moment Rita is telling me this. Rita says the judge wants us there in an hour, so I call Kevin and trudge down to the court.
On the way to the courthouse I hear that Quintana’s body has finally been discovered in a field near the New Jersey Turnpike. I had been thinking that Petrone had sent him to the bottom of the ocean, but apparently, he wanted to use this killing to send a message to others stupid enough to mess with his territory.
I arrive at the courthouse having not even thought what the jury’s question might be, since requests from juries are rarely revealing. They usually focus on a specific piece of evidence, but that in itself reveals nothing. They could be looking at the evidence because they are skeptical of it or because they give it real credibility and importance to the case.
This situation is slightly different. The jury wants to know if they can see police reports related to the other deaths of the young football players. Judge Harrison tells them they cannot, that only evidence introduced at trial is to be considered, and these reports were not part of the trial record. He says this patiently, even though he had made the point in his charge to the jury just before they went out. They essentially dragged us down here to answer a question that has already been answered.
I’m encouraged, though, because at least they’re paying attention to our defense and not rejecting it out of hand. It’s a small sign of hope, and I’m quite willing to shed a tiny bit of my pessimism and grab on to it.
Even during my self-imposed isolation during a verdict wait, I quite willingly have Laurie sleep over on our regular nights. I might be a hermit, but I’m not a crazed hermit. She is also quiet and reserved, and between us we’re not a terribly fun couple.
I know she’s finalizing her decision, but I’m past dwelling on it by now. I’m actually starting to get a little annoyed; it probably didn’t take Truman as long to decide to drop the A-bomb.
I meet every day with Kenny Schilling, who acts as stoic as he can. The strain is starting to line his face to the point where he’s looking like a paint-by-numbers drawing. I also talk on the phone each day with his wife, Tanya, who is better at verbalizing just how agonizing this process is. I am not able to give either of them any indication of how things will go or when.
Bobby Pollard has stayed out of the public eye, and I assume and hope that the authorities are digging into the nuts and bolts of the case we presented. Teri, ever the amazingly supportive wife, has made a public statement supporting her husband and declaring him innocent, but I can’t imagine that she isn’t feeling horribly betrayed.
The call comes from Rita Gordon on the morning of day six. “It’s showtime, Andy,” she says. “The judge wants all parties here at eleven A.M.”
“Okay” is the cleverest response I can come up with.
I’M TOLD THAT a heavyweight championship fight has the most “electricity” of any live event, but I can’t imagine how it could be more charged than this courtroom. The entire country has followed this case, hanging on every word, analyzing every nuance, and it has all come down to this. A young athlete, a member of the “celebrity class,” is going to learn whether he’s heading for death row or back to the locker room.
Just before Judge Harrison comes into the room, I walk over to Tanya Schilling to shake her hand. I have a million things I could say, and I’m sure she does as well, but neither of us says a word.
As I head back to my seat at the defense table, I see that a bunch of Kenny’s teammates, as well as Walter Simmons, have managed to get seats. I briefly wonder whether they got them from scalpers; I can imagine these seats would go for a lot of money.
Kenny is brought in and takes his seat. As Judge Harrison comes in, Kenny takes a deep breath, and I can see him trying to steady himself. He has handled himself with dignity throughout the trial, and he’s not about to stop now.
The jury is led in, looking at neither the prosecution nor the defense. They haven’t been able to take their eyes off Kenny since jury selection, and now they’re looking away. If