cut him off. “It blew my mind when I read the file. She was a big part of this case. Besides obtaining the fingerprints, she’s the one who interviewed the girl who identified the murder weapon in the previous attempted murder.”
“The girl who was later killed?” Henry asked.
“Yes. Danni testified about that at trial. Do you remember Hannah and Danni telling us about Hannah going to Colorado when she was a young girl?”
“Yeah, I remember.”
“She went there because the serial killer called Danni and intimated that he was going to kill Hannah.”
“Jesus, Jack, she’s going to be livid if you represent this guy.”
“I know, but what can I do? I can’t not represent him if I believe he’s innocent just because Danni is going to be angry.”
“No, you can’t,” Henry said. Then he started chuckling to himself.
“What’s so funny?” Jack asked.
“I was just thinking that I’m glad I’m not you.”
Chapter Thirty
The case management conference on Thomas Felton’s case was held in the courtroom in downtown Oakville at 9 a.m. on January thirty-first. Jack was present along with a lawyer from the attorney general’s office named Mitch Jurgensen, and ten reporters.
Normally this would have been an informal affair but with the reporters in attendance, Judge Holbrook felt the need to go through the motions. He rescheduled the hearing from his chambers to the courtroom, and at the appointed hour he walked into the courtroom wearing his robe after the bailiff gave the order “All rise!”
“You can be seated,” the judge said after sitting down. He was a good-looking man, probably in his early fifties, tall, with a full head of dark hair. Either he colored it or he was one of those rare people over fifty who did not have one gray hair on his head.
Judge Holbrook was a circuit judge in the northern part of the county. He had been chosen for this case on the theory that a judge from the northern part of the county would be fairer or would at least appear to be more fair than a judge who presided in Oakville where the murders had occurred. Jack, of course, didn’t buy it for a second. He thought the Florida Supreme Court should have appointed a judge from a county far removed from Oakville. Unfortunately, time didn’t permit filing a motion to get rid of the judge.
Jack had checked him out thoroughly, though. He wasn’t a great legal mind, but he wasn’t thought to be an ideologue either. Ideologues were the worst kind because they always knew what the truth was and what should be done rather than listening to the evidence and making a decision on the facts.
“Be simple and direct with him,” one lawyer told Jack. “If you start throwing case law at him and arguing complex legal issues, he’ll shut down.”
Jack had that advice in mind when the judge called on him to begin the proceedings. He also had a court reporter to transcribe everything that was said. And if the judge allowed him, he was prepared to make some statements in open court that would send the press corps into a frenzy. If Jack could have his say, what happened in this case was definitely going to see the light of day.
Judge Holbrook unwittingly became a willing participant in Jack’s plan.
“This is a case management conference in the case of State of Florida v. Thomas Felton. A death warrant has been signed in Mr. Felton’s case. He is scheduled to be executed on March fourteenth, approximately six weeks from today, and this proceeding is to determine if there are any further motions or appeals that counsel for Mr. Felton plans on filing. Mr. Tobin, are you here representing Mr. Felton?”
“Yes, Your Honor.”
“And who is representing the State?”
“I am, Your Honor. Mitch Jurgensen from the attorney general’s office.”
Jack had been back to see Felton one last time before making his decision to take the case and came away from that meeting as confused as he was after the first meeting.
“He doesn’t act guilty, but I just don’t know,” he told Henry.
“I don’t know what to tell you, Jack. With these facts, though, it’s hard to let the man just be taken like a lamb to slaughter.”
“I guess you’re right, Henry. Now that I’ve seen what I’ve seen, I guess I can’t stay silent.”
“Okay, Mr. Tobin,” Judge Holbrook said. “You know the drill. This hearing is for your client’s benefit. Do you have any post-conviction motions that you intend to file?”