought we'd better not leave the car in case she had to move on." Aza ran a hand over her tummy. "I thought I'd come in to spring you the news."
"My God, you did but what about your job at the university?"
"On maternity leave. They're pretty generous in allocating it." Aza laughed as they headed out of the terminal.
*
IT WAS AFTER THE LUNCH break on the third day of the trial when Renee was called into the courtroom as a witness against her formal husband, Larry Brooks who was being charged for the murder of his infant child and also to the charge of attempted murder of Jocelyn O'Sullivan, the child's mother and his partner at that time.
The Crown Prosecutor's briefing just repeated what Ian had told her. In her case she was being called as a witness to help build up a case about Brooks' personality. This would help quash the defence lawyer's statement that he was a successful businessman highly regarded in the community. He warned that she could be subjected to somewhat personal cross examination by the defence who would try to show that she was prejudiced against her former husband and the jury should therefore disregard her testimony.
She walked in and glanced across at Larry Brooks. What she saw was a middle-aged man who had aged over the last decade. His greying hair had receded and he was noticeably heavier by twenty or more kilograms than her memory of him. Even in a well-fitted suit his pot stomach indicated that a life of too much alcohol and lack of exercise had caught up with him. His eyes appeared different too for instead of being piercing and demanding, even across the courtroom they appeared downcast and almost hesitant, something she had not expected.
Just before arriving at the witness box she heard challenge from a defence attorney so she stopped and just stood there.
The judge, a middle aged man glanced up.
"Your reason, Justice Shuker?"
"Ms Steven's testimony is irrelevant in this case, Your Honour. It is over a decade since she was associated with our client."
The judge turned to the Crown Prosecutor. "And your reason for calling her, Madam Tate?"
"She was once Larry Brooks' wife and had a similar experience to Jocelyn O'Sullivan..." Diane Tate continued on with a quite long explanation only to be interrupted by Defence Attorney Hardy.
"This was dealt with in a previous trial, Your Honour. Also in my opinion, using Ms Stevens as a witness falls foul of the double jeopardy laws of our country."
"May we approach the bench, Your Honour?" Diane Tate asked.
"If you must," mumbled the judge.
The two barristers as well as Ian approached the bench and spoke in a whisper that Renee nor anyone else in the court could hear. She had, though been warned by Ian who was the supporting solicitor for the Crown Prosecutor that this may happen. In this private conversation Ian would tell the judge that five other women had been approached to testify at this trial but were all too frightened to come forward. This could be interpreted as heresy by a more conservative judge but the views of this judge were unknown. The conversation continued for several moments and by the participants' body languages, Renee realised it had become heated.
Afterwards, the stony-faced lawyers returned to their benches while the judge spent a moment studying a computer before him. Finally he glanced up and waited for any faint whispers throughout the room to stop
"I have overruled the challenge." He turned to Renee who was still standing a couple of metres away from the witness stand. "You may take the stand as a witness, Ms Stevens."
Renee had of course, no idea about what previous witnesses had said but had been told to just answer the questions to the best of her ability and to maintain a neutral stance. For over an hour Diane Tate as well as Ian asked her questions about her life with Larry Brooks. Her explanations about the physical and psychological violence did affect her. Dark memories flooded back and at one point when her unborn child was mentioned she couldn't control tears that slid down her cheeks. She was handed a tissue by a court clerk and was asked by the judge if she required a break.
"No Your Honour," she replied. "I can continue."
"Very well."
"I have no more questions," the Crown Prosecutor added.
The cross-examination by Justice Shuker was blunt. He stood and peered directly into her eyes in a manner that made Renee again think back. The expression with that almost faint sarcastic look reminded her of the sadistic Larry Brooks who looked that way before he'd started tormenting or thrashing her. It did, though affect her in the opposite way to what the defence attorney probably wished. Instead of becoming intimidated she felt adrenalin arise inside her. Damn the man, she was not about to let him undermine her account of the terrifying life she had had with her formal husband.
Shuker began softly, almost sympathetically but suddenly his attitude changed.
"I put it to you, Ms Stevens that your whole testimony is a vindictive account of your marriage to Mr Brooks, a perverted exaggeration aimed at ruining your former husband's reputation." He stopped and again glowered at her with that gloating grin.
He was attempting to rile her into perhaps screaming back. Even if disallowed by the judge his cross-examination would achieve the aim of showing her as an unstable, emotional ex-wife whose whole account was unreliable. Renee turned her eyes onto him and said not one word.
"Well!" Shuker was the one who raised his voice several seconds later.
"You did not ask a question Justice Shuker so I have nothing to say."
She glanced across at the jury and saw several give slight grins.
"The witness is correct, Justice Shuker," the judge said. "If you rephrase your statement as a question, I am sure Ms Stevens will reply."
"I withdraw the statement, Your Honour."
