If You Really Loved Me Part 49

It was a wash.

"Did the 'district attorney' tell you he didn't want Patti Bailey to testify thinking she had some kind of a deal?" Robinson asked Rubright.

"Yes."

"My advice," Rubright said to Gary Pohlson's similar question, "was for her to testify. I believed it would benefit her. There would be advantages."

"How many times did you see her?"

"Maybe seventy-five to a hundred times, counting phone conversations." "Did she trust you?"

"Ultimately, yes."

David Brown's 1099 forms from 1981 through 1985 were offered and accepted as evidence.

Dr. Kim Hicks was supposed to have testified against Cinnamon. A stipulation was offered and accepted as to what her testimony would have been. Like Dr. Anderson, she would have testified as to Cinnamon's statements just after Linda's murder.

But Cinnamon herself had already told the jury about that in this courtroom.

The defense rested at eleven minutes after eleven. A good omen for David Brown, the inveterate Las Vegas gambler?

Wednesday, June 6, was taken up with the ponderous, but necessary, debate between the prosecution, the defense, and Judge McCartin over jury instructions. David Brown asked to be excused from court during this part of his trial. He had apparently come to detest this courtroom, his uncomfortable and ultimately stationary chair, and the eyes that burned into his back from the gallery. The Bailey sisters and brothers were there, always watching. They did not wish him well.

Final arguments would not begin until Tuesday morning, June 12. For those caught up in the emotion of this trial, the week yawned ahead, empty. As in all trials that last for weeks, there was a sense of impending loss for the regulars in the gallerya"for the jury too. This tight group would soon disband and scatter in all directions. A number of friends.h.i.+ps had taken root and would continue, but they would never again be together in this particular fas.h.i.+on. Every day in Department 30 had promised drama and revelation.

The rest of life was never so dependably bizarre.

Jeoff Robinson ran marathons; even during the Brown trial, he ran the Long Beach Marathon on one blazing-hot, smoggy Sunday. He thought of quitting when he "hit the wall" after nineteen miles, his lungs burning from bad air and heat. But then, like most of those who fear stepping on cracks for fear of damage to their mothers' backs, he kept goinga"afraid of jinxing the trial's outcome. Irrational? Of course. Normal human superst.i.tion? Of course.

After half a hundred felony trials, Robinson might well have become blase by now and overconfident. He never had. The Brown verdict mattered a great deal to him, and not simply because he liked to win. Keeping David Brown inside was, for Robinson, damage control. Like Jay Newell and Fred McLean, Robinson walked with a gnawing worry that something vital might have been overlooked, that some piddling legal nicety might rear its head and let David Arnold Brown go free.

Robinson could not let that happen. His final, most important task was before him now; in his closing arguments, he had to give the jury everything he and Newell and McLean had turned up in their long investigation. He had to tie all the major facts and the incidentala"but meaningful a"trivia into one blockbuster of a package that would leave no doubts at all in the jurors' minds.

The fact that Robinson had committed this case to automatic memory wasn't enough. Robinson now went into "heavy training" in these last days before the big fight.

The three protagonists for the State met on Thursday in a conference room deep in the belly of the Orange County Courthouse to go over the most salient prosecution points once again. Fortunately, Robinson was not a prima donna; he accepted advice and suggestions with grace. McLean and Newell laid out their perceptions of what had to be included in Robinson's closing arguments. Robinson jotted down notes in his jagged left-handed script. And then they listened as he argueda"not his own casea"but the defense's case. Robinson tried to second-guess what Pohlson would say and be prepared to beat him to it, to defuse the defense's case before it happened.

For almost a day, the three men discussed "What if. . ." and "Hit that area hard. .." and "Don't forget to include .. ." And then Robinson holed up with his notes and his yellow legal pads. For daysa"and nightsa"he wrote and thought and rethought and rehea.r.s.ed what he would say. He slept little. Four days to go.

