Disclaimer: No matter how much I wish I did, I don't own Glee. All rights go to RIB. The OC's are mine though!
A/N: Remember I am still accepting characters for my SYOC Back To The Start so please keep on submitting. This chapter will be Josh's stepmother's trial and will probably be very long (and it is the last trial chapter- I promise!).
Chapter 25: Judgement Day
Josh's POV
So it's finally here. My stepmother's trial. I've been trying to recover as many of my lost memories of her as possible and it has worked to some extent. I have memories of her beating me up since she married my dad so hopefully I'll have enough to make sure she's sent to jail. Ollie's a witness today too and we spend our time in the sequestered witness room making out. It takes my mind off what is about to happen. I hear them call my name "The prosecution calls Joshua Michael Abrams to the stand" the clerk calls.
I walk slowly up to the stand and a bible is slid under my left hand and raise my right one. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" the clerk asks.
"I do" I say and sit down. My lawyer Alice Mitchell steps forward, gives me a reassuring look and then begins to ask me questions.
"Can you please state your name and address for the court record?" she asks.
"Joshua Michael Abrams, I live at 23 Miners Lane, Lima, Ohio" I say.
"How old are you Josh?" she asks
"I'm 15" I say.
"What is your relationship to this case?"
"My stepmother abused me and stabbed my boyfriend Ollie. I was so dizzy from my injuries that I fainted in the middle of the road and a car ran over me" I say.
"What happened after the car ran over you?" she asks.
"I was put in a coma. I woke up after 3 weeks and couldn't remember anything after my fourth birthday"
"Can you remember anything now?" she asks
"Yeah bits and pieces. It's slowly coming back"
"Why did your stepmother hit you?"
"She found out I was gay and didn't like it"
"So basically you're stepmother abused you multiple times because she didn't like the fact that you were gay?"
"Yes that's right" I say
"No further questions" she says and steps back. I can see Carrie's defence lawyer preparing for a fight. But I'm gonna fight harder. Carrie is not gonna win this time. She's got away with far too much, for far too long.
"So Mr Abrams you said that you could not remember anything after your fourth birthday, that means you forgot the assault right?"
"Yes but the assault was the first thing I remembered. I had a dream about it when I was in the hospital"
"But as you admitted you suffered severe memory loss, how could you know the dream was true?"
"I didn't at first but when I got home my dad told me about the accident and it matched up to my dream"
"Are you sure of that?"
"Yes absolutely. My boyfriend Ollie will tell you exactly the same thing" I say
"Mr Abrams if you forgot everything after your fourth birthday how come you remember your stepmother hitting you multiple times?"
"I said before, my memory's been coming back in bits and pieces"
"Mr Abrams, your stepmother was married to your father, why would she do anything to you that may jeopardise her relationship with him?"
"Because she hated the fact that I was gay"
"Isn't assaulting someone a little drastic?"
"Not really, plenty of homophobes have beaten up gay people before"
"No further questions" the lawyer says and I know I have him beat.
I smile at Ollie reassuringly as he is up next. He winks at me and that is how I know everything's go to be ok. After me and Ollie are done, Carrie's going to jail. And we'll never have to see her again.
Ollie's POV
It is my turn to testify. I am terrified that I'll get torn to pieces by the defense lawyer and ruin the good work that Josh has done so far but I can't think about that now. I have an evil woman to put in jail. "The prosecution calls Oliver Samuel Evans to the stand" the clerk calls.
The bible is slid under my hand and just as I saw Josh do, I put my left hand on it and raise my right. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?"
"I do" I say and take my seat in the witness box. Josh's lawyer steps forward to ask me her questions (that we had rehearsed earlier so I wasn't really worried about that, I was more worried about the ugly brute that was the defence lawyer. Figures Carrie would pick the male version of her to represent her!).
"Could you please state your name and address for the court record?" she asks.
"Oliver Samuel Evans, I live on 46 Main Road, Lima, Ohio but I am temporarily living at 23 Miners Lane with Joshua Abrams"
"What is your relationship to the victim?"
"I am his boyfriend" I say
"How long have you been dating?" she asks
"Around 4 or 5 months" I say.
"What happened on the night of the 22nd March this year?"
