“For the records state your name and occupation.” The prosecuting attorney, determined to quickly present his case, addressed the doctor.
Leaning forward to speak clearly into the microphone doctor Gordon raised his voice, speaking louder than necessary. “I’m doctor Tim Gordon of the Williams County medical facility.”
“Exactly why were you summoned to this court?” Once again the prosecuting attorney demanded a response.
Again Doctor Gordon leaned forward to clearly speak into the microphone. “I was called to examine Herb. I’ve always called him Herb. To determine if he is fit and capable to stand trial.”
“Exactly what your findings?”
“I see no problem with either his mental or physical being to stand before this court.” Doctor Gordon spoke with confidence.
Immediately the prosecuting attorney turned to the judge and stated. “No further questions.”
Taking a moment to glance at the clock that hung above the exit door Judge Ross pointed toward William, the defense attorney. “You may cross examine.”
With a quick thought William didn’t even raise his head to speak, but instead seemed quite interested in his notes he had written. “Just how extensive did you examine my client?”
Doctor Gordon didn’t hesitate. “I gave him a full physical examination along with numerous mental test to determine his capabilities.”
“Your findings are that Herbert is totally capable of withstanding this trial for the murder of said.” He paused for a moment to examine his notes. “Philip Thomson.”
“Yes! I find no problem.”
“Just how long have you known Herbert?”
“Like I said I’ve always called him Herb. I’ve known him since he was a child.” Doctor Gordon continued. “In fact I brought him into this world. I remember his mother had a hard time delivering him and was in labor for.”
William interrupted. “As a child did Herbert posses any special gifts of any kind?”
“Yes he did. Herb has a photographic memory. A memory that is actually rather unique.”
“Are there any other unique qualities that Herbert possesses?”
Doctor Gordon answered immediately without hesitation. “No matter what you tell him to do you must be specific or the outcome could be disastrous.”
Doctor Gordon’s answer turned William’s head toward the jury. “Specific. That’s the key word here. Specific. Take note that Herbert is not your average individual. If he is instructed to perform even a negligible task he must be instructed correctly or the outcome could be disastrous. I have no further questions.”
Immediately Doctor Gordon received instruction to step down and Albert, Herbert’s older brother, was called to the witness stand. For the next fifteen minutes the prosecuting attorney asked Albert several questions.
After being addressed by the judge William stood up and walked toward the witness stand. “Just what exactly happened that day the twenty-third of October?”
“It must have been around three o’clock when Philip showed up. Herb and I were busy overhauling carburetors as we generally do every day. We do that for a living for a company out of Minnesota.” Albert explained.
“Anyway! Philip saw some pheasants gathering near old lady Motts tree row and wanted to go bag a few before it got dark. I couldn’t pass up a deal like that so I told Herb to go get the shotguns. I always take Herb pheasant hunting whenever I go.” Albert displayed pride in being so close to Herb.
“Well we drove to old lady Motts tree row and I decided to walk through the middle and scare up the pheasants so Herb and Philip could shoot first. Later we would trade places and Herb would scare them up for us.”
“Anyway! Immediately I heard a shot even before I had a chance to scare up any pheasants. I didn’t think anything of it. I just thought that they must have bagged one already. It must have been only about two or three minutes later I heard another shot.”
William interrupted. “What happened after you heard the second shot?”
“I started making my way toward Herb and Philip when Herb came running toward me with a look on his face that would frighten a bobcat out of a tree. When he reached me he sounded out of breath, stuttering the words, I think Philip is dead. I immediately tried to calm him down and told him to show me.”
“And just what did you observe when you reached where the victim lay?” William wanted details.
“Well he was dead alright. In fact his face had been blown away. I couldn’t even recognize him. After that I checked Herb’s gun and sure enough the shots had been fired out of his gun. I tried to ask him what happened but all he could say was she told me to do it.”
“I have no further questions your honor.” William referred directly to the judge.
“You may step down and we’ll break for lunch. We’ll resume at one-thirty.” Judge Ross exited the courtroom.
Feeling somewhat confused Albert rushed over to William. “What are you doing? Why didn’t you let me finish what I had to say? I wanted to say that Herb didn’t shoot him intentionally but the lady told him to shoot him.”
William looked up from his notes. “Trust me. I couldn’t let you continue or you would have hung Herbert. If you want to get him off of these charges you’ll need to trust me.”
