Page 109 of The Proving Ground

“I seriously doubt that,” I said. “It’s civil court. She’ll find some other way of putting the boot in me.”

“It better not be a fine,” Lorna said. “We don’t have any money coming in.”

“Let me worry about that,” I said. “Is Spindler all set?”

“Good to go,” Cisco said. “He’s in the attorney room.”

“Good,” I said. “You can bring him in.”

Cisco headed off and I looked at Lorna.

“Lorna, will you see to it that Dr. Debbie gets back to her hotel and then on the next plane to Tampa?”

“Absolutely.”

“And make it first class.”

“Mickey, we don’t have—”

“She deserves it. The jurors loved her.”

Over Lorna’s shoulder, I watched Cisco go through the courtroom door. I then noticed that Cassandra Snow was sitting in her wheelchair behind the last row of the gallery.

“You’re staying here?” Lorna asked. “No bathroom break?”

“No, I’m staying,” I said.

“Well, knock ’em dead.”

“That’s the plan.”

Lorna headed out of the courtroom and I went through the gate and down the aisle behind her to talk to Cassie Snow.

“Let me guess,” I said. “Field trip?”

“No, I just thought I would come by and watch,” she said. “I’ve been reading articles about the case.”

“Hopefully they’ve been kind to me and my case. I haven’t had a chance to read them.”

“I’ve followed you in the media for a long time and I realized I had never seen you live in a courtroom.”

“Well… I’m sure it’s underwhelming.”

“Not at all.”

I nodded my thanks. I wasn’t sure what else to say and I needed to get back to the table to go over my notes before my direct examination of Professor Spindler.

“Did you just get in big trouble with the judge?” she asked.

“Maybe,” I said. “We’ll see. How’s your father doing?”

“We talked yesterday. I told him you were on the case.”

“Yes, well, as you can probably see, a trial becomes all-consuming. But we are preparing a habeas package for the district attorney’s office to review. It’s already in motion.”

“I thought habeas is federal.”

“Habeas is federalandstate, but it can take months, even years, to get on the docket in either court. We don’t have that kind of time. My plan is to go to the DA’s office first and try to convince them of this miscarriage of justice. If they come on board, we just go to a judge in superior court and ask that the conviction be discharged or for a resentencing that leads to a release. I think it will be the fastest way to go.”