The Trial

It was a cold morning. I had to stop at work before heading to the courthouse. I hate the cold. It would be such a long walk from the parking lot to the courthouse. Opening statements would happen this morning. I was a nervous wreck. I thought about all of the work I would be missing again.
The courtroom was crowded. My whole family was there. I saw our court advocates right away and felt better. I expected a lot of media, my family and friends to be there. What I had not expected, was the large group of people there to support Galione and Reeves. This really surprised me. I really didn’t expect the attitudes they had towards us. The nasty looks and comments hurt. I would have expected some shred of compassion. This was hard enough and now we had to deal with them.
I noticed right away a life size photo of Dave at the front of the courtroom. I had not expected that but it made me feel like he was there.
In his opening statement, Matt Weintraub said he would put witnesses on the stand that would testify that David, Joey and Anthony were so terrified they tried to flee. They banged on doors begging for help. Neighbors would testify that David was pleading for his life, screaming, don’t kill me I have a kid. This is a case of senseless violence, Matt said. It was chilling. I watched the juror’s faces as Matt was speaking. I was glad they seemed to be paying attention. Matt was impressive.
Jerry Reeves’ attorney was Peter Hall. He was a public defender. He was kind of dumpy looking but seemed professional. He seemed annoyed by Matt’s opening statement. Mel Kardos’ on the other hand seemed fidgety. He was shrugging his shoulders and rolling his eyes. Perhaps I just did not like him. I know I did not like him. I could not help thinking he should have just told his client to tell the truth. To say yes I hit him in the head many, many times with the claw end of the hammer, I am very sorry but I am guilty. I may have felt differently. I may not have.
Jimmy Galione looked ridiculous. He was dressed in dark blue pants, a dress shirt and a dark blue sweater vest. They were trying to make him look like an innocent little Catholic school boy but he was so tall it just looked hideous. He did not look sorry. He looked like a liar. He occasionally turned around and smiled at one of his family members. I wanted to puke.
Jerry Reeves looked uncomfortable. He kept his head down most of the time, especially when Matt was speaking. At least he looked guilty.
Let me tell you it takes a lot of self control to be in this position. I love my country. I do believe in our justice system but there is a lot that could be improved. Sitting in a court room full of the killer's supporters is inhumane. There has to be a better way. I tried so hard to ignore them; but they made it impossible.