The car pulled up to the front of the court house and the media frenzy ensued with a slew of reporters rushing the vehicle like hungry vultures.
"You ready for all this?" Christina grabbed her briefcase and laptop.
John sighed as he straightened his tie.
"As ready as I'll ever be," he said as the doors opened.
The young attorney and the defendant made their way into the courtroom without comment. Due to the circus aspect, the judge had limited who could attend the preliminary hearing proceedings. A few seats were reserved for selected members of the media and a few of John's loved ones had flown to Kentucky for support. The older John Cena, his wife and ex wife all sat front row, accompanied by Rob McIntyre and four of John's brothers along with Grandma Catherine. All that was missing was his wife but with a complicated pregnancy, it had been out of the question that she make the trip.
John looked around the room with curiosity. There were a number of law enforcement agents as well as a few spectators and some potential witnesses. Conspicuously absent was Randy Orton, a witness either side would have been dying to get on the stand. But the young Superstar had lawyered up right away and somehow managed to dodge a subpeona. For John, it was a huge relief. It had been over a month and a half since the two men had launched their campaign. Randy had gone online and made negative remarks that painted the People's Champ in a new and unfavorable light. Since then he had publicly expressed his disdain and disappointment from the man he once considered his best friend. Privately the two worked together, leaving everyone out of the loop except Ava. The last thing either wanted was for Randy to take the stand. If he told the truth, their plan would be exposed. If he lied, he would be perjuring himself. It was all around an undesirable situation.
"All rise. The Honorable Susan Elliott presiding."
An older woman in a black robe with shoulder length blonde hair took her seat behind the bench.
"You may be seated, thank you. Good morning, ladies and gentlemen. We are here for the State of Kentucky versus John Cena for one count of felony rape. May I remind the court this is not a trial but instead a preliminary hearing to determine whether there is probable cause to believe the accused is guilty of the crime charged, and if so, to bind him over for indictment by the grand jury. Are the People present at this time?"
"The People are here, Your Honor. Assistant District Attorney Victor Howell."
"Is the Defense present?"
Christina stood.
"The defense is present, Your Honor. Christina Carter representing the defendant, John Felix Anthony Cena."
Judge Elliott nodded.
"Are both sides prepared to proceed?"
"We are, Your Honor," both sides agreed.
"Mr. Howell, you may begin."
"Thank you, Your Honor", the thin man with wire rimmed glasses stood. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, Judge Elliott. My name is Victor Howell and I am the prosecuting attorney for Jefferson County. Today is a mere formality to determine whether or not there is sufficient evidence to bring forth the defendant to trial for the sexual assault he has been charged with. It is my job to establish probable cause. Today I will present the State's evidence. I will call witnesses to testify. I will prove to you without a shadow of a doubt that the defendant who sits before you today is a vicious rapist. The indictment reads as follows…John Cena was officially arraigned two days ago on one count of felony rape. We charge that Mr. Cena intentionally and with force and malice raped the victim in his hotel room on the night in question. Now, I ask that you all turn your attention directly behind me to my left. There you will see two pictures. One photo is of Jacey Breedlove, the victim in this case. You see her physical stature, small in height and weight. The other picture is of the defendant. is six foot one, over 240 pounds, more than enough to physically overpower a five foot six inch, 125 pound woman. The People intend to prove that Mr. Cena brought Ms. Breedlove, obviously intoxicated back to his hotel room. After pursing sexual intercourse, even though the victim refused, Mr. Cena brutally forced himself onto Ms. Breedlove. The People will prove beyond a shadow of a doubt that a sexual act occurred perputrated by the defendant against the will of the victim. Thank you."
"The People may now enter into the record their evidence at this time."
"Yes ma'am. We have State exhibit A,the statement of the victim, Jacey Breedlove, who is also prepared to testify at this time. State exhibit B is the hotel surveillance video showing the defendant and victim entering his hotel room together as well as the victim, distraught and tearful leaving. State exhibit C is the phycial examination taken from the victim's rape kit on the night in question. State exhibit D is the victim's clothing from that night, evidence of a brutal and heinous assault perpetrate by the criminal who sits behind the defense table."
"Objection," Christina rasied her hand. "Assertion of personal belief or opinion. The prosecutor is clearly using prejudicial comments that seek to poison the court's mind against my client."