“All rise!” The bailiff quieted the courtroom. Judge Ross took his place in his chair as all were seated.
“I would like to call to the witness stand Sheriff Taylor.” The prosecuting attorney addressed the court.
Well into the sheriffs testimony the prosecuting attorney asked “And what did you see after you got to the crime scene?”
“Lying dead on the ground lay Philip with his head almost blown off.” Sheriff Taylor tried to be as detailed as possible.
“What happened after that?”
“I checked every man’s gun to see which gun had been fired. I found that only Herbert’s gun had been discharged. So I read him his rights and arrested him for the murder of Philip Creed. I took him to the jail.”
“No further questions your honor.” The prosecuting attorney felt confident that he had this court case sewed up.
Without hesitation William confronted the Sheriff. “When you received the phone call whom did you talk to?
“I talked to Albert. Herbert’s brother.”
“And why do you suppose that is? Why would Albert call you instead of running, trying to cover up what he did so to protect Herbert?”
“I suppose he feels the same way about Herbert as I do. Albert is okay but Herbert, well he’s a different story.” For more then thirty years sheriff Taylor had been the Loki County Sheriff and never did have a good opinion of Herbert. Instead he always looked for fault. “I knew all along that eventually something like this would happen with him.” The sheriff didn’t have a good word to say about Herbert.
“I see it just the opposite. I think that Albert called you because he trusted you and he felt that you would be fare about this whole matter. Instead you’re acting as if Herbert done this intentionally.”
The prosecuting attorney demanded “Objection!”
Judge Ross demanded, “What’s your point here. Remember that Sheriff Taylor only done his duty. He handled the matter as any other sheriff would have.”
“No further questions your honor.”
“At this time I would like to call to the stand Mrs. Collar, Herbert’s mom.” The prosecuting attorney announced.
After the initial swearing in the persecuting attorney stated his first question. “As a child did Herbert ever display any unruliness at all?”
Mrs. Collar hesitated to answer the question. “Every child is unruly at times.” She responded.
“Let me rephrase the question. Did you at any time in his childhood determine that you were trying to raise a youngster that could become violent without reason?”
Mrs. Collar hesitated once again. “No.”
“What about the incident on the playground at school, where Herbert almost kicked another child to death, over a simple possession of a ball.” The prosecuting attorney only told part of the story.
“I remember that day. Several other kids were playing ball and Herbert joined in as they picked out teams. Part way into the ball game another child decided he wanted to play with the ball and took the ball away from the other kids. At that time the other kids told Herbert to get the ball back so they could continue the game. Those other kids told him to kick him.” Herbert’s mom tried to defend him.
“Yes but isn’t it true that at that time the school board recommended you take Herbert out of school and put him into a special school for special children?”
Mrs. Collar answered slowly “Yes.”
“And what did you do with Herbert at that time?”
“I brought him home and decided to teach him at home.”
“Isn’t that a little unusual? To teach a child at home when you are not even qualified to teach anyone, let alone, teach a child that requires special education.”
Mrs. Collar responded. “I tried to put him into a special school but I couldn’t afford that school. They wanted six thousand dollars a year….”
The prosecuting attorney interrupted. “Money isn’t the issue here. You knew that your child needed special education and you refused to give it to him. Now don’t you think that perhaps if Herbert would have attended this special school that he wouldn’t be here today on trial for murder?”
“Objection!” William yelled out. “Badgering the witness. At the time that she raised Herbert help was not available for special needs children, as it is now. Her financial status is not on trial here.”
Before judge Ross could make a ruling the prosecuting attorney stated “No further questions.”
Defense lawyer William folded his notebook and stepped toward the witness stand. “Mrs. Collar. As a young child did you realize that Herbert possessed special qualities?”
“Yes I did.”
“And what special qualities, or needs, did Herbert possess?”
“Herbert is not a bad person but he will do anything that anyone ask him to do. Regardless whether it is right or wrong. He doesn’t really know the difference.”
“Can you explain?”
“A person needs to tell him specifically what they want. Then he will do everything right.”
“Would you take the time to tell us about the cat incident?”
“We had this special cat that I really loved. Most of the time the cat lived in the house. Herbert really liked the cat and often would play with the cat. At times I would let the cat outside so she could do her, well you know. I’m not sure if I am allowed to say.”
