A/N: This hearing is going to be split up into a few parts, all covering different witnesses. It was difficult for me to condense the hearing enough to write one shorter chapter, so I apologize if it's repetitive, but the trial drama is one of my favorite parts about the show, and I think all of this coming full circle for Olivia will be good. Don't worry—there will be more drama after this hearing is finished. Thanks again for all of your reviews and suggestions. You are the best! Enjoy!
Chapter 70
Conrad
Alex sat in the first row of the gallery, directly behind the prosecutorial table where Casey and Carolyn Maddox sat patiently waiting for Judge Donnelley. Miranda Pond and Trevor Langan sat on either side of their client, quietly discussing something Alex couldn't hear.
"All rise." Judge Donnelley entered the room and took her seat behind the bench, giving both sides clear instructions. "Ok, so, we're here for a pretrial hearing regarding a motion to dismiss Mr. Conrad's 'assault on a law enforcement officer' charge." She took a breath and shuffled through papers, listening for any arguments—there were none.
"Since this sole charge is one of the most serious against the defendant, other than the sexual assaults, I think it's important that we examine this from every possible angle here. So, unlike a regular pretrial hearing, I've told both sides that you may call 3 witnesses each—all of which can also be called at the trial pending their testimony serves a purpose and doesn't cause any problems."
Alex could tell that Donnelley was going to run this hearing exactly how she wanted, and that made her feel better about the whole process. The blonde glanced around the room, noting those in attendance—she wished Olivia could be there, but knew she couldn't be in the courtroom until she testified. Elliot sat in the front row behind the defense table, and Alex could tell how mad he was to be sitting on that side just by looking at him. She tuned back in to what Donnelley was saying.
"Let's all remember this hearing is an investigation into a charge, including detective Benson's actions and Mr. Conrad's response. I won't entertain any notions about any other charges or any superfluous evidence. I'd like to get this done today." She took a breath. "Are all of your witnesses prepared to testify today?" Both sides muttered in the affirmative and she nodded. "So, obviously, in this hearing, the burden will rest with the defense, so, Ms. Pond, Mr. Langan, if you want to begin."
Miranda Pond stood up. "The defense calls Samuel Conrad, your honor." He stood up and Alex couldn't help but sneer at him: this was the man that had hurt Olivia, and she would never look at him, no matter what he had to say, with any amount of pity. He made his way to the witness stand and swore his oath—one Alex knew he would surely break.
"Mr. Conrad, will you please take us through the events of September 5th?" Miranda was giving him a lot of latitude, and Alex hoped that Casey would reel him back in if need be.
"I got up that morning, made myself breakfast, and took a shower. One of my friends called me and wanted to know if I would meet him at The Met around 11. I agreed and headed that way."
"Did you notice anything suspicious once you got there? Or did anything make you feel uncomfortable?"
"Yeah there were two cops following me around. I recognized them because they had been following me for the past few days before that. I had talked to them and I thought everything was cool, but they were still on me so I got a little nervous."
"Ok Mr. Conrad, what happened next?"
"Well when I was waiting for my friend to show up, one of the officers approached me and was making me feel really uncomfortable. So I ran out of the front door."
"Mr. Conrad, you know it's wrong to run from the police, don't you?"
"Objection. Leading." Casey shot up from her chair.
"Sustained." Donnelley eyed Miranda.
"Let me rephrase…Mr. Conrad, when you began running did you think it was a good idea?"
"No, of course not." He wasn't your typical criminal, Alex noticed. He was well dressed, well spoken, and probably very well educated. She silently thanked her stars that this was a bench hearing and no one had to persuade a jury of anything. "No, I know it's wrong to run from the police. I do."
"Then why did you do so?"
"I was confused, and I felt threatened. I knew they had been following me, and I thought we had cleared everything up before, so I just didn't know how to get away from them. I talked to them as much as they wanted me to, but they were still following me. I just made a snap decision and needed to get away."