"Objection sustained. Mr. Howell, is there any more evidence to enter into record? If so, please proceed without the extra commentary."
The prosecutor's face reddened.
"That is all the evidence the People has to introduce at the present time."
"Let the record reflect exhibits A through D. Before the prosecution begins calling witnesses, the defense may rebut. Ms. Carter, the floor is yours if you so choose to exercise that option."
"I do, Your Honor, thank you," Christina stood. "Good morning, ladies and gentlemen, my name is Christina Carter and I represent John Cena. You all may know this defendant or at the very least have heard of him. He is a famous actor, bodybuilder, rapper and wrestler. John Cena is also an innocent man. You've just heard the prosecutor make a bunch of assertions about my client as if though those claims were gospel truth. What Mr. Howell just said is nothing more than a claim of what he expects the evidence to prove. I ask the court to refrain from judgement until all the evidence has been presented and refuted. The law of this great land states that the State must have the burden of proof beyond a reasonable doubt. I intend to raise those doubts and prove that the defendant could not and did not commit this alleged crime."
"Very well. If that is all, the first witness may take the stand."
The first witness was Detective Stan Curry, the lead investigator from the Special Victim's unit. The prosecution went first.
"Good morning, Detective."
"Good morning," he settled comfortably into the witness box.
"You are the lead detective on this case and you were one of the first individuals to speak to Ms. Breedlove, is that correct?"
"It is."
"Let me start by acknowleding that you are a 17 year veteran on the force specializing in SVU cases, right?"
"That is true."
"Now what was the mental state of the victim when you saw her?"
"Objection," Christina interrupted. "The detective cannot testify to the alleged victim's mental state as he is not qualified or licesnded to do so."
"Objection sustained," the judge agreed. "Counsel, please rephrase."
Victor Howell cleared his throat.
"How did Ms. Breedlove appear to act, Detective?"
"She was very upset, tearful, even hysterical at times. She seemed scared and told us as much."
"Did she tell you that she had been raped?"
"She did. She told me what happened and identified her attacker."
"Did you have reason to believe her story?"
"Based on the facts, the statement she gave, and my experience, the victim's story was very believable to both me and my partner. Everything appeared to check out."
"At any time, to your knowledge, was a physical exam conducted to corroborate Ms. Breedlove's story?"
"It was. It's called a Sexual Offense Evidence Collection kit and it is a standard procedure performed by medical personnel for any individual who says they have been sexually assaulted. Ms. Breedlove consented to the exam without hesitation."
"And the results?"
"You have them. Torn clothing, bruising on the arms, bodily fluids found in her underwear, evidence of vaginal tearing…the proof is in the pudding."
A few more questions were asked as John shifted uncomfortably in his seat.
"This sounds bad," he leaned over and whispered to his attorney.
"Relax," Christina assured him. "We still haven't had our turn."
A few more minutes passed and the court recessed allowing Judge Elliott to read the hospital's report. When she returned, Detective Curry returned to the stand to allow Christina to begin her cross examination.
"Good morning, Detective Curry."
"Morning," he chewed a piece of gum.
"As you know, I represent the defendant, John Cena and I just wanted to ask you a few questions."
"Of course."
"Thank you. Now you said that the alleged victim was upset and tearful and I believe you even used the word hysterical."
"That is true."
"Is it possible Ms. Breedlove was acting?"
"Excuse me."
Christina confidently strolled around the courtroom.
"I am asking is it a possibility that Ms. Breedlove's emotional reaction was forced or insincere?"
"It wasn't."
"How do you know?"
"No offense, but I've been doing this a long time."
"So in your experience you have seen times when emotional reactions and victim's statements were not true,for instance…let's say a jilted female making up a rape story to get back at a former lover."
"It happens sometimes," he shrugged. "But not this time. I had every reason to believe her."
"You are a decorated officer of the law, sir."
"I am," he grinned.
"And I'd like to thank you for your service. Tell me, and 17 years is a long time. Have you ever been wrong? Have you ever interrogated a suspect you thought to be guilty who later turned out to be innocent?"
"That's part of the job."
"I imagine. And what do you do when that happens? How do you treat the suspect?"
