By Reason of Insanity (42 page)

The next morning, Chow wasted no time continuing the assault. He shifted gears to what he termed "the underlying cause of the alleged dissociative identities." In Chow's opinion, the "alleged rape" during college was insufficient to create a psychotic break that could lead to multiple personalities, especially personalities that didn't manifest themselves until eight years later. DID was almost always caused by chronic abuse during childhood, a time in life when personality integration was occurring and could be stunted. DID caused by a single rape during someone's early adult years, or even multiple episodes of rape in a single night, would be unprecedented.

Not surprisingly, Chow had a few opinions about Catherine's jailhouse behavior as well. Catherine had shown the aggressive side of her core personality when she bludgeoned her cellmate, an event that Chow accentuated with some show-and-tell pictures of Holly's face. Plus, Catherine had pretty much gone berserk when she saw Kenny Towns on television. "The defendant claims to remember both of those incidents," Chow testified. "So they certainly can't be blamed on this mythical 'Avenger of Blood.'"

Gates paused and made a big show of checking his notes. "One final question: based on your assessment of Ms. O'Rourke, your review of the evidence, and your training and background, do you have an opinion as to why she would kill a man she didn't even know?"

Catherine expected Quinn to object but her defender just nonchalantly scribbled some notes.

"I do. It's my opinion that this whole Avenger of Blood persona and the preying on alleged rapists and their attorneys was an elaborate attempt by Ms. O'Rourke to deflect blame so that she wouldn't be a suspect when she committed her ultimate crime."

"Her
ultimate
crime, doctor?"

"I believe that Ms. O'Rourke fully intended to kill Kenneth Towns."

86

Catherine found out why Quinn hadn't objected about two seconds into his cross-examination.

"Wow," he said, buttoning his suit coat. "Isn't that straying a little far from your field of expertise--making predictions about crimes that haven't yet occurred? You're not a fortune-teller, are you?"

"Objection."

"Sustained."

Quinn smiled. "To your knowledge, did the police find any evidence that my client even knew where Mr. Towns lived?"

"No."

"Any evidence that she had contacted him since college?"

"Not that I'm aware of."

"So your theory is that Catherine O'Rourke gets raped in college and then, eight years later, decides to kill her rapist but figures, 'Hey, before I even figure out where he lives I might as well kidnap a few babies and kill a few men I've never met first in order to deflect attention from me?'"

Gates stood, his face red. "Objection, Judge. That totally mischaracterizes the testimony."

"He can answer," Rosencrance ruled.

"When you don't deal with the kind of pain that Ms. O'Rourke suffered eight years ago, Mr. Newberg, it can cause you to do some pretty--" Chow hesitated as if searching for the right word--"
desperate
things."

"Is the word you were actually looking for more like
bizarre
or
crazy?
" Quinn asked.

"Objection."

"Sustained."

"Okay, let's switch gears. Were you aware that Detective Webb, acting as a confidential informant for the newspaper, told my client that Reverend Harold Pryor was a prime suspect and that he had no alibi?"

"I wasn't aware of that, no."

"Assuming that was the case," Quinn said, "does that affect your opinion on whether Ms. O'Rourke was just creating this 'mythical Avenger persona' to divert attention away from what you called her ultimate crime?"

Chow looked pensive, his brow knit. "No. I don't see why that would change anything."

In response, Quinn talked slowly, making sure Dr. Chow understood his point. "If Catherine O'Rourke knew she was the killer and wanted to deflect suspicions by inventing these visions, why didn't she provide a description of Reverend Pryor as the Avenger of Blood when she reported her visions to Detective Webb?"

Chow sat there for a moment, his brain apparently churning through different possibilities. "I'm not sure," he eventually admitted. "Perhaps she believed it would seem too obvious."

"Or perhaps," Quinn countered, "my client is telling the truth."

Quinn chipped away at Chow's opinion for several more hours on Friday, belittling the man's opinion that DID could not possibly have been caused by the rape that occurred during Catherine's college years. Quinn also suggested that the precipitating event Chow was supposedly searching for might have been Catherine's coverage of Anne Newberg's murder trial.

"Did it ever occur to you," Quinn asked, "that Catherine O'Rourke's extensive involvement with and coverage of that murder trial--where another woman took vengeance for years of abuse--might have triggered the manifestation of this alter personality in Catherine's life?"

Chow hesitated, but then answered confidently. "No, I don't believe that's the case."

"But you never even considered that possibility until this very moment, did you?" Quinn pressed.

"That's true," Chow admitted. "But that doesn't change my opinion."

"You've been paid too much to switch at the last minute; is that it?"

"Objection!" barked Gates. Then he mumbled loud enough for the jury to hear, "That's ridiculous."

"Sustained."

As Quinn battled with Chow, Catherine silently battled her own emotions. She still found it hard to believe this was
her
murder trial,
her
Vegas lawyer posturing and mocking and drawing objections left and right from the ever-serious Boyd Gates.

The emotion that surprised Catherine most, and the one she had the hardest time dismissing, was a growing attraction to the man who now commanded the courtroom. Catherine had always prided herself in being logical--a skeptical newspaper reporter who knew how to cut through appearances and smoke screens. And Quinn, she reminded herself, was a Las Vegas performer, a showman, a trial lawyer. He seemed to care deeply for her, but it was probably all just an act. Just a lawyer's way of bonding with a client.

Quinn obviously believed that Catherine had killed two men and kidnapped three babies. Bluntly put, he thought Catherine was certifiably crazy. How could he have feelings for her at the same time?

