Author's note: For the reader's information, some scenes in this following episode contains strong language, and inflammatory comments, and may be offensive to some people. These words or phrases do not reflect the opinions of the author.
Second Author's note: Thank you for all the feedback regarding some mistakes I made. They have been corrected in this chapter, and will eventually be corrected in the first as well.
Episode 2:
First Starting Job JAG Headquarters- 0830, August 24"And what was that little get together about?" Singer demanded as Harrington walked into her (and Harrington's) office. "Didn't take you long to start making a lot of friends." She was already at work, most likely arriving even earlier than he did.
Harrington closed his eyes for a second, and did what he did best when dealing with an irate Loren Singer… he ignored her.
"What sort of nasty things did they say about me while you rubbed elbows with all of them, huh?" Singer interrogated as Harrington sat down, booting up his computer. She stood, and planted her palms against the other side of his desk, leaning over at him.
"I also noticed you didn't exactly rush out to try and convince me to stay. Some friend you are." She snorted indignantly. At that moment, she realized that Harrington wasn't responding. "Hey! I'm talking to you, Steve!"
Finally, Harrington looked up to meet his officemate's glare. "I'd certainly hope so, Loren. There's no one else here." A wry smirk gently crept up his lips, and Lt. Singer could feel her anger dispelling.
"Stop that!" Singer demanded. "I'm angry at you, in case you hadn't noticed."
Harrington stood, and his mouth formed what Singer swore was his patented, understanding grin she had received so many times as his fellow legal student. "Loren, I wasn't going to ask you to stay in a situation which made you feel uncomfortable, and before you start, the other JAG officers make you uncomfortable."
"They do not!" Singer replied defensively, "They just don't like me that much. I know what they say about me when they think I'm not listening."
"Actually, Loren… you barely came into the conversation at all. Lt. Sims mentioned you first, and everybody else just sort of nodded. Outside of that, you weren't discussed in any way."
Harrington's eyes rolled upward in thought before he added, "Just what did you do to Lt. Sims that got her to the brink of committing homicide?"
Singer frowned, and replied, "Her husband lost his right leg while in Afghanistan, and I took his place as legal advisor on the U.S.S. Seahawk for a while." Then she sheepishly admitted, "We've also had some petty squabbles…"
Singer looked up, her eyes narrowed, and she thought, 'There's that damned understanding grin of his again.' To her surprise, Harrington said nothing. Instead, he sat back down, and started typing on his computer. "Just what are you doing?" Singer asked.
"Composing an e-mail for my former co-workers… letting them know I made it to Virginia and am in good health. You know, the usual pleasantries."
"Well then… don't let me interrupt. Under Admiral Chegwidden, you better get used to not have any personal time."
"Speaking of personal time…" Harrington began, "How about I make it up to you for last night? You can stop by this evening, and I can cook you dinner. How does that sound?"
"You've got yourself a guest."
0900
Petty Officer Tiner slowly stuck his head into Singer and Harrington's office. "Lt. Singer, the Admiral wants you in his office, ma'am."
"Very well." Singer said defiantly, standing up and smoothing out her skirt.
As she was about to leave, Harrington spoke up. "Now remember, be nice, Lieutenant."
"I'll try…" Singer replied not so sweetly.
"Oh, but the way, Petty Officer, when you get a chance, will you ask the Admiral just when he thinks 'bright and early' is?"
Tiner blinked at the request, but eventually decided to pass the message along. After all, he had been in Singer's office for almost an hour, and was still alive. He must be a very formidable person indeed.
Singer entered the Admiral's office to see Colonel MacKenzie, and Commanders Rabb and Turner already waiting for the typical beginning of the day check-in and assignment.
Before the Admiral could begin however, Tiner spoke. "Sir, Major Harrington just wanted me to ask you when you thought 'bright and early' was, sir."
To the officer's surprise, Admiral Chegwidden started chuckling. "Tell that eager kid that I will address him personally when I am done here. Tomorrow morning, he can get used to joining the rest of us for these opening meetings."
Singer inwardly sighed in relief. It was going to be nice to know that she wouldn't be completely without support in these meetings from now on. Tiner then left, and the Admiral began on the day.
