This chapter is quite long, but I did not want to break it up. :)
All information on CPR is from the web, hopefully it's right.
Chapter 9
"So what time do you have to be in Court tomorrow?" Eddie asked as she topped her burger with the other half of her bun.
Jamie took a sip from his water bottle and put it back down on the table. "I have to report at nine. Supposedly, I'll be the first witness of the day, but you know how those things go. I think Danny's on the stand today," he said as he dug into his salad.
"I find it hard to believe Monroe didn't agree to a plea deal," Eddie commented before she took her first bite.
"Not at first and he was offered one. But when the DA got proof of how long he'd left Aidan in the car, he was ready to throw the book at him. They weren't going to make any deals with him," he said.
Eddie swallowed and looked up at Jamie. "You gonna be okay testifying?" she asked. She had her old partner back and hoped this trial wasn't going to throw him for a loop again.
Jamie wiped his mouth and glanced back at her. "I got no choice. Erin said the defense attorney really went after the woman Monroe was messing around with, so I'll have to be ready for them to try and turn the tables on me. I'm all for throwing the book at him, even if I have to go on the stand." He shrugged as he dug back into his food. "But still, I can't wait for this trial to be done with, you know?"
"Yeah."
/
"I have no further questions, Your Honor," ADA Peter Dillard addressed the Court and walked back to the prosecution's table.
Jamie sat on the witness stand dressed in full uniform, looking calm and collected despite the fact that he now expected a tougher cross from Monroe's attorney. Dillard had just finished his direct examination, going through Jamie's discovery of Aidan Monroe in the vehicle, his subsequent attempt to resuscitate the infant and his encounter with Monroe at the scene. Despite the evidence as to the amount of time that Aidan spent in the car alone, Monroe and his attorney were proceeding with their defense; they had no choice. So Jamie was prepared for them to be on the attack.
Defense attorney Don Teitel stood from his seat, leaving his client, who sat casually in his chair, and approached the witness. "Officer Reagan. Good morning."
"Morning," Jamie responded automatically.
"Are you certified in CPR and first aid?" Teitel began his questioning.
Jamie glanced at his brother and sister in the gallery and turned to the attorney. "Yes, I am," Jamie confirmed.
Teitel leaned against the edge of the witness stand and crossed his arms. "Where did you get your certification?"
"Through the Department," he responded.
"And when were you certified?"
"When I went through the academy, less five years ago and re-certified once since then per departmental policy," Jamie advised.
Teitel remained in his casual stance. "Prior to discovering Aidan Monroe, had you ever performed CPR on anyone else?"
"Yes."
"Adult or child?" Teitel asked.
"Adults," Jamie answered. He had a feeling about where this particular line of questioning was headed.
"Adults, plural? How many in total?" Teitel inquired, his eyebrows arching up as if surprised.
Jamie had no doubt he'd dug up every bit of information he could on him and his service with the department. "Two."
"And how did those work out for you?" Teitel asked.
Jamie suppressed any display of emotion to that question.
Before he could answer, Dillard stood from his chair. "Objection, Your Honor. That has no bearing on this case."
Teitel faced the judge and explained, "Your Honor, we bring into question the way CPR was administered to the infant. Officer Reagan's training and past experience has complete bearing on the issues at hand."
"I'll allow it." The judge looked at Jamie over his reading glasses. "You may answer, Officer Reagan."
Teitel looked at Jamie expectantly.
Jamie stared back at the smug attorney.
"Do you need me to repeat the question, Officer?" Teitel asked sweetly.
"No," Jamie paused for a breath, "I was able to revive a young woman, but the adult male died as a result of the injuries he sustained in his incident."
"Or so you assume," Teitel added.
"Objection, Your Honor," Dillard said forcefully, flying out of his chair upon hearing the snide remark.
"Sustained. You will stick to questioning the witness, Mr. Teitel," the Judge ordered.
"Yes, Your Honor," Teitel held up a hand apologetically before addressing Jamie. "So, you've administered CPR to two adults in the past. Aidan Monroe was the only infant you've ever administered CPR to?"
"Yes." Jamie interlaced his fingers on his lap to keep from clenching them into fists.
Teitel took a few steps back from the witness stand to get a better view of both Jamie and the jury. "In your CPR certification training, do they teach you the specific techniques for administering CPR to an adult, a child and an infant?"
"They do." Jamie took a peak over at his sister and brother, noting the irritation on both their faces.
"And all three require different techniques, correct?"
"Somewhat."
"And how are they different?"
Jamie shifted in his seat as he prepared to answer. "The difference mainly has to do with the chest compressions."
"How so?" Teitel asked dumbly.
