Sorry this took a little while to update! I've been a little busy with preparing for Christmas and other things, but I finally managed to churn this chapter out!


Direction

Chapter 3: Burden of Proof

Several hours later, a knock thundered throughout my room. I jolted awake, as the sound was so incredibly loud. I had to cover my ears so I could tolerate the noise.

"You have five minutes to get up!"

I groaned, but luckily the officer stopped banging on the door to my room. Maybe I should've told him that I had sensitive hearing before I went to sleep. I still felt groggy, and I needed more sleep. But court wasn't going to wait for me. Why did it had to start at nine in the morning?

I slid out of bed, and stretched my arms and legs to wake myself up. Officer Petrie opened the door after a couple of minutes. He didn't appear tired, but I guess he would be used to getting up a ridiculous hours because of his job.

That's when I noticed he had a bowl of cereal in his spare hand. He handed the bowl to me and told me I couldn't enter the courtroom on an empty stomach. I thanked the officer, and began eating my cereal. Officer Petrie smiled and exited the room, shutting the door behind him.

As I was eating, I realised that I felt really confident about today's proceedings. I believed I was innocent, and I had a detective who would do anything in his power to prove my innocence. I found it strange because I was more edgy being a witness to my mother's murder three years ago than I was being the defendant accused of shoplifting.

The reason why that was the case was obvious. Unlike three years ago, I believe with a man like Detective Lockwood leading the investigation would search for the truth. And the result would be fair and right.


The nerves hit me the moment I entered the courtroom. The gallery surrounding the centre stage was members of the public who were curious to see my case. Everybody I glanced at was surprised to see a teenager being escorted by a police officer in court. I even saw some whispering to their companion, although I couldn't pick up what they were saying.

Officer Petrie showed me my seat, which I hastily sat down in. I breathed shallowly, looking for something to divert me from the surroundings. Once I touched my wrist, I quickly found the distraction I wanted. I slightly pulled up the left sleeve of my clothing, exposing my wrist. However, the area was coloured differently to the rest of my skin, and when I touched it I flinched in pain.

"The officer that arrested you put the cuffs on you too tight, didn't he?" Officer Petrie whispered, with a hint of concern.

I nodded, pulling my sleeve back down. I still felt a slight sting from the wool making contact with my bruised skin, but the pain was tolerable. I sighed, realising I had nothing to distract me anymore from my surroundings.

As I reclined in my chair, I spotted some visitors in the gallery that I didn't want to see. They were my aunt, uncle and my two older cousins. I knew they were here to support me, but I was worried if things didn't work out. If I was declared guilty, I couldn't imagine how much distress my remaining family members would experience. It was all the more reason to prove my innocence.

A moment later, the judge entered the courtroom, walking up to his podium. I felt Officer Petrie's hand at my back, grabbing my attention as he stood up. I noticed that everybody in the gallery was standing as well. It was like an unspoken rule that I was completely unaware of, or forgotten since the last time I was in court.

I stood up, getting a good view of how the defence and prosecution were appearing moments before the trial began. The prosecutor, on my left, organising his papers into neat piles on his desk was calm and relaxed. However, the lawyer on my right seemed to be on the verge of a panic attack. Luckily, I wasn't depending entirely on him to prove my innocence.

The judge sat in his chair and slammed the gavel. My trial had begun, and everybody except the defence, prosecution and bailiffs sat back down. I did my best to ignore what was going on at the start, since the prosecution would give their opening statement and try to drive his misinformation down the judge's throat. Thinking of Detective Lockwood being on the witness stand, with the decisive piece of evidence to prove my innocence, was the only thing I looked forward to in the trial.

As I expected, my defence wasn't looking too flash with the prosecutor linking a few things of my involvement at the scene of the crime. He stated I broke into the building using a bobby pin to unlock the locked door, then placed my jacket away from the register to mislead people that I was trying to steal money. And somehow, I apparently saw the patrol car and attempted to escape. While the gallery was caught up in their hate filled murmurs about me, I was trying my best not to laugh. There were so many things wrong with that statement, especially the bobby pin part of it because I did not even wear one.

The judge banged the gavel, bringing silence from the gallery. Despite that he considered the prosecution's fairytale true; he wanted more decisive evidence to prove that I was guilty of the crime. The prosecutor was forced to unknowingly play my trump card, to call the first witness up on the stand.

Detective Lockwood quickly made his way to the witness stand. I couldn't tell where he had come from where I was sitting, but I was certain he was in the courtroom. Under one arm, he held a folder, which I was assuming had evidence in it. He glanced at me and secretly gave me a thumbs up with his spare hand. I suppressed my excitement, waiting for the moment he revealed the evidence.

