Parnell Hall: The Innocent Woman

“So, if the only criterion for guilt was possessing those twenty dollar bills, could we say that since Marvin Lowery had some in his possession, he must be the thief?

“Or the same of Frank Fletcher?

“Or Mr. Macklin?”

Steve smiled, pointed to Pearson. “Now, I know what the prosecutor will argue. He’ll say that they had a right to have possession of those bills. That their possession of those bills is accounted for. And the defendant’s isn’t.”

Steve shrugged. “Maybe, maybe not.

“Which brings us to the doctrine of reasonable doubt.

“To find the defendant guilty, you must find her guilty beyond all reasonable doubt. If there is any doubt in your mind that she is guilty, you must find her innocent. Well, I would think that all four people in that office having possession of those bills would be enough to do it right there.

“But I’m willing to go a little further to help you out, to make your job a little easier.

“The other part of the doctrine of reasonable doubt is, if the evidence of prosecution can be explained by any other reasonable hypothesis other than the guilt of the defendant, then you must find the defendant not guilty.

“The only evidence presented is the fact she had those two bills. The prosecutor says she must have stolen them. We say she didn’t.

“Okay, how else could those bills have come into her possession?

“Perfectly easy. Frank Fletcher took a hundred dollars out of petty cash on April 30th. We know because he left a chit in the petty cash box. And he paid the defendant her salary in cash. That very afternoon. And that was after he took the money out of the petty cash box, because by his own admission, he paid her her salary just before he went home.

“Is it reasonable to assume he paid her salary with some of the recorded bills? Well, I can’t prove it, but I don’t have to. All I have to do is show it’s possible. If it’s possible, reasonable, logical, that such a thing could have happened, then you must give the defendant the benefit of that reasonable doubt and assume that it did.”

Steve Winslow raised his hand. “Now, the prosecutor may say that’s all well and good, but what about the hundred dollars missing from the petty cash drawer? What happened to that?”

Steve shrugged. “Well, a lot of things. For one thing, the defendant might have stolen it.” He smiled, shrugged again. “Hey, it’s possible. Didn’t happen. But it’s possible. And if you were allowed to bring in a conviction on the grounds that something was possible, well then this defendant would be going to jail.

“But that’s not the way the law works. If any other solution is possible, the defendant goes free.

“In this case, the possibilities are practically endless.

“For one thing, Marvin Lowery could have done it. By his own admission he went to the cash box and took out a hundred dollars. What was to stop him from taking two?

“The same hold true of Frank Fletcher. What if he took two hundred dollars from the box? And paid the defendant’s salary with some of those bills?

“And why, you might ask, would he do that? Well, suppose he was the one who’d been stealing from the petty cash drawer. And hiring Mr. Macklin was an elaborate double-bluff on his part to cover up the fact that he himself was actually guilty. Well, it wouldn’t be enough just to hire Mr. Macklin and set the trap. He’d have to have somebody to frame. Surely not his partner Mr. Lowery-that would never fly. But here’s the defendant. Perfect patsy. Slip her some of the bills as part of her salary and let nature take its course.

“You might ask, why would he want to do that? I haven’t the faintest idea. It’s not my job to know. I don’t have to prove anything.” Steve Winslow pointed at A. D. A. Pearson. “He does. He has to prove everything .”

Steve smiled. “You can see now why I made such a big deal during jury selection over your willingness to consider this defendant innocent.

“Because she is innocent.”

Steve ticked them off on his fingers.

“She’s presumed innocent.

“She is innocent.

“And it’s your duty to find her innocent.

“I thank you.”

Amy Dearborn could hardly contain herself.

“I can’t believe it’s over,” she said.

Tracy Garvin patted her arm. “I know.”

“And so quickly. My god, the jurors weren’t gone twenty minutes.”

“I’m surprised they took that long.”

“I don’t know how I can ever repay him.”

“You don’t have to.”

“I know. I heard what he said, but-”

“Then don’t worry about it.”

Amy and Tracy were standing on the steps outside the courthouse. The verdict had been announced minutes before, disposing of the entire case in one day, a consummation not only devoutly to be wished, but beyond Judge Dalrymple’s wildest dreams. Steve Winslow had turned Amy Dearborn over to Tracy Garvin and asked her to wait, saying there were a few details he wanted to take care of.

Amy Dearborn looked at her watch. “It’s getting late,” she said. “I do want to thank him, but maybe I should come by the office.”

Tracy Garvin frowned. “He said to wait.”

“I know that. It’s just…I don’t know. It’s hard to hold still. I want to keep moving.”

“I’m sure he won’t be long,” Tracy said with a slight edge in her voice. After all Steve had done, it was a little much, this woman not being willing to wait. She was about to say something to that effect when Steve came out the door.

Amy Dearborn’s eyes lit up. “Mr. Winslow, I just can’t thank you enough. I’ve been going crazy out here waiting to tell you. Where did you go?”

“I told you, I had some business to take care of.” Steve reached into his pants pocket and, with a bit of a flourish, pulled out some money. “I believe this belongs to you.”

Amy Dearborn blinked. “What?”

“It’s not much, I’m afraid, but forty dollars is forty dollars.”

“Forty dollars?”

“Yes. Two twenty dollar bills. With quite a history. If you don’t need to spend them, you might want to frame them.”

“You got them to release the court exhibit?” Tracy said.

“Of course I did. This money was removed from her person. If she didn’t steal it, it’s rightfully hers.” Steve held it out to Amy. “Here you go.”

Amy put up her hand. “Please. You should keep it.. After all you’ve done.”

Steve smiled. “Thanks all the same, but I’d rather not. If it got out I was charging forty bucks for a day in court, it would be hard to explain. I’d rather leave things just as they are.”

“But you have to be paid.”

Steve shook his head, “Not for this. You gave me a dollar. Provisional retainer just to make it legal. Well, that’s all the money I expected to see from this case.” Steve held up one finger. “On the other hand, F. L. Jewelry fired you without cause, had you arrested and charged you with theft. That charge was without foundation, has been proven so in a court of law. I would expect a jeweler to have both assets and insurance.”

Amy looked at him. “Do you mean…?”

“I think you’re entitled to some compensation for what you went through. If you agree, I’d be happy to file suit in your behalf. In which case, I would feel justified in taking a fee.” Steve held up his hand. “But that’s beside the point, and I wouldn’t want you to file suit just for that reason. But the way I see it, yes, we’re happy you got off. You did nothing wrong, so you should have got off.

“On the other hand, Fletcher and Lowery did something wrong, so why should they get off? Macklin too.”