"The people call Sara Sidle." The prosecutor told the judge.
Sara walked into the court room getting the first glimpse of her mother who was dressed in an orange jumpsuit.
Sara was sworn in and took her seat.
"Please state you're name for the record." The prosecutor requested.
"Sara Sidle Stokes." She replied.
"Stokes?" The prosecutor questioned.
"I got married on Saturday."
"Congratulations. Ms Stokes, you're the daughter of the defendant are you not?"
"Yes." Sara confirmed.
"And the victim was your father?"
"Yes."
"And you were present on the night he died?"
"Yes."
"I have a few questions regarding that night." He stated.
"Can I say something about my testimony?" Sara asked.
"Ms Stokes that's not how we do things." The judge informed her. "You wait until he asks you a question."
"Yes your Honour. But it's relevant to the biased nature of my testimony and the accuracy of my account of what happened that night." Sara explained.
"What did you wish to say Ms Stokes?" The judge inquired intrigued by her statement.
"About nine or ten years ago I read the case file into the investigation of my father's death and the court transcript."
"How did you obtain the case file?" The judge inquired.
"I worked for the San Francisco Medical Examiner's office in the crime lab. I put in a request for the file and they let me see it."
"Was Mr Patton aware of this fact?" The judge asked.
"My lawyers advised Mr Patton of this fact when they tried to get me out of the subpoena to testify last Friday as I already had a subpoena to give evidence at another appeal in Las Vegas." Sara explained.
"What exactly do you do for a living Ms Stokes?"
"I'm a criminalist for Clark County Nevada." Sara replied.
"Mr Patton, Ms Stokes testimony of the events of the night of her father's death could have been unduly influenced and therefore is inadmissible. You can restrict your questions to areas not related to the murder specifically." The judge ordered.
"Yes your honour." Patton sighed. "Ms Stokes, was your brother present at the home on the night of the murder?"
"Yes." Sara replied.
"And do you know he is currently?"
"No. I haven't seen or heard from him in about 19 years."
"Nineteen years?" The lawyer questioned.
"We were placed in separate foster homes when my mother was arrested. I saw him approximately three times after my mother was jailed, he was disruptive and was moved to a different foster home and we lost track of each other."
"Ms Stokes did your mother ever hit you?"
"No." Sara replied.
"Do you know why you were on the originally witness list and then dropped?"
"I was a child, I have no idea." Sara replied.
"No further questions."
"Your witness Mr Kinney." The judge informed her mother's defence attorney.
"Ms Stokes, congratulations on your wedding." Kinney said.
"Thank you."
"Where did you go to college?"
"Harvard, I had a science scholarship."
"And you're a criminalist, so you understand how crime scenes and the justice system work."
"Yes." Sara replied.
"Was your father an alcoholic?" Kinney inquired.
"I don't think he would have used that term but yes." Sara stated. "He drank a lot."
"Did he ever hit you?"
"Yes."
"On more than one occasion?"
"Yes."
"And your brother?"
"Yes." Sara confirmed.
"And your mother? He used to beat her?"
"Yes."
"Why didn't you ever call the police? Or tell an adult?"
"I did and no-one believed me." Sara replied. "So I stopped, I thought it was normal."
"So as an adult given your experiences do you think it's your father was stabbed in self defence?"
"I remember my father being passed out drunk, and I remember seeing my mother sink a knife into his chest before I ran and hid under the bed. I remember because the image haunted my dreams for years. What other specific details I can't tell you whether they were what I remember from that night or from what I read. My father was an abusive alcoholic, but that doesn't justify murder. I deal with death on a regular basis; self defence is one wound, maybe two, but not being stabbed 23 times."
TBC