Secrets##### Chapter Four

"I knew it at the very beginning," Ed began with a muffled voice: "that John was guilty. He confessed to me and to the authorities, too. I told him that I couldn't defend him. He was guilty as sin. Then his father came and visited me. He offered me a million dollars first. I said I couldn't jeopardize my reputation for any money. Let me tell you this man, John's father, is a true politician. He knew how to bring me around. I finally agreed for five million dollars. I told him that a big portion of the money go to other people, whom I have to pay to help me, to destroy the evidence, to temper with the witnesses. But my answer didn't come very quickly. I did my research about finding another suspect. Christopher was the best candidate. To me, he was just a name then." Ed stopped, dropped his head into his chest and draped his hands behind his neck.

"What happened after?" Jacob demanded.

"I was able to prove that the night of the crime, John was with two friends, Christopher was not one of them. He had dined with them in a restaurant, and then spending the rest of the night playing pool. I demanded that they should throw the confession out, since they did not read his right and they took that confession without his lawyer's presence. I proved that confession was under duress after police had beaten him up. I manipulated the waiter in the restaurant, the people in the bar that John was there. At the end, those people really believed that John was there. I made them admit in the court that he was there. I actually didn't give them any money, as you may call bribery because then they would know that I was trying to make them lie. But I gave them nice gifts for their cooperation, for their help. I gave those gifts at the end of the trial when he was acquitted and pretended that they were from John's father. I told them that he is grateful that their testimony have saved his innocent son. I told them that John's father was thanking them to help his faultless son.

"The medical report was inconclusive. No finger print, no murder weapon were found anywhere. The only finger print was Christopher's at the woman's house. We knew that he was there earlier that evening. The medical report showed that condom was used by the rapist. There was no evidence found in her body or on her clothes.

"I taught John how to point his finger at Christopher when the police were doing their investigation. All these preparation took an entire year before we went to trail. Then It came selecting of Jury."

"You mean that you even tempered with Jurors!" Tim said angrily.

"Not exactly; but all lawyers, both defense and prosecutor use this technique..."

"We need to stop this. I don't want to hear anymore." Thui cut off Ed. She was at the verge of tears. This was the first time the others saw that she showed any emotion.

"You must listen."Tim said furiously. "You, too, are taking advantage of my son's misery, aren't you. I am sure that money are spent in your household."

"I didn't know, I didn't know." Thui sat back, and covered her face while crying aloud.

"What about jurors? What is the technique?" Jacob asked somberly.

Ed got up. The emotions agitating his heart would not be appeased easily. He began pacing the room, staring thoughtfully at his feet. He was particularly struck by his own confession.

"You think that I tempered the jurors? No, I didn't. But I used this method to pick them. Many defense lawyers that their clients can afford use this procedure. It is like, how should I say, like a service which is provided by this firm.

"What they do is to establish a profile of the defendant, all his back ground, his interests, his weakness, his religion, his disbelief, and his family. Then they make a profile of the crime, how it happened, why it happened; and then they try to match the profile of the defendant with the crime. The last part of their service is to sketch a profile of the prospective jurors who would be more compassionate to the defendant.

"The defense attorney tries to match the most of potential jurors to the psychological description is provided by that firm during Voir Dire. Finally they come up with the twelve jurors and even the alternates which can serve the best the defendant. After impalement, that firm really dig into the lives of those jurors. Such analysis contains many things about the jurors that are already selected, their habits, their prejudice, their jobs, the neighborhood they live in, their education, their religion, their nationality, their weakness and strength. Everything about them are included in their report.

"When the defense attorney knows so much about the jurors, he bases his defense, his manner, the way he is dressed, and everything else upon that. In the court room, the defense lawyer talks to them as though he is talking to their awareness. Since he knows their biases, fears, hopes, and even hidden desires, he touches them incredibly. That is the service I used to free John and it worked. He was acquitted of all charges."

To Be Continued