The 6th Target - James Patterson [48]
“The defense is going to try to convince you that Mr. Brinkley is psychotic and therefore not responsible for his actions,” Parisi said, walking back to the lectern. “Defense medical experts may have the nerve to stand up here and tell you that the defendant needs ‘treatment,’ not punishment.
“No problem. We have great doctors treating all our death-row inmates.
“Acting insane does not exempt you from the rule of law. And it doesn’t mean that you don’t understand that killing people is wrong.
“Ladies and Gentlemen, Alfred Brinkley brought a loaded gun onto the ferry. He targeted his victims with intent and deadly aim. He murdered four of them. And then he ran from the scene of his crime.
“Because Alfred Brinkley knew that what he’d done was wrong.
“The People will prove to you that Mr. Brinkley was legally sane when he committed four acts of murder and two acts of attempted murder. And we will ask you to find him ‘guilty’ on all counts.
“We thank you for your attention. I’m sorry I made some of you cry, but these murders are a tragedy.”
Chapter 65
YUKI WATCHED MICKEY SHERMAN STAND UP from the defense table and confidently cross the courtroom floor to the podium.
Sherman introduced himself to the jury, his hands-in-pockets demeanor and easy charm captivating them with his first sentence.
“Folks, everything the prosecutor told you is true,” he began. It was a daring declaration, Yuki thought. In fact, she’d never heard opposition counsel take that position before.
“You all know what happened on the Del Norte on November first,” Sherman said. “Mr. Brinkley did in fact bring a loaded gun onto the ferry. He shot those people without regard for the consequences to them — or to himself.
“He was surrounded by two hundred fifty people, some of whom witnessed the shooting. Mr. Brinkley didn’t throw his gun away after he fled the Del Norte. He didn’t get rid of the evidence.
“This was not what you’d call a perfect crime. Only an insane person would do these acts and behave in this way.
“So what happened is no mystery.
“But why it happened is what this trial is about.
“Mr. Brinkley did not understand his actions because when he shot those unfortunate people, he was legally insane.
“Since the issue of ‘legal insanity’ will be the basis for your judgment of Mr. Brinkley and his actions, this is a good time to define the term,” Sherman said.
“The issue is this: Did Mr. Brinkley understand the wrong-fulness of his acts when he committed the crimes? If he didn’t understand that those acts were wrong because he suffered from a mental disease or defect at the time the crimes were committed, then he was ‘legally insane.’ ”
Mickey Sherman paused, shuffled his notes on the lectern, and began speaking again in a tone of voice that Yuki admired and feared. It was soft on the ear, personal, as if he trusted that the jurors wouldn’t need theatrics, that his reasoning was not only credible but true.
“Mr. Brinkley has been diagnosed with schizoaffective disorder,” Sherman told the jury. “He has an illness, like cancer, or diabetes, a disabling disease that came to him genetically and also through childhood trauma.
“He didn’t ask for this disease, but he got it.
“It could have happened to you or me or anyone in this room. And what disease could be worse than to have your own brain turn against you and cause you to have thoughts and take actions that are completely against your character and nature?
“I want to say right now that our hearts go out to all the victims of this tragedy. If there was some way we could turn back the clock, if Fred Brinkley could take a magic pill or an injection that would heal him on November first and restore those people’s lives, he would do it in a second.
“If he had known that he was mentally ill, Mr. Brinkley would have gotten treatment. But he didn’t know why he felt the way he did.
“Mr. Brinkley’s