I originally wrote it this way but decided it just didn't feel right... yet.
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The meat-grinding wheels of justice turn slowly
and steadily. A month or two after the arraignment, I had a midnight plane-ride in a four-seater
from Sacramento to Santa Barbara. There were no reporters awake to greet us at
the time of the morning when we arrived at the Santa Barbara Airport. I was
old news by then.
A year of delays and extensions passed, along with another three
months before a jury was finally gleaned and selected for approval by the
prosecution and defense. I sat in the courtroom next to my attorney, Walter (aka. White Bear) Gibbons, on one side and across the room at a table on our left, the
Prosecutor’s team, a effeminate young man dressed immaculate in suit with a
bright pink tie and one anorexic looking women in a knee length grey skirt and
cadmium red silk blouse, led by Assistant DA, Amanda Barron.
Everyone from a
truck driver, cocktail waitress, and aerospace engineer were selected; a jury
of my peers. Peers, what a joke… cocktail waitress, sure… but not one graveyard
cab driver. The prosecution seemed determined to keep Viet Nam Vets off the
jury but Gibbons manage to get three. That’s what took so long since PTSD was
part of the case for the insanity plea. I didn’t believe in PTSD as a defense
but that didn’t mean I didn’t believe in it. Hell, what do I know?
The opening statements were by Assistant District Attorney, Amanda
Barron… Amanda Barron! Hell, I’d taken her home several times in my cab and had
thrown down a couple of Jack Daniel’s with her at Pascual’s. She was a bit
thicker in frame then… standing almost six-foot-tall and had shoulder length
brown hair. I didn’t know she was a D.A. I figured she was a cop though. We
didn’t talk shop. She was a devoted Celtics fan and knew more about the
professional basketball than any man. My knowledge of sports was nil except for
baseball when Willy Mays played for the Giants… I knew absolutely nothing about
the NBA but went along and pretended I did.
She wore a gray pinstripe business
suit that first day. Her slacks were slightly stretched full-wrapped around a nice looking... inviting... not large but... a good sized tush. Her short-cropped blonde
hair was slightly disheveled as though she’s just rushed over to the courthouse
from a cozy bed fifteen minutes before. I fantasized about who it was she’s
been in bed with… hmmm a female? … Imagined myself squeezed in between her and
her companion. Yep, I knew she’s a dyke alright but that didn’t stop me from
thinking of that warm booty in my bed. She did not look me in the eye.
I whispered in Gibbon’s ear, “Doesn’t she have
to recuse herself or something? We know each other for Christ sakes.”
Gibbons was stoic in his answer, “We have our reasons. We want her on the that
side if we need an appeal.”
The Bailiff stood with his belly hanging over
his belt revealing twenty years of kissing ass to achieve this high mark of
accomplishment, “All rise. The Santa Barbara Superior Court is now in session.
The Honorable Judge Robert Caccini presiding.”
“You may be seated. The Bailiff will call the
day’s docket.”
“Your Honor, today’s case is The People of the State
of California vs David Craszhinski.”
“The prosecution will begin the trial with the
Opening Statement.”
“May it
please the court and ladies and gentlemen of the jury, my name is Assistant
District Attorney, Amanda Barron, counsel for the State of California in this
action. We will prove that, on November 20th of 1987 the defendant,
David Kraszhinski, committed the crime of grand theft of a motor vehicle, the
Mzz Sherlock, owned by his friend, Santa Barbara Police Detective, Sean Ryan.
Ms. Anadel Bonnaire will testify that Mr. Kraszhinski lured her onto the boat,
abducted her and held her against her will at Lady’s Harbor on Santa Cruz
Island. She will further testify that Mr. Kraszhinski raped her repeatedly while mentally and physically abusing her. On November 23rd
1987 Doctor Lawrence Spawnn will testify that Robert Casey informed him, that
he saw the Sherlock sailing towards Santa Cruz Island. Dr. Spawn took his boat
The Doctor’s Dream with unarmed deck hands, Raphael Alvarez and Donald Risner
out to seek out the Mzz Sherlock and return her to Detective Ryan. Mr. Kraszhinski, an Army Counter Intelligence and Psychological Warfare expert
during the Viet Nam War, killed Mr. Alvarez with a Mac 10 machine pistol.”
The prosecutor held up pictures on matt board.
“I ask the court to accept this picture of the Sherlock as exhibit A., a
picture of a Mac 10 machine pistol as exhibit B, and of Raphael Alvarez, as
exhibit C.” She placed the picture of Raphael, his wife, and three children,
with the others on a display easel facing the jury.
