I love writing trial parts and that's what this chapter basically is. I am a big fan of legal thrillers (books) and I love all the Law & Orders except Trial By Jury which is kind of ironic. I also love other legal-type shows and I'm pretty sure that shows in this chapter. Well, leave me some words. Enjoy :D Katy
Chapter 12
"The People call Miss Haley James to the stand, Your Honour," ADA Mike Braun said. Haley got up from where she was sitting and stood near the bailiff.
"Place your left hand on the bible and raise your right hand," he instructed. His tone was indifferent and almost bored. You could certainly tell that he had done this before about a thousand times. Haley rolled her eyes at his tone but did what she was told.
"Do you solemnly swear to tell the whole truth and nothing but so help you God?" he asked.
"Yes, I do," Haley repeated in a much softer, gentle tone. It was almost as if she were purposely mocking him.
"You make take the stand," the judge said. Haley walked up the small steps and sat down in the rather uncomfortable chair. The ADA approached her and put his hands on the bar in front of her as he leaned in close.
"Hello, Miss James. Thank you for coming," he said.
"You're welcome," Haley replied grudgingly. She fixed with him a glare that made it clear that she was being sarcastic. This was the last place she wanted to be and she wouldn't be if it weren't the right thing to do or if the ADA hadn't threatened to subpoena her to testify.
"I'm just going to ask you a few simple questions. Most will require a simple 'yes' or 'no'," the ADA explained as if she were a three-year-old. Right away, she was offended at the notion that she didn't know what she was supposed to do. The idiot had prepped her the day before. Was he really that forgetful?
"Objection; the prosecutor is leading the witness," the defence attorney said, shooting up out of his chair as if it were a race to see who could stand up first.
"Overruled," the judge said with as annoyance washed over his wrinkled features.
"What happened on the day that led you to being here?" the prosecutor asked.
"There was an incident at my school," she replied with a small, almost invisible, smile tugging at her lips. Haley might have realized that this was the right thing to do but that didn't mean she was going to make the jerk's job easy.
"What sort of incident?" Braun asked fixing her with a glare.
"A violent one," Haley replied.
"Miss James, I'm going to have to ask you to stop evading the question," the judge said. Haley turned to the judge.
"I'm not. I'm answering the questions. He said that most of them would require a simple 'yes' or 'no'. So far that hasn't happened. I must admit that I'm a little flustered by having to answer in full sentences," Haley replied, feigning innocence. There was burst of laughter in the courtroom. Even the judge smiled at her.
"Nevertheless, we have more people scheduled to appear today. If you don't mind, I would like this to be done in a timely fashion," he said. Haley nodded.
"Same question," Braun said.
"A student brought a gun to school and open fired on the other students," Haley replied.
"What kind of gun?" Braun asked.
"A nine millimetre," Haley replied.
"How do you know that?" Braun asked, looking at her quizzically. The jury turned to look at her too. It was as if they were surprised that she would know about guns.
"The bullets that they pulled out of my knee were for a nine mil," she explained.
"Oh. Wait a minute. Did you say pulled out of your knee?" he asked, looking at the jury. Ooh how slick! Haley thought.
"Yes, I was one of the students that were shot," Haley replied.
"One of?" he repeated. He walked towards the jury. "To your knowledge, how many students were shot?"
"Two. Myself and another student named Neil Young," she replied.
"And what happened to Neil?" Braun asked.
"He was killed," Haley said.
"Now you said they pulled 'bullets' out of your knee. So there was more than one?" Braun asked.
"Yeah, I was shot twice," Haley replied, nodding.
"By whom?" he asked.
"Tim Smith," Haley replied.
"Uh-huh. And do you see Mr. Smith in the courtroom today?" Braun asked.
"Yeah, he's right over there," Haley replied, pointing to the defence table.
"And what did you do to Tim?" Braun asked, smiling. Haley frowned.
"Excuse me?" Haley asked.
"Well, he must have had a reason for shooting you. Something you might have done or said to him that provoked him to use such extraordinary means and shoot you twice. What was it?" he asked.
"I never said or did anything negative to Tim and I resent the implication," Haley replied roughly.
"So you were an innocent bystander?" Braun asked a hint of doubt in his voice.
"Yes, I most certainly was. Tim brought a gun into school to get revenge on the people who were terrorizing him for being gay ever since Neil revealed it in his time capsule," Haley replied.
Braun opened his mouth to ask her a question and as if she read his mind, she leaned forward, glared at him and said, "But I was not one of those people."
"No further questions," Braun said in satisfaction as he went back to sit down. He shot an arrogant smile to the defence attorney. Haley frowned at his back.
