I own nothing except a few characters and the plot.

Warning: This Chapter and the next one may contain some material that might be disturbing. Reader discretion is advised.

STAR WARS REBELS

The New Spectres

Trials Part 2

NEW YORK

The day of Darius' mother's trial had come. Landon had once again been tasked with bringing Darius to the courthouse and staying while he testified. The two sat outside the courtroom until a court officer appeared.

"Darius Carpenter." Darius and Landon followed the officer into the courtroom. Landon took a seat in the row behind Ryan while Darius was led to the witness stand.

"Please raise your right hand. Do you swear to tell the truth in all matters before this court to the best of your abilities?" The officer asked.

"I do." Darius said and sat down. Seaver stood up before Ryan could even ask a question.

"Your Honor, I see Landon McKnight in the courtroom. I ask that he be excluded."

"Do I need to justify this latest attempt to delay this trial with a response?" Ryan asked.

"Approach." The two along with Connie came up to the bench.

"It's our position that Mr. McKnight transported this witness to the courthouse and told him what to say on the stand." Seaver said.

"He would object if the witness was brought here in a radio car by Stormtroopers. Cadet McKnight also has no idea what questions I would be asking of the witness to be able to tell him what answers to give. The People have no objection to the video taken in your chambers being used for direct examination. Mr. Seaver can cross-examine on that."

"I am not going to hold this jury under lock and key while you two fight over how a witness was transported to and from the courthouse. These people have lives and jobs that they have put on hold. Step back." Judge Khayman said.

"Defense request is denied. Cadet McKnight stays. Got a problem with that, file an appeal. Proceed Colonel Pratchard."

"People request permission to play People's Exhibit One."

"Go ahead." The tape of Darius' interview with Judge Khayman was shown to the jury. After the tape ended, Ryan asked a single question.

"What do you think should happen to your mother?"

"Rot in prison for the rest of her life along with her boyfriends."

"Your witness." Ryan said and sat down.

"So how many counts of prostitution should you be charged with?" Judge Khayman interjected before Ryan could object or Darius could answer.

"You were warned many times about that. The question is striken and the jury instructed to disregard it. I want a check for $500 at the end of the day." She said.

"Why didn't you report this before you were found passed out after injecting heroin?"

"To who? And I was injected against my will. You think I wanted her boyfriend of the month to pump me full of drugs, pimp me out, and break my arm?"

"I don't know. Maybe you enjoyed it." Darius looked ready to jump on Seaver and beat him senseless. Luckily, Ryan stood up before he did.

"Objection!" Ryan shouted.

"Sustained. The jury will disregard that."

"You seem to have a bit of a temper. Could you be hiding something? Something about yourself that you haven't told anyone? Cadet McKnight is gay. We all know about him and your teacher. Could you perhaps be gay and want to sleep with Ezra Bridger yourself?

"Your Honor. This is beyond sleazy."

"Sustained. The jury will disregard that unfound accusation. Mr. Seaver, you now owe me $1000. If you have any proper questions ask them, otherwise your examination of this witness is concluded."

"I have nothing further."

"The witness is excused." Darius stepped down and walked over to Ryan and Landon.

"Your Honor, can I have ten minutes?" Ryan asked.

"Court's in recess for ten minutes."

"Can you handle the next witness if I'm not back?" Ryan asked Connie.

"Sure." She replied. Ryan followed Darius and Landon out to the hallway.

"I doubled the sentence on that plea deal for your arm. I expected that, but you held up under fire. I get to nail your mother on cross if she takes the stand." Ryan said to them.

"Trust me, Ezra will not cross that line. He didn't even want to date me until I told him there was no way it would be improper." Landon added.

"I wanted to knock his teeth out for that. Get my money's worth for flipping out on him." Darius told them.

"I see Mr. Tate still uses baseball analogies."

"I would have declined to prosecute that case and if someone else did, testified that he provoked you. The contempt finding by the judge would have spoke volumes."

"You wanna get dropped at school?"

