“Show what?” asked Navarro, trepidation entering his voice.
“Show that she couldn’t have killed with her hands bound.”
“And how do we do that?” Navarro’s eyes widened.
“Simple,” said Grace. “We need a demonstration like they did at the OJ trial.”
“If it doesn’t fit, you must acquit,” said Annie in a singsong voice.
“That’s right,” said Grace. “If we put Penny on the stand, show her hands tied up with rope, do it in a way that would leave these marks.” She pointed to the photograph on the table highlighting Penny’s discolored wrists. “Hand her a prop knife with her hands bound. Give the jury that visual. She couldn’t be the killer if she couldn’t wield the weapon. Then we’ll play the videos of what Penny’s alters each revealed, talk about how she’s parsed out her memories of the real killer for safety purposes—that’s a defense mechanism, it’s what the brain uses DID to do—and we hope for the best.”
Navarro appeared utterly shell-shocked. Dazed. Face slack.
“You want me to put Penny on the stand? Tie up her hands? Holy shit.” He turned to Mitch. “What’s your take on this?”
“The rope marks suggest to me that Penny’s not engaged in any sort of deceitful make-believe. These are real, repressed memories that are coming from different personality states. Not only can I testify to her dissociative states and a DID diagnosis,” Mitch said, “I can also speak to the possibility of a fourth alter, one we haven’t accessed, an avenging type that could have been unleashed during a psychotic break when she saw Rachel for the first time, releasing a torrent of painful memories that triggered the attack. Perhaps Rachel tied up Penny to try and save herself and somehow Penny got free. No matter the scenario, I’ll testify that she has no memories from her dissociative states and I can provide a medical explanation as to why she has no memory of the murder.”
Navarro lifted his head out of his hands, still looking agitated. “Mitch, without us documenting it—without proof, some recording, something—pitching a fourth alter nobody has met is going to look like we’re grasping at straws here,” he said.
“We have recordings of Penny when she goes into those trancelike states,” Mitch countered. “Even if it appears she can conform to the law, she’s still extremely fragile. You can see it on the recordings. Given that, I’d be willing to testify that Penny, or any one of her alters, could have experienced a psychotic break under the stress of meeting her birth mother for the first time.”
This seemed to please Navarro.
“That’s our win,” he said, nodding vigorously. “You being on board with DID, talking about her emotional fragility … saying it’s possible that there was a snap, a break—that’s our best shot at the verdict we’re after.”
“Why not say there are two possible versions of events for the jury to consider,” Annie suggested. “Someone else killed Rachel and the rope marks prove it, or Penny was in an altered state and unable to conform to the law. Either way, she’s not guilty.”
Navarro looked seasick at the thought. “You’re trying to have your cake and eat it, too,” he said. “This is one or the other. Besides, you don’t put defendants on the stand in a murder trial. She’ll be utterly eviscerated on cross. She’ll fall apart. I know Jessica Johnson. She’s a bloodthirsty prosecutor.
“If Penny’s nervous, which she will be because her life is on the line, it’ll put doubt in the jury’s mind,” Navarro insisted. “A nervous defendant is a guilty defendant. You want the jury to remain unbiased, not the other way around. We’ll be handing the DA’s office a victory if we do this.”
Grace stood up and pressed her palms firmly against the table. She glared at Navarro and spoke with her teeth clenched.
“Penny is innocent. She wasn’t alone. She was tied up. She was afraid for her life. Someone was going to torture her with chemicals. I want the jury to acquit my daughter,” she said. “If you don’t put her on the stand and argue for an acquittal, I’ll find a lawyer who will.”
Navarro bowed his head. When he looked up again, he saw the fierce determination in her eyes.
“Grace … listen to me, listen to my words very carefully.” He spoke in a soft voice, pausing to give her a second to settle. “We argue it’s a rope, she couldn’t have done the deed with her hands bound, the prosecution will get their expert to say handcuffs could leave a similar mark. They may have to ask several experts before they get the answer they want, but somewhere out there”—he pointed to a window—“is someone in a position of authority who will contradict us under oath, and in the minds of the jury it’ll be a push. There were no fibers taken from Penny’s wrists to bolster our case. None. So it’s all based off a picture. Believe me, Grace, it’s not enough evidence to hang an entire defense on. We will lose, and we will lose big.”