"All right, we have one new case that dropped into my mailbox when I came in. Two officers, who happen to be related, had a misunderstanding in Norfolk, and it prompted a bar fight. The Marines would like to keep this under wraps considering that the two officers were rather high rank, so keeping this case out of trial would be preferable." Admiral Chegwidden explained, handing one folder to Colonel MacKenzie, and another to Commander Turner. "Rabb, Mac, you'll be defending. Turner and Singer will prosecute. Any questions?"
Turner didn't look too happy about the arrangement, but definitely wasn't going to complain out loud. Singer silently fumed; Turner and her had never had the best of relations.
"All right, any news on previous cases?"
Colonel MacKenzie spoke up, "The People vs. Private Simmons is making its closing arguments at 1100. I should have a guilty verdict by 1300."
"Confident, aren't ya, Mac?" Rabb commented.
"Of course, Commander."
"All right, fine." The Admiral cut in. "Anything else?" When no one responded, he ordered, "All right, get to work, and tell Tiner to send Major Harrington in."
Five minutes later, Harrington appeared in Chegwidden's office, a smile broadly plastered on his face. 'Well, I'll soon take care of that…' the Admiral thought to himself.
"You called for me, sir?" Harrington queried with a salute.
Chegwidden ordered him at ease, and handed the Air Force officer a case folder. "Your first case as a member of JAG. Be warned, it isn't exactly an easy one. Two enlisted men got into a skirmish on an airfield in Trenton, and Corporal Todd Hunter used a racial slur in the scuffle, and is now facing charges of racial discrimination pertaining to the incident. You'll be defending Corporal Hunter."
"Very well, sir. Is there anything else?"
"No… I think I'll start you off light. I'll probably have some more files for you tomorrow morning. You'll need to be in my office at 0900 every morning for a briefing with the rest of the JAG officers."
"I understand, sir." Harrington replied.
"Dismissed, Major."
"Aye aye, sir." He said with a salute and a smile.
Once Harrington left, Chegwidden leaned back shaking his head. "So much for wiping that smile off his face…" He muttered before returning to his workload.
Break Room- 0925Harrington looked down at the coffee machine warily, and the fresh pot that sat almost completely full. Indecision floated across his face until he saw Petty Officer Tiner step into the break room. "Pardon me, Petty Officer… did Colonel MacKenzie make this coffee?"
"No… Lt. Sims did."
"Okay, thank you." Harrington replied, greedily snatching the pot from its warmer, and filling his mug almost to the brim.
"Why? Is something wrong with my coffee, Major?"
Harrington froze. Remembering Commander Turner's advice, he quickly formulated an out. "Oh no, ma'am. As a matter of fact, I'm a little disappointed. I've heard such amazing things about the coffee that comes from a Marine's hands."
From just outside the break room, Commander Rabb burst into a full-throated laugh. The Colonel's eyes narrowed, "Right…" she added disbelievingly, before playfully punching Harrington on the shoulder, fortunately not the one holding his coffee mug.
"Just get out of here so you can take your foot out of your mouth, Major." Harm stated as he entered the break room. Seeing his opportunity for escape, Harrington slipped out of the break room as quickly as courtesy allowed.
"You know, Mac… you could correct all this easily. Just make a pot of normal coffee." Harm chided as he took the pot off the warmer, filling up his mug.
Mac snatched the pot from his hands, and took her turn. "Hey, I like a rich, strong coffee. It's not my fault you flyboys don't have any hair on your chest."
"And you do? That's just wrong."
"I most certainly do not! Do you want me prove it to you?"
Harm coughed, taken aback for a split second before replying with a devious smirk, "I'll take your word for it."
Just outside the break room, Harrington's face was contorted in a peculiar grimace. He was getting a clearer perspective of Loren's discomfort here. The Loren Singer he knew would have vomited on the spot from such an unprofessional exchange.
"Don't mind them, sir." Lt. Sims said sweetly, "They're just flirting… even if they don't realize it yet."
Harrington blinked, and raised his hand requesting Harriet to stop. "No… don't go any further… I don't want to know…"
Harrington didn't get much further before Commander Turner entered his field of vision. "Major… can I ask you to do something for me?"
"I'll do what I can." Harrington replied.
"I've been assigned to this case with Lt. Singer… and well… we don't get along very well. As a matter of fact, to be perfectly blunt, I can't stand her. I was wondering if you could take the case off my hands."
Harrington regarded the commander for a moment. The discomfort Sturgis showed in his request revealed a man who obviously didn't like handing off his work to someone else, but at the same time realized that if there was a way he could avoid working with Loren, he was best to take it.
