Jeff Merrell gave a sigh of relief after the jury was dismissed and the judge read the verdict, "Guilty of murder in the first degree." It was Jeff's first taste of the other side of the courtroom. In the photo above (click to enlarge) Merell points to James Bescher while conducting closing arguments. The x-ray generated image shows the bullet in White's neck and the gun that killed White can be seen on the table. It took five years until that fateful moment and 13 more days before a term of life in prison is delivered to James Bescher. Jeff's first trial was a success and the family of Bescher expressed both gratitude towards Jeff and anger towards the legal mechanism that slowed a swift hand of justice. After the trial Jeff credited law enforcement agencies "that made the prosecution possible." Jeff handled the jury like a conductor of an orchestra. Trusting my camera to catch witness reactions I allowed myself to watch the jury as Jeff played with the buttons on his jacket before rapid moves towards the person on stand. The jury’s eyes moved with him with the exception of one who was paying attention to the back show. Insiders will confess their are times when the prosecutions has to push losing cases for the benefit of victims; but, this time the score is Criminals 0 Merrell 1.