William interrupted. “Continue on. We know what you are talking about.”
Mrs. Collar smiled. “One afternoon I let the cat outside and she got into the garage where Albert and Herbert work. They work for this company fixing carburetors or something like that. Any way, Albert and Herbert went into town that afternoon to pick up a shipment of parts. The cat jumped onto the table where the carburetors were and made a mess. Just then Albert and Herbert returned home and caught the cat destroying their work. Albert was mad. He looked at Herbert and said Herbert, I want this cat dead and buried.”
“And what happened then?” William wanted her to continue.
“Well Herbert took that as a demand from Albert. You see Albert took the time to teach Herbert his job and Herbert done everything Albert told him to do.”
“What happened after that?” William continued with the questions.
“That night the cat didn’t come inside. The next day nobody could find the cat. Then I asked Herbert if he knew where the cat was. He took me out by the close line and showed me the grave where he had buried the cat, after he had strangled it.”
William turned to the jury and stated. “The point that I’m trying to get across here is even though Herbert loved the cat. Because of a fit of madness Herbert done exactly what he was instructed to do by his older brother. No further questions your honor.”
“At this time we will continue at ten o’clock tomorrow morning.” The judge set the time and left the courtroom. Moments later two police officers handcuffed Herbert and guided him out the side door.
“All rise!” The bailiff announced.
Ten AM seemed to come quickly that morning. Everyone hoped that this would be the last day of the trial. So far it didn’t look very good for Herbert. Should he be convicted of murder the lesser sentence would be life in prison. Judge Ross entered the room and took his seat. The prosecuting attorney examined Herbert whom sat in the witness stand. He didn’t seem nervous at all. In fact he acted as if he still didn’t know what had happened. Without delay he answered all of the prosecuting attorney’s questions.
William took a moment to pause before asking Herbert the first question. “Herbert. Instead of starting out asking you a bunch of questions I need you to perform a few duties. Can you do what I ask you to do?”
Herbert didn’t say a word he just nodded his head yes.
“On that table over there would you bring me the green glass full of water?" William pointed toward a table that had two glasses of water carefully placed for easy reach to anyone. Both glasses were colored green.
Without hesitation Herbert rose from his seat, walked to the table and brought William one of the glasses filled with water. William thanked him and instructed Herbert to take his seat in the witness stand.
“Now Herbert. Would you bring me the water in the green glass?” William instructed.
Herbert rose from the witness stand and walked over to the table where a single glass of water stood. He seemed to have a puzzled look on his face. Beads of sweat started to form on his upper lip. Herbert stared at the glass of water totally confused. Momentarily he would reach his shaking hand for the glass, then suddenly change his mind and pull his hand back. This action went on for the better part of ten minutes.
Finally Herbert reached for the glass, cupped his right hand and held it against his chest. Without another thought he poured the contents of the glass into his cupped hand. With water dripping on the floor and a satisfying grin on his face he presented the water to William. William held a metal pan under his hand to dispose the remaining water and handed Herbert a towel.
“You done well Herbert. Now please dry yourself and take the witness stand.” Herbert obeyed still smiling with satisfaction.
“Now Herbert. Will you tell the court exactly what happened that day?”
Herbert understood the question. “Philip came over that afternoon and wanted to go hunting, so we went. When we got there Albert went down to the end to scare the pheasants to me and Philip. I put my gun over my shoulder and I heard a shot go off. I thought Philip shot a pheasant already so I turned around to see. Philip was laying on the ground bleeding. He took his phone out of his pocket and told me to dial 9-1-1.”
“What did you do then?” William asked.
“I dialed 9-1-1.”
“And what did you hear on the phone at that time?” William asked.
“I heard a lady.”
“What did you say?"
“I told her that Philip was shot and was laying on the ground not moving.”
“Okay, exactly what did the lady say then?” William continued wanting Herbert to tell the court exactly what the lady said.
“She asked me if he was dead. I told her I didn’t know if he was dead or not.”
“What did she say at that time?”
“She told me to make sure that he was dead.”
“Were those her exact words?” William demanded specifics.
Herbert only shook his head yes.
“What did you do then?”
“I turned around, then asked the lady if she is sure. She said yes. So I held my gun to Philip’s face and pulled the trigger.” The whole courtroom moaned.