"Certainly." Harrington finally replied, accepting the case folder in Sturgis's hand. "But you can report this change to the Admiral. I'm certainly not going to put my six in the crosshairs."
Sturgis grinned, and agreed to the stipulation. With that, Harrington was able to return to his office, coffee in his hand, without further incident.
Chegwidden's Office- 1033
Harrington amended his thoughts of further incidents as he sat across from the Admiral yet again.
"I wanted your workload light, today, Major."
"It's no bother, sir. I have no problems being dropped in the mix right away. It's also a good thing to establish a good rapport with my other officers as well. One way of doing that is doing favors for them, correct?" Harrington replied with his eerily omnipresent grin.
"Yes, you are right." The Admiral replied slyly. He reached down behind his desk, and emerged with a stack of files about 6 inches thick. "And since you said yourself that you don't mind getting dropped in the mix, you can look over these for me while you're establishing a good rapport with Commander Turner."
Harrington's expression went totally flat in disbelief. "No problem, sir. I'll get right on it." Meanwhile, the Air Force officer added to himself, "Me and my big mouth…"
"Dismissed, Harrington." Chegwidden stated, and as the young officer left his office, thought, "Finally got rid of that creepy smile…"
Interview Room 1- 1410
"Now, remember… I'll take the lead in this negotiation, understand, sir?" Lt. Singer stated.
"No problem, Lieutenant." Harrington replied. One of his tricks with dealing with Loren; let her play her game, and just keep her on the straight and narrow whenever possible.
Seconds later, Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb entered the interview room, and sat down across the table. Mac kicked things off, "All right, we're dealing with a minor scuffle between two brothers. The fact that other people in the bar decided to start fighting is irrelevant. Let's say 1 month relief of duty."
"1 year relief of duty." Singer replied, "These 'two brothers' are Marine officers, and are expected to set a good example for those under them, as well as to the community."
"Oh come on, Lieutenant. We were told to avoid a trial here. They were brothers who got over competitive, and it led to some shoving. They have no control over the rest of the bar." Rabb cut in, his voice chiding.
"On the contrary, all it takes is a little shoving to get a whole bunch of tipsy men to exchanging blows."
"Lieutenant, do you know how brothers act? This sort of thing happens. You can't hold them responsible for everyone in the bar either."
"As a matter of fact, Commander, I have two brothers of my own, and they stopped hitting each other when they turned 12."
Mac was about to intervene when all three of them were distracted by Harrington's distressed sigh. He dropped his head into his left hand before saying, "Lieutenant… you're an only child."
All three of them stopped cold, until Singer regained herself. "Major, can I see you outside… right now?"
Harrington nodded, and said, "If you could excuse us, sir? Ma'am?" Upon receiving their permission, Harrington followed Singer out of the interview room.
Loren suddenly whirled around, and demanded angrily, "Just what do you think you are doing?"
Harrington put his hands on his hips, and said flatly, "You were lying to them, Loren. I'm not going to let you do that."
"It was just to shut Commander Rabb up! I get sick of his pomposity in negotiation."
"Then let Commander Rabb ramble!" Harrington answered, "His braggadocio isn't going to change anything."
"You don't understand, Steve… you've never understood." Loren said softly. "I can't let him bully me… not if I want to become JAG."
"Oh, for heaven's sake." Harrington sighed, and placed his hands on Loren's shoulders, saying softly, "Don't do this to yourself. I've told you before; you're a talented lawyer, just let your skills do the talking, and you'll do fine."
"You make it sound so easy…" Singer began.
"Because it is easy, Loren." Harrington interrupted, "Now, let's go back in there, and do this right. Okay?"
"Why don't you want me to get what we're asking for?" She suddenly challenged. "Are you trying to make me look bad for your benefit?"
Harrington tilted his head slightly, and increased the pressure on Singer's shoulders slightly. "Come on, you don't honestly believe that, do you? You know me better than that."
"Yeah… I suppose." Singer sighed in resignation. "I suppose you want to take first in this case now?"
"Actually, no. However, I want you to keep an eye on my signals. I would also like it if you apologized to Colonel MacKenzie and Commander Rabb."
"What?" The old Lt. Singer returned in a heartbeat. "You want me to demean myself in front of them?"
