Lawman

Chapter 16

The trial was going badly, Kitty could tell that just by looking at Matt's face. She did not want to be there because she knew how hard it was going to be on him to give evidence against his friend and she hated to watch him go through that ordeal. At the same time she wanted to support Gina who insisted on being present for every minute of the proceedings. She finally got Matt alone in the quiet of her rooms and learned that somehow the prosecutor knew about the bootprints he had found and the button from the shirt and the court had ordered him to produce the incriminating foot wear and the shirt. It could only go towards establishing his friend's guilt.

Poor Daniel T Pascoe seemed totally lost. He did make a few objections and when it was his turn to question Dillon, he managed to raise the marshal's observations that the button threads on the shirt were more like a clean cut than frayed out cotton and the fact that the boot print at the supposed murder site was too clear for the length of time it was supposed to have been there but all of these things were countered very easily by Josiah Benton who pointed out that the age of the boot print was Marshal Dillon's opinion and he was a long time friend of Douglas Hamilton. The shirt was passed around the members of the jury - but men had little clue about how a cut thread would compare with a frayed one, so were not impressed

Doc had been called to the stand and clearly stated his findings at the time the body was exhumed. Again the prosecutor pointed out that his findings were very different from that of Garden City's physician who had written a very precise report that basically said the cause of death was a bullet in the back. Pascoe did try to emphasize the number of autopsies Doctor Adams carried out for Ford County and how his findings were always accurate and detailed but again this did not seem to impress the jury very much either.

xxx

Halstead was called to the stand first thing the following day. The prosecutor asked him such things as his name and where he worked. When he said he worked at the Double D Ranch, Dillon wanted to tell the court that the owner of the Double D had fired this man several weeks before all this started. He made a short note on a piece of paper he had in his pocket. The ranch hand explained how he had found the body just lying on the ground back off the trail and how he had managed to get him over the horse and bring him in to Garden City and Dillon added to his note.

Pascoe started to get up and question the ranch hand. Somehow Matt managed to catch his eye. The man may have been a young, green attorney, but he was astute enough to know that the Marshal was trying to tell him something. He turned to the bench.

"Excuse me Judge but could we take a short recess before I start my questioning."

Halstead was already feeling the thrill of victory. There was no way he could lose now. The money and the beautiful woman, both his. He didn't want any delay. Judge Brooking looked around the court for a moment then banged his gavel.

"Ten minute recess," he declared. Pascoe had been lucky - Judge Brooking wanted a second cup of coffee, and this break provided the opportunity. Everyone in the courtroom stood before the Judge left and Matt took the opportunity offered by the confusion passed his note to Pascoe.

The judge returned in exactly ten minutes and court resumed.

Armed with the Marshal's observations Pascoe started his questioning.

"Do you still work at the Double D, Mr. Halstead."

"Yes sir," the ranch hand said with emphasis.

"Did your boss give you time off to come to this trial." "Of course he did, he wanted to see justice done as much as I did"

"Are you still being paid while you are here?"

Halstead wasn't quite sure how to answer that, the way Dillon was looking at him made him think the man knew something.

"I er..I don't really know," he finally answered

"When you found the body, how did it look."

"I guess it looked like something that had laid out in the sun for a few days."

"Was he lying face up, or down."

"Halstead hesitated a moment, he couldn't remember what he had told Dillon, "He was just lying there, face in the dirt."

Where there any buzzards circling overhead."

Johnny Halstead was getting a little frustrated.

"Look I don't remember all those things, it was just a body, right?"

"No more questions, " Pascoe announced, and Benton, too, had nothing to ask so Halstead left the stand.

As he was walking back to his seat Pascoe continued.

"Please your honor I'd like to recall Marshal Dillon."

The Judge gave his approval with a brief nod.

Matt was happy to go back to the stand, at last he felt they had a hope.

Pascoe questioned him about how he had ridden out to the Double D to talk with the ranch owner Duncan DeWitt and been told that Halstead was fired about two weeks before because he was never around. He also explained that Halstead had told him the body was face up when he found it.

