Chapter Eight
Supreme Court Trial
Part 66
Langan stood to give his summation.
"Ladies and gentlemen, you all have, at some point in your lives, experienced extreme emotions," he said. "Stress, sadness, anger…You have been distressed—emotionally distressed. You have all thought, said, and done things you didn't mean to. Your emotions impaired your ability to think clearly and rationally. In psychology, this is called an Amigdala Hijacking. The amigdala is the part of the brain that controls emotional responses. It triggers an immediate, impulsive, emotion-based response, trumping the part of the brain that's in charge of logic, reasoning, and judgment. This is precisely the experience my client had when he shot Gail Sullivan. He was emotionally distressed. He wasn't thinking clearly. His judgment was impaired. You heard him on the stand, clear as a bell. He will never kill again, and he never even meant to kill Gail Sullivan in the first place! He loved her! This was not spite. It was impaired judgment. It was emotional distress. Because of his intense emotions, my client did something vastly out-of-character, vastly atypical of himself. He is not normally violent, and he has no criminal record. Consider that, ladies and gentlemen—consider all of that and find Eric Slater not guilty."
A tense silence permeated the courtroom.
Then Connie stood to give her summation.
"When I first took a look at this case, I was reminded of a short story I read in high school—"A Rose for Miss Emily" by William Faulkner. The story features a woman who, as we find out at the end, has killed her lover so that he will never be able to leave her. Now, there's no necrophilia going on with this case, but ladies and gentlemen, the mentality of that character is the same as that of the defendant: obsessed, possessive. It's a mentality that says, 'You are better off dead than loving someone who isn't me'. Eric Slater claims he loved Gail Sullivan, but don't let him fool you. He was obsessed with her. She ended their relationship because she felt smothered. He was possessive, clingy, controlling, and jealous. She had to get away, but he wouldn't let her. He harassed her and stalked her to the point where she was so terrified of him that she made sure he couldn't contact her online, and she planned to change her phone number. He was tormenting her so much that she was encouraged to involve the police!
"Mr. Slater claims he never meant to kill her, yet he went behind her back and found out when she would be off work. He showed up unannounced and brought his gun with him into her apartment building—three things he had never done before—and then he fatally shot her. This is not about emotional distress. This is about anger and revenge. When Gail Sullivan dumped Eric Slater, his ego was punctured, so he had to punish her. He had to let her know that she belonged to him—that if she wasn't going to be with him, then she wasn't going to be with anyone at all. Harassment, stalking, murder—such hostile behavior is not indicative of someone who's in love, but of someone who is arrogant, selfish, and cruel, of someone who's a narcissist. Ladies and gentlemen, you have been given all the tools you need to get justice for Gail Sullivan. So I ask you: please use those tools—consider thoroughly all the evidence—and find Eric Slater guilty of murder."
The same tense silence overtook the courtroom again.
With that, Connie took her seat.
The jury could now begin deliberating.
An hour later—
"Mr. Foreman, I understand the jury has reached a verdict?" Judge McConnell asked.
The foreman of the jury stood up.
"We have, Your Honor."
Allison normally wasn't this antsy when waiting to hear a verdict—but wow, was she ever at that moment.
"On the sole count of the indictment, murder in the second degree, how do you find?"
"We find the defendant, Eric Slater, guilty."
"Very well," said the judge. "This case is closed, and the jury is dismissed with gratitude for their time and effort."
He brought down the gavel.
Allison took a deep breath.
"Oh my goodness," she said.
"Aww, Allison!" Connie said kindly. "You said so yourself this case was open and shut."
"I know. And part of me understood that, but part of me was just worried. This was my first trial in New York, so I wanted to make a good first impression by making sure we got a conviction."
"Allison, you were great," said Connie. "We make a really good team!"
Allison smiled.
"Thank you," she said. "We do, don't we?"
"Mmhm," Connie said, smiling back.
