Free Lost in Clover by Travis Richardson Page B

quickly.
    “Recross, Mr. Elliot?” the judge asked.
    Lawrence stood, and smoothed rumpled his suit. He looked exhausted. “No, Your Honor, the defense rests.”
    The judge turned to Wynona. “Please leave the booth immediately and don’t say another word.”
    She gave him a severe look and strutted out of the courtroom with a defiant sway in her hips. Judge Rhinehart reddened with anger.

22. ALL THE DIFFERENCE
    Tuesday brought closing arguments, with Carson talking in the morning and pushing for a guilty verdict on the capital murder charge. Crazy Eddie sat with his hands and feet in shackles. Again, he gave almost no expression except for the same glare maintained throughout the trial.
    Carson reminded the jury of all the forensic evidence he had presented earlier, as well as the unknown potential of the dead young men whose lives were “violently snatched away from us.” Then he painstakingly recounted all of the major statements his witnesses had made. It almost put Jeremy to sleep.
    “These murders became premeditated once Mr. Cooper reloaded his automatic weapon on those unarmed boys, and by definition of Kansas state law…” Carson said, holding up a piece of paper dramatically. “I quote, by the killing of more than one person as part of the same act , Mr. Eddie Cooper has fit the circumstances required for capital murder.
    “Remember, seven young souls perished in Clover that night, not because of property rights or any second amendment argument. We all know if he had shot his gun in the air those boys would have been running home. This was cold-blooded murder. He shot those defenseless boys while they lay wounded on the ground. This man deserves nothing less than death, ladies and gentlemen. He is a cold-blooded murderer.”
    After lunch, Lawrence, looking fresher and more energized than the previous day, reminded the jury that not only was Eddie sixteen, “but he was sleeping in his house on private property when a caravan of drunken men showed up with the idea of giving him a beating. Did he overreact? Most certainly. But did he start this? Absolutely not. It would have been considered self-defense a century ago, and there is no reason it shouldn’t be today. He stepped forward to defend his family, and any red-blooded American with an ounce of spine in his backbone would have done the same. Eddie Cooper did not knock on their doors and shoot them. Not at all. Those eight men trespassed on a man’s private property, looking to cause at minimum mischief, and most likely bodily harm, and that, ladies and gentlemen, makes all the difference.”

23. VERDICT
    The jury deliberated for almost two weeks. It seemed that all of Clover was on pins and needles, waiting for the verdict. Rumors abounded that the jury was deadlocked because Jessup Cotton wanted a capital murder charge and nothing less, or that Janelle Hughes demanded that Crazy Eddie be freed, but the most popular one was that Thomas Ginty was delaying as long as possible so that he wouldn’t have to go back to repairing the roads.
    Lawrence was living in Lawrence again, an hour and a half away from Clover. He was on call if the jury was ready to announce their verdict. The only other reason for him to come back to Clover was for his post-indictment arraignment a month later when he would enter a plea.
    Jeremy was restlessly ambivalent. Crazy Eddie shouldn’t have been harassed by those boys on his lawn, but he shouldn’t have shot them all to hell either. He was glad it would be over soon, regardless of the outcome, and maybe could he get back to being who he once was.
    Jeremy was in fifth hour biology, drifting in lazy daydreams of sleep—what it would be like to have solid dreamless sleep—when cell phones that were supposed to be off started vibrating. The jury announced they had reached a verdict. Mr. Howard turned on the radio in time to hear Judge Rhinehart delay the reading of the verdict until the morning, “considering all the