The Burning Man Read Free Page A

on the roes and he knew it. The offer was a last-ditch attempt to save his client the several million dollars more Peter was confident the jury would award.
    "Sorry, Lyle, but I don't think that's enough.
    Compton seemed uneasy. "Look, Peter, I feel very uncomfortable about the way this case is proceeding. You shouldn't have continued to try this matter. You're too inexperienced.
    "Oh," Peter replied, fighting hard not to smirk. "Why don't we let the jury decide that."
    Compton looked down. He took a deep breath and exhaled.
    "I probably shouldn't do this, but I don't want to take advantage of you. I respect your father tremendously and, because of that, I feel compelled to tell you that you have problems with your case. Under the circumstances, this is a very good offer
    Peter wanted to laugh in Compton's face. Problems with his case, indeed.
    Did Compton think he would fall for this transparent attempt to prey on the insecurities of a young lawyer trying his first big case? He felt great seeing one of the best insurance defense attorneys in the state squirming like a worm on a hook.
    "Lyle, I appreciate your concern, but it's no go."
    Compton looked distraught. "All right. I tried, Peter, but I have a client, too."
    As soon as the lawyers were back at their respective tables, Mrs. Elliot asked, "What happens now?"
    "Mr. Compton will probably move for a directed verdict. It's nothing to worry about. It's routine. The defense always does that after the laintiff rests. He's going to argue that we haven't produced enough evidence to let the case go to the jury. He has to make his record. "He won't win?" she asked anxiously.
    "of course not," Peter answered with a confident smile. "To rule against us, the judge would have to find that there is no reasonable interpretation of the evidence that could support our position. It's an almost impossible burden to meet."
    "I have a motion for the court," Compton said, sounding almost apologetic.
    "What Is the basis for your motion, Mr. Compton?" judge Pruitt asked.
    "Your Honor, plaintiff's complaint alleges that Northwest Maritime is a corporation registered in the state of Oregon. It is in paragraph one of the complaint."
    Peter looked down at the pleading that had been filed a year and a half before to formally put the case before the court. Mrs. Elliot's complaint alleged that Northwest Maritime was a corporation doing business in Oregon, that a truck driven by one of its agents had caused her injury and that the driver was negligent in the way he drove. It was a simple, straightforward court document.
    "Our answer denied each and every allegation in the complaint," Compton went on. "When a defendant does that, it becomes plaintiff's duty to prove each and every allegation in the complaint. I kept track of the evidence and I submit that Mrs. Elliot has failed to prove the existence of the corporation."
    Peter did not hear anything else Compton said. It was as if the engines on a plane in which he was flying stopped suddenly and the plane began plummeting downward at a dizzying speed. Peter had assumed that his father had entered the corporate documents on one of the occasions he had been in the law library researching legal issues. Now, it looked as if the evidence had never been produced.
    Suddenly, Peter remembered Ned Schuster, the mystery witness who had been in the accident. The man who was bringing the documents his father was so up set about, right before he'd had his coronary. They must have been the documents that would prove that Northwest Maritime was a corporation. That's why Richard had implored Peter to move for a mistrial.
    ".. . to dismiss the case against Northwest Maritime and grant a directed verdict for my client," Compton concluded.
    judge Pruitt looked very upset. He turned toward Peter, who was rereading the complaint as if, somehow, he could will the words to change. "This point that Compton had raised was such a little thing. A technicality. Everyone knew