Once again, Harrington flashed her that reassuring grin. "Not at all. An apology from you will likely take them off guard, and possibly make them more malleable to our position."
Singer smiled upon that rationalization. "I just remembered why I like you, Steve…"
Harm and Mac's eyes lifted to the doorway as Harrington and Singer entered. Singer took a deep breath, and folded her hands in front of her before saying, "Colonel, Commander, I want to apologize for my actions earlier. They were unprofessional and uncalled for."
The two senior officer's jaws just about hit the floor. Harrington, seeing their reaction, requested, "Shall we continue, sir? Ma'am?"
Jerked back to reality, Mac answered, "Yes. Let's get this over with."
Singer then took control again, "We'll go down to 8 months relief of duty."
Suddenly, Harrington piped up, stroking his cheek with three fingers. "Are you sure we need to go that high, Lieutenant?"
Mac and Harm's eyes then turned to Singer, who drummed the table with four fingers. "I think it's important that these two officers learn a lesson, sir."
"Ah, I see." Harrington replied, tapping his thigh with three fingers. He then pushed his reading glasses up the bridge of his nose with the index and middle finger of his other hand, and added, "But there are other ways to get a lesson across." Finally, his hand rested on his chin, his index finger and thumb forming a small letter "c" on his face.
"Yes… I suppose you're right." Singer acknowledged. "We won't go any lower than 3 months relief of duty, and 200 hours community service."
Mac and Harm looked at each other in amazement. "Sounds good to me." Mac stated, "We'll run it by our clients."
Suddenly, Harm's lips turned up in a smile. "Hey, Colonel, why don't we have any neat hand signals?"
"Maybe next time, Commander." Mac shot back in a tone like a mother talking to a disappointed child.
Harrington then stood, and said, "Well, unless we have some further business to discuss, I do have other cases to prepare. May we take our leave?"
"Of course, Major. I just hope we don't have to get together on this case again."
Bullpen- 1500
"Had I not seen it with my own eyes, Bud, I would never have believed it." Mac began. "Major Harrington called Lt. Singer on a mistruth of hers, and then they went outside for a few minutes."
"How many pieces was the Major in afterwards, Colonel? Bud asked.
"That's where it gets incredible. Singer yelled for about 20 seconds, then he somehow calmed her down. When they returned, he had somehow convinced her to apologize to Commander Rabb and I, and then she negotiated smoothly the rest of the way."
"Wait… are we talking about Major Harrington, or the Second Coming of Christ?"
"As much as I am flattered by your comparison, Lt. Commander Roberts, I think I'm beginning to understand why Lt. Singer doesn't always like being around some of you." Harrington's voice interrupted.
"Pardon, Major?" Mac asked. She had been almost certain that Harrington had a smile permanently fused to his face. So much so that she was a little shocked to see his current facial expression, a dark scowl.
"Maybe I should explain first that your reputation preceded you, ma'am. Out of anyone, I would think you would understand the best how hard it is to live with a troubled past."
Mac was rendered speechless, partly from what was said, and partly from who it was saying it. Suddenly, the scowl disappeared, to be replaced with a tired grin, "Then again, in your defense, Lt. Singer probably hasn't told anyone one whit about what she's been through, has she?"
"Like what?" Mac asked, very curious.
"If Lt. Singer hasn't told you, then I don't think it's my right to do so, ma'am." Harrington declined, "However, I would just like you to realize that people are the way they are for a reason. They don't just pop out of the womb with a certain manner. Just, please keep that in mind, ma'am."
"I'll try, Major." Mac replied. She didn't want to upset Harrington unnecessarily, since he seemed like such a likeable young man. "You know, are you free this evening? Some of us in the office are getting together, and I would be honored if you'd join us."
Harrington's smile almost instantly returned in full force. He rubbed the back of his head, and said sheepishly, "As tempting as that offer is, ma'am, I already made plans for Lt. Singer to see my new apartment, and have some dinner there. Perhaps some other time?"
"You can count on it, Major."
U.S. District Court, Norfolk, VA- 1316, August 27
Admiral Chegwidden entered the courtroom just as the current trial was about to resume. To his surprise, he discovered Commander Rabb and Colonel MacKenzie already in the spectator section.
The Admiral took a seat next to them, and they greeted him in typical fashion. Returning the greetings, Chegwidden asked, "So, just why are you two here?"