"Will the witness state his name and occupation, please," the judge declared.

"Clive Lockwood. I'm the detective for this case."

"Detective Lockwood, I trust you have the evidence ready?" The prosecutor asked, with a smirk across his face.

"Yes prosecutor. However, if the court doesn't mind, I would like to present the arresting officer's statement first." The detective placed the folder on the wooden support and quickly pulled out a slip of paper.

I looked over at the defence's bench, seeing the lawyer visibly agitated by the interaction between the prosecutor and Detective Lockwood. I wish I could tell him that things would go very differently to what he had expected. After all, only Officer Petrie and I knew which side the detective was on.

"The court accepts it, detective. Now please present the statement."

The detective held the paper in front of him and read out, "'I parked my car near the store at one in the morning, patrolling the area. I was focused on the shop, and the area around it the entire time, despite it was pouring rain at the time. But it stopped half an hour later. Five minutes later, I saw Miss Cykes exit the store from my car. I caught up to her, and she fully cooperated with me. I arrested her on the grounds of breaking and entering and attempting to shoplift.'"

The judge pondered for a short while before announcing, "It sounds very convincing that the accused tried to steal money. Does-"

"Hold it!" The detective's voice boomed throughout the courtroom, silencing the judge. "I'm not finished yet, Your Honor."

"But you just finished your testimony, detective," the judge retorted.

"That wasn't my testimony. It was a statement made by the arresting officer to outline the case. And based on my investigation, there's already a contradiction in the statement."

The gallery became abuzz with confusion and intrigue. The judge was forced to bring the gavel down swiftly to hush the people.

"Detective Lockwood, I believe it is the defence's job to point out contradictions in testimonies."

"I understand Your Honour, but any holes in the statement cannot be looked over. Remember, this trial and the case against the defendant was done in less than eight hours and the defendant here is a fourteen year old girl who has her entire life ahead of her. And the only witness we had was the arresting officer. As lead detective, it is my duty to conduct a thorough investigation and find the truth. Please let me point out this contradiction, so we may get closer to the truth."

The judge was deep in thought again. But this time, I felt very nervous. This decision the judge was about to make would determine my guilt or innocence. If Detective Lockwood was given no voice to defend me, it meant I had to rely on the defence attorney that was appointed to me at the last minute. If he was the only person that could defend me, I might as well be guilty.

I felt the arm of Officer Petrie rest over my shoulders, pulling me closer to him. I think he knew the consequences of the judge's decision if it went against the detective. I was thankful I wasn't the only person nervous for my case.

"This is the court's standing on this request," the judge began, "It is very unusual for the lead detective, the person who represents the investigation for the prosecution, to actively provide evidence against the prosecution's claims. However, considering the small time frame between when the defendant was arrested and now, I believe that mistakes can be made for a case against the defendant to be presented in court. I will allow the lead detective to present the results of his investigation, and if the prosecution cannot find a flaw, then the court will accept the findings."

The gallery went ballistic. The implications of the decision were huge, as it turned the courtroom proceedings upside down. I wasn't complaining about it, except the noise that came from the gallery. At least though, Detective Lockwood was the one responsible of proving my innocence and not the attorney.

I glanced at the attorney, who was completely gobsmacked by the judge's assessment. I felt a little bad for him that he was going to be quite insignificant during the proceedings. Although, he was probably relieved that the pressure wasn't on him anymore. I took a quick look over at the prosecutor, was appeared equally surprised as the lawyer. The judge's decision would've taken him off guard, but it shouldn't stop him from doing everything in his power to make me look guilty.

"Order! Order!" The judge's voice boomed while he slammed the gavel repeatedly. "However, the burden of proof is on you and your investigation, Detective Lockwood. If the results of your investigation does not prove the accused innocent, the court can only assume that she is guilty. Is that clear?"

"Yes, Your Honour," Detective Lockwood stated, giving a nod to the judge.

"How does the prosecution stand on this?"

"I was lead to believe that the investigation turned up concrete proof of Miss Cykes' guilt. But the prosecution wouldn't mind hearing the detective's investigation, so that I can question the oversights in it!"

"And the defence?"

"The d-defence finds the proceedings... i-interesting. As long as the detective is presenting the truth and helping me defend my client, the defence has no qualms with this arrangement."

"With no objections on both sides, I see no reason to delay hearing the detective's investigation. Detective Lockwood, please tell the court the contradiction you spotted in the arresting officer's statement."

It was a relief that everyone was on board with the altered proceedings. With Detective Lockwood in charge of my defence, I was confident that I was going to be proven innocent. However, this was only the beginning of my trial. I had no idea how it would end, but I was hoping Detective Lockwood found enough evidence to prove me innocent without a doubt.