Chapter 9: The Legal System

As I began to slowly get better, the legal situation began to slowly get worse. The high point turned out to be the week I spent in the hospital. The four guys were arrested and arraigned in juvenile court on charges of aggravated battery and sexual assault. The aggravated battery seemed like a real slam dunk to me. I was in pieces, and we had color photos and X-rays to prove it. The sexual assault charge was a bit more ambiguous. In assault and battery, assault does not require actual touching, simply telling somebody they are going to beat you up is assault. That’s why what happened to me was battery. The sexual assault was the threat against Kelly, not any actual contact.

About a week after I got home, I was yanked out of school for the afternoon and went down to the Matucket County Courthouse to meet with the District Attorney. Actually, I was meeting with an Assistant District Attorney; the actual DA was much too important to deal with the peasants and the actual work was done by the Assistants. That was when we started learning that things were going downhill. First off, the sexual assault charges were being dumped. Absent Kelly being raped in the street, with semen stains and DNA evidence, there was no case. As it stood, it was a he-said/he-said case, with Randy denying everything.

I nodded in understanding. We still had him and the others dead to rights on aggravated battery, and that carried a sentence of up to twenty years in jail. Nobody expected he would get that much, but he’d at least get something. The Assistant DA, a Mister Beaufort, said it wasn’t that simple. Without the sexual aspect, it did not automatically go to Superior Court. He would have to petition the Juvenile Court to give up jurisdiction. That was anything but definite. The Holden family had hired the law firm of Seaton, Smaldone, and Daugherty, one of the best and most expensive law firms in Atlanta. They could assign more lawyers to the case than the entire District Attorney’s office had in total. It would be an uphill battle to get this to Superior Court, let alone convicted. On the plus side, if they did get it to Superior Court, the odds improved dramatically. Adults were treated much more severely than juveniles in the state of Georgia.

A month later we were called back in. The Juvenile Court judge had refused to allow the case to go to Superior Court. The four boys would be tried in Juvenile Court. They were all first-time offenders. “What? The Holden boy has been beating up children and stealing from them since he was in grade school!” exclaimed Mom.

Beaufort nodded and shrugged. “Maybe so, but there was no criminal record. The court won’t take into account disciplinary actions from elementary schools, or any kind of school, for that matter.”

“This is ridiculous!”

“It doesn’t get better. Their lawyers have filed at least half a dozen motions to suppress evidence. They are claiming that the photos used to form a photo lineup to identify the two boys who ran away, Wayne Johnson and Darryl Buchanan, was improperly performed. Without a legal identification, we can’t charge those two. They would get off clean. Furthermore, we lose our leverage with them. We can’t try to flip one of them against the others.”

“Wait a minute! I was a witness! Doesn’t that count for something?” I asked.

“Not as much as if the police officer had caught them. I can guarantee they’ll have witnesses who will swear they were miles away when this happened.

“So, they get away,” I commented.

“Maybe. We still have to argue it in front of the judge.” He sighed. “They have also moved to exclude all the photos of you at the hospital.”

“What does that mean?” I asked.

“They are claiming that the photos of you would be inflammatory and prejudicial. They are prepared to stipulate that injuries were done. They are even moving to exclude any testimony by the emergency room staff. They just want to state that, yes, you were injured, and leave it at that.”

“I thought you told me that in juvenile court there was no jury. How does the judge exclude them when he has to see them to exclude them?” I asked. How could he un-see them?

“He’s going on the theory that if it would be prejudicial to a regular court, then it’s prejudicial to a juvenile court, so he can’t take it into consideration himself.”

“That’s crazy!” exclaimed Mom.

Beaufort nodded in agreement. We would have to see what happened in the pre-trial trial, where they argued over the motions and what would be allowed in.

The next thing we heard was in May. Mister Beaufort didn’t even tell us. He sent Detective Crowley over to give us the good news. At least we didn’t have to go downtown, since he came out to our house after dinner. By then I was out of my casts and doing some rehab and weights, just to get my strength back. Mom, Dad, and I met him in the living room. Jack and Bobbie Joe were banished to the family room on pain of death.

