After a quick recess me and Ben watched as Gareth stood up to give his closing statement, before he turned towards the jury.
"Ladies and Gentlemen of this court, it is now time for me to address you to conclude the presentation from the prosecution-" he started. "There has been an overwhelming amount of evidence that supports my case. There is no dispute against the claims against the accused; given their guilty pleas" he added.
"As ever it is not for the defendants to prove their innocence; but for me as a prosecutor to prove their guilt. And I have to make sure of their guilt before they can be convicted; as Chief Justice Williams will direct you in due course" he explained.
"As a jury you have listened to both sides that have been presented by both prosecution and the defence. You have also witnessed how the accused party have acted during this case; and the evidence that they have put together with their counsel" he concluded.
"I would like to remind you all that two of the pleas given by the accused relate to claims of insanity or being mentally ill" he added. "However-" he stated. "It has been proven by this court and two different doctors each-" he continued as he put two fingers up in the air. "That Mr Bobby Bailey and Mr Kendal Kingston are fit to be tried and questioned. So they are and should-" he continued. "Be held accountable for their actions" he finished sternly.
"This plot wasn't just a scheme to try and turn Mrs Adams's head-" he began after a few seconds of silence. "It was a plot that would nearly cost our King his life" he stressed. "An event which has affected him very deeply; and probably will do for some time" he said as he looked down at his desk. We all then watched as he picked up a photo that was face down on his desk and he held it to his chest as he walked up to the jury with it pressed against his chest.
"Members of the jury-" he started, breaking the silence. "There is a well known phrase, that a photo is worth a thousand words" he offered simply. "Well that is very true" he agreed. "Like this photo right here" he advised as he showed the jury the picture and me and Ben both pulled a face at it before looking away. It was one of the photos that was taken shortly after Ben had arrived at Auradon General; and it was very difficult to look at. At the one I questioned why such photos should be taken; but I was told that it was needed for evidence. Even though I understood this I still didn't like them doing it; it was like Ben was like a freak show. "Speaks a thousand words" I heard Gareth say which thankfully pulled me out of my painful memory of being in Auradon General with Ben. "With every whip, cut, bruise and broken bone, shows you all the physical pain that his Majesty had to endure" Gareth urged. "For hours" he was quick to add. "Hours!" He exclaimed. "He was bound as his captures laughed at his misery" he urged. "Pain! Discomfort! And anguish!" He chanted. "And what had he done to deserve this?" He questioned rhetorically. "He had fallen in love with his soul mate" he advised sincerely. "Quite a high cost for the woman he loves, don't you think?" He shrugged.
"After all of the evidence that I have provided there have been accusations against His Majesty and his wife by the accused party stating that the pair of them orchestrated this whole situation-" Gareth reminded the court as he turned and walked back towards his desk. "Claiming His Majesty's injuries were fake" he advised as he placed the photo back down onto his desk. "Fake!" He exclaimed as he turned and looked back at the jury. "How could you fake things like that!" He questioned. "You have heard the statements from his Majesty and his wife, true love's kiss has been able to heal his physical pain but not his mental pain" he stated. "Remember that this situation has affected His Majesty deeply, and no doubt will for a long time. He isn't the same man he was before he was kidnapped" Gareth stated and the room fell into silence after this painful evaluation of Ben.
"The accused party is making accusations that his Majesty and his wife have skilfully exploited the justice system in this Kingdom.-" Gareth started again. "Which would just undermine what the King and future Queen of this Kingdom would stand for" he insisted. "But when you scrape one layer of this manure off the topsoil, you'll realise that his Majesty and his wife are not going to do that" he advised as he walked back slowly towards the jury.
"Now, are you, as the jury, in order to find the accused party not guilty, willing to say that your King and future Queen, His Royal Highness Benevolent Florian Adams of Auradon and Mrs Maleficent Adams came up with this whole scheme just to seek out revenge against six people?" He questioned rhetorically again. "Yes Mrs Adams admits that she does have some history with the accused party; but there was no reason to even seek any of them out!" He exclaimed. "The royal couple were happily living their lives, minding their own business" he added. "Yes Mr Bobby Bailey had sent Mrs Adam a couple of texts; but surely you can see members of the jury that this is not enough for them to create the scheme that defence is putting forward!" He stressed.
"So the question that you need to put forward during your deliberations is this-" Gareth said. "Are you prepared to call the royal couple liars?" He questioned. "You've got to be willing to say that, you've got to make that leap" he added. "That is the only way that you as a jury can find the accused party innocent of every count they are accused for" he stated as he pursed his lips together.
"In all honesty I don't believe it's a difficult decision because everything in this case has pointed to a group of six men-" Gareth stated as he turned slowly to the accused party. "The accused party!" He exclaimed as he pointed over to them before looking back at the jury.
"I'm thanking you at the conclusion of this case on behalf of the State of Auradon City-" he began "And urging you, urging you" he stressed. "To follow the court's instructions, to follow the evidence in the case and return verdicts of guilty" he concluded before he nodded and spun around and started to make his way back to his seat. As I watched him drop into his seat I couldn't help but stop myself taking a couple of deep breaths to steady myself; this was it! Nothing more could be done! And I could hope that we had put forward enough of a case; yes the evidence was overwhelming against the accused party - but I knew that I wouldn't be able to settle until the official verdict came out.
We all then sat through each of the defence lawyers giving their own closing statement for the trial. Each of them explained the evidence against their clients and even some of them (Michelle and Malcolm) tried to push the blame onto me and Ben once more. The stressed that this was a plot against their client and apparently me and Ben were taking advantage of both Bobby and Kendal's obvious mental vulnerability. Both of them stressed that me and Ben both knew about this and as a reaction to Bobby's texts to me and Ben put this plot together. I really couldn't believe that they were really trying to pull this. Even Brandon stated in his closing statement that he thought that I had to share a portion of the blame, due to my nature of wanting to break men's hearts. Thankfully as I watched Stephen's lawyer, David, sit down after giving a statement over how remorseful his client was I started to feel better about the situation. Nothing could be said by either side now, everything had been said and done, and now it was up to the jury to decide what story they thought was the truth.
