Hey! Sorry, I've been away at art camp and that storm fried 3 computers, froze mine for a while, the DVD player, our Internet, two phones, my alarm clock, some of the lights, the amplifiers, the upstairs TV, the basement TV, and a tree one foot away from us. God! Some of it is fixed, but not yet. The Internet is back up (thank God) as of August 19th (my arrival home). Oy, it's been horrible here. Now, this is typed up on August 20th, so I will be adding the next dates comments below. Remember, review stats. Last chapter if you don't remember. Now, I'll have to shmooze and see Law and Order because I know nothing of the law. Thanks for the tip everybody! I don't know much. Thank the Lord I'm not going to be a lawyer, and if I do end up a lawyer, stay the hell away from me!
NOTE: someone asked why I type m u r d e r. It's because I have CyberSitter and my computer doesn't allow the following words: b l o n d e, g i r l, s e x, m u r d e r, b l o o d, c r a c k…yeah. I have to type them up with spaces in between because then the computer accepts them as separate letters, not words. Sorry, you'll have to just figure it out on your own.
DEDICATED to josh111888 because I couldn't see Law and Order (because two of three TV's got fried and my dad always uses it and also because I don't know the channel) and he told me all he knew about trials, asylums, sleepwalking defenses... Thanks a bunch!
Chapter 3
"Questioning"
Sam was ushered out of the truck and into the police department. A tall man at the desk recognized her immediately.
"Samantha Manson, we have you scheduled for interrogation now."
"It's SAM," she growled in return.
"Alright, SAM," said the man harshly. "Follow me." The man stood up and went into a room off to the right side of the hall. In the room were a table, two chairs, and no windows. The man turned on the light, illuminating the room.
"Sit down." Sam took a seat as another man entered the room. The first one sat down at the other end, the other standing to the side.
"You have the right to remain silent, anything you say can be used against you in a court of law. You have the right to an attorney present now and during any future questioning. If you cannot afford an attorney, one will be appointed you free of charge, if you wish.
"Sounds like Desiree," muttered Sam under her breath. Luckily, the men did not hear anything.
"If you decide to answer questions now without an attorney present you will still have the right to stop answering at any time until you talk to an attorney. Knowing and understanding your rights as I have explained them to you, are you willing to answer my questions without an attorney present?"
"Fine, whatever."
"Did you murder Paulina Nicolita Sanchez?" said the first man firmly.
"I don't know."
"During what time was she murdered?"
"Between 2 and 3 in the morning yesterday."
"You seem confident in that."
"My friend was the first to know."
"Who is your friend?"
"To this question I am exercising my right to remain silent."
"Alright. Where were you at this time?"
"All I remember was waking up at 2 that morning, grabbing my knife and going downstairs. Then I don't remember."
"So you were sleepwalking?"
"No, but I don't remember what I did in the time period she was murdered."
"Are you carrying anything?"
"No…" Sam said this in her most convincing voice, but she really did have something on her.
"Liar. Check her." The second man took her out of her chair, spread her arms and legs open as if checking her at the airport. He felt around her body (Sam felt uncomfortable like that) and at her boots said, "Found something."
"What?" said the first man. The second man pulled out a knife from her boot.
"Why are you carrying a knife?"
"I'm suicidal, okay?" said Sam grumpily; she wasn't happy admitting it.
"Alright…" said the first man, unsure. "Have you tried cutting yourself or any form of suicide?"
"Yes," said Sam.
"Try remembering something."
"I can't."
"TRY IT!"
"Alright, alright." Sam was scared out of her wits, but put on a cool front. She shut her eyes tight and thought. Only one thing came up: a bloody Paulina on the grass of Amity Park's park. Sam's knife was beside her. She wasn't about to lie to the police.
"I've got a dead Paulina, bloody, on the grass of Amity Park Public Park with my knife beside her."
"Was there any fresh blood on it?"
"I don't know."
"So you DO remember something about that morning."
"Yes, I suppose so, but that's it."
"Alright. I suppose we'll have a trial then."
"Okay."
"Do you have an attorney?"
