How Many?

April 4th, 2018 - 0900A

“So, Mr. Taylor, how much did you have to drink that night?”

I could see he was nervous to answer the question. Everyone knew he was going to be asked, I mean, no one knew better than him, but he seemed unprepared with an answer.

“Probably four.” He needs to be much more specific.

“Four what?”

“No three”

“Three what?

The judge had such a vigorous roar, “answer the question Mr. Taylor!”. The whole court shook after he said that.

“Three beers.”

“And, what sort of beers were they?”

“The local ones, I can not remember what they are called”

I could tell what the jury were thinking. Three beers? That is really not much, he surely didn’t crash because of that. I have driven after a couple beers before, who hasn’t? One of my jobs, as a trial consultant, is to have the jury relate to my client. I want them to feel sympathy for him, as well as connecting on a level where they find him innocent. I want them to feel as if they can trust him, trust him enough to believe he did nothing wrong. All is good as long as he doesn’t break that special trust he is granted.

Trial Analysis Institution

November 1, 2017 - 0800A

Franke is the joker in the office, the office clown. He thinks he is funnier than he actually is. I like to think of him as the sort of person who is like a cloud, when he is not there, it is a bit of a brighter day.  I feel bad saying that, I really do like him; as Ernest Hemingway said, “Happiness in intelligent people is the rarest thing I know.” A true quote by a true gentleman. Not that I am saying Franke is unintelligent or anything. Well- no, no I am not.

“Anyone hungry?”

Look who just walked in.

“I am craving for a curry.”

Wait for it.

“Who wants to come with me to get some Thai.”

And there is the punchline. Every single day he says this joke. Watch, he will try to explain it now.

“Did you get it, because we work at TAI?”

“Of course I get it. I got it the first time, and it was not funny, I got it - again - probably the fiftieth time now - and it sti--ill isn’t funny.” To be honest, I was a little harsh with him then, but what does he expect, telling the same joke - every single day! He is a one trick pony -well- one joke pony.

“I don’t care if you’re hungry,” I told him, “we have a client coming in in a minute.”

“What’s his deal?”

“He got in a car accident,”

“What, is he suing the insurance company or something?”

“Not exactly, he charged with manslaughter, killing a man driving drunk and recklessly.”

“Was he?”

“Was he what?”

“Driving drunk and recklessly,”

“According to him, he was not”

“But,” he dragged the but on for a while, “but according to the police, he was?”

“Yep, and that is our challenge, convincing the jury that it was a freak accident and that he was not doing what he was ‘falsely’ accused of.”

This was really going to be a challenge, but that is our job. Coming up with a liable story shouldn’t be too hard, and I sincerely think this man was perfectly able to drive at the point of the accident.

So, What Happened?

November 1, 2017 - 0915A

“It all just happened, like that, In a flash.” Mr. Taylor was explaining the accident. “I was in control, nothing was wrong, but then the car just crossed lanes, I had no time to react, or anything.”

“So, Daemon -- it’s okay if I call you Daemon, right?”

“Please do.”

“This accident was on Esterly Tibbetts, correct?

“Yes, ri-right, it happened the second after I came off of the roundabout.”

I needed to get the facts from him to start to build a case. “Which roundabout?”

“Umm--”

He is stuttering answering the question and I don’t know why, I am asking him the simple questions. “Which one?” I proceeded to ask.

“Right by Cost-U-Less, that one, there.”

“Ok, I know where you mean.”

There we go, such a simple answer. Since we got that out, I should probably ask a couple harder ones, let’s see how he gets on. “So, what happened?” I could see him shaking a bit, I couldn’t tell if he was anxious, bothered, or distracted at something.

“Well, as I said, I had just turned of the roundabout, and they the car just suddenly turned out of the right lane into mine and we collided. Bang! I didn’t have a single second to react!”

“What did you do after the collision?” I’m still trying to get as much information as I can to build a firm case.
“Well, I was a bit flustered first, it took me a few minutes to even get out of my seat. My neck was in so much pain, it was like a something had smacked hard into the side of it.”

“Then…”

“Well then, after a-- like a few minutes I got out to check if he was okay.”

“And he was not?”

“No, the blood was splattered all over the seat, I was in a panic but I tried to stay cool and in control.” He was twitching when he said that, he seemed as if he was re-living the moment in his head..

“How long until the police came?”

“Well the ambulance came first, and they checked me and him over.”

“Was he conscious at that point?”

“No, I don’t think so.”

“Then, the police came?”

“Yeah.”

I was talking to him after that, asking him more questions and getting more answers. He told me how the police did tests, breathalyzer as usual, but then went on to say he was clear and how he only had a blood alcohol level of 0.03. Here, in the Cayman Islands, the blood alcohol level to drive has to be less than to be 0.10. 0.03 is much less than that! If all this is right, this case should be a piece of cake, but I don’t want to jinx anything.

What he left out

April 4th, 2018 - 0735A

“Please rise. The Court of the Second Judicial Circuit, Criminal Division, is now in session. The Honorable Judge Antonin Marshall presiding,” the bailiff announced. 

“Everyone but the jury may be seated,” the Judge said, “Ms Bonito, please swear them in.” As usual, all of the opening statements were said; all of the arguments, testimonies - those sort of things. It went on for a long while, but that is court. Little did we know that our whole argument was going to be turned upside down. Our whole argument was based on the assertion that the driver pulled out, in front of my client, and that he had no time to react. He was not drunk or anything, just unlucky. We were arguing that he was sober, all was well, and we had the breathalyzer test to prove it. We forgot about one key thing. My client was charged with driving drunk and recklessly, all we thought about was the drunk. Not once did we talk about or consider the recklessness. During the interview, shall we call it, I asked him plenty of questions. I never asked him anything like, “how fast were you driving?”, or anything along those lines. That was a mistake. He was racing. He caused the accident. A few witnesses videoed him, as he was speeding upwards of 90 miles per hour. That argument, and its proof, killed us right there. All of the hard work, down the drain.

The Verdict

April 5th, 2018 - 1745P

“Will the jury foreperson please stand? Has the jury reached a unanimous verdict?” the judge asked. The whole courtroom went quiet.

“Yes, your honour,” Silence. Every breath could be heard; it was a very intense moment. The funny thing of the matter is that everyone knew the verdict. It was obvious, nothing could be done to better it. “The jury finds the defendant guilty of manslaughter of the fourth degree, involuntary manslaughter. All over. Just like that. This is the intense part, the judge has so much to consider when giving a sentencing. For all we hope, he is going to be lenient, but who knows. He doesn’t look very happy with my client, and he is giving him quite the strong look.

“All rise,” such a powerful voice the judge has.

Here it is, we are about to hear the sentence. Fingers crossed it won’t be too hard.

“Mr Daemon Taylor, you are sentenced to…”

If you drink and drive, drink coke.

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