Read Online Plain Truth by Jodi Picoult - Free Book Online

glanced over her shoulder at her mother, sending her kapp askew. “I do not wish to have one,” she said softly.
    â€œDo you know what that means, Miss Fisher? Is this on the advice of your parents?” Katie looked down at her lap. “This is a very serious charge, young lady, and I believe you should have counsel. If you qualify for a public defender—”
    â€œThat won't be necessary.”
    Like everyone else in the courtroom, Katie turned toward the confident voice coming from the doorway. A woman with hair as short as a man's, wearing a neatly tailored blue suit and high heels, was briskly walking to her table. Without glancing at Katie, the woman set her briefcase down and nodded at the judge. “I'm Eleanor Hathaway, counsel for the defendant. Ms. Fisher has no need of a public defender. I apologize for being late, Judge Gorman. May I have five minutes with my client?”
    The judge waved his assent, and before Katie could follow what was happening, this stranger Eleanor Hathaway dragged her to her feet. Clutching at her kapp , Katie hurried beside the attorney down the central aisle of the court. She saw Aunt Leda crying and waving to her, and she raised a hand in response before she realized that this big greeting was meant for Eleanor Hathaway, not for Katie herself.
    The attorney steered Katie to a small room filled with office supplies. She closed the door behind her, leaned against it, and folded her arms. “Sorry for the impromptu introduction, but I'm Ellie Hathaway, and I sure as hell hope that you're Katie. We're going to have a lot of time to talk later, but right now I need to know why you turned down an attorney.”
    Katie's mouth opened and closed a few times before she could summon her voice. “My Dat wouldn't want me to have one.”
    Ellie rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed. “You'll plead not guilty today, and then we'll chat. Now, looking at these charges, you're not getting bail unless we can get around the ‘proof and presumption’ clause in the statute.”
    â€œI … I don't understand.”
    Without glancing up from the sheaf of papers she was skimming, Ellie answered, “It means that if you're charged with murder, and the proof is evident or the presumption great, you don't get bail. You sit in jail for a year until your trial comes up. Get it?” Katie swallowed, nodded. “So we have to find a loophole here.”
    Katie stared at this woman, who had come with her words sharpened like the point of a sword, planning to save her. “I didn't have a baby.”
    â€œI see. Even though two doctors and a whole hospital, not to mention the local cops, all say otherwise?”
    â€œI didn't have a baby.”
    Ellie slowly looked up. “Well,” she said. “I see I'm going to be finding that loophole myself.”
    Judge Gorman was clipping his fingernails when Ellie and Katie reentered the courtroom. He swept the shavings onto the floor. “I believe we were just getting to ‘How do you plead? ’“
    Ellie stood. “My client pleads not guilty, Your Honor.”
    The judge turned. “Mr. Callahan, is there a bail recommendation from the state?”
    George rose smoothly. “I believe, Your Honor, that the statute in Pennsylvania requires that bail be denied to defendants charged with first degree murder. In this case, the state would recommend this as well.”
    â€œYour Honor,” Ellie argued, “with all due respect, if you read the wording of the statute it requires bail to be withheld only in the cases where ‘the proof is evident, or the presumption great. ’ That isn't a blanket statement. Particularly, in this case, the proof is not evident, and the presumption is not great, that this was an act of murder in the first degree. There's some circumstantial evidence that the county attorney has gathered— specifically, medical testimony that Ms. Fisher's given