Author's Notes: I just wanted to thank everyone who is following and/or reviewing this story. You guys rock and please keep them coming. They mean a lot to me. Thanks!

Disclaimer: I do not own the WWE or the superstars in this story.

A/N: It is once again time for the best review award and today it goes too…

OriginalBlayze who wrote:

After the testimonies, this can either go really really good or really really bad. Anyways, Carlos' testimony is gonna be interesting.

Congrats and please keep on reviewing!

Chapter 36-Carlos' Testimony

"Your honor, the defense calls Carlos Mendez to the stand."

Everyone in the courtroom watched as Carlos was escorted to the witness stand by two armed guards, "Please raise your right hand and repeat after me, I swear to tell the truth the whole truth so help me…"

Carlos did what he was told and was allowed to sit down. "Sir would you please state your name for the court please," Judge Levesque requested.

"My name is Carlos Mendez sir," he told the judge politely.

"Thank you Mr. Mendez and now that we have all the formalities out of the way, I have a few questions for you and you better answer them correctly, because your freedom is on the line," the judge told him sternly and Carlos nodded his head understanding what was at stake. "So with that being said my first question to you, is can you tell me how you met your wife?"

Carlos nodded, "Sir I met my wife about 17 years ago when we were in high school. Erica was new in town and as soon as she walked into my classroom, I instantly knew that she was the one. I wanted to spend the rest of my life with her, but my dad didn't want that."

Judge Levesque looked at Carlos in confusion, "What does your father have to do with all of this? Last time I check, he's not the one on trial here."

"My father is one of the reasons why I have been acting out and hurting the people that I love. You see your honor, shortly after Erica and I started dating, my father would constantly tell me that she wasn't a good influence on me. He wanted me to focus on my baseball career and my baseball career only. I refused to listen to him and continued to see Erica. Then about a year later when I was about to enter college, Erica became pregnant with our daughter AJ. I knew that having a baby at was going to be difficult, so I gave up college and got a job to support my family. My dad became furious and basically disowned me. At first I didn't care, but overtime I started to miss my family. I went to go see them on many occasions, but they refused to see me. Slowly I blamed AJ and Erica for my unhappiness and other things such as me not going to college and not attempting to reach my true potential. As a result, I stated to drink heavily and take me anger out on my family," Carlos said regretfully. Now that he recalled everything, he couldn't believe how stupid he was to let what his father did to him affect him this much.

"So you are fully aware of your actions and the consequences of those actions?"

Carlos agreed with him, "Yes sir I was fully aware of my actions and the consequences. I know that because of my drinking, it has led me to be fired from several jobs including my time as a police officer. As for my family, when I laid my hands on my family for the first time, I was shocked and upset with myself. That was one thing that I never thought I would do to my family, but at the same time it felt good because I had a way of taking out all my aggression and stress that I had building up inside of me. That's why I did what I did judge."

Judge Levesque grew quite for a second, "Was there a time where you tried to get help or were you too gone to care?"

"To be honest with you your honor, I just didn't care enough to get help. I liked what I was doing and no one was going to stop me," he told him.

"Okay then, let's fast forward to more recently. I want to talk to talk to you about your daughter's boyfriend Phil. From what I got out of the court documents among other things, you two don't like each other correct?" the judge asked him.

Judge Levesque looked at Punk who was looking down trying to avoid all eye contact with him, "Mr. Mendez, I heard Phil's perspective why you two don't like each other earlier, now I want to hear your version if you don't mind."

"Well when Phil was younger I didn't mind him, because I knew that he wasn't a serious threat. If he did tell someone, they wouldn't believe him. However, as he got older and started to stand up to me, I wanted to keep him far away from my daughter as I possibly could," he said looking at Punk.

"And why is that Mr. Mendez?"

Carlos looked down in shame and said, "Because I knew that he had the power to take my daughter from me. You see your honor, when I hurt AJ and Erica, I felt powerful. I knew that I could make them do whatever I wanted, because they were afraid of him. With Phil being so close to AJ, I knew that he loved her and she loved him and would go with him if he asked her too. If she were to leave, the power that I craved would be gone."

AJ and Erica were shocked at what they just heard. They never knew that was the real reason why Carlos did what he did. They just thought that it was because he was drunk all the time which caused them to be beat almost every day. Judge Levesque however wasn't at all surprised. Carlos' story was typical for abusers and he had heard the same story over and over again in court. "Mr. Mendez is that why you and Phil got into that fight that sent you to jail?" he asked.

"That's correct your honor. My worst fear was being realized when I saw my family standing there with their bags packed. I knew that I pushed them too far and it pissed me off. I became mad at myself and took it out on Phil. I wanted to feel what I was feeling, so I attacked him. However the moment I knew it was all over was when I was thrown in jail once and for all. I got what I deserved," Carlos said with tears in his eyes.

"Can you tell me what you endured in jail?"

Carlos began to panic a little as he recalled the events that took place in jail, "Well…well…well when I first got there, I stayed at myself and in my cell most of the time. However the one day that I decided to leave my cell and go work out, I made the worse enemy that I could of in jail. He was part of one of the gangs in the jail and he managed to make my life a living hell. He beat me up almost every day and it got to the point where I ended up in the infirmary with a stab wound to the stomach. From then one the guards had me in protective custody, because I would be beat up every time I was in general population."

Judge Levesque looked for confirmation from one of the guards who nodded his head, "Have you learned anything from your time in jail?"

"Yes sir I have, I learned exactly how AJ and Erica felt every time I laid my hands on them. I felt how scared and confused they were. The biggest thing that I learned is to never put my hands on anyone including a female. They need to be loved, cherished, and cared for. They don't deserve to beat or treated bad in any way. No matter how many times I tell Erica and AJ I'm sorry, I know that they will never fully forgive me for what I have done to them," he told the court with tears pouring down his face.

"Mr. Mendez, you are in no way getting out of this courtroom a completely free man if I have anything to say about it. What I want to know is on what grounds are you will to go through to be free?" Judge Levesque asked.

Carlos looked over at his supporters who were with him all the way, "I am willing to go to AA meetings that Erica said that she could get me into to. I'm also willing to attend domestic violence classes and any other classes that I needed to take. I will even agree to divorce if Erica doesn't want me anywhere near her or our daughter."

Judge Levesque took what he said into consideration, "Alright Mr. Mendez you may step down and thank you. At this time this court will take a recess and when we return, I will hand down my verdict once and for all."

"All rise," the guard called out and everyone watched as the judge left.

Alright people there you have it, another chapter is complete. What did you guys think of Carlos' testimony? Do you think he was being sincere or no? I hope the judge really thinks everything through before he hands down the verdict. What do you think the verdict will be? Let me know!

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