The courtroom had been three-quarters empty for much of this long trial, but this morning, Tuesday, June 12, 1990, it was packed with spectatorsa"courthouse employees, relatives of the attorneys, the curious drawn by increased media coverage, the media themselves, relatives of the defendant and the deceased: Manuela Brown, David's mother, was in the fourth row behind the defense table. David's sister Susan was with her, and Manuela had also brought five-year-old Krystal. She was a chubby little girl in a ruffled, flowery dress and white Mary Jane shoes. She looked bewildered, and she was obviously there to point up what a fine family man her father was. It seemed a frail ploy, given the testimony of Cinnamon, his oldest daughter, and his complete denial of Heather, his youngest.

David Brown entered with the familiar clanking of chains. He wore a pink dress s.h.i.+rt and tie and gray polyester slacks. He turned around, spotted Krystal, and grinned and waved to her with his small star-shaped hand. She waved back; she plainly adored her daddya"just as Cinnamon had once adored him.

Whatever the verdict would be, it could not have been wise or sensitive to bring Krystal here on this day to hear words recalling her mother's violent death and words condemning her father. She had already lost enough.

It was 9:20 A.M. and everything was readya"save for one alternate juror whose seat was empty. The trial had come this far, and everyone was nervous that the young woman was missing. Gail Carpenter was picking up her phone to call the tardy juror just as she scurried in at 9:23, complaining about the freeway gridlock. The jurors, who had sometimes worn shorts and sundresses on hot June days, had dressed more formally today.

Judge McCartin explained to the jury how they must listen to closing arguments. "Argument is not evidence, and the displays are not part of evidence, so don't expect to get them. Don't treat closing arguments as evidence. ... If the attorneys start to argue, rely on your own memory."

The courtroom was hushed as Jeoff Robinson rose to speak. He wore his "serious" navy-blue suit. "Good morning," he addressed the jury.

"Morning," they chorused. There was a p.r.o.nounced air of expectancy. This was the Super Bowl part of the trial, and everyone knew it.

"I will speak twice . . . ," Robinson explained. "Because we have the burden of proof.. . The buck has to stop somewhere."

Robinson thanked the jury for their patience and attention and asked only that they would give him a verdict. "I don't care if it takes five minutes or five hours or five daysa"or ten days."

The jurors were so solemn, so absorbed, that Robinson caught them off guard when he grinned suddenly and said, "I'm only going to talk long enough until I've convinced you that I'm right. As I convince you, I'd ask you to raise your hands. When I've convinced you all, I'll stop talking."

The jurors and the gallery laughed, albeit nervouslya"the last laugh of the day. But the tension was eased.

"The primary question is," Robinson began, "why are we here? The answer is what I told you in my opening statementa"I told you you were going to hear a modern-day tragedy, and [during this trial] you couldn't have heard a more atrocious set of facts that displays that this is a modern-day tragedy. .. . This can't happen, but it did. ... This isn't a fantasy. . . . This mana"at the end of the counsel's table, David Arnold Browna"in what the People will characterize as a very deviate and depraved manner, orchestrated the murder of his twenty-three-year-old wifea"a woman he professed to love. . . . How more depraved an act is there than to take the life of the person that you at least espouse most to care for and trust... to kill the one you've shared vows with ... to kill the one you've shared your most inner darkest secrets with? And probably the person who would be the least suspecting that you would do this. There probably can be no more serious breach of trust. There's probably a hierarchy of trust. You kill a strangera"an acquaintancea"maybe a family member. But the wifea"the person you hold all this commonality with? It is really significant, and that's why we're here.

"To further aggravate ... we have the fact that Mr. Brown enlisted and encouraged his own flesh and blooda"a fourteen-year-old girla"Cinnamon. That was a fourteen-year-old child any way you want to look at it. . who was corrupted and tainted and twisted by her father. ... Is it fair for this little girl to have been placed in the situation she was . .. ?

".. . By his own admission, Mr. Brown's a coward. . .. There's no question that this man has others do his bidding because he is the ultimate coward. He's a person that wants, wants, wants, but he doesn't want to put himself on the line. As he says over and over, 'Leave me out of it.' Per his own words, he 'didn't have the stomach for it.'

"We further have that, in preparation for this atrocious act, Mr. Brown sweetened the pot a little bit. .. by overin-suring his beloveda"the one he has said over and over he would rather die in her place. He overinsures her to the point that it makes the act well, well worth it. After that. . . Mr. Brown comes into a huge windfall. . . . There's no question but that Mr. Brown knew exactly what he was going to gain. .. .

