March 18th, 2007

So I will be testifying tomorrow. I'm surprised that they have a case against Josh, but I guess he never watched his comforter since he was arrested in January. Boys, they're stupid.

I don't know what's going on yet, Casey talked to me a few minutes ago. She said that she couldn't be part of the case, but she would be there for support. She said that I had to do this, or else Josh wouldn't be convicted and still be out here instead of a prison cell where he belongs. So at long as Casey is sitting behind Mary, I'll be all right.

Hopefully, I don't get emotional. Stress is not good for the baby.

"And was the defendant's DNA on the bed comforter?" Mary asked.

"It was" Elliot replied "Dr.Warner confirms that in the medical reports."

Danielle was sitting next to Casey outside the courtroom. She wondered how Elliot could take the stand; she wondered how anyone could take the stand. Sometimes, Danielle would watch Casey try cases in the courtroom, and she could never imagine anyone testifying against someone, but now she had no other choice but to be in that position.

The police officer of the court opened the door.

"Are you ready?" Casey asked.

Danielle didn't say anything, but she got up from the bench and walked in the courtroom; Casey followed, wondering how Danielle was going to handle testifying.

While Danielle sat down at the stand, Mary stood up, and started asking her questions.

"Danielle, how do you know the defendant?"

"He was a friend at first, but then we started dating."

"And how long were you dating before the incident occurred?"

"Almost 2 months" Danielle said.

"Can you tell the court what happened that night when the defendant raped you?" Mary asked. Both Mary and Casey noticed that Danielle had a scared, but sad look on her face. Casey never saw her sister look so nervous in her life.

"I was at a friend's party. Josh brought me to someone's room and locked the door. I didn't expect him to do that. I told him to stop, but he didn't listen to me and raped me."

"Thank you" Mary said "Nothing further, your honor."

Mary walked away and sat down where she was sitting before. The defense attorney looked like a scary man to Danielle, but maybe it was because he was against him. Casey started worrying about Danielle as he got up from his chair and the badgering began.

"My client informed me that you were intoxicated" he said "Is this true?"

"If you're asking if I was drunk, the answer is no" Danielle said.

"But were you drinking?"

"Objection!" Mary yelled standing up "What is the relevance?"

"The relevance would be if the witness was sober enough to realize that she was being raped."

"I'll allow it" the judge said as Mary sat down "Danielle, answer the question."

"I only drank one or two Smirnoffs, and believe me, that isn't enough to get me drunk."

"Okay, so you weren't drunk. Can you say if my client was drunk?"

"Objection!"

"I'm sorry. Let me rephrase my question" he said as he walked closer to Danielle "Did you notice if Josh was intoxicated?"

"I'm pretty sure that he wasn't..."

"And if that was a percentage, what would it be?"

"Objection!"

This time, both Mary and Casey stood up. No one expected Casey to stand up and join Mary Clark in the objection.

Mary turned and looked at Casey.

"Ms.Novak..."the judge said.

"Your honor, I'm sorry...but he's badgering the witness."Casey said loudly.

"You're just saying that because you're the witness' sister!" the defense attorney yelled "I'd like to declare a mistrial!"

"Over my dead body!" Mary shouted.

"That's Enough!"

When the judge shouted at the lawyers, Danielle jumped from her seat. The judge noticed this and looked to Danielle.

"Are you all right?" he asked.

"I don't want to be rude or anything, but since I am pregnant, I have really sensitive hearing."

"I apologize, Ms. Novak."

"Apology accepted" Danielle said as the judge looked back at the lawyers.

"Ms. Novak, because of your outburst in this courtroom, I have no other choice but to hold you in contempt…"

"Excuse me, your honor?"

Everyone looked at Danielle when they heard her say that.

"Once again, I don't mean to be rude" Danielle said "But Casey is my legal guardian until I'm 18. And also, she doesn't mean to act this way. She's my sister, and I admit that she's acting stupid and unprofessional, but is arresting her necessary?"

The judge looked at Danielle was a questioning face.

"Aren't you going to law school to be a lawyer?"

"Uh...yes."

"You have an interesting argument in defending your sister" the judge said, looking back at Casey "I won't keep you in contempt, but I will ask you to leave."

Casey nodded as she got up from her seat and started walking out of the courtroom when she heard the judge say "Well, I guess we're going to have a Casey Novak Jr. in a few years..."