The Trial

Dad's still a victim, even if he knew about the affair. Having said that, and since I think he did know, I'm certain that this disaster could have been avoided if he had just confronted Mom instead of engaging in this terrible endeavor to catch them in the act.

I must admit, there's some chance that Dad didn't have a clue. In that case, two of my conceptions are wrong. First, my Dad isn't as observant and perceptive as I have always believed him to be. Second, I'm forced to alter one of my lifelong convictions. I have always believed that marriages are built on trust. I bought the assertion that "Trust is a Must," in a marriage. I now have to admit that perhaps one can trust too much.

I believe that what Dad said here today is exactly what he remembers, but you must consider what he's been through. Who knows how all of that, including a coma, might affect his memory?

I'm just trying to make some sense of a senseless situation. I'm so sorry for my part in all of this. I wish I had handled everything differently.

I want to end by voicing my hope that the day will come when David and I will be accepted again by Dad. We want-we need-a family reconciliation; the sooner the better. I'm certain that Mom would want that for us.

That's all I have to say.

END OF TESTIMONY

Are you as baffled as I am? My mom was a major player in the events and the trial. I always thought that we had a close relationship. As I was growing up, I all but worshipped her. Why did she keep those things from me? Why did she keep me from even meeting my grandpa?

Is there a possibility that it's a family trait? How about my great-grandparents? Did they have marriage problems? I know that my mom was faithful to my dad. Of that I'm certain. In fairness, however, by the time she reached the age when her own mother went astray, she was already sick with FTD. Guess I shouldn't worry. I'll never have answers to my questions.

I also thought I had a good relationship with Uncle David. Not good enough for him to tell me about his mom, apparently. Speaking of Uncle David, his testimony is next.

TESTIMONY OF

DAVID CHAMPION:

I'm David Champion, Victor's son. I want to echo what my sister said. I think there has been enough punishment. I don't want the jury to think of me as a defense witness or a prosecution witness. I would like to describe myself as a neutral witness. I see all sides of what we are discussing today.

I think Dad was surprised at what he saw in that room. I take him at his word that he thought it was a case of rape. I disagree with my sister about whether or not Dad knew about the affair. In all fairness, what I'm about to reveal was never mentioned to Donna. She was already feeling pangs of nearly paralyzing guilt that I didn't want to make worse, so I kept this information from her.

At any rate, right after Dad stopped traveling, he told us that he was looking forward to Sunday and attending church with us again. Mom murmured something about how nice that would be. He didn't realize that none of us had been to church since Mom's affair with Cecil began. I didn't say anything to rock the boat. When Sunday came, we all attended church together. I wondered what kind of reception we would get.

Because college students attended the adult Sunday school class, I found myself in the same class as Dad. As I feared, someone mentioned how much they had missed our family at Sunday school and the church services. They went on to state how unbelievable it was to have no member of the Champion family present at any of the church functions, and how happy they were to have us back again. After class, Dad was incredulous. "All of you stopped going to church for several years?" he asked. I told him that we just drifted away since our rock was not there to prod us into going.

"What about your mom?" he inquired.

"She's not our rock, you are," I answered. It broke my heart when he said that he would have to ask God's forgiveness every night for the rest of his life for neglecting his responsibility as a father. He said that he understood what the bible meant when it said: "Ye cannot serve God and mammon." He said that sadly, he had chosen money over God.

After that incident, it was evident to me that Dad was clueless. He not only didn't know about Mom's affair; he didn't suspect anything. I must apologize to Donna for not telling her that sad story. She felt bad enough already.