"Might as well. No one's home and right now I'd rather be in class then home alone." Darius said and walked off followed by Landon. Ryan watched them leave and then returned to court. The next witness was the doctor who had treated Darius the day Jamal and Ezra found him. The doctor told the jury what was found in Darius' system and how close to death Darius was when he was brought to the ER. This was followed by Jamal himself.

"Detective Wilkins, what exactly did you find in the apartment?" Connie asked.

"We as in myself, Commander Bridger, and a group of Stormtroopers that had been summoned as backup found a male subject who had reached for a .22 and was promptly stunned along with enough heroin and cocaine much of which was packaged for resale. Commander Bridger found Darius laying in his bed with his hands tied to the frame passed out from being injected with drugs."

"What led you to the apartment?"

"My grandmother had arrived at JFK earlier that day and wanted to meet Commander Bridger. We were carpooling when he mentioned that Darius had missed four days of school and this concerned Commander Bridger given what he knew of the home. The mother's previous boyfriend had been arrested on a charge of terroristic threats after telling Commander Bridger that he wanted to break Commander Bridger in half. The next time, Darius showed up in school. He was recovering from a broken arm." Seaver stood up.

"Objection. Hearsay and irrelevant."

"Overruled. I want to hear the rest of this. The witness may continue."

"After we dropped my grandmother at her hotel and got her settled in, Commander Bridger and myself traveled to Darius' home where he knocked on the door and announced himself as Darius' teacher doing a home visit due to the amount of days Darius had missed. After being told to go away by the subject that was eventually arrested, Commander Bridger revealed to me that Darius also held an after-school job and that his boss was worried too because Darius hadn't been there in days either. At this point, backup was called and arrived in the form of a group of Stormtroopers that were in the area. I knocked and announced myself as the police, asked Commander Bridger again how long Darius had been missing, heard the sound of a gun being cocked from inside, and had the door breached by the troopers."

"What happened after you found Darius?"

"I had the subject in the living room secured and summoned a Bus along with the Crime Scene Unit."

"Thank you. Your witness." Connie said and sat down as Seaver stood up.

"Detective Wilkins. How exactly did you determine what the alleged drugs allegedly found in my client's apartment were?"

"The CSU team performed a field test on samples of the drugs found so the EMTs knew how to treat Darius."

"How did you come to be associated with Ezra Bridger? Whose military rank was given by a group that sought to overthrow a legal government and eventually did so." Ryan stood up.

"Objection."

"The jury will disregard defense cousel's choice of language. Detective, you may answer the question."

"I was undercover when Commander Bridger was sent in by General Felth's office for the same reason I was in that school. To catch a drug dealer."

"Who took out the arrest warrant on my client?"

"Darnell Hollister."

"A commissioned officer in the Remnant's Army who has FBI credentials and not you. Why was that?"

"My concern was for saving Darius. I wasn't about to let him die in front of Commander Bridger. Colonel Hollister was able to look at what was going on with a clear head."

"Nothing further." Seaver sat down as Ryan stood.

"Redirect. Did you have any interactions with Darius when you were undercover at the school?"

"We had lunch together. He sat alone. I wasn't going to risk blowing my cover over a kid who appeared to be a loner. I did tell Commander Bridger and Principal Dobbs to keep an eye on him. I thought he was in danger of failing or worse. I never imagined this."

"Thank you. Nothing further." Jamal was excused.


The next day, Ezra took the stand. Before he was examined, Judge Khayman gave strict instructions to the three lawyers.

"Mr. Seaver. You will not perform character assassination or a repeat of that stunt you pulled yesterday in my courtroom with this witness. Try it and you'll be found in contempt. Is that understood?"

"Yes, Your Honor."

"Good. Step back. You may proceed Colonel."

"Commander Bridger, you serve as Darius' Homeroom teacher?" Ryan asked.

"I also have him for History." Ezra replied.

"What are his grades like?"

"Darius is a Straight-A student. His class schedule was recently shuffled because of him working himself ahead of a couple of his classes and to allow him to work more with the school's Music Department."

