On trial for life

Title: On trial for life

Author: MYBIGBLUEBOX

Series: C.S.I

Rating: T

Genre: angst/comfort

Spoilers: none

Characters: Gil Grissom, Sara Sidle, Conrad Ecklie, Catherine Willows, Jim Brass, Nick Stokes, Greg Sanders, Warrick Brown.

Disclaimer: God knows how many times you've all read these disclaimers but I'm going to say it all again just coz. I don't own these characters they are all property of channel 5, CBS productions and the writer.

Summary: Ecklie's trial date has finally arrived, will Sara testify?

Dedications: Everyone who's read anything I've done over the years and gave their constructive criticism.

Warnings: very violent and a strong reference to rape. Bad language and despair. Explores the feelings of rape victims so please mind the rating, if you are affected by any of these subjects.

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Sara's POV

Testify? Jesus I don't know. I don't want to stand there in the dock and look him in the eye, I sure as hell don't want him to see me cry when I tell my story. Memories flash through my head that night at work, the rape, Grissom, something he said to me that night, something important.

' You can stop him from hurting anyone else. You want to protect the world Sara, I know you do, so protect the world this way, for them Sara, for every other woman out there.'

That first night, bleeding in my room, hurt, scared he wanted that name from me. For every other woman out there I said that name, now for every other woman out there I have to testify, not just for them for me as well. I look up at Gil a new determination filling me.

'Yeah Gil, I will. I'm going to testify.' He looks back at me, a new light in his eyes. He pulls me close to him and places a kiss to my forehead.

'That's my girl.' A week before Christmas and I have to prepare my piece for court, I'm not going to worry about that now, now I'm going to enjoy the feeling of Christmas with Gil, the love of my life.

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Grissom's POV

When she told me this morning that she was going to testify against Ecklie, I couldn't believe how brave she is. Now watching her wrapping Christmas presents I can't take my eyes off her. She looks so beautiful, no more blood shot eyes, no more bruises, her skin glowing healthy. I smile to myself, tinsel is draped around her shoulders and a piece of mistletoe in her hair, tucked behind her ear. She's happy, sitting on my floor cross legged, messing with paper and coloured ribbon. She looks up and catches me looking at her.

'What?' I smile warmly and go and sit beside her.

'Nothing. I love you.' She looks at me, a confused smile gracing her face.

'I love you too.' She kisses me gently, before placing another expertly wrapped package under the small Christmas tree.

'Gil, I want to start getting together my evidence for court. I want to make sure my story's straight.' I watch her warily, all the good work we've done together could be unravelled by this.

'Want some help?' I'd feel so disloyal to her if I didn't offer.

'Yeah Gil, thanks.' She leans a head on my shoulder and pulls out a pad of paper she'd been ticking off her Christmas presents on, and a pen. I put my arms around her waist and lean into her.

'Okay, where do we start.'

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TWO WEEKS LATER

JUDICIDAL COURT,

LAS VEGAS, NEVADA

Catherine's POV

Okay, I am so not ready for this. I can't shake the feeling that I've forgotten something or something is going to go badly wrong with my evidence. All the evidence I have is primary everything the prosecution is based upon. I hope Sara has it in her to testify, it'll make our case against the bastard so much stronger. Maybe now that she has Gil she will have the strength to do things she never would have before al this started, the one good thing to ever come form something so damn evil. The ultimate crime of possession. I pace the corridor outside the court room, I made sure to turn up early, nerves I guess. Gil and Sara will be here before anyone else.

'Hey Cath.' Dear God here they are, Jesus I'm so wrapped up in my own mind I didn't even hear them coming. I wring my hands nervously just out of there line of sight, I catch Gil glancing me over worriedly, this isn't right he should be worrying about me it should be about Sara. He looks over at Sara.

'Will you be okay on your own for a minute I need to talk to Cath for a second.' She nods, I walk quickly around the corner, I can't help but sneak a look at them, they stand talking, before leaning into each other for a kiss. Finally it's about time they got together. I whip around the corner just as Gil turns towards me. I hear his footsteps get closer to me and my anxiety increases.