Renee knew the attack had failed and probably most of the jury realised that too. After a few more almost condescending questions Shuker completed his cross-examination and Renee was told she could step down. On the way out she glanced across at Ian who grinned and gave her a tiny thumbs up signal. So he thought she had done okay? That gesture more than made up for the gruelling two hours she had spent in the witness stand.
*
ALTHOUGH RENEE WAS discharged as a witness, she continued to follow the trial from the spectator gallery. It dragged on for two more days with numerous witnesses giving technical evidence about the car crash showing that it had been sabotaged. The defence readily acknowledged this but they insisted that it could have been anybody who did the act and that there was no proof that Brooks was responsible.
The final witness for The Crown was Jocelyn O'Sullivan who gave a heart rendering account of her life with Brooks. This included threats he made to kill her when she attempted to leave the relationship. The defence did, though, manage to twist her words and made it appear that none of her accusations could be backed up by independent witnesses so it was really just her words against Brooks. There was also a brutal character assassination attempt in the cross examination that was partly blocked when Diane Tate successfully challenged Shuker's questioning by stating that it was not Jocelyn O'Sullivan on trial and her personal life was of not relevant in this trial.
"Your objection is upheld Madam Crown Prosecutor," the Judge ruled. "Justice Shuker, you will confine your questioning to how the witness is directly involved in this case. The jury is to disregard the latest question. Miss O'Sullivan you do not need to answer any questions about your personal life that does not directly involve the defendant."
When the Crown's case was completed The Defence called witnesses who built up a picture of Brooks being an upright and successful business manager of Fredrick Brooks Holdings, a family firm. He also belonged to several service clubs and sporting groups. As is usual in western democracies no mention was made of his previous convictions for assault and petty crime. What was unexpected was that Brooks was not called to the stand to defend himself. This was a clever ploy for Diane Tate could not cross-examine him with questions about his life that Ian had discovered.
The final summings-up by both attorneys were really a summary of the evidence given by witnesses with the judge's final statement being more important.
"This is a sad case where an infant died in a fatal car crash. Both the prosecutor and defence attorneys acknowledged that the crash was not an accident but was caused by Miss O'Sullivan's vehicle being sabotaged by a small explosive device that was either remotely detonated or set off by the use of a timing device. That, ladies and gentlemen of the jury is of no consequence in this trial. You must concentrate on the defendant and whether, without a reasonable doubt you consider he was the cause either directly or indirectly of the explosion that killed the infant.
If you consider that the defendant aimed to kill Miss O'Sullivan but not the infant, that still constitutes murder. However, if you decide there is a reasonable doubt that he was directly involved you must find him not guilty.
You must next deliberate on the second charge of the attempted murder of Jocelyn O'Sullivan by re-examining the evidence from that perspective. Two verdicts will thus be ruled upon.
This has been an extremely emotional trail but you must place aside your feelings of remorse or sympathy for anyone or everyone involved and deal with the evidence and that alone. If the jury cannot reach a unanimous verdict after a reasonable time the court will accept an all-but-one majority verdict."
After the jury left, the judge also retired and the court clerk advised that the trial was in recess and would reconvene when the jury returned. The courtroom quickly emptied and Renee followed the spectators onto the forecourt with a strange empty feeling inside her mind. The verdict shouldn't really affect her at all but in reality, she was deeply involved. This was probably the last chance for Larry Brooks to be brought to justice for his evil behaviour over the years that she had known him.
She called Tyler on her iPhone and brought him up to date on the trial and said she would tell him what the verdict was as soon as it was in. Aza had arranged to meet her as Sofia was now back at work but that would not be for another hour. Renee thought she might see Ian but he was nowhere around so she guessed he was busy. She decided, therefore, to go to a nearby coffee bar and relax for a while.
As she went to walk away she felt a light touch on her arm and turned to see a young woman standing there who appeared quite hesitant. She realised who it was.
"You're Renee Stevens who gave evidence at the trial, aren't you?" the woman asked.
"Yes I am and you're Jocelyn O'Sullivan."
"Whatever the outcome of this trial I would like to thank you for giving evidence. You know Ian Rogers don't you?"
Renee nodded and Jocelyn continued speaking.
"Ian told me that he approached all those other women but they were all too terrified of Larry give evidence but you did. Thank you from the bottom of my heart."
"That was the least I could do," Renee replied. "Look, I was about to go and have a coffee; what say we find a quiet place and have one together?"
"I'd like that," Jocelyn replied. "The coffee bars close to the courthouse will be crowded but I know of a wonderful little place only a couple of blocks away that I often visit."
"Sounds great," Renee replied and stepped in beside her companion to walk away from the forecourt.
*
JOCELYN WAS A SLIM attractive woman about a decade younger than herself. Renee inwardly grinned for she that was about her age when she was married to Brooks.
"So you had a rough time with him, too?" Jocelyn began after they sat in a corner table of the coffee bar with their coffee and some savouries.
