The Price of Justice (16 page)

Back in the courtroom after the lunch break, Dani called the first law-enforcement officer to have investigated one of the other victims of Earl Sanders, followed by eight others. One by one, they described the murder of a young woman, their investigation, the dead ends. In each case, there was no DNA, no other clues. In each case, a vital piece of information was withheld from the public. In each case, Earl Sanders knew that vital piece of information.

There was little Whiting could do to counteract their testimony. He tried to suggest that someone else could have given Whiting that information—the real murderer—but Dani could tell from looking at the jurors’ faces that they thought that was far-fetched.

The next morning, Billy Clark testified that Sanders had stayed at the Tip-Top Inn, only twelve miles from the high school, around the time Carly was murdered, and Debby Malone testified that Sanders had come into the IHOP where she worked, also not far from the high school, during that same week. Dani’s next witness was Max Dolan. He entered the courtroom dressed in a navy suit, a burgundy-silk tie, and crocodile-leather loafers, and walked up to the witness box with the confidence of a man used to success.

“State your name and address for the record.”

“Maxwell Dolan, 54 Livingston Street, Fort Lee, New Jersey.”

“Are you familiar with the defendant?”

Dolan smiled. “Yes. I first met him in elementary school. We went to the same prep school, and then we roomed together at Princeton our first year.” He hesitated, then added, “Well, up until Win was arrested, that is.”

“And did you ever see him outside of prep school or college?”

“Yes. Both our families had homes in Palm Beach. We’d hang out together during winter breaks there. All through elementary and high school and after our first semester at Princeton.”

“Were you acquainted with Carly Sobol?”

“Sure. Win dated her his senior year of high school. When we were down in Palm Beach, we’d hang out in groups, go on double dates, that sort of thing.”

“To your knowledge, what happened to the relationship between Win and Carly?”

“He broke up with her when he left for Princeton.”

“Do you recall where you were on the night of December 15, 2007?”

“Win and I were in Palm Beach. We’d been hanging out together, just driving around, when Win suggested we stop at the high school. They were having their winter dance.”

“And did you go there?”

“Yes. We got to the high school and went inside the gym—that’s where the dance was. I saw a friend of mine and went over to her. Later, I saw Win and Carly leave out the side door. I didn’t know what he had in mind, and since he’d been driving, I went outside to look for him.”

“Did you find him?”

“No.”

“What did you do next?”

“I walked around a bit, then went back into the gym. After a while, I decided to wait by his car.”

“How long did you have to wait?”

“I didn’t. He was already there. We got in his car and drove away then.”

“When you saw him at his car, was there anything about his appearance or behavior that seemed unusual?”

“Nope. He was just Win, smiling and joking around.”

“Were his clothes disheveled? His face flushed? Any scratches on him?”

“No, he was fine.”

“When you were looking for him, did you notice anyone else hanging around outside?”

“I saw this guy, he didn’t seem like he belonged at the high school. He was older, and his clothes were wrong for a dance.”

Dani went to her table and brought over a picture of Earl Sanders. “Is this the person you saw outside the high school?”

“That’s him. I couldn’t forget his face.”

“Thank you. I have no further questions.”

Dani sat down as Whiting stood up and approached Dolan.

“Before the defendant went to prison, did you consider yourself to be his best friend?”

“Yes, and I still do. I write to him regularly.”

“So, you’d want to help your best friend, wouldn’t you?”

“Yes, but I wouldn’t commit perjury to do so.”

“Just answer the question, yes or no,” Whiting said with a scolding tone.

Dolan smoothed down his tie before answering. “Yes, I would want to help him.”

“Isn’t it true that you never told the defendant, or his lawyer, or anyone, in fact, that you saw someone, as you put it, ‘who didn’t seem to belong there’ outside the school on the night in question?”

“I told his investigator, when he showed me a picture of that man. I remembered his face vividly.”

“But that was just recently, was it not?”

“Yes.”

“So, for the seven intervening years, you conveniently forgot about him, right?”

Dani called out, “Objection. Argumentative.”

“Sustained,” said Judge Hinchey.

Whiting smirked as he turned to the jury. “That’s okay. I have no further use for him. He can step down.”

As Dolan left the stand, Dani saw him let out a deep breath, then slump down in a seat next to the other spectators. She had just one more witness. She called Winston Melton to the stand.

As he walked slowly to the witness chair, he glanced at the jury and nodded at them. After he was sworn in, Dani smiled at him warmly, then began her questioning.

