The Choice (48 page)

“It's more than a courthouse. It's a big government complex, but I have a pretty good idea how to find the courtroom. If you have a gun in your purse, leave it in the car.”

“I'm relying on my lawyer to take care of me,” Sandy replied.

They entered the building and passed through a security checkpoint. Jeremy found the correct elevators. Sandy's mouth was dry, and she could feel her heart beating in her chest.

“I'm already terrified,” she whispered as the elevator climbed higher. “My heart can't beat this fast for thirty minutes.”

“It won't,” Jeremy answered, checking his watch. “Once the hearing starts, your adrenaline should kick in and calm you down.”

“Are you sure?”

“Yes.”

Sandy took a deep breath as they got off the elevator. Jeremy led the way down a hallway. The courtroom was empty.

“This is a courtroom?” Sandy asked. “It's not very big.”

“There are several big, fancy courtrooms, but there's no need to hold a hearing on a motion in one of them.”

“We're going to be sitting close together, aren't we?” Sandy eyed the counsel tables beside each other and the small seating area.

“Yes. Now that you know the layout, do you want to wait here or go downstairs to the snack bar?”

“Go downstairs. Waiting here will make me more tense.”

The snack bar was on the ground level of the building. Sandy bought a banana.

“Did your heart slow down?” he asked.

“Back to normal, for now. Are you nervous?”

Jeremy smiled. “I don't think that's the right word to describe how I feel. There's always a mixture of excitement and anticipation of a fight before I go into court.”

Sandy nibbled her banana. They were at a table for two in the corner of the snack bar. Jeremy had his back to the door. Sandy looked up and saw Carol Ramsey enter. Beside her was an attractive young woman with dark curly hair. Bringing up the rear was a handsome man, somewhat taller than Jeremy, in his early thirties. He was wearing a dark-gray suit and had wavy, reddish-brown hair. He held the door open for the woman with curly hair.

“Don't turn around, but there's Carol Ramsey,” Sandy whispered to Jeremy. “She's wearing dark slacks and a white blouse.”

Jeremy immediately glanced over his shoulder.

“And that's probably Dusty Abernathy with her,” he said. “Do you know the other woman?”

“No.”

“Then she's the representative from the women's group.”

Before Sandy could say anything else, Jeremy got up and headed toward the threesome. She was amazed at Jeremy's boldness. He walked up to the other lawyer and introduced himself, and they shook hands. Carol looked as uncomfortable as Sandy would have if unexpectedly confronted by someone she knew was about to attack her. The other lawyer seemed relaxed as he and Jeremy talked. There was something vaguely familiar about his eyes and the shape of his mouth. He tilted his head slightly to the side and ran his right hand through his hair.

Suddenly, Sandy's mouth went dry.

The other lawyer reminded her of Brad Donnelly. Sandy closed her eyes and shook her head to drive the insane thought from her mind. Finding Jeremy had so unsettled her that she wasn't thinking straight. She didn't want to go through life inspecting strangers in grocery stores and airports, always wondering if one of them was her other son. Jeremy returned with the other lawyer in tow.

“Sandy,” Jeremy said, “this is Dusty Abernathy.”

Up close, the similarity to Brad was stronger than from across the room. Carol and the other woman were paying for something at the cash register. Sandy stood up.

“Hello,” she said, trying to sound self-assured.

Dusty took Sandy's hand in hers and firmly shook it.

“Nice to meet you,” he said. “We'll talk more when we go upstairs to the courtroom.”

“That's why I'm here,” she replied. “To tell the truth about what's going on with Maria Alverez.”

“The time for that is later,” Jeremy cut in. “I just wanted Dusty to meet you and see for himself that you don't have horns or fangs.”

“Only when someone threatens one of my students,” Sandy found herself saying.

Dusty glanced sideways at Jeremy, then turned and left. As soon as he was out of earshot, Jeremy leaned in close to Sandy.

“Why did you say that?” he asked sharply. “It sounded like you wanted to pick a fight with him.”

