The reports from the trial after my testimony, and Officer Barnes' as well were big. Most of it seemed to focus on Beauregard being thrown out of the jury for bribing the judge. Judge Pax never made any formal charge, likely because Beauregard would get around it by saying it was merely a campaign donation and that he had no expectation of Pax giving Beauregard's verdict on the trial. With no evidence beyond what I had overheard, no criminal trial would ever get Beauregard on the charge. It was only enough to get him off of the jury, but that was fine by me. Beauregard likely wouldn't change his decision regardless of the evidence. Now with him gone from the trial, maybe the others would concede the facts.
Part of the revelation that I had revealed involved my hearing and other senses, and what became the most surprising thing for me in the first couple of days after my testimony and Officer Barnes made his was how many people were curious about how good my senses were. How far could I see, and in what detail? Could I seen in color? Could I detect drugs by scent? Could I hear a gun being cocked from a long way away? It was all curiosity that no one had ever given Molly before, or me since my own transformation.
And that was positive attention I was more then willing to answer. Some of it seemed to come from the same vein of "how can I use this", but I figured the more I shared with some of these curious people, the less likely they would see Molly and I as mindless animals and be so willing to support Beauregard and his R.A.M. movement.
And Beauregard was still out there. Several R.A.M. members protested outside the station with signs saying, "Tigers aren't Human." It was a rather redundant sign, but I figured they were trying convey the message that I was only a dumb animal and couldn't do anything similar to what a human could do. I continued to go about my work and ignored them. Beauregard also wrote several letters to the editor that were piratically articles in their length that covered how I was really the attacker in the case and who I was a threat to society.
All of them had no basis in fact, and to me it seemed as if R.A.M. was starting to break under the pressure. The kids all seemed to love Molly, and now more people were curious about what I could do rather then deciding what I was good for. A lot of this also had to be costing Beauregard money, which would be the ultimate deciding factor. If he spent too much money and failed in his little venture to get rid of Molly and I, R.A.M. would become nothing more then a minor irritant, because it didn't have the financial means to organize anything big.
And winning the court case would go a long way to doing that. And when the next day of the trial began, Officer Barnes and I were still assigned to be present to see how the trial ended.
++++++++++++++++++++++
The trial resumed a few days later with Joey Barnes presenting copies of the evidence that had been collected from the scene to the remaining jury members and calling one of the game wardens to the stand.
"Now, Officer Welk, you and your partner have served as Game Wardens for a fairly long time in the state of Montana, have you not?" Joey Barnes asked him.
"Yes," the Game Warden, Officer Welk, nodded.
"So you would be familiar with the tracks and calls of all the animals that can be hunted in the state of Montana?" Joey Barnes asked him.
"Yes," Officer Welk answered, "I and my partner would also be responsible for responding to any illegal hunting done in the state. Poaching and so forth. We would also be responsible for cooperating with Animal Control in instances where a pet has gone out of control and when an exotic animal has gone out of control and attacks someone."
"So you would be able to identify the tracks made in the photographs provided?" Joey Barnes asked as he motioned to the photographs provided.
"Yes."
"And what would these tracks in the photographs be of?" Joey Barnes asked.
"By their design, they are the tracks of a felid, BUT there are some things that would make things different from what the defendants were claiming," Officer Welk said plainly.
"How so?" Joey Barnes questioned.
"They claimed that the attacking animal was a tiger, and probably Officer Wayne or his wife specifically, as Officer Barnes and Officer Wayne have both already testified," Officer Welk explained, "however, the evidence would indicate that their claim was a complete fraud."
Officer Welk then thumbed through the photographs that Joey Barnes had had him explain through.
"The first would be the indentation of the prints themselves," Officer Welk spoke, "as you can see in these photos, where Officer Wayne is standing next to the prints, the prints are not deep enough in the snow for it to be a tiger. They are of the right size in terms of the dimensions of a tiger's print, but the prints at the scene were not deep enough to have been left by a tiger of Officer Wayne or his wife's size."
"Judging by the indentation of the prints, what wild cat could be responsible for them?" Joey Barnes asked, "if a wild cat was indeed responsible."
"A lynx, however, the defendants didn't say it was a lynx," Officer Welk told him, "they continued to say it was a tiger, and that it was Officer Wayne."
"I see," Joey Barnes commented.
"There is also the fact that the prints are also the outline of a tiger's footprint," Officer Welk continued.
"An outline?" Joey Barnes asked.
"Yes," Officer Welk nodded, "if you look closely at the photos of the prints, you will notice that there is no indentation of the pads or any individual toe, which would indicate that whatever made the prints was completely flat. A board carved to resemble a tiger's foot attached to a pole."
"I see, and what about the animal calls the defendant's claimed to have been made by a tiger?" Joey Barnes questioned, "Jason Regus has already claimed that they recorded the calls and were playing them back when Officer Wayne and Officer Barnes arrived."
"The calls recorded were that of a female Mountain Lion in heat," Officer Welk answered, "our people have already tested them at our station and confirmed that. And you can not test that against Officer Wayne's roar, since he is male."
"Objection, what does that have to do with this?" Regus spoke up.
"Male animals do not go into heat," Officer Welk told him, "and outside of seahorses, male animals do not give birth."
"Overruled," Judge Pax answered.
"Those are all the questions, I have, your honor," Joey Barnes told Judge Pax.
"Does the defense have any questions?" Judge Pax may step down.
Jason Regus shook his head and sighed. His only tactic had been to try and raise some sort of doubt and imply that I could have made the attack. But, in using the photographs that the game wardens, Officer Barnes, and the Animal Control officers had taken, that tactic had no ground to stand on. And the admission of Regus's that I had overheard him say that Beauregard intended to bribe the Judge took a lot of his case out from under him.
