A Matter of Conviction

“I didn’t mean to imply that Aposto has the intelligence of a newborn baby. Surely you know that. When we’re dealing with intelligence we’re usually dealing with averages. We try to establish a norm, an intelligence level for an age level. In psychological terms, intelligence is intelligence only when we—”

“How long have you worked for Bellevue?” Hank asked quickly.

“Twelve years.”

“And all you can say is that intelligence is intelligence is intelligence? Doesn’t that sound a bit like Gertrude Stein?”

At the back of the room, Karin immediately recognized Hank’s change of tactics. He had initially built up Addison as an expert, and he was now trying to make him appear the fool. She put her hand to her mouth, wondering what he was trying to accomplish by this sudden switch.

“This is a little difficult to explain to a layman,” Addison said aloofly. “When we say that someone has the intelligence of a ten-year-old, we don’t actually mean that. There are a great many qualitative differences.”

“And when you say someone who is a mental deficient, who has an I.Q. of sixty-seven, who has poor sense of reality, judgment and emotional control, who is functioning at close to his endowment level — when you say this person would know that he was committing an act of murder, what do you mean then, Mr. Addison? Is it the same intelligence-is-intelligence double talk? Do you know what you mean, Mr. Addison?”

“I know exactly what I mean. Emotionally, Aposto may not have known what he was doing. But he knew what he was doing intellectually. He knew that if he stabbed a boy, he was committing a crime.”

“Are you aware of the legalistic concept of insanity?”

“I am. Aposto is not insane. Either legalistically or medically. He is a mental deficient, but he was capable of understanding the consequences of a stabbing.”

“And how do you know that?” Hank said angrily. “How can you possibly know what was in this boy’s mind when, and if, he stabbed another boy?”

“I can’t know. But neither can I testify that he did not know what he was doing. That’s what you want me to say, isn’t it?”

“I want you to say whatever you want to say,” Hank answered. He turned away from Addison. “Your witness,” he said to the defense table.

Aposto’s attorney rose. “No questions, Your Honor,” he said.

Samalson looked first at the defense table, and then at Hank. “The court will recess for ten minutes,” he said briskly. “Would Mr. Bell please join me in my chambers?”

“The court will recess for ten minutes,” the court clerk announced. “All rise.”

The spectators, the witnesses, the reporters, the defendants, the lawyers all rose as Samalson walked out of the room, his robes trailing behind him.

“Why does he want to see Daddy?” Jennie asked.

“I don’t know,” Karin said.

“Is he allowed to do that? Without having the defense attorneys present?”

“It may be considered prejudicial, but it’s Abe’s courtroom, and he can do whatever he wants in it.”

“I wonder why he wants to see Daddy,” Jennie said.

“Sit down, Hank,” Samalson said.

“Thank you.”

“No more judge and district attorney. For now, just friends. That okay with you?”

“That’s fine with me.”

“All right, answer one question for me, will you?”

“Shoot.”

“Are you trying to lose your job?”

“I don’t know what you mean.”

“Now, Hank, you know damn well what I mean. You just questioned that witness with the objective of getting him to say Aposto was not responsible for his actions. Obviously, that was what the psychiatric report indicated to you. When Addison refused to go along with you, you tried to discredit his testimony.”

“I suppose I...”

“I’m going to tell you something, Hank. The defense attorneys are not boobs. They were appointed by the court, and they probably accepted the case because they knew there’d be a lot of newspaper publicity, but they are not boobs. They are sharp criminal lawyers. And they damn well know that the state will accept the testimony of either two psychiatrists or one psychiatrist and one psychologist as evidence that a defendant had no knowledge of the consequences of a crime while committing it. And you can damn well bet they’ve got those two psychiatrists in their pocket, ready to testify that Aposto wouldn’t even know the consequences of a game of checkers! Which is why they waived cross-examination of your witness. They’ve got their own men waiting. So your move was a dumb one because you were trying to do their job for them when they’re prepared to do it better themselves. But what I want to know is this. Why are you trying to do their job? Suppose you tell me.”

“Abe...”

“If you have doubts about the guilt of these boys, you should have gone to the district attorney with them. Damnit, you can get fired for this. Do you want to get fired?”

“No. I don’t want to get fired.”