"If that weren't enougha"after collecting eight hundred and forty-two thousand dollars, we have another act by Mr. Brown. In the preparation of this murdera"actually long beforea"Mr. Brown preyed upon a young, vulnerable girl from less than fortunate circ.u.mstances. Regardless of what you think of Patti Bailey, we all are the products of our environment. . .. Mr. Brown preyed upon .. . Patti Bailey. In preying upon her, he promised her a new life.. . . Mr. Brown knew about her problems with family members, with clothing. Money. Food. What kid wouldn't want out of that h.e.l.l she was ina"to come with Mr. Brown?

"She didn't grow up to be s.h.i.+rley Temple. You saw hera"almost 'zombielike,' but was that because she's just an innately cold person, or was that because she's not that far removed from the hold that's been placed on her for several years? Even adults can be brainwashed by other adults. Imagine what vulnerable children in the right situation would doa"what can happen.

"... Mr. Brown, for his own perverted and selfish indulgences, prepares Patti Bailey to the point that she views him as her sole sense of support. . . . She told you, 'He was my life support.' He was the cure-all for her ... and Mr. Brown was very adept at insuring that he remained that way, by sequestering these girls. ... He gets her to the point where she is willing to take the life of her own flesh and blooda"her sister."

The courtroom was silent except for Jeoff Robinson's voice. It was not that he had given the jurors new information; it was more that they were hearing a litany of "atrocious acts" so packed into the same time frame that they became more unthinkable.

During these long months, they had heard all the tapes, they had heard David Brown's voice cajoling, denying, explaining (although never from the witness stand), and they had seen the young girls that the DA was talking about. In the beginning of this trial, all of it was akin to viewing a television drama.

Now, it was real.

"After the murder," Robinson continued, "the atrocious acts don't stop. As time goes by, things seem to get worse and worse. We have Cinnamon Brown's own life jeopardized by her father. . . . What would have happened if Cinnamon didn't vomit? There's no question what would have happened. You would have had the perfect murder. You would have had the act you wanted donea"the murder of your wifea"you would have had her sister there in her place, someone still young enough to mold, not twenty-three and independent. You would have had a suicide note that would have extricated you. And thena"if the stomach [Cinnamon's] doesn't vomita"you've got no witnesses.

"If that stomach doesn't vomit"a"he nodded to the jurya" "you 're driving your car or you 're at work [today] and I'm down in my office. We're not here. To think that a father could jeopardize his own flesh and blood in that fas.h.i.+on is scary. .. .

"Mr. Brown knew that his daughter might not live to tell about it. His other alternative was that if she did, she's prepared with a story. . .. This fourteen-year-old girla" because she loves her father so mucha"is prepared to go through with it. .. . The defense is going to tell you Mr. Brown hasn't done any of thisa"it's those girlsa"those 'crazy girls'; they've done this on their own. Well, if you're convinced that that's how it happened, then so be it. Walk him out of here."

Robinson reminded the jury that the thrust of this case came through most forcefully in the three-and-a-half-hour interview that David Brown had with Jay Newell and Fred McLean on the morning of his arrest on September 22, 1988. "After he lies for a couple of hours, the walls finally start tumbling in. He can only plug up so many holes, and finally, like water, the truth starts coming through. He kills himself. That videotape is his end. That's what this case is all about."

Robinson pointed out that Ventura was not a school; it was a prison. "Cinnamon Brown's been put on hold since she was fourteen. Mr. Brown's trying so hard to keep her incarcerated and keep himself out of it. How far can this guy go?

"This man doesn't have a conscience. None. This man is the typical sociopathic personality. All he thinks about is me. Everybody else in his life is just a p.a.w.n. He can justify whatever he does by always saying that he's worth it."

A major factor in proving David Brown guilty of murder had been to establish his "consciousness of guilt." Was he, indeed, aware that he was guilty of murder in the death of his wife, even though he was miles away when the shots were fired? Robinson stressed that Brown's actions after the crime showed a great deal of conscious knowledge of his own guilt.

