"Why was that?"
"Mr. Bernhardt had what we call lead-pipe arteries. When you touch them, you can actually feel the calcification inside."
"What else did you do?"
"I examined the myocardium, the heart muscle, for evidence of prior heart attacks."
"And what did you find?"
"No evidence of any scar tissue."
"Anything else?"
"I looked for any pale areas which might indicate the lack of oxygen over a prolonged period of time, and found none. I looked for evidence of a thrombus with a superimposed clot, but there was none."
"Based on your examination and the autopsy as a whole, did you reach conclusions as to cause and manner of death?"
"I did."
"What did you conclude?"
"The cause of death was cardiac arrest precipitated by multiple gunshot wounds and the resulting stress to Mr. Bernhardt, all of which aggravated his chronic atherosclerotic heart disease. The manner of death, therefore, was homicide."
Abe Socolow nodded sagely. Then, anticipating my defense, Abe raised a straw man.
"Now, Dr. Ling," Abe Socolow said, "you are familiar with the fact that the gunshots did not strike a vital organ?"
"Yes, I am."
"He did not bleed to death as a result of the shooting?"
"No, he did not."
It sounded a little like cross-examination, but I knew just where Abe was headed.
"Then how can you state that the shooting caused Mr. Bernhardt's heart attack?"
Knocking that old scarecrow down.
"By the process of elimination, for one thing," she responded. "There was no evidence of any other apparent physical cause."
"But you've just told us that Mr. Bernhardt had significant evidence of heart disease."
Again, setting up that raggedy guy…
"Yes, but Mr. Bernhardt had no prior heart attacks. There are many methods available to treat his atherosclerosis. Medication, angioplasty, bypass surgery. He could have lived a long time."
And knocking him down.
"Then why did he die?"
"The trauma to the system due to the injuries and the resulting surgery precipitated the incident."
Abe smiled his sincere look, allowed as how thankful he was that Dr. Ling could scoot over from the morgue-situated comically on Bob Hope Road-and handed me his witness.
I stood up and bowed politely. "If I understand your testimony, Dr. Ling, you believe the injuries caused the cardiac arrest because you can't find anything else that conclusively did."
"In a sense. It is, as I said, by the process of elimination."
"Did you eliminate the possibility that it was just time, that Harry Bernhardt would have suffered cardiac arrest that Friday night, regardless whether he was shot three times or had three shots of bourbon?"
"There was no objective evidence indicating that the heart should have simply failed."
"So you eliminated the possibility because you couldn't find such a cause?"
Dr. Ling smiled tightly. "I couldn't find such a cause because none was there."
"You're not telling us that Harry Bernhardt was a healthy man, are you, Doctor?"
"Healthy, no. But, except for the shooting, Mr. Bernhardt likely would have enjoyed several more years of life."
"And except for the shooting, Mr. Lincoln would have enjoyed the play," I said.
"Mr. Lassiter!" The judge scowled at me.
"Sorry, Your Honor," I said humbly, then turned back to the witness. "How many years?"
"There is no way to determine that. However, I have seen cases where patients lived with far worse arterial deterioration."
"And you have seen cases where persons with less evidence of coronary disease have died of heart attacks, have you not?"
"Yes."
An honest answer. The jury would like her. Still, I was scoring a few small points.
"Isn't it true that Harry Bernhardt could have dropped dead today or tomorrow or next year?"
"We'll never know that, will we, because of your client's actions?"
"Your Honor!" Oh, she was a feisty one. Good witnesses know how to counterpunch. "I realize Dr. Ling has the same employer as Mr. Socolow, but-"
"I object to that!" Socolow bounded toward the podium, but I elbowed him aside.
"The medical examiner is supposed to be an impartial servant of the people," I bellowed. "The defense asks that the court admonish the doctor-"
"All right, all right." The judge waved at us with the gavel. "Jake, you ask questions. Doctor, you answer them simply and directly. Abe, you sit down."
No harm, no foul.
I decided to go off in another direction. "Doctor, what is sudden cardiac death syndrome?" I asked.
She seemed to sigh. "It is the unexpected death due to either too fast or too slow a heart rate combined with respiratory arrest."
"Sudden cardiac death is not an ailment in itself, is it?"
"No, it's a comprehensive term that describes a method of death usually accompanied by ventricular fibrillation."
"As with Harry Bernhardt?"
"Yes."
"And what are the causes of sudden cardiac death?"
"There are many. Heart disease. Hypertension. Certain rare disorders such as Romano-Ward, plus external causes such as electrocution or acidosis as a result of chronic alcoholism. It has many etiologies."
"Including those cases where no objective evidence can be found that caused the heart stoppage?"
She paused. "Yes."
"In other words, if the heart fails in an otherwise healthy person, you might very well determine it was sudden cardiac death syndrome?"
"You might, yes, in certain cases."
"But not in a case where the state attorney has filed murder charges?"
"Objection!" Socolow bounded to his feet. "Argumentative."
"Sustained."
I was thinking about sitting down. I had made my point, such as it was. But sometimes, I try to make it twice. I know better than to ask a "why" question on cross-examination of a state witness, particularly someone experienced at testifying.
"Broadly speaking, how many causes of death are there, Dr. Ling?"
"Four. Natural, accident, suicide, and homicide."
"And you listed homicide as the cause of Harry Bernhardt's death?"
"Yes."
"Though it could very well have been listed as natural, based on sudden cardiac arrest syndrome?"
"That is not my opinion."
"O-pin-ion," I said, tasting the word and finding it bitter. "Defined as your belief, your idea, your notion of what may have happened?"
Socolow's chair scraped the floor. "Objection, Your Honor. Dr. Ling has been qualified as an expert and is entitled to express her opinion without Mr. Lassiter's sarcasm."
"So she is," I responded. "But I am reminded of Justice Bok's classic statement that an expert opinion is just a guess dressed up in evening clothes."
"Your Honor!" Socolow pounded his table this time, and the judge waved his gavel at me, sort of penalizing me fifteen yards for unsportsmanlike conduct.
"Mr. Lassiter, you know better than that," the judge said icily. He turned to the jury box. "The jury shall disregard Mr. Lassiter's last statement."
I didn't mind the instruction. In my experience, jurors forget most everything I say, except what the judge tells them to disregard.
So here I was, the morning after.
Taking stock of my life. And my client's. Wondering how I let myself get entwined with her body and her case. A lawyer must care deeply about the client's fate, but not too deeply. For the same reason a surgeon shouldn't operate on his spouse, a lawyer shouldn't sleep with his client. Too much at stake. Way too much.
"What's going to happen today?" Chrissy asked. She was nibbling some raisin toast she had blackened on the number nine setting.