Three weeks later
It was hard to believe, even for Caleb, that he had been in lockup for two months. The jury selection, the last stopping point before the trial, had been completed that day. A team of twelve men and women had been selected to try the case that had been hanging over his head for the last few months, and a decision that would be handed down that would either set him free, or doom him to a lifetime of torment behind bars.
In some ways, it would be a relief to know, within weeks, what his fate would be. If it would, miraculously, go their way and he would be granted the freedom that he had sorely craved, or if they would make the wrong choice, and seal his fate in the cruelest of ways.
"So what do you think about the team we have?" Caleb asked, as he forcibly stared at Dawn, trying to ignore everything else around him, as he tried to imagine a world where he wasn't in handcuffs every time he had to move somewhere, or where he didn't have to sleep on a mattress that was under a slab of concrete.
"Good," Dawn said, nodding. "I think we have as good a jury pool as we could hope for."
It had taken nearly the entire day to interview and select candidates based off what they're answers were to the questions that both sides had presented to them. In an effort to keep things running as fast (and smoothly) as possible, Dawn had pushed for the proceedings to be over with that day, and had been successful.
"It's hard to tell based on looks alone, right?"
"Right. They could swing either way, but the most crucial thing we accomplished, is that we selected a fair and impartial jury." It was anyone's guess what they would decide with the evidence given to them, but the most important thing was that they had people they were confident in.
"Right," Caleb said with a sigh, shaking his head. "I can tell you I'll be glad to have this entire nightmare over with." His mind wouldn't allow him to process the notion that it would continue after this, that the jury would vote against him.
"I bet," she said, smiling sympathetically. "Our goal will be to end this as quickly as possible, but obviously after we've done our job."
"So what comes next?"
Over the last two months, he had been subjected to hearing after countless hearing in his case, and when it came to the confusing web of courtroom protocol, he was clueless as to what exactly came next for him.
"Opening arguments."
"And what are you going to aim for when you present your case?"
It didn't take an idiot to know that an opening argument was when the defense and prosecution had their strongest chance of winning over a jury. It was nerve-wracking to know that, in some cases, a jury would already make up their minds based on the opening argument alone. The pressure on Caleb was high, but he couldn't imagine what Dawn was going through as she tried to craft an argument that would shed doubt on the DA's theories, while clearing him of the ludicrous charges against him.
Dawn paused before phrasing her next reply. "Anytime you present an opening argument, whether you're the defense or the prosecution, you're telling a story to the jury. In the prosecution's case, they want to craft a plot where you're the antagonist."
Caleb rolled his eyes, shaking his head. "That's not too surprising."
"And," she said, smiling at his comment. "When I present my case, you're going to play the role of protagonist." It was a story that she would have to write, edit and re-edit before she got the chance to present it in front of a courtroom full of the people who would decide her friend and client's fate.
"Do you know what the prosecution is going to say?"
"Just the bare minimum, that you willfully and unlawfully caused the bruising on Dean's arm, and that you committed kidnapping when you were ordered to surrender them over to CPS."
"And you think the prosecution has a good case with the kidnapping one?"
Out of all the abuse and neglect charges he was facing, the kidnapping one was the charge that would be the toughest to beat, and the one that would either seal his fate, or release him from it.
"It's impossible to tell. They definitely have the law on their side when it concerns something like that, but it's all about how a jury perceives what they're being told."
"Right."
It was hard to realize there was nothing he could do to sway them either way. There was no way he could waltz over to them and proclaim his innocence face to face, he would have to let the evidence speak for itself, and the testimony of those Dawn called to defend him.
"I talked to Dean, by the way."
Dawn had broached the issue of whether or not they should have Dean testify for Caleb at the trial, and while Caleb hadn't been opposed to it, and had told her to go ahead and ask him, it would still be difficult to watch him face so much opposition and ridicule from a prosecution that seemed intent on seeing him suffer.
"What did he say?"
"I told him what I was thinking, and he wants to do it if I need him. I don't plan on calling him unless I absolutely have to."
"Do you think you will need him?"
"Probably, but it all depends on how strong of a case that the prosecution presents first."
"I hate that you can't do yours first."
In the hierarchy of defense and prosecution lawyers, the prosecution had the highest burden of proving beyond a reasonable doubt, and so they were the ones who were allowed to go first in the courtroom to present their case.
Dawn was allowed to go next.
It was a process that he had become well acquainted with when he had gone through his earlier talks with Dawn. It had been torturous then to wait for her to present their case, and he was sure that the same panic and fear would still be there for this, too.
"I know," she said with a grimace, "but from what I heard, they don't plan on taking any longer than necessary, so it shouldn't be too long before I can do mine."
"Good."
"Dean?"
"Yeah?"
"Are you going to be okay this morning?" Bobby asked, as he got his things ready to go to the courthouse for the start of opening arguments. It was one of the downfalls of the boys not being in school, they would have to be alone at the house that day.
"Yeah, why wouldn't I be?" Dean asked, as he carefully hid his crestfallen expression over the rim of his cereal bowl.
