"We received a call that a murder had occurred and rushed straight over—"
"Hold it! How long did it take you to make it to the scene?"
"About seven minutes, however an officer had arrived a couple minutes before me and was already inside."
"What was this other officer doing?"
"He was establishing the crime scene, putting the police tape where it was needed."
"I see. Please continue."
"When we arrived, the defendant was waiting for us outside, her hands dripping blood—"
"Hold it! This part has bothered me since I first heard it. According to the autopsy report, the victim was killed around midnight, yet there was still enough blood in a liquid state for it to drip off her hands. I'm not an expert at how blood dries, but I'm pretty sure it doesn't take hours."
Melinda nodded. "I agree. Under normal circumstances, it takes about an hour for blood to dry. However, here's a fact that I'm sure your client didn't tell you: she had tried to wash her hands before the police arrived. Now, may I ask a question to your client: why did you try to wash your hands?"
Felix glanced at Lacy, who stood up. "I'm a bit of a…neat freak. I didn't want to keep having dried blood on my hands and used the bathroom sink to wash it off, but the officer that arrived stopped me before I could finish, thus the dripping blood."
Melinda nodded. "I see. So your washing of your hands had nothing to do with destroying evidence?"
"No, not at all. I know how important evidence is to solving a crime. My boss was just murdered, so I would try to keep as much evidence as possible for police to do their job."
Melinda remained silent as she glared at Lacy. "I see. And you're not going to change your story?"
"I can't change the truth Ms. Edgeworth."
"Interesting. What you claim is the truth is, in fact, nothing but a lie."
"What do you mean?"
"Your honor, later on, I'll be presenting witness testimony that will prove the defendant was trying to destroy evidence."
"OBJECTION!" Felix slammed his hands on the desk. "Ms. Edgeworth, you have yet to present this witness testimony. Until your witness has testified, and until I cross-examined the witness, there's no proof of what you're claiming. I therefore request that you stop badgering my witness."
Melinda sighed and nodded. "Okay, but after the cross-examination, when it's proven she was trying to destroy evidence, I'll be expecting an apology later."
Felix sighed and shook his head. "Rick, you may continue."
Rick nodded. "S-sure."
"When we entered, we saw the victim lying on the ground, a pool of blood around him—"
"Hold it! What was the position of the body?"
Melinda cleared her throat. "Your honor, I have two photos of the crime scene, one from the entrance right after they arrived, and one from inside the room in the farthest corner, again taken right after they arrived."
Melinda handed the bailiff two photos. "Those are the defense's copies."
Felix was handed the two photos. In the first picture, the first thing that stuck out was how dirty the room looked. I went to the crime scene yesterday, but I don't remember it looking THIS bad. One could easily argue it was just a burglary gone wrong from the state of the room.
Felix looked at the other picture, which showed the entire room. Hm? The entire room still looks bad, but there's one cabinet that's…rather neat and tidy, like it wasn't even touched. And the pool of blood is obviously dried and now a stain on the carpet.
Felix glanced at the body. So the victim was lying face down. Even from just a photograph you can see the obvious stab wound on the right side of the neck.
"And here's a picture that shows the body up close. Notice the many obvious stab wounds on the body."
Felix was handed his copy of the photo. Yeah, you can definitely see the wounds. However…there's some pretty deep bruises on the face and arms. Is Lacy strong enough to cause that deep of bruising?
The judge nodded. "Is the defense satisfied with these photos as evidence?"
Felix nodded. "We are, your honor."
"Good. The court hereby accepts these photos as evidence."
Felix sighed as he put the photos into his briefcase. I'm not getting as much as I wanted out of this cross-examination. Maybe I'm trying to rush things? Let's see what else Melinda has to offer before starting our counter-attack.
"We immediately knew it was a stabbing and immediately found the murder weapon—"
"Hold it! Where exactly did you find the murder weapon?"
"Next to one of the cabinets, the one in the corner."
"Wait, the cabinet that was still neat and orderly?"
"That's the one. We were surprised to find it there instead of anywhere else in the office. We had assumed that that area was not involved—"
"Gumshoe!" Melinda barked. "All we be said during the trial, however, please refrain from spoilers as to what is to come."
Rick sighed. "Yes Ms. Edgeworth. Anyways, we found the knife next to that cabinet."
The judge nodded. "I see. It is indeed a surprising area to find the murder weapon considering it looks untouched."
Rick nodded. "Yeah, as I said we were surprised. Anyways, we need to continue with the cross-examination."
The judge banged his gavel. "Yes, we do. Please continue detective."
"After more pieces of evidence were discovered, we were forced to arrest the defendant—"
"Hold it! What other pieces of evidence are you referring to?"
Melinda yet again cleared her throat. "Fingerprints, DNA evidence, and witness testimony all pointing her to the crime. First, I'd like to present the fingerprint analysis sheet. As you can clearly see, the fingerprints on the victim's neck match those of our defendant, Ms. Hall."
Felix was given a copy of the analysis and gave it a quick read. Yeah, it does show that Lacy's fingerprints were found on the victim's neck, right where the bruising is too…
"Next, I would like to present the DNA evidence: blood that was not the victim's, but rather the defendant's."
The courtroom burst into chatter as the judge banged his gavel. "Order! Ms. Edgeworth, please show the court the results of this analysis."
Melinda handed the bailiff the sheet, who handed it to both the judge and Felix. "Blood found in the crime scene has been determined to be Lacy Hall, defendant in the case. We believe that during the struggle Lacy was injured, causing the slight traces of blood to escape." And attached to this is the analysis itself…we're already in a pretty deep hole to begin with. Can I even do anything to dig us back out?
"The court accepts this as evidence."
Melinda chuckled. "Now, I would like to present a witness who can testify to the court all that transpired that fateful night. However, I would like to request a recess as to prepare my witness."
The judge nodded and banged his gave. "Court is now adjourned for a fifteen minute recess."
