Family Bonds

Disclaimer: I own nothing

A/N:


Chapter 29 (Character Witnesses)

When they returned for the next part of the trial, her daughter was expectantly tense. Rachel was going to be next and Trina was worried for her because she seemed to be terrified.

"I'm almost next," Rachel whispered, "I have to go out there." Rachel was visibly upset, and Trina had a sense Brendon may try to suggest that Rachel provoked Andre by confronting him. "Momma, what do I do?"

"Just be clear, honest, and answer every question the best you can." Trina kissed the girl on the top of the head and flashed a smile. "It will be okay, baby."

When the attorneys were finished with Sam for the moment, they called Rachel to the stand. Rachel whimpered and Trina gave her a hug, hoping to reassure and comfort her once more.

"Let's start out honestly," Scott said once Rachel was sworn in and ready to talk. "You did go to Andre's home two nights prior to Dean Harris's attack on you and your friends. Is this correct?" A look of shame came over Rachel's face and she bowed her head.

"Yes sir, I did. I didn't know the true nature of what happened to my mom." She took a deep breath and raised her head, looking directly at Scott and keeping her gaze away from Andre. "If I knew, I might not have gone, but that's regardless of fact. I went and confronted him for being mean to my mom. I've always been protective of my family, and I can be impulsive."

A unique tactic, once more Trina was impressed. By having Rachel explain this now, he was attempting to deflate the cross-examination by Brandon when Brandon would certainly try to paint her as provoking Andre and attempting to blame her for what transpired.

Not to mention that Dean allowed her in, Brandon wouldn't be able to suspect that she trespassed. Rachel committed no crime and even withdrew.

"How were you let in?"

"There was a party. I met Dean outside and asked him if I could visit his dad. Dean said okay and let us into the mansion."

"So you were there because a resident let you in?"

"Yes sir."

"What transpired between you and Andre?"

Rachel began trembling, tears came from her eyelids and she raised her hand up to her face, holding the base of her palm against her eye. "He said my momma deserved it. He called her an attention whore. I got mad, I went downstairs and told all his guests what Andre did and said."

"He was pretty angry after that, wasn't he, Rachel?"

"He was threatening me, saying I'd regret it." She took a deep breath, straightened her head with her torso. The inner portion of her neck sank inwards and her chest heaved. "A couple nights later, Dean in and attacked us. Myself, my cousins and my boyfriend. It looked like he was going to attack me sexually too, but Ryan stopped him."

"Ryan? Tell the court who Ryan is?"

"That would be my boyfriend."

Brandon stood up and Trina started to tense. "If I may have a word with the witness, your honor?" Scott turned his head and Rachel's eyes started to widen. "Let me get this straight, Miss Tyler. You were let into my client's home, you provoked my client."

"Y-Yes sir. We left with him shouting at as. Dean attacked me two days later." Considering Dean's plea, he was already convicted, so there was no question regarding to that. "This was after confronting him about my mom."

"Did Dean give you any inclination whatsoever that he was acting on his father's orders?" Rachel clamped her mouth shut for several seconds, whimpering softly as Brandon smirked and leaned forwards. "Miss Tyler? Did Dean tell you that he was acting under his father's orders."

"He didn't tell me, no. I think he told my mom, though."

"But he didn't tell you?"

"No."

"Okay." Brandon looked at the judge with a smile. "No further questions your honor."

Scott asked a few more questions before passing the witness. Rachel came running back into the witness room and Trina threw her arms around the weeping teenager. "I messed up, didn't I, Mom?"

"No baby, you did just fine." Rachel did better than Trina expected she would do, but even if she hadn't, it wouldn't matter. Trina never wanted her children to have to sit through a courtroom trial. "All I could think about was getting you back to me. I'm glad they're done with you."

"I love you, mom."

"I love you too honey."

Dean was called in next. Trina watched Andre's reaction as the boy walked into the courtroom. Andre's eyes went wide and his muscles looked to tense. Dean avoided contact with his father's gaze and looked directly at Scott. Dean was in prison uniform and had handcuffs around his wrists with a chain going down to the cuffs around his ankles.

He had a pitiful look as he shambled in, hunched over and looking like a beaten mule. The jury members frowned, their eyebrows curled up in the middle and some moved their hands over their mouths.

