On December 22, the Chester County grand jury, called in session for a rare Saturday meeting, indicted1 Travis Boyette for the abduction, sexual assault, and murder of Nicole Yarber. The interim2 DA, Mike Grimshaw, had assumed his responsibilities with strict orders from Judge Elias Henry to get the indictment3.
The day had been carefully chosen by Judge Henry to coincide with the ninth anniversary of the arrest of Donte Drumm. At one o'clock that afternoon, a crowd gathered in his courtroom for an unusual hearing. Robbie had filed a motion to declare Donte not guilty and exonerated6, and the state, acting7 through Grimshaw, was not contesting the motion. Judge Henry wanted the event covered and publicized, but he detested8 the notion of cameras in his courtroom. Several reporters were present, but none with cameras.
It was another Robbie Flak show. For an hour, he went through the facts, as they were now known, and clicked off the mistakes, lies, cover-ups, and such. With the outcome of the hearing certain, he did not belabor9 any point. When he finished, Mike Grimshaw stood and announced, "Your Honor, the State of Texas does not dispute anything Mr. Flak has said."
Judge Henry then read a short order that he had obviously prepared long before the hearing. Its final sentence read: "This court hereby finds, by clear and convincing evidence, that the defendant10, Donte L. Drumm, is not guilty of all charges, is absolutely innocent of all charges, and is hereby fully4 and completely exonerated. His conviction is hereby reversed and his record is expunged11. On behalf of this court, and on behalf of the State of Texas, I offer a sincere and thoroughly12 inadequate13 apology to the Drumm family." With great drama, Judge Henry signed his order, then handed it down to Robbie. As scripted, Robbie walked to the bar and handed it to Roberta Drumm in the first row.
The Texas Court of Criminal Appeals was still in its bunker. A mole14 had begun whispering, and when news broke about the "duty judge," the story hit page one. Though the court did indeed close at 5:00 p.m., even on execution days, Chief Justice Prudlowe assigned one of the nine as a duty judge, who was actually inside the building and supposedly monitoring the last-minute appeals. In theory, a frantic15 lawyer could call the duty judge and get some type of response from the court. It was a reasonable idea and not unusual for courts weighing life and death. However, the story exploded when it was learned that death-penalty lawyers in Texas knew nothing about the court's use of duty judges. Their existence was kept quiet by the court itself. So when Cicely Avis arrived at the Texas Court of Criminal Appeals at 5:07 on the day of Donte's execution, one hand holding a box of papers and the other hand banging on the locked door, there was actually a justice upstairs in his office ostensibly on guard.
The court announced that it was adopting the electronic filing of all petitions and pleadings, but denied that this change in procedure was a result of the Drumm case.
A complaint against Prudlowe was filed by the State Commission on Judicial16 Conduct. Two years would pass before the commission ruled that while his conduct was unprofessional, he did not engage in serious wrongdoing and he should keep his job.
The petition that did not get filed included the affidavit17 signed by Joey Gamble, the only alleged18 eyewitness19 at the trial. Legal experts debated the significance of his last-minute recantation and what the court should have, or would have, done with it.
Joey left Slone, then Texas. He blamed himself for what happened to Donte, and found solace20 only in the bottle.
On December 28, the last Friday in 2007, Keith and Dana walked into an empty courtroom in Topeka, at 4:30 p.m., and were met by Elmo Laird. Matthew Burns showed up for moral support, though Keith needed none. A judge appeared, then an assistant prosecutor21. In less than ten minutes, Keith pleaded guilty to one count of obstruction22 of justice. He was fined $1,000, given one year of probation23 and one year of unsupervised parole. Elmo Laird was confident that within three years, his record would be expunged.
When asked by the judge if he had anything to say, Keith replied, "Yes, Your Honor. I would do the same thing again, if presented with the opportunity." To which the judge said, "God bless you."
As expected, the Monk25 informed Keith that he was immediately being placed on a leave of absence. Keith said not to bother--he was resigning. On Sunday, Keith announced to his congregation at St. Mark's that he was leaving to become the senior minister at Unity24 Lutheran Church in Austin, Texas.
Travis Boyette now faced life in Kansas, death in Missouri, and death in Texas. For a year, the three states wrangled26, often publicly, about what to do with him. When he told a Kansas judge that he strangled Nicole in Missouri, the judge ordered him transferred to Newton County. Since he had confessed repeatedly, he had no desire to defend himself in a trial. Sixteen months after his trip to Slone, he was sentenced to death by lethal27 injection and sent to the Potosi Correctional Center.