"He plans to eliminate and/or kill the obstacles to his freedoma"the prosecutor and the investigator that know the case so wella"get them out so the new people can get in. Is that not the conscience of a guilty man?

"And then the ultimate wasa"to kill this woman he's married toa"Patti Baileya"you'll see the marriage certificate. He was willing to kill this wife because she could testify against him."

Robinson spoke next of Linda Bailey. Linda was the forgotten woman. She had been dead for more than five years. Dead so long that it was easy to forget that her death began this long tumbling down into utter evil. Linda's little girl sat in the courtroom fidgeting, unable to understand what the man in front was talking about. Krystal Brown rubbed her eyes and leaned her head on her grandmother's ample shoulder.

It fell to Robinson to explain the legal rituals attendant to murder. Count I was for the murder of Linda Brown. Count II was for conspiracy to murder. Was it necessary to explain murder? For the record, perhaps. "Every person who kills a human being with malice aforethought is guilty of violating Section 187 of the penal code. . .."

The case before the jury was, Robinson said, "all or nothing." (Jury instructions agreed upon earlier had eliminated the possibility of second-degree murder or manslaughter charges.) "Mr. Brown is either guilty of first-degree murder or he is not guilty. . .. The defendant has the right to have a lesser offense included in the charge. In this case ... we'll go to accessory after the fact. Mr. Brown would like very much for you to find him guilty of this. . . . He would shake your hand fifty times over if you gave him one of those. That would be a gift!" Robinson pointed to the display board with the definition of first-degree murder. "The facts of this case are a textbook first-degree murder case."

If the jurors had agreed with Robinson's case thus far, they had accepted that David Brown planned the killing of Linda Brown, premeditated the killing of Linda Brown for a long timea"yearsa"before she was eventually killed. Her murder was not the result of a sudden, rash impulse. "A cold, calculated judgment and decision. ... It can only be first-degree murder," Robinson said succinctly.

The next explanation of the law was more important to the layman, most of whom a.s.sume that it is necessary to actually pull the trigger or place one's hands around the throat of a victim to qualify as a killer. Not 'necessarily. "When two or more people gather to plan a crime, it's more likely that that crime will be pulled off," Robinson explained. "The legislature wanted to thwart that problem by making thisa"the actual planninga"a separate crime. That's conspiracy."

How could a persona"not the actual perpetrator of the crimea"be guilty? The legal concept was one of "vicarious liability." "This says," Robinson explained, "that there can be many players in a particular crime. There can be the 'hands-on' slayera"but if you aid and abet, you can be as guilty as the actual perpetrator. . . . Mr. Brown is equally guilty, even though he's not the actual perpetrator."

Robinson was doing a good job of explaining rather difficult legal sticking points to a lay jury. This case was quite different from television murder trials. David Brown's hands were not stained with any victim's blooda"not literally. But if Robinson was to be believed, they dripped scarlet.

The defense had stresseda"and surely would continue to stressa"that their client had attempted to withdraw from the plan, that David Brown had told the girls not to go through with killing Linda. And that too brought up a fine legal area; There was simple "withdrawal" and then there was "effective withdrawal." Had David Brown truly tried to terminate all of his liability in the alleged plot to kill his wife? Had he intended to remove himself totally from the situation?

"One area Mr. Brown seemed very enamored ofa"in his tapes at Ventura and in his interview with Mr. Newell," Robinson reminded the jury. "He seemed to repeat and to make it a pointa"even in a nonresponsive fas.h.i.+ona"he'd say to Cinnamon [at CYA], 'But I told you not to do it!' 'Remember I told you, "Don't do it!"' and then Cinnamon says, 'But that wasn't until the end.' And then he saida" according to testimony from the girls in courta"'Well, you girls don't have to do it, but if you love me . ..' Well, Mr. Brown's got to say he withdrew from the plan."

Robinson pointed out that Brown was caught unaware by the existence of the tape made during his visits at Ventura. He had to concede somethinga"but he would only concede what Newell already knew. "As he gets pressed against the wall... he concedes, 'Well, I did mix up some medication a"but I didn't try to kill her.' 'Yeah, I did help her with some suicide notes, but...'