Donald Risner will testify that he swam to
safety and was stranded on the island in foul weather for three days and nights
before he was found by hikers, dehydrated, and near death. Doctor Spawn will
testify that Mr. Kraszhinski held Ms. Bonnaire and himself hostage. At Avila
Beach, he met Robert Casey, a friend and fellow Viet Nam Veteran. Dr. Spawnn will testify that David Craszhinski sold Casey a bill of goods, saying they were
being pursued by Russian Mobsters or KGB. It will be shown that Ms. Bonnaire did
not use this opportunity to escape because Mr. Kraszhinski was trained by the US
Army in Counter Intelligence and skilled at brainwashing his… uh, subjects. And that decorated Vietnam Veteran Robert Casey helped David Kraszhinski sink the Doctor’s Dream. Please accept this picture as exhibit C.”
She held up an older picture of the Doctor’s
Dream on a trailer with the good doctor and wife Rachel in front of it. Placing
it with the others on an easel she continued, “They sailed for San Francisco
Bay on Robert Casey’s boat, the Dinky Dao, December 3rd. If it
pleases the court, accept this picture as exhibit D.” Another picture of the
Dinky Dao, when she was brand new, before Casey bought her was added to the
easel. “Mr. Casey will testify that, at Loch Lomond Marina, Mr. Kraszhinski was
so manipulative that he convinced another friend, Gabriel Mendoza, of the same
story about Russian Mobsters.
Anadel Bonaire will testify that Mr. Casey and
Mr. Mendoza, in order to rescue her, convinced Mr. Kraszhinski to split forces
against his imaginary enemy. Dr. Spawnn will testify he had been given LSD
against his will and brainwashed to believe he too was being pursued and fled
with Mr. Kraszhinski to Mr. Mendoza’s trailer at another location in the
Sacramento Delta. It was there that Mr. Kraszhinski shot and killed the
brothers Raymond Gutierrez, and Leonardo Gutierrez, while they were tending
Crayfish traps at Prospect slew. Please, I ask the court to accept this as
exhibit E.” She lifted the Bullpup rifle and paraded it back and forth in front
of the jury box as she spoke. She returned with dramatic flair to pick up a
picture of two middle aged men in suits looking nothing like crayfish trappers,
“If it pleases the court, accept these as exhibit E.”
“Doctor Spawnn will testify that the defendant
further tortured him while on the Mr. Casey’s craft to perform surgery to
extract a 9mm round from this automatic pistol. It was then that Mr. Kraszhinski
brutally assaulted Yuri Chernayevsky with a pipe-wrench and murdered with this 9mm
Browning automatic pistol,” She held my Browning up to be appraised by the
jury. “Please accept this as exhibit F.”
She paused for dramatic effect and after a pin could
be heard to drop in the hallway outside of the courtroom, “And furthermore, the
defendant murdered his longtime friend and Vietnam War veteran that had earned two
bronze stars and a purple heart.”
“In conclusion, the jury must decide what is to
be made of this crime spree. The defense will try to convince you that the
possibility that there was a plot by the Russian Mob, the Bratva to harm or
kill Dr. Spawnn and Ms. Bonnaire. Failing to prove that, they will make one more
desperate ploy to convince you that Mr. Kraszhinski suffers PTSD and was unable
to distinguish right from wrong or that he believed his delusion and thought he
was doing the right thing by murdering and maiming, drugging, kidnapping,
committing grand theft of three and sinking two, boats and, most the most
egregious of the crimes, raping his victim, Anadel Bonnaire. If the jury could
have seen Ms. Bonnaire on the day she was rescued, you would be crying for
justice.” She placed another foam board on the easel with several discretely
cropped pictures of Anna nude body parts scratched, smeared with mud, and
bleeding. “Please accept these photos as exhibit G. While Mr. Kraszhinski might
be mentally impaired but his total lack of remorse exhibits a typical
sociopathic or psychopathic profile that cannot be tolerated in a civilized
country. The full weight of the law ought to fall heavy on the head of this fiend
and, if ever there was a case for the death penalty, this is that case.”
Th audience burst out in cheers and applause.
The judge hammered the gavel until it was quiet enough for all to hear him
bellow, “This court will not tolerate such outburst and I swear by God, that I
will empty the courtroom for the duration of the trial if there is another such
display of disrespect for my court.”
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