"The same reason as you, sir." Mac replied, "We want to see Major Harrington in action."
The chamber doors entered again, and Lt. Singer strode down the rows of the spectator section. Her eyes met with her co-workers, before she quickly sat down in the row directly behind them.
Less than a half minute later, the presiding judge once again called the chamber to order, and the case resumed. The prosecutor stood, and said, "The prosecution calls Private First Class Michael Soderstrom to the stand."
A pilot in dress blues stood up, and took his place at the witness stand. After being sworn in, the prosecutor began. "Did you witness the fight from its inception to its conclusion?"
"Yes, I did." Private Soderstrom answered.
"After the start of the fight, did Corporal Hunter say the words, 'Fuck you, dumb nigger, you are going to pay for that'?"
"Yes, he did. It was right after Corporal Tucker broke Corporal Hunter's nose."
"I see." The prosecutor said smugly, "Your witness, counsel."
As Harrington stood, Harm, Mac, and Chegwidden noticed Lt. Singer leaning towards them. She then whispered, "Cross examination is Major Harrington's strength, sir, ma'am."
Harrington approached the witness, and asked, "Private Soderstrom, are you married?"
The prosecutor immediately jumped to his feet. "Objection! Relevance!"
Harrington smoothly turned to the judge, and replied, "I am trying to establish an analogy, if I may, your honor."
"Overruled, but don't take too long to make your analogy, counsel." The judge warned.
"Thank you, your honor." Harrington replied politely before turning to the witness again. "Will you answer the question?"
"Yes, I am married." Private Soderstrom answered.
"Have you ever said particularly nasty or perhaps derogatory things to your wife in the middle of a heated argument?"
The private flushed, and shifted nervously in his seat. "Yes, I suppose I have, sir."
"What sort of things, Private?"
Once again, the prosecutor jumped up. "Objection! Badgering the witness!"
"Sustained." The judge ordered, "There is no need for specifics, Major."
Harrington nodded politely, and turned back to the witness. "These things you said to your wife in the heat of the moment… afterwards, did you really mean them?"
Private Soderstrom once again shifted in his seat. "No, I suppose I didn't sir. Well, I guess when I was angry, I did… but afterwards, I understood that it was very unfair."
"Thank you, Private." Harrington said calmly, then turned to the judge, "No further questions, your honor."
The prosecutor stood again, and said, "The prosecution calls Colonel David Madison to the stand."
The commanding officer took the oath, and then the prosecutor began. "When you heard of the incident involving Corporals Tucker and Hunter, did you immediately press for Corporal Hunter's discharge?"
"No, I did not."
"When did you call for Corporal Hunter's discharge?"
"When I had learned that he had used a racist slur during the fight."
"Why is that?"
"Because the military must hold high standards in conduct, especially in our dealings with each other. We're all a team out there, and we can't be dividing ourselves by making derogatory comments to people simply based on race or creed, among other things."
"So, in your opinion, discrimination of any type is a serious offense?"
"Correct. People who display such intolerant attitudes need to be properly reprimanded."
"Your witness, counsel."
Harrington once again stood, and approached the officer. "So, Colonel, you feel that racist comments are extremely damaging?"
"Yes, I do."
"And am I correct when you said people who make such comments need to be properly reprimanded?"
"Yes, you are correct."
Harrington nodded, then stepped over to his desk, and taking a sheet of paper from his briefcase. "The defense would like to present a transcript featuring Colonel Madison during a meeting with officials of the U.S. Border Patrol."
The judge took the transcript, perused the sheet, and then returned it, "I'll allow it."
"Objection! The prosecution was not made aware of any transcript!"
"A transcript is considered a written public record, prosecutor. The defense needs not to present public record to the prosecution." The judge replied sharply. "I suggest you take great care when objecting to my decisions in the future."
The prosecutor sat down, somewhat sulking, as Harrington looked for the section he wanted to recite. "Colonel, did you or did you not say on July 17, 1999 that 'we need to make sure that no more job-robbing wetbacks get into this country'?"
The Colonel's face went ashen, before finally admitting, "Yes… I did say that."
"Is it true that two days later, you retracted the statement?"
"Yes."
"Did you receive any reprimand whatsoever for the statement?"
"No, I did not."
"So, on what grounds do you call for Corporal Hunter's discharge just one day after the incident?"
There was silence from the witness on the stand before he eventually muttered, "I don't know."
