Chapter2 26 - The Trial Part 1
After a painstaking three months and other missions, the trial had come, it was going to be a long trial, there were 8 defendants and thousands of pages of documents, not to mention the hundreds of witnesses. Luckily for the agents, the first part of the trial would be happening over the two week Easter holiday, meaning they could attend every day of the trial and not have to worry about finding excuses for missing school, but MI9 had thought about that, the Head of MI9 had requested a personal meeting with Mr Flatley and Mrs King for the first day of term.
The trial was split into many different sections, the first two sections would be the sentencing of Kerry Chang and Ewart Asker, and the sentencing of David Moss. As they had written confessions, there was no need for a jury trial, they had already admitted their guilt. Dave was up first, he stood up as the judge pronounced his sentence of three months to be spent in an open prison. Ewart and Kerry then took to the defendants dock, they swore that their statements were correct, the MI High team thought they knew the sentence the judge would pass, they assumed the Kerry would just get probation or a stint in a youth offenders unit, and that Ewart would get a harsher sentence but, it would still be relatively short. But that wasn't what happened, the judge was sympathetic to MI9 having served a stint on the MI9 ethics committee, "Kerry Chang, having reviewed your signed confession and the evidence gathered by MI9, I find you guilty on all counts of Espionage, Piracy, High Treason, breaking the Official Secrets Act and aggravated assault on active security service personnel. I sentence you to ten years imprisonment, the first three years of your sentence are to be served in a maximum security young offenders institution, and you will be transferred to a maximum security prison when on or around your 18supth/sup birthday." Kerry looked like she would burst into tears, the MI High team was shocked, they didn't put forward and assault charge, it seemed like the prosecution lawyer had studied the file and all events that have happened from Jack's first assumption to the final arrest, but they didn't have time to talk about it as the judged moved on, "Ewart Asker, having reviewed your sworn statement, signed confession and the evidence gathered by MI9, I find you guilty on all counts of Espionage, High Treason and Breaking the Official Secrets Act. As a high ranking member of the security service, your status concerns me, you are a target and a source of information, which you have confessed to in part selling for a price, therefore I am sentencing you to fifteen years imprisonment to be served in a maximum security institution. I am however granting your request for witness protection, and from here on in Ewart Asker will cease to exist." The gavel came down and Kerry and Ewart were taken from the court room in handcuffs.
The MI9 agents were gathered on the steps of the courthouse waiting for the next trial to begin. They theorized that the next trial would be relatively short, they didn't have Lauren on all the charges, the only thing she was being charged for was her involvement in the car bomb, the attempted bombing of Mrs King, and Mr Flatley's mugging. "Ah Frank" Mr Flatley said as and Mrs King joined them on the steps of the courthouse, "I've never been up in court before" Mrs King confided in Jack, Jack simply smiled, he didn't know what to say, he was worried about their cover being blown, however the judge and lawyers were aware of the Official Secrets Act, and they knew that they couldn't disclose the MI High project to the St Hopes staff, Mr Flatley and Mrs King also wouldn't be allowed into the gallery because of this. The Head of MI9 caught Mr Flatley and Mrs King on their way to the witness waiting room, "I have a meeting scheduled with you for the first day of term, but I thought I would tell you know I have you here" she said, she unlocked the witness waiting room and the three entered, "Rose Gupta, Carrie Stewart, Oscar Cole, and Frank and Jack London are essential witnesses in a number of cases relating to this, as you know you will be called a further three times to testify at the trials of James Adams, Kyle Blueman and Zara Asker, so they will also be out of school during those dates." Mrs King nodded her head, she hated it when students missed school, but she couldn't halt the legal system.
Despite the Official Secrets Act, they couldn't disclose Jack's Wolfblood status, and thus any evidence Jack had – such as identifying scents on the spot – couldn't be included, Jack doubted it would have stood up to a jury anyways. Jack stepped down from the witness box, and Mr Flatley stepped in,"Mr Kenneth Armstrong Flatley, you reported an attempted mugging on the date in question?" The MI9 lawyer asked, "Yes" Flatley replied, "and you were urged to report this to MI9 after a subsequent car bomb at one of your school's staff's residence by said member of staff?" "Yes" Mr Flatley replied again. "Can you identify the mugger for the jury?" "Yes, one of them is over there" Mr Flatley pointed to Lauren, "Let it be known for the record that the witness has pointed to the defendant. That's all" The judge and Mr Flatley looked at Lauren's lawyer, CHERUB spared no expense and had splashed out on fancy high fees lawyers for all the agents and staff involved. Laurens lawyer didn't even bother to stand up, "I have no questions" he realised that it was an open and shut case, at least for the mugging, there were eyewitnesses, CCTV and the victim had just identified Lauren. Jack entered the public gallery for the verdict, he noticed that Mr Flatley and Mrs King were also there, Jack pointed them out to Frank, but there was nothing they could do, the doors had shut and the jury and judge had re-entered the room. Lauren and her lawyer stood for the verdict. "Have you reached a unanimous decision?" the judge asked the jury, "We have your honour" the foreman replied, "on the count of attempted robbery how do you find?" "Guilty" "on the count of attempted murder with the use of a liquidated explosive how do you find?" "Not guilty." Jack looked at the disappointment on Mrs Kings face, but he was concerned on how the next question would be worded, "On the count of the attempted murder of active security service personnel how do you find?" "Not guilty". Mrs King and Mr Flatley looked at Frank, Frank shook his head, "Was she not charged with the car bomb?" Mrs King whispered, Frank was slightly relieved, they thought someone else was targeted, Frank shook his head, they all turned back to the judge. "Lauren Adams, I sentence you to a ten- month community service order, you will also wear an ankle bracelet and conform to a curfew" the gavel came down. Lauren turned to Jack and tipped her head slightly, she was led out of the courtroom, free to go.