Nathan had to smile at the frown on Haley's face. He noticed the smirk that the ADA had shot Tim's attorney and he knew why Haley was unhappy about it. Braun was acting as if Haley had just won his case for him. One thing Nathan knew for sure was that Haley would not be used as a pawn in someone else's game. She hated being taken advantage of and she despised people that used her as a means to an end.
In this case, Haley was not on anyone's side despite her supposed "victim" status. When Nathan thought of Haley, victim didn't even make his list of words to describe her. She was tough and she always managed to have the last laugh. That's how he knew that Haley wasn't going to help the ADA crucify Tim but she wasn't going to help the defence absolve him either.
The defence attorney, Shay Knight approached Haley slowly and stopped a few feet away from her. She gave Haley a once-over and then smiled. She had to give this woman credit. She certainly had a way of making her presence known. Haley figured that this little stunt was meant to intimidate her but at this, Knight had failed miserably.
"So you never said or did anything to Tim?" Knight asked.
"No," Haley replied.
"How did you know him then?" Knight asked, shrugging suggestively.
"I didn't," Haley said, shaking her head.
"Then why would he shoot you?" Knight asked.
"Tim wasn't aiming for me," Haley replied. Knight lifted her head and pounced on that.
"I'm sorry. He wasn't aiming for you?" Knight asked.
"No. He was aiming for a group of students but he kind of has bad aim. The bullets ricocheted off the lockers and hit me in the knee," Haley replied.
"They ricocheted off of the wall and hit you?" Knight repeated.
"Yeah. Lucky me," Haley joked. The jury laughed.
"So you're not really a victim are you?" Knight asked.
"I never claimed to be," Haley said.
"Did you know Neil Young?" Knight asked.
"Yes," Haley replied.
"Were you friends?" Knight asked. Haley scoffed.
"Uh, no," she said.
"Then how did you know him?" Knight asked.
"I tutored him," Haley replied.
"And by that, you think you know him?" Knight asked.
"What can I say? I'm very thorough when it comes to tutoring. Helping my tutorees solve their personal problems makes them trust me," Haley replied almost sarcastically. She was clearly mimicking the lawyer.
"But you didn't notice that Neil was unstable?" Knight asked.
"I'm not a shrink," Haley replied.
"But you did interact with him on a daily basis," Knight said accusingly.
"Yeah for a month three months ago," Haley retorted.
"Did you like Neil?" Knight asked.
"No, I didn't like him at all," Haley replied.
"That seems like a horrible thing to say about the dead," Knight said.
"You asked me a question and I answered honestly. But for the sake of argument, I think it would be more insulting if I said I liked him just because he's dead," Haley replied.
"Why didn't you like him?" Knight asked.
"He was mean and full of bitterness," Haley replied.
"How so?" Knight asked.
"On his time capsule, he revealed a bunch of information about a lot of people. He hurt more than just Tim. I know of about seven students that he devastated personally," Haley replied.
"Including your own secrets," Knight remarked.
"I wouldn't exactly call them secrets," Haley said.
"But you didn't tell anyone either," Knight said.
"No one asked and I'm not the type to volunteer the information. But that doesn't mean that I was hiding it either," Haley said.
"Then why did you cry?" Knight asked.
"I was upset," she said.
"Why?" Knight asked.
"Because I helped Neil and he told everyone that I was orphaned and unwanted. He actually said that my parents died in a car crash before I was born just to avoid being around me. How would you react to something so hateful?" Haley shot back.
"So…" Knight started.
"No, no, no. I'm not done," Haley replied.
"What?" Knight asked.
"I'm tired of being used in this. So let me say my peace and then you can ask me questions until kingdom come if you want," Haley said.
Knight looked to the judge who nodded. Haley had been up on the stand for more than thirty minutes and Nathan guessed that's why the judge was allowing it. "All right," Knight said.
Haley turned to the jury. "Do I think that Tim was wrong? Of course I do. I am one of the people he shot. Am I sorry Neil's dead?" she said and paused. Then she turned to Knight who was conveniently in front of the jury.
"Yes but I won't be sending flowers to his family anytime soon. I won't lose any sleep over it either. And," she said as she fixed Knight with a glare, "I won't sit here and let you cast blame on me for something someone else did. Neil might have been an ass but he didn't deserve to die for it. Tim might have been wronged but he didn't have to use a gun and open fire on innocent people to exact revenge. You can try to blame his parents, me and other students for not realizing how bad Neil was or for tormenting Tim the way they did but it's fruitless. Nobody forced a gun into Tim's hand and nobody forced him to shoot Neil either. It's Tim's fault not ours."
Knight swallowed uncomfortably and nodded. "No further questions for this witness," she said quietly.
"The witness is excused. You may step down," the judge said and Haley did so happily.