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they had always approached this case, working night and day to trace
all the raveled and far-flung ends of it. They had relived the
terrible events of the spring of 1974 that had led to the murders of
Walter and Carolyn Allanson, revisited all the places where the smell
of blood seemed still to cling, and believed that Pat Allanson had been
right there in the thick of it all -not the shooter, but the prodder,
the manipulator, the liar.
The instigator.
They wanted to see all the dark corners of Pat's life illuminated.
They were detectives. Akins was a prosecutor. The relationship in any
county or state office is-and always has beenboth symbiotic and one of
natural enmity. Investigators tread on shaky ground and take chances;
prosecutors like to know where they are and they lean toward
predictable odds.
Both want to win. But it might be safe to say that detectives are more
philosophical about losing.
In the end, Bill Akins chose to accept a plea bargain. Pat Taylor
would go to prison. But she would never have to worry about facing
murder charges-at least not in any case up to June 1988. There would
be no trial, speedy or otherwise. There would be no blazing
headlines.
Don Stoop was livid. He didn't give a hoot for headlines either, but
he was a hard-liner on justice. He would remain furious for a very,
very long time.
"Bill Akins never should have plea-bargained. And I'll never change my
mind about that."
Both Don Stoop and Michelle Berry were bitterly disappointed,
ultimately frustrated. They had given it everything they had.
Georgia passions being what they were, there would be other cases.
They devoutly hoped not to run into Pat again, although it was
certainly possible that they would, given world enough and time.
On June 12, 1991, less than two months after she was arrested, Patricia
Taylor Allanson aka Patricia Radcliffe Taylor appeared with her
attorney in the Hon. William H. Alexander's courtroom in Atlanta.
A plea had been negotiated in Indictment No. Z-32688.
Pat took the stand and looked stolidly at Bill Akins as he approached
her. His questioning was routine. He needed to establish that she was
competent and understood what she was about to do, that she felt she
had been fairly represented.
"Were you satisfied," Akins asked, "with the services that he rendered
on your behalf?"
"More than satisfied."
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"Counsel," Akins turned to Steve Roberts. "Do you waive formal
reading?"
"Yes, we do."
"His. Taylor, do you understand," Akins began, "that you are charged
in seven counts in the bill of indictment? Count I charges you with
aggravated assault with intent to murder, which carries with it a
penalty of one to twenty years in the penitentiary. Count 11 charges
you with aggravated assault, which also carries with it a penalty of
one to twenty years. . . . You can't be convicted of both. . . .
Count I'll charges you with violation of the Georgia Controlled
Substances Act dealing with being in possession of Halcion . . . one
to five years. . . . That is a Schedule IV drug." Count IV was the
same. "You can't be convicted of both. Count V charges you with theft
by taking, specifically a stainless-steel Rolex watch . . . ten years
in the penitentiary. Count VI charges you with theft by taking of some
specifically named items of jewelry . . . one to ten years."
Akins explained that the matter two charges were could be convicted of
both.
"Count VII charges you with unlawfully posing as a registered nurse
without a license. That is a misdemeanor, which carries with it a
maximum penalty of twelve months in jail and a one-thousand-dollar
fine.
Do you understand all of those charges and the penalties for them?"
"Yes, I do."
Pat Taylor was prepared, she said, to plead guilty to aggravated
assault, to violation of the Georgia Controlled Substances Act, to
theft by taking of the specific items, and to posing as a registered
nurse: Counts 11, IV, VI and VII. She understood full well that she
could be sentenced to a total of thirty-six years in prison, and that
she had the right to a trial by jury. She was waiving that right. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]