To get back to what I was saying before telling that story, I'm very aware that it was a loveless act that Dad witnessed in that room. I don't believe that Mom loved Dad any less during her affair. I don't believe that Cecil intended to hurt Dad or kill Mom. I think it stops short of murder. But there's no doubt that Dad was horribly wronged by the participants in that room. As has been said before, Mom paid the ultimate price, Dad paid a very high price and all of us have suffered because of what happened

I agree with Donna, let's stop the suffering right here right now. Enough is enough. I just need Dad to know that I agree with everything Donna said about a reconciliation at some point. That's my hope too. It will have to originate with Dad since he has tuned us out. I hope he will think about what Mom would want for us. She couldn't stand to see something that she did end up destroying her family. We owe it to her to heal the wounds. If she can see all of this, I guarantee she blames herself. Let's strive to give her some peace. Let's overcome this schism.

Let me stress one last time that I never heard or saw anything that would make me suspect that Dad knew about Mom's affair. In my heart, I don't believe that he did. If Dad is guilty of anything, it's like Donna said, he's guilty of trusting Mom too much. I also agree that he was guilty of spending too much time providing for his family. Having said that, aren't both of those things, trusting and providing, admirable traits for a husband and father to possess? I need everyone to understand that I agree with Donna's statement that the person responsible for all of this is our mom. She has already paid the ultimate price. Dad has paid an unfathomable price too. I think enough suffering has occurred. I want us to put all of this behind us without doing further harm to anyone. That's all that I have to say.

END OF TESTIMONY

Now, I will give you the testimony of Cecil Grayson. He was charged with murder in the second-degree pertaining to my grandma and attempted murder in grandpa's case.

TESTIMONY OF

CECIL GRAYSON:

I would prefer not to go into any details about my relationship with Mrs. Champion. I think her reputation has been damaged enough already. She made it very plain the first time we were together that she would only be with me when her husband was out of town or away for the night. That held firmly until just before the day he discovered our affair. Things had changed as Donna said in her testimony and we were forced to continue our tryst with him right there in town. Having said that, I doubt that he knew what he had discovered. I believe his testimony today. I'm certain that he was focused on stopping her perceived rape. Whether that's true or not, I'm not on trial here for an affair. I'm here because of what happened on the day we were caught, so I will speak about that.

My brother and I were in the Champion house at the invitation of Mrs. Champion. We were not trespassing. We were invited there for sex.

I need to say up-front that Mrs. Champion, Ellen, did not consider what we were doing to be an affair. As I heard others say, she thought of it as just another type of "beneficial exercise." It was good for her physically and mentally. She was very much in love with her husband. She had no intention of leaving him and she would have done anything to avoid hurting him in any way whatsoever. She remained his wife in every respect during our entire relationship. I remember one day when I remarked that if I were her husband I wouldn't be gone so much. She jumped down my throat big-time. "Don't you ever criticize or belittle my husband! If I hear one more disparaging remark about Victor, this is over. Do you understand that?" I told her that it wouldn't happen again.

What ultimately led to us being caught was when Victor gave up his poker duties and began writing a novel. He no longer traveled or spent all night at a casino. The only time available for us to "get it on" was on Wednesday afternoons. I had no classes and she was able to take some vacation time. We only had three weeks left before I would be leaving for a job in Silicon Valley. I tried to convince her to let my brother, Ronald, take my place after I left town. The three of us got together on a couple of Wednesdays.

Ellen began our last rendezvous by saying that she needed to end it all. It was just too dangerous since Victor was right there in town. It was different when he was at a far-flung casino or playing an all-night session. Now, with him close-by, we were flirting with disaster. He could come home at any time for many possible reasons. Above all else, she didn't want her husband to catch us. She said that he was normally a "laid-back" guy, but when angered, he could explode. She made sure to bring his pistol with her from the master bedroom to the guest bedroom so if he did come home, he couldn't get his hands on it. I'll admit, that scared me quite a bit.

When we got caught, I had just completed my first turn with her and she was sexually engaged with Ronald. I want to state right now that there was never anything kinky with the three of us. She had no appetite for any of that stuff. At that moment, she was busy with Ronald and I was stroking her hair. We didn't hear Victor enter the house. All at once and with no warning, we heard the doorknob rattle. A second later, the door was kicked open and Victor entered the room. He quickly took in the scene before him. Then he sprang into action.

