A Matter of Conviction

“I couldn’t say exactly. I administer tests every day of the week.”

“Would you say the number of tests you’ve administered was in the hundreds?”

“More than that.”

“In the thousands, would you say?”

“Yes, I would say so.”

“Is it true that you administered several psychological tests to Anthony Aposto when he was remanded to Bellevue for examination?”

“Yes, that’s true.”

“When was this, Mr. Addison?”

“I tested him on July twenty-eighth.”

“And prepared a report which was signed by your superior, Dr. Deregeaux, is that right?”

“That’s right.”

“Would you look at this, please?” He handed Exhibit One to Addison. “Is that the report you prepared?”

Addison leafed through it. “Yes, that’s the report.”

“Now, there are a lot of psychological terms in this report, Mr. Addison, and I’m not sure what they all mean. I wonder if you could explain some of them to me.”

“I’ll try.”

“You say here that Aposto made responses indicative of poor sense of reality and poor judgment. What does that mean in terms of a boy who might have stabbed another boy?”

“Well, it could mean that the stabbing, for this boy, had no real basis in reality. For example, someone may have said to him, ‘Stabbing this boy will be fun.’ In which case, Aposto might have seized upon the idea that it would be fun. Or perhaps he misinterpreted something someone said, allowing it to anger him out of all proportion to the real meaning of the remark. In short, his motive could have had nothing whatever to do with the reality of the situation. That’s what is meant by a poor sense of reality. His reasons for the stabbing could have been completely unrealistic ones controlled by some inner conflict.”

“I see. In your opinion, Mr. Addison, is Anthony Aposto capable of committing an act which requires premeditation?”

“No. If I may qualify that. We must assume that a person capable of planning something is a person with a sound grasp of reality. I am speaking now of a real plan, you understand.”

“A long-range plan? A plan for a career? A savings plan? Is that what you mean?”

“Yes.”

“Or a shorter-range plan? A plan for tomorrow?”

“Well, that’s not exactly what I had in mind. That might be extending the word ‘plan’ somewhat.”

“Did you hear the testimony of Aposto a few moments ago?”

“I did.”

“When I asked him what he would do tomorrow, he couldn’t seem to decide.”

“Well, that may have been due to the excitement of being questioned by a district attorney.”

“Are you excited now?”

“Not terribly.”

“Then what makes you think Anthony Aposto was excited?”

“Anthony Aposto is a disturbed personality with an intelligence quotient of sixty-seven. My I.Q. is one hundred fifty-two, and to the best of my knowledge I am not disturbed.”

“In spite of his excitement,” Hank said, “shouldn’t he have been able to decide what he wanted to do tomorrow?”

“I think Anthony Aposto is perfectly capable of making a plan for tomorrow. Because of his low I.Q., he may execute the plan badly, but he could certainly make a short-range plan such as that.”

“I see,” Hank said. He seemed suddenly troubled. “Would he be capable of planning the murder of Rafael Morrez?”

“Objection,” the defense screamed.

“Your Honor, a boy was killed,” Hank said, “and I am trying to find out whether or not one of the defendants was, in the opinion of a practicing psychologist, capable of planning that boy’s death. Since premeditation is an integral part of the crime of first-degree murder, and since we are prosecuting for first-degree—”

“Objection overruled,” Samalson said. “Proceed.”

“Would you answer the question, please. Mr. Addison?”

“I do not believe he would be capable of formulating an advance plan of murder,” Addison said.

“But he would be capable, would he not, of stabbing another boy on the impulse of—”

“Objection!”

“Sustained. Rephrase it, Mr. Bell.”

“Could he kill on impulse?”

“Yes.”

“At the height of passion?”

“Yes.”

“Would he know that he was killing?”

The courtroom was suddenly very silent.

“Yes,” Addison said. “He would know that he was killing.”

Sitting at the back of the room, Karin saw Hank’s back stiffen and knew instantly that this was not the answer he had expected.

“Now, just a minute, Mr. Addison,” Hank said quickly. “In your report, you said this boy was functioning at close to his endowment level. What does that mean?”

“The endowment level is a theoretical concept. It simply means the intelligence he was born with. A boy functioning at close to his endowment level has come as far intellectually as he is ever going to.”

“The intelligence he was born with? Do you mean that Aposto is functioning with the intelligence of a newborn baby?”

“No, I...”

“Can a newborn baby tell the difference between right and wrong, Mr. Addison?”