"Dean Harris," he stated his name as per Scott's request and then took his seat. "I'm charged with assault with a deadly weapon and breaking and entering. I took a plea deal and am sentenced to fifteen years with the possibility of parole."

Dean's eyes glazed over and he turned his head away as Andre tried to lean forward and glare sternly at his son.

"Why are you here today?" Scott inquired.

"To testify against my father." Dean and Scott went through the history of abuse and manipulation, the lies and deceit that led up to the moment his father ordered him to attack Rachel. "He-He told me that I should try to assault her sexually, that it would send her and her mother 'a message' not to mess with him again."

"And you were charged with attempted assault?"

"I wouldn't have gone through with it." Dean pulled his hands up to his face, wiping his tears away with his fingers. "Even as I was there, I couldn't stop feeling like it was crossing a line. I didn't want to hurt Rachel that way, I-I couldn't do that. Dad would kill me if I didn't go through with it, that's why I didn't run. He told me if the cops come, run and he would deal with it…but I didn't run…"

"You were afraid of your father?"

"Afraid for my life! He's always been that way, abusive and belittling. If we didn't do what he wanted or we didn't do something the right way, we were beat. Dad's very much 'my way or the highway'."

Brandon questioned him as well, trying to suggest that it was Dean's idea to attack Rachel all along. Dean continued to portray his image of the beaten son who, under duress, went along with his father's plan.

Even the driver of the car that was there when Dean was captured testified to Dean looking like a terrified mess. The jury appeared to hang onto each and every word that came out of Dean's mouth, so Brandon released him without further question.

The next witness, and perhaps the most powerful aside from Trina, was Andre's ex-wife, Taylor. The minute she walked into the courtroom with a powerful stride and her head held high, Andre froze and turned a shade of ash that Trina had never seen in the man. It was as though he'd just been knifed in the gut.

"My name is Taylor Hathaway-formerly Harris." Taylor pulled her hair back, tilting her head slightly as she did so. Her thin lips pressed together and she turned her head forward, glaring out at Andre. "I was unhappily married to Andre Harris for several years. Our son was the product of sexual assault."

Brandon bowed his head and Andre slammed his clenched fists onto the desk. Scott hummed contemplatively and ran his hand across his chin. "What do you mean?"

Taylor closed her eyes and sucked the air through clenched teeth. "When we were dating, he wanted to have sex, but I didn't want to have sex until we were at least engaged or married. I kept telling him no, he kept getting angry, and then one day he spiked my drink." Taylor opened her eyes and pointed out at Andre. "The next morning I woke up naked at his side."

"You didn't leave him after that?"

"No, because he told me if I left him, he would kill me." Taylor sneered with disgust and crossed her arms. "When I found out I was pregnant, he told me we would be getting married and that if I refused, he'd assault me again." Tears ran down Taylor's cheeks and saliva spurt from her trembling lips and wavering voice. "He kept me from my mom, from my sister, told me I couldn't tell them what he did to me or he'd kill me. I was living in fear of this man…"

"You finally divorced him, didn't you?"

Taylor exhaled and pushed her hands along her legs. She cupped her hands around her knees and opened her eyes partially. "Yes. My little sister helped me make my escape, giving me the courage to leave him, but he wasn't done yet. Before I could get my son and daughter, he convinced the judge that I was the unfit parent. He was a wealthy celebrity by this time, so he just had to flash a little money and the judge bought every word he said."

Trina heard Judge Walker huff and smirked when she saw Andre raise his hand to his forehead. Scott took a sip of his cup of water and set it down carefully. "So you're saying…he bought custody of your children?"

"Yes. He made baseless claims against me, saying I was a drug addict and calling me abusive. He said I couldn't hold a job, he said I didn't bring money in and I wouldn't be able to care for my children."

"What was it like being married to him for-how long?"

"Almost ten years. Every day was like walking on eggshells." Taylor ran her hand over the back of her neck and shook her head. "If I didn't say something he agreed with, he'd strike me. If I disagreed, he'd strike me. If I didn't do what I said, he'd hit me." She brought a tissue to her eyes, weeping for several seconds. "Throughout those ten years there were at least five or six times when he…he would…If I turned down sex, he would force it."

Taylor leaned her head back, tensing up and pursing her lips. "Then there was that one time." Scott raised his eyebrow and Andre buried his face into his hands. "The thing that I told my sister and she was able to help me escape…Andre told me he'd assaulted someone else and got away with it, that if I were to ever tell anybody, they would never believe me…he was immune…he said the woman he attacked had been so terrified of his power that she didn't press charges."