But there was no denying what had happened after court on Wednesday. Sure, Quinn had been comforting a troubled client. But there was more. Catherine had felt the electricity when they touched. She would never forget the way he brushed the hair behind her ear and grazed his fingers along her cheeks. Looking through the slot of the metal door, she had seen something special in Quinn's eyes, a look of pain because he couldn't hold her. Had she just been imagining that? Was this another way her mind was playing games on her, distorting reality by making her believe Quinn was a handsome prince here to deliver Cat from this nightmare, only to be disappointed when he moved on to another client at the conclusion of the case?

"No further questions," Quinn said, staring at the beleaguered witness for a moment before taking a seat. Gates did a quick redirect as the entire courtroom seemed to breathe a little easier, relaxing from the tension that Quinn had summoned for his cross-examination.

"It's nearly 4:00," said a weary Judge Rosencrance when Gates finished. "This may be a good time to adjourn for the weekend."

But Gates apparently did not want to leave the jurors with the words of Chow's cross-examination ringing in their ears. "The commonwealth has one more witness we would like to present today, if possible. Her direct examination won't take more than ten minutes."

Rosencrance sighed and turned to the defense lawyers. Quinn stood. "Your Honor, we'd like to let the jurors get a jump on the Friday afternoon traffic. And we wouldn't mind one ourselves."

The jurors, Catherine noted, looked grateful.

But Gates wasn't through. "As long as Mr. Newberg doesn't drag out
this
cross-examination, we can do both--hear the witness and get a jump on traffic."

"Okay," said Rosencrance, though her tone said she didn't like it, "call your next witness."

"The commonwealth calls Tasha Moorehouse."

Catherine couldn't believe it. She turned to the door that led to the holding cell. The deputy disappeared through the door and a few seconds later came back, trailed by Tasha. She took the stand, dressed in a nice pair of slacks and a blouse, her face stern and unyielding. She didn't even look in Cat's direction.

Why was Gates calling
Tasha
to the stand?

Maybe he just wanted her to provide corroborating testimony about Cat's fight with Holly or the day Cat went crazy when Kenny Towns appeared on television. Cat quickly scrolled through her memory of the thousands of conversations she'd had with Tasha, the way she had confided in her cellmate.

Cat couldn't recall a single incriminating statement. And even if she could, she couldn't imagine Tasha turning on her. They were both members of the Widows. Tasha had been on Cat's side since day one.

But Cat's stomach was in utter turmoil.

Why won't she look at me?

87

Quinn had been trying cases long enough to know that jailhouse snitches came with the territory. He sensed Catherine's discomfort at her former cellmate's betrayal, but there was nothing Quinn could do about that except dismantle this woman on the stand.

Gates took the witness quickly through some background questions, and Tasha responded with a surly I-don't-want-to-be-here attitude.

"Did the defendant ever make a statement to you about this alternate persona that she claims was responsible for the killing of Paul Donaldson?"

"Yes."

"What did she say?"

"Lots of things."

Gates took a step closer to the witness. "Did she ever discuss the specifics of whether she should fake such a personality in order to help her case?"

"Are you kidding me?" Cat whispered. "I never talked about that."

"Yes," said Tasha.

"Tell us about it."

"We was talking about Barbie's shrink--Barbie was what we called the defendant--and she had that shrink named Mancini, or some Italian name like that. So Barbie says to me, 'Do you think it would help if Mancini actually meets the Avenger of Blood?' And I'm like, 'Meets her how?' Barbie gets all secretive and stuff, lookin' around to make sure nobody's listening. Then she whispers to me, 'You know, what if I turn into the Avenger while this shrink's counseling me and I get all wild-eyed.' Something like that."

Cat leaned close to Quinn. "She lying; I swear it. I never said
anything
like that."

Quinn nodded, trying to focus on the testimony.

"What did you tell the defendant?" Gates asked.

Tasha shrugged. "I told her not to try and fake it. Lyin' gets complicated, and people know how to trip you up."

Quinn frowned and turned toward Catherine, in part to get his client to look away from the jury so they wouldn't see the shock registering on her face. "What do you know about her?" Quinn whispered. "What's she serving time for?"

"I don't know much," Catherine said, clearly flustered. "She's awaiting trial on some type of firearms charge--being a 'straw purchaser,' I think she said. It's like her third offense."

"To your knowledge," Gates said, "did the defendant manufacture any dangerous weapons while in jail?"

"She sure did."

"Tell us about it."

"She showed me how to make it," Cat whispered furiously to Quinn. "It was her idea."

"She filed her toothbrush down to a shank. Said she was saving it for just the right occasion. Kept it hid inside her mattress."

"Did you tell the prison guards about it after your cellmate was placed in solitary confinement?" Gates asked.

"Yeah."

Gates moved dramatically back to his counsel table and retrieved a toothbrush in a plastic evidence bag. The handle of the toothbrush had been filed to a sharp point. He showed it to Quinn, who shrugged it off.

Gates had Tasha identify the weapon and introduced it as an exhibit.

"No objection," said Quinn.

Gates consulted his notes. "Let me direct your attention to an incident that occurred on Monday, June 16, in the pod that you shared with Ms. O'Rourke and a number of other prisoners. Did anything unusual occur on that day?"

"Is that the day that dude Kenny was on the tube?" Tasha asked.

Quinn stood to object, but Gates was faster. "I can't give you information, Ms. Moorehouse. Why don't you just tell us what happened on the day that you and the defendant saw Mr. Towns on television?"

"Well, this man that Barbie says raped her in college comes on TV and gets all indignant and stuff. 'The sex was consensual. Ask any of my frat brothers.' You know, like that. Well, this dude is hot, and so all the inmates start giving Barbie a hard time--they're gettin' in her face, making all these suggestive motions and stuff, and Barbie just basically freaks."