“Ms. Thacker, we’ve obtained a waiver of patient confidentiality from the patient for you to disclose his name. Can you tell the jury who it was?”
“Yes, sir.” She looked at the jury. “Trey Cowan.”
As murmurs and whispers filled the courtroom, Jason turned to Judge Conrad. “No further questions.”
“Ms. Lankford?”
Shay stood and crossed her arms. “We will not waste the jury’s time with any cross-examination.”
Judge Conrad leaned back in his chair and looked at the witness. “All right then. Ms. Thacker, you’re excused.”
71
Jason’s next witness was Colleen Maples. As described by Beverly Thacker and as he’d experienced himself during his brief confrontation with her, Maples was anything but warm and fuzzy on the stand.
Still, she admitted that she’d been investigated by the Alabama Board of Nursing in connection with Trey Cowan’s knee surgery and her behavior toward Dr. Waters and the patient on the day of surgery. She kept her answers short, adding no explanation.
It wasn’t until Jason got to the end of his questioning that she showed fire.
“Ms. Maples, are you currently involved in an intimate relationship with Trey Cowan?”
“Objection, Judge. This is completely irrelevant,” Shay said.
“Overruled,” Judge Conrad said.
“That’s none of your business,” Maples snapped.
“Judge, we’d ask that the witness be ordered to answer the question.”
“Answer the question, Ms. Maples.”
“I fail to see how my private life is any of this court’s concern.”
Shay Lankford joined Maples’s chorus. “Judge, this is an outrage meant purely to embarrass Ms. Maples. The defense has shown no connection between Ms. Maples and Waylon Pike.”
“We will, Your Honor.”
“The objections by the prosecution and the witness are overruled. Ms. Maples, you will answer the question, or you will be held in contempt of court.”
“I’ll repeat the question,” Jason offered.
“I don’t need it repeated. The answer is yes. I’m involved with Trey. He’s . . . forgiven me for what happened.”
“I bet,” Jason said.
“Objection!” Shay shot out of her chair. “The defense lawyer’s comment is due to be stricken.”
“Sustained,” Conrad said. “Another stunt like that, Mr. Rich, I’ll hold you in contempt.”
“Yes, Your Honor,” Jason bowed toward Conrad. “No further questions.”
72
After Shay again chose not to cross the witness, Jason cleared his throat and called whom he’d originally expected to be his next-to-last witness.
“The defendant calls Mr. Trey Cowan.”
The double doors opened, and in limped the former football star. Every eye in the courtroom turned toward him, and Jason knew he couldn’t have asked for a better setup.
“Please state your name for the record.”
“Trey Cowan.”
“And what do you do for a living?”
“I work for the city.”
“And were you formerly a football player for Guntersville High School?”
“Yes.”
“And were you recruited by every school in the country as a quarterback?”
“Pretty much,” Trey said, smiling toward the jury. There were several warm looks in return.
“You also had interest from Major League Baseball.”
“I was projected as a first rounder.”
“Which would have meant millions of dollars.”
“Yes . . . but I would’ve made more money playing football.”
Jason looked at the jury. “Your football and baseball dreams ended with a leg injury, is that correct?”
“Yes, sir. Broken tibia. There was an infection after surgery, and I’ve never regained full function of the leg.”
“And you filed a medical malpractice action against Dr. Waters because of his surgery, correct?”
“I did.”
“And you lost.”
“Yes.”
“Didn’t recover a dime.”
“Not a cent.”
“You also reported Dr. Waters to the Alabama Board of Medical Examiners, correct?”
“Yes.”
“But the board imposed no discipline on him, correct?”
“That’s right.”
“So you went after Dr. Waters for money and for his license, and you lost both times?”
He shrugged. “I guess that’s right.”