all the evidence we needed on the record,” Jack told him. “The only thing we can do is appeal.”
“It’s hard for me to believe that the police planted a bowie knife in the woods when the murder weapon was a stiletto and the judge let them get away with it when he had all this evidence in front of him,” Felton said.
“I hear you, Tom, but it’s never that simple. The judge lives in this community and he knows the murders stopped after you were arrested. He also knows that he wouldn’t win an election for dog catcher if he set you free.”
“So I’m to die so that Judge Holbrook can continue his career as a judge. Something’s wrong with this system.”
“Something is wrong with every system. People are fallible, so systems are fallible. Listen, we’ve got to make a decision on this appeal. Time is running short.”
“File it, Jack. It’s my only chance. I do want to live and be free again. And thank you for all you’ve done.”
Chapter Thirty-Three
Two weeks later Jack was standing in the well of the Florida Supreme Court. The well was the area where the lawyers stood to face the court, seven judges who were on an elevated dais above them. Behind them was the gallery where the dark mahogany benches were gradually elevated like stadium bleachers though not as steep. The well was the lowest point in the courtroom—thus the name.
It was not a typical courtroom. It was the highest appellate court in the state of Florida. Such courtrooms were designed specifically for appellate arguments with an elevated dais for the judges, tables for the lawyers directly below the judges, a podium between the tables where the lawyers stood to face the court and present their arguments, and a huge gallery to accommodate hundreds of interested observers who almost never showed up. Appellate arguments were boring although today there were about forty people in the gallery, most of them reporters.
Jack had been to the court many times and in recent years it had all been on death row cases. He was not intimidated by the pomp and circumstance. The bailiff came out first. “All rise!” he said in a wonderful, deep voice. “Hear ye, hear ye, hear ye: The Supreme Court of the State of Florida is now in session. All those who have grievances before this court may now come forth and be heard.”
Everyone in the courtroom stood up and the seven judges paraded out in their black robes and sat on their individual seats above the lawyers. Jack hardly noticed. He was there to save a man’s life. In fact, he hoped the judges were aggressive and inundated him with a barrage of questions. “If they don’t ask questions, they’re not interested,” he’d told Henry before he left for Tallahassee.
Nor was he affected by the bevy of reporters and cameras set up outside the courtroom. This case had gained national and international attention after the disclosure that the coroner and the prosecutor might have hidden evidence. It was a serious matter and worthy of the attention, but Jack knew that the reporters were leaning very heavily on the drama side—the serial killer, the powers of the state lined up against him, and the possibility of future mayhem. Now that was news!
Jack had walked right by the cameras.
“Mr. Tobin, do you have a moment—”
“No comment.”
“Mr. Tobin—”
“No comment.”
He’d never raised his voice. He’d never looked toward the camera. He’d simply kept moving.
Inside the courtroom, his demeanor was quite different. He was more than eager to respond to the justices’ questions.
“Do you know what you’re saying in here, Mr. Tobin? You’re saying that the police and the prosecutor were all involved in one big conspiracy,” Chief Justice Robert Walker said. It was the same question/statement Judge Holbrook had posed weeks before.
“No, Your Honor, I’m saying that the weapon found outside the premises where the victims resided and were murdered could not be the murder weapon based on the findings contained in the coroner’s reports.”
Jack knew they might need to connect those dots eventually. The standard on appeal of a death penalty case was newly discovered evidence and he could not meet that standard. The public defender had the coroner’s reports and should have seen the discrepancy between the reports and the physical evidence. His only fallback then would be prosecutorial misconduct under Brady v. Maryland. Still, he didn’t want to go there yet. He wanted the justices to lead him there. It was a