scavenging for food in Murphy, North Caro- lina. After a month, he was on trial for the bombings and pleaded not guilty. Rudolph would face the death penalty if convicted. For Caida, this trial meant life under the spotlight. “I had to have press training for the Eric Rudolph trial because everyone would see my dad’s name in the paper or on the news and ask me about it. Te federal defenders on the case didn’t want what I heard at the dinner table to become public knowledge,” Caida said. Caida’s parents would use code words when talking about Rudolph’s case, careful not to let anything slip that their kids might tell other people. “Tey would tell me things like, ‘If someone asks you, this is what you say,’” she said. During the case, Caida’s father made
weekly trips to Alabama. When he wasn’t there, he’d be at the office, studying evidence, and usually wouldn’t get home until 9 o’clock at night. On April 13, 2005, Rudolph finally
pleaded guilty. A little more than three months later, Rudolph was sentenced to life in prison. When the trial was over, Caida’s family went out to celebrate. Tat’s when eight-year-old Caida understood what her father did for a living. “I was in the car and asked, ‘Why is a life in jail a victory? Isn’t the point to get him out of jail?’ My parents explained that the government was trying to kill him,” Caida said. Sometimes on Brian’s death penalty cases,
an execution warrant will be issued. “Tis means that the defense team assigned to the case will have two days to review evidence and come up with an argument on why their client should not be killed,” Caida said. Dur-
ing this process, Caida barely sees her father. “He’s in his own little world, so it’s just my mom, my sis and me.” In seventh grade, Caida found a book that she was able to connect with and that helped her understand more about her father’s job. “I really identified with the book ‘To Kill a Mockingbird,’” she said. Te book takes place in Alabama during the Depression, written in the point of view of a girl whose father is a lawyer defending an African-American man. “I connected with her journey,” Caida said. In the book, Scout Finch learns to block out others’ critical opinions about the fact that her father defends controversial people. Te book taught Caida not to listen to other people’s harsh opinions about what her dad does for a living.“I was able to tune out what everyone said and form my own opinion,” she said. Often times, an overwhelming amount
of stress builds in the Mendelsohn family when the warrant is issued. “None of us eat much – we’re all so stressed out. My mom and I tend to lose about five to ten pounds, and my dad tends to lose 15 pounds,” Caida said. Exercise tends to be very beneficial when Caida’s father has a case. “I run a lot. I exercise a lot. I’m really productive but incredibly high strung,” Caida said. For the lawyer himself, the job can be
overwhelming. “I tend to carry stress in my in my back and shoulders,” Brian said. Like Caida and the rest of their family, it can be challenging for him to be away from his family. “It’s always hard when I disappear for 14 to 16 hours at a time,” he said. Te next big case that Caida’s father will defend in will be Brian Richardson’s, a man
who was accused of strangling his cellmate. “Right now, I’m not really thinking about it,” Caida said. Te trial will begin next February. If a trial is lost and the appeals fail, the
convicted are executed. During this time, it is a very quiet and sad place in the Mendelsohn household. “Tere’s this black cloud over our house,” Caida said. “Everyone, especially my dad, is tired and sick looking. It’s sad and awful.” Caida’s father has even been to one of his
client’s executions. Fred Gilreath, 63 years old, was sentenced to death on Nov. 15, 2001. Gilreath and his wife were in the process of getting a divorce. One night, when his wife, Linda, and her father came to get her things, an intoxicated Gilreath shot them both. Te executions for criminals usually hap- pen at night. “Te convicted is on a gurney, almost like a shape of a cross, and everyone is watching through the glass. Te prison warden will read the execution warrant and ask him if he has any last words and is offered last rites,” Caida said. “Ten they’ll kill him.” For Caida’s father, the impact of losing a
client can be hard. “My dad is usually a happy person – he is always making jokes or bad puns, but after he loses a client, he doesn’t.” As for what Caida thinks of the death
penalty, well, she’s not exactly in favor of it. “I think the death penalty is not logical: ‘We kill people who kill people to prove that killing people is wrong,’” Caida said. “Tis is another person, another soul, another one of God’s children. No matter what that person has done we have no right to say they don’t get to live any longer.” n
March 17, 1998 Rudolph stocks up on
supplies and disappears
May 31, 2003 Rudolph is found near a trash-
can looking for food in Murphy, North Carolina
April 13, 2005 Rudolph pleads guilty and is
sentenced to life in prison
May 5, 1998
FBI puts Rudolph on its 10 most wanted list, offering a $1 million reward to anyone who could find him
June 2003
The trial begins and Rudolph pleads not guilty
Illustrations by Audrey Baxter DECEMBER 2011 • CARPE DIEM 45
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