Violence by Timothy McDougall Page B

struggle. Or inconclusive.” Ward commented. “Like he said, he was trying to stop her from killing herself.”
    Anderson looked away from Ward, fought his anger again.
    Ward let him have a moment to absorb the debilitating details, because there were more. Ward took a big drink of coffee before he carried on once more. “Normally, it would be lucky that we have the murder weapon, but it’s your gun. The rifling pattern on the recovered slug shows it came from your .38. The hand residue sample did show Derek Lysander had fired a gun in the hours just before the cops picked him up, but your wife also showed gunshot residue on her hands. Also, there’s no sign of forced entry and they were working at your house so any incidental fingerprint evidence is going to be ignored.”
    “Jesus Christ!” Anderson fumed, slamming his fist on the table.
    “You have to learn to control yourself.” Ward cautioned. “They’re going to paint you as the jealous, raging husband and you’re just making it easy for them. They’re going to try to keep you out of the courtroom throughout the whole trial and you’re the best asset this case has, the surviving father and spouse. Don’t let it be the only time the jury sees you is when you’re making your victim impact statement because by then it’s too late.”
    “How can they keep me out of the courtroom?” Anderson asked impatiently.
    “First, they’re probably going to claim your presence is prejudicial…” Ward elaborated. “…but the judge is not going to want to look like a total prick to you and will most likely deny their motion to exclude you. But then the defense is going to put you on their witness list and they’re going to claim their constitutional rights are being interfered with, that your testimony will be tainted and materially affected by you hearing the testimony of other witnesses before you yourself testify. The judge will probably allow that and keep you out until you take the stand. Which will be pretty much the whole trial.”
    Anderson was crestfallen. He took a deep breath and exhaled slowly, looked around the restaurant to take some of the air out of his roiling resentment.
    “And we’re also going to have to be careful from here on out.” Ward added, leaning forward a bit and lowering his voice once again. “We’re going to have to cut our official ties until it’s over, because if the defense finds out about our relationship, they can object and bar me from even informing you about the proceedings.”
    Anderson looked back and stared silently at Ward.
    “I’m just trying to give you the bad news first.” Ward wheezed as he returned Anderson’s steely-eyed gaze and sat back again.
    “Do you have any good news?” Anderson finally asked cynically.
    “You have the truth on your side.” Ward stated with unadorned succinctness.
    Anderson sneered, pushed his untouched plate of food aside.
    “Don’t discount that.” Ward advised, trying to reinforce his words with earnestness. “That’s a big plus. Everybody knows what happened here. Everybody knows they’re scumbags. I’m just telling you how they’re going to play the game. I’m just giving it to you straight.”
    “And now what?” Anderson asked.
    “Now it comes down to what kind of case the State’s Attorney wants to present and how much they want to pursue it.”
    “ ’How much they want to pursue it?’ ” Anderson repeated incredulously.
    “If they aren’t pressed with a political choice, they simply want convictions.” Ward sniffed. “It’s not justice but-”
    “ ’Not justice .’” Anderson interjected, reiterating Ward’s words again, this time mockingly and with unrestrained disgust.
    “They care about process. It’s just a job.” Ward responded in kind. “What kid comes into this world saying, when I grow up I wanna preside over murder and rape cases, I love working every day in the world of violence?” Ward answered the question himself. “No