Coach by Walt Sautter (most difficult books to read txt) 📖

opened it and withdrew three sheets of paper and began to read quietly to himself while the hushed crowd waited.
“This looks like a list of questions and answers,” stated Somers in a bewildered voice.
“How does this pertain to this case?” he asked.
“Your Honor, this is a list of two dozen questions about the game between the Cleveland Browns and the Los Angeles Rams which was played on the afternoon of Coach Carter’s murder.
These questions were presented to Mr. White at the county correctional facility in the presence of the County Sheriff and the notary whose name appears on the envelope seal.
Mr. White was asked to write his answers to each of the questions as you can see he did. The envelope was then sealed and stamped by the notary as you have seen.
Now, Your Honor I would like to call Mr. James Brown to the witness stand.”
Then emerged from behind judge’s platform, the large dark figure of a black man, which nearly filled the entire doorway from which he entered.
My jaw fell open and I glanced over at Ricky who appeared equally, if not more stunned than I, by the entrance of the witness. The judge vainly attempted to disguise his astonishment. The jury and the prosecutor also were justly astounded.
A loud chattering rose from the audience as he made his way to the witness chair. Again the gavel sounded to silence them and he was sworn in and seated.
“Mr. Brown, you are most often known as Jimmy Brown of the Cleveland Browns Professional football team, is that true?”
“That is correct” came the gravelly voice in response.
“Mr. Brown, would you please tell us why you are here with us today?” asked Gerity.
“You called the team office and explained about this trial you’re having here today. You talked to one of our coaches, Ken Franklin. I was in the office with him when you called and he told me the whole story. When I heard it I knew I didn’t want to see any kid get convicted of something that he didn’t do.
When I grew up I saw that kind of stuff happen a bunch of times so I decided if I could help to show that he was really innocent I would do my best to help. So I called you back and here I am.”
“Well, thank you Mr. Brown for being here” answered Gerity and then he continued.
“Did you play in a game against the Los Angeles Rams on the afternoon of November twenty seventh in Cleveland?”
“Yes, I did.”
“At what time did the game start?”
“Let’s see, kickoff was at three o’clock, that’s our time so here it was two o’clock.”
“How long did the game last?”
“It was pretty long, about three hours, so probably about six by us and five here” he answered.
“When you play, do you pretty much remember the game afterwards?”
“Do I remember? I remember every last little thing. I keep it going over in my head trying to figure out what mistakes I made and how I’m going to fix them next time. Sometimes I think I could tell you what blade of grass I stepped on when I ran the ball. It’s like I got a movie of it going in my head sometimes.”
“So, then you will remember the Browns versus the Rams game pretty well?”
“I’m sure I can” Jimmy answered confidently.
“Great! I’d like to ask you some questions about that game.”
“Go ahead.”
“Judge Somers, may I please have the papers so that I may ask Mr. Brown about the game?”
The judge handed the sheets to Gerity and he began his litany of questions.
“How many times did you run the ball?”
Brown looked up towards the ceiling, mentally counting.
“Twenty six” he replied.
“Your Honor would you please read the answer to this question as written by Mr. White” and he handed the first sheet back to Somers.
“Twenty six” read the judge and returned the sheet back to Gerity.
“Mr. Brown, at one point during the game your team was on the five yard line and it took four plays to score. Is that true?”
“Yeah that was in the third quarter.”
“You carried the ball on every one of those plays and was stopped by the same Ram’s defense player on three of those attempts. Who was that player?”
“That’s easy, man, that was Herschel Forester”, replied Brown instantly.
Again Gerity handed Somers the sheet.
“Yep, it says Forester.”
“How many first downs did you have in the second quarter?”
“Only two, it was a very bad quarter for us” came the answer, which was again confirmed by the judge.
The questioning continued covering a dozen or more details of the game. Each time, to everyone’s astonishment, Ricky’s answer matched that of the witness.
At the conclusion of the interrogation, Gerity asked one final question.
“Mr. Brown, could all the questions that I have just asked you be answered by someone who heard the game on the radio?”
“I think so, but he would have to be one hell of a fan.”
“Mr. Brown do you know of any way these questions could be correctly answered without having heard or seen the entire game on November twenty seventh, the day on which it was played?”
“Like I just said, even if you heard or saw it, you would really have to be a great Cleveland Browns and a Jimmy Brown fan.”
“Thank you. No more questions” said Gerity.
“I would like to call Sheriff Peter Gray to the stand.”
Gray was sworn in and Gerity began.
“Sheriff Gray, were you present when the list of questions pertaining to the Browns Rams game was submitted to Mr. White?”
“Yes.”
“Where was that done?”
“In the warden’s office at the county jail.”
“Who else was there?”