“Winston, is that the name you’re called by your friends?” Dani wanted to humanize him for the jury, let them know he was a real person, just like them, erase the image the prosecutor painted of him.

“No, they call me Win.”

Dani nodded. “Okay, Win. Describe your relationship with Carly Sobol.”

Win sat erect in his seat, not slouched over as though he didn’t care, but alert and concerned. “I’d met her in Palm Beach, when I was in high school. When I was a senior in high school, and she a junior, we began dating.”

“Were you seeing each other exclusively during that time?”

“Mostly. When I was at school, I’d go out with some girls, but I just considered them friends.”

“You went to school in Connecticut, and Carly lived in Palm Beach. It seems like you couldn’t have seen Carly very often.”

“During the winter, my dad would take the company jet down on weekends. I’d usually go with him. So, I saw her a lot over the winter. And I went down there over spring break as well.”

“Had you been intimate together?”

Win looked perplexed. “Do you mean sex?”

A few members of the jury tittered.

“Yes, did you have sex with each other?”

“Yes, we’d started doing it.”

“Were you in love with Carly?”

Win shook his head. “No, not really. Sometimes I’d tell her I was, but just to make her feel good when she’d tell me she loved me.”

“How long did this relationship last?”

“The summer before I left for Princeton—I told her we should see other people.”

“How did she take that?”

Now Winston, as instructed by Dani, looked somber. Softly, he answered, “Not well.”

“Did you hear from Carly after that?”

“A few times. She’d call and start crying, asking why we couldn’t get back together.”

“And what would you say?”

“I tried to let her down gently, but I made it clear it was over between us.”

“Now, let’s go back to the night of December 15, 2007. Why did you decide to go to the high school?”

“You know, Max and I were both down in Palm Beach, just kind of hanging around. We knew some kids who went to the high school from all the time we’d spent down there, so I suggested we take a ride and see who was there.”

“What happened when you got there?”

A clouded look passed over Win’s face. Dani knew this wasn’t coached. It was a genuine feeling of sadness. “I spotted Carly dancing with some guy. When the dance ended, he went off somewhere, and she came over to me. She wanted to talk, but it was so loud in the gym, you know, with the music playing, we could hardly hear each other. She took my hand and led me outside.” Win’s hands were held tightly together; his head had dropped down to his chest.

“What happened next?” Dani prompted.

Win looked back up, then turned toward the jury, speaking to them directly. “Even outside, the music was loud. She said, ‘Let’s walk,’ and headed toward the trees. I followed her, until we got to this spot, a little clearing, and she stopped. She threw her arms around me and told me she still loved me. I pulled her hands off me and stepped back from her. I said it was over between us, that I didn’t love her. She got angry, really angry. She hit my chest, pulled my hair, called me a pig. Then suddenly, it was over, like she had no more energy. She moved away from me, leaned up against a tree, and just started crying. I tried to comfort her, but she told me to just go away, leave her alone. I did. I walked away, went back to my car, and left.”

Win stopped for a moment, then continued, still looking at the jury. “I wish I hadn’t. I wish I’d walked her back to the school. Then maybe she’d still be alive.”

Dani waited a beat. “Win, did you kill Carly Sobol?”

Win looked back at Dani now. With a strong voice, he answered, “No. I would never hurt anyone. She was alive when I left her.”

Dani nodded, then turned to Whiting. “Your witness.”

Whiting strode over to Win. “So, you left your old girlfriend in tears, went back to your car. Was Maxwell Dolan waiting for you there?”

“No. He showed up later.”

“We’ve heard Mr. Dolan say you were smiling and joking when you returned. Did you find Ms. Sobol’s behavior amusing?”

“No, I, uh—”

“Answer the question, please.”

Win’s face reddened. “I was a kid, a stupid kid. So, yeah, part of me thought it was funny that she was still hung up on me. But when I heard what happened to her, I felt sick.”

“Why did you go back with her into the woods if you were no longer interested in her?”

“’Cause she was still a friend. I thought we were just going to talk, you know, like what she’s been up to.”

“You saw what she’d been up to. She was dancing with another guy. Isn’t it true that you felt jealous when you saw that?”

“No.”

“Isn’t it true that you wanted to get back together?”

“No.”

“Isn’t it true that she laughed at you when you said that?”

Dani could see Win squirming in his seat.
Hold it together. Stay calm.

“Absolutely not.”