Halstead was sitting in the court room and stood up.

"He came and got me from the saloon, he waited till I was drunk, I didn't know what I was saying."

Judge Brooking rapped his gavel. "I will have order in this court, sit down and be silent."

Halstead obeyed. The Judge turned to the prosecutor.

"Do you want to ask the Marshal any questions Mr Benton."

"I don't believe so, at least not at this time your honor."

xxx

The previous evening Pascoe had patiently sat and counseled Hamilton on the benefits and dangers of taking the stand in his own defense. Doug was determined to do it. "They might find me guilty," he mumbled with his head hung low, "but I still want them to hear my side of the story."

Gina, being the supportive wife had brought him a clean set of clothes and a razor so he could shave. She even trimmed his hair.

"You want me to look good for the gallows?" her husband said bleakly.

"Don't even say that Doug. You know Marshal Dillon won't let that happen."

Finally all the witnesses had been called. The judge looked to Pascoe.

Does your client want to take the stand Counsellor.

Pascoe looked at Hamilton and the man nodded. Calmly he walked towards the Judges table and sat in the witness seat. To begin with the prosecutor would ask questions. He was very aggressive in his manner. He wanted to know about his time as a deputy marshal in Pueblo and why he had left to take up a lesser position as a City Marshal.

Hamilton explained that he needed to spend more time at home with his wife.

"Did it mean a decrease in pay," Benton asked, and Hamilton had to agree that it did.

The questions continued until Doug finally admitted that yes he did need to earn more money to keep his wife happy. He explained about the reward and how Dirk Williams didn't want to come into town to receive it because of the general feeling against men of his profession. He described how he got the cash from the bank and rode out to meet the man, and how he handed over the money, then stayed and fished for a while before returning to town.

When it was Pascoe's turn to ask questions, he wanted to know about who else might know what he was doing that day. Hamilton had to admit that no one knew.

"What about your wife, do you discuss your job with her."

"Well yes, but she wouldn't tell anyone else."

Eventually all the questions were over and each of the attorneys got to sum up their side of the story. Benton was very persuasive, pointing out that Hamilton had motive in the form of money he needed to keep his wife happy and opportunity when he rode out ostensibly to hand over the reward. He was certainly guilty of murdering Dirk Williams who admittedly was generally disliked because of his profession - but none the less did not deserve to be killed, especially by a man who wore a badge and was pledged to uphold the law." Pascoe did his best but other than the slight contradictions in Halstead's testimony, he didn't have a lot to work with.

When both had finished speaking, the Judge called a recess for lunch and allowed the jurors to retire to come back with a verdict.

"It is not fair to keep this young man waiting to learn his fate for yet another day." Again the gavel fell, the jurors left the court room and the rest of the town who had been following the events with some kind of morbid delight, all went for lunch.

The trial had ended and the worst possible outcome became reality. The Judge found the murder proven and particularly horrific because of Doug Hamilton's position as an officer of the law. Of course the sentence of death by hanging was handed down and the ex city Marshal would be taken to Hays City within the week. Matt spent that evening in the cell with his friend. "I can't believe this has happened Doug."

"What do you propose to do."

It had been the hardest day Matt could remember in a long time. Doug seemed resigned to his fate although continued to profess his innocence.

Matt had left the jail, deep in thought. At the Long Branch he met Kitty and Doc, but could not sit and talk. He was morose and withdrawn. Sometimes the burden of the badge was overwhelming. Both Doc and Kitty were worried about their friend but somehow he went about his routine of making evening rounds, such familiar tasks kept his mind occupied.

Matt seriously thought of giving up his badge that very evening, but as Kitty pointed out the longer Hamilton remained in his custody, the longer the

chance that something would happen to prove his innocence. Daniel T pascoe had said something about an appeal.

When Kitty met Gina after the trial the young woman was anxious - but anxious that this whole thing should be over. No she didn't think she could go to Hays. She would say goodbye to her husband here in Dodge just before he and the Marshal left for that final ride whenever that would be.

TBC