FIRST HURDLE

by
DR. DENNIS C. MILLER, D.B.S.

Ooh, real blood? A real murder case? I reacted with excitement when my Pre-Law II
counselor, Dr. Rawne, gave me an assignment slip one bright showery Thursday morning in
May of 2013. I saw it as a chance to work with some real lawyers going face to face. I read,
# 144-JSD: Murder case of Myron Rowle, 3 counts. Ms. Jane Sue Dorr- Paralegal
assignment with Criminal Attorney for the Defense, Melissa Anne Showli-Tell, so I nervously
reacted, Was William Tell her uncle? Zing! I loved that story, I trailed as I gestured shooting
an arrow out the window.
Twas no story. Hey, you just nailed the Dean! Just dont go shooting apples off
Missys head, now, Janie, the counselor sniggered. Get going! Shes looking for you. Her
office is on Gardener Way, near the Photo Mart.
As I pored over her file, I found my new law mentor, Ms. Schowli-Tell, was 5 feet nine
inches tall, had an enviably cute photograph, a svelte 124 pounds, had an exceedingly bright
countenance, had satiny chestnut colored hair, Brown eyes, and light olive skin. She was of
Swiss heritage and had grown up near Brainerd, Minnesota, (or Mini Soda, as she called it
in my presence later). I loved her charm, silliness, sophistication, and professional bearing
right away, so I knew we would be close, long-time friends, besides being colleagues. And
any girl who prefers St. John knit outfits is okay with me!
As I entered her office I saw a tall beauty wearing a St. John knit of Liz Taylor lavender.
She smiled, A very good day to you, Miss Janie Dorr! Ooh, yer wearing Wisteria! Oh,
baby... Missy cheerfully greeted me as she gently handled the flowers on my lapel. As she
fixed on the flowers for a moment, I saw she loved great times tending to her own flowers at
home. Sorry, I have an avid floral fixation. Ive pressed books of them, she replied.
Ahem, now I am Missy to you, all right? This is my secretary, Maurene, or Morrie
as we call her. We can dispense with the formalities, when we are here, hon. Lay it on me, g
frenn. She opened her arms widely to me, and said, Welcome aboard. Careful not to
smoosh the blossoms! Ha ha huh! Mmmmm, I could use more of these, kid! After a great
squeezy hug, she opened one arm and proclaimed, This is the real world of real Law, Janie.
Nothing is more real than a bunch of attorneys trying to out joust each other. Ha huh ha!
Just then, she looked at her Rolex Datejust Diamond Two Tone watch. Well, court calls,
Sistuh! Come on Bye, Morrie! and she grabbed my hand as we headed for her bright blue
Humvee 2 in the parking garage.
On the opulent university campus with the grand old buildings and a multitude of
gorgeous big trees, where we stopped by to get her court materials, she offered, Hello, Ms.
Kensit, faking formality to a lady passing by, then she softly said to me,Well All it takes for
some folks to hate you is one look. She said this lady was the only trustee who had given her
any bad marks on her law final-practical. When Kensit was out of range Missy called her,
Kooky Bird... I repeated, doing bird, Kooky! Then I cackled!
But seeing a leery eyed, wire headed, commandeering old hussy walking curtly toward
us down the Court House hallway a few minutes later gave Missy the jitters in her tummy and
she broke out in a cold sweat. Missy only smiled sheepishly at me as she flick pointed her
eyes and apprehensively pressed her tiny hands flatly on the smooth surface behind her.
From her vest pocket, she popped an antacid tablet into her mouth. I backed up, too, when I
saw the gal, a major angry woman! Missy bit a nail, then turned her glance to the right and
downward, giving me an expression with her eyes that yelled, Eek! Then she shrugged. We
huddled tightly against the dark, cold green marble courthouse wall and closed our eyes to
veil our presence. Ooooom... she mocked like a guru. Ha huh! Shhh... Hide. She wont
see us now. Go away, wicked witch Leave for good...
