Only the Truth by Pat Brown Page B

have mercy for this woman if we find any reason for it.
But, we are about to tread into the most confusing arena of our lives. We do
not have to decide if a homicide occurred. Ms. Wiggington does not deny it occurred. We do not have to decide who committed this homicide
because Ms. Wiggington does not deny she is the one
who killed Mr. Doe. But we must solve a very unusual puzzle in order to be able
to say that justice for one death demands the death of another. We don't know
what drove Mr. Doe to take up residence directly across from someone the
prosecutor, Mr. Dawson, claims robbed him of his money, and we don't know what
drove Ms. Wiggington to become so desperate to be
free of this man's presence that she would be driven to kill him to achieve
that freedom."
    I could see right here that Mr. Green was making the jury think that maybe
it wasn't as simple as Mr. Dawson told them it was.
    Mr. Green looked over the jury again.
    "Mr. Dawson says Ms. Wiggington is a liar and
that makes her a psychopath."
    He laughed.
    "I hope what he says is not true and that he is a very poor specimen of
a psychiatrist because if what he says is so, then you," and he paused to
let his eyes roll over each and every jury member, "You and I and the
judge here…"
    The judge raised an eyebrow of warning at him.
    "Sorry, Your Honor," apologized Mr. Green, "But all of us
here would be labeled psychopaths for telling a lie now and then to keep our
wives or husbands from killing us and to keep our bosses from firing us."
The jury laughed.
    Mr. Green looked very serious again.
    "Yes, Ms. Wiggington has lied. She has lied
quite a lot. Sometimes she didn't lie but she just didn't offer the truth. In
spite of these failings, Mr. Hutchins lived happily with this woman for two
years, never feeling misled, never feeling abused. In fact," Mr. Green
gently waved in my direction, "Mr. Hutchins thought so highly of his
companion that he was willing to go to jail for her because he believed she
could not have killed without reason; that she could not have been so
coldhearted and therefore he could not be so coldhearted as to believe her to
be so."
    I didn't know until now that was why I was willing to go to jail for
Charlene but he put it so nicely and it made so much sense that I felt good
about what I did and I felt good about Charlene.
    Mr. Green nailed Mr. Dawson again.
    "Mr. Dawson must prove to you that Ms. Wiggington had a clear motive to kill Mr. Doe that was purely for selfish interests and
that she was entirely in her right mind when she decided to do so. He cannot
merely make up stories about Ms. Wiggington that he
'guesses' might be why she killed Mr. Doe; he must have proof of her exact
state of mind and irrefutable evidence that she knew why she shot Mr. Doe on
that fateful morning when Mr. Hutchins left her alone to go into town for his
cigarettes and some candy for his lady."
    Mr. Green finally raised his voice, but he didn't shout. He just raised it
so there was no way to ignore what he would say next.
    "Why, ladies and gentlemen of the jury, is the only question which must
be answered fully and satisfactorily. Let Mr. Dawson prove why Ms. Wiggington took Mr. Doe's life and after he has proven why,
you can decide if that answer to this riddle is evil enough to put Ms. Wiggington to death."
    Mr. Green walked back to his desk and put his glasses back on. He glanced
down at his case file and tapped it with his forefinger.
    "This, ladies and gentlemen, is my exploration into Ms. Wiggington's life. By the time this trial is over, you will
understand exactly what caused Ms. Wiggington to risk
all the good things she finally had in her life - a home, a loving man - why
she would risk losing all those beautiful things to rid herself of the man
across the street, a man who represented another who had taken her from her
family, a man she thought was that man who had destroyed her life. When you
finally understand what made her commit such a horrible crime