Randy Singer - By reason of insanity

Quinn paused for a moment, mindful that he was straying close to the line that divided argument from opening statement. He could sense Boyd Gates on the edge of his seat, trying to decide whether to object. Good, thought Quinn. Turnabout is fair play.

But the objection came from an unexpected direction.

"Mr. Newberg," snapped Judge Rosencrance, "I don't know how it works in Vegas-" the judge drew out the word as if it were a curse, emphasizing Quinn's outsider status in the courtroom-"but here in Virginia, lawyers use their opening statements to provide a roadmap for the evidence and their closing arguments to lay out their arguments about the evidence."

She said it condescendingly, as if Quinn were trying his first case. He couldn't let it pass, not with his friends on the jury watching so expectantly.

"Thank you, Your Honor," he said. "In Vegas, it's also traditional for the prosecutor to make the objections, freeing the judge to rule on those objections."

" Mr. Newberg. Your sarcastic comments have no place in this courtroom. Is that understood?"

Quinn waited, silent.

"Is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Thank you. You may proceed."

"The prosecution's expert, Dr. Edward Chow, will testify that the rape of Ms. O'Rourke could not possibly be the trigger for dissociative identity disorder." Quinn raised his voice. "'The alleged rape,' Chow noted in his pretrial report, 'was an isolated, nonrecurring episode,' as if rape is such an ordinary occurrence that every woman should have to suffer at least two or three rapes-"

"Objection!" Gates shouted, springing to his feet.

"-before she can avail herself of a defense based on psychological-"

"Objection! Judge!"

Crack! Crack! Rosencrance silenced the room with her gavel and glared at Quinn. "That's argument, Counsel. And this is your last warning."

Red-faced, she turned to the jury. "Please disregard those last remarks by Mr. Newberg. They were improper arguments, and they have no place in an opening statement."

"Yes, Your Honor," Quinn said, though it felt to him like a double standard. Virginia lawyers can argue during opening statements but Vegas lawyers can't?

"During this case, you will learn about two Catherine O'Rourkes. The one who sits in this courtroom is a dedicated professional, kind to her coworkers and friends, the type of person who would never dream of hurting anyone. She loves her job working at the paper, and she's good at it. She is loyal to a fault-willing to go to jail rather than betray a confidential source.

"She is not some kind of religious fanatic who would use Old Testament Bible verses to justify revenge killings."

He studied the jury panel and lowered his voice. "But there is a second person who sometimes inhabits that body, a person who calls herself the Avenger of Blood, a killer so cold and remorseless that she not only killed an alleged rapist, she allowed the body to cook for a full five minutes after the rapist died. A rapist, by the way, whom Catherine O'Rourke had never met before in her life."

Quinn stopped, paused, and filled his lungs. "Your job in this case, simply put, is to determine whether there really are two personalities sharing that body, as we suggest, or only one, as the prosecution suggests. One woman so calculating and devious that she can fool a seasoned professional like Dr. Mancini yet dumb enough to fake visions about related crimes, visions that made her a prime suspect. So clever she can dispose of bloody clothes and her computer in places where the police can never find them but so dumb that she throws methohexital and bloody paper towels in her neighbor's trash where they could be easily found. So consumed with rage from a college rape that she would plot the murders of other accused rapists, but not obsessed enough to go after the man who raped her.

"These dichotomies, these inconsistencies, make no sense if there's only one Catherine O'Rourke. The evidence in this case only makes sense when we realize that two different women occupy the same body at different points in time."

Quinn searched the jurors' faces for traces of an ally. Seeing none, he realized that his earlier misgivings had been correct. The legal magician wasn't ready today. This was not his normal opening statement. He would usually have them eating out of his hand by now.

"The criminal laws in our country depend on a concept called mens rea," Quinn said, plowing forward despite his misgivings. "That's a Latin phrase that basically means evil intent. Do any of you have kids?"

From jury selection, Quinn knew there were six moms on the jury. A few of them gave Quinn subtle nods, and he zeroed in on that group.

"Let's say your daughter is three years old and is playing in the backyard. And let's say, God forbid, that she finds a loaded gun and shoots her playmate. You would be outraged if Mr. Gates decided to charge your child with murder. Why? Because that little girl doesn't have the mental capacity to form an intent to murder. She didn't understand that what she did was wrong, that it would result in the loss of life.

"In some ways, Catherine O'Rourke is like that little girl. She needs treatment and counseling from an expert like Dr. Mancini. Sure, she needs confinement until we can bring that other personality to the surface and deal with the issues that created it. But the defendant doesn't deserve the death penalty. Two wrongs do not make a right. Killing Catherine O'Rourke will not bring back Paul Donaldson."

Quinn surveyed the jury one last time. They were all careful not to telegraph their allegiance but, for the most part, they didn't look hostile either. An open-minded jury. For now, that would have to do.

After a brief recess, Boyd Gates called Dr. Herbert Saunders, the Hampton Roads medical examiner, to the stand. With the precision of a drill sergeant, Gates rattled off questions about the autopsy and cause of death, establishing in painful detail the sadistic manner by which Paul Donaldson had died. He showed the jury grotesque photos of Donaldson's body after it had been recovered from the Dismal Swamp Canal, including close-ups of the head gash and the burn marks where the electrodes had been connected, then circled back around with some final questions about the method of execution.

"In your duties as chief medical examiner for the Hampton Roads area, have you been called upon to certify the death of capital murder defendants who were sentenced to the electric chair?" asked Gates.

"Yes, on several occasions."

"Tell the jury how that manner of death occurs."

The ME shifted in his seat to face the jury. He had the wrinkled face of a grandfather and a gentle manner that conveyed sadness rather than outrage at this whole inexplicable affair. "When someone is executed by the state through use of the electric chair-a method that can still be chosen by death-row inmates in Virginia-every effort is made to minimize the suffering. Standard protocols are put in place to make certain no malfunctions occur. Two thousand four hundred volts are administered for seven seconds, followed by eight hundred volts for seventeen seconds, then twenty-four hundred volts for five seconds. Most convicts choose the needle, but we've never had a botched electric-chair execution in the history of the Commonwealth of Virginia."

"From your review of Mr. Donaldson's body and your past experience with electrocution as a form of execution, how would Mr. Donaldson have suffered in this case?"

Marc Boland stood to his full height. "Objection, Your Honor. Calls for speculation."

"He's an expert witness," Gates countered. "He's entitled to give his opinion based on the medical facts."

"Overruled," said Rosencrance.

A few jurors leaned forward as Saunders continued. "Unfortunately, the executioner in this case was not very skilled. From the damage to the internal organs, the burn marks on Mr. Donaldson's skin, and the deep contusions on his neck and waist from the straps that apparently held him, as well as marks on his wrists and ankles, which were probably secured with handcuffs, it is apparent that Mr. Donaldson struggled violently for quite some time."