Book: Wild Justice

R >> Ruth M. Sprague >> Wild Justice




As tempers, which had so far been under control, flared
and threatened to widen the gulf between the two sides,
Henry realized that the arguments were just solidifying
the opposition and, damn it to hell, they were the majority!
Since the handwriting evidence was so shaky, he dared not
force the issue. He would find another way.

He quickly called an end to it, told them tersely that
he would let them know when the next meeting would be
and then before anyone else moved, he left the room.




Chapter 29


August slipped into September.

What's happening with the hearing? Everyone was asking.
No one had an answer.

Then the president of N.O.W, Ellie Smeal, came on campus to give
a speech. The room was packed with women from all over campus.
Afterwards, Esther saw Diana and went up to her.

"What is going on? Have you heard anything?" she inquired.

"You're the one on the committee. I haven't heard anything
since the hearing ended. You guys told me a month, tops.
Haven't you been writing the report?" Trenchant answered tersely.
She was becoming increasingly strung out by the delay and by
the obvious fact that the committee chair had once again lied to her.

"Oh," said Esther, alarm showing on her pudgy face, "I'm not
supposed to talk about it. I haven't heard anything."
She finished, walking away leaving Diana more in the dark
than ever. . .and more apprehensive.

October dropped its leaves.

November brought an early snow.

Christmas flashed brightly, dulled and stood aside for the
start of a new year.

It had been nearly seven months since the hearing had ended
but Henry had not been idle. After the debacle of the second
meeting of the panel, The Pope and Henry had decided to send the
material away for confirmation by another document examiner.
The women on the panel were not privy to this information.
"If they can't cooperate, leave them out in the cold,"
was Henry's decision.


"How many had you contacted before you found this one, Henry?"
Frank Anuse had stopped by Henry's office in the administration building
at Henry's invitation. A great deal of time had gone by and he had
been getting edgy with all the questions aimed at him by concerned faculty.
It was great to have some positive results. Even though he couldn't
broadcast them, he could give his inquisitors a knowing look
and indicate that it was in the bag.

"This makes the fourth. The bastards take forever to make
up their minds. They say they are busy with other analyses,
but you'd think with all we're paying them that. . ."
Henry shook his head in disgust.

"And they all said the same thing. They didn't like to
make a positive match using copies of the standards we sent?"
Frank Anuse asked.

"That's it. They all wanted originals."

"The guy that has them now though, called and said essentially
the same thing at first, except he thought if he could have a lot
more standards, he could make a decision even if they were copies."

"And. . ."

"And, I sent off copies of everything in her personnel file."

"You mean forms and such like? Don't they have other people's
writing on them besides Trenchant's?"

"Oh, yes, but that doesn't matter. The main thing is
we got confirmation. The guy will testify to that and then
those damn lady-professors are going to toe the line, or else."

"You've already sent Trenchant the copies and notice of the next hearing?"

"Yup. Did it this morning. Same mail as I sent it to the rest
of the committee."

"Seems as though it would have been simpler just to have her write
something in front of witnesses and use those originals instead
of farting around all this time with copies," Anuse suggested.
"This process has taken nearly a year already."

"There's reasons. Not something you and I have to know about,
but there's reasons. Anyway, here's your copy. Enjoy."




Chapter 30


A registered package arrived for Diana. It contained copies
of the `suspect' SmurFFs and copies of the standards that she
had seen before at the hearing. Also enclosed were many
other documents, apparently copied from microfiche files.
These copies were atrocious, all spotty with black dots and lines.
Most of the letters were blurred and some parts were unreadable.

The package also contained a report from another document examiner.
This one agreed that Diana had written six of the eight documents
sent to them for analysis, but was not sure of two of them.
Just like the previous examiners--except it wasn't the
same two they indicated.

Nevertheless, the cover letter, signed by Henry, decreed that
this was supportive testimony and the hearing would reconvene
in five days to present this evidence formally to Diana.
At that time she would be given an opportunity to cross examine
the so-called expert testimony of the document examiner.

This time Henry was taking no chances. This time, the document
examiner was male.

