Chapter 10
Judge Farnum called the court to order again about two hours later and explained to the attorneys in a bench conference which instructions to the jury he had accepted and why.
The jury was brought back in, and Strickler gave his argument for the State. As expected, he argued that Linda did kill her husband and admitted so, and that even if the jury did not believe her admission, she herself testified that she did give her husband the gun and helped him kill himself. She as at the very least guilty of being an accessory to his crime and mortal sin of suicide.
Then it was Jarrod's turn. He moved slowly and deliberately, getting up from the defense table and walking toward the jury, getting there in front of them before he looked up at them. As he spoke, he looked each one of them carefully in the eye, but honestly, not threateningly, not as hard the district attorney had looked. He kept his voice strong, but calm.
"Gentlemen," Jarrod said, "you have heard the district attorney's case against Mrs. Cain, and you have heard his impassioned plea that she be found guilty of murdering her husband. He makes a good argument, with the facts as he's presented them to you. But they are not the only facts, and they are not all the evidence that you need to consider."
Jarrod turned, walked about halfway back to the middle of the defense table, then turned around and looked at the jury again. "The district attorney would have you believe that the story is a simple one. Mrs. Cain was found with her husband after a shot was heard and the sheriff was sent for. Her husband was dead by a gunshot wound to the head. He was covered with blood and so was Mrs. Cain. She said she killed him. These are facts, facts that Mrs. Cain does not dispute."
Jarrod moved back toward the jury. "But you've heard the more complete facts, too, and here they are – straight out and real. Before coming to Stockton, Linda and Adam Cain were Linda and Adam Desmond. They were married five years ago after meeting at a social function where they lived in Los Angeles. Adam Desmond was an attorney with a solid practice, blemish free, no complaints of any kind ever filed against him. He and Linda became passionately in love, deeply in love, and completely devoted to each other, but they did not have children. It did not look like they were ever going to have children, so together they decided to have a second kind of partnership."
Jarrod moved toward the judge slowly, saying, "In 1878, women were given the right by the government of California to become attorneys."
He stood near the bench, but turned toward the jury again. "Adam Desmond suggested his wife become educated and become his partner in his law practice as well as his life partner. She has told you how she studied, how she was admitted to the California bar, and how she and her husband built and strengthened their practice in Los Angeles together. We have presented evidence from the California bar that their practice was spotless, no complaints of any sort against them."
Jarrod moved toward the jury again, slowly. "Then three months ago, Adam Desmond had a serious heart attack. He did not get over it. He suffered great pain that was getting worse. Linda and Adam talked, prayed, suffered and finally decided what they had to do, because Adam was not getting well. He was getting worse, suffering more pain, and he was not able to work at all. Because she was caring for him, Linda was not able to work either."
Jarrod leaned on the rail that separated him from the jury. "Think about the position they were in, gentlemen. No money coming in. A life in severe pain with no relief and no idea when it would end, just the certainty that it would end and neither Adam nor Linda was going to be able to continue as things were. They talked. They prayed. They decided what they had to do, and they decided they had to leave their community and do it somewhere where people who knew and loved them wouldn't have to deal with what they were doing. They came to Stockton, and they became Adam and Linda Cain."
Jarrod turned again, looking toward Dr. Merar in the gallery. "You have heard the testimony of Dr. Thomas Merar, a pillar of our community, that Adam Cain's condition was irreversible. All he could do was administer laudanum to try to control Mr. Cain's pain, but it was not controlling it. Dr. Merar has confirmed that Mr. Cain asked for more laudanum so he could end his suffering, but Dr. Merar could not in good conscience provide that extra laudanum that would take Mr. Cain gently away. It would have violated his oath as a physician."
Jarrod turned to the jury again. "Dr. Merar is bound by his oath, and he kept his oath, but as you could see from his demeanor on the stand, it was not an easy decision, because he could see that it wasn't just Adam Cain who was suffering tremendously. Linda Cain was suffering too, and not just from the overwhelming grief of watching her husband suffer. Her own health and life were endangered. She was running out of money to feed herself properly. She was running out of strength to continue to care for Adam, because she had to care for him in every way necessary physically as well as emotionally." Jarrod leaned on the jury rail again. "Adam Cain couldn't bear what was happening to his wife. His last desire in this world was that she would be all right, and she wasn't going to be if she had to continue caring for him. She was going to run out of money. She was going to run out of strength."
