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me his version of what happened. Jacob told me that he wouldn't tolerate a whore befouling his home, so every time Janny Rae tried to solicit a customer he would run up and start spouting Bible verses at the john at the top of his lungs. Jacob claims that Janny Rae attacked him after he ran off a few customers.
    What happened at trial?
    What you'd expect. When Janny Rae came to court, the DA had her looking like a member of the garden club. I dressed Jacob in a suit but he still looked like a lunatic. I got him through direct with minimal references to the failings of the gentler sex, but he spent cross-examination quoting the Bible about the defects of women, which wasn't so good for our side, since eight of the jurors were female. It only took the jury half an hour to find him guilty. The judge wasn't too tough on him at sentencing. I don't think he believed Janny Rae, but he was stuck with the verdict.
    Cochran looked as if he was about to say something more when a thought seemed to occur to him.
    Who busted Jacob on this new beef? Was it Steve Hooper?
    Yes. How did you know?
    Cochran sighed. Hooper hates Jacob. You should check him out. I wouldn't be surprised if he intentionally screwed up the investigation to make Jacob look guilty.
    Why does he hate Cohen?
    Cochran laughed. Jacob bit him. I hear he was scared shitless that he had rabies or AIDS or something horrible like that.
    Why did Jacob bite him?
    Hooper was the detective assigned to the rape case and he conducted the interrogation after Jacob was booked. Jacob claimed he bit Hooper because Hooper was roughing him up. Of course, Hooper denied doing anything of the sort, but Jacob was pretty beat up when I saw him for the first time, though some of that was Janny Rae's handiwork. Hooper admitted hitting Jacob, but he said he did it in self-defense and he did have a pretty vicious bite on his arm.
    Anyway, Hooper has a real hard-on for your client, so I'd be on my toes if I were you. I hear he's not above fudging the facts or outright lying to get a conviction.
    Thanks for the warning.
    My pleasure.
    I'm thinking of pursuing a psychiatric defense.
    Good luck. I tried to get him to talk to a shrink but he wouldn't do it.
    Can you suggest people I could talk to, family members, a friend? It would help me understand what's going on in his head.
    You probably should talk to Cohen's folks, if he'll let you.
    Why wouldn't he?
    I only learned who they were by accident. He refused to tell me anything about his family. When I told him I knew who they were, he forbade me to talk to them. Actually, he denied that they were his parents. He wouldn't even let me call him Jacob Cohen. He said he was John Doe and he had no parents. How sad is that?
    So, who are they?
    Rabbi Solomon Cohen and his wife, Valerie.
    Not the rabbi who's always in the paper?
    That's the one.
    Do you think there would be anything wrong if I contacted them?
    I'd clear it with your client first. You' re going to have enough trouble winning his trust. If you go behind his back and he finds out
    Cochran shrugged.
    You' re right. Doug stood up. I'll ask him for permission.
    Do you think you can help him? Cochran asked.
    Probably not. The state's case is a cinch to prove. I'm not even certain it would help if we did prove he's crazy. The law says that it's his responsibility to register and he didn' t.
    That's too bad. Jacob is totally nuts but he also seemed pretty helpless. I really didn't buy Rowland's story and I felt bad for Jacob when he was convicted. I imagine prison must have been tough on him.
    From some stuff he said, I think he had a very hard time.
    Cochran shook his head. Poor bastard. Well, all you can do is try your best.
    Yeah, Doug answered. Thanks for taking the time to see me.
    Jerry Cochran walked Doug to the reception area and Doug walked over to the elevators. While he waited for the car to come, he thought about Jacob's parents. Doug wasn't Jewish but he'd heard of Rabbi Cohen. The rabbi