His voice was raised, just short of shouting. Dani had spent hours prepping Win, knowing that Whiting would try to get him agitated. She’d told him over and over, “Don’t lose your temper. If the jury sees that happen, they’ll think you’re capable of murder.” Still, she’d prepped enough witnesses to know that sometimes they fell right into the prosecutor’s tricks.

“Isn’t it true that she told you she’d moved on, just like you’d said she should?”

Win’s mouth was clenched tightly closed, his eyes squeezed to narrow slits.

“Answer the question.”

“
No. She did not say that
.”

Whiting must have thought he had him then, for he went in for the kill. “Isn’t it true that you raped and murdered Carly Sobol?”

Suddenly, it seemed as though Win’s body deflated. The rigidity in his face disappeared, his shoulders relaxed, and his eyes opened widely. With his voice calm, he answered, “Everything I’ve said here is the absolute truth. When I left Carly, she was crying and alive. I didn’t rape her. I didn’t kill her. Even though I didn’t love her, she was my friend, and I felt devastated by her murder.”

“We only have your word for that, don’t we? No one saw her alive after you, isn’t that true?”

“That’s not true. The person who murdered her saw her alive after me.”

Whiting turned to the jury and shook his head, then returned to his table. Dani knew it was done as theater for the jury, but she suspected it was too late. Winston had done well.

C
HAPTER

27

D
ani was back in the courtroom the next morning for what often won or lost a case—the closing arguments.

“Ready, counselors?” Judge Hinchey asked.

Both attorneys nodded. Whiting stood up, patted down his suit pants, and then, with a somber expression, strolled over to the jury.

“Ladies and gentlemen, you have listened carefully to all the evidence, and soon you’ll return to the jury room and begin your deliberations. It is an important duty that you have, especially in a capital case, where a man’s life is in your hands. I know you won’t take that task lightly. I promised you at the beginning of the trial that the evidence would point to only one person as the perpetrator of the horrific crime against seventeen-year-old Carly Sobol. And that person is Winston Melton. He was seen leaving the high school with Carly, and he admits he was with Carly in the woods. How could he deny it? The DNA in the strand of his hair found at the scene was conclusive. So, he knew he had to come up with a story to explain his presence there. But that’s all it is. A story. He has no proof that Carly was alive when he left her. Let’s look at the proof we do have. Winston was with her in the woods; there is no evidence that anyone else was in the woods.

“Now, the defendant’s attorney has offered you a confession from someone else. A serial killer put to death for his own crimes. She says the defendant’s best friend saw Earl Sanders at the high school. But for seven years, he never told anyone that. He let his best friend come close to a lethal injection and kept quiet about seeing ‘a guy who didn’t look like he belonged there’— those are his words—at the school. Is he believable? Would your best friend keep quiet about something so important? I don’t think so.

“Two people who didn’t know the defendant said Earl Sanders was in Palm Beach County back then. Maybe that’s true—it still doesn’t put him at the school. But let me ask you this: If you had more money than you knew what to do with, would you pay someone who was going to die anyway, to confess to a crime your child was charged with? Would you pay someone to say that other person was nearby when the crime was committed? You don’t have to decide whether that was done. You just have to look at the evidence and know that the only person who could have raped and murdered Carly Sobol was the defendant. And when you do that, you must find him guilty of murder in the first degree. Thank you.”

Dani stood up, willing herself to contain her fury. Whiting had stepped over the line when he suggested Sanders’s confession had been bought. She’d begun to object, then stopped herself. It would only make it seem like she wanted to keep that out for a reason. Better to deal with it in her own closing argument. But she needed to remain calm, stay in control. She took a few deep breaths, then walked over to the jury box.

“Ladies and gentlemen, we’ve come to the end of a long trial. But it’s a beginning for you. The beginning of your deliberations. I believe that the testimony you’ve heard will make those deliberations easy for you. Earl Sanders, a convicted rapist and murderer, has confessed to the crime Winston Melton has been charged with. You saw Earl Sanders’s confession during his taped deposition. You heard him describe how he stalked Carly Sobol, how he followed her to the high school, how he snuck up behind her in the woods when he saw his opportunity and strangled her, then raped her. He had facts that were known only to the real killer.

“The prosecution would like you to believe that Mr. Sanders couldn’t have killed Ms. Sobol because there was no reliable evidence that he was in those woods. But you heard Mr. Sanders describe the other murders he committed, all of which went unsolved because he left behind no evidence. Why, then, would he have left behind evidence of his murder of Carly Sobol? He wouldn’t have.