"You have viable proof out of Mr. Browti's own mouth that he aided and abetted. . . . Mr. Brown now has to prove to you that he withdrew. . . . And there's a rule of law that addresses that. . .. Termination of liability of one who has aided and abetted a crimea"he may end his responsibility by notifying the other parties of his intention to withdraw, and by doing everything in his power to prevent its commission."

Robinson's voice had only a slight sarcastic edge as he listed the steps David Brown claimed to have taken to stop the murder of his wife. He quoted Brown's grudging admissions as he asked if the jurors believed that the defendant effectively withdrew from the killing plans. " 'If you do it against my will, I'm going to leave.'. . . 'Okay, girls, I brought you up to this point, I told you how it's going to go down, I screened your notes for youa"I showed you the best suicide note, I mixed the concoction for youa"I got you all prepped, but now I'm saying, "I'm heading out. Don't do it."'

"Is that everything in his power to prevent its commission? That's ridiculous. That's crazy. Would you leave the home of the woman you loveda"the woman that he has said over and over how much he loved and cared for, how he would rather have died himselfa"and yet he's going to leave and not do a thing, knowing these girls are going to kill her, and let them do that? 'Hey, girls! Wake up, wake up, girlsa"I'm leavinga"don't shoot anybody.' Is that an effective withdrawal? No."

The courtroom, if possible, was even quieter. It was 10:10 A.M., and Krystal Brown had, thank G.o.d, fallen sound asleep.

Robinson now went patiently over the "special circ.u.mstances" finding. The death concerned had to be intentional, and it had to be carried out for financial gain. Linda Brown's murder fit both these criteria. "It doesn't have to be the prime motivea"just as long as money was one of them," Robinson said. "What was his mind-set at the time of the killing? . .. Did he expect to collect insurance? It's pretty clear. Mr. Brown had had several contacts with insurance agents. Within two years of her [Linda's] death, there were four policies totaling gross overinsurancea"over a million dollars . . . but he had policies on her before, the defense will say, and he let those lapse. Why did he? We'll never know. But we do know that Patti Bailey testified he was talking about killing Linda as early as 1983.

"Then, in Brea, Patti says they really didn't talk about it for an extended time. Maybe things were going okay for a while. . . . The bottom line is that, within one month of her death, on February twenty-first, he gets her to sign up for a new policya"for four hundred grand. You don't have to be an insurance broker to know what that means. This is a cla.s.sic case of a spouse taking insurance on the other spouse in the hope of gaining a windfall."

The morning break rolled around. The jurors could not see the clock; it was behind them. The rest of the listeners had not noticed the time.

Twenty minutes later, Robinson struck at the very heart of the conspiracy. "In the case in 1985, you have to remember something. When all the parties ... live in the same home such as we have in Ocean Breeze, if you have to go beyond physical evidencea"fingerprints, fibersa"which are not apropos here, you have to ask, Who would be the one most plausible?. . . Who had the most compelling reasons to want Linda dead? Who had control over this peculiar family ... ? Who made the ultimate decisions as to the methodology of murder? Who was bright enough to master that? I think you know the answer to that. Who ultimately gained the most?

"I think if you answer all four of those questions, you have your man: "Mr. Brown's got no problem with grabbing whoever he can and using them as a s.h.i.+eld to keep the heat off himself.. . . He's going to blame it on Cinnamon... . You read the letters he wrote to Patti while he was in jail. You're going to see David flip-flop all over the place. ... In that interview with Cinnamon, he's saying he's 'scared to death' to live with Patti. . . and with Jay Newell, David says he's even scared to throw Patti out. . . now, he's arrested and Patti has to be his friend, and so you'll see in the letters an attempt to brainwash Patti. These girls are dependent on him. . . . Can these girls control David Brown? It's like Edgar Bergen saying, 'Charlie McCarthy's running me all over. Look at these puppets. Look what they're doing to me.

Robinson asked the jury to remember everything they knew about the defendant. Given that knowledge, would it seem out of character to them that he would solicit murder? "Look at his degradation of women. He refers to them as various body parts. Look at his description of Patti Bailey. This was his wife. ... He became Patti's life support. He had to be there, she thought, in order for her to live. ... When a man takes liberties with a child at an age as young and tender as that, over and over, would a girl not go to h.e.l.l and back for him?