"So you ran out the front door of The Met." He nodded. "What happened then?"
"Well I thought that if I could get over to the park, I could hide out there for a little while when everyone was searching for me and then go back to my apartment to figure out what to do."
"What happened when you got to the park?"
"There were two different cops chasing after me, detectives Stabler and Benson. Stabler puttered out after about 300 yards but Benson was still on me so I knew I had to find a place to hide."
"Mr. Conrad, why didn't you just stop running?"
"They were trying to arrest me for something I didn't do! I have a life, you know? I thought if I could get back to my apartment and call my lawyer we could take care of whatever the problem was." Miranda nodded at him, urging him to continue.
"Anyways, I got into the park and ran down a steep hill. At the bottom of the hill I knew there was a bridge and a big tree that I could hang out behind until she passed by…"
"She being detective Benson?" He nodded. This was the part that Alex was most interested in hearing from him.
"So, I was standing behind this tree and all of the sudden I just felt these hands grab me and throw me to the ground. Detective Benson jumped on top of me and hit me in the face, and when I tried to defend myself, she pulled the collar of my shirt so I was closer to her so she could hit me harder."
Miranda Pond stepped in as Alex looked towards Elliot: she could see the familiar vein in his head protruding outward, his face turning a pale shade of pink. "Mr. Conrad, what injuries did you sustain from detective Benson?"
"Objection. Argumentative." Casey didn't know if this one would stick, but she thought she'd try.
"I'll allow it." Donnelley waved her hand toward Conrad, prompting him to answer.
"I have a fractured cheekbone and eye socket." He paused for effect. "I also sustained a concussion and had a tooth knocked out." Alex knew she shouldn't have been, but she was kind of turned on—she hadn't ever gotten a report of how much damage Olivia did. The detective's brute strength was an aphrodisiac to say the least. There was something about carnal Olivia that drove Alex wild.
"One last question, Mr. Conrad," he nodded, "why do you think detective Benson was—."
Casey blasted up out of her chair. "Objection. Speculation."
Donnelley nodded. "Sustained."
"How do you feel that detective Benson feels about you?" It was an odd question, but within a scope that Casey decided to allow.
"She obviously has something against me, even though I've never done anything to her. Even more, I've never even done anything illegal at all to—."
"Your honor!" Casey knew he'd try to claim he was innocent of the other charges at some point.
"Mr. Conrad," Donnelley turned and looked down at the witness stand, "I thought I made it very clear that I didn't want to hear anything about your other charges? Trust me, there'll be a trial for that." She looked toward the defense attorneys, warning them with a glance.
"No more questions, your honor." Miranda Pond made her way back to the defense table and sat down as Casey stood up.
"So, Mr. Conrad, just so I understand correctly, there was no reason for detective Benson to use the force she did on you, is that correct?"
"Yes, that's correct."
"So that's what you are trying to claim—is that this was just an unfounded, baseless attack by a detective because, oh, I don't know, she was pissed that day, right?"
"Right."
"Ok." Alex clasped her hands together and took a breath. "Let's explore your version of the story, again." Alex loved the way Casey argued in the courtroom, and she paid very close attention, knowing this was going to be good. Conrad nodded and waited for her questions.
"No one argues you were hanging at The Met waiting for your friend. But, let me ask you, Mr. Conrad, when detective," Casey looked down at the note in her hand, trying to recall who it was, "Tutuola approached you and you began to flee, did you immediately run across the street to the park?"
Conrad hesitated, trying to rack his brain for any additional information. "Yes, I went out the front door and across the street."
"You didn't hesitate when you saw detective Stabler standing at the end of the stairs? You didn't recognize a gold shield on his hip and make the decision, again, to run from the cops?"
"Well I saw him but I was running by."