"Do you have any witnesses or evidence to support your case at all?" Judge Pax asked with a sigh.
"No, your honor," Regus answered with a sigh.
"Does the prosecution rest its case?" Judge Pax asked.
"No, your honor," Joey Barnes answered, "there is additional evidence that I feel I MUST present."
Judge Pax then sighed, clearly frustrated that the trial had gone on this long when there was no evidence of any kind that the defense had that wasn't already inadmissible or an outright lie or fraud.
"Very well," Judge Pax sighed, "Call your next witness."
"The prosecution calls the Animal Control examination officer Sally Field to the stand," Joey Barnes spoke.
A female Animal Control Officer got up from the small gathering of people who were still there to witness what had become a rather lopsided trial which had become clearly a case in which corruption would become the only saving grace for the defendants. And that wasn't likely. She took her oath to tell the truth and waited for Joey Barnes to begin questioning her.
"Now, Officer Field, you were in charge of examining the cow that was brought to your facility, am I right?" Joey Barnes asked her first.
I noticed Regus seemed somewhat hopeful that he might have an argument to get the defendant's off, but he didn't yet have an opportunity to ask it.
"Yes," Officer Field answered.
"What was the cause of death for the cow?"
"Blood loss sustained from multiple gun shots to the neck," Officer Field answered, "photographs taken of the wounds during the necropsy clearly indicate this, and the wounds are consistent with damage caused by a 5.56 x 45mm NATO/Colt Hunting Round. We had to contact units of our state National Guard to get a clear comparison."
"The weapon used was an M16A2?"
"Judging by the wounds, it was the civilian equivalent of the weapon, yes," Officer Field answered.
"Can you venture as to why such a weapon was needed to kill the cow?" Joey Barnes questioned, "Was it sick in any way?"
"We found no sign of sickness or injury that would have forced the Smiths to put the animal down," Officer Field answered, "our best guess is that the cow was shot with the weapon to give the appearance of an animal attack to the throat..."
"That say a tiger attacked the cow and strangled it?" Joey Barnes asked.
Officer Field nodded, "not that the bullet wounds match up with the bite marks of ANY animal, let alone Officer Wayne."
"And did you find any evidence that would indicate that it was William Smith's M16 that was used in the execution of the cow?" Joey then asked.
This is what got Regus's attention, from what I could see. It was really his only claim left, that while the animal was shot, that someone else had shot it. The fact that an assault rifle was used would keep me clear, I knew it would be the only hope these two likely R.A.M. members had of getting out of some jail time and an extremely hefty fine.
"We found two rounds lodged in the spinal column that had the serial numbers of M16 hunting ammunition sold to William Smith two weeks before the incident," Officer Field answered.
"Two weeks?"
"Yes," Officer Field nodded.
"And what would this indicate to you?"
"Not only was this animal cruelty, but that it was planned in advance," Officer Field answered.
"The prosecution rests, your honor," Joey Barnes then said confidently.
"Do you have any questions?" Judge Pax asked Regus.
"Only one, your honor," Jason Regus spoke and stood up.
He then approached the witness stand slowly.
"You say it was William Smith's weapon that was used?" Regus asked.
"Yes."
"Can you prove it was actually one of the Smith's who fired the weapon?" Regus questioned, "Suppose someone else had stolen it and fired it."
"Objection, nothing of that nature was filed in the police report!" Joey Barnes challenged, "and William Smith's prints were all over the weapon. Ebenezer Smith's prints were also on the barrel of the weapon."
"Sustained," Judge Pax spoke.
"No further questions your honor," Regus spoke, "the defense also rests and has no concluding statement."
"Does the prosecution have any closing statement before the Jury is sent to deliberate this case?" Judge Pax asked.
"Nothing more then that the evidence has clearly shown that the Smith's deliberately and cruelly slaughtered one of their own animals for no reason other then to try and frame Officer Wayne for the attack," Joey Barnes said and then sat down.
"Very well," Judge Pax answered, "we will recess for ten minutes to allow the jury to deliberate the evidence presented."
He then banged the gavel down.
"Do you want anything?" Officer Barnes asked while we waited.
"No, I'll be fine," I said stretching my legs out the side of row we were in, "ten minutes isn't that long."
We then waited patiently while the jury deliberated. I had been somewhat surprised the Michael York had faired as well as he had there, as by his age and condition... and from what he had said to Molly and I when he gave us Bandhavgarh Cabin, I had thought that such a trip would be far too strenuous for him. Beauregard was still present, but seemed to be exceedingly nervous. Officer Barnes and I sat quietly watching him. After ten minutes, Judge Pax returned, as did the jury.
"Have you reached a verdict?" Judge Pax spoke.
It was Michael York who stood up.
"We have your honor," Michael York spoke, "by a vote of ten to nine, we the jury find the defendants guilty as charged."
Both ranchers slumped back in their chairs.
"Very well," Judge Pax spoke, "because this trial is a mixed civil and criminal trial, I will start with the civil trial first. All the animals seized are awarded to the Columbia Falls Police Department to do with as they please and Ebenezer and William Smith are to pay twenty five thousand dollars in restitution to the law enforcement services they called to their ranch... EACH."
Both men slumped down with a defeated look. It wasn't likely that each of them could pay 25,000 dollars short of selling their ranch, or allowing it to be seized.
"And for the criminal punishment, both defendants are to spend five years in state prison with parole hearings for good behavior to be heard in three years time," Judge Pax finished, "this court is adjourned."