10. See, Say.
"…a teenager losing her sight of the line between good and evil. Jade West is under house arrest for the duration of her trial, and will not be — Hey!"
Cora Welch was cut short as Adam, briefcase in hand, barged in front of her.
"My name is Adam Hornstock, I am the Wests' attorney, and I am asking you to leave their property."
"We're not on their property!" the reporter retorted, smirking. "Look, we're on the street. City property."
Conveniently, a police cruiser, lights off, pulled up at that moment. The Suits got out, Finley from the driver's side, and approached the commotion.
"Miss, please turn off your camera."
"No!" Cora said, actually stomping her foot. "You're infringing on my first amendment rights!"
"You're infringing on the rights of these people, who requested their privacy. Turn off the camera."
The cameraman, who was apparently more intelligent than the woman he was recording, turned off the camera.
"Thank you," Finley said. Jade and Linda, who had watched the officers arrive from the TV, appeared in the doorway. They stayed there until Cora Welch had packed up her van and driven away.
"What the hell?!" Jade exclaimed angrily as she stalked toward the Suits. "Who told them where we live?!"
"I asked you to keep her name a secret!" Linda said.
"Someone must have released it by mistake," Finley explained calmly.
"Mistake?" Jade shouted. "No. They said they had a source in the p—"
"The reporters might've followed you home from the courthouse after the arraignment," Gordon interrupted Jade, addressing Linda.
"Is there any way we can prevent them from coming back?" Linda asked.
"Just call us if they do," Finley said, but not until after a moment's hesitation.
There was a newsprint story about the commotion in the Saturday morning paper.
The voir dire hearing to select jurors began on Monday. A pool of just over fifty potential jurors were brought into the courtroom and swore an oath to tell the truth. The judge, a middle-aged woman with short dark hair, gave a short explanation of the case and introduced the participants. Then she began to question the jurors.
"…Have any of you heard or read anything about this case from any source whatsoever?"
There was a general shaking of heads. Jade narrowed her eyes suspiciously. Who hadn't seen one of the news articles about her?
"Given this brief description of the facts, is there anything about this case that would cause you to believe that you would not consider the evidence fairly and impartially according to the law?"
Next she reintroduced herself, Justice Elizabeth Banter, and the rest of her staff in the courtroom, including the clerk and bailiff.
"Do any of you know me or any member of my staff on any basis, social, professional or otherwise?"
Nothing.
"The prosecuting attorney is Andrea Chase. Do any of you know counsel, or the District Attorney, or any of the employees in her office on any basis, social, professional or otherwise?
A man in twenties with ruffled hair and a plaid shirt raised his hand timidly, mentioning that his sister was a clerk in the DA's office.
"This could easily cause prejudice, Your Honor, favoring the prosecution. Even subconsciously," Adam said, standing. The judge agreed, and Ruffled Hair Man was excused.
"The defendant is represented by Adam Hornstock. Do any of you know the defendant's attorney or any employees of his office on any basis, social, professional or otherwise?
More head shaking.
"Counsel, introduce the defendant."
Jade stood and sullenly faced the fifty before her as Adam gave her name.
"Do any of you know the defendant on any basis, social, professional, or otherwise?" the judge asked.
A woman in her sixties wearing a raincoat raised her hand, her face contorted thoughtfully.
"Yes?" the judge asked. The woman thought for a moment longer, then gasped as she remembered.
"Karaoke Dokie!"
"I beg your pardon?" Justice Banter said, surprised.
"I saw her sing in a karaoke competition. She was excellent!"
Andrea objected this time, stating that this potential juror clearly shows favor toward the defendant. Another dismissed.
"The witnesses," the judge continued, "who may be called during this trial are: Charles Finley, Michael Gordon, George Huang, Wyatt Lane, Mei Lee, Beck Oliver, Erwin Sikowitz, Victoria Vega, Celia West, and Linda West. Do any of you know or think you might know any of these witnesses?"
There was a moment of contemplative silence before—
"Oh!" exclaimed a pretty redhead in her early twenties. "Isn't Beck Oliver that guy with the great hair who hangs out with Alyssa Vaughn?"
She was dismissed as Jade's entire body tensed, her teeth digging into her tongue.
"Is Mei Lee Mrs Lee?" a tan woman with a wedding ring asked. "She owns Nozu, right?"
The judge confirmed with a nod. Why was Mrs Lee involved?
"Oh, I love that place!" a man with a beard agreed. "Is Mrs Lee that crazy Asian woman who's obsessed with celebrities?"
Wedding Ring and Beardie were dismissed.
Justice Banter read the witness list again.
"Is Victoria Vega Tori Vega?" a girl (who probably just passed the age minimum to be a juror) suddenly asked. "I saw her sing at the Platinum Music Awards!"
The judge looked to the lawyers for an objection. Jade jabbed Adam.
"Anyone who likes Vega hates me!" she whispered harshly.
Adam objected, and Tori Fan was excused.
The judge moved on to ask about criminal histories of the potential jurors and their friends and families, and whether they would prevent a juror from "being fair and impartial in this case." Then she asked if any of the potentials had legal training, or knew someone in the law enforcement profession. A former police officer amongst them declared that he could try this case without bias, but Jade poked Adam in the arm and shook her head sharply "no". Former Officer was dismissed.
It took almost the entire week for the pool of potentials to be wheedled down. Adam and Andrea questioned each potential individually, and many more were dismissed. Finally the final twelve were selected, with five alternates. Though it was somewhat of a relief to have voir dire over with, there were too many people amongst the dozen that looked like her father or his wife, or even students and teachers at HA. All she could see were the faces of the people who had given up on her. She looked at her hands in her lap as the prosecutor moved forward toward the jury to begin her opening statement.
Happy New Year! We're in court! I had originally glossed over jury selection, but Treacle thought it would be interesting so I decided to add it in! My dad got jury duty (he wasn't picked to serve) like ten years ago, so I read some of the documents he was sent and he told me about the experience. I also did a bit of research online about voir dire hearings and jury selection. The questions the judge asked aren't necessarily what would be asked in California (I think some of the questions I read were from NJ), but they're similar enough. Obviously this process takes a long time, and most of it is pretty boring so I only wrote a snippet. Anyway, I pretty much have this story planned out. I have officially decided who the culprit is. I'll give you a hint: the attacker is human. So yeah, sorry if you were convinced Rex was involved. Also, I decided that Lane's first name is Wyatt? It means guidance/protection, and I don't think he was ever given a first name on the show. If I'm wrong about that, let me know. I'm sorry this note is so long, but I do have one more thing to ask you. Would you read a sequel if I wrote it? I've been thinking about the aftermath of this story, what it does to the relationships between the characters (including Bade obviously). Let me know.