Mom served coffee, and then Detective Crowley got to the heart of it. “Assistant District Attorney Beaufort asked me to come over to tell you the latest information on the case against the Holden boy and the rest of his group.”

“Since you’re here and not him, I assume it’s not good news,” replied my father.

Crowley sighed. “You assume correctly. The District Attorney has ordered that this be settled with a plea bargain. There won’t be a trial.”

“Why not?” asked Dad. Mom’s fingers were white where she was gripping her coffee mug. I just kept my mouth shut.

“Because we might lose. Too much has been kicked out. We have to settle for half a loaf and not the whole loaf.”

“What do you mean, too much has been kicked out. What’s been kicked out?” I asked.

He turned to face me. “Well, you know that Judge Broadhurst excluded the photos and X-rays of you. They tried to get him to allow them to stipulate to the injuries, but he wouldn’t go that far. He would allow the attending physician to testify. There’s more, though. Mrs. Hanson’s statement was kicked out since she’ll be available to testify during the trial. Unfortunately, Mrs. Hanson isn’t around. She’s gone.”

“What do you mean, she’s gone?” asked Mom suddenly.

“She left town. No, it’s nothing sinister. I don’t know if you know this, but she’s had her house on the market for two years. She wanted to move to Phoenix to be with her sister. Three weeks ago, her house sold, immediate sale, cash deal, no delays. She’s been gone for two weeks.”

“You’re kidding me!” said Dad.

“I wish I was. It was so surprising that I looked into it. The reason it hadn’t sold for two years was that she was asking a fortune for the place, well above what even a crazy person would ask for it. Then I checked over at the county courthouse. It was bought by Merry Meadows Realty.”

I’d heard of them. They were a big real estate company in Matucket.

Crowley continued. “You may or may not know this, but Merry Meadows Realty is a subsidiary of The Holden Companies, Inc. Merry Meadows waited just long enough for Mrs. Hanson to move out and then put the house on the market again, this time at a price that would actually move it.”

Mom looked confused. “Let me get this straight. The Holdens bought Mrs. Hanson’s house just so she could move away? Is that even legal?”

“Sure! Nothing illegal about buying a house, even if you pay a hundred grand more than it’s worth. At the time of the trial, we can always fly Mrs. Hanson back and put her up in a hotel. The day that happens, the trial will be delayed, probably by a flurry of motions or disease. Eventually she’ll get sick of waiting and go back to Phoenix and things will start again. They can play that game for months.”

Mom just stared at the rest of us when this was explained.

There was more. “We’ve seen the list of intended witnesses. It’s about as long as the Matucket phone book. There’s some more interesting stuff in there. Do you know why they would be calling your high school and elementary school principals to the stand?” he asked me.

I blinked at him. “No! Why would they want them? They’d be able to testify that Randy has been bullying other kids for years.”

He nodded in agreement. “Here’s another bunch of interesting witnesses. The two boys who we had to let go? They’re on it, too, along with Miss O’Connor.”

“Kelly! She’d testify against them!”

“I have to agree with my son, Detective. This makes no sense whatsoever,” added Dad.

“The only reason it makes sense is if their defense is to go after Graham and Kelly as the instigators. They’ll claim that Graham started the fight, that he attacked Randy, and that the other boys were simply defending their friend, probably because Kelly was Randy’s girlfriend. Or something like that, anyway.”

“That’s crazy!” I exclaimed. “Like I would attack four guys?”

“It’s reasonable doubt. That’s all they need. The District Attorney doesn’t want to take a chance. He ordered Beaufort to make a deal.”

“What’s the deal?” asked Dad. I was just sitting there stunned while Mom cried.

“They plead guilty to disturbing the peace, a misdemeanor, and pay a thousand dollar fine.”

“That’s it?”

“That’s it.”

“Unbelievable!”

“A thousand dollars? That’s all Grim gets? Do you have any idea what the medical bills are like?” she shouted.

“The thousand dollars is a fine, not restitution. You don’t get it. It goes to the court,” he said, clearly embarrassed. “You could sue them in civil court for damages. Don’t you have insurance? You work at the hospital, and you work for the county, right?” he asked, looking at Mom and Dad in turn.