Love Story: In The Web of Life Ken Renshaw (the best novels to read TXT) 📖

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:

The question here is whether Sheriff Bogend wasnegligent by not using all available resources in the search forthe missing girl, Lucy Sodastrom. Failure to use all availableinformation and search resources resulted in Lucy'sdeath.

We will show that Mr. Manteo's, using hispsychic powers, informed Sheriff Bogend of Lucy's location, downBear Creek. Sheriff Bogend failed to even consider or act on Mr.Manteo's volunteered information before Lucy died ofexposure.

Any reasonable man would have sent two or moreof the ten qualified search people standing idly in the parking lotwaiting for an assignment. It would have only taken two people ahalf hour to walk down the Bear Creek trail to Lucy's location andverify if she was there or not.

Rocky Butte County has a written policydescribing how to proceed in emergencies, including search andrescue missions. That policy states that all available resourcesshould be employed.

Sheriff Bogend did not use the standard ofconduct that required him to use all available resources in thesearch for Lucy. Law enforcement officers are trained to act on allmanner of information: tips from anonymous sources, "hunches" fromexperienced people, etc. Sheriff Bogend failed to act as areasonable man could be expected to act, deploying idle search andrescue people to walk a couple of miles on an improved trail tocheck out a credible tip.

We will expose you to a complicated physicstheory that explains how psychic phenomena, such as employed by Mr.Manteo, is scientifically legitimate. You do not have to understandthe mathematics of this theory: all you should decide is if theexpert witnesses that will testify are scientifically credible andup-to-date on the advances do science.

We would like you to understand that Mr.Manteo's is highly credentialed as a psychic resource. He hasserved as an intelligence resource of the US Government for overtwenty years, dealing with the highest level of government,including two Presidents. We will review his credentials, thosecredentials presented to Sheriff Bogend on the evening of Lucy'sloss.

We will show that Lucy's death could have beenavoided if Sheriff Bogend had not negligently refused to act onavailable information and fully utilized his available searchresources.

Elizabeth paused and then added, "Here is thedefense's opening statement:"

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury:

We all go to the movies and watch TV. Somepopular movies and TV series have mediums and psychics solvingcomplicated criminal cases. Those stories all come fromscreenwriters. None are ever a real on-the-scene coverage of apsychic solving a case. In the movies, Superman can fly; Spidermancan swing through Manhattan on treads of webs; mediaeval Merlinscan conjure Dragons; and psychics identify killers. You all canrely on your own experience to know what is fact and what isfiction.

The essence of this case is whether SheriffBogend should have listened to a stranger, claiming to be apsychic, diverted his search and rescue resources down Bear Creek,and lessening his search in Sheffield Valley where tracks indicatedLucy had gone. Sheriff Bogend acted as a reasonable man should andconcentrated on searching Sheffield Valley.

We will present scientific experts who willtestify there is absolutely no scientific evidence to show thatpsychic phenomena exist as a means to find a missing child in asituation such as this. Science can show that there is no physicalway for a man at the Rawhide Cafe to receive communications from orknow the location of a child two miles away.

Many law enforcement agencies have hadexperience with so-called psychics who have volunteered to helpsolve cases. We will describe a study that polled law enforcementagencies all over the country and concluded that, in the words ofone respondent, 'Psychics are of little value ininvestigations.'

You must find that Sheriff Bogend was notnegligent in his search for the lost girl.

Elizabeth finished reading. She outlined thegeneral strategy of the trial to the group. She passed the laptopto me to read the reporter's comments to Dore that preceded theopening statement:

To Dore Hamilton

Subject: Summary of first day oftrial.

It took me a long time during jury selectionfor me to figure out that Mr. Willard was not a local countrylawyer. He did a good routine of 'I was raised in a small town likethis and am a country boy at heart...'and 'we need to use ourhorse-sense in evaluating this case.'

However, when he questioned witnesses, I couldsee the razor-sharp mind of a lawyer from a long letterhead lawfirm coming through.

"It worked," I thought.

****

Tuesday was a more exciting day in court. AsElizabeth and I drove back to the ranch after the day in court,Elizabeth said, "Here in the big leagues we sure put in long days.You should get hazardous duty pay. I thought the good Sheriff wastrying to kill you with those hatred beams from his eyes. Did yousee that his hand started to go down for his gun before heapparently remembered he was not wearing his belt. Several membersof the jury were cringing at his anger in his answers to yourquestions. Before we came up here I thought you were a patentattorney, you should specialize in personal injury,slip and fall cases."

"Thanks," I said. "I noticed my nemesis in theback of the courtroom after lunch today. He was the guy with thecrew-cut grey hair and the gold-rimmed glasses. Buster was sittingright behind him and Buster's other man was sitting two seats away.Did you see him?"

"I saw him. I thought he was weird. Not a RockyButte local. He had a terrible vibration, like a crazy man. He wasmaking faces in response to what people said like an undisciplinedthird-grader."

Exhausted we didn't talk much the rest of thetrip.

When we made the car switch at the oldWilliams' place, I climbed in and asked Buster, "Do you know whothat guy sitting in front of you was? He is the man who has beenstalking me."

"We had Mr. S. under surveillance before heeven got to the courthouse. We made sure he was thoroughly searchedby security at the entrance to the courthouse. You know that personin the blue lab coat that runs you through the metaldetector?"

"Yes, the same man every day," Iobserved.

Buster smiled and said, "He also works for us.Don't worry about Mr. S. I assure you we