But we’re not here for justice, we’re here for a show. Judith is an angry mother and she’s once again dragged me into court. My punishment is not the loss of visitation rights; rather, it’s just the hassle of dealing with her. She will not be pushed around! She will protect her child at all costs!

From my seat, I tell my side of the story without embellishing a single word.

She produces a copy of the newspaper, with “her son” on the front page. What humiliation! He could have been seriously injured. Judge Leef is almost asleep.

She produces an expert, a child psychologist. Dr. Salabar, female of course, informs the court that she has interviewed Starcher, spent an entire hour with him, talked about the cage fights and the playground “brawl,” and is now of the opinion that the carnage he witnessed while under my supervision had a detrimental effect on him and encouraged him to start a fight of his own. Judith manages to string this testimony out until Judge Leef is practically comatose.

On cross-examination, I ask, “Are you married?”

“Yes.”

“Do you have a son or sons?”

“Two boys, yes.”

“Did you ever take either son to boxing matches, wrestling matches, or cage fights?”

“No.”

“Did either son ever get into a fight with another kid?”

“Well, I’m sure they did, but then I really can’t say.”

The fact that she won’t answer the question speaks volumes. Judge Leef shakes his head.

“Did your boys ever get into a fight with one another?”

“I don’t recall.”

“You don’t recall? Were you a loving mother who gave your sons all the attention possible?”

“I’d like to think so.”

“So you were there for them?”

“As much as possible, yes.”

“And you can’t remember a single time when one of them got into a fight?”

“Well, no, not at this time.”

“What about some other time? Strike that. Nothing further.” I glance at the judge and he’s frustrated. But things brighten up considerably when the next witness takes the stand. It’s Naomi Tarrant, Starcher’s teacher, and she’s wearing a tight dress and stilettos. By the time she promises to tell the truth, old Judge Leef is wide awake. So am I.

Schoolteachers hate to get dragged into custody and visitation battles. Naomi is no exception, though she knows how to handle this situation. We’ve been swapping e-mails for a month now. She still won’t agree to dinner, but I’m making progress. She testifies that Starcher had never shown any violent tendencies until a few days after his first trip to the cage fights. She describes the playground incident without referring to it as a fight or a brawl. Just a couple of boys who had a misunderstanding.

Judith calls her as a witness not to help in her search for the truth but to show Naomi, as well as everyone else, that she has the power to drag them into court and bully them.

On cross, I get Naomi to admit that, sooner or later, almost every normal boy she has ever taught has been involved in some type of scuffle on the playground. She’s on and off the witness stand in fifteen minutes, and when Judge Leef dismisses her he looks a bit disappointed.

In closing, Judith repeats what’s already been said and makes a strident plea to terminate all visitation rights.

Judge Leef stops her cold with “But the father is getting only thirty-six hours a month. That’s not very much.”

“Thank you,” I say.

“That’s enough,” Judith scolds me.

“Sorry.”

The judge looks at me and asks, “Mr. Rudd, will you agree to keep the child away from cage fighting, as well as boxing and wrestling matches?”

“Yes, I promise.”

“And will you also agree to teach the child that fighting is a bad way to settle disputes?”

“Yes, I promise.”

He glares at Judith and says, “Your petition is denied. Anything else?”

Judith hesitates for a second, then says, “Well, I’ll just have to appeal.”

“You have that right,” he says as he taps his gavel. “This hearing is over.”

18.

The criminal trial of Doug Renfro begins on a Monday morning, and the courtroom is packed with potential jurors. As they are processed and seated by the courtroom bailiffs, the lawyers meet in the chambers of the Honorable Ryan Ponder, a ten-year veteran of our circuit courts and one of our better presiding judges. As always on the first day of a significant trial, the mood is tense; everyone is on edge. The lawyers look as though they haven’t slept all weekend.

We sit around a large table and cover some preliminary matters. As we wrap things up, Judge Ponder looks at me and says, “I want to get this straight, Mr. Rudd. The State is offering a deal whereby your client pleads guilty to a lesser charge, a ramped-up misdemeanor, and gets no jail time. He walks. And in return, he agrees to drop his civil suit against the City and all of the other defendants. Correct?”

“That’s correct, sir.”

“And he is saying no to this deal?”

“Correct.”

“Let’s get this on the record.”