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.The formerDairy Queen waitress had summoned the police to the scene.She readily admitted to the crime, although she protested shehad not meant to kill him on the night of January 19, 1981.From the outset Vickie repeated her statement.By accident,as she shot her husband twice with a.22 bolt-action rifle, one ofthe bullets traveled upward into his abdomen where it nicked hisaorta.Price Daniel Jr. scion of a former Texas governor and lin-eal descendant of General Sam Houston, victor of San Jacinto,first president of the Republic of Texas, and likewise its first gov-ernor bled to death on the floor of their home in Liberty.The custody trial for the couple s two children beganwithin a month.Bringing suit to secure for the Daniel familywas Price s only sister, Jean Daniel Murph, whom his willnamed as executrix.She had been given power over the mil-lion-dollar estate, which was to be used for the couple s chil-dren (two with Vickie as well as Vickie s child by a previousmarriage adopted by Price).No provision was made for Vickie,and her share of the estate would have been a negligibleamount since they had lived in Price s home.The prosecution thought that proving the defendant anunfit mother and taking her children away legally would makethe murder trial itself a slam dunk. The defense believed itto be a golden opportunity to win outright or at least to prac-tice the winning argument before a jury of the townsfolk. you must remember when she shot her husband! 31 08_147_03_Ch02.qxd 5/13/08 5:58 AM Page 32Racehorse Haynes, observing the proceedings fromHouston, only 50 miles away, probably smiled like a hungrypredator.He loved a trial where everybody knew the defen-dant was guilty as sin.In such a case only a few years before,he had proved that what everybody knew counted for noth-ing in a court of law.Always plead the alternative.Before an American Bar Association seminar in New YorkCity, Haynes revealed how a good defense lawyer went aboutdoing that:Say you sue me because you say my dog bit you.Well, nowthis is my defense: My dog doesn t bite.And second, in thealternative, my dog was tied up that night.And third, I don tbelieve you really got bit.And fourth, I don t have a dog.Racehorse, with the astounding nerve of a practiced ambulance chaser, appeared and took the Daniel case out ofthe hands of Andrew Lannie of Baytown, whose practice wascomfortably over the Liberty County line.Vickie had hiredLannie to sue Price for divorce on December 31, 1980.Happy New Year!When Racehorse offered the black widow his services,Lannie could do little but grit his teeth, smile, and agree togive up the most important case that was ever likely to comehis way.The court expected to handle the custody case in an after-noon.With Racehorse Haynes running the show, however, the expected went right out the window.He immediatelycalled a press conference and assumed his patented shockeddemeanor for the reporters and photographers.It was hisstandard ploy.Speaking slowly and clearly, he waited for themto record every word for the jury, all of whom read Houstonnewspapers and watched Houston television stations. I don t know what happened to the presumption of inno-cence, he complained sadly. Just because someone has been32 outrageous texans 08_147_03_Ch02.qxd 5/13/08 5:58 AM Page 33charged with a crime, including murder, does not rob thatindividual of all their treasures, including children. The reporters stirred and muttered eagerly.This was greatstuff.His voice deepened as he drew his rather short frame to itsfull height and foretold his summation speech. Take heart.Every time I drive into town I see its name and it is Liberty! Every single reporter got the sound bite, the flashbulbsexploded, and another Texas star was added to Haynes alreadyillustrious crown.His most famous victory had been the 1976 acquittal of T.Cullen Davis, to be discussed later in the chapter
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Tematy
IndexGeorge Shulman American Prophecy; Race and Redemption in American Political Culture (2008)
Jason A. Edwards Navigating the Post Cold War World, President Clinton's Foreign Policy Rhetoric (2008)
Richard Roeper Debunked! Conspiracy Theories, Urban Legends, and Evil Plots of the 21st Century (2008)
William Inboden Religion and American Foreign Policy, 1945 1960, The Soul of Containment (2008)
Bobby Murcer, Glen Waggoner Yankee for Life, My 40 Year Journey in Pinstripes (2008)
Richard Bitner Confessions of a Subprime Lender, An Insider's Tale of Greed, Fraud, and Ignorance (2008)
Jan van Helsing & Franz von Stein Buch 3 Der dritte Weltkrieg (1996)
Jerzy Strzelczyk Zapomniane narody Europy
Sherwood Ben Charlie St Cloud
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