"No further questions, your honor." Harrington stated, returning to his seat.
The prosecutor once again stood, rubbing his temples, and said, "The prosecution rests, your honor."
The judge examined the scene, and said, "There will be a ten minute recess, and then we will proceed the defense calling of witnesses."
As the spectators and counsel stood up to either relieve themselves, stretch, or converse amongst themselves, Admiral Chegwidden turned to his three officers and asked, "What are your opinions of the direction Major Harrington is trying to take this case?"
"It's probably the best option he has." Mac commented, "He just about destroyed any credibility Colonel Madison might have had for making a motion to discharge."
"It's the tack I would take in this situation. Create analogies and parallels that establish that the people making the decision are in no position to make said decision." Harm stated thoughtfully.
"It's a bit of an unorthodox move, but I think it's the only reasonable option Major Harrington has to win this case." Singer added. "He needs to be careful though. All it takes is one wrong move, and he'll lose any support in the jury he might have stirred."
To his officers' feedback, Admiral Chegwidden merely nodded.
At that moment, Harrington caught the eyes of his fellow JAG officers, and gave them a small wave. The four returned the greetings and Harrington turned his attention back to his work.
As the judge returned to his stand, Lt. Singer had one more observation. "Major Harrington's case should be concluded rather quickly. He doesn't like calling many witnesses. He doesn't like giving his opponent the last word too much."
"Defense counsel, you may call your first witness."
Harrington stood, and said, "The defense calls Corporal Jeremy Tucker to the stand."
This drew a series of murmurs and even Harrington's four JAG co-workers were a little taken aback by the move. Once the Corporal in question had taken his oath, Harrington began his questioning.
"Had Corporal Hunter made any racial slurs to you or anyone else before your fight?"
"Not to my knowledge, sir." The Corporal replied blandly.
"Did you believe him to be a racist before the fight?"
"No, I don't believe so, sir."
"Do you think him to be a racist now?"
"I'm not sure if I can answer that, sir."
"Try."
"Considering when it was said, and from previous encounters with Corporal Hunter… I'd have to say no, sir."
"Thank you, Corporal." Harrington said politely, "Your witness, prosecutor."
The prosecutor approached the stand, and began his cross-examination. "Corporal, what do you think it takes to be a racist?"
"I'm uncertain what you mean." Corporal Tucker replied, somewhat uncertain of what was being asked.
"Does it require a pattern of behavior? Or can one incident effectively spotlight prejudices that exist in the person?"
"I don't know, sir… I'm not a psychologist."
"To quote our friend Major Harrington, 'try'."
Harrington slowly stood, and firmly said, "Objection, badgering the witness."
"Sustained." The judge stated firmly.
The prosecutor sighed, as if his course of questioning relied on pressing further. "No further questions, your honor."
Harrington then called his next witness. "The Defense calls Admiral A.J. Chegwidden to the stand."
The disbelief over Harrington's first witness was dwarfed at the calling of his second. The murmurs became so loud that the judge had to smack his gavel several times to bring the chamber to order.
Once order was restored, the prosecutor was objecting yet again. "A Navy Admiral has no relevance whatsoever to the incident at hand!"
"I am merely trying to establish another parallel for my case, your honor. In that regard, you could say that the Admiral's relevance to the incident is… irrelevant."
The judge scratched his forehead before ruling, "If the Admiral wishes to take the stand, he may."
"Well? What are you waiting for, sir?" Mac said with a gentle nudge, "You've said before we should help out our own whenever possible."
Slowly, Admiral Chegwidden rose, and walked down the spectator section to the stand.
It was everything Harm could do to keep from laughing out loud. "I get a feeling this is going to be classic."
"One doesn't need to be psychic to know that." Mac agreed with a broad grin.
At that moment, Harrington began his questioning, "Admiral, you served in Vietnam, correct?"
"Yes… I did." Chegwidden had the look of a deer caught in the headlights of a truck.
"Am I correct to assume that there were a plethora of derogatory statements that soldiers used to describe their Vietnamese opponents, correct?"
"Yes, I could say there were."
"Did you, or do you, consider any of your fellow soldiers who used such terms to be racist?"
"Some of them, perhaps… but not a majority."
For a moment, it looked like Harrington was going to press further, but then he stopped. Instead, he calmly asked, "In your opinion, knowing the sort of things that had said in your days of soldering, would you have called for a discharge of a person after one incident?"