"Not yet, but I can find one."
"The trial will be in a week."
"But—"
"A WEEK, lady. We don't like people like you here." Sam sighed. What to do? Tell her parents, apparently.
Danny sat in class miserably. All he could think about was Sam; she was absent today. Where was she? Was she okay? Would she be going to jail or be let go? Will she have a trial? Will she die? Will she go insane? What will happen?
The bell rang. Finally. Danny had a few questions to ask his last period teacher, Mrs. Zheeva about trials.
"Mrs. Zheeva?" he asked, approaching his history teacher.
"Yes, Danny?"
"Um, I just want to learn more about trials, how people get in jail, and stuff."
"Alright. I'll tell you some of the things I know. But I am leaving you to research the rest on your own."
"I'm willing."
"For once," she murmured. "Alright, then, when a person is accused of a crime, they are taken in for interrogation. If they are caught at the scene of the crime and are supposedly the committer, the police don't have to read their rights, like they do at an interrogation. These rights are called the Miranda rights, named after Ernesto Miranda. Have you heard the phrase "You have the right to remain silent"?"
"Yeah."
"That's part of it. It basically means that through the interrogation, you don't have to say what you don't want to, anything you do say can be used against you in court, and that you can have an attorney with you during questioning at that moment or during a later time. In the occasion you can't afford an attorney, one can be provided if you want one. Even without an attorney at interrogation, you still have the right to remain silent and stop at anytime until consulting an attorney, and also, they ask for your confirmation on answering questions without an attorney with you."
"Wow. That's just rights?"
"Yes."
"So, you said the info the person gives can be used in court. Does that mean that there is a trial?"
"Yes. A trial for punishment and so on. However, no such trial can go on without proof of the crime, like a motive, an eyewitness, a weapon used in the crime, DNA sample, or finger print. Depending on the outcome of the trial, the person is either off the hook, imprisoned, or put in jail for a certain amount of time. Some states have death penalties."
"Wow."
"Yes. However, if the accused person doesn't know what happened in the time period of the crime, they can use something called the sleepwalker's defense, used for people who kill in their sleep. There have been 14 high profile cases in the last 50 years, one of which including a man driving 14 miles to kill his father before waking up."
"Do people using the sleepwalker's defense get the same punishment?"
"No, they don't. Instead of jail, they are sent to the asylum, or a mental hospital. You are sent there if you committed a crime due to a mental illness, or can't tell the difference between right and wrong, nd reality to receive counseling. Once you are cured, your fate depends on state laws. Some states, like Texas, give a death penalty to these people, so you are killed once you are let out."
"That's stupid; all that progress for nothing."
"True, but alas, it is not us who make these laws. Some states, though, like Illinois, set you free after counseling."
"Is Virginia a death sentence state?"
"Maybe; look into it. But if it is, to get the death sentence, you are not trialed as an adult, but for how violent the crime was."
"Does that only work for the asylum?"
"I'd say not, but I'm not entirely sure."
"Okay, thanks, Mrs. Zheeva," said Danny, walking out of the room in a worse mood than he had at first; if he was going to figure out Sam's problem, he'd have to research it, and he already had a feeling she wouldn't bode well.
"Danny?" called Mrs. Zheeva as he walked out.
"Yeah?"
"Why are you asking me this?"
"I have the right to remain silent."
Chapter 3
Chapter 4: when I can, and when I finish research.
Oooh, cliffhanger! Questions now are: what will happen at Sam's trial, will her parents believe her, and will she get an attorney? On Danny's end: Will Danny find out enough to predict Sam's punishment and trial? Will he be at her trial? AND, If he will be, will he help the case? The most important question: WHO IS THE M U R D E RER?
People please tell me your thoughts on these questions in your reviews as well as critique. Thanks a bunch to josh111888 for telling me about the following: trials, proof for it, sleepwalker's defense, asylums, penalties in asylums, death sentences, and rights. You rule!
Now I will be researching the topics Mrs. Zheeva brought up (and the results I put in Chapter 4 will be the ones I found) for Danny. Chapter 4 might take a while to get up.