"How is he socially and behaviorally before and after the incident in his mother's home?"

"Objection. The witness is not a child psychologist."

"He is the kid's teacher and can tell the jury what he observed personally. Overruled."

"Before he was removed from his mother's care, he was a loner and a bit of a troublemaker. Darius had a habit of getting Detention on days when he wasn't working after school simply to avoid having to go home to his mother and her boyfriends. After being placed in the care of his grandparents, he discovered his musical talent and became more outgoing. He no longer isolated himself in the back of classrooms and he engaged in small talk with his classmates. He was also no longer being thrown out of his classes on an almost daily basis for being disruptive due to having completed the classwork before the other students in the class."

"What impressions did you form of Darius' mother and her boyfriends from your interactions with them?"

"Objection. Calls for a conclusion."
"Overruled."

"The mother was indifferent to anything I said to her. The first boyfriend threatened me and I had to stop Sabine Wren from killing him right there. The second boyfriend gave me a very bad feeling."

"What happened the day you and Detective Wilkins found Darius near-death?"

"Objection. Do we need to hear this again?"

"There might be details that Detective Wilkins was unaware of."

"Overruled."

"Because I was busy dealing with Detective Wilkins and his grandmother. I asked Sabine Wren if she could check on Darius. She said she had other things to do. The second boyfriend is lucky. No doubt, Sabine would have killed him if he tried pulling a gun on her."

"Your Honor..." Seaver began, but was cut off by Judge Khayman.

"How did you feel when you found Darius?"

"Very angry and very upset. Detective Wilkins had to have the Stormtroopers remove the boyfriend before I killed him."

"Thank you. Your witness." Seaver came over to Ezra.

"Mr. Bridger, you were part of a Rebel Alliance that sought to and eventually did overthrow a legal government?"

"Objection."

"Sustained. The jury will disregard that. Mr. Seaver, I am fining you $2000 for contempt of court. If you have any relevant questions for this witness ask them. Otherwise, your examination is concluded and the witness is excused."

"Do you know if Darius is gay?"

"I've never asked him, but I'm not the teacher who works with the LGBT community in the school."

"But, you're in a relationship with a man yourself. One Landon McKnight. Grandson of Gary McKnight from McKnight Shoes who insults every customer that walks through the door. How could you not tell if Darius were gay?" Ryan stood.

"Objection. Where is this line of questioning coming from?"

"The Prosecution asked about Darius' social life."

"You did Colonel Pratchard. Objection overruled." Ryan sat down.

"He's been spending time with a female student. Darius intervened when this student was being harassed by another male student. The whole school has found out what he's been through these past few months."

"My client did attend parent-teacher conferences? So she's not as bad a mother as the Prosecution is trying to make her look."

"She did, along with her thug boyfriends."

"You and Sabine Wren engaged in a deceit tactic to get information on my client's boyfriends?"

"If something happens to Darius in school, we need to know who might answering the phone when we call. He was asked for his name to use as an emergency contact."

"After he allegedly threatened you and you had to stop Sabine Wren from killing him. You took his name so you could have Stormtroopers drag him from the home in chains and throw him in The Empire's jail where he still sits to this day. What is wrong with this picture?" Ryan stood again.

"Objection."

"Approach." The three lawyers gathered around the bench.

"What are you doing Mr. Seaver?"

"Putting The Empire on notice that they can't hold people in jail forever without due process."

"These people are being tried by other prosecutors right now. There are terrorism charges and ICE has filed papers to have some of them detained as well. Your Honor arraigned these people yourself."

"These people are all minorities."

"You're really playing the Race Card in a trial that has nothing to do with race? Have you looked at any pictures of Wanda Houston before?"

"Do you know who held that office before her? My late husband and he wasn't too fond of cowboy cop tactics. Step back." The three went back to their places.

"The objection is sustained and the jury is instructed to disregard Mr. Seaver's last statement."