“He had the kind of cocky look on his face that I don't tolerate in male students. It ticked me off.”

“Well, I hope you're going to keep your cool when you're on the witness stand. Abernathy is going to try to bait you. You just made things harder on yourself.”

“You were right about one thing,” Sandy replied.

“What?”

“When my adrenaline kicked in, I didn't feel nervous.”

“You should save that for later and use it to help you stay calm, not get feisty. Let's get out of here.”

Sandy took a last big bite of banana and dropped the peel in a trash can.

“I'm not sorry,” she said as they waited for the elevator. “But if he's in there bragging to Carol and the other woman that he's going to make me look foolish on the witness stand, he's in for a rude awakening.”

Jeremy gave Sandy a puzzled look.

“What happened to my sweet little schoolteacher mother?”

“I guess some of the excitement and anticipation you feel when you're about to fight in court is in me too.”

THIRTY-THREE

A
court reporter was setting up her equipment in the small courtroom. Jeremy gave her his card.

“When will the judge get here?” Sandy asked him.

“Not until it's time to start. The parties wait for the judge, not the other way around.”

They sat at one of the two tables set up for lawyers and their clients. Jeremy opened his briefcase and gave Sandy a blank legal pad.

“Write down anything that pops into your mind as you listen to the testimony and argument. You may catch something I miss.”

Sandy sat with her ankles crossed beneath the table. Jeremy was busy organizing papers from his file. Sandy saw her name on the outside of the folder. Jeremy opened his laptop computer.

“What are those?” she asked, pointing to a stack of papers.

“Court decisions relevant to the issues. I want to have the full text available in case the judge has a question.”

“Won't the judge have a computer?”

“Yes, but some judges like to see the papers. I'm not sure about Judge Tompkins.”

The back door of the courtroom opened. Dusty led Carol and the other woman into the courtroom. Carol avoided looking at Sandy. Like Jeremy, Dusty immediately busied himself with preparation. A door to the side of the bench opened, and an older man with white hair and wearing a black judicial robe strode into the room. Jeremy and Dusty jumped to their feet. Sandy followed them. The judge sat down and looked at the court reporter.

“Are you ready?” he asked her.

“Yes, sir.”

“On the record,” the judge said without any preamble. “This is the hearing on a motion for a temporary restraining order in the matter of Sandra H. Lincoln. Proceed for the petitioner.”

Dusty stepped out from behind the table.

“Your Honor, I'm Dustin Abernathy, and I represent the petitioner in this matter. Would it be helpful to the court if I summarized our theory of the case before presenting any evidence?”

“Are you going to tell me anything that's not in your motion and brief?”

“Not at this point.”

The judge narrowed his eyes. “I studied the file before I came in here, and I assume you're prepared to present proof of egregious conduct by Ms. Lincoln sufficient to justify your claim for relief. Prior restraints against free speech, even against government employees, are granted only upon a showing of immediate and eminent threat to a fundamental right.”

Sandy saw Jeremy tap one of the court decisions he'd copied.

“Yes, Your Honor,” Dusty said. “And it's my client's position that such conduct has occurred in this case, thus justifying immediate action because of the time-sensitive nature of the rights being impacted.”

“Proceed,” the judge said.

“Ms. Carol Ramsey. Come forward and be sworn.”

Carol walked up to the witness stand and stood beside it.

“Judge, would you like to swear in all the witnesses at once?” Dusty asked.

“Yes,” the judge said. “Everyone who may testify in this matter, please stand and raise your right hand.”

Sandy stood up, as did the attractive curly-haired woman. The judge administered the oath.

Sandy said, “I do,” in a loud, clear voice.

Once Carol was seated in the witness stand, Dusty said, “Ms. Ramsey, please tell the court your name and profession.”

As Sandy listened to Carol provide background information, she found herself feeling sorry for her rather than angry. It was clear that Carol became a high school counselor because she wanted to help students navigate an often difficult time in their lives. But when Carol mentioned Maria, Sandy bristled. Good intentions don't trump bad actions.