"Probably not."
"Thank you, sir." Harrington concluded. "Your witness, prosecutor."
The prosecutor then began, "Would you agree, Admiral, that the racial climate in this nation is different now than it was when you served in Vietnam?"
"Yes, I would."
"So, would you also agree that the consequences for using racial slurs are different now than when you served?"
"Yes, I would."
"Then, taking that into account, would you then also agree that maybe the action of discharge taken by Colonel Madison was the proper decision?"
"No."
"Why would that be, Admiral?"
"People make mistakes, prosecutor. They say things they shouldn't have said, or things they don't mean. One incident should not be made to determine just what sort of person a person is."
The prosecutor took a step back, realizing that he had gone one question too far. "No further questions, your honor."
Harrington then stood, and stated, "The defense rests, your honor."
"Very well, unless one of you wishes for another recess, we can proceed into closing arguments."
"I see no reason to stop, your honor." Harrington said.
"Nor do I." The prosecutor agreed.
"Very well, prosecutor, you have the floor." The judge stated, gesturing for the lawyer to address the jury.
The prosecutor smoothed the lapels of his suit jacket, and said, "Ladies and Gentlemen, despite my opponent's statements, there are no excuses for the use of such hateful terms as the one Corporal Hunter used. They demean fellow human beings, and are only used with express intent to cause harm."
"You all must make a statement that people will not get away with this sort of behavior, especially in our military, where teamwork and trust is vital not just in completing a mission, but in living to see another day."
"There is no debate what Corporal Hunter said, and thus there cannot be any debate as to what must be done. You must uphold the decision for a dishonorable discharge."
Once completed, the prosecutor took his seat, and Harrington stood to make his closing argument.
Rolling his shoulders back slightly, Harrington began:
"Racism is a terrible thing, this is true, and there is also no denying that words like the words uttered by Corporal Hunter are degrading, and can have very little other connotation than that of an insult."
"However, I think that I have proven that Corporal Hunter is by no means alone in this issue. Colonel Madison has made racist comments in the past, but he was allowed to retract his statement without any ramifications."
"But I have no problem with that, to be honest. That isn't wrong. Every so often, people say the wrong things, or they say things that they know they really shouldn't. To condemn a person based on one incident, and no prior evidence of similar actions, is wrong to do."
"When you enter that room to determine your verdict, I'd like you to ask yourself one question. How comfortable would you be if someone made a judgement on you based on your one most hateful statement?"
Outside the Courtroom- 1538
"Congratulations, Major, I think you've won your first JAG case." Mac stated proudly.
"Let's not get ahead of ourselves. The prosecutor made a very compelling final argument. It might not be as cut and dry as you expect, ma'am." Harrington warned.
"Regardless, you did as well in that case as anyone could hope." Harm commended, "If your case doesn't win it, I don't think anything could."
"Thank you, Commander."
Singer then weighed in with her opinion. "You definitely rattled the prosecutor with the witnesses you called. He really didn't have much to cross-examine. You played your strategy perfectly."
"That's means a lot, especially considering the source, Lieutenant." Harrington replied with another one of his multitude of smiles.
"Just one thing, Major." Admiral Chegwidden said, "The next time you want to use me as a witness… inform me beforehand."
"Yes, sir." Harrington said, "It was just that I saw you in the spectator section, and the idea popped in my head." Then, his smile broadened, "Besides, you had me so busy after 'dropping me into the mix right away' that I wouldn't have had time."
Unable to help himself, the Admiral chuckled softly. "I promise you that before you leave here or I retire, I will wipe that obnoxious grin off your face for good."
Singer laughed, and interceded, "I wouldn't count on it, sir. He's been grinning like that for years, and nothing short of heavy surgery is going to change that."
Harrington was about to reply, when he got notice from the bailiff that the jury had reached a verdict. The officers filtered back into the courtroom and took their respective places.
"Has the jury reached a verdict?" The judge asked.
"We have, your honor."
"What say you?"
The chief juror looked at the sheet in her hand, "In the case of the United States Air Force vs. Corporal Todd Hunter, on the charge of racial discrimination deserving dishonorable discharge, we find the defendant…"
End Episode 2
Be the Jury! Review with your verdict! I'll let the voting go for about a week, or until I get a sufficient number of reviews, whichever comes first.