Candy Montgomery had decided to keep Don Crowder as her lawyer in the previous episode of Love & Death, soon after which Don started preparing her for the upcoming trial, as he knew that she would have to face the heat from the media and even the people residing in her own neighborhood. From what to wear in front of the jury to how to behave in front of the media feeding frenzy, he had taken care of every minute detail. Crowder wanted to go out all guns blazing, as he knew that the odds were not in his favor. Crowder had taken up one of the biggest cases of homicide without any prior experience in the field. Don had been quite truthful to Candy, and he had told her that she could instead choose one of the many competent lawyers who practiced criminal law on a daily basis. But Candy had very explicitly told him that she didn’t care whether he had expertise in the field or not, as she wanted somebody whom she could trust to fight her case. Don was also part of the same community, and he could have easily judged Candy, but he didn’t. He was also friends with Allan and Betty Gore, but when Candy and Pat came to him, he acted in the most professional manner, which probably made Candy feel safe. Just in one meeting, he had won Candy’s trust, so much so that she told him the truth: she had actually killed Betty, and the suspicion of the police wasn’t wrong.
After Crowder had realized about the bizarre developments of that fateful day in Love & Death episode 5, he had given Candy strict instructions that she shouldn’t be speaking about the case or what they discussed in his chamber to anybody. Candy had told him that her husband, Pat, was an honest man, and she was not sure what he would do or how he would react if he was told that his wife had delivered 40 odd blows and killed a woman with whom he met quite often and was friends with. But Pat wanted to know what was happening with his wife and if there was a chance that she could be saved. He loved Candy irrespective of her flaws, and he asked her to trust him as he was not so susceptible to what others had to say. Crowder realized that Pat was not wrong in what he was asking, and moreover, he too needed to be prepared to answer any question or allegation that was thrown at him by the media. Candy was unsure how Pat would end up feeling when he got to know the gory nitty-gritty of the case, but contrary to her beliefs, Pat didn’t think negatively about Candy. In fact, he was somewhat relieved that Candy was not on the receiving end of the blow. Finally, the day came when the trial began, and the peaceful town of Wylie, Texas, saw a crowd of reporters causing a furore in the public through their explosive and spiced up on-ground reporting.
How Did Crowder Turn The Scale In Candy’s Favor?
Allan came into the witness box, and he helped Candy’s cause more than anyone else. He testified that he had no reason to believe that Candy would do such a thing. Crowder was able to prove in court that Betty had been stressed for quite a few days because she thought that she was pregnant. In addition to that, Betty always got agitated whenever Allan had to leave town and go on a business trip, and that fact also helped Crowder strengthen his case. Crowder’s main aim was to prove that Betty had been in a troubled state of mind and that she was capable of losing her temper and attacking Candy with an ax. Crowder then asked Allan if he had ever taken Candy to his garage, where he generally kept his ax. Allan truthfully told the court that, according to his knowledge, Candy had never gone inside his garage, which proved that it was not she who had gone and fetched the murder weapon in the first place. Crowder was exceptional when it came to cross-questioning, and he was able to prove that Candy didn’t have any kind of motive to randomly pick up her car in broad daylight and go to Betty Gore’s house to kill her. Allan, surprisingly, didn’t even try to contradict what Crowder was saying. He just kept nodding his head and swaying in the direction Crowder wanted to take him. One thing that became clear was that he didn’t despise Candy, and he believed that Candy could have killed Betty in self-defense. Allan was shaken from within, and his stoic demeanor was because he was still deciphering what exactly happened and how his life had changed overnight.
Crowder then went after the sheriff and law enforcement officers and proved that there was no evidence on the basis of which it could be said that Candy was the one who had attacked first. One more logical deduction that Crowder very smartly made was that if Candy actually wanted to kill Betty and it was a premeditated crime, then why would she do that in the middle of the day, with her car parked just outside Betty’s house for the world to see? Even after the perception that the media had created, the case was slowly moving in Candy’s favor, but the prosecutors had one lethal weapon that they were saving for the very end, and that had the potential to spoil everything.
What Did The Pathologist Say About Betty’s Wounds?
There was no flaw in the whole self-defense stance taken by Don and Candy except one thing: Candy had hit Betty 40 times, and that made it quite difficult for anybody to believe that she was just defending herself. Don and his team knew that the testimony of the pathologist could spoil their game, but they had no solution to it. They just hoped that some miracle would happen, and the jury wouldn’t form their opinions based on the pathologist’s testimony. Don knew that there were things that were not in his control, but what he could control was the image that Candy portrayed in front of the jury and the media. Don Crowder believed that half the cases were won by perceptions, and if that went wrong, it became very difficult to save the client even if the facts favored them. That is why he told Candy how to dress and how to behave in and outside the courtroom. Candy was taking medication to calm her nerves because of which she was a bit drowsy and intoxicated most of the time. Don had repeatedly asked her not to take it because he knew that if the jury got to know about it, it would portray her in a very bad light. Additionally, her deadpan expression wasn’t helping their cause, as he wanted the people to feel sympathetic toward her.
The pathologist came, and as expected, his testimony brought to light the horrifying manner in which Betty was killed. He said that one side of her face was crushed so badly that only a mass of tissue and blood was left. He also said that there were marks on Betty’s body that proved that she was trying to defend herself from the attacker. The prosecution also proved that all wounds were inflicted while Betty was still alive, and there was only one wound that she got after she died. At the end of Love & Death, episode 6, Don Crowder puts up a weak defense by saying that Betty might have been unconscious for the most part, but he knew that there was no point covering it up as the truth was blatantly clear. Crowder’s first witness was Candy Montgomery herself, but just before calling her to the witness stand, he noticed that she was heavily intoxicated. Don knew that he could not put her up on the stand in that state, and he went up to the judge to request that he stop for the day and commence again tomorrow. The judge denied his request and gave him 10 minutes to sober up his client and bring her to the witness stand.
The battle that Crowder and his team thought was going in their favor was still not over. The testimony of the pathologist had dealt them a heavy blow, and now they needed a miracle to make the jury forget all about it and convince them not to make their decision based on that. What worked in Candy’s favor was that Crowder was quite proactive, and he very passionately made his arguments. His conflict with the judge also added fuel to the fire, and he was all charged up to show him who he was. Crowder’s innovative methods and strong arguments were difficult to neglect, though there was still a long way to go, and they had to win many small battles in the process to come out victorious.