"You were just running by…" Casey pulled up a diagram of the front of The Met, showing it on a large TV screen. With a laser pointer, she identified all of the people in the diagram. "Now, Mr. Conrad, two days ago your attorneys had you plot out on this diagram where everyone was standing when you came out the door. Is that correct?" He nodded. "So you are here," she circled the red laser around a green dot, "and detective Benson is here," a circle around a yellow dot, "and detective Stabler is here," a circle around a purple dot.
He nodded, and a long silence followed.
"Well, doesn't it seem strange that you are right smack in the middle of both of them? If they knew you were running, they surely would have—"
"Objection, your honor. Is there a question here?" Langan's voice rang in Alex's ears.
"Ms. Novak, get to the point."
"When you ran down the steps did you see them closing in on you?"
"Yes."
"So you admit to seeing both detectives making their way towards you as you left The Met?"
"Yes."
"So how did you decide which way to go?"
He paused, and Casey took the opportunity to jump in. "Isn't it true, Mr. Conrad, that you saw the gold shield on detective Stabler's hip and intentionally went the opposite way?"
"I don't remember if that's why or not."
"Ok. But, Mr. Conrad, if you did or you didn't, you still made a conscious effort to proceed a certain way, taking that 'snap judgment' you were talking about before out of the equation. You knew you were running from the police when you started to run, and you made the decision, again, to run when you saw the other two detectives, didn't you?"
He sat motionless, looking back at Casey, unsure of what to answer. "It wasn't a snap decision, Mr. Conrad, you knew you were running from the police. Even if you thought it was a bad idea at first, you had a second chance, right when you saw Benson and Stabler, to stop. And you didn't, did you?"
"No." It was quiet, guilty.
Casey turned around and made her way over to the computer that was hooked up to the TV monitor. "Ok. Let's talk about the route you took once you entered the park." He nodded as Casey pulled up a diagram of the area of the park he ran into, and she handed him the laser pointer.
"Mr. Conrad, could you please point out where you entered the park?" He did so, circling a small area next to a sidewalk. "Why didn't you run to the pavement and follow that?"
"I uh, I don't know." Casey wanted him to say that he didn't take the pavement because he thought it would be harder to keep up with him, furthering the idea that he put a fair bit of thought into fleeing from the police.
"Ok. It doesn't matter." Alex hadn't ever seen Casey this frustrated. "Show me where you say detective Stabler fell out of this foot race." He drew a line about a two football field lengths into the park. "So now you say that you ran down this hill, correct?" Alex pointed to the hill on the diagram. He nodded. "And you hid behind this tree?"
"Yes."
"And then you claim that Detective Benson just attacked you out of no where?"
"Yes."
"Did you hear detective Benson's voice saying anything before she came up on you?"
"No."
"Nothing?"
"Not that I remember, no."
"Hmm. Weird that there was a chase involving four detectives and one suspect and you didn't hear any of the communicat—."
"Objection, your honor. Argumentative." Miranda Pond stared daggers at Casey.
"Sustained."
"Mr. Conrad, are you left handed or right handed?" Casey sighed this question out, changing the subject completely.
"Right handed."
"How did you hurt your hand? In your injury report, all you mentioned was the injuries to your face. Seems like your hand is pretty beaten up too." Alex moved her eyes from his face to his hand. Sure enough, the back of his hand was yellowish-purple, indicating a healing bruise.
He looked down at his hand, somewhat hiding it from view. "Well when I was trying to defend myself—I mean, it must have…It probably got caught or rolled up under one of us during the struggle."
Casey nodded. "Interesting." She paused. "Just one last question, Mr. Conrad. You can't think of any reason that detective Benson may have needed to use any force on you, whatsoever?"
Alex looked into Conrad's eyes as he boldface lied to Casey. "No."
Casey turned to Judge Donnelley. "No more questions, your honor."
"Thank you, Ms. Novak." Casey sat down at the table and waited for the defense to call their most curious witness yet. "Ms. Pond, are you ready to call your next witness?"
"Yes, your honor. Defense calls detective Elliot Stabler."