"Did he tell you who this woman was?"

"No, but I was so afraid of him at that point…I told my sister and she managed to get me away from him."

"That must have been excruciating for you."

Taylor gasped suddenly, screaming aloud. "And now my son is in prison because of his influence. I almost lost my daughter."

"Excuse me, ma'am?"

"That's a separate matter. That was dealt with in civil court." She wiped her eyes. Trina's heart went out to the woman and she remembered the issue with Deborah Bates. Fortunately Tori was awarded a hefty amount in that suit. "If it wasn't for the lawsuit that another woman took out on the social worker, I would have had my daughter torn from me without any proper investigation."

"I see. That doesn't relate to this case, then."

"No sir."

"Okay…"

Brandon questioned the woman next, asking her if the times she was assaulted were perhaps just because she was exhausted. Judge Walker interrupted and threw the question out because of the rape shield laws, this was not a time to blame victims.

Taylor still answered that the reason she slept with Andre was out of fear. Trina had to watch Dean's reaction as he sat in the witness room with a guard. His skin had grown pale and his body was trembling with great force.

When Brandon finished with Taylor, he left open for Scott to call forward any further witnesses. The next witness was Tori. Tori breathed in slowly and looked at Trina. The sisters exchanged a tight hug, then Tori made her way out. "

While Trina had not thought about it, this could be a big thing to give an edge to the case; Tori being a former celebrity herself testifying against a current one was bound to raise a few eyebrow.

"I'm here on behalf of my sister, Katrina Tyler." Tori stood strong while glaring at Andre. For a moment, she looked ready to tear him limb from limb. "I was present for what I believe was a confession from Andre Harris."

"Yes, do elaborate." Scott swept his hand through the air and squinted. "When you say a confession, you mean an admission of guilt?"

"I do." Tori folded her arms across her chest. "In our college year, Andre and I were on and off again friends, we were at the point where we very rarely spoke." Tori narrowed her eyes at Andre and curled her hair over her ear. "Close to our last year in college, he became very drunk at a bar one night and called me up asking if I would pick him up since no one else would."

Her lips tightened and the corners of her mouth extended into her cheeks, deepening the scowl lines around them. Her head was leaned back a bit, so she carefully and slowly brought her chin down, casting a fiery gaze upon Andre.

Trina watched the man writhe in his seat. Though he didn't visibly move from his forward hunched position, his shoulders seemed to curl inwards and the features around his face sank a bit.

"It was approximately two in the morning when I went to get him. I was in my night gown and already in an irate mood because he woke me up." Scott slid his hand across his chin, nodding and humming simultaneously. "At one point, at an intersection that I do not recall, he put his hand on my knee and looked at me." Trina's heart stopped and Andre dropped his head.

"What did he say to you?"

"He said it meant a lot to him we were still friends." It sounded more like Andre had been about to come onto Tori while they were in the car and before he said his statement. The knowledge of that enraged her, but judging by the shock on the faces of the jury, it was a good thing to hear.

Tori didn't shed a tear, but her silent and quivering tone spoke volumes. Her eyelids were lined with a moisture that she wiped away with her finger. "He then told me, and I will never forget these words: 'It means a lot, even though I fucked your sister'."

"I asked him what he meant, because I didn't think Trina would sleep with him, and the next thing he told me was that he forced her, she dumped him so he forced her and she 'deserved' it." Tori held her breath and leaned back. Her eyes closed and her head shook from left to right. "I slammed on the breaks and told him to get out of my car."

"Did he leave?"

"Not at first, he was begging me to keep driving, but I was insistent that I never wanted to see him again, and he left."

"Did you see him again?"

"No. He was picked up by the police and I later filed for a restraining order just in case he came after me."

"You felt like he was going to come after you?"

"I did." A single tear ran down Tori's left cheek and she cleared her throat. "I was afraid, if he was able to attack my sister like that, why wouldn't he do it to me?"

Tori remained stoic when Mr. Bailey came up to question her. "Miss Wilson, is it?"

"Ms. Wilson, I identify as Ms. Wilson."

"Okay." Brendan put a gentle hand on Andre's shoulder. Andre raised his head and flashed a toothy smile at Tori, but the woman did not react. "To your recollection, Mr. Harris was very drunk that night?"

