Ignoring her body’s instinctual reaction to evil, she continued to do everything in her power to ensure a solid conviction…
“That man sitting right there kidnapped those poor, innocent women. Taking them by surprise, he gave each woman an incapacitating blow to the head before injecting them with propofol. The women were unconscious within seconds.”
It was an ugly picture to paint. Unfortunately Ellie wasn’t anywhere near ready for her final brush stroke.
“After ensuring his victims couldn’t fight back, Mr. Harvey then drove them to a cabin in the woods. While in captivity, those four women were refused food. Water. A proper bathroom. For forty-eight hours straight, the defendant proceeded to not only starve his victims, but he also beat them. Tortured them. And after forty-eight straight hours of what I can only imagine to be an unthinkable hell, George Ray Harvey began using his knife to inflict as much physical pain as possible.”
Several sniffles and muted sobs filled the otherwise silent room. Ellie’s heart physically hurt for the pain those women—and their families—had endured.
This is it. The final stage. It’s now or never.
“Mr. Harvey eventually tired of the women he saw as nothing more than objects. And when that time came, he granted the kind of peace only death could bring by slicing their throats while they were still tied to a chair and unable to fight back. And then, a few seconds later, after his victims bled out, he dragged them out behind the cabin, tossed their bodies into a shallow grave, and then he set out in search of his next victim. Luckily the police managed to catch him before another innocent life could be taken by his hands.”
Tears formed in several of the jurors' eyes. The few that fell gave Ellie hope that the men and women before her had truly been listening, that she’d reached them on a level that spoke to their desire to see justice served.
“I want you to look at the victims’ families, ladies and gentlemen.” She motioned for the jury to turn toward the family members in attendance. “I want you to see the pain and loss these people have had no choice but to face. It’s a loss they will now be forced to live with for the rest of their lives.” Ellie filled her lungs before releasing the breath on a slow exhale and instructing, “Now I want you to look at the man whocausedthat pain and loss.”
Ten of the twelve heads immediately turned toward the defendant’s table. When two of the jurors continued with their hesitation, she brought herself a couple of steps closer to where they sat.
With a friendly, supportive smile, she told them softly, “It’s okay. He can’t hurt you from there.”
The two women stared back at her a moment longer before sliding their wary gazes in Harvey’s direction.
“Thank you.” Ellie let her smile grow just a tad. “Now I want you all to take a good, hard look at George Ray Harvey and ask yourselves this. Do you want to be the ones responsible for putting a man like that…a man who could very well go afteryourdaughter oryoursister…back out onto the streets? Because that’s exactly what will happen if you come back with anything other than a guilty verdict, ladies and gentlemen. Because it’s not a matter ofifthis man will kill again. It’s when.”
A look of fear crossed over several of the juror’s faces, and all but three immediately looked away from the defendant’s table. Though she wanted to, Ellie forced the smile pulling at her lips to remain hidden.
“You heard it from experienced detectives working the case. Two separate, highly experienced criminal psychologists agreed. And now…” She swallowed her nerves. “Now you’re hearing it from me. If George Ray Harvey is set free, hewillkidnap another woman. He will hit them over the head, put a needle in their neck, and he will take them someplace he feels is safe. He will then spend the next two days torturing and beating them…using his knife on them…and then, he will slice their throats and toss them away like garbage. And as long as he’s a free man, Mr. Harvey will repeat the horrific cycle again, and again…and again.”
Bringing the well-rehearsed speech to a close, Ellie kept her expression serious yet friendly as she drove her final point home.
“I don’t know about you, but I would sure as hell sleep better at night knowing a monster like George Ray Harvey is locked away for the rest of his life. So I beg of you, ladies and gentlemen, do the right thing—thejustthing—and put the defendant behind bars. Because that’s exactly where monsters like him belong. Thank you.”
You’re wrong. Men like Harvey belong in Hell.
Yes, they sure as hell did. But since the governor recently abolished capital punishment in Washington State, life in prison without the possibility of parole was the best Ellie—and the victims’ families—could hope for.
Keeping her shoulders back and her head held high, she turned and walked back to her seat. Defense counsel rose and began his usual spiel.
His client was innocent. He’d been set up. Evidence had been planted…
Yada, yada, yada.
The entire time the short, balding man spoke, she kept her expression schooled and her posture relaxed. If she looked nervous or worried in the slightest, the jury may question the validity of her final statements. Ifthathappened, they could very well spiral down a rabbit hole of doubts about the entirety of the case she’d presented…
Expert testimony. DNA evidence. Police statements from the night Harvey was arrested.
Questioning any one of those things could lead a juror to convince themselves that reasonable doubt existed. Even when it didn’t.
There was no reasonable doubt here. Only hard, tangible facts. She just prayed the jury realized that, too.
Harvey’s lawyer spent the next several minutes going on and on about the injustice his client had faced. Rather than roll her eyes into the back of her head—which was very, very tempting—Ellie began a mental checklist to disprove her opponent’s case.
With every argument he tried to make, Ellie would cross it off her imaginary list. It wasn’t hard, given that she’d already disproven the man’s same points already during the trial, either with expert testimony or during cross-examination.
She turned and looked at the jury. Like the dutiful citizens they were, all twelve men and women appeared to be hanging on the attorney’s every word.
To the inexperienced eye, perhaps. But Ellie, well…she often saw things others couldn’t.