She had told me all about it on the way there, so I knew she was reacting to Mother
Rowle's railing outbursts in court the day before. The stupid, mouthy hell bat was making the
triple murder trial of her son look really bad! To win this case, Missy said she didnt need that
kind of ornery crap to make her re-live her past.
Missy was embarrassed by what happened. That was unprofessional. Im Sorry, your
honor. And to you, Maam. Never again, I assure you, she had told the court. Perhaps the
judge would cite the old woman if she did that again.
Coming out of her reverie and opening her eyes, Missy reacted by looking around,
Whoa Shes gone. Whew! Oh, I hope she gets contempt-apation! Woo!
 I laughed and pantomimed like I was casting spells on the old gal, too! Missy let out a
giggle and a sigh and another Shhh, then began to breathe whistle, "Who Can I Turn To?
Janie, I must stay controlled today and work my plan, girl. I cannot let Myrons crazy
old mom damage my case. She tries anything, I will yell,Objection! I will never argue with
her again. You keep those notes coming with good ideas, okay? she smiled as she handed
me her steno pad. Heres my plan. And the gist of the case to read over. We have, uh, 12
until court. Think out of the box. Hallway Well stay in the center of the hallway. Coffee?
My first day in court was real different! Missy was bold and determined as she crossed
examined some of the states witnesses. I could tell she felt a bit shaky. I guessed she was
strong for knowing her torts, but weak in experience in court. After the first witness, Myron,
wrote us a note, All crap. CRAP! Fabricated stuff. You put me on, Missy, and I will tell it
right! and he made a gesture that asked, Well?
Missy just winced. The court often assumes the suspect did it, so Missy wrote back, I
dont know about that yet, My. Maybe later, OK? and she touched his coat sleeve to assure
him.
The cops charged Myron because he had a bit of a wild temper sometimes, he knew
all three of the deceased, only he and the deceased were in the house, and he told a friend in
a bar that afternoon, I could just kill sometimes!
A call had come in to 911 very early in the morning. 9-1-1 Emergency. What is your
need? asked the dispatcher.
A woman came on, very fitful, Yeah Uh Our neighbor is, uh... acting weird, my
Lord, washing blood off his hands at the hose spigot out front. Its Myron. Hes so strange!
Hes been talking to himself, rather loud, you know? I cant tell whats going on, but I dont
think its good! His friends family came from out of town to stay there a few days, maybe 9
days ago. I havent seen them since yesterday.
The police arrived from the Homicide Division as Myron was just getting through
washing his hands. They put the cuffs on him and asked him to stay with a uniformed officer
until they assessed the situation inside. A young officer put his wash cloth in an evidence bag.
The place looked elephant tramped with a dark red goo! In the main bedroom, there
was a dead couple, stabbed multiple times each. The woman, 38 year old Sandy Belmont,
had been forcibly raped, then she was killed thereafter. Her sweetheart, Paul Verden, 41, lay
dead in the bed next to her. The place was real bloody! In the den they found a teenage boy
about 14, also stabbed over and over. Lots of blood stream cast off on the ceiling and walls.
That was Pauls step son.
Under questioning, Myron said he suddenly woke up. He walked in still sleepy to wake
up Paul and found his friends all dead. He had gotten blood on himself when he checked to
see if they were alive. There was no one else in the house and no obvious signs of a break
in. He saw the blood veiled butcher knife on the den floor near the teenager. Myron said he
went out front, carefully walking to stay out of the evidence, to wash up so he wouldnt
destroy evidence.
Missy had fully questioned her client, too, and she knew he took a sleeping pill at
about 3 in the afternoon, and that he always woke when he did, around 4 AM, due to his work
hours at the Conroe Bros. machine shop in Fayetonville. She thought that either the killer or
killers were pretty quiet or Myron was deeply asleep when they were killed. He always left the
stereo on low while he slept. When it went off, it was wake up time. The stereo had turned off.
What were they thinking? He had no motive at all! Without that, you dont have a killer. Its
circumstantial only. She knew that his friends had failed to lock the house before going to
bed. When he stepped outside, the front door was ajar. Someone left it that way, perhaps
the boy or the killer.