Gail Sullivan's parents approached them.
"Thank you," Mrs. Sullivan said. "Thank you so much."
Both she and her husband had tears in their eyes.
"We are so grateful, Miss Rubirosa—Miss Barclay," Mr. Sullivan said.
"You're very welcome, both of you. We're so glad we were able to get justice for your daughter," Connie said kindly.
She and Allison each shook hands with the Sullivans before the couple exited the courtroom.
"Go team," Connie said, smiling.
"Woo hoo!" Allison joked.
"I'd say this calls for a celebration!" Connie said as they packed up their briefcases.
"I have to agree," Allison said with a smile.
Mike, Jack, Lupo, and Bernard were waiting outside the courtroom for them.
"That's what I'm talking about, Connie!" Bernard said kindly.
Connie shook hands with him, and he gave her a pat on the back.
"Thanks so much!" she said.
"Hey, you, too, Allison! Congrats!" he said.
"Thank you!" Allison said as they shook hands.
Bernard gave her a pat on the back, as well.
"B said it best, Connie," Lupo said nicely, shaking hands with her.
"That was great, Allison," he said, turning to Allison, who found herself hoping she wasn't blushing.
"Thank you," Allison said shyly.
As they shook hands, she felt her heart rate speed up a bit.
"I'm proud of you, Connie," Jack said, smiling.
"Thank you, Jack," Connie said sincerely. "That means a lot to me, it really does."
"Is it my turn yet?" Mike asked her jokingly.
"Yes," Connie said, smiling in amusement.
Mike gave her his sweet smile and embraced her. She wrapped her arms around him and rested her head on his shoulder.
"I'm happy for you, Connie," he said sweetly. "And I'm proud of you."
"Thank you, sweetheart," Connie said. "It means a lot to me that you came here as often as you could to support me."
"I'm glad," Mike said. "You've always had my back. It's only right that I should return the favor."
The two of them then stood in silence, still embracing each other.
Meanwhile, Allison was chatting with Lupo and Bernard.
Suddenly—
"Allison."
Allison gave a start when Jack said her name. She turned to him. What was he going to say?
"Great work," Jack said, smiling and patting her on the shoulder. "Glad to have you on board."
"Thank you!" Allison said, feeling humbled.
"You're welcome," Jack said kindly. "I wouldn't say it if I didn't mean it."
Allison smiled.
Connie lifted her head up from off Mike's shoulder and leaned in so that her forehead touched his. Mike leaned in and kissed her, and she kissed him back.
After they finally broke apart, Mike asked, "Do you think you can humor me one more time by letting me buy you one more obscenely expensive dinner? I do have a good reason, after all—it's congratulatory."
"Mike, you could buy me gas station coffee, and I would love it," said Connie. "What matters to me is that you've been supporting me. What means the most to me is that you're here."
"You're right. It's not about price…So how about a non-obscenely expensive dinner?" Mike said, smiling.
"That would be great," Connie said, also smiling.
"Are we going to celebrate over drinks?" asked Bernard.
"Allison and I figured we should," said Connie. "Care to join us, Jack?"
"Are you all going to the usual place?" asked Jack.
"Yeah," said Connie.
"Oh, what the hell," Jack said. "Count me in. But we're celebrating you and Allison, so I'll buy my own scotch."
Connie wrapped her arm around Mike's waist. He gently rested his hand on her back.
"So," said Connie. "How about we have a drink with them and then go out by ourselves?"
"I'd like that," Mike said. "Where do you want to go?"
"Surprise me," Connie said, smiling.
"With nothing obscenely expensive—got it," Mike said, smiling back.
Allison was deep in conversation with Lupo and Bernard.
"She has a lot of respect for you, you know," Connie said in an undertone to Jack.
"She knows I'm proud of her," said Jack. "I told her."
"Good," said Connie.
Mike then kissed her temple as the six of them left the courthouse for their favorite bar.