“Between us, I want to see him reap the consequences of his transgressions. But the transgressions he did commit, not the ones he didn’t. Did he have an affair? Yes. Did he love another woman outside his marriage? Yes. But did he kill that woman? No, no he did not.” Sarah’s voice comes down almost to a whisper. I have seen her do this before, the decrescendo before the climax. Lulling the jury as she wants.

“My client, my husband, had an affair. But loving someone other than your wife does not make someone a murderer. The prosecution,” Sarah points to D.A. Josh Peters, “will paint Adam as a cheater… and as his wife, I know for a fact he is. We won’t even try to refute that point, but there are other facts beyond that. Facts the prosecution will gloss over. Facts the prosecution will try and make you not notice at all.”

Sarah walks down to the end of the jury box and stands before juror number one. She brings her hand up in the air, the back of her fist facing the jury, and begins to raise her fingers one at a time as she recites what she knows to be true.

“One. I know for a fact that Scott, Kelly’s husband, threatened to take her life on the night of her murder.

“Two. I know for a fact that Kelly’s real name was Jenna Way—and Jenna Way… well, Jenna is quite the interesting woman indeed. Jenna was accused of murdering her first husband, Greg Miller, before mysteriously fleeing the state of Wisconsin, and then magically ending up in Virginia with a new name, new hair color, whole new everything.”

The jury begins to murmur. I look over at D.A. Peters. He is rolling his eyes, but his posture is giving way. This is not the stage he wanted set, not for his slam-dunk case.

“Three. I know for a fact there are numerous people who will be presented throughout the case, from Kelly’s—or should I say Jenna’s—past life that had motive to kill her in order to get justice for Greg.

“Four. I know for a fact Kelly was sleeping with at least three different men, all in a very short period of time. How might I know that, you ask? Because the medical examiner found sperm carrying three different DNA profiles inside her vagina.”

Two of the older female jury members lean back with looks of disgust on their face. It pains me to hear Kelly made into such an unlikeable subject. Disloyal, a liar, flighty, violent, a whore, and maybe even a murderer. But I know this has to be done. I know this is what Sarah has to do to make the jury sympathize with me and not the dead woman. A woman I loved.