short story - The Trial

The prisoner's long awaited day for trial had finally come. Two broad hefty guards came to his cell and snapped on the heavy dangling chains. The prisoner was escorted to the courtroom where the jury awaited his fate. He replayed the argument his lawyer gave him till it sounded as convincing and as cogent as possible. Since his lawyer was very didactic and gave him very helpful advice, he was sure his defense would exculpate him from the gruesome crime he was accused of. He looked over to his right and observed the prosecutor collecting his argument and thought about how life would be if the jury does not vindicates him and find him not guilty. NOT GUILTY was the two sweet words that would grant him freedom. Finally, every one stood for the entrance of the arbiter who came and sat in his big chair sporting his long black robe.

The prosecutor got up from his chair to make his opening statement. “The incontrovertible evidence will show that the defendant did indeed rape and murder Ms. Gill Smith on that cold rainy night of December the second. WE do not only have the boot print that match shoes his been seen in, but also DNA evidence that will substantiate that the defendant was at the scene of the crime. Evidence will show the defendant had motive and opportunity.” The prosecutor walked close to the jury and said in a gentler, benign voice “Find this man guilty and bring peace to the Smith family. Don’t let a murderer walk free.”

The court then allowed witnesses to the stand. The first witness called was the victim’s sister.The prosecutor approached the young brunette lady, look her directly in her brown eyes and asked “Please describe what you can recall of the night of the murder?”
The young lady began speakingeloquently and fluidly as if she had practiced the speech over and over again and in fact she had so the story would not surprise her with grief and forced to lament over her sister’s death. Many times she practiced saying the story with clarity to avoid its ability to put her in a state of melancholy. she described her day: “Well on December the second I was coming from work and I wanted to meet with Gill to apologize for my insolate behavior toward her in the big fight we had the week before. I was afraid the matter would be incorrigible if I didn’t apologize soon for the hurtful insulting things I said to her.” She looked down and paused. In a low voice she stated “Now I’ll never get the chance to apologize. I’m so sorry.” She then took a deep breathe and continued in a serene, calm voice, “ I gave her a call around seven to arrange the meeting. I was so happy when she agreed to it. I thought I was finally going to alleviate my guilt by receiving her forgiveness. We were going to grab dinner together but she never showed. It was so unlike her so I called and called but no answer… so went over to her house”
“ And what happened then, ” asked the prosecutor.
“A small black car was speeding away as I pulled up to her driveway.”
The prosecutor shuffled through some papers and pulled out a photograph. “ Is this the car you seen?”
The young lady leaned over to see the photograph and then nodded her head. “Let the record show the witness identified this car which is owned by the defendant.”
The prisoner took in a gasp and worried if the jury would buy her story which so far seemed plausible to even to him. He knew his lawyer was gifted in the art of rhetoric and would attack the witness’s integrity when he gets the chance.
Gill continued her account, “I walked in the house to surprisingly find her door unlocked." She began speaking slowly to keep up her lucid and clear explanation of the horrible day. “I called out her name but no one answered so I walked slowly to her room. Everything was a mess like there was a big struggle. When I got to her room… I saw her laid out on her bed. I rushed to her and found she wasn‘t breathing and that’s when I called 911. ”
“ No more questions.”
The defendent's lawyer raised up from his chair after patiently waiting and taking notes. He reached out to tightly grab and massage the prisoner’s shoulder to implicate he was in control and everything was going to be fine.
“So when you waited for your sister to arrive did you have a few drinks?”
“ No. I knew I had to drive home”
He walk over to his desk and pulled out some papers. “Well can you explain this receipt of your purchase from your credit card from the place you was going to meet with your sister on the night of the murder.”
“Oh I must have forgot… It was a traumatizing night for me.”
“Right. However the assertion you made about drinking was false. Do you know the relationship the defendant had with your sister?”
“ Well he was her boyfriend …her ex boyfriend”
“ And did you and he, the defendant, also date?”
“Yes”
“For how long?”
“ Um.. Well we were dating until the night of the murder. I broke it off that day.”
“ Interesting…why did you do that?”
“ He was… um … cheating on me.”
“ Do you know with whom?”
“No I don’t. He never told me.”
“ I believe you do because you found this in your car.” The prisoner lawyer walked to his evidence collection and pulled out a red and white striped bra. The victim’s sister mouth dropped. She was not expecting anyone to find the article of clothing. Her heart begin to beat so fast she could hear it pound through her ears. The prisoner was so glad to see how his lawyer made her argument no longer coherent and cohesive.
“Do you recognize this?”
“Yes it’s my sister’s.”
“Did you not find this bra and know it was her?
“OK. I knew he was sleeping with my sister. So what.”
“What was the angry discourse with your sister about? Was it not about this bra? Don’t lie to me”
“ Yes. When I found out he hooked back up with her, I got mad and called her. We argued. I wanted to apologize for it because I didn‘t want this to get between us. She‘s my sister and I love her.”
“Yea. Of course you do. No more questions.” She stepped down from the stand and the next witness was called which was the prisoner himself. He sat at the stand as the prosecutor approached him and said, “ You don’t seem penitent for raping and murdering your ex girlfriend or lover or whatever.”
“Wait a minute I didn’t rape her. It was consensual.”
“Sure it was. Where were you on the night of the murder?”
“ I was with her but I left her alive.”
“Did you not hear the phone ringing?”
“As a matter of fact I did. We ignored it the first couple of times but I answered the last time it rang and the person hung up.”
“Why were you having relations with her. Did not ya’ll relationship ended with her cheating on you. Did you not sleep with her sister to get back at her?”
“ I was mad at her for a long time but I realized I still loved her. I was hoping I could get to her through her sister.” At that moment a contemptuous and scornful look appeared on the victim’s sister face. She began to feel disdain for the man who used her. How patronizing to treat her in such a condescending way like she and her feelings were worthless and unimportant.
“No more questions.”
Then his lawyer got up and asked him, “Did you happen to read the caller ID of who was calling over and over again.”
“ Yes it was her sister as she said earlier.”
“And you said she hung up quick when you answered?”
“Yes”
“No more questions.”
The defendant’s lawyer then walked over to the jury to make his closing argument.
“ I am asking the jury to make an impartial decision and to not be bias against the defendant because he played two sisters and cheated on this lovely witness. Looking at this case with objectivity, it’s easy to see that the defendant did not commit this murder but the victim’s sister. When she heard her boyfriend’s voice on her sister’s phone she rushed over to her house drunk and murdered her own sister. The defendant is only a lover not and murderer and a rapist. I can not emphasize enough how important it is to not put this innocent man behind bars.” when he finished the jury went to a back room to make a decision on this complex, convoluted case that was cryptic and hard to understand. Some jury members were in a quandary and uncertain about whether the defendant was truly innocent. After a couple of hours, the jury came out and read their verdict. “We the jury find the defendant … Not guilty for the charges for rape and murder in the third degree.”
The defendant jumped up and down and thanked his lawyer. The prosecutor was angry that he lost his case and how much his witness did not tell him. He was so angry that before the judge dismissed the case he told the judge, “The city of New York would like to bring murder charges against the witness. Arrest her for the murder of Gill Smith.” Two police officers walked over to the surprised victim’s sister and read her rights as they arrested her.



To be continued