Chapter 8

It was an empty courtroom. The only people in it were myself, Suzy, and Steve. On the other side was Randy Clausen, the DA. The only other person was the court clerk. He was a burly guy. An obvious weight lifter type. He was wearing a pale blue short-sleeve button-up shirt. The arms of which were being seriously strength tested. When the light over the judge’s door flashed, he called out.

“All rise, district court for Idaho county is in session. The honorable judge Porter Eskelson presiding”

As the judge came from his chambers, he looked around then took his seat. “Be seated. Ok, Cynthia, I mean Jedediah. I’m sorry sir, Cynthia was my clerk for so long, I goof up occasionally. If I do, don’t hold it against me. I’ll get used to you quickly. So, what do we have today?”

“No worries, sir. Your honor, this is a continuation of the state vs. Matt Reynolds. Mr. Reynolds is charged with assault and battery.”

“I remember, this is that animal rights riot they had up in Elk City. Followed by the riot here in my courtroom. Everybody hang tight while I review the paperwork.” For the next 10 minutes, he read the summary of the case.

“Ok, we went over motions and evidence the other day. It seems we’re ready for trial. Why are we here?”

That’s when Steve stood. “Your honor, we have some extenuating evidence that we would like to present, both to you and the prosecutor. We feel that a review of this evidence will determine if we need to continue. At the very least, it will get the prosecutor into talks which he has refused to do.”

“Very well, Steve, let’s see what you’ve got.”

Randy stood up, “Your honor, I object to this. The addition of new evidence at this date is prejudicial and not relevant to the case.”

The judge thought for a moment. “Randy, if this proves the case one way or the other, it’ll save a lot of time and money. Two things this court is in short supply. Steve, go ahead.”

Turning on the court tv, which had a 10-foot projection screen. Steve started the playback of the now famous video. “Your honor, this is the heavily edited video that has been seen on broadcast and cable tv news and the internet. It clearly shows Mr. Reynolds striking Mr. St. Gaudens. What it doesn’t show is what led up to the assault and what happened after. This video has been modified and edited in such a way as to inflame public opinion and deny Mr. Reynolds a fair and unbiased jury trial. This is why we have asked for a judicial judgment.

The judge spoke up, “old news Steve. Make it march.”

“Yes sir, what you’ll see now is the full unedited video.” And pressed play again.

This video started just before Suzy blew her whistle. It showed Shadow and I, a good 10 feet from the crowd, inside the corral. It showed Paul and Suzy moving between the crowd and the corral gate.

Then it showed St. Gaudens jumping the fence behind me and to the side, outside of my line of sight. As he approached me, it looked like he was trying to sneak up. It was apparent that he was being stealthy.

Next, it showed St. Gaudens speaking to me. You couldn’t hear what was being said because of all the crowd noise. Then came the punch seen around the world. Steve stopped the video at that point.

The prosecutor spoke up. “So what? Mr. St. Gaudens wasn’t aggressive. His approach might have been startling to Mr. Reynolds. If he is trying to use this as a justification, it falls short.”

“No, your honor, we are not claiming that Mr. Reynolds was startled. Rather we contend that he was goaded into this assault. We have three separate lip-reading specialists willing to testify that Mr. St. Gaudens made statements deliberately designed to anger, Mr. Reynolds. To wit statements of a personal and insulting sexual nature. That those statements, made to any man, about his lady, were deliberately calculated to provoke a violent physical response. We also have several psychological experts that are willing to testify that these statements, made unexpectedly and without provocation to a combat veteran, could result in a violent outburst, such as is seen in this video.”

The judge leaned forward, “and what exactly was said, Steve, to cause this ‘outburst’?”

“May I approach your honor?”

Impatiently waving, he motioned Steve and the prosecutor forward. As he got to the judge, “Your honor, here is the statements and transcripts from our lip readers.” Handing a copy to the prosecutor. “Here’s your copy Randy.”

The judge and the prosecutor read the statements. The judge looked up to Steve. “All 3 say the same thing?”

“Close enough, your honor. Almost identical.”

Turning to the prosecutor, “Comments, Randy.”

“Your honor, I can’t stipulate to this until I have my experts look at the video.”

Steve handed the prosecutor a DVD. “Here, ya go. Certified and notarized true copy of what we saw today, in full, no modifications, no editing. Or, if you would like, I’ll take this one, and you can have the one I’ve been using?”

The judge leaned back. “Ok, is that all Steve?”

“No, your honor. There is one more minor point on the video. I’ll leave it up to you if it has relevance to the case.”

“Alright Steve, subject to ruling, let’s see what else you’ve got”

“Your honor, part of Mr. St. Gaudens’ complaint, is that he suffered grievous bodily harm during this assault. That in addition to the medical treatment that he required, he suffered unspecified brain trauma resulted from an extended state of unconsciousness.”

Returning to the computer, Steve started the video again. The video had been stopped at the point that I hit St. Gaudens. What followed wasn’t very exciting or unexpected. St. Gaudens fell down. Everybody in the room was a bit confused.