"For an infant, you use two fingers, for a child, the heal of one hand and for an adult, both hands and the amount of pressure you exert for each is different," Jamie clarified.
"What else did they teach you? By that I mean, does placement of the fingers and hands differ for an infant, child and adult?"
"A little," Jamie replied.
"How so?"
"For an infant, the fingers are placed in the center of the chest, just below the level of the nipples. For an adult and child, it's in the center of the chest."
"And was Aidan fully dressed when you pulled him from the vehicle?"
"He was clothed," Jamie confirmed.
Teitel strolled past the jury box and turned back to face Jamie when he reached the defense table. "Now on the day in question, I understand that you worked a full day shift, is that correct?"
"That's correct," Jamie responded.
"What time did you get off duty?"
"Three thirty pm," he advised.
"What did you do after that?" Teitel asked.
Jamie folded his hands in his lap to keep from fidgeting. "I went home, changed and went out for a run."
"Were you just starting your run or were you finishing it up when you came across Aidan?"
"I was on my way back to my apartment," Jamie answered.
"That would have been at about five pm, is that correct?"
"Yes."
Teitel's eyebrows arched up at his answer. "Between getting off duty and going home, that doesn't make for a very long run. You seem very fit, Officer Reagan. Were you out for a quick run or were you heading back for any specific reason?"
"I turned around sooner that I normally would have."
"Why is that?"
Jamie eyed the attorney and took a breath before answering. He was trying his best to not show his irritation at this line of questioning. "I was tired and it was incredibly hot that day, so I headed home."
"Yes, well." Teitel smiled at his reference to the hot day. "So you come across Aidan, and you stated that you attempted to get a reaction from the child at first, correct?"
"Correct."
Teitel shrugged. "Why was that? Those could have been a few wasted precious seconds."
Jamie's brow creased at the ridiculous question so he answered it as honestly and simply as he could. "I was unsure of what I was seeing when I came across the car." Jamie glanced over to the jury, all of whom were paying close attention to his every word. "I wasn't expecting to see a baby in the backseat of a locked car."
"And then you try the door handles. On both sides?"
"Yes," Jamie confirmed.
"Another few seconds, and then you look for something to break the window and you pulled the baby out, but remind me, did you immediately pull him out or did you do something else?"
"At first, I spoke to him and touched his head, chest and stomach to try and get a response out of him."
"Okay, so another few seconds for that."
Danny shifted restlessly in his seat and his jaw clenched slightly at Teitel's ridiculous insinuation.
"So then you pull him out. And you testified a short time ago that you then held him to your chest. You were continuing to try to rouse him?" the attorney asked from where he now stood - in front of the witness stand once again.
Jamie looked Teitel directly in the eyes. "Yes," he answered.
"So that's another few seconds, at least. And then you lay him on the ground and start CPR?"
"Yes."
"And when you administered CPR, did you use the two-finger technique?" Teitel asked.
"I did."
Teitel lifted his left hand and began to count on his fingers the sequence of events they'd just discussed. "So, by this point, you were on your way home, exhausted from a full day patrolling the streets, you cut your run short because you were tired, come across the infant, try to get a response from him, break into the car, try again for a response and begin administering CPR. How focused were you on providing the proper technique to Aidan?"
"I was very focused on what I was doing," Jamie said adamantly.
"Okay. You said you administered CPR until medics arrived. How many cycles of compressions and rescue breaths did you administer?"
Jamie pressed his lips together and shook his head. "I'm not sure."
Teitel shrugged and shook his head dramatically. "How's that possible? You just said that you were focused on the task at hand."
"I was focused on the technique, on giving the compressions and the rescue breaths. No response came from the baby and I just kept at it," Jamie pointed out.
Teitel had a look of bewilderment across his face. "But you have no idea how many times you did it?"
"No."
"I understand that the medics had to push you away from the child when they arrived. Did you even realize they were there before they pulled you away?"
"No," Jamie stated.
"So you weren't aware of your surroundings?"
Jamie glared at Teitel. "I was focused on giving a Aidan Monroe CPR in an attempt to revive him. That was my main concern at the time."
"So that would be a no?"
"No," Jamie said, straining to hold back on releasing frustrated sigh. He looked in Monroe's direction and the man smirked at him from his seat.
"Understood. So, you also mentioned that he was fully clothed. Where did you position your hand on his chest?"
Jamie looked back at the attorney. "It was two fingers and I placed them where I was supposed to - in the middle of his chest, just below his nipples."
"If he was clothed, how certain were you that you had your fingers in the right area."
"He was only wearing a thin cotton jumper. I could identify the proper area," Jamie replied firmly.
"You're certain about that?" Teitel asked.
"Yes."
