Chapter 14
The bailiff called my name and I stood up too fast and my chair scraped the floor. It was loud in that courtroom. Everyone looked at me at once. The judge told me to raise my right hand and I did. My hand was shaking. I tried to hold it still and couldn't.
They'd put the harness on the evidence table. The black straps with the silver buckle. I hadn't seen it since that day over the lake. The prosecutor asked me to tell the jury what happened in my own words. I said I would.
I kept my hands on the rail in front of me. The wood was smooth and warm from the lights.
"We lifted off around noon," I said. "He said it would be a short flight, just over the lake to look at the property for the foundation event. The door was open. I didn't like that."
The prosecutor asked me to show them how I was seated.
"I was in the back seat on the side with the open door," I said. "The harness was tight across my chest and my waist. I could feel the buckle against my dress."
He asked me who had buckled it.
"He did," I said. "Before we took off."
He asked me what happened after we were over the water.
I looked down at my hands. I put my left hand flat against my chest, where the buckle had been.
"His hand came across me," I said. I demonstrated it. I reached my right hand across my body like his had. My fingers found the center. "He pressed the button in the middle."
I stopped. I didn't mean to stop but I couldn't get the next breath right away. The courtroom was quiet. I could hear the air conditioning. The prosecutor waited. He didn't rush me.
"Take your time," he said.
I nodded. I pressed my fingers together where the button would have been.
"It clicked," I said. "The straps went loose. The wind came in harder. My dress blew back. I could see the water under us."
The prosecutor asked what I did then.
"I grabbed the frame over the door," I said. "With my right hand. I held on. He had both hands on me, around my ribs, pulling me toward the opening."
I showed them. I gripped the rail with my right hand until my knuckles went white.
On cross-examination his lawyer stood up. He was calm. He smiled at me like we knew each other.
"Mrs. Hale, why did you board that helicopter at all?" he asked. "If you were afraid, why get in?"
I looked at the jury. Then back at him.
"Because I trusted him," I said.
He tilted his head. "You trusted him?"
"Yes," I said. "He was my husband. He said it was safe."
"And when did that trust become fear?" he asked.
I swallowed. "When he unbuckled me."
He asked if I'd ever flown with the door open before. I said no. He asked if I'd told anyone I was nervous before we left. I said I told him, on the tarmac, that I didn't want the door open and he said it was for the view. He asked if I was looking for a payout from the foundation. I said no. My voice didn't shake on that part.
After me, the pilot took the stand. He kept his helmet on the table next to him. He said he was facing forward the whole time, that his job was to keep the aircraft steady over the lake. He said he heard the buckle click and heard me make a sound. He said he glanced back in his mirror and saw the struggle by the open door. He said the man had his hands on my torso and I was holding the upper frame. He said he didn't intervene because he didn't understand what was happening until I was out of the aircraft.
The boat crew came next. The captain and a young woman in a white shirt. The captain said they were about a quarter mile out when they saw the helicopter hovering low. He said they saw me fall. He said the orange vest inflated on impact and kept me up. The young woman said she was the one who threw the red ring. She said I was on my back, arms out, not moving at first, then I moved my hands. She said she kept yelling, "We've got you, we've got you."
Then the prosecutor played the video. There was no sound. The judge had ruled the audio was inferred direction, not evidence, so it played silent. The prosecutor asked me to narrate over it from the witness stand.
On the screen my own hand appeared, his hand over the buckle. I watched myself. I said, "That's when he pressed it." The next shot showed the cabin, the open door, the water below. I said, "That's when I grabbed the frame." My voice was flat. I couldn't make it do anything else. The last shot showed the water, my dress, the orange vest, the white boat getting bigger. I said, "That's after."
When it was over, the jury didn't move for a second. One woman in the front row had her hand over her mouth.
The judge sent them out to deliberate at three forty. We waited in the hall. My mom held my coat. His family sat on the other side, not looking over. At five fifteen the bailiff came out and said they had a verdict.
We stood. The foreman, a man in a blue shirt, unfolded a paper. His hands shook too.
"On the count of attempted assault in the first degree, we find the defendant guilty," he said. "On the count of reckless endangerment, we find the defendant guilty. With the domestic enhancement, yes."
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I didn't hear the rest right away. I felt my knees lock. The judge thanked the jury. He said sentencing would be scheduled within twenty-one days and ordered a pre-sentence report. He asked the state about custody. The prosecutor asked that he be remanded pending sentencing. The judge said he'd hear argument on that in the morning and that the defendant would remain under supervision until then.
He looked at me once as they led him toward the side door. He didn't say anything. The door closed behind him.