Missy figured two door shakers, guys hunting a place to burglarize, had gotten in.
Someone heard them, so they went room to room and killed everybody. Myron never slept in
the house, but in a nice room out back beside his garage. She knew he could not have done
it.
I surmised that Misty was walking on eggshells because she knew what the cops
didnt, but there was no way to prove it. No one saw My go into the garage house or exit.
Nobody could agree that the front door was ajar. She hoped the newbie could win this, but
she wasnt sure of that. I did all I could to help her run on her track and not get distracted. The
thought that this case could get away from her was frightful. She did not want an innocent
man to go to jail. Poor Myron knew that his testimony would have some weight, but how
would they corroborate it? That was a trapped and desperate feeling for him and his lovely
attorney. They needed something clear and certain.
 Myron had shown Missy that he had lived his entire life here in Parvah. He worked
hard and kept his nose clean. No run ins with the law, ever. The guy wouldnt hurt anyone.
Now he could get a bit too much to drink and blow off anger in a bar, but thats where he left
it, in the bar. But the man didnt own any guns because he did not even believe in hurting
animals. He seemed pretty direct, but Missy just hoped he wasnt hiding something.
Back in the hallway on our break, Missy was just anxiously staring a lot and pacing, not
even seeing the people walking by or those who waved at her. She seemed to be distracted
and on her own dreadful inner excursion of treachery, so I asked if she as okay. Yeah, over
all, I guess, she said. This helps, she followed, taking a nice swig of her iced cappuccino.
Yes!
Well, at least we only had a couple of objections over Mrs. R. Mmm, great coffee! I
mused.
Missy retorted, Yeah that. She reminds me so much of my own mom. Always angry
and negative. Throwing stuff everywhere! If you were there, you were the one who caught
her hellfire. The booze turned Mabel from a warm and kind lady into a monster. I got burned a
lot! A lot. Can you smell my scorched skin? she lightened as she offered her wrist to me.
I took her tense little sweet hand in mine, kissed it, and said, Not at all, M lady! as if
we were at a Renaissance Faire playing ladies in waiting.
Missy had gone, also, for she answered in a perfect British accent, Well, anon,
Mistress! Wondrous well...
The afternoon session was rife with difficulty. As Missy was tediously questioning him
about details with Myrons neighbor, Mr. Susser, the clients mother suddenly blurted,
Insolent snot! You rich kid little brat! Whats that got to do with.
Every kook in the court room began to yell back and forth, seemingly at Missy.
OBJECTION, YOUR HONOR! Can I continue, sir, without these personal assaults? Missy
nearly insisted.
The Judge took his turn gaveling his block with, Order in the court! ORDER! ORDER!
Worry not, Ms. Schowli-Tell. Now, Mrs. Rowle, you must keep your comments to yourself.
This is a criminal trial court room, not romper room school. Were you a witness in these
proceedings, which youre not, you could give your view. Another outburst from you and I will
cite you, Madam. I am now taking a hard line on this. Do you understand?
 Mrs. R only smirked, nodded, and waved a hand. The fact she said nothing showed
me she would do it again.
Missy felt like her bell had been rung! It took her a moment to get back on track. Oh,
Lets see here nowYes, Uh, Mr. Susser, you said that Myron, the defendant, came home at
about 2 PM. Uh, sir, could you tell the court what you may have heard and seen that told you
that, please?
Susser answered, Yeah, sure. It was when one of my favorite shows went off. I
looked at the big clock above the TV and it was 2 o clock straight up. So I got up and headed
for bed.
And, so, what told you that Myron was home? asked Missy.
Susser continued, Well, you see, his truck has a bad muffler and I recognized the
noise. It was like, Vroom voom, and that...
The old lady couldnt leave that one alone. Come on! You didnt see him! Judge??
This time the judge stood up and said, Mrs. Rowle, I hereby, upon several warnings,
cite you for contempt of court. Bailiff, see her to a holding cell while she is charged and
booked. The judge had quite enough of her. So the woman was escorted out, still griping
and fussing.
