The Reversal

“We’ll get back into that later on,” Royce said. “But getting back to your sister, she was twelve at the time of her murder, correct?”

“That’s right.”

“This would have been the same age you were when your stepfather began to sexually abuse you. Am I right?”

“About the same, yes.”

“Did you warn your sister about him?”

There was a long pause as Gleason considered her answer. This was because there was no good answer.

“Ms. Gleason?” the judge prompted. “Please answer the question.”

“No, I didn’t warn her. I was afraid to.”

“Afraid of what?” Royce asked.

“Him. As you’ve already pointed out, I’ve been through a lot of therapy in my life. I know that it is not unusual for a child to be unable to tell anyone. You get trapped in the behavior. Trapped by fear. I’ve been told that many times.”

“In other words, you go along to get along.”

“Sort of. But that is a simplification. It was more-”

“But you did live with a lot of fear in your life back then?”

“Yes, I-”

“Did your stepfather tell you not to tell anyone about what he was doing to you?”

“Yes, he said-”

“Did he threaten you?”

“He said that if I told anyone I would be taken away from my mother and sister. He said he would make sure that the state would think my mother knew about it and they would consider her unfit. They would take Melissa and me away. Then we would get split up because foster homes couldn’t always take two at a time.”

“Did you believe him?”

“Yes, I was twelve. I believed him.”

“And it scared you, didn’t it?”

“Yes. I wanted to stay with my fam-”

“Wasn’t it that same fear and control that your stepfather had over you that made you go along to get along after he killed your sister?”

Again Maggie jumped up to object, stating that the question was leading and assumed facts not in evidence. The judge agreed and sustained the objection.

Undeterred, Royce went at Gleason relentlessly.

“Isn’t it true that you and your mother did and said exactly what your stepfather told you to in the cover-up of Melissa’s murder?”

“No, that’s not-”

“He told you to say it was a tow truck driver and that you were to pick one of the men the police brought to the house.”

“No! He didn’t-”

“Objection!”

“There was no hide-and-seek game outside the house, was there? Your sister was murdered inside the house by Kensington Landy. Isn’t that true!”

“Your Honor!”

Maggie was now shouting.

“Counsel is badgering the witness with these leading questions. He doesn’t want her answers. He just wants to deliver his lies to the jury!”

The judge looked from Maggie to Royce.

“All right, everyone just calm down. The objection is sustained. Mr. Royce, ask the witness one question at a time and allow her the time to answer. And you will not ask leading questions. Need I remind you, you called her as a witness. If you wanted to lead her you should’ve conducted a cross-examination when you had the opportunity.”

Royce put on his best look of contrition. It must’ve been difficult.

“I apologize for getting carried away, Your Honor,” he said. “It won’t happen again.”

It didn’t matter if it happened again. Royce had already gotten his point across. His purpose was not to get an admission from Gleason. In fact, he expected none. His purpose was to get his alternate theory to the jury. In that, he was being very successful.

“Okay, let’s move on,” Royce said. “You mentioned earlier that you spent a considerable part of your adult life in counseling and drug rehab, not to mention incarceration. Is that correct?”

“To a point,” Gleason said. “I have been clean and sober and a-”

“Just answer the question that was asked,” Royce quickly interjected.

“Objection,” Maggie said. “She is trying to answer the question he asked, but Mr. Royce doesn’t like the full answer and is trying to cut her off.”

“Let her answer the question, Mr. Royce,” Breitman said tiredly. “Go ahead, Ms. Gleason.”

“I was just saying that I have been clean for seven years and a productive member of society.”

“Thank you, Ms. Gleason.”

Royce then led her through a tragic and sordid history, literally going arrest by arrest and revealing all the details of the depravity Sarah wallowed in for so long. Maggie objected often, arguing that it had little to do with Sarah’s identification of Jessup, but Breitman allowed most of the questioning to continue.

Finally, Royce wrapped up his examination by setting up his next witness.

“Getting back to the rehabilitation center in North Hollywood, you were there for five months in nineteen ninety-nine, correct?”

“I don’t remember exactly when or for how long. You obviously have the records there.”

“But you do remember meeting another client, named Edward Roman, known as Eddie?”

“Yes, I do.”

“And you got to know him well?”

“Yes.”

“How did you meet him?”

“We were in group counseling together.”

“How would you describe the relationship you had with Eddie Roman back then?”

“Well, in counseling we sort of realized that we knew some of the same people and liked doing the same things-meaning drugs. So we started hanging out and it continued after we were both released.”