House Rules Read online

  --Isn't it true, Doctor, that most defendants who claim insanity do so because of a psychotic break from reality?||

  --Yes.||

  --But Asperger's isn't a psychotic disorder?|| Helen says.

  --No. It would fall more in line with personality disorders, which are characterized by perceptual and interpersonal distortions.||

  --In legal terms, doesn't the absence of psychotic episodes suggest that the person is personally--and criminally--responsible for his or her actions?||

  The psychiatrist shifts. --Yes, but there might be a loophole for Asperger's. We can't scientifically prove that someone with Asperger's has a very different experience of subjective reality than someone who doesn't have Asperger's, and yet the extreme sensitivity to light and sound and taste and touch and texture indicate that this is the case. If that could be measured, there would be strong parallels between Asperger's and psychosis.||

  There is a sharp jab in my side as Jacob elbows me. He passes me a blank piece of paper.

  --If that were true,|| Helen says, --wouldn't this suggest that someone with Asperger's has a hard time being aware of reality and his role in it?||

  --Exactly. Which is why it might very well contribute to legal insanity, Ms. Sharp.||

  --But didn't you also say that Jacob's fixation on forensics led him to use Jess Ogilvy's death to create his own crime scene?||

  --Yes.||

  --And wouldn't such premeditation and careful calculation suggest he knew very well what he was doing at the moment?||

  Dr. Newcomb shrugs. --It's a theory,|| she says.

  --You also mentioned a lack of empathy.|| Helen approaches the witness stand. --You said it's one of the features of Asperger's syndrome?||

  --That's right.||

  --Would you consider that an emotional measure or a cognitive one?||

  --Emotional.||

  --Is lack of empathy part of the test for legal insanity, Doctor?||

  --No.||

  --Isn't it true that the determination for legal insanity is whether the defendant knew right from wrong at the time the act was committed?||

  --Yes.||

  --Is that an emotional measure or a cognitive one?||

  --A cognitive one.||

  --So lack of empathy simply means someone is cold, heartless, without remorse,||

  Helen says. --But it doesn't necessarily mean he's unaware of the nature and consequence of his actions.||

  --They often go hand in hand,|| Dr. Newcomb says.

  --Do they?|| Helen asks. --A mafia hit man has no empathy when he offs his victims, but that doesn't make him legally insane, just psychopathic.||

  Jacob elbows me again, but I am already getting to my feet. --Objection,|| I say. --Is there a question buried under Ms. Sharp's grandstanding?||

  --If I may,|| Dr. Newcomb says, turning to the judge for his permission. --Ms. Sharp seems to be trying hard to draw a parallel between someone with Asperger's and a psychopath. However, people with Asperger's don't demonstrate the superficial charm that psychopaths do, nor do they try to manipulate others. They don't have enough interpersonal skills to do it well, frankly, and that usually makes them the prey for psychopaths, rather than the predators.||

  --And yet,|| Helen qualifies, --Jacob has a history of aggression, doesn't he?||

  --Not to my knowledge.||

  --Did he or did he not have an argument with Jess two days before her death, one that was overheard by employees of Mama S's Pizzeria?||

  --Well, yes, but that wasn't a physical assault--||

  --Okay, what about the fact that he was given detention last year for trying to strangle a classmate?||

  A flurry of blank notes land in front of me, and again, I sweep them aside. --Just hang on,|| I say through my teeth to Jacob, and then I signal to the judge. --Objection--||

  --I'll rephrase. Did you know that Jacob was given detention for physically assaulting a girl in his grade?||

  --Yes, I remember Dr. Murano mentioning that to me. Yet it seems the trigger was the same: an interpersonal relationship that didn't quite match Jacob's intentions. He felt humiliated, and he--||

  --Snapped,|| the prosecutor interrupts. --Right?||

  --Right.||

  --And that's why Jess Ogilvy was killed.||

  --In my opinion, yes.||

  --Tell me this, Doctor,|| Helen says. --Had Jacob still snapped when he was alphabetizing the CD collection in her residence, after her death?||

  --Yes.||

  --How about when he moved Jess's body three hundred yards to a culvert behind the house?||

  --Yes.||

  --Had he still snapped when he sat her upright and carefully covered her with his quilt and set her hands in her lap?||

  Dr. Newcomb jerks her chin the slightest bit.

  --And had he still snapped days later when he went back to visit Jess's body and phoned 911 so that the police would find her?||

  --Well,|| the psychiatrist says quietly. --I guess so.||

  --Then tell me, Doctor,|| Helen Sharp asks. --When did Jacob snap out of it?||

  Emma

  --They're lying,|| Jacob says heatedly, as soon as we are alone. --They're all lying.||

  I have been watching him grow more tightly wound with each passing minute of the forensic psychiatrist's cross-examination; even though Jacob passed multiple notes to Oliver, he didn't ask for a break until Helen Sharp finished going for the kill. I didn't know what would happen, to be honest--if he would refuse to let me join him for the recess, if he'd still be holding a grudge from last night's episode--but apparently, I am the lesser of the two evils at the defense table, which is why I'm granted admission to the sensory break room and Oliver is not.

  --We talked about this, Jacob,|| I say. --Remember? How saying you're legally insane doesn't mean anything; it just gives the jury something to use to find you not guilty. It's a tool, like telling the school district you have Asperger's. That didn't change who you were

  ... it only made it easier for teachers to understand your learning style.||

  --I don't care about the defense,|| Jacob argues. --I care about what those people are saying I did.||

  --You know how the law works. The burden of proof is on the prosecution. If Oliver can find witnesses who'll weave another scenario about what could have happened, the jury might find reasonable doubt, and then they can't convict.|| I reach for Jacob's hand. --It's like giving someone a book, baby, and saying there might be more than one ending.||

  --But I didn't want her to die, Mom. It wasn't my fault. I know it was an accident.||

  Jacob's eyes are full of tears. --I miss her.||

  My breath freezes in my throat. --Oh, Jacob,|| I whisper. --What did you do?||

  --The right thing. So why can't we tell the jury that?||

  I want to block out his words, because I am about to testify, and that means I cannot lie if the prosecutor asks what Jacob's told me about Jess's death. I want to run until all I can hear is the rush of my blood, instead of his confession. --Because,|| I say softly,

  --sometimes the hardest thing to hear is the truth.||

  Oliver

  Here's what I know:

  Before we took that last sensory break, Jacob was a jittery, wild mess.

  Now that we're back in session, Emma's on the witness stand, and she's a jittery, wild mess.

  After I lead her through the basics of her identity and her relationship to Jacob, I walk up to the witness box and pretend to fumble and drop my pen. As I bend down, I whisper to her: Just breathe.

  What the hell could have happened in the fifteen minutes they were gone?

  --What do you do for a living, Ms. Hunt?||

  She doesn't answer, just stares into her lap.

  --Ms. Hunt?||

  Emma's head jerks up. --Can you repeat the question?||

  Focus, sweetheart, I think. --Your job. What do you do?||

  --I used to write an advice column,|| she says quietly. --I was asked to take