Duplicity - A True Story of Crime and Deceit Paul Goldman (the mitten read aloud .txt) 📖

she said it was because “Audreylooked at it (the marriage) like whoring. She gave you sex, and soshe deserved to be paid.” At the time, I thought Terri was makingan analogy, so I didn't take those words literally. And finally,Terri was right about the outcome of my trial.

That night, I slept better than I had in a very longtime.

CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE

A Trial for Custody

May 8, 2010

The intensity on my son’s face was comparable to asurgeon’s in the middle of a lifesaving operation, quietlyconcentrated and careful in every movement, every breath. His eyeswere fixed in a steady squint, his lips were tightly pursed, andhis breathing was barely perceptible as his fingers gripped theBurnt Sienna crayon, careful not to let it stray from outside thelines of the smiling carrot. That morning, my father andstep-mother had stopped by the house to drop off some coloringbooks devoted to good nutrition and also pretend they weren’tchecking up on me.

A month had passed since I'd won my divorce trial andgot the facts of Audrey's prostitution into the public record, andmy life was beginning to return to normal. As before, my liferevolved around Johnny and his school. I cherished this routine. Myfather, happy to find exactly that, gave me a longer goodbye hugthan usual, which reminded me of the many hugs I’d been givingJohnny lately. It seemed that life was finally good again. WhileJohnny was working on this particular work of art, I decided togive Bob Thompson a call, because that day he was expecting thejudge's ruling in his custody trial.

While waiting for Bob to answer, I thought back toall the crap Bob had gone through with Audrey. Her lawyer had spenttwo days questioning Dr. Templeton on her report, with the resultthat Bob's trial didn't finish in January as it was supposed to.So, they needed one more day, which the court allocated at the endof March. I remembered back to our conversation that night.

“So, how did it go?” I askedhim.

“Oh, hey, Paul. Well, good andbad,” he said with a sigh. “My testimony in the morning went verywell. So well, in fact, that at the lunch break, my attorney Marksuggested that we didn't need to have Miles, my private eye,testify, so we called him and told him not to come to the court.Mark felt that the judge was ready to rule in our favor, and thatAudrey’s examination during the afternoon session would only sealthe deal.”

“Was Mark right?” I asked,surprised they would dismiss such a key witness’ testimony onaccount of overconfidence.

“This was a big mistake. Miles wasgoing to testify on Audrey’s prostitution. Up until then, nomention had been made in court of it. Audrey’s questioning wentfine, the usual lying and denying everything on her part. But atthe end of the day, when it was time for closing arguments, thejudge did a strange thing. Instead of letting each lawyer presenttheir closing statements, the judge had a ‘question and answer’period with each lawyer.”

“A ‘question and answer’ period?That’s odd,” I said.

“No shit. When he asked Mark thequestion ‘Well, how is Tommy doing?’ Mark blew it. Instead ofanswering, ‘Not well, Your Honor, and here are ten reasons why,’Mark said, ‘Tommy is okay now, but we feel he will become worse ashe gets older.’ I even raised my hand when the judge asked thatquestion and shouted out, ‘I can answer that question, Your Honor,’but I was not allowed to speak.”

“Oh boy,” I said.

“Yeah. At the end, the judge saidhe would not rule ‘from the bench,’ which means then and there, butwould give his ruling in the next five weeks. But, he also saidthat since he did not allow closing statements, if either lawyerhad more to add, they could mail that information tohim.”

“That’s so strange. How does yourlawyer think the judge will rule?

“He's not sure. But, I’m writingthe judge a letter right now going over all the evidence and themany reasons why I should be given sole custody. The thought ofTommy spending any more time with her… ” Bob's voice trailed off ashis mind began to imagine what that might mean for hisson.

“Don’t worry,” I reassured him.“The judge will rule in your favor. I know he will.”

“I hope so,” Bob said. I couldhear the regret in his voice. Bob realized that by overrulingMark’s decision not to call Miles, he may have lost some seriousfooting in the trial.

Bob did write a long letter to thejudge and his lawyer, Mark, added more legal jargon to it, and theysent it to the judge. Luckily, the judge didn't get around towriting his opinion by my April 5th trial date, and so Markquickly got the transcript of my judge’s findings, especially thepart where he found Audrey to be a non-credible witness, and sentit to the judge as a follow-up to their prior letter.

Bob's “hello” brought me back from my reminiscing.“Hi Bob. Did you get the judge's ruling today?” I asked.

“Yes, and he gave me solecustody,” he answered.

“Thank God. I'm very happy foryou, and for Tommy.”

“Thanks. Let me read you thejudge's order.”

And so, Bob began to read me the order. With shockingclarity and accuracy, the judge not only understood exactly whoAudrey was, but what she was. Among the more damningconclusions:

Audrey’s refusal to communicate with Bob shows thatshe continues to put her own needs before her son’s and, therefore,has no true respect for or understanding of shared parentalresponsibility.

Audrey’s “history of deceit and fraudulent activity,instability of residence, and the child’s possible inappropriateexposure to strangers and promiscuous adult behavior” compelled thesocial investigator to recommend no overnight stays and supervisedvisitation when Audrey was with Tommy.

The court shares Dr. Templeton, the socialinvestigator’s, view that Audrey is “nothing less than apathological liar.”

Audrey’s revolving door of relationships not onlymade for an unstable home for Tommy, but the evidence showing thatshe left those relationships “amid credible allegations of theftand extortion,” further attested to her inability to properly carefor Tommy.

More shocking than all of these findings, however,was the fact that the judge would still allow Tommy to haveunsupervised and overnight visits with a pathological liar, acriminal, and a prostitute. This was even more upsetting to Bobbecause of