head and neck were moving—all in different directions. He looked like an old vaudeville comedian pretending to be drunk or afflicted with some rare disease. Those involuntary movements told Jack all he needed to know: Judge Holbrook was not a dispassionate, disinterested third party.
“There must be some mistake here, Mr. Tobin. Maybe it’s a typographical error. That happens sometimes. The coroner will probably be able to explain all this as he would need to testify for you to get this document in.”
“The coroner is dead, Your Honor. Perhaps there are contemporaneous notes he took at the time of the autopsy. Otherwise, this is the only record. And I ask Your Honor to take a look at the autopsy report of the deceased, Peter Diaz. On page two, paragraph four, you will see the same description of the entry wound. It is highly unlikely that a mistake would be made in both autopsy reports.”
Several members of the press corps had already hightailed it for the exit, determined to get a leg up on everybody else. The majority stayed, however, eager to hear the State’s response and to observe any further reactions from the judge.
“Mr. Jurgensen,” the judge asked, “do you have any response to these allegations?”
Mitch Jurgensen wasn’t born yesterday. Even though he had reviewed the file thoroughly before the hearing, he had not picked up on the discrepancies Jack had noted. This was not the time to respond, however.
“Your Honor, I have only glanced at this motion. I will need time to go through it in great detail before I comment. However, I assure the court that there must be a reasonable explanation.”
Judge Holbrook didn’t follow Mitch Jurgensen’s cue to shut up. He prattled on for the benefit of the reporters.
“Mr. Tobin, if I’m hearing you correctly, you are basically saying that the state attorney, the coroner, and the police department conspired to convict your client. Now that is quite an accusation.”
“I have never made that accusation, Your Honor. I’m merely stating the facts: The weapon identified by the police officer could not have been the murder weapon identified in the coroner’s reports—period. I did point out that the coroner testified first and did not identify the murder weapon. The police officer did. It is difficult to believe that the coroner did not know that the physical evidence did not support the charge of murder against my client. It is also difficult to believe that the coroner did not tell the prosecutor. The way the evidence was presented, with the coroner going first and discussing his report but never identifying the bowie knife as the murder weapon, suggests very strongly that they did have that discussion. In any event, based on this evidence, my client should be granted a new trial although I don’t know what a new trial would do at this point.”
“Suppose I decide that the facts in your motion require me to set an evidentiary hearing. Do you intend to call anybody as a witness, Mr. Tobin?”
“I intend to call somebody from the coroner’s office to verify the reports and to let the court know if there were any other contemporaneous notes made at the time of the autopsies. And I intend to call the police officer who identified the bowie knife as the murder weapon. I will have the knife here as well, Your Honor. I don’t think my portion of the hearing will take more than two hours.”
“What is that police officer’s name, Mr. Tobin? Do you know?”
“Yes, Your Honor. His name is Sam Jeffries.”
“Police Chief Jeffries?”
“Yes. He was the head of the task force at the time, and he found the weapon in the woods outside the apartment complex where Vanessa Brock and Peter Diaz were killed.”
That was enough for the rest of the reporters. They all left in a hurry. It was like a stampede, causing the judge to pause the proceedings for a moment to watch them go.
“How about you, Mr. Jurgensen? How much time would you need?”
“I’d need at least two hours, Your Honor, since I have no idea what witnesses I’m going to call. However, I do object to an evidentiary hearing.”
“I’m sure you do, Mr. Jurgensen, but I think Mr. Tobin has set out enough facts to warrant a hearing. I’ll give you both the whole day. Now when are we going to schedule this? We’ve got approximately six weeks before the execution, but we need to leave time for an appeal to the Florida Supreme Court.”