Diana and her supporters were not terribly surprised by
contents of the package. It did, however, confirm that as
far as the Belmont administration was concerned, she would be
convicted even if they had to move heaven and earth to prove it.

The initial hearing of three days, the official protocol,
the declarations of good faith made by the panel members--
all a sham. She'd waited long enough. It was time to
seek help outside of Belmont U.

Part of her decision to take this path was made in response to the
outpouring of support from the staff, faculty and students of Belmont.
These people, many of whom felt repressed themselves, knew that there
was no way that justice or fairness could be brought about within
the university structure. Anyone who had experience with university
politics completely subscribed to the dubious accolade that
university politics were the meanest of all types known to exist.

Many were angry that the whole rotten business evolved around
a mere seven out of several hundred forms--all of which in the
normal course of events would have been ignored.

There was frustration as well. They felt helpless and many
were sickened at their lack of ability to effect any change.
By sending money to Diana, "to help with legal expenses,"
they could mitigate their helplessness and their fear.

Efforts were initiated to bring the affair before the
Faculty Senate but they were quashed as soon as they started by
the new Senate president, former ombudsman, Jonathan Bambridge.

Trustees were approached by supporters as well as university
alumni groups. There was sympathy, but no one wanted to risk
their position against the very real power wielded by the administration.

Several women faculty went to the Pope and pleaded for him to intercede.
These were brave women. They took to the meeting with the university
president examples of many cases of proven misconduct that had occurred
on campus. In every case, no man had ever been terminated. They reminded
him that this was the first time at Belmont that a termination for cause
charge had been made, and that it was against a woman.

The group of faculty women begged him to reconsider. To press
such minuscule charges in the first place had been a mistake.
The information had spread across campus, the town and the state,
making almost every person who heard of it laugh at first,
then as they realized that it was not a joke become indignant.

"The publicity already has been harmful and it can only get
worse if this hearing is continued," one of the professors
urgently stated to The Pope. "Why do you continue with this?"

They were told that the decision to prosecute was final and that
there was nothing they could do. Then they were shown the door.

The same sort of treatment was given to staff and students
except that they usually got shorter shrift. Islands of
concerned people protested but never joined in concert.
It was not a safe undertaking at Belmont University. Not if
you wanted to keep your position. As Edmund Burke observed,
"When bad men combine, the good must associate;
else they will fall one by one, an unpitied
sacrifice in a contemptible struggle."

The final straw that tipped the balance and sent Diana to an
attorney to fight the inevitable termination was an editorial
that appeared in THE PROD, the Belmont student newspaper.
In a strongly worded article it condemned the undemocratic
judicial process of the Belmont administration, which flouted
the laws of the state and made up its own to fit each occasion.
The editorial compared Belmont's disciplinary process to feudal times.


It was titled:


PUNISHING THE VICTIM


. . .Dr. Diana Trenchant was accused of wrong doing.
Therefore, she was tried by a jury of her accusers
in accordance with university policy.
Although two witness, who in any court would be
called `expert' witnesses, testified against her,
she was not allowed an adequate defense--that is,
the service of an attorney who would be competent
to cross examine so-called expert testimony.
She was also not allowed access to documents
needed in her own defense.

She will most certainly be summarily terminated--
deprived of her livelihood without due process--
another victim of Belmont Kangaroo Kort Justice.



"That does it," she told Andrea and James whose support
had never wavered throughout the ordeal. "I refuse to be one
of Burke's `unpitied sacrifice'. More specifically, I refuse
to be their victim. Perhaps the courts can do something.
Let's give it a shot."

The women on the panel took a lot of heat for the reconvening
of the hearing. Ricocheting across campus were the whisperings
and lamentations of Esther as she endeavored to absolve herself from blame.

Jane's battle with her conscience reached only the ears of her
closest friends, but her glacial features and bent posture bespoke
her frustration and her impotency.

