Monday Morning, 2:00AM
Lee sat wearily by his wife's bedside as he had been for hours ever since Joe King had made a big stink about threatening legal action on his behalf if they wouldn't allow Lee to see his wife. The doctor who'd been treating her already having been served with a subpoena and an injunction to stop his treatment of her conceded, but with the understanding that if Lee made another scene that could potentially disturb the other patients, he would have to leave again. Lee had just silently acquiesced with a nod, not wanting to be barred from being with Amanda again.
Dotty had been with him for a while, each of them holding one of her hands talking quietly again about how to handle dealing with their marriage when it came to Phillip and Jamie, Joe agreeing with Dotty that it was better to just have a second wedding rather that to reveal their deception. When Lee had fired back that he was tired of the lies, Joe countered that when it came to getting the boys to trust again, he was the expert, reminding hm of all the years that he'd been away and how hard it had been for him to regain their trust when he was their actual father. Lee had to admit that he had a point, if it took them time to trust their own father again, what chance did he have? They had all lapsed into silence until Joe had suggested that Dotty go home and get some rest. She had balked at first, but then when both men insisted, she finally conceded and allowed Joe to drive her home.
Lee now sat alone with his wife, never taking his eyes off of her, watching her carefully for any sign that she was coming out of it. "Come on, Amanda, fight this," Lee whispered to her as he gripped her hand tightly in his willing her to open her eyes. "I love you so much. This is killing me seeing you like this. You need to fight. The boys need you, your mom needs you...and I need you." When he was answered by silence, he kept going, ""Manda, come on, how are we ever going to have that normal life we want if you won't wake up? You should be happy. After years of me fighting you, you've finally got me wanting to be a normal person, complete with softball games in the back yard, two cats, and a front porch swing." When he felt a slight tug on his hand, his heart leapt.
"Horses," Amanda whispered but didn't open her eyes.
"Yeah, horses too," Lee said with a smile as he gently caressed her face with his free hand. "Can't forget the horses, can we?" He leaned in and lightly brushed his lips against hers, but found disappointment flooding through him when there was no response. He sighed and said, "Amanda?" No response.
"Don't get discouraged, Lee," Dotty's voice said softly from behind him. When he turned toward her, she stepped further into the room and continued, "Her new doctor in charge of her care said that she may drift in and out of consciousness and that it could be several hours before she's coherent enough to really talk to us."
"Yeah, I know," Lee said with another sigh, "But I...I guess I just got my hopes up."
"I know, but what you should really get is some sleep," Dotty said in a mothering tone as she brushed his rumpled hair out of his face.
"I'm not leaving her side," Lee said with a firm shake of his head.
"You need to. Joe called about ten last night and said that he managed to do some fancy legal maneuvering and got your preliminary hearing moved to eleven, something about a plea bargain with another case that led to an earlier opening. He also said that if this hearing goes well, there may never be a formal arraignment."
"Good, good," Lee said beginning to feel as if an enormous weight had been lifted.
"But that means that you need to get some sleep. That's only nine hours away." When he gave her a look, she said, "And don't give me that stubborn look. I'm a mother, I can out-stubborn you any day of the week. After all, I raised Amanda, didn't I?" She nodded to her sleeping daughter.
Lee couldn't help laughing at that and said, "All right, you win." He kissed his wife once more and rose to his feet wincing as he tried to stretch out his stiff muscles.
"Now, there's a cab waiting for you downstairs," Dotty said "Go on."
"Thanks, Dotty," Lee said brushing a light kiss to his mother-in-law's cheek, "For everything."
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Monday 11:30AM
Joe sat at the defense table watching in silent amusement as Detective Bledsoe recounted her investigation into Amanda's attack, ADA Gardner asking all the right questions to spin the facts in her direction as he mentally prepared for his counter-attack.
"So," Gardner said, "You said that Mr. Stetson himself admitted to you that he had rough sex with the victim?"
"Yes, he certainly did," Bledsoe said with an icy glare Lee's direction, "He insisted that it was consensual, but his next-door neighbor heard her screaming from inside his apartment, then heard them yelling at each other in the hallway, followed by her screaming again outside the building. Then there's the forensic evidence that was taken from him and her that indicates this was not just rough sex, but a violent rape."
"And wasn't he found by your officers, kneeling over her unconscious body?"
"Yes, he was," Bledsoe answered confidently.
"Was there anyone else on the scene?"
"No," Bledsoe replied. "He was the only one there."
"Thank you, Detective Bledsoe," ADA Gardner replied as she returned to her seat.