'Hey, you gonna tell me what's wrong?' I turn around slowly to look at him, his right shoulder leaning against the wall his arms folded over his chest.

'I... it's nothing...it's just that.' I take a deep breath steadying myself.

'I guess I'm nervous is all. I just don't want to let Sara, and you down on this.' I run my hand over my eyes, pressure building up in my sinuses. I feel a hand on my shoulder, I look up at Grissom.

'It's okay I'm sure you'll do fine. We really appreciate all your doing for us.' I stare at him, trying to work out if he is as serious as he seems. When I finally decided to trust him like I should I reach up and hug him hard.

'Thanks Gil, it helps to know that.' We smile at each other before going back to Sara. We embrace each other all the words we want to say to each other pouring out without speaking a word. God I hope that I get everything right.

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Warrick's POV

God knows how many times I've been called to testify, but I've never been so nervous in my entire life. Sitting in the dock you can see everyone and they can see you. Griss, Sara, Cath, Nick, Greg, Brass... Ecklie.

'C.S.I Brown, we've already heard Mr Ecklie's confession of guilt and reviewed the footage from the interrogation that Ms Willows and Mr Stokes undertook approximately three months ago. We need some physical evidence to back up these claims. What have you got for us?' I look the pretty, young attorney, I bet she's only just graduated, couldn't wait to sink her teeth into something big.

'We've got a lot ma'am, fingerprint evidence, bite marks, matched DNA, hair and fibre, blood splatter, the works. There is no doubt that Mr Ecklie here brutally assaulted Miss Sidle.' She looks a me hard, a raw determination in her eyes, it would be such a boost for her to get Ecklie a lesser sentence, a definite life cut down to 10 years maybe. She wants that lesser sentence.

'Mr Brown your professional speciality would be audio and visual analysis. What are you going to know about any of this evidence?' I stare at her coldly, I badly want to yell at her, I catch Cath's eye she shakes her head ever so slightly at me, warning me not to go to far. I take a deep breath and answer the woman.

'Ma'am just because my speciality is audio and visual evidence doesn't mean that I haven't dealt with the rest of the evidence, but if you want to hear what the visual analysis tells me I'd be happy to tell you.' She stares me out waiting for me to snap, she waits a long time.

'Please continue Mr Brown.'

'As can be seen from the scene of crime photographs this rape was about violence. The disarray of the apartment, the amount of broken objects and the sheer amount of blood on the premises tells us that this rape was about as violent as it could get.' I open my mouth to speak, but am interrupted by the defence attorney.

'But Mr Brown this doesn't as of fact tell us that Mr Ecklie wasn't provoked in some way to commit this crime against Miss Sidle, now does it? Maybe as Mr Ecklie stated to Mr Stokes and Ms Willows that if in fact Mr Grissom had not exhibited his ability to perform his job a little better than Mr Ecklie, we would not be in this situation. Is that not the case? Does your visual analysis show in any form that Mr Ecklie was not provoked?' She looks at me victory already gleaming in her eyes. I'm sunk.

'No the visual evidence does not show that Mr Ecklie was provoked.'

'Would you consider it a credible theory that Mr Ecklie may have been provoked into suck an action based upon your visual analysis?

'Based solely upon the visual evidence alone I would say that it is a credible theory.' The words taste bitter in my mouth like I've let Sara down, I failed them. The defence attorney smiles sweetly at me before turning me over to Sara's attorney. A elderly man who obviously has been in the field for some years and is riddled with experience faces me. His wooded cane clicks ominously on the linoleum floor.

'Good morning Mr Brown, as we have heard you do indeed specialise in visual analysis. Could you tell me please what you think of this man here?' He points his cane at Ecklie. The defence attorney is on her feet so fast that you would have thought she'd sat on a tack or something.

'Objection your honour, my client is not here to be analysed by the C.S.I graveyard shift.'

'My apologies, withdrawn.' Sara's attorney, Mr... Harris smiles at me. I grin back, casting a weary eye over the defence, she seems to boil under my glare.