It was apparent to me that he was going for the gun. I thought about what Ellen had said about keeping the gun away from him. I had no choice. I grabbed it first and pointed it at him. He kept coming. He was crawling up the bed. When he was no more than a couple of feet away, I panicked and pulled the trigger three times very quickly. The gun nearly jumped out of my hand. I didn't expect that amount of kick. Mr. Champion fell backward. He ended up falling off of the bed. I hadn't even aimed the pistol. I was surprised that he was hit.

Concurrent with all of that, Ellen was attempting to shove Ronald off of her. He ultimately fell off of her side of the bed, hit his head, and became groggy. He was not in a position to aid Victor or help me. He shouldn't be facing any charges.

Ellen jumped down and ran to her husband. She was screaming, "You've killed him. God, he's bleeding to death. Oh, Victor, stay with me. Please, please! Don't you dare die on me." I noticed that she was holding Victor's head in her lap. He was bleeding all over the place. She was white as a sheet and crying uncontrollably. She managed to reach into his pocket and grab his phone. I didn't think that she would be able to call anyone, but she rallied quickly. She pressed some keys and then I heard her say, "I want to report a---"

It was at that instant that I saw my life and the life of my brother turning into pure crap. The future for us was going up in smoke. Without further thought, I pulled the trigger. I didn't mean to hurt her. Once again, I didn't aim the gun. I was devastated when the bullet hit her. I just wanted to scare her. I just wanted to prevent her from getting the police involved. Ronald and I needed to get out of there. I yelled at him, "Let's go!"

As we were hurriedly getting dressed and trying to get out of there, a police officer came storming through the door. I remember wondering how he got there so fast.

They immediately separated me and Ronald. The medics arrived and began attending to the Champions. A police officer led me away. That's the last I saw of that room, except for the numerous times that it has appeared in my nightmares.

END OF TESTIMONY

Ronald Grayson gave his testimony as did detective Rose Scranton. Ronald corroborated his brother's testimony. Detective Scranton was the chief detective on the case. She pointed out that the testimony Ronald gave at the trial differed almost completely from what he said when he was interrogated within hours of the incident. The detective's testimony presented lots of technical data that was obtained by the CSI team. I think the prosecution's closing statement covers all of that and will be easier to understand. For that reason, I'm going to move on to the closing statements. First, here's what Mrs. Strong gave for the prosecution:

PROSECUTION CLOSING STATEMENT:

Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, you have heard many hours of testimony. I want you to concentrate on the facts you have heard. Don't be swayed by opinions or diversionary tactics. I will summarize the facts that were reported to us by detective Scranton and the CSI unit. Facts that have been confirmed by evidence gathered at the scene of the murder and during many hours of witness questioning. Burn each one of the facts into your brain. Focus on what has been provided by unbiased law enforcement personnel. What have they told us? Quite a bit!

They confirmed that Mrs. Worthington, the neighbor, did, indeed, make a call to 911 and then called Mr. Champion. They confirmed from phone company records that Mr. Champion was two exits from the road to his house when the call ended. He had attended a meeting with his publisher house when the call occurred. He was driving on that highway because he was on his way back to his downtown office after attending a meeting with his publisher. His story about the call was completely confirmed.

Remember, the first crime committed that day was the attempted murder of Mr. Champion. Needless to say, that crime does not carry the same weight as does the murder of Mrs. Champion.

As you will remember, detective Scranton pointed out that the testimony of Ronald Grayson given during this trial did not match the statement that he gave the detectives just a few hours after his arrest. She mentioned that many studies have proven that testimony obtained right after an incident is always more accurate than information gathered many days later.

