View from Above
The Judge's Thoughts Upon Retirement
The Criminal Affairs Judge for the Los Angeles district had seen quite a bit in his time on the bench. A time that was fast winding down and hurtling towards his retirement day—a day his faithful wife, Maude, had been looking forward to for some time.
Of course, there had been grand thefts and murders, white collar larceny and mob bosses. He knew that when he decided early on in his legal career to pursue a judgeship.
What he had not anticipated was being appointed the first criminal affairs judge under an entirely new court system—one where he was responsible not only for the order of the courtroom, but also the verdict.
That first night, Maude and he had initially popped the bubbly. After all, a judgeship paid much, much more than his defense fees had brought in, or even the prosecutor's salary he had brought in. And Maude, a preschool teacher, brought very little in as well.
Perhaps it had been the bubbly talking, or the viewing of his favorite film, "12 Angry Men", but that night he had woken in a cold sweat.
How was he NOT going to be a hanging judge?
He had seen the outlines for how the new system would work. No jury, three days, burden of proof upon the defense. A complete reversal of innocent-until-proven-guilty. The film he had just watched…..if that case were reality, the defendant would have been placed in the chair, despite absence of definitive proof.
Over the next few days (and lengthy conversations with Maude) he decided on a persona—everyone had personas, did they not? The absent minded judge—force those before him to lay every bit of evidence out in excruciating detail, before he would call his verdict.
And it worked, although—many said that Wright's disgrace was the start of a "dark age". He would argue it began the instant the U.S.A. abandoned the right to be heard by a jury of peers.
Over the biggest chunk of his service, he saw prosecutors rise to almost-celebrity levels of renown, and defense attorneys either abandon the sinking ship (it was much harder to get a client an acquittal) or only take high-income cases.
Of course, there were shining star or two along the way. Fey, Von Karma (the younger, definitely—he had never agreed with the elder Von Karma), Gavin the elder, Gavin the younger (lots of families in the legal system, and lots of Germans). Godot the Mysterious, Payne the pain….and then, of course, Edgeworth and Wright.
These two always had brought a certain…edge of tension into the courtroom. That edge, a heaping of chemistry, and his knowledge of their history together had made them an ongoing topic of gossip between Maude and himself for a long, long time. And that edge had only increased exponentially since Wright's return to the courtroom and Edgeworth's appointment to High Prosecutor. On the rare occasions the two happened to stand off in the courtroom, the air fairly sizzled between the two.
They obviously hadn't…how were the kids saying it? Hooked up?
And while normally he had faith that not everything needed to be solved in court—take that young Justice and Gavin—this situation had been going on for much, much too long.
So at the conclusion of the first day of a triple homicide trial—and multiple theatrics on both sides—he made the call to continue the trial the next day. And then:
"Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth, I request for both of you to meet me in my office."
As he picked up his notebook, he had a silent chuckle of laughter at the confused expressions on their faces.
Both men entered his office together
How to best approach this? He picked up a lovingly framed photo from his desk.
"Mr. Wright, Mr. Edgeworth, this is my wife. She has been a faithful companion and sounding board for many, many years. I am glad that I have had my opportunity to see this court revert back to the old ways, but I am gladder to now have the opportunity to retire from the bench."
Startled looks—ha! That caught them both off guard.
"Gentlemen, I typically do not offer personal opinion of weight in my court, however, you two make it impossible to stand by and do nothing. I fully expect the both of you to open up to each other regarding your feelings towards the other party, and to do so before this court resumes tomorrow morning."
He paused, observing their reaction—Wright was messing with his hair, and Edgeworth had curled in on himself with eyes cast down.
He added, "I hope you do so with beneficial results to both of you. You both deserve happiness."
And with that, he left the silent room.
The next day, the court's tension between the two had greatly reduced. Small victories felt just as good as acquittals.