The saddest of all was Annette who had quietly borne the conflicting
waves of testimony that flowed over her at the hearing. She had dared
to speak up a couple of times, but now she knew that it had been a mistake.
Whatever Henry asked her to sign, she would sign. Without question,
without hesitation, but not with good conscience. His visit to her
and his carefully chosen words concerning his knowledge
of her life-style had left no doubt remaining that
the threat of exposure was real.


Diana found out early on that it would be unwise to place
too much confidence in the judicial system. She discovered
that a court cares nothing about right or wrong, good or bad.
It cares only about what the law is, can you prove it,
and who proves it in the most entertaining manner.

The Attorney General had told Diana that an additional hazard
was that this was a civil rights case--sex discrimination.
The current federal administration had knocked the hell out of
most of the laws pertaining to sex or age discrimination
and greatly weakened any remaining. The EEOC was acting like
a toothless pussy cat under the direction of a staunch Reagan\Bush
conservative whose payoff would be a seat on the Supreme Court.

However, for all its drawbacks, it was the only game in town.
A choice, instead of giving up. Besides, Diana was overwhelmed
with the magnitude of support in the form of cold cash from the
university community and alumni. She had to at least have the faith
in herself that others had shown--but the cost! Enough to make her
frugal Yankee blood congeal in horror.

Well, no help for it, she thought. She carefully figured out
just how far she could go with what she had and what had been given her.
That far she would go and no further. She'd give the court a chance,
but she wouldn't bet the whole farm on it and certainly not the rest
of her life. Decidedly not in a city where the old boy network
was so substantial and entrenched that it kept its meeting place
a male bastion and ruled the entire state from it. Not to mention
that The Pope was a prepaid member--a perk traditionally given
Belmont's president.




Chapter 31


Ever since the original charges had been made, the Public
Protection Division of the Attorney General's Office had been
investigating the case brought to it by Diana. It functioned
to protect the legal rights of Diana and provide a copy of its
report to the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission (EEOC).

It had been denied access to the previous three day hearing by
the Belmont administration, but was promised the hearing transcript.
After a great deal of prompting, the transcript, all 700 pages of it,
had been sent to the Attorney General's Office as agreed.

It was copied and shared with the attorney representing Diana, Al Garrett.
He was appalled at the way the university administration had handled
the hearing and felt that all that was needed was to hit the
university administration with legal paperosa plentimus
and they would soon see reason.

He was unaware that the age of reason had not yet penetrated
Belmont University. Their axiom was, `Reason? There is no reason,
it's company policy.'

The ensuing legal detritus delayed the reconvening of the
second round of the university hearing, but didn't prevent it.
In the short time given, Diana obtained affidavits from a
prominent document examiner and a promise of testimony
from the university psychologist.


A court reporter was once again recording the proceedings,
but it wasn't Janet. The surroundings had changed also.
Now, they were all sitting around a table in a very large
auditorium in the English Department.

Diana had an attorney present, but university policy prevented
him from doing anything except whisper instructions to her.
Of course, they had talked beforehand and had planned how
the defense part and cross examination would go. Even so,
the attorney was still in the court mode--he had little
or no concept of a university hearing and much of what
went on left him stunned with disbelief and unable to
provide much direction. When he tried, whispering furtively
into Diana's ear to do this or say that, it made Diana
little more than a puppet dangling on one string,
and just as effective. One thing for certain,
thought Diana as the hearing progressed,
someone should tell lawyers about breath mints!

As soon as she could gain recognition from the chair,
Diana requested that the hearing be open. "The purpose
of a closed hearing in personnel matters is to protect the employee.
I waive that protection." To herself, she thought, I know from
experience that I have much more protection in public opinion
than I have as a member of the faculty of Belmont University.

"Interested citizens and the press are waiting outside.
They were prevented from coming in. I respectfully request that
they be allowed to enter." Prevented was right, she thought,
a plethora of Kampus Kops was guarding the door of the hearing room.
Henry was indeed worried that the goings-on in the hearing room might
be observed by an impartial observer and had taken steps to prevent it.

"No." He answered, "It is the policy of the university that
hearings be closed. We will now proceed to the testimony
of the second document examiner."