"This was the kingdom of Brown, his own little fiefdom! Some kingdom. Their family outingsa"they talked about killing Linda. This mana"he's had one h.e.l.l of a reign. He's juvenile and he's a genius."

But, Robinson pointed out, David Brown always had a "n.o.ble" reason for what he wanted done. He wanted to be out of jail because "Krystal needs him . . . I'm doing it because I'm innocent... I'm doing it because the DA is s.c.r.e.w.i.n.g me . . . I'm doing it because Linda's going to kill me . . . I'm doing it because the Mafia's after me."

Robinson was building to a grand finish, even as he systematically tore down David Brown's alibis for the times of all his crimes. He stressed that it did not matter how the tapes with Richard Steinhart were orchestrated; all that mattered was what David Brown believed and said on those murder-for-hire tapes. Even if David Brown truly believed he was being "railroaded," would an innocent man respond in this way?

David Brown was furious; a brick-red flush crawled up the back of his neck, and he frequently whispered urgently to Pohlson. When Robinson referred to him as "the Love G.o.da"David Brown," he smiled slightly, then realized as the gallery stifled giggles that he was being satirized. He was angry anyway because he had never had the chance to take the stand.

"What kind of man," Robinson continued, "leaves Cinnamon to languish, while he's living it up? A real creepa" and that's being nice. He told Cinnamon, 'It's much harder on grown men in prison,' and he said to Patti, 'Just leave me out. Back me up and leave me out. . . like we'll do jail in s.h.i.+ftsa"when Krystal's old enough, we'll get her up here [to Ventura].'

"The coup de grace [was] on September 22, 1988a"Jay Newell's interrogation. It's beyond all doubt. You get the true flavor of what Mr. Brown is all about. This is the pinnacle of truth. This decent human being who's running a home for wayward girls and they turned around and bit him ... the facade falls away. He's not dealing with little girls anymorea"he's with streetwise investigators."

Robinson pointed out how Brown had given ground slowly to Jay Newell. He denied of course, giving Cinnamon a fatal potion, subst.i.tuting a harmless concoction in his recall. "Look at page eighty-six," Robinson said, pointing to a transcript of that interview. " 'No, sir, I was not there at all. There was a gla.s.sa"you guys probably found it... it was Bayer aspirin . . . and soda.' And Mr. Newell asked him, 'You know what kind of pills would kill her, and how much, don't you?' And he says, 'I would think so by how my pills make me feela"yes. And I said, "Cinny, if you are half-seriousa"okay, fine." I mixed some Tylenol, some aspirin, and some baking soda because the baking sodaa"if you get enough in youa"it will make you sick and I said, "It will look like someone your age tried to kill themselves," .. . and I said, "Cinny, I hope this is really a joke," and she said, "No, Daddy, it's no joke."'

". . . So he says," Robinson sneered, " 'Okaya"well, I gotta get out of here.'

"If you knew it [the 'potion'] had been made because she was going to kill Linda, and you say this would help carry that out and make it look like she was going to commit suicide afterward . . . Look at page eighty-sevena"'I told her if she was going to go through with this thing, regardless of what I said or what I did, I didn't want to be there.' Okay, if you're going through with this murder, I don't want to be herea"I want to be gone.

"Is that an innocent man?

". . . He doesn't want it to happen, but, 'Here, honeya" leave the note in the kitchen.'"

David Brown had admitted to every incriminating fact. Robinson reminded the jury that David always said "G.o.d, no" to questions about a s.e.xual relations.h.i.+p with Patti, and how he slipped and told Newell that she talked in her sleep. He had to find a way to explain that goof to Newell, so he discussed the "Garfield nap attack" syndrome that Patti was p.r.o.ne to.

"They just held each othera"because 'it gets to me real bad. It just tears me up.'" Robinson quoted. "It tears me up so much that... I've got this eight hundred and fifty thousand dollars, but it tears me up. It tears me up so bad I have to have s.e.xual relations with Pattia"but it tears me up about Linda. Boy, I miss her."

Robinson wound to a close with a searing look at Brown's consciousness of guilt.