A Day in Court

This past Friday was supposed to be another milestone passed on this new life path without one of my children. myself, my family, and a contingent of supporters should have sat in the courtroom watching Evelyn’s Killer get sentenced to prison for his crime. Finally, he was supposed to be held accountable so that we could move forward.

I sat in the next to the last row of the courtroom, my attorney on my right and my friend behind me. In front of me, not more than a foot, sat Robbie Gillespie’s wife. In front of her sat an aging, diminutive Philippine woman who was to be his new attorney. We could tell, because she help a large accordion file with ROBBIE GILLESPIE written on the side in big, bold letters. Gillespie’s wife was accompanied by others, whom I could only guess were friends and family. Notably absent were his own children.

As all the other cases on the docket were cleared, we were all asked to vacate the courtroom so that Gillespie could have  a private conversation with his public defender and the judge. This is the part where Gillespie tried and failed to fire his public defender for incompetence.

Finally we were all called back into the courtroom. I switched my seating arrangement so I could have a good vantage point. I wanted to Gillespie to look me in the eye. I alone sat in the very first row of seats, his family sat in the very last row. He winked to his wife or to or to someone, it was hard to tell.

It was the first time I had ever seen him in person. He wore his orange prison jumpsuit, he was clean-shaven, wearing glasses that reminded me of Louis Dega from Papillon. He was shackled.

The first thing the judge did was refuse Gillespie’s motion to dismiss his public defender on the grounds of incompetence. Then his public defender was relieved from the case so the private defense attorney could take over.

She did two things, the first was to ask for a continuance in the case so that she could prepare for the next hearing date. The second was to ask for a psychological evaluation of Gillespie, stating that he did not understand the charges or proceedings that were being held against him.

The judge granted the continuance and because the competency hearing could be held before the next hearing, he granted that too.

What does that mean? Well, simply put, if he is declared incompetent, Gillespie will be transferred to a psychiatric hospital until such time that he is declared competent to stand trial. If he is declared competent at the hearing, then everything moves forward to the next sentencing hearing where his new defense lawyer put forth a motion to withdraw his guilty plea.

If the motion is granted, then we start over from the beginning.

If the motion is denied, then he will be sentenced that day.

I can’t begin to describe to you the anger I am feeling at this animal for his contempt and manipulation of the system. I am in utter disbelief at his failure to recognize and take responsibility for what he has done to my family and his own.

These animals are so lacking in integrity, morals, and compassion that they have not even reached out to us to offer condolences for our loss. A loss that he caused and she defends.