Henry was pleased to note that while Amos Avery, the handwriting analyst,
was being sworn, the panel members played with the files on the table
in front of them. He had met with each of the women individually
and had whipped them into line. His eyes sparkled as he recalled
their helplessness and his feelings of power.

Henry next proceeded to enter into evidence various letters
and the handwriting documents. Diana, under instructions from
her attorney, objected. Objections which would have been
given credence in a court of law were just ignored by Henry.
The only thing all the legal patter accomplished was to increase
the tension and the red in his face.

Well, I'll just have to bear it, he thought grimly. That sharp lawyer,
Simon Murrain, hired by The Pope to advise them on both hearings
had been adamant. "Always let her speak. You can interrupt her witnesses,
you can even ignore what she says or refuse what she may request.
But always let her have her say. We can't have her complaining that
she didn't get a fair hearing." Henry remembered how he had laughed
at the simplicity of that strategy.

Concerning what she was saying now, Henry wasn't about to pay
any attention. The objections Trenchant was making were important,
having to do with the evidence. The writing used as standards
were still not authenticated. The copies of microfiche files
were almost unreadable due to their being covered with dots and black lines.

In contention were the extra standards that this analyst had requested
since he could not be sure of the authorship of the `suspect' SmurFFs
using the same standards provided to the first analyst.

"You are not following any rules of evidence here,"
Trenchant was continuing. "You are just submitting things
on a whim. You have given this examiner copies--very bad copies--
of material supposedly from my personnel file covering a period
of over twenty years. Even if authentic, these documents contain
the handwriting or printing of at least seven other people,
posibly more, and I see nothing that delineates which of all these
different writings is supposed to be the standard," she argued.

"Some of the writing on these was written entirely by my
daughter or son," Diana held up the documents for inspection.
"These tuition exemption forms were filled out and signed
with my name by either my son or my daughter, for example.
The rest of the writing is by a personnel officer.

"I am surprised that you didn't send samples of writing from
the entire university while you were at it," she finished sarcastically,
disgust clearly portrayed in her voice and on her face.

"This hearing is being held solely to hear the report of this
document examiner. You will be given a chance to comment on his report,"
Henry continued, blithely ignoring Diana's protest.

"Who made these rulings?" queried Diana, prompted by Al.

"Pardon me?" Henry asked.

"Who made the rulings concerning the admissibility of these standards?"

"I am reading the ground rules for this hearing which are contained
in my letter to you. I am entering it into the proceedings."

"So. Who made the ruling? Not the committee!"

"The committee is aware of these things."

"The committee is just going along with whatever you propose.
Why can't you admit that you are making the rules of evidence?
Why do we need the rest of the panel?"

"The committee made the decision and can speak up if they
do not agree." All of the women on the panel busily shuffled
papers and Anuse beamed like a misplaced beacon. The silence
of the panel told it all. Three cowered, two glowed.
Henry was confident.

Well, thought Diana, we knew it would be a struggle.
Turning to the material she and Al had prepared, she read
into the record, once again, that she wanted an open hearing.
That SHE had nothing to hide.

Continuing on, she brought out other legal points that Al
felt needed to be in the record. "We have over and over again
requested documents from the university and been denied them.
You have provided me with nothing with which I can dispute your case.
I am referring to some six hundred student SmurFFs that were referred
to by your witnesses in the last hearing, over thirty times,
yet never once were they given into evidence."

"What are you going on about?" Anuse feigned boredom.

"I am talking about the student SmurFFs that I requested at
the last hearing. The charge was made that the `suspect' SmurFFs
were totally different from normal student SmurFFs and I need
those for you to see that in reality, they are quite similar."

"I'm willing to believe the testimony that they exist and
what they are represented to be. I don't need to see them
in person." Nonchalantly, Anuse destroyed any illusion
of committee impartiality with this remark. The committee's
report to The Pope would remove any doubt that might linger.

Henry called a recess. It always seemed to work to break up the flow.




Chapter 32


When the hearing commenced again, the document examiner began
his testimony. "I have examined the documents in question
and found that six were written by Diana Trenchant and two probably were."