Paul Koffee was eventually disbarred by a state ethics28 panel. He left Slone and became a bail29 bondsman in Waco. Drew Kerber filed for bankruptcy30 and moved his family to Texas City, where he found a job on an offshore31 oil rig.
Martha Handler won the race to the printing press and published the first of what promised to be a flood of books about the Drumm case. Her book was on the best-seller lists for almost a year. Her relationship with Robbie and the Drumm family soured when they could not agree on splitting the money.
The indictment of Travis Boyette and the exoneration32 of Donte Drumm put even more pressure on Governor Gill Newton to summon the legislature to Austin to deal with the aftermath of the execution. The governor and his advisers33 had hoped the passage of time would erode34 interest in the matter, but that was not happening. Death-penalty opponents were ramping35 up their efforts and sharpening their tactics, and they were being cheered on by much of the national press. The Black Caucus36, led by Senator Rodger Ebbs37 of Houston, had only grown louder. Their vow38 of closing down the state's government until a special session was held appeared more and more likely. And the poll numbers were not trending the governor's way. A clear majority of Texans wanted the state to take a hard look at its execution business. They still wanted the death penalty, and by a wide margin39, but they wanted some assurance that its use would be limited to those who were actually guilty. The idea of a moratorium40 was so widely discussed that it was gaining support.
Finally, the poll numbers got the best of him, and Governor Newton called the 31 senators and 150 House members to the Capitol. Since he dictated41 the limits of what could be considered, the agenda would be (1) a resolution on Drumm, (2) a moratorium on executions, and (3) the creation of an innocence42 commission to study the problems. It took three days to pass the resolution, which upon final approval declared Donte exonerated of all guilt5 and awarded $1 million to his family. When filed, and every member of the Black Caucus was a co-sponsor, the bill called for an award of $20 million, but the legislative43 process had whittled44 away all but a million. The governor, a tightfisted fiscal45 hawk46, at least on the campaign trail, expressed his usual concern over "excessive government spending." When the Houston Chronicle ran its front-page story, it included the fact that the governor and his staff had spent over $400,000 on their recent trip fighting terror in Fallujah.
The moratorium bill ignited a political war. Its original language sought a two-year stop on all executions, during which time the death penalty would be studied from all angles and by all manner of panels and experts. Committee hearings were televised. Witnesses included retired47 judges, radical48 activists49, well-known researchers, even three men who had spent years on death row before being exonerated. Outside the Capitol, rowdy demonstrations50 were held virtually every day. Violence erupted on several occasions when death-penalty proponents51 got too close to its opponents. The very circus the governor feared had come to town.
Since the moratorium fight originated in the Senate, the House began work on what was initially52 known as the Donte Drumm Commission on Innocence. As conceived, it would be a full-time53 commission with nine members who would study the roots of wrongful convictions and work to correct the problems. At the time, Texas had seen thirty-three exonerations, most by DNA54 evidence, with an alarming number from Dallas County. Another series of committee hearings were held, with no shortage of enthusiastic witnesses.
After settling into their new home in late January, Keith and Dana went to the Capitol often to watch the proceedings55. They were in the crowd during several protests, and they watched the legislature suffer through the tortured process of coming to grips with a major problem. They, along with most observers, soon had the impression that nothing was going to change.
As the special session dragged on, the name of Adam Flores began to appear in the news. After twenty-seven years on death row, Flores was to be executed on July 1. In another life, he had been a petty drug dealer56 who had killed another petty drug dealer during a bad night. His appeals were ancient history. He had no lawyer.
The legislature recessed57 in late March, then reconvened the first week in May. After months of bitter infighting, the obvious had become even more so. It was time to forget this little war and go home. On final passage, the moratorium failed in the Senate by a vote of twelve in favor and nineteen against, all votes along party lines. Two hours later, the House voted seventy-seven to seventy-three against the creation of the innocence commission.
On July 1, Adam Flores was escorted to Huntsville and met by Warden58 Ben Jeter. He was placed in the holding cell and counseled by the prison chaplain; he ate his last meal--fried catfish--and said his last prayer. At precisely59 6:00 p.m., he made the short walk to the death chamber60, and twenty minutes later he was pronounced dead. He had no witnesses, and there were none for his victim. There was no one to claim his body, so Adam Flores was buried in the prison cemetery61, alongside dozens of other unclaimed death row inmates62.