"I got a call from Josh. He said "Ollie you need to help me. I have to get out of here. Or she's going to kill me. So I got to Josh's house as fast as I could. When I got into his room he was lying on the floor with blood coming out of his nose and mouth and dislocated ribs. He also had a black eye and his arm was over his stomach. I helped him get out and we ran away but Carrie caught up with us"
"What happened after that?" she asks me
"I tried to drag Josh across the road but he let go of my hand. Then he was hit by the car"
"Why did he let go?"
"Because he was about to faint and he didn't want to take me down with him"
"Did the defendant do anything to you personally?"
"Yes. She stabbed me just below my right shoulder"
"So she assaulted you too?"
"Yes she did" I say.
"How has the accident affected you?"
"It hasn't affected me as much as my relationship with Josh. It's difficult when you are the only one who remembers" I say.
"No further questions" she says.
The defence lawyer looks as if he is about to blow a fuse. Perfect. That means we have him beat.
"Mr Evans did Josh ever tell you that he had been abused by his stepmother?"
"Yes. He said she used to beat him every day"
"But you never saw evidence of this?"
"I did actually, he was always covered in bruises and he came into school on crutches once"
"But how did you know that was what caused it?"
"Because he told me" I say.
"You say that Ms McPhee stabbed you in your right shoulder correct?"
"Would you like to see the scar?" I say sarcastically.
"No need for sarcasm Mr Evans. Did you know Carrie McPhee very well?"
"Not really no- me and Josh were always round my house because he didn't want her going off on one if she saw us together"
"So if she didn't know you very well, what reason did she have for stabbing you?"
"I'm Josh's boyfriend, she hates gays and plus she wanted me dead so I couldn't tell the police what she'd done"
"Are you absoloutely sure the wound on your shoulder was caused by Carrie McPhee stabbing you?"
"I was there. I know it was"
"No further questions" he says stepping back and I can see him groan. He knows that so far he doesn't have a leg to stand on. I exit the box and walk holding hands with Josh back to the stands. There's nothing more we can do now but hope that bitch gets her punishment.
Josh's POV
Now everything's down to the doctor. We have to hope that her medical testimony is enough to get Carrie locked up for good. They call the doctor to the stand "The prosecution calls Doctor Robin Simpson to the stand" the clerk calls. We watch as my old mousy grey haired doctor makes his way up to the stand. He'd better do this right otherwise Carrie goes free and I am dead. He is sworn in, in the same way as me and Ollie were. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?"
"I do" he replies and sits down.
"Could you state your name, address and position for the court record?" my lawyer asks.
"Doctor Robin Simpson, 112 Mill Road, Lima, Ohio. I am a doctor at Lima Memorial Hospital"
"When did you meet Ollie Evans and Josh Abrams?"
"There was an ambulance call at about 11pm on 22nd March. I was the doctor on call that night. When it came in there were 2 boys, both unconscious. Ollie woke up a little while later but Josh remained unconscious for 3 weeks"
"What was the state of their injuries?"
"Both were badly injured, Josh more than Ollie. Ollie had a deep stab wound on his right shoulder. Josh had several bruises, was bleeding profusely from his nose, mouth and head and had dislocated ribs"
My lawyer then goes over to a big table in the centre of the court, takes something out of her pocket and tags it.
"I have entered into evidence exhibit A" she says and the judge nods at her.
"Doctor Robinson this is one of the pictures taken at the hospital the night of 22nd March. Can you describe the injury for me?"
"That is a stab wound to the right shoulder of about 20 cm. This is Ollie Evans' shoulder before it was stitched up"
"And this one?" she says passing over another photo.
"This looks like Josh Abrams when he was first brought in. There's distortion of the ribs and a multide of blood and bruises"
She goes over to the table and enters something else into evidence. "I have entered into evidence Exhibit B" she says.
"Could you tell me what this is Doctor?"
"This looks like the DNA results from the testing done on the knife and from the road. We matched these samples with blood samples taken at the hospital and then had them tested at a lab"
"Could you talk me through the results?"
"Yes of course. The blood we tested from the knife matched with sample A from the hospital"
"And whose blood was that?"
"Ollie Evans' blood"
"So this proves he was stabbed correct?"
"Yes it does"
"And what about the blood found from the road?"
"The blood found on the road was a mixture. Some matched with Sample A, Ollie's but most matched with Sample B. That's Josh Abrams' blood"
"Do you do any other DNA testing?"