Allen Avery was a tall, heavy-set man, florid of face and
nearly as ugly as Jimbo. He looked like a twenty-year cop
and lowered his monster brows fiercely at Diana whenever he
referred to her. His presentation was not as ornate as that
of Alice Stebbins. Instead of using blown up photographs
of individual letters, he passed out copies of a single sheet
on which there were two columns of letters.

One column was labeled standard, the other unknown.
He testified that he had found enough similarities
in these particular letters to identify the writer.

Frank Anuse asked if another examiner would find the same
similarities in the same letters.

The answer was, "Given equal training, they should pick out
the same things that I did." He went on to explain that examples
were given in books and the document examiners studied the books.

On being asked if the material could have been written by
an expert forger, he answered much differently than the first
document examiner. "Who would know? I'm not saying it couldn't
be done, but I don't feel that it was." If the women on the
panel had been alert, they would have challenged a scientist that
felt a conclusion--feelings were more in the realm of the arts.
Science was supposed to deal with facts.

He explained that he had asked for more standards because
the ones sent were not complete. Yet the first analyst had said
she was one-hundred-percent certain on the basis of what was sent.

"I wanted more recent samples to see what variations there were.
We don't write every letter the same every time. We look for the range."

Asked if handwriting analysis was as exact as fingerprints,
he said, "It is as individual and as unique as fingerprints."
Yet when asked if a number of different analysts looked at the
same documents, would they all agree, he answered, "If they had
equal training and experience."

After a short recess, Diana was allowed to examine the witness.
Her first question was directed toward the authenticity of the
standards submitted. "Do you know of your own knowledge that
the exemplars sent to you were all written by me?"

"No."

She turned to Henry and said, "then, I request that this report
be removed from evidence since it states facts that this examiner
declares are false."

While Henry looked at her incredulously, she read from the
examiner's report, illustrating all the places where the
standards were referred to as being her handwriting or printing.

Henry was outraged. "Of course, when he writes that in his
report, he means that he is using my communication with him.
I wrote that these were samples of your handwriting, that I
had every reason to believe that they were."

Diana persisted. "I see nothing in the report to the effect
that he was `told' anything as you state. He very definitely
writes that they ARE standards of my handwriting. Now he says
under oath that he does not know. These errors nullify the report."

"I feel that the report tells us what we asked from the document examiners."
With that, Henry thought, the book is closed. No one could argue with that.
You get what you pay for. Case closed.

Doggedly, Diana continued. "Did you do a top of the letter pattern?"

"I beg your pardon. Would you explain what you mean by
top of the letter pattern?"

With subsequent questions, Diana established that he did
not know what bottom of the letter pattern, space pattern
or slant pattern were. These techniques, common to document
examiners, were completely unknown to this so-called expert.
Trenchant explained to him what these common handwriting tests
were all about.

It was then established that he only did a letter comparison.
He claimed that the other tests or techniques, "were done by graphologists."
His attitude made crystal clear that he considered graphologists to be
a very dirty word. "I," he continued, with a conceited accent on the word,
"am a document examiner." When Diana named her source of information
and held up the book of a prominent document examiner, his reply was,
"That person must come from a different viewpoint that I do."

"It appears that what you refer to as graphologists,
in your profession, are much more thorough in their
analysis of handwriting and printing than you are.
The author of this book makes a point of insisting on
original, authenticated standards and doing several different
types of measurements. The idea being that when they decide
a document's author, it is based on several different tests.

"You did only a letter by letter comparison then. Every letter?"

"A majority of them."

It turned out not to be the case. Diana brought up letter after
letter that the analyst had not found a match to. "S" was one of them.
Looking hastily through the so-called standards, Avery finally found one,
but it was a printed capital "S" which he was saying was a match
for a small case scripted "s" found at the end of a word.
For all that time and trouble, he discovered it in a signature
purported to have been written by Diana twenty years ago!
This document also contained the writing of more than one person,
and the signature itself was written by Diana's daughter.

Copyright (c) 2007. knowncrafts.net. All rights reserved.