Guillerman glanced at Dennis, forcing the jury to do the same, then he moved on. "Excluding the psychiatric evidence, which I will talk about in a moment, the only real proof you have of anything remotely resembling mental illness is his blackout. He says he blacked out and now, conveniently, he doesn't remember what happened. Please remember that he never once, in the entire time he was on the witness stand, denied that he killed Detective Sentz. He just says he doesn't remember. What does that tell you?
"Did he really black out? Or was he faking? What you should be asking yourself is this: Is this one act, this one fainting spell, quite possibly feigned, enough to demonstrate that he was mentally ill? Or was it perhaps induced by the revulsion and horror a rational mind experienced after he completed the murderous act? Was the blackout the result of a brain desperately trying to erase the memory of what it had done?"
Guillerman returned to the jury box. "That leaves us with only one final element that bears on the defendant's excuse. The paid psychiatric witness. The man who himself called temporary insanity a merciful device invented to absolve the guilty. The man who only saw Dennis Thomas once between his wife's death and the murder but still wants to be considered an expert. The man who didn't see sufficient danger signs to take any action, but now wants to tell us that the defendant was temporarily insane. How seriously can you take this man?
"He says Dennis Thomas was under a lot of stress. Well, who isn't? All I can say to that is, with something like six million Americans taking Prozac every day, I seriously hope you do not turn stress into a license to kill. He says that the defendant was disturbed by the loss of his wife and I do not doubt it. Even though it is apparent that the marriage had problems, problems that the defendant has tried to withhold from the jury, I do not doubt that it was hard to lose a spouse, particularly in that way. But there is no good way. Death is a part of life, and each and every day many loving people lose their partners. I hope that you will not allow this to stand as a justification for anyone to vent their rage by taking the life of another human being."
Guillerman moved closer, leaning against the rail. "Here is what we know for certain about this witness. He has received a fortune for his role in this case, somewhere in the range of ten thousand dollars. How many psychiatrists would sell their souls for ten thousand dollars? Sadly, I suspect there are more than a few. He told us that Dennis Thomas had a violent temper, that he had actually struck his wife on at least one occasion. That they were having marital troubles and Dennis was upset about it. That he blamed Detective Sentz and was obsessed with him. That after his wife's death his temper grew to such proportion that the doctor prescribed a temper-reducing medication."
He held up a finger. "But here is the most important thing we learned from Dr. Estevez. We learned that he doesn't believe temporary insanity actually exists. In his own words, taken straight from his book, which he did not disavow on the stand, he said that temporary insanity was 'defined into existence.' That means it doesn't really exist. That means no one had even used the term until lawyers invented it to get their clients off the hook. To prevent them from taking responsibility for their actions. Or to put it charitably, to give juries an excuse to ignore the law."
Guillerman leaned even closer, burning into their eyes, not allowing them to escape his gaze. "These are the two questions you must ask yourself." His voice began to rise. "Do you believe that the defendant was temporarily insane? Seriously? And even if you do, is this a case where it is appropriate to set aside the law and give mercy to a murderer?
"The defendant's lawyer is basically asking you to ignore your head and listen to your heart. But is your heart really saying to let the murderer off? Mine isn't. I have a heart a big as anyone's, but my heart goes out to Christopher Sentz, who gave the best years of his life to this community and got thanked with a bullet to the forehead. Our police officers are the thin blue line!"
Ben drew in his breath. Here we go…
"They are all that stands between us and chaos. Crime rampant in the streets. Is this how we want to reward our protectors? By allowing them to be murdered without consequence?" His voice continued to climb. He was in full dramatic dudgeon now, and the jury seemed rapt with attention. "God help us, I hope not. My heart does not go out to the slayers of men who put their lives on the line for us every day. My heart goes out to his wife, now a widow, and his two lovely daughters, now fatherless. My heart does not go out to a man who, for whatever reason, deliberately decided to take another man's life. And it never will!"
Guillerman drew himself up, folded his hands, and added calmly, "You swore an oath when you took a seat on this jury. You swore to apply the law. Nothing else. To apply the law. Please honor that oath."
And with those words, DA Guillerman concluded.
Ben knew he could never match Guillerman in terms of oratory. He just wasn't that slick, not even after spending time in the U.S. Senate. Guillerman was probably better than Ben would ever be. And he lacked the weapons in his arsenal to counter his content. In terms of dramatic potency, he simply had nothing to compete with the slaying of a public servant, husband, and father. Bottom line, Guillerman had the better case. If Ben was going to salvage this, he was going to have to take a different approach. Disarm the jury. Find another way to win.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, Mr. Guillerman is right. He's absolutely right. You probably didn't expect to hear me say that. But it's true. He's right."
Out the corner of his eye, Ben saw his cohorts back at the table looking concerned. Dennis was no doubt wondering if Ben was throwing in the towel. Christina knew this wasn't the closing she'd heard him practicing earlier in the day. Well, that was a fundamental part of criminal law-sometimes you had to make adjustments along the way.
"In the main, Mr. Guillerman has not misrepresented the facts. Shaded them in a dramatic manner, perhaps, but he has not misrepresented them. Dennis did in fact follow Detective Sentz. He did in fact go to that hotel room. And he did have a gun. He told you all this. He admitted it. So there's absolutely no reason whatsoever why you should not find him guilty as charged."
Ben turned and started back to the table. Several of the jurors appeared confused, concerned. There was a definite stir in the gallery.
Just as he reached the table, Ben stopped. "Unless, of course, you are concerned about justice." He turned slowly to once again face the jury. "Because surely, even in this day and age, there must be some room for justice in what we almost mockingly call the criminal justice system." He took a step closer. "As I listened to the words of the district attorney, I heard no consideration of justice whatsoever. In fact, I heard him explicitly ask you to disregard justice. And I think that is very sad."
Ben continued to approach, gazing at the jury levelly. "Mr. Guillerman wants to suggest that a blackout could be faked, but I think you know better. The doctors testified that he was out for more than two hours and they were unable to wake him. No one is that good a faker. Dennis Thomas blacked out. So that leads to another question: why? Dr. Estevez explained it. He said that with Detective Sentz's death, Dennis's dissociative state burst like a popped balloon. The brain literally shut itself down to heal. What contrary evidence have you heard? None. What other evidence have you had to explain the blackout? None. The only explanation that has any evidence in support is that Dennis was gripped by temporary insanity. We have presented our evidence and the prosecution has not refuted it. We have also shown the numerous flaws in their supposedly airtight case. Does this give you sufficient cause for doubt?" Ben paused, letting the jury be reminded of the importance of that word. "Absolutely. An alternate explanation for what happened, never refuted by the prosecution, is always grounds for reasonable doubt. And a man acting while temporarily insane must be acquitted. Like it or not. That's the law."