"I am on the side of the law, Ms. Carter. I investigate sex crimes and help put those responsible away. I don't want to see an innocent person go to prison."
Christina nodded.
"How admirable. Tell me, did you feel that way about James Young?"
The detective's face instantly hardened.
"I…"
"You remember the young man, you arrested, harassed but was later exonerated when DNA evidence cleared him of rape. Let me refresh your memory, sir, this is the case that caused you to be investigated by internal affairs on the possibility of police misconduct."
"I was cleared of that."
"Of what? Lying about evidence or illegally questioning the suspect?"
"Objection!" the prosector pursed his lips. "This information is irrelevant."
"Oh it's very relevant," Christina continued coolly. "It introduces the lead invesitagator's character."
"Objection sustained," Judge Elliott agreed with the State. "Detective Curry is not on trial here. Watch it, Ms. Carter."
Christina smirked as the damage had obviously been done.
"I see that you're upset so I will try to make the rest of the questioning brief. Now this surveillance video that was talked about, there is no sign that Mr. Cena was forcing Ms. Breedlove anywhere."
"It's up to interpretaton. He seemed…persisent to me, practically dragging her by the arm."
"Or perhaps guiding an intoxicated woman barely able to stand?"
"Like I said…it's up to interpretation. Obviously you and I see things differently, Ms. Carter."
"We do. I see a man helping a co-worker. Now you and the prosecutor pointed out the obvious differences in size. There was a small amount of bruising on one arm, the left arm, the arm that Mr. Cena was holding in the elevator. That bruising is consistent with what is seen on the tape."
"Or when your client was raping that girl."
"Maybe but it seems highly unlikely that during this so called vicious attack and struggle, there only seems to be one set of bruises, small and minmal only on one arm. Doesn't make a lot of sense to me."
"Sex crimes never do, Ms. Carter."
Christina moved on.
"And the rape kit revealed vaginal tearing?"
"It did. That type of injury generally occurs during a rape."
"It does but wasn't Ms. Breedlove's injury, if you will, classified as a first degree tear, which means it was minor and only involved the skin around the vagina?"
"Yes but…"
"Typically aren't rape tears more severe and don't they even extend to the perinneal area?"
"Sometimes."
"Is it possible that the injury is more consitent with consentual rough sex?"
"Possible but unlikely," he paused.
"And the stains in the underwear…isn't it true that Mr. Cena's DNA was not found on the victim or her clothing? No semen, saliva, blood or any other bodily fluid."
"That's true."
"And in addition to the victim's own fluid, was there not another stain of unknown origin, suggesting a third party?"
"That is inconclusive."
"Objection, leading" the prosecutor raised. "Pure conjecture."
"Overruled. Continue, Ms. Carter."
Christina walked over and put on gloves before pulling out the bag of clothing that belonged to Jacey the night of the supposed attack. There was a skirt and blouse along with the underwear.
"Now, claims that once she spurned Mr. Cena's advances, he became more forceful and during the encounter ended up ripping her clothing. As we all see in all three articles, there are perfect symetrical tears almost as if someone purposely,carefully ripped up the clothing and tried to make it look like someone else did it," Christina said as she grabbed another bag with identical clothing that was not torn. "Your Honor, can I please have the defenant stand?"
"You may."
John, confused, reluctantly stood as Christina motioned him over.
"Mr. Cena, we are going to put on a little demonstration. As hard as you can, try to rip these items away from me," she instructed as John did what he was told. "Now if you're being attacked, especially by someone of John Cena's size and you're struggling as Ms. Breedlove stated, wouldn't the clothing look more like this?"
After their demonstration, all three items were torn, ripped and jagged instead of perfect tears.
"Objection…"
"No need," Christina peeled off the gloves. "Nothing further."
She and John returned to their seats where he took a deep breath.
"That was unexpected," he whispered. "Why didn't you tell me we were going to do that?"
"Because you would have been prepared and it would have looked rehearsed. That was perfect, John."
He nodded in agreement. He'd always had confidence in Christina and now she was proving herself even more. The first few hours had gone well in his eyes, now he could only hope that the judge had seen it that way too. Christina had so far successfully rebutted every piece of evidence the prosecution had entered. A seed had been planted and the defense could only hope that it was one of doubt.