“Only Carolyn Jade, the notary sent by you to authenticate the procedure” replied the Sheriff.
“What do you mean ‘authenticate’?”
“Be sure that he couldn’t cheat. That there was nobody there to tell him the answers.”
“Do you think he could have cheated?”
“No, I don’t see how.”
“Sheriff Gray, please tell the court our meeting at the county jail on December eighth.”
Gray squirmed back in the chair, folded his hands in his lap and spoke.
“That day you had come to the jail to visit with your client Mr. White. After the meeting you came to my office with a very unusual request.”
“And that request was?” interjected Gerity.
“Well, you asked me if I knew any serious football fans and I said, ‘I know lots’.”
“And then?” again interjected Gerity.
“You wanted to know if I knew any Browns fans specifically.”
“And did you?”
“Yes, I did.”
“And that was?” asked Gerity in an anticipatory tone.
“I said ‘Believe or not my Uncle Martin had been a Cleveland fan most all his life. He once played for the Browns back in forty-six when they first started. He only played one year but it was a great year for the Browns, thirteen and two. He considered that year of play a badge of honor and spoke often of how he had been on the same team as Otto Graham and Marion Motley.
He never misses a game. When Cleveland plays he’s glued to the TV and when it isn’t on television he’s got his ear stuck to the radio. Never misses one.”
“Did your uncle meet with you and me at your office subsequent to our conversation?”
“Yes. You asked if I would call him to meet with us the following day,” answered Gray.
“And for what purpose?”
“You asked him if he had listened to the Browns game of November twenty seventh.”
“And did he?”
“Yes.”
“What happened next?”
“You asked him to write down a series of questions relating to the game he had heard on December eighth and he did.”
“Did I or you have access to the nature of those questions?”
“No. Uncle Martin wrote a bunch of questions about things he could remember from the game and then put them in an envelope and I sealed it right there.”
“Did your uncle know the answers to those questions when he wrote them?”
“He said he didn’t remember all of it but he did remember stuff he wrote down being said during the game at one point or another. Like he remembered that the announcer had said how many yards Mr. Brown got in the game but he couldn’t remember the exact number. And he remembered him being stopped down around the five yard line three times before he scored and he knew it was the same guy that stopped him each time but he couldn’t remember who.”
“After you wrote all those questions and you sealed them up what happened next?” asked Gerity.
“We meet the next day, you, me, the notary lady and the defendant in my office.”
“And what happened there?”
“Well, Mr. White was seated at my desk and asked to write the answers to the questions my uncle wrote down as best he could,” answered Gray.
“And did he?”
“Yes he did and pretty quick too. Then he put them in the envelope, sealed it up and the notary stamped and signed it like you said before.”
“Thank you Sheriff. No more questions.”
“Mr. Gerity, do you have any more witnesses?” asked Somers.
“No, You Honor” he replied.
“Then Mr. Hartly, may we have your closing arguments”, asked the judge.
Hartly rose and stood before the jury in his usual pose, jacket open, belly protruding, tie loosened and a glimmer of sweat reflecting from his receded hairline.
“Your Honor and ladies and gentlemen of the jury” he began, “The state, through the testimony of these witnesses and evidence presented, that Mr. Richard White went to Coach Carter’s home on Mischief Night to play a childish prank. In so doing, he has publicly claimed to have had observed an illegal and immoral act on the part of the Coach and another individual.
As to whether his story about these observations is true or not, is immaterial to this case. During his visit to the house he lost one of his prize possessions, his Cleveland Browns hat.
On the afternoon of November twenty seventh he decided to go to Coach Carter’s house to look for and hopefully retrieve that hat. In so doing he encountered the Coach. An argument regarding the story Mr. White was spreading about Coach ensued. Mr. White strangled Coach Carter to death and left him in his car. Mr. Marvich subsequently picked him up as he was leaving the murder scene.
You must find him guilty as charged.”
Hartly reseated himself.
“Mr. Gerity, your closing argument” the judge announced.
“Your Honor and members of the jury” began Gerity.
“I submit to you the fact that my client is known to be a rabid football fan, Cleveland Browns to be precise. He never misses a game whether on radio or TV. The day of Coach Carter’s death the Browns played and the game was broadcast on radio. Mr. White would never have missed that game. He would never have been at the Coach’s house when that game was being aired.
In order to establish the fact that he was definitely listening to the game at that time and could not have been at the Coach’s house we have shown that he indeed was instead seated before the radio in his own home as he has testified. How else could he know all the excruciating details of the game?
Mr. Martin Gray, the sheriff’s uncle prepared a list of questions pertaining to the radio account of the game. Many of the questions, even he did not know the answers. All he knew was that those facts and details of the game had been cited during the broadcast.
In a