“Unable to attack Mr. Sanders’s confession with the evidence, the prosecution has made up its own story: Mr. Sanders must have been paid. He’s given you no evidence of that, though. No large deposits of money in Mr. Sanders’s bank account, or even in any of his relatives’ bank accounts. No visits to Mr. Sanders’s jail cell by any member of Winston’s family, or any of their lawyers. In fact, no one visited Earl Sanders except his mother, who made the trip once a month.

“Your job is to determine the truth, based on the evidence presented in court. That evidence is clear. Earl Sanders, not Winston Melton, raped and murdered Carly Sobol. Thank you.”

Dani returned to her seat, the judge read instructions to the jury, and they were led out of the courtroom. Her job was finished. Now all she could do was wait.

They didn’t have to wait long. Two hours later, everyone was called back to the courtroom. Dani, Melanie, and Tommy notified Win’s parents and grandmother.

“What do you think it means?” Lucy Melton asked.

“It could be good news that they decided so quickly. But juries are unpredictable.”

They all entered the courtroom. Whiting was already seated at his table. The judge was on the bench.

“Bring in the jury,” Hinchey said.

The door opened, and twelve men and women walked silently to their seats. Dani looked at each one, hoping she’d make eye contact and see a smile in return. Instead, the jurors all looked straight ahead, their faces blank.

“I understand you have a verdict.”

The jury foreman stood. “Yes, Your Honor.” He handed a folded sheet of paper to the bailiff, who brought it to the judge. He opened it, took a look, then had the bailiff return it to the foreman.

Hinchey asked the defendant to stand, and he did, along with Dani and Melanie. Dani slipped her hand into Win’s. All eyes were trained on the foreman, who now looked directly at Winston.

“On the charge of murder in the first degree, we the jury, find the defendant, Winston Melton, not guilty.”

Dani felt Win’s hand go limp and gave it a squeeze.

“On the charge of sexual battery in the first degree, we the jury, find the defendant, Winston Melton, not guilty.”

As the courtroom erupted, Dani turned and hugged Winston. When she pulled away, she saw tears running down his cheek.

“Th-thank you,” he whispered to her. “Thank you for believing in me.”

A moment later, Win’s parents rushed them, with hugs everywhere. Tears streamed down Lucy Melton’s face, and Donald’s arm around her waist seemed to be holding her upright. Amelia Melton stood to the side, her erect bearing never wavering. She looked at Dani and, with the smallest of smiles, said, “Well done.”

The pounding of the judge’s gavel brought everyone to a halt. “Quiet down, everyone, we’re not finished here. I hereby order the immediate release of Winston Melton. You’re free to go, young man.”

Winston fell back into his chair. “I can’t believe this. I’m really free?”

“Yes,” Dani said. “It’s over. You’re free.”

As they left the courthouse, Dani saw Greg Kincaid stomp away, a vein pulsing in his forehead. Once outside, they were besieged by the throngs of cameras and reporters. Dani leaned in to Melanie. “You take the television crews. I’ll handle the newspapers.” Dani still felt self-conscious about the extra weight she’d now carried on her body for years. Everyone said the cameras added another ten pounds. She couldn’t bear to watch herself on television that way. Besides, Melanie was beautiful. Even with the camera’s extra ten pounds, the viewers would love her.

Winston stayed by Melanie’s side, and Dani could hear the reporters ask him how it felt to be freed. Before she heard his answer, a voice called out to her. “Ms. Trumball, do you think this case demonstrates the problem with Florida’s Timely Justice Act?”

Dani turned to the reporter, a young woman with sun-bleached hair and a freckled nose. “Yes, I do. If Earl Sanders hadn’t been so close to his own execution, he might not have confessed. Even if Sanders’s execution had been delayed only six months, it would have been too late for Winston. Florida would have executed an innocent man.”

Finished with Dani, the reporter turned to Carly’s parents, standing nearby. “What do you think of the verdict?” Dani heard her ask.

“Anyone who watched that tape had to know Earl Sanders killed our daughter,” Chip Sobol answered. “We’re just relieved that it’s over. Carly’s murderer is finally dead.” It took a half hour for the reporters to finish their interviews with the attorneys, with Winston, with his family, and with the Sobols. When the hubbub finally quieted down, Dani felt exhausted. It was time to go home. Time to take a vacation.