"Yes, it was a hard time in my life..." Renee continued speaking to give a brief summary of her time with Brooks.
"So when did he become violent?" Jocelyn asked.
Renee frowned. "I can't remember any exact time. He just became more moody but I blamed it on his job. This grew worse and he began hitting me whenever I stood up for myself or refused to do exactly what he said." Renee sipped her coffee before continuing. "Little things such as having a meal a few minutes late would set him off, he began to drink more and often came home drunk and in a foul mood. I found out he was having an affair and fronted him about it. He flew into a violent rage and ... well it was more or less exactly what I said in the court."
"I didn't hear," Jocelyn said. "As a witness myself I wasn't permitted to hear your evidence."
Renee nodded and gave Jocelyn a summary of the time leading up to her being so violently beaten that she lost her unborn child. "Larry was brought up on an causing grievous bodily harm charge. His well-off family managed to pull some strings and he pleaded guilty to common assault. He ended up with a fine and community service. I left, him, changed back to my maiden name and was divorced two years later."
Jocelyn stared at her coffee. "He was so nice when I first met him, confident, happy and fun to be with. I shifted in with him and for a while, he was everything I wished for. Gradually though he became demanding and bossy, I guess the word is. He began staying out late and disappearing over the weekend. I found out he was having an affair but unlike you, was too scared to confront him about it."
Her account was similar to Renee's own experience and possibly of the other five women Ian had contacted but refused to testify.
"So we wait for the verdict," Jocelyn concluded. "Have you any idea how it will go?'
Renee grimaced. "I honestly don't know, Jocelyn. I do know his lawyers attempted to have him placed on trial on a less serous alternative charge. This time though, the Crown Prosecutor's Office decided on an all-or-nothing approach. Their reasoning was that if there was a lesser charge it could become an easy way out for any jury. Ian told me that it is a risk but one that is justified."
"I hope so." Jocelyn glanced up. "Can we keep in touch, Renee?"
"Sure. I'll give you my details. If you want a holiday down south some time, you're welcome to visit. We're a long way out in the country but it is a beautiful place with plenty of snow in winter and long hot summers. At the moment the whole countryside is parched and we've had a week of thirty degrees Celsius."
"Different from Auckland?"
"It's another world, Jocelyn. My partner Tyler and myself would never come back to the city." Renee smiled and reached for her mobile to send a message to Aza saying where she could be picked up. Ten minutes later Aza walked in and across to where she and Jocelyn were still chatting.
"Hi," she said when introduced to Jocelyn who replied and shortly later excused herself.
Aza watched her leave and turned to Renee. "God, she looks like a high school kid."
Renee laughed. "I know. It makes one feel old, doesn't it?"
"Yeah," Aza laughed and ran a hand over her tummy. "Especially in my condition."
*
TWO DAYS LATER IN THE late morning Renee was with Aza back at the same little coffee bar when she received a message on her iPhone from Ian. She had spent the previous two days close to the courthouse, as she wanted to be there for the verdict,
The jury is returning. Can you get over to the courthouse?
The spectator gallery was packed with only standing room but one pleasant guy gave up his seat to Aza just as the last juror was seated and the court clerk asked for silence in the courtroom.
Larry Brooks was led in and stood in the dock with his eyes downcast but otherwise appeared emotionless.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked the foreperson, an elderly looking woman.
"We have Your Honour."
She held out a slip of paper to a court clerk who took it across to the judge who unfolded and read the contents. His expression conveyed nothing.
"To the charge of first degree murder, does the jury find Larry William Brooks guilty or not guilty?" he finally asked.
The juror appeared nervous but her voice was heard throughout the courtroom. "Guilty, Your Honour."
A rumble exploded throughout the room and a television camera focused on Larry Brooks in a close-up view that could be seen from a monitor above the spectator gallery. Renee studied his face. He had turned white while his hands that clung to the front of the dock shook. His mouth opened but no words came out. To Renee, though it appeared that he had mouthed, "Bastards" as he staggered and almost fell.
The Clerk of the Court stood and demanded silence.
"And to the second charge of attempted murder of Jocelyn Francis O'Sullivan?" The judge asked.
"Guilty, Your Honour."
The rumble wasn't as pronounced as the first time so there was no need for the court to be silenced. The judge turned to Larry and gave a brief but stern comment about the trial result. He next pronounced that there would be a mandatory life sentence for the first verdict but the exact details would be announced in a sentencing trial in three weeks time. A frail looking Brooks was led away, the jury thanked and dismissed and the judge left.
It was over!
Renee glanced across the spectator gallery where she noticed Jocelyn in the front row. She was sitting there with her head down and obviously sobbing.
Renee glanced at Aza. "Come on," she whispered. "Jocelyn looks so alone. Shall we go and comfort her?"
Aza nodded and together they pushed through the exiting crowd and walked across to the distressed woman still seated in that front row.
*