'Anyway Mr Brown, back to the scene of crime photos. Judging by the amount of violence and disarray what conclusion would you draw from this?'

'That the rape was about causing as much pain as possible, that Mr Ecklie had been thinking about it for a long time, pent up emotions surfaced during attack.'

'This may appear like a stupid question to you but do you believe that if Mr Ecklie had the chance he would have killed Miss Sidle?' I shudder at the thought.

'Yes, based on the evidence here, I don't think he would have hesitated to kill her.' Mr Harris gives me a small encouraging smile.

'No further questions.'

'Thank you Mr Brown you may step down.'

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Nick's POV

'Mr Stokes, you are a man with a good understanding of hair and fibre analysis. Would you care to tell us what you found upon examining Miss Sidle's apartment?' This woman's one tough cookie after watching her rip Warrick apart I knew I was in for a rough ride.

'Certainly Ma'am, during my investigation we found a good deal of strong hair and fibre evidence, upon a DNA analysis of these items we found that they matched Mr Ecklie perfectly.' She eyes me up, trying to see what else she can get out of me that will improve her case.

'Mr Ecklie's DNA was collected with consent or a warrant I presume?' I frown at her.

'Of course.' What the hell is she tryin' to say?

'Just making sure Mr Stokes, can't be too careful now can we?' She smiles at me, I don't return it.

'Would it be logical to suggest that Mr Ecklie's hair and fibres from his clothes may have been located at Miss Sidle's apartment under more innocent circumstances?'

'Yes, that would be a reasonable theory, but as Miss Sidle never invited Mr Ecklie into her apartment before it would be more logical to suggest that Mr Ecklie was there during the attack of Miss Sidle, we found...' She cute into my sentence stopping me dead.

'Thank you Mr Stokes, your witness Mr Harris.' I can't believe she just did that! M Harris takes his time standing up and getting to me.

'Mr Stokes would you like to finish what you were just saying there?'

'Thank you Sir. We found no other hair or fibre which is to be expected as Miss Sidle lives alone.'

'Are you saying Mr Stokes that the only hair and fibre evidence came from Miss Sidle and her attacker.'

'That is correct Sir.'

'For your benefit ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the other hair and fibre evidence apart from Miss Sidle was that of Mr Ecklie, putting him in the place of our attacker. I think this says to all of us that Mr Ecklie's confession is that of fact.' Mr Harris turns back to me.

'Mr Stokes upon reviewing the evidence taken from Miss Sidle during her post attack exam, what did you find?'

'The scrapings taken from under her nails consisted of Mr Ecklie's DNA and a small amount of hair.'

'What conclusions did you draw from this?'

'That Miss Sidle put up a fight against her attacker, she struggled with him, as it has been established that Mr Ecklie did succeed in raping her, it is undeniable that he used an extraordinary amount of force to hold her down, this at least showing malicious intent.'

'Mr Stokes, I would like to steer us away from the hair and fibre evidence. In your professional opinion do you believe that Mr Grissom, for lack of a better way to put it, rubbed Mr Ecklie's face in the fact that he could do his job better than he could?'

'No way. Mr Grissom is in no way a man that would lower himself to those standards, he is admired for his professionalism.' I catch Grissom's eye, he smiles at me, nodding his thanks. I smile back.

'I also have studied this tape of the interrogation yourself and Ms Willows undertook some months back. There is a mention of a woman named, Claire Edmunds. I believe that she was Mr Ecklie's first victim. He was going to be fired for this. Do we have Miss Edmunds available to testify?' I swallow God I was hoping this wouldn't come up.

'No Sir, Miss Edmunds was found dead in her home a week ago. It was ruled a suicide, it appears that she could no longer live with the memory of her rape. I have a copy of the suicide note along with all the evidence taken when she pressed charges, We have proved that Mr Ecklie did indeed rape Miss Edmunds also.'

'Thank you Mr Stokes, no further questions.'

' You may step down Mr Stokes.'

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Catherine's POV

'Ms Willows you were leading this investigation is that correct?' God I already hate her guts.

'That is correct yes.'

