of the prosecutor. âMy immediate thought was that Betsy must have delivered that blow.â
Robert Maynard jumped up yelling. âObjection, Your Honor, highly improper and prejudicial.â
âSustained,â Judge Roth immediately responded. âThe answer is stricken. The jury will disregard it.â
âIâll rephrase. Describe your fatherâs behavior during his last six months.â
âHis behavior had been increasingly difficult during that time. The night before he died Betsyâs words âI canât take it anymoreâ seemed to me to be an expression of despair.â
âHow would you characterize your relationship with Betsy Grant since your fatherâs death?â
âFor the first twenty-four hours, very close. We were consoling each other and making plans for the funeral.â
âAt what point did that friendly relationship with Betsy Grant cease?â
âWhen I learned that my fatherâs skull had been crushed by a blow and that the pestle was missing from the set by the side of the bed.â
âWhen did you learn that your stepmother had been seeing another man?â
âI only learned that after my fatherâs death.â
âWhat was your reaction?â
âShock. Outrage. Disappointment.â
âIn the months leading up to your fatherâs death, what was Betsy Grantâs demeanor toward him?â
âVery loving. Very compassionate. It had been suggested by his doctor that she should consider putting him in a residential facility.â
âWhy did the doctor suggest that?â
âHe felt that my father was in danger of having a serious accident.â
âCan you give me an example?â
âDad would wander upstairs to the top floor and lean over the railing. He would pull things out of the drawers in the bedroom.â
âWhat was Betsy Grantâs reaction to the doctorâs suggestion?â
âShe fenced off the entrance to the second floor and moved downstairs to sleep in the bedroom that had been used as a maidâs quarters by the previous owner. In other words, she tried to keep him under her control.â
âObjection,â Maynard shouted.
âYour Honor, I would like to ask Mr. Grant what he means by âkeep him under control,âââ Holmes responded.
âI will allow him to explain,â the judge said quietly.
âSir, would you please explain your answer.â
âOf course. What I meant was that she was trying to protect him from being injured.â
âWas it Mrs. Grantâs decision to keep your father at home even after receiving the advice from the doctor?â
âYes, it was.â
âDid she give any reasons for that decision?â
âShe said that my father needed her. She said that there were times when he was lucid. At those times he begged her to stay with him. She also told me that someone with my fatherâs diagnosis of early onset Alzheimerâs disease usually would not be expected to live much longer than the seven years he had already endured.â
âBut then, the night your father was administered the fatal blow that took his life, didnât Betsy Grant wail, âI canât take it anymoreâ?â
âObjection. Leading question.â This time one of Maynardâs associates spoke up.
âSustained,â the judge said once again.
Elliot Holmes turned to look at the jurors. Delaney could see that he had made the point he wanted to make. âNo further questions, Your Honor,â he said quietly.
â¢Â  â¢Â  â¢
âMr. Maynard,â Judge Roth said, âyou may begin your cross-examination.â
âThank you, Your Honor,â Maynard replied. âMr. Grant, how old are you?â
âIâm thirty-five.â
âWhen you finished college, did you go to any type of graduate school or did you go straight to