In truth, he was devastated. The knowledge that, for the first time in his life, he would have to live through seeing someone he loved go on trial for something he didn't even do was heart-wrenching for him, and even though he would have preferred being there in person, he knew it wouldn't entirely be possible.
"I just know that all this has been hard on you. Caleb, and then coming home."
"It's been fine," Dean shrugged, avoiding Bobby's probing gaze the best he could.
"I'm going to be checking in during lunch. Maybe I'll bring you guys some sandwiches or something."
"Whatever," Dean said, turning away from him.
"Dean-"
"I'm fine. Where's Sam?"
"Still sleeping."
"How long is this hearing supposed to last? All day?"
"Probably."
Dean nodded, using the sleeve of his shirt to expertly shield the tears that seemed bound and determined to stay and torture him. "Okay."
Walking into the courtroom, Caleb was sure he had never felt more sick in his entire life than he did as the bailiff led him to his place at the defense table before retreating. The fact that he would have to sit through at least an hour or two of the prosecution spouting their story, wasn't lost on him, and he dreaded it.
"How are you doing?" Dawn whispered.
"Crappy."
"Just hang in there, okay? We'll have our turn soon enough."
And she was right: the prosecution's opening lasted two hours, and provided a basic summary of the evidence against him, and how it related to the charges. The most difficult to prove would be the abuse charges, and so the prosecutor spent most of his time working on that.
"You have a few bruises," prosecutor Mark Williamson said, shrugging. "They aren't too bad. Just minor little bumps and cuts that could have come from anywhere, and then it gets more serious over a steady period of time." He used his hand to illustrate an upward slope of the severity of the bruises.
With the judge's permission, the prosecutor displayed several photographs of Dean's arm in varying stages of bruising. The first several pictures depicted nothing but minor little scrapes like the prosecution said, and then they got more serious, and it made Caleb want to throw up when he knew what this man was getting at.
"And then you have the most serious," he finished, his voice lowering in a display of sympathy for the alleged victim. "The one that caused bruising so severe that when he went to school the next morning, he wasn't able to lift his arm. The evidence we will present to you, will prove to you that the man sitting in this room, Caleb Rivers, was the instigator, and he was the one to cause these marks."
Caleb shook his head; he couldn't help it. These untrue and hurtful allegations had the potential of costing him his life, and rendering him incapable of being a part of Sam and Dean's lives. Turning his head briefly to look at Bobby, he saw the look of incredulity on the hunter.
"Watch it," Dawn warned, seeing how upset he was getting.
"I can't help it."
"You have to try."
"I know."
After he finished his opening, it was Dawn's turn to take the floor. This time, Caleb didn't hold nearly the same amount of dread and leaned foreword in his seat to listen to what she had to say.
"First of all," Dawn began, as she paced the floor slowly. "I want to thank these men and women for sacrificing their time to be here. I promise you that our goal is to make these proceedings as quick and easy as possible."
After that, she lunged into her story.
"This all started with two boys, Sam and Dean Winchester. Two young, intelligent boys who lost their parents in very tragic circumstances. They didn't have any other family to raise them, and so Caleb Rivers and Jim Murphy stepped in, and over the last eight or nine years, they have raised them and molded them into the sweet, loving and generous boys that I have been privileged to meet."
Caleb couldn't help the small smile that crept across his face at her words. It was true, all of it. They had only raised the boys with the deepest sense of morals and empathy for people, and the hunting that they had dabbled in had only aided them in feeling that sympathy and love for others.
"These are two boys that have never shown any of the classic signs of abuse. You have marks," she admitted, diving into the heart of her defense. "But you don't have a sign hanging over their necks saying that he did it. In fact, when you talk to Dean, all he can talk about is how much he loves Caleb, how much the two have bonded over the years, and how the thought of what is happening to Caleb, makes him sick."
"The state," she continued, "wants to prove that the marks on Dean's arm, were not only the cause of being hit or punched, but the severity of the injury was so severe that he couldn't move his arm. As I recall perfectly, Dean, in his initial interview with Diane Ward, stated that he was able to move his arm without a problem. There has never been any evidence that directly links my client to those bruises. They could have come from another kid, they could have come from playing outside, but if you have a shred of doubt in your mind, then your job is simple, set this man free."
Caleb could feel himself nodding in direct response to her words. The jury had a moral obligation of setting him free if there was even a shred of reasonable doubt, and he knew that if she continued with the same pace she had set, they would have no choice but to acquit him.
"In regards to the kidnapping. Around two or three months previously, Sam Winchester was found to have a stalker. The incidents seemed to get worse and worse, and even worse. When the ruling was made that my client had to surrender custody to the state, he did the only thing he thought would protect the two boys. He ran. Was it smart? No. Was it legal? No. But was it kidnapping? Was it really? Especially when you consider the plethora of mitigating circumstances in this particular case. The boys were not taken against their will, he did not have malicious intent when he ran with them. That is why I am asking you to look beyond the charge, and instead focus on the evidence, ladies and gentlemen."