Totally confident William turned to judge Ross and said.“Here in my hand I have a recording of that very conversation. If it pleases the court I would like play this recording for the records.” He slipped the tape into a recorder. Recorded were the exact words that Herbert had just described. “No further questions your honor.”
There must have been at least ten minutes of total silence in the courtroom. Finally Judge Ross said. “We will recess until one-thirty. The entire courtroom stood as judge Ross left the room.
One-thirty seated everyone inside the courtroom. William turned in his chair conversing with Albert when Judge Ross took his seat.
“Are there any more witnesses the prosecuting attorney would like to call to the stand?” Judge Ross addressed the prosecuting attorney directly.
“No your honor. I am prepared to present my deliberation at this time.”
“You may present your statements to the jury at this time.”
It must have been at least fifteen minutes before the prosecuting attorney stopped talking to the jury. His voice seemed to echo throughout the entire courtroom. William knew that the prosecuting attorney didn’t have a leg to stand on. Instead he heard him fumble through his words doing his best to convince the jury of Herbert’s guilt
William raised himself from his chair and glided to the oak railing in front of the jury. “Lady’s and gentleman of the jury. What we have here is a unique individual that is not a threat to society or even himself. But instead a man that is actually valuable to the community. For some reason his common sense doesn’t work like ours. But is that a reason to place a murder charge on him.
“On that dreadful day Herbert only did what her was told to do. Yes told to make sure that Philip is dead. Instructed by a trained professional to do the unthinkable.”
“Yes you say in your minds that if this man would have been a normal individual he wouldn’t have done what he did. But I ask you what if this were a six-year old child. Would a child have done the same thing? Remember this Herbert only has the common sense of a six-year old child.
“Herbert raised his shotgun over his shoulder, as most hunters would do. The gun accidentally discharged, shooting Philip in the chest. At close range this alone is life threatening. Yes Philip was alive. At least long enough to instruct Herbert to call 9-1-1. But that trained professional instructed Herbert to make sure that he was dead. Herbert even took the time to ask the lady. Are you sure? She responded with a yes.”
“All that I’m asking is for you to be fare about your decision. Put yourself in Herbert’s position.” William took his seat next to Herbert.
Judge Ross cleared his throat as he directed the jury. “You have heard both sides of this trial. It is your sworn duty to determine the guilt or innocence of this man Herbert. Court will continue after the jury has made their decision.”
Instead of departing immediately all the jury members remained seated. Each member displayed a puzzled expression. After judge Ross instructed them the second time they filed into the deliberating room in single file.
“I call for a vote right away.” The jury foreman broke the silence.
“Before we vote I would like to ask how can we determine Herbert’s guilt or innocence on such an unorganized trial?” One of the jury members interrupted. “I mean the doctor is only a family doctor and the sheriff.” A short pause. “I guess what I’m trying to say is the sheriff has a problem with any person in the category of Herbert.”
“Sure!!! I feel the same way.” Another jury member spoke. “My opinion is Herbert isn’t a threat to society. But he does need someone to guide him through life.”
“I see what you are saying but do you want someone like Herbert running the streets without anyone watching him?” Another jury member stated. “Even a small child could talk Herbert into doing something that he shouldn’t be doing. And who is going to get hurt the next time.”
“He definitely does not deserve life in prison, or worse yet death for what he has done. I mean what good would that do? All you’re doing there is eliminating a man that does not understand why. As far as I’m concerned the lady on the phone is just as guilty as Herbert.” Another jury member stated. Nobody else stated his or her opinion. Only blank stares haunted the jury members.
“Okay people. We have a tough decision to make here. The life of an individual is in our hands with only evidence presented to us by a trial that wasn’t very well structured. Even still we need to make a decision. Can we send a man to prison for the rest of his life, or worse then that death, because he was born with a brain that doesn’t work as well as our brain works? We need to take a vote now. “ The jury foreman instructed.
William sat next to Mrs. Collar and Albert in the hallway just outside the entrance door of the courtroom. Three-thirty passed as the jury had been out for almost four hours. With a rush of cool air both courtroom doors came open. One by one several people filed into the courtroom. William took his seat next to Herbert.
“All rise”
Judge Ross took his seat at the head of the courtroom. “Ladies and gentleman of the jury. Have you reached a verdict?”
“Yes your honor we have.”
“What say you?”
“We have found the defendant Herbert Collar NOTGUILTY, your honor”
