“That makes perfect sense to me,” Howie said, giving her a quick smile.

“It does?” Hannah was surprised at the change that had come over Howie. Just seconds ago, he had sounded as if he were acting as the prosecuting attorney and not the counsel for her defense.

“Of course it makes sense. You were defending your life and the life of your passenger, Lisa Beeseman. If you’d pulled over right away, you would have put both of you in jeopardy from the lightning strikes.”

“That’s right!” Hannah was glad that Howie understood at last.

“And that’s our case. You’ll make a great witness, Hannah. And I didn’t even have to prepare you.”

“You mean the case is actually going forward? They’re going to try me for vehicular homicide?”

Howie reached out to pat her hand. “Don’t borrow trouble, Hannah. It might not happen. But if it does, I really don’t think that twelve reasonable jurors will convict you.”

“And you’ll make certain that the jurors are reasonable?”

“As much as I can. I only have a limited number of preempts.”

“That means peremptory challenges, doesn’t it?”

“That’s right. Each side has a fixed number of those and it means that they can dismiss a potential juror without stating a reason. The remainder of the dismissals have to be for cause.”

“What would constitute cause?”

“There has to be a specific and forceful reason to believe that the potential juror cannot be fair, unbiased, or capable of serving as a juror.”

“Okay, but what would those causes be?”

Howie gave a little shrug. “That’s a bit complicated. The acceptable causes include an acquaintanceship with either of the parties, one of the attorneys, or a witness. Another is a potential juror’s inability to be unbiased due to prior experience in a similar case. But all this isn’t up to me, Hannah. The judge determines if the potential juror will be dismissed. Would you like me to put it all in a nutshell for you?”

Hannah’s head was spinning. “Yes, please.”

“It’s a crap shoot, Hannah. I can control some things with my peremptory challenges, but once they run out, it’s up to the judge. And that means the jury that’ll be seated at your trial depends in large part on the judge you’re lucky or unlucky enough to draw.”

When Hannah got back to the holding cell after her meeting with Howie, she sat down on the edge of the cot with a sigh. It was a bit unsettling to realize that, at least as far as the driving statutes were concerned, she was guilty. Of course, there were extenuating circumstances. Howie had agreed with that. But would Judge Colfax give her bail, or would he order her to stay in county lockup until her case came to trial?

Hannah felt as if she were on a roller coaster, experiencing an upswing in her mood when Howie said she’d make a good witness, and a downswing when he told her that her case might go to trial and her acquittal wasn’t a sure thing.