Dennis McDougal

“bullet. Then he asked that Mrs. Lydia Hansen, Clifford’s older sister, take the witness stand. Zarick objected. Mrs. Hansen was a new witness, not a rebuttal witness, he argued. If she took the stand, she could only address the points that Dorfman had made earlier, before he rested his case. The judge ordered Zarick and Dorfman into his chambers while he pondered this point of law. “Lydia Hansen would have testified to the threats, showing a predisposition to do harm,” Dorfman said. “If Theresa expressed animosity against the guy in the past, it would certainly raise questions about this being a killing in retaliation for a beating.” But this logic didn’t wash with Judge Johnson. Dorfman had presented a case for second-degree murder at best, he said, and he would not allow Mrs. Hansen to testify as a”
― Dennis McDougal, Mother's Day