We will recess until 3:15. Dismissed, he declared.
In the rest room, Missy had knotted up, so she took a big bunch of paper towels, folded
them up, made sure we were alone, and muffled her mouth as she screamed! Aaahhhhh
UH! Whoa, a friend said to do that. Hey, it helps. Huh ha! Whew!
I just went over to her very quietly, took her shoulders in my hands, pulled her close,
and lay her forehead on my shoulder. Then, patting her back gently as I spoke, I whispered to
her, Let it go, Babe. Let it go. Breathe. Flowers calm calm.Ooh, ROSES...
Mmmmm Thats it. Then I lifted her back with, Now, Melissa dear, this isnt your mom.
Its just the angry mother of your client. Shes freaking out and just hoping you will get her
son off the charges. Got it? The judge just handled her. Dont blame yourself, please. Missy,
yer not an okay lawyer. And, yer not a decent lawyer, either. You are a GREAT lawyer. I
know that about you, Sistuh. Awesome! And, it simply doesnt matter now what Mabel ever
said or did back then, I gestured. Thats over. Throw it off. Youre the best!
 Of course, youre right, Janie doll. Right on spot amazing! Now how about I hire you
full time? Reasons? Lets see, she finger counted. FRIEND.fellow flower enthusiast
buddy assistant at law (a new official title I should think, Ha!) soul sisters road
warriors empath and a whole load of other neat junk thats still got to show its furry
head, and I was all smiles. How did I do? I just smiled big and nodded. Then she wiped
her anger tears and blew away boogies that she didnt need anyway, and freshened up.
When she got done looking in the mirror she said, Geez, perfection!
The rest of the day in court was quite uneventful. The neighbor lady who made the 911
call had taken the stand. Missy was very careful to keep her on what she had actually seen
and heard, never allowing her to speculate on anything. The prosecution only asked her a
brief couple of questions, then she was released. Sometimes eyewitnesses try to grandstand
to make themselves feel like they influenced the outcome of a big trial, but that would not
happen here. Step by step, Missy kept her within her limits. These things could be so
tedious. Really, all she had really seen was that the neighbor man seemed to be washing his
hands. No one could say for sure, at over 95 feet away in the middle of a dark night, what he
was washing off, or how the substance got there. It certainly did not suggest that he had
killed someone. All the lady could suggest was that he seemed frustrated and nothing more.
Who wouldnt be if they found all their house guests dead?
As Missy went over the prosecutions disclosure documents later that evening, she
saw something she really didnt like. Holy moley! Hey, Janie, you gotta see this! she hollered
from her office.
I came bouncing in with a, See what?
Missy showed me the paper and it read, The prosecution will show, as guilt suggests
it, that Mr. Myron Rowle, the defendant, used to sleep walk and may have killed his friends in
a sleeping frenzy that he cannot recall. Why, dont they see that would make him innocent,
not aware at all of his actions? Thats obvious to me!
I answered, I think theyve got head up butt disease! Youre kidding, right? Sleep
walking? What sort of defense is that?
Its no defense. Guy, his prints are not on the knife, Missy added. How do you stab
and kill somebody without handling the knife?
 Just then, the phone rang,Yes? Schowli-Tell at Law. This is Melissa. Oh, hi. What?
Oh, no! Where is she now? Okay, I will go right over, she said as she hurriedly grabbed her
purse and got up. Janie, we gotta go. Morrie was hit by a car!
The E. R. at Central Hospital was abuzz! They had Morrie in room 14. She was in
pretty bad shape. Missy was fidgety about what had happened, but she knew the policeman
who was there. Hey, Burt! What happened, anyway? and we listened intently.
Well, first of all, its a drunk driving case, Burt tried to prepare us. It seems Morrie
was crossing the street down by Bartrams and this crazy kid came streaking through at God
only knows how fast. Anyway, he plowed everything and everybody! Weve got him in lockup
downtown. Hell get DUI for sure. Hes only 16. OH, uh Yeah...they may be amputating
Morries legs now, he tried to whisper. They just rushed her to surgery. So sad. Gyad, we
cops gotta do better on this darned drinking and driving thing! There are a couple organs
messed up, too, they said. Poor girl...