Both young men have been indicted in the attempted murder of Mr. Champion. Significantly, the detailed CSI report found that the angle of the bullet path indicated that Mr. Champion was standing at the foot of the bed when the shot was fired. This is consistent with the testimony of Mr. Champion and the statement that Ronald Grayson gave to the detectives right after the incident. Together, they confirm that Mr. Champion was standing at the foot of the bed when he was shot. He was not crawling on the bed in an attempt to get the gun. He was trying to reason with Cecil, who was holding the gun. Cecil shouted an obscenity as he shot Mr. Champion. It was a brutal murder, not an act of self-defense. While Cecil is the instigator of this crime; we contend that Ronald could have acted to calm the situation by word or deed, but he made no effort to defuse the confrontation. For that reason, he is charged as an accessory after the fact, which is a much smaller crime with a correspondingly smaller penalty.

Contrary to the facts, the defense will attempt to convince you that Cecil acted in self-defense. You need to reject that argument. The CSI report proves that Mr. Champion was not crawling up the bed in an attempt to get the gun. There were no skin particles from Mr. Champion on the bed. The only particles found came from the two boys and Mrs. Champion. Mr. Champion was standing at the foot of the bed trying to reason with the man holding the gun.

The fact that Cecil displayed verbal acrimony towards Mr. Champion is important. He was angry and he intended to kill the husband of his lover in cold blood. He almost did. It was only the miracle of Mr. Champion's amazing recovery that prevented Cecil from being charged with two murders.

Given the facts, the only verdict that will, in some small way, compensate for the agony that Victor Champion had to endure, is "guilty of attempted murder."

The primary charge in these proceedings is the one for the murder of Mrs. Champion, in the second degree. No one says these young men came to Ellen's house to kill her. It was not premeditated murder, thus the lesser charge of second degree instead of first-degree murder. Only Cecil is being charged with this murder. Ronald is not involved in or charged with the murder. Ellen was murdered when she came to the aid of her husband who had just been shot by her lover, Cecil Grayson. She rushed to the aid of her husband. She was holding his severely injured head in her lap. He was bleeding profusely. She retrieved his phone from his pocket and attempted to summon help by dialing 911. She was shot, not in self-defense, but in cold blood. She was shot to prevent her from getting medical help for her husband since that would ultimately get the police involved. Cecil admitted as much in his testimony. He was worried about his future and the future of his brother. Let me assure you that we have given both of these defendants maximum consideration regarding the charges against them. They have been charged with the minimum possible crime under the circumstances. Furthermore, at sentencing, we will urge leniency for both defendants due to their age. If the defense tries to convince you that you should do nothing to ruin the lives of these young men, remember that we have given them the best shake possible.

Here's the thing, a murder was committed. Of that, there is no doubt. Also, there was an additional attempted murder. The defense will try to convince you that it was self-defense in both cases and that you shouldn't ruin the lives of these young men with a conviction. While you may sympathize with these young men on some level, you must do your duty. A human being was killed. The perpetrator must pay. It would be a dereliction of duty of the highest order to let this crime go unpunished.

No matter what you think of Mrs. Champion's actions or what you may think of her as a person, she was a human being. Yes, she participated in, maybe even instigated, a long-term affair with Cecil Grayson. You may think of her as a slut, and there's no doubt that she was flawed, but she remains a fellow human being. She is not on trial here. Her adultery should not be a consideration in your decision. She was murdered and someone must pay. We acknowledge that it was not a premeditated action, and the second-degree charge reflects that fact. It's the minimum possible in these circumstances.

Hearing the facts that I've just presented, perhaps you think that my task is easy. Let me assure you that it isn't. I have to convince all of you that these young men should be punished for what they did. The defense only needs to convince one of you to let them by with murder. Yes, if they convince just one of you that it would not be appropriate to convict these defendants because they are so young or that they shouldn't be punished for something some older woman invited them to do, their crimes will go unpunished. Remember, while they are young, they're both adults under the law. They are facing the least charge possible and we will recommend leniency in sentencing.

The actions of Mrs. Champion, no matter how much you may disapprove of them, are not on trial here. Someone was severely injured and someone else died at the hands of these young men. The law is plain, someone must pay. Your duty is to make sure that they do.