Teitel smiled smugly. "Really? That's odd, because you couldn't answer a simple question like how many cycles of CPR you administered, but you can recall that you placed your fingers in the proper area?"
"Objection, Your Honor. Asked and answered and Mr. Teitel is badgering the witness," Dillard said.
"Sustained. Please continue, Mr. Teitel, and if I have to remind you to stick to your questioning of the witness without your commentary again, I will hold you in contempt," the judge warned.
"Yes, Your Honor," Teitel responded apologetically. He walked back to the defense table and pulled out two large demonstrative blow-ups that he then placed on tripods facing the jury and the witness.
"I would like refer to defense exhibits eight and nine."
Jamie averted his eyes momentarily. He now faced a large blow-up of one of the eyewitness photos - the side view of him doing chest compressions on Aidan. The other was a close-up shot of Aidan's abdomen taken by the ME. It showed some light discoloration at the center of his chest and darker bruising below that.
Teitel pointed to the first blow-up. "Now, this first photo is of you performing the chest compressions on Aidan, correct?"
Jamie inhaled deeply as he looked up at the exhibit. "Yes."
"Does it appear to you from this photograph that you had your fingers positioned in the correct place?" Teitel asked.
"Yes," Jamie answered.
"How can you tell, exactly? I mean, it's a side view," Teitel pointed out.
"Because I know I had my them positioned correctly," Jamie responded without a doubt.
"You're sure about that?"
"Yes," Jamie confirmed.
"You say you know where you positioned them, but strictly based on the photo alone, does it clearly depict your fingers at the center of the chest and, as you explained, just below the level of the nipples?"
Jamie breathed in through his nose and said, "Not from that angle."
"So that's a no?" Teitel sought clarification.
"No," Jamie answered calmly despite wanting to punch the smarmy man in the face.
"So from this photo, it's possible you had your fingers much lower than what you claim?"
"I can't say based on that photo."
"Well, in this photo from the medical examiner," Teitel pointed to the next exhibit, "I see dark bruising here on the middle of Aidan's torso a good few inches below his nipples, encroaching on his abdomen. Would you agree?"
"Yes." Jamie clenched his jaw at the attorney's complete disregard for the discoloration higher on the chest.
"Bruising that would be consistent with the improper positioning of your fingers during CPR."
"Objection, Your Honor. The question calls for the witness to speculate on the cause of the abdominal injury," Dillard said.
"Sustained."
"All right. Just a few more questions, Officer Reagan." Teitel turned his back to the photos, but remained right in front of them, ensuring that the Jamie and the jurors would keep them in their sights. "I understand that after Aidan was taken away by ambulance, you accosted the Defendant on the street and again at the precinct when he was brought in for questioning. Is that true?"
"Yes." Jamie sat forward.
"Okay. It was my understanding that you pushed Mr. Monroe to the ground at the scene, is that correct?"
"Yes," Jamie confirmed.
"And at the precinct, you shoved him against the wall and advised him rather insensitively that his son had died, is that correct?"
"Yes," Jamie replied curtly. He knew Teitel wanted to get a rise out of him and he was close to getting one.
"You had to be physically restrained both times?" Teitel inquired.
"Yes," Jamie replied.
"So this this aggressive behavior was witnessed by your fellow officers?"
Jamie glared at the attorney. "Yes."
"And were there any repercussions for your behavior? Any disciplinary action?"
"I was reprimanded."
"Just a reprimand. Nothing else?" Teitel asked.
"No."
"It seems that you already formed an opinion about Mr. Monroe. Were you feeling any guilt because maybe you failed to administer the CPR properly?" Teitel asked.
Jamie pressed his lips together again and glared back at the cocky attorney.
"Objection, Your Honor," Dillard said from his seated position.
"Withdrawn, Your Honor." Teitel smiled smugly. "I have no further questions."
"Mr. Dillard. Redirect?" the Judge asked.
Dillard stood from his chair. "No, Your Honor. The prosecution is done with this witness."
"Officer Reagan, you are excused. I'm going to call a fifteen minute recess," the Judge said and then slammed his gavel down on his desk before leaving the bench.
Jamie stepped off the witness stand and made his way between the defense and prosecution's tables, avoiding eye contact with Teitel and Monroe. He approached Danny and Erin, his face stoney and shoulders tense.
Danny put a hand on his shoulder and squeezed it reassuringly. "You did good up there, kid. I would have punched the smug look off that bastard's face."
"You almost did yesterday," Erin commented as she looked sympathetically at her little brother. "You did great, Jamie."
Jamie shook his head and wiped a hand down his face. "I need some air and I got to go back on patrol. I'll see you later." He didn't want to get into it now. He just needed to get away from the courthouse and regroup, so he walked off, leaving his brother and sister to stare at his retreating back in concern.