WOHN News 8 - February 26th 2014

And now once again it is over to New York for today's developments in the trial of Hunter Clarington. And I believe today that the accused was on the stand himself… over to Jacob and Sue in Manhattan.

"Thanks Rod - yes, Sue and I spent today in the press box. And your opinion on Hunter Clarington?"

"He has issues - he is a racist for starters…"

"Anti-semitic and homophobic…"

"And worst of all, a misogynist."

"We were treated to the tragic tale of his childhood, were his father decided that he should be a human version of G.I. Joe - not for Hunter a childhood of innocent games, free of the cares of the adult world."

"When most kids were learning to ride a bike, his dad was trying to teach him how to drive a tank. And shoot a semi-automatic."

"He was told at an early age to ignore his mother; to despise his brother. That he was strong. That the world was made for the fittest to survive in and for the weak - everyone else - to die in."

"This manifested itself in his behaviour in his many, many schools. Usually, he was expelled for attempting to injure someone - in some cases, he was successful. Then his path crossed that of Finn Hudson and my sweet Porcelain…"

"Kurt Hummel to most…"

"Thank you, Jacob. He came into their lives and destroyed them."

"For most of the trial, he has denied that he committed murder. Even today, he attempted to blame Finn and Kurt for their own deaths…"

"But the prosecution lawyer broke him, and made him admit his guilt. He is worth every cent that is being paid for him. Of course, that sent Clarington off into another rant, in which he told the judge to be quiet, as there was no place for her in the legal system - or indeed for any woman."

"At that point the judge ordered Hunter down, and adjourned the case until tomorrow. Then we will get the closing statements of the brilliant Mr Rosen…"

"…and the mediocre Mr Masterton. And boy, is he going to have his work cut out for him. Might just as well say, ok, he's guilty."

"After that, the judge will add her own directions, and the jury will be sent out. We cannot be sure when the verdict will be delivered…"

"Though I do have $500 riding on within 30 minutes with some of the hacks in the press box."

"The judge is then likely to ask for impact statements before passing sentence."

"And I will be making one, given the chance. I have no doubt that Burt and Cooper will allow it."

"As I said, no definitive date yet for the conclusion of the trial, but I don't expect to be reporting from here next week."

"Which means that I will be back at work at McKinley. I have to admit, I will actually miss New York. Despite the fact that it is full of some of the world's worst idiots, I have actually found some like minded souls, and some passable places to eat and drink. But Ohio is home…"

"I will be back this time tomorrow with a full day's report. Should a verdict be reached sooner, then you will hear about it first here on WOHN. I am Jacob Ben Israel and this is Sue Sylvester, reporting live from New York."

Well Andrea, it looks as if we will be getting some closure soon in this case. From a personal viewpoint can I just say that the facts in this case have touched me deeply - I witnessed all of the victims singing in my role as a judge in show choir competitions. Without a doubt, Clarington has robbed us all of several great talents. And as Sue has said before, if he is guilty, he deserves a capital sentence.


That night, for the first time since they had all been together in New York, no-one wanted to go out. It had been a hard day, listening to the vile words of intolerance and hatred spewing forth from Hunter's lips. Instead, they arranged to meet up again in the lobby of the court, sans Warbler uniform for the guys. It had been fun to use it to rile up Hunter for a day, but now his chance to give some explanation for his actions was over. He had lost it, and now it was only a matter of time before a guilty verdict was delivered. At the same time, Wes was quite happy for the New Directions to keep the blazers. True, only Sam and Rory were officially honorary members; Finn would be too, if he had his way - the first ever posthumous Warbler. He wondered how the guys would feel about the creation of an associate Warbler category - close friends of the group, open possibly to both sexes. He would work on that after the trial was over.

In the event, the younger generation of the New Directions were invited, along with Mr Schue, to dinner at the Bushwick loft by Carole - and to be fair, she invited the Warblers to join them. There was nowhere near enough furniture for everybody to have a seat, and the cupboards were stripped almost bare, but the company was good. The only absentees from the company that night were Cooper and Grace - the former had booked a table at a little Italian restaurant that he knew, and had invited Grace and her mother to join him. Mrs Duval had made her excuses, and so Cooper ended up on an unofficial date. That night, they ended up talking about their brothers, their plans and the future. They found that they had even more in common than they had thought and when at the end of the night, Cooper walked Grace back to her hotel, he kissed her very politely on the cheek. She responded in kind, and asked him to keep himself free on Saturday for another date. Cooper walked the short distance home through the cold New York air with a spring in his step, pointedly ignoring his brother and Kurt walking along behind him, and repeatedly saying "Cooper's got a girlfriend…"

That night, it snowed again. By now, the good citizens of the city were beginning to wish for a swift move to spring, with March only hours away. It was unseasonably cold and there was no sign of the weather letting up. Beneath the cold sky that night, yet more people were preparing to make their way to court the following day. They had been following events on-line, but now as the climax approached, they wanted to be there in person. Isabelle Wright had arranged two days leave from Vogue. She had already written an article to be posted on the day that Kurt was given the justice that he deserved. Carmen Tibideaux had likewise made arrangements to be absent from NYADA for the next two days. She wanted to see the young man that had cost her two talented students sentenced. Finally, Sugar and Joe were going to make their appearance. She had been out of town until that evening on a trip with her parents; he had abandoned his studies at college in the Midwest to be there for the last moments of the trial. He was currently curled up under a blanket on the sofa in Sugar's modest apartment. All of them had one thing in common - they wanted to see justice done.