""Community Service! I could have died!" Mrs King exclaimed, Frank and Jack were sat with her and Mr Flatley in a coffee shop across the street from the courtroom, they were waiting for the first of the big trials to begin. "Who's next?" Mr Flatley asked, "Kyle Blueman, we won't get a result today, end of the week maybe" Jack sighed, Mr Flatley and Mrs King looked confused, "did you not read the amount of charges pending? There's the three that Lauren had, plus assault, piracy, possession with intent to supply of class C drugs plus some redacted stuff" Mrs King stirred her drink, "Kids these days" Stella joined them in the coffee shop, she Frank and Jack laughed over something, Mr Flatley smiled at Mrs King, "aren't you going to introduce us Frank?" Mrs King asked, Frank coughed embarrassed, "oh, yes, this is Stella, she's a friend" Mrs King smiled, "Just a friend?" She asked, unfortunately she couldn't get her answer as Stark also joined them in the coffee shop, they had lost track of time and had ten minutes to get to the witness waiting room.
"Kyle's trial lasted almost two weeks, and by the time they were called for the verdict, the agents were back at school, "Mrs King!" Jack said running down the corridor, "We've got to go, the jury's retired" he said as he caught up to her, she nodded and the four agents ran past her, "Find me when you get back okay?" she asked them, "Okay!" Rose shouted as they got into Frank's car before it sped off, once they got out of the village, Frank turned on the sirens and they sped into the city. They entered the public gallery with moments to spare, they didn't think the jury would be back so soon, "On the count of possession of a class C drug with intent to supply how do you find?" The Judge asked, "not guilty" the foreman responded, "how?" Jack asked, Frank shook his head, they weren't too bothered on the lesser charges, they were simply a formality. "On the count of piracy how do you find?" "Guilty" one in the bag, Jack thought, "On the count of attempted robbery how do you find?" "Guilty" "On the count of attempted murder with the use of explosives how do you find?" "Guilty" "On the count of attempted murder of active security service personnel with the use of explosives how do you find?" "Not guilty" "on the count of aggravated assault on active security service personnel, how do you find?" "Guilty." "On the count of espionage how do you find?" "Guilty" "on the count of Breaking the Official Secrets Act, how do you find?" "Guilty," "And on the account of High Treason, how do you find?" "Not Guilty" Jack realised that he was tightly gripping Rose and Frank's hand so hard he had left fingernail imprints, "Kyle Blueman, with the nature and seriousness of these charges, I will be sentencing you as an adult, you have already knowingly broken the official secrets act and cannot be trusted in anything other than a maximum security institution, therefore I am sentencing you to 35 years with a minimum term 15 years. Due to the seriousness of these offences, I am recommending you start your imprisonment in Darkmere federal prison until you are eligible for parole in 15 years." The gavel came down.
"I don't know how they didn't go for the High Treason charge" Carrie said, "Maybe there just wasn't enough to swing it that he was the one selling the information" Oscar suggested as they walked to Mrs Kings office, they knocked and she eagerly answered the door and invited them in, Mr Flatley was also in there sitting on his desk, they were waiting for the verdict. "Guilty on six out of nine charges," Oscar said, Mrs King pointed to herself, the agents knew it meant she was asking if hers and Mr Flatley's charges were amongst those that he had been convicted of, Jack nodded, "Guilty of Piracy, the mugging, attempted murder with the bomb sent to you, aggravated assault on service men, and then the redacted ones" he said, Mr Flatley and Mr King jumped for joy, but for the agents, it wasn't over yet.
A few weeks later they were sat waiting for the verdict of James trial to come in, the jury was taking a long time to decide, the team often found themselves in court, or at least in the public gallery, watching the trials of the criminals they had arrested, but this trial, the jury had taken the longest. It took two full days before the jury had returned with a unanimous verdict. "On the charge of attempted robbery how do you find?" "guilty." "On the charge of attempted murder with the use of explosives how do you find?" "guilty" "On the charge of attempted murder of active security service personnel with the use of explosives how you do find?" "guilty" Jack looked at Frank, finally someone was convicted of the car bomb, "On the charge of Breaking the Official Secrets Act how do you find?" "Guilty" "On the charge of Espionage how do you find?" "Guilty" Jack held his breath for the final charge, "On the count of High Treason how do you find?" "Guilty" Jack remembered to breathe as the gavel went down, guilty on all charges, it was the victory he had hoped for over James, they only had to go through two more trials, and they would be even longer.