“What is your understanding of the student's relationship with Ms. Lincoln?” Dusty asked.

“Objection,” Jeremy said, standing up. “This is speculation unless a proper foundation is laid for an opinion.”

“Granted,” the judge replied. “Lay a foundation.”

“Did you and Ms. Lincoln discuss her interaction with Maria Alverez on several occasions?”

“Yes.”

“How many meetings did you observe between Ms. Lincoln and Maria?”

“Several.”

“What did Ms. Lincoln say to you about her relationship with Maria during those meetings?”

Sandy was poised to write any lies or errors on the legal pad, but Carol's summaries of their conversations and the meetings with Maria were fairly accurate. She even knew the dates and times they got together, which made Sandy a bit nervous. If asked that type of specific information, Sandy wouldn't be able to answer.

“On how many occasions did you hear Ms. Lincoln seek to influence and coerce the student's exercise of her right to reproductive freedom?”

Sandy leaned forward.

“Maria told me of several instances. The first occurred on—”

“Objection,” Jeremy said. “That would be hearsay.”

“Granted.”

Sandy remembered what Jeremy told her in the car.

“Did Ms. Lincoln deny making coercive statements to Maria?” Dusty asked.

“No.”

Sandy quickly jotted down on her legal pad:
We never talked about what I told Maria—Carol doesn't know about any so-called coercive statements
.

“What change did you see in Maria's behavior as a result of her interaction with Ms. Lincoln?”

“Objection,” Jeremy said. “That is speculative.”

“Granted,” the judge said. “Mr. Abernathy, this hearing may not have the formality of a jury trial, but the rules of evidence still apply. Lay a foundation for this line of testimony.”

“Yes, sir.”

So far, Sandy was pleased with the way the judge was approaching the case.

“Was there a correlation between Maria's statements to you and her interaction with Ms. Lincoln?”

“Yes.”

To Sandy's amazement, Carol seemed to know most of the dates and times Maria had stopped by Sandy's classroom to talk. Referring to a notebook, Carol created a time line.

“What did you observe about Maria's mental status as this situation progressed and Ms. Lincoln's involvement persisted?”

“She was very afraid.”

Sandy made another note:
Maria was afraid of Emilio and her father, not me
.

By this point, Carol was talking about the first meeting with Dr. Vale. Carol's opinion about the meeting with Dr. Vale wasn't surprising. She portrayed Sandy as pretending to acquiesce to the principal while intending to maintain her influence with Maria.

“Ms. Lincoln actually increased her attempts to coerce Maria after that meeting,” Carol said.

Carol gave another summary of Sandy's meetings with Maria and the letter from Jeremy. A copy of the letter was placed into evidence without objection. Sandy was impressed by Carol's performance. Dustin Abernathy had obviously spent more time choreographing her testimony than Jeremy had spent with Sandy. The judge granted most of Jeremy's objections, but that didn't seem to have any effect in derailing the testimony.

“After the second trip to the women's health center in Atlanta, it was obvious to me that Maria needed legal help to protect her rights. That's when I met with Ms. Dawkins.”

“Has there been any change in Ms. Lincoln's activity with Maria since the motion was filed early last week?”

“No. She has continued to do what she's been doing all along.”

Carol then described the incident when Maria broke down in tears in Sandy's classroom. Sandy's mouth dropped open. She rapidly wrote on her legal pad:
There must be a camera in my classroom
. She slid the pad over so Jeremy could see it. He nodded. Carol spun the weeping episode as an example of Sandy's harshness toward Maria by claiming that Sandy drove the student to tears. As the testimony dragged on, Sandy started to squirm in her chair. Every time she thought Carol was almost finished, Dusty started down another line of questioning designed to cast Sandy in the most negative light possible. If she didn't know what was in her heart and mind, Sandy would have questioned her own motives and actions. Finally, the lawyer paused for a moment. Sandy glanced over and watched him review his notes one last time.

“That's all I have from this witness at the present time,” he said.

Jeremy stood up. Sandy sat up straighter in her chair in anticipation of what was about to happen.