A Tale of Two Carnies

25 - The Trial (Part 1)

Late October arrived and Pennsylvania's foliage was aflame with reds and yellows as the weather transitioned to autumn. No longer hot and humid, the days felt pleasingly cool against my skin. Daylight hours had grown shorter. Most noticeable was the scent of the mountain air, crisp and clean. It had been years since I experienced cooler weather.

Harvest season ended along with my job.

I passed the GED exam on my first try and earned a high school equivalency diploma. Trevor arranged a job interview with one of his acquaintances who owned a HVAC business in Mechanicsburg, about an hour drive from the Dancing Bear. I got the job and was scheduled to start the first of December. Trevor had a lot of clout. I owed him big time.

It worked out well that Cozbi's trial happened right at the time when I was between jobs. Everything was coming together. I hoped my good luck would extend to Cozbi.

Alvin indulged me when I asked to meet with him the day prior to Cozbi's appearance in court. I wanted his candid opinion about her chances.

He acted surprisingly forthcoming. "As you are aware, the prosecution has three key pieces of evidence. The thumb print on the head of the tent stake which is the easiest to dismiss. As we already went over, it's not unusual for her print to be there because of setup and tear down. I can also place doubt in the jury's mind about Cozbi being strong enough to use the tent stake as a murder weapon."

Alvin paused, considering. "The bloody sleepshirt found in Cozbi's trailer is a harder sell. I need to convince the jury the real killer planted it there to frame her. How likely are they to believe that?" He shrugged his shoulders. "I can't say."

"But it only takes one juror with reasonable doubt, right?"

"That's right, Jace, and I think I have a procedural angle I can use to convince the judge to rule that shirt inadmissible as evidence. If I can do that, it'll blow the case wide open."

"Really!" I exclaimed.

"I won't tell you more, because I don't want to get your hopes up. I need to review the situation with Mr. Chronister, the firm's senior partner."

He sighed. "Our biggest hurdle are those damn witnesses who saw and heard Cozbi threaten the deceased."

A thought struck me. "Will you be able to discredit their witnesses?"

"No," he said, sounding absolutely sure. "If I try, it'll backfire. The jury will resent me for going after them, and they might take it out on Cozbi."

"You mean you can't find any angle, any holes in their testimony to poke at?"

"No," he said again. "It's not about what those witnesses are going to say. It's about who they are."

I let it drop. He wasn't going to tell me more. "How did it go with jury selection?"

He wore a grin. "I won't bore you with the details concerning the art of jury selection, but we won our first victory with the makeup of the jury. I think they'll be favorable toward Cozbi."

"How so?"

"My strategy was to stack the jury with as many people as possible who have children, preferably daughters close to Cozbi's age. I scored three jurors and one alternate fitting that profile. That's huge! It only takes one who has reasonable doubt."

I thought I understood. A juror would look at Cozbi and visualize their own child. It would be difficult for them to believe their daughter or son could commit murder. "Good. We'll take all the advantages we can get."

"It's a good start, but we're going to need many other things to fall our way."

When the day of the trial finally arrived, the little town of New Bloomfield, normally quiet, buzzed with activity. I had to park the Beast two blocks away from the courthouse since I couldn't find anything closer.