James Huston - Marine One

"It says Adams with an exclamation point, right?"

"Yes."

"That's what your husband thought about Adams. That he was being controlled by forces outside of the United States government, correct?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"Well, you are aware, are you not-"

Hackett had enough. "Your Honor, this line of questioning is irrelevant. We're wasting the court's time. This is bordering on harassment."

Rachel countered, "I can explain-"

"Approach the bench," Judge Betancourt said, annoyed both with the questions and Hackett's interruption.

Rachel walked to the side of the judge's bench, as did Hackett. I joined them. The court reporter picked up her reporting machine and walked over to where the judge had wheeled her chair on the side of the bench. The reporter pulled a small slide, like a cutting board, out of the side of the judge's bench and placed the reporting keyboard on it. When she nodded to the judge, the judge said, "Ms. Long, where are you going with this line of questioning? What difference does it make?"

"Your Honor, it is my objective to show that it was Collins's opinion of the president's policies that predisposed him to at least consider causing the accident."

Betancourt looked at me. "Are you seriously trying to put on a case that the pilot of Marine One murdered the president?"

Rachel answered, "I want to leave that open as a possibility for the jury to consider."

"The jury doesn't get to form its own conclusion unless you have evidence, Ms. Long. What evidence do you have? How do you tie the president's policies to Collins's actions?"

"Perhaps at the meeting in Camp David the president was about to make a major policy shift."

"Perhaps?" the judge asked. "That's all you have?"

Hackett hunched his large frame over and tried to contain his fury. "Your Honor, I have been over every exhibit Mr. Nolan listed in the pretrial order. There is nothing in there about some new dramatic development. He had notes in the margins of nearly every book he read. It is meaningless . Unless Ms. Long tells us right now how she intends to prove this, I would request the Court to instruct her to move to a different area of questioning immediately."

The judge looked at Rachel over her reading glasses. "Ms. Long? What is your proffer?"

"I was hopeful of having some evidence that I don't have."

"So you don't have it."

"That's right, Your Honor, not yet."

"Then you will move on to a different area of questioning immediately. Are you nearly done?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

We returned to our positions, and after a moment the judge said, "You may continue, Ms. Long."

"Thank you, Your Honor. Mrs. Collins, you portrayed your husband as happily married to you. Correct?"

She frowned. "I hope so, because we were."

"And the damages you've claimed in this case, that you want WorldCopter to pay you for the loss of your husband, are in part based on the loss of that relationship, right?"

"Yes."

"Mrs. Collins, isn't it true that your husband slept in a different room from you?"

She looked surprised. "How do you know that, Ms. Long?"

"Is it true or not?"

"Yes. It is true."

"In fact your husband essentially lived in a room separate from your bedroom. His clothes, his books, his desk, his computer, they're all in a different room from you."

She looked annoyed. "Yes, that's true."

"In fact, Mrs. Collins, you're husband didn't sleep with you, did he?"

She fidgeted slightly and responded quietly, " 'Sleep with' as in sleeping in the same bed? Or 'sleep with' as in having sexual relations?"

"He didn't sleep in the same bed with you, did he?"

"No."

"No further questions, Your Honor."

Rachel sat down and looked at the clock. It was two minutes until noon. It was a good way to end. The judge picked up her gavel and said, "We will adjourn at this point for lunch and return-"

Hackett stood up and interrupted, "Your Honor. My redirect will take only the two minutes that remain before lunch. May I complete this witness so that she may be excused from the witness stand?"

"Of course, Mr. Hackett, proceed."

Hackett stood up and without any notes said, "Mrs. Collins, had you and your husband stopped having sexual relations?"

She blushed slightly. "No."

"Did you have sex on a regular basis-without too much detail; was it a normal marital relationship?"

"Very normal."

"Well, then, why was he not sleeping in the same room as you, Mrs. Collins?"

She hesitated, then said, "Because he snored."

The gallery laughed out loud.

Hackett nodded and smiled. "Why did he have all his clothes and his computer and his desk in another room?"

"Out of respect for me. I volunteer with Annapolis Hospice, and my sleeping patterns were very irregular. Sometimes I needed to go to bed very early, sometimes I needed to sleep late. He didn't want to disturb me with the clicking of keys on his computer or getting dressed in the morning. So he did it to allow me to rest."

"No further questions," Hackett said.

Rachel jumped back up. "May I, Your Honor? Less than five minutes."

The judge looked at the clock and said, "Make it quick, Ms. Long."

"Thank you, Your Honor." Then to Mrs. Collins: "You slept in separate rooms because he snored?"

"That's right."

"You didn't mention that in your deposition when we asked you about having separate rooms, did you?"

"You didn't ask."

"You knew we wanted to know why you had the arrangement you had, right?"

"I didn't know what you wanted, frankly."

"Mrs. Collins, I will represent to you that I have reviewed every page of your husband's medical records. He never mentioned snoring, ever. Are you aware of that?"

"No, but it doesn't surprise me."

"Why is that?"

"I don't think he saw it as a medical problem."

"So the two of you simply accepted that state of affairs?"

"Yes, for now. Then."

"You said you worked for a hospice, right?"

"Yes."

"You mentioned that in your deposition, although not in connection with your husband's separate room. I'd like to show you your volunteer records of Annapolis Hospice. Your Honor, may we have these records marked as next in order?"

Hackett said, "I object, Your Honor. These records were not listed in their exhibit list."

"Impeachment, Your Honor."

"They'll be marked," Betancourt said.

"Mrs. Collins, these records show you hadn't volunteered for Arlington Hospice for more than a year before your husband's death. Correct?"

"I don't know what the records show."

"It's true, isn't it, that you hadn't volunteered there for more than a year before his death?"

"I don't remember."

"Mrs. Collins, you would have the jury believe that the reason you weren't sleeping with your husband was because of a medical condition he never told a doctor about, and out of sensitivity to volunteer work you weren't doing, right?"

"I wouldn't put it like that."

"Nothing further, Your Honor."

Judge Betancourt dismissed us for lunch.

I checked my BlackBerry. Rachel asked, "Any word from Bradley?"

"Nothing. I sent him an e-mail but he didn't respond. I had Tracy call his office too. Didn't respond." I pondered what could possibly have happened to Wayne Bradley as I packed my notes. My thoughts were quickly interrupted by Kathryn, who had come up to counsel table in the middle of the courtroom. Brightman was with her.

Kathryn said, "Mike, let's go back to your office."

"I was just going to grab something over at the cafeteria. I need to prepare for this afternoon's witnesses."

"No, we need to talk about how this is going." She looked around to see if anyone was reading her lips.

Rachel and I headed to our car and then to the office. Kathryn, Brightman, Tripp, even Jeff Turner arrived a few minutes later. Someone had ordered sandwiches, but I was in no mood to eat. I wanted to get back and get ready for our next witnesses. As soon as everyone was in the room, Kathryn closed the door behind Justin. She turned, still standing with her arms folded, and said to me, "Mike, I thought you did okay on the opening statement. You left it a little open as to what our theory was going to be, and based on what I know, that seemed right to me. But now I've watched the first two witnesses, and it isn't working. I don't see the jury identifying with us."