'How did you find the conduct of your C.S.I's during the duration of the investigation?'

'Impeccable.' I smile sourly at her, she returns it.

'I'm sure. The blood evidence that we see here, could the splatter be caused by anything else?'

'It could be explained by an accidental cut but that is highly unlikely it is more believable to say...'

'So in fact Miss Sidle may have cut herself and caused the blood splatter without Mr Ecklie causing her injury?'

'It's possible but highly un..'

'Thank you Ms Willows, your witness.' If I could jut get hold her.

'Ms Willows due to the disgusting manners of some you could not finish your sentence, please finish for us.'

'Thank you. It is highly unlikely that Miss Sidle did this to herself, also if this is the case how do you explain the other injuries and the undeniable DNA evidence that Mr Ecklie was there? Is it being suggested that Mr Ecklie allowed Miss Sidle to bleed all over her own apartment and then made it look as if he did it himself?' I'm getting angrier by the second, Mr Harris watches me, I catch Gil's eye his look tells me plain and simple to calm down.

'Ms Willows, the blood splatter on the wall around the bed where it has been claimed that Miss Sidle suffered blows from Mr Ecklie would you say that they were consistent with considerable force applied to the body?'

'Absolutely, a classic example.'

'Ms Willows as you see Mr Ecklie and Mr Grissom every day would you believe that Mr Ecklie was provoked into such action?'

'No, never, if someone told me that Mr Grissom had been provoking Mr Ecklie I would tell them that they were crazy.'

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Grissom's POV

I watch Sara take the stand, her hands are shaking, I want to walk up to her and take her hands in mine and tell her that everything is going to be okay.

'Good morning Miss Sidle, now we've heard everyone else's side of thing we need to hear it from your own mouth.' If that vile woman says a word to upset her I won't be held responsible for my actions. Sara tells her story, relieving the hours in her mind. She catches my eye on more than one occasion, I smile at her encouragingly. When she finishes the defence doesn't want to question her, I dare her to try and say a word to her. Mr Harris steps forward.

'Miss Sidle, Im truly sorry for what has happened to you and I won't keep you much longer, just one question, so that we've covered all bases. Did you ever in your memory say anything at all to provoke Mr Ecklie here?'

'No Sir never. I, nor Mr Grissom said anything to provoke him in any way shape or form. I was frightened for my life, I never said a bad word to him, I was terrified and abused in my on home for a personal cause of his.' Mr Harris smiles gently at Sara and discreetly passes her a tissue.

'Thank you Miss Sidle you may step down.' Sara exits the stand and walks back to me. To everyone else she appears to be walking normally, she moving slightly to fast, looking desperate. She slides in next to me and I slip my arm around her shoulders, the other around her waist, I whisper soothing words into her ear. I can feel eyes on me, I don't care. I look over at Ecklie and catch his eye, he smiles at me, damn I hope they kill him.

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Greg's POV

Poor Sara, dear God I never heard her story in full until now. Bastard, bastard. The jury just left to decide on his sentence, it better damn well be life and nothing less. As for hurting Claire, damn him, she was a sweet girl. I gotta remember to put some flowers on her grave. God bless her soul.

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Brass' POV

Thank God that's over, at least Sara never has to talk about her rape again if she doesn't want to. We've been waiting for the verdict for hours now, about ten minutes ago we all got called back in to hear the verdict. The jury troops back in looking decidedly ruffled and tired. Ecklie is told to rise to hear his sentence, the county Judge regards him coldly.

'Mr Ecklie you have acted selfishly and in a way that horrifies everyone present there is no excuse for such behaviour in civilised society. If it where my choice a life sentence would be given to you. As it is I cannot give you a sentence but our jury has reached a suitable verdict. Conrad Ecklie in light of the evidence presented to us today and based on the excellent opinion of the jury you are sentenced to...

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Okay here you go new chapter, sorry it took so long Christmas held me off for a bit. I know it's long and I hope you didn't get bored with it. I still can't decide what verdict to give him tell me what you want Ecklie to get and the majority vote will be what he gets. Please review!!