A Good Mother by Lara Bazelon (different ereaders txt) 📗

Luz, who was the man-eating temptress no female juror would want within a thousand miles of her husband.

Jackie was on to the pregnancy, describing her delight at finding out just before Christmas. “The most beautiful present I could ever ask for.”

Shauna flips a page in her binder. Time for some tough questions. “Now, you were seeing someone else at the time, Lance Richards. How could you be sure that you conceived the baby with Sergeant Hollis and not with him?”

“Lance and I used protection,” Jackie says. “Travis and I didn’t.”

“When you told Sergeant Hollis the news over email, he didn’t respond immediately, is that right?”

“Yes, and at the time I was hurt by that. But now I realize the situation he was in.”

“The situation being that the defendant was also pregnant by him?”

Jackie nods. “I think he was scared. He was going to end the marriage and now everything was so much more complicated.”

“But Sergeant Hollis didn’t tell you that directly?”

“I’m sure he didn’t want to worry me.”

“How did you find out?”

Jackie looks down. “On Facebook.”

“Can you explain?”

“She posted a selfie of her sideways in a bikini showing off her baby belly.” Jackie’s voice is contemptuous, and her eyes seek out a few of the younger women on the jury as if for support. Beside Abby, Luz is completely still.

“How did you connect with the defendant on Facebook?”

Another lip bite. “I sent her a friend request and she accepted it.”

“Why did you want to be friends with the defendant on Facebook?”

Jackie flushes. “There was a lot I didn’t know and it was a way for me to figure out what was real and what wasn’t.”

“What was your understanding of Sergeant Hollis’s intentions toward you?”

“He was going to leave her to be with me and the baby. It’s just the situation was so complicated. He was stationed overseas, and all that was going to have to wait until he came back stateside. I got impatient.” Jackie’s eyes fill with tears again and this time, the clerk hands her the whole box of Kleenex. “If only I had just waited,” she says, her voice rising to a half wail. “If I had never sent her those emails Travis would still be alive.”

Abby is on her feet, but Dars has already intervened. “That last sentence will be stricken and the jury will disregard.” He turns to Jackie, finger wagging. “You are not here to speculate about the events leading up to the victim’s death, young lady.”

“You referred to sending the defendant some emails,” Shauna continues smoothly. “Can you tell the jury what the emails were and when you sent them?”

This time, Jackie is having trouble meeting Shauna’s gaze. “I messaged her on Facebook asking for her email address. I said I had something important to tell her about Travis.”

“What day was that?”

“October 12, 2006.”

“Did she respond?”

“Yes, the next day, October 13, she messaged back with her email address and I wrote to her.”

“The same day?”

“Yes.”

Shauna flips through her binder and pulls out a sheaf of paper. “The time stamp on the email you sent to the defendant says 3:02 p.m. Eastern Standard Time. Do you know the time difference between Ohio and Germany?”

“They are six hours ahead.”

“So the defendant would have received this email at 9:02 p.m. her time?”

“Yes.”

Shauna turns to the jury. “The parties have stipulated that an analysis of the computer in the defendant’s home shows that the email was opened at 9:58 p.m. in Ramstein-Miesenbach, Germany. A stipulation means you must accept that as a proven fact.”

She turns back to Jackie. “Tell me about the email.”

“All the communications between me and Travis were in one string back and forth. I hit the forward button, typed in her email address, and hit send.”

“You sent a year’s worth of emails documenting your affair and pregnancy with Sergeant Hollis to the defendant?”

Jackie lifts her chin. “Yes,” she says, and there is a note of defiance in her voice. “I wanted her to know the truth.”

Shauna walks up to Jackie holding a stack of paper and places it before her. “Are these the emails you are referring to?”

Jackie picks up the paper and flips through a few of the pages. This time the color spreads from her face to her neck in a mottled rash. “Yes.”

“Your Honor, we would move these into evidence.”

Dars looks at Abby who shakes her head slightly.

“There being no objection from the defense, the items will be received.”

“I’m sorry,” Jackie whispers. She bows her head and her shoulders shake as she sobs quietly.

Dars looks at Shauna who says, “The government has no further questions at this time.”

“You’re sorry?” Abby asks politely, as if to make sure she’s heard correctly. She will not be raising her voice, not once during the entirety of the examination. Jackie must be the high-pitched red-faced one. The woman who is not in control.

“Of course, I am.” Jackie has stopped crying now, but her face is pink and puffy. It makes her look angry and her tone has an edge to it.

Abby walks from the podium back to the counsel table and stands behind Luz, her hands resting lightly on her shoulders. Luz stiffens at her touch, and Abby, careful not to look irritated, presses down with the pads of her fingers until her posture softens.

“Are you apologizing to Mrs. Rivera Hollis?”

Jackie’s mouth falls open. “I—No.”

Abby nods. “The emails you forwarded to Mrs. Rivera Hollis about your affair with her husband were accompanied by a message you wrote. I’d like you to read the message out loud please.”

Jackie dutifully picks up the top page, but her hands are trembling. There is a pause before she begins to read and Abby can hear the collective movement in the jury box as they lean in to listen. Abby stays where she is, her hands now firmly on Luz’s shoulders, forcing Jackie to look in Luz’s direction if she lifts her eyes from the page.

“‘I am sending you these emails because you need to know the truth. Travis