Missy anguished, her hands in her face, and said, This is a mess! First, Gramma
Rowles tirades, then the prosecutions mess, then this. Poor, dear Morrie.. she looked up
and prayed, Help her now, Lord. I just hugged her, held her.
Missys mind went back many years to the day her little neighbor girl, Bandi Rae, got
hit by a passing car. She and the other kids were playing in the street. The car left the scene.
She could still see the helpless little dolly lying there in the curved gutter on her back, as
someone wiped her face with a wet washcloth. She was so scared. Suddenly, Missy cried
very deeply, like a dear friend had just died. I pulled her closer.
Missy and I each took seats in the waiting room. We knew this would take a while.
Surgery was never fast. Missy said she could feel Maureen struggling. Two hours and 18
minutes, and a few cat naps later, Missy noticed a doctor coming out. Ms. Schowli-Tell? he
asked.
Missy reacted and I joined them. Well, Missy, it was touch and go, and for awhile I felt
we were gaining on things.
We both earnestly asked, Yes?
Then, and I am still in a mystery as to reason, she declined. Flat lined. Its like she just
gave out. Im so sorry, Ladies. the doctor said as he walked away.
The next morning Missy got a call from her dad. Darling? Im so sorry to hear.
 Yeah, Dad, we miss her, she replied mournfully and starting to tear up..
Well, I want to help, he said. How about you let your dear old dad buy you girls a
nice dinner tonight, say 6, at Mc Arthurs, here in my town? Well have a nice time. Besides, I
miss you.l
Missy reacted, You, too, Daddy. That sounds wonderful! It will be good to see you.
Okay, bye-bye.
When we walked in to the restaurant that evening everyone was in a festive air.
Missys dad sat us right next to him. The dinner of Steak Diane, St. Edward vegetables,
buttered Brioche, and chocolate souffl was fabulous! There were some nice friends there.
After dessert Missys dad stood and called us to attention.
Thanks for coming, all. Wasnt that meal truly delicious? Applause went up for the
chef. I especially want to honor my lovely daughter, Melissa. Would you stand, Sweetheart?
he asked, so Missy did, and everyone applauded her. Baby, Ive been missing you a lot lately
and, and gosh dog it, Im darn tired of it. So I want to ask, would you move here?
Missy was surprised,Well, sure, Dad, I guess Of course, I have my new office.
Honey, I know you have gone through a great deal of late. I feel bad for you. So, I
spoke with my friends at the state bar and I got the courts to dismiss your case, drop that
spurious lawsuit from Mrs. R, (she got a $4,500 fine by the way!) and, then they assigned you
to me. They dropped charges on Myron. Well I need a partner here. Are you in, sugar?
Missy took a minute, but it all soaked in, and she began to hoop, Am I? I sure am in,
Poppa. Oh, this is awesome, working with you. Oh, my gosh, you miracle worker! Yes, yes,
YES! Accepted.
Her dad was not finished yet. And, there is one more thing I took the liberty of
inviting one more, very special guest. She came by way of a war, folks. Her own war. But
she won! She has taken the best of counseling, and thank the Lord, she got the monkey off
her back, or I should say, the bottle out of her pocket. Honey, this is the dear woman you
remember before all of that began. You see, Baby, we get a do over. Close your eyes.
She did, but popped them right open again. Missy couldnt wait, Yes? Who?? She
scanned about as if she had no clue.
A door slowly opened in the back and a gorgeous older lady in a pink St. John knit suit
was standing there, and her dad introduced, Your Mother!
 At first I did not strike Melissa who the lady was, then, My ma? Who? Oh, my
Momma! Missy literally burst into uncontrollable happy tears as she ran and embraced
Mabel, passionately hugging and kissing her, and the family melted together again. Some do
over, Daddy! she giggled.
He just smiled, for he knew thats what the law can do, if you use it correctly.

Published om Amazon Kindle on 7/5/17

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