"Yes we tested for fingerprints on the knife"
"And what were the results of that?"
"Well we used the police record system to obtain Carrie McPhee's fingerprints as it appears she was charged once with drinking and driving. The fingerprints we found on the knife were a match for her fingerprints"
"Thank you Doctor, no further questions" she says
"Doctor Robinson are you a DNA expert?"
"No I'm not an expert"
"Then how can you say for sure how conclusive these DNA tests were?"
"Because I may not be an expert but I graduated med school. I know enough about DNA to know that these tests were conclusive"
"How much of a fingerprint do you need to get conclusive results?"
"You need about 10 fingerprint points in common for the two fingerprints you are for the fingerprint to be a match"
"How many points were found in common in Carrie McPhee's fingerprints?"
"We found 12 points in common. Therefore it was a match"
"Is it possible that there is someone with the same fingerprints as Carrie McPhee?"
"No, everyone has unique fingerprints- no one has the same pattern of friction ridges on their fingers not even identical twins"
"Is it possible that the fingerprints belonged to someone else?"
"It's possible but highly unlikely" the doctor says.
"No further questions" the lawyer says the smirk well and truly wiped off his face now. Now all we need is for Carrie to put her foot in it and say something she shouldn't and she'll be out of my life forever. The doctor leaves the stand and all that's left is for Carrie to come and put her head on the chopping block. "The defence calls Caroline Maria McPhee to the stand" the clerk calls.
"Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth and nothing but the truth so help you God?" he says
"I do" she replies and sits down. She's lying, there's no way she'll tell the full truth of what happened that night. Here's hoping she does because then she'll be stuck in jail for a long time.
"Could you please state your name and previous address for the court record?"
"Caroline Maria McPhee. I used to live at 23 Miners Lane, Lima, Ohio"
"And what is your relationship to the victim?"
"I'm his stepmother"
"How long have you and Mr Abrams been married?"
"I married Artie about 9 years ago. He wants to divorce me now though because of this"
"Have you and Josh always had a bad relationship?"
"Yes I guess so. But the stepson never likes the stepmother- they feel like we're trying to take their mother's place"
"And were you?"
"Absolutely not. I hate children, I'd never want to be anyone's mother"
"Would you ever have hurt your stepson?"
"No. Why would I do anything to jeopardise my relationship with Artie?"
"No further questions" her lawyer says.
The familiar smirk is back on his face. He thinks he's beaten us. But my lawyer still has to ask her questions and once she's through with her, Carrie will be sitting on her ass in jail.
"Miss McPhee what is your feeling towards homosexuals?"
"They are a bunch of sexually deviant people whom the Lord shall not welcome under his roof"
"So it's safe to say you don't like them very much then?"
"No I don't"
"What did you do when you found out your stepson was a homosexual?"
"I punished him. I was always taught that bad behaviour deserved to be punished"
"By "punished" do you mean that you abused him?"
"Yes that's exactly what I mean"
"So why on 22nd March did you abuse your stepson?"
"He had got back together with his faggot boyfriend. He needed to be punished"
"So you assaulted him?"
"Yes"
"And when he tried to run away did you run after him?"
"Yes I did"
"Why did you do that?"
"So I could punish him further for being a fag"
"Why did you stab Ollie Evans?"
"He's a fag too and I wanted to kill him to make sure that he wouldn't tell anyone what I did"
"No further questions" she says.
The jury leave to make their decision and I smile and kiss Ollie. We know that we've won. We go and sit in the courtroom café whilst the jury is out. An hour and half passes and then we are called back to hear the jury's decision. I am encouraged by how quickly they made it.
"Madame Foreman has the jury reached its decision?" the judge asks.
"Yes we have" she says.
"And was it unanimous?" he asks.
"Yes it was" she says.
"In the case of Caroline McPhee vs the state of Ohio how o you find?"
"Guilty. The defendant shall be charged with felonious assault and will spend 8 years in jail and have to pay a fine of $20,000"
Carrie shoots an angry gaze at me but she brought this on herself. I turn to Ollie and say "We did it. We won". "I knew we would" he says and kisses me. And without hesitation I kiss him back.
A/N: So remember my SYOC story Back To The Start is still accepting character submissions so if you want to submit a character then please do. Also the poll for the name and gender of Alex and Christina's baby is still up so remember to vote on that too.
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