"Nothing further." Seaver sat down and Ezra was excused. The next witness Ryan had was Darnell Hollister who testified about the investigation and what course it took. Seaver asked him about how the evidence was processed. After court, Ezra spoke to Ryan.

"That could have been better."

"I might need Sabine on rebuttal."

"Between you and me, Landon gave Darius' phone number to Lucy Felth. He said something about some nonsense contest over her between Josh and Noah for Valentine's Day."

"I don't want to know about that." Ezra walked away as Seaver approached him and Connie.

"We're willing to talk about a plea."

"Attempted Murder 2 covers everything and we leave sentencing up to the judge."

"Send me the paperwork." Seaver said and left.

"You're letting her plead out?" Connie asked.

"She won't do this again. The boyfriends have multiple felony arrests and we need to close those cases." Ryan got a text message.

"From Carmichael. Diego Perez just plead out on Assault 2 for jumping Darius with a term of 5-10 years in prison. With the pimp boyfriend's deal adjusted to account for the crimes against Darius, that leaves the boyfriend who tried to pull a gun on Wilkins for trial."

"What kind of deal would you offer him?"

"Probably 25 to life to cover everything. He goes to trial, it's life without parole. That would leave the gang members themselves to try."


The day after the paperwork was filed, Bianca allocuted in front of Judge Khayman.

"Darius needed a father figure in his life. I knew that they were bringing this stuff into my home, but I had no idea that he gave it to Darius in the amounts that he did. I let him give Darius one dose, not four. I had Darius when I was sixteen and his father was in and out of his life. I needed the money to provide for Darius."

"Darius had his own job. Why did you allow these last two men into your home?" Judge Khayman asked.

"Darius wouldn't give me the money. He kept it for himself."

"It was his money. Earned legally by him for him to spend how he chose. Not yours to feed a drug addiction that you were trying to pass on to your son. Your duty as a mother is to protect your child, not allow him to be pimped out to any pervert with $20 in his pocket or turned into a guinea pig for a drug dealer to test the potency of his products. How dare you inflict your bad choices in life on your child. Maybe if he lets you back into his life one day, you'll see his star shine in whatever direction his life takes him. There is no doubt to this court that if Darius' path had not crossed with that of Ezra Bridger and Sabine Wren. Darius would be dead and you would be on trial for murder. Bianca Carpenter, in accordance with the plea agreement entered to by both parties. I sentence you to a term of 20 years to be served in a facility to be determined by the Bureau of Prisons. We're adjourned." Judge Khayman said and banged her gavel. Two officers escorted Bianca out of the courtroom. Ryan turned to Connie and Landon who was sitting behind them.

"One down, a whole gang to go.


"A jury, having found each defendant guilty of the Crime of Terrorism, three counts of Attempted Murder in the First Degree, one count of Attempted Murder in the Second Degree, one count of Criminal Possession of a Weapon in the Second Degree, Criminal Use of a Firearm in the First Degree, and multiple counts of Intimidating a Witness in the Third Degree, I remand each defendant to the Bureau of Prisons to await execution in accordance with the request of the Remnant's Secretary of State and as further authorized by United States Code, Title 18, Chapter 228, Section 3591." Judge Alfonso Morales said as he banged his gavel. A squad of Stormtroopers shackled and escorted the gang members out of the courtroom. Davin Felth stood up and turned to his subordinates.

"I guess my trial skills aren't as rusty as I thought they were."

"They're all sentenced." Ryan said.

"Darius Carpenter can go back to being a teenager." Connie said.

"One that may be catching the attention of your granddaughter."

"Gives her a third option just to mess with Josh and Noah. Tevin told me what those two were up to trying to score a date with her for Valentine's Day and the astromech he blamed it on." The three walked off talking about upcoming cases. That night, Lucy and Darius began exchanging text messages just to see how compatible they really are with each other. The two agreed to meet over the weekend.

"Don't tell anyone about this. Although, I think most of them know already thanks to Chopper." She said to R9-D2 who said something back to her.

"If it works out, I'll thank Landon later for giving me the idea."