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indicted
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| 控告，起诉( indict的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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interim
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| adj.暂时的，临时的；n.间歇，过渡期间 | |
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indictment
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| n.起诉；诉状 | |
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fully
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| adv.完全地，全部地，彻底地；充分地 | |
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guilt
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| n.犯罪；内疚；过失，罪责 | |
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exonerated
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| v.使免罪，免除( exonerate的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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acting
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| n.演戏，行为，假装；adj.代理的，临时的，演出用的 | |
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detested
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| v.憎恶，嫌恶，痛恨( detest的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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belabor
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| vt.痛斥；作过长说明 | |
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defendant
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| n.被告；adj.处于被告地位的 | |
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expunged
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| v.擦掉( expunge的过去式和过去分词 )；除去；删去；消除 | |
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thoroughly
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| adv.完全地，彻底地，十足地 | |
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inadequate
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| adj.(for,to)不充足的，不适当的 | |
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mole
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| n.胎块；痣；克分子 | |
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frantic
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| adj.狂乱的，错乱的，激昂的 | |
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judicial
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| adj.司法的，法庭的，审判的，明断的，公正的 | |
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affidavit
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| n.宣誓书 | |
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alleged
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| a.被指控的，嫌疑的 | |
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eyewitness
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| n.目击者，见证人 | |
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solace
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| n.安慰；v.使快乐；vt.安慰(物)，缓和 | |
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prosecutor
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| n.起诉人；检察官，公诉人 | |
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obstruction
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| n.阻塞，堵塞；障碍物 | |
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probation
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| n.缓刑(期)，(以观后效的)察看；试用(期) | |
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unity
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| n.团结，联合，统一；和睦，协调 | |
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monk
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| n.和尚，僧侣，修道士 | |
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wrangled
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| v.争吵，争论，口角( wrangle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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lethal
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| adj.致死的；毁灭性的 | |
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ethics
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| n.伦理学；伦理观，道德标准 | |
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bail
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| v.舀（水），保释；n.保证金，保释，保释人 | |
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bankruptcy
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| n.破产；无偿付能力 | |
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offshore
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| adj.海面的，吹向海面的；adv.向海面 | |
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exoneration
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| n.免罪，免除 | |
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advisers
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| 顾问，劝告者( adviser的名词复数 )； （指导大学新生学科问题等的）指导教授 | |
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erode
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| v.侵蚀，腐蚀，使...减少、减弱或消失 | |
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ramping
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| 土堤斜坡( ramp的现在分词 )； 斜道； 斜路； （装车或上下飞机的）活动梯 | |
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caucus
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| n.秘密会议；干部会议；v.（参加）干部开会议 | |
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ebbs
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| 退潮( ebb的名词复数 )； 落潮； 衰退 | |
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vow
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| n.誓(言)，誓约；v.起誓，立誓 | |
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margin
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| n.页边空白；差额；余地，余裕；边，边缘 | |
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moratorium
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| n.(行动、活动的)暂停(期)，延期偿付 | |
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dictated
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| v.大声讲或读( dictate的过去式和过去分词 )；口授；支配；摆布 | |
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innocence
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| n.无罪；天真；无害 | |
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legislative
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| n.立法机构，立法权；adj.立法的，有立法权的 | |
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whittled
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| v.切，削（木头），使逐渐变小( whittle的过去式和过去分词 ) | |
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fiscal
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| adj.财政的，会计的，国库的，国库岁入的 | |
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hawk
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| n.鹰，骗子；鹰派成员 | |
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retired
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| adj.隐退的，退休的，退役的 | |
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radical
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| n.激进份子，原子团，根号；adj.根本的，激进的，彻底的 | |
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activists
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| n.（政治活动的）积极分子，活动家( activist的名词复数 ) | |
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demonstrations
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| 证明( demonstration的名词复数 )； 表明； 表达； 游行示威 | |
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proponents
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| n.（某事业、理论等的）支持者，拥护者( proponent的名词复数 ) | |
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initially
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| adv.最初，开始 | |
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full-time
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| adj.满工作日的或工作周的，全时间的 | |
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DNA
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| (缩)deoxyribonucleic acid 脱氧核糖核酸 | |
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proceedings
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| n.进程，过程，议程；诉讼(程序)；公报 | |
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dealer
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| n.商人，贩子 | |
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recessed
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| v.把某物放在墙壁的凹处( recess的过去式和过去分词 )；将（墙）做成凹形，在（墙）上做壁龛；休息，休会，休庭 | |
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warden
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| n.监察员，监狱长，看守人，监护人 | |
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precisely
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| adv.恰好，正好，精确地，细致地 | |
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chamber
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| n.房间，寝室；会议厅；议院；会所 | |
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cemetery
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| n.坟墓，墓地，坟场 | |
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inmates
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| n.囚犯( inmate的名词复数 ) | |
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