The judge nodded to Joe, who picked up the agency file from the table in front of him, strolled toward the witness stand nonchalantly and said, "Detective Bledsoe, you testified that her neighbor, Mr. Winn, told you that he heard Mrs. King screaming from both the inside of the apartment and outside the building, which is part of what led to your conclusion that Mr. Stetson had raped her. Is that correct?"
"Yes," she answered.
"Did you ask Mr. Winn if anything like this had ever happened before?"
"No," Bledsoe replied.
"So, you never bothered to find out if Mrs. King had been a regular houseguest of Mr. Stetson's"
She glared at him and said, "No."
"Interesting, because when I spoke to Mr. Winn and his other next-door neighbor, Miss Harding, they both indicated that they'd seen her coming and going many times, that she'd spent many full weekends there. Mr. Winn even went as far as to say that he'd heard the sounds of them having sex before, indicating that she was more than willing. Why was this piece of information not uncovered in your investigation?"
"I was trying to find out what happened the night the crime was committed. A prior history with the victim has no bearing on the crime at hand."
"Oh, but it does. You were also told when questioning Mr. Stetson, that Amanda King is not just a regular houseguest, but is his wife, yet you were still convinced that he raped her. Why is that?"
"The evidence suggests-"
"Yes, but there is also evidence that suggests otherwise, isn't there?" Joe said cutting her off. "Just as there is evidence to suggest that you have your own reasons to pursuing Mr. Stetson." He flipped open the folder in his hands and continued, "You were once married, weren't you?"
"Yes, but I don't see what that has to do with anything," Bledsoe replied with a slight shudder.
"I believe it has everything to do with your relentless vendetta against my client. Not only were you married before you joined the police academy, but you were married to a very violent man." He handed her the file. "There are numerous reports of domestic violence here. You once even accused your ex-husband of raping you. Isn't that right?"
"Y-Y-Yes," Bledsoe stammered.
"Yet no charges were ever filed against him for it, were there?"
At seeing where Joe's line of questioning was going, ADA Gardner rose and said, "Your honor, I object to this whole line of questioning. Detective Bledsoe is a highly decorated police detective with years of experience and numerous commendations."
"Who is also currently the subject of an internal affairs investigation for her mishandling of this case to the point that she was removed from it."
"Your honor," Gardner said with a pleading look at the judge.
The judge shook his head and said, "Go on, Mr. King."
"Detective Bledsoe?" Joe said. "Can you explain to use what happened when you accused your husband of rape?"
"The...um...the police refused to do anything about it. They s-s-said that a man can't rape his wife, that a man had a right to-" she broke off as bitter tears filled her eyes.
"That's what led you to want to join the police force, isn't it? That's what has you bound and determined to track down any man who even appears as if he might have hurt a woman and why you've ignored every bit of evidence in the case against my client that might suggest his innocence, isn't it?"
"Just because she's his wife, that doesn't mean that he didn't do it," she fired back hotly as she blinked back the tears. "I speak from experience."
Joe smiled and said, "Thank you, Detective Bledsoe. No more questions."
The hearing continued with testimony from Lee's neighbors, Detective Tuggy, as well as Francine and Billy who were forced to testify that while they had two men in custody that they believed were responsible for Amanda's attack, they had no proof of that other than Lee's word. The ADA tore into both of them with her examination of them, reminding the court that he'd been lying about his marriage to Amanda for months and that he was intoxicated at the time of the attack, so he wasn't exactly a credible witness, especially given the fact that he was the accused and those accused of a crime were prone to point the finger at someone else to divert suspicion away from themselves.
Joe had kept casting wary glances at the judge in an attempt to gauge his reactions. He began to worry when the doctor testified as to Lee's state agitation at the hospital yesterday and that while he'd heard Amanda muttering about three men, he didn't know how much her ramblings could be believed because of her head injury and the anesthetics that she'd been given. In his cross-examination of the doctor, he'd bluntly reminded him that he'd given Amanda those drugs without her family's knowledge or permission and that he'd had to resort to taking legal measures to put a stop to it. Now, after all the evidence had been presented by the ADA, and after a short, too short in his opinion, recess to give the judge time to assess the evidence, he sat apprehensively next to Lee as the judge settles himself behind the bench again.
"In reviewing all of the testimony and all of the evidence presented, I've determined that there is sufficient evidence to proceed to trial," the judge declared.
Lee let out a loud groan and buried his face in his hands while Joe just sank back in his chair looking completely deflated, ADA Gardner looking gleeful at the news. The atmosphere in the courtroom shifted drastically, however, when a new voice said from the back of the room, "I'd like to ask you to reconsider." All heads turned to the sound of the raspy voice to see Amanda being pushed up the aisle in a wheelchair by her mother.