"Yes."

"Is it at all possible that this could have been a drunken rambling, then? Nothing coherent or meaningful?" Tori raised an eyebrow and leaned to the left a bit. She started to hum and raised her eyebrow.

"I don't believe it was, but he had been fairly silent for the first part of our drive back." Brendan's eyebrows moved to the center and his hand rose over his mouth for several seconds as he peered down at the notes on his desk.

"My client has very little recollection of this conversation."

Tori chuckled and rolled her eyes, replying back with a spiteful tone. "I am not in control or responsible for what he may or may not remember. I am only responsible for what I remember, and this is what I recall."

"Yes, I suppose that is accurate." Tori answered a few more questions for Brandon before being released. At this point, Brandon called up a key witness, Lane Alexander.

Trina was shocked to see the former school guidance counselor, much less testifying on behalf of the defense, but he was their expert witness. Brandon ran through his questions, confirming that yes Andre had indeed been in his office almost every day to talk about problems with his grandmother and other issues and that Andre appeared to display some mental disorder.

When it was Scott's turn to cross-examine, he stood with his head bent slightly and his hand folded over his mouth and chin. "Mr. Alexander. Lane. There is no doubt you are a skilled man of your craft." Lane smiled as Scott lowered his hand and straightened his back.

"Tell me as a school guidance counselor, what was your primary job?"

"I saw helped students decide what classes to take," Lane answered, "But I was also a licensed grief counselor and psychiatrist."

"And where did you earn your degree?"

"The university of Oklahoma in 1996."

Scott raised his hand, wagging his finger in the air. "Have you ever clinically diagnosed a student with a mental disability?"

"No sir…" Lane's eyes drifted to the right and his shoulders rose. "I could suggest."

"Then is it true that you never diagnosed the defendant or prescribed medication?"

"As a school counselor I would have been unable to prescribe medication to a student, and no, I never diagnosed Andre." Lane closed his eyes and Trina watched with pride as a smirk spread across Scott's face. "I believe his grandmother was diagnosed with clinical depression, paranoia and bipolar disorder."

"But Andre himself was never diagnosed?"

"No sir. Not by me." This was excellent news in Trina's mind because it helped diffuse the insanity defense. "To my recollection he was never diagnosed with anything."

"Never diagnosed with anything?" Scott leaned back, sweeping his hands out sideways. "So you're saying you have no evidence or knowledge that the defense has a mental disorder? Did he appear to recognize the things that were wrong?"

"When we spoke he displayed knowledge of right from wrong. Yes sir. I remember he felt that it was wrong to think of his best friend's girlfriend in a romantic or sexual way."

"I see. Did he ever speak to you about the victim, sir?"

"Yes."

"And how did he react?"

Lane squinted and rolled his head to the side. "With great anger. He did not display any emotions that indicated a desire to harm her, but he was fairly angry with her and the fact that she dumped him." Lane's thin lips closed and his wrinkled brow furrowed a bit. "Andre Harris displayed tendencies where he was overly preoccupied with himself or finding a woman that he would date, he displayed a massive ego in which he needs a woman to massage."

For a moment, Trina thought she saw Scott flash a smirk at Brandon. Andre's insanity defense was looking better and better by the minute, and by that, she was almost certain it was being ripped apart.

Brandon had a look of annoyance mixed with utter defeat, but he had to know the case was unwinnable. It wasn't his fault, Andre refused to take any plea deals because he felt confident that he could win.

His mighty empire was crumbling, and the war wasn't finished yet. "I'm left," she whispered under her breath. Her hands closed on her legs and her head bowed. "I have to be strong. I can do this. I've stared down people like this before…" But those were different still because they weren't her own attacker.

Trina took a deep breath and closed her eyes, ignoring the rapid beating of her heart as he focused on trying to calm her nerves.


So the expert witness for the defense looks to be weak, there is no real documentation that Andre had a valid disorder at the time of the crime yet further proof that he talked about Trina dumping him and was pissed about it. Then we have the testimonies of Taylor and Dean. Even Tori, who would you say handled that rather well? What are your thoughts here? It looks like the Jury may have sympathized with Dean, even, so the Jury's not buying the celebrity status it would seem. I suppose this will be a lesson to all celebrities: Not above the law of the land and you can't pay your way out.