Jarrod leaned even closer to the jury. "Out of deep love and deep sacrifice, and because there was no other solution for him, Adam Cain asked his wife to bring him a gun. Linda Cain did so, and she stayed at her husband's side to the very end as he put a bullet in his own brain. Because he loved her. Because his continued existence was a threat to her physical wellbeing, not just her emotional wellbeing. They went through with the plan they came to Stockton with, just not with the way they wanted to go through with it. They couldn't get the laudanum – and Linda Cain doesn't fault Dr. Merar for that. No one does, nor should you."
Jarrod straightened up again. "You should judge this case on what it was – a man and his wife, deeply in love, and out of options. Adam Cain was dying a slow, painful, horrible death and Linda Cain was going there with him. Adam Cain could not bear this. He took his own life, to save his wife's life."
Jarrod turned again, looking at the district attorney now. "The district attorney would have you believe that Linda Cain shot her husband because she wanted freedom from him. That when she said she shot him, it was the truth. She just wanted to be rid of him." Jarrod turned to face the jury again. "He has no evidence of this except Linda Cain's blurting out in the moments after she lost the love of her life that she had killed him. But we have shown you all the evidence that this wasn't so. The Desmonds lived a strong and honest life, and kept up a strong and honest legal practice in Los Angeles. All the evidence from the California Bar says that. But fate dealt them a terrible blow, and to save his wife's health and life, Adam Cain took his own life. California law recognizes that there are times when a person kills another to save someone else, and this is not a punishable crime. What happened here is exactly that, the only difference being that it was himself Adam Cain killed, to save his wife."
Jarrod relaxed, and pleaded his case to the jury. "If you vote to find Linda Cain guilty and send her to her death or to prison, Adam Cain's sacrifice will go for nothing. Don't let that happen. See this case for what it is – a love story, pure and simple. The love of two people for each other. The love of a man for his wife. Love that was dealt a terrible blow. Don't give it another blow. If you find that the evidence points equally to conviction and acquittal, you must find to acquit Mrs. Cain, because in this country, in the State of California, the State must prove beyond a reasonable doubt that she is guilty. And I think you can see that there is more than reasonable doubt here. You must find Linda Cain innocent of all charges. Please, do that. Thank you."
Jarrod returned to the defense table and sat down beside Linda. With her head down, she whispered so softly that only Jarrod cold hear, "Thank you."
The entire room was silent. The district attorney did not get up from his seat. The judge finally said, "Does the state have rebuttal?"
Strickler still hesitated a moment, then got up and went to the jury. "Defense counsel has made an impassioned plea, and presented a compelling story – but it is just a story. Even if you believe Linda Cain did not pull the trigger on the gun that took her husband's life, she did deliver him the gun. She doesn't dispute that. She is responsible for his death, and under California law, you must return a verdict of guilty. That is the law. You must follow it."
Strickler sat down again, but did not look at anyone.
The judge went on to read the jury instructions that set out California law as completely as he could make it do. The pertinent points – he and everyone else realized – seemed to leave the jury with a confusing choice, but the judge gave the instructions he believed were required.
Judge Farnum concluded with, "If a person provides the means for another to kill someone, they are an accessory to the death. If a person in California kills someone in defense of another, that killing is not punishable."
Jarrod silently prayed that those instructions would be enough to acquit Linda, even if the second one – the important one - was not exactly on point with what happened with her and her husband.
No one in the room looked very happy when the jury was taken out to deliberate. Sheriff Madden looked like he might go to pieces himself as he took Linda Cain back to jail.
Even Jarrod's family seemed reluctant to approach him, as if they were afraid to touch him. Only Heath looked up at the gallery around them, and he was looking for Polly Pierce. People were filing out at the back of the room, and Polly wasn't anywhere to be seen.
Victoria finally reached across the bar and touched Jarrod's shoulder. He turned to her and just nodded sadly. "You did beautifully," Victoria said.
"I only hope it was enough," Jarrod said.