So sorry for the delay! I've had another project to write and then been on vacation. Just FYI, I've taken several liberties here with the court system and procedure. This would be a thousand chapter story if I followed everything by the book, so just pretend this is how it is supposed to go. ;-)

Tom let out the breath he had been holding, and with it all of the fear and anxiety that had been building up since the attack. He looked at Doug and nodded his head, then lowered it as relief washed over him and his emotions overwhelmed him. He wiped his eyes and sniffed. "It's really happening…right?" he asked without looking up. "It's really gonna be over soon."

"Yeah, buddy," Doug said, putting his hand on Tom's shoulder. "Yeah, it is."

"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, the case the court is about to present to you is about revenge…vicious, brutal, almost deadly revenge against a young police officer. And why? Because he was doing his job. He solved the murder of an innocent 17 year old girl and sent the man responsible to prison. And that man…Lee Aldon Eckert…" District Attorney Scott Hayden turned and pointed at Eckert before facing the jury again. "…that man was released from prison and went on a violent rampage, looking for revenge against the officer responsible for his conviction, Tom Hanson."

It had been three weeks since Eckert was arrested. Tom was looking and feeling much better but sat nervously now in the courtroom between his mother and Doug. He had been working long hours with the D.A. as well as Dr. Hirsch to prepare for this moment, and now it was here. When Eckert was led into the room, Tom had avoided looking directly at him and yet still fought the urge to vomit. His mother, seeing for the first time the man responsible for her son's pain, had reached over and taken his hand, holding it tightly. Tom tried to remain calm as he listened to Hayden continue speaking to the jury.

"The attack on this young officer was inhuman. During this trial you are going to hear…and see…how Tom Hanson was abducted, tied up, viciously beaten, savagely and violently sexually assaulted, and then left for dead behind a dumpster among the garbage." Hayden paused and looked up and down the row of jurors. "Ladies and gentlemen, you are going to be witness to that attack. You will hear testimony and see photos that are going to make you feel uncomfortable, even repulsed. Imagine how the victim feels. What if this was your son or daughter, brother or sister, or even yourself? Listen to the facts, make your judgment, and help me get this sadistic criminal back in prison where he belongs so that this doesn't happen to anyone else. And so that there is some justice for an innocent police officer just doing his job. Thank you."

As Hayden returned to the prosecution's table, he glanced over at the defense side. Lee Eckert sat with a plaintive look on his face. He was clean shaven, his hair neatly combed, and dressed in a clean white button-down shirt and black dress pants. His lawyer, Rosa Sheffield, sat next to him. Petite and pretty, she looked professional in her dark skirt suit as she stood and made her way to the jury. Hayden knew that her looks were deceiving. The woman was a barracuda in the courtroom, and he was not surprised that she had taken Eckert's case. She had a reputation for defending the worst of the worst, sometimes pro bono, in order to get her face on television and her name in the news. She had often defended rapists and ripped victims apart on the stand, but never a male victim. Hayden was both curious and apprehensive about how she was going to handle Hanson when he testified. He listened as she began to speak.

"Well, ladies and gentlemen…after that little introduction to this trial I'm sure you're all ready to get to it. You've been promised a lot of gratuitous, violent stories and pictures. But I'm afraid you've been misled." Sheffield gazed at the 12 men and women who were watching her. "It's true…this trial is about revenge, but not against a so called 'innocent young police officer'. It's about that officer's revenge on his ex-lover, Mr. Eckert."

Shit. Hayden sighed and shook his head. He had known the defense was going to go this route, but hearing it out loud in the courtroom now gave him a bad feeling. This was going to be bad for everyone. He closed his eyes briefly, hoping that his preparation of Hanson for this was going to be enough to get him through it.

Sheffield continued her opening arguments. "Mr. Eckert was convicted of a previous crime and served his time. This case has nothing at all to do with that, and as you were instructed you are not to consider it when deciding on your verdict. But while Officer Hanson was undercover investigating that crime, he and Mr. Eckert became involved sexually. When Mr. Eckert was released from prison, Officer Hanson sought him out…tried to start up a relationship with him again. They had sex, then Mr. Eckert told him it was over. After Officer Hanson left Mr. Eckert's apartment, he was attacked. Later, when it became known that he had been sexually involved with another man that same night, Officer Hanson decided to blame everything on my client. He did it to get revenge on him for not wanting a relationship, and he did it to cover up his promiscuity, his inappropriate sexual involvement with a suspect, and his homosexual activity."

Tom sat stoically, listening to the litany of lies. The D.A. had warned him that they would do this. Although the defense attorney was not allowed to knowingly present false information at the trial, if she did not know for sure or have evidence to the contrary then she was within the law by presenting her client's side of the story as he had given it to her. Tom's eyes flicked over to the defense table and settled on the back of Lee Eckert. He knew it wouldn't be long before he would be looking him in the face, and he shuddered a bit at the thought. His mother's grip on his hand tightened.

"And that," Sheffield concluded, "is the case that you will be hearing. You may be tempted to believe the prosecution's side of this simply because it is the testimony of a police officer. But remember…Mr. Eckert is presumed innocent until they present evidence to show that he committed a crime. You must be satisfied that there is no reasonable doubt before finding him guilty. And I am confident that after listening to both sides of this case with an open mind, you will come to the conclusion that Mr. Eckert is innocent."

Once the opening arguments were over, the prosecution began presenting its case. Hayden knew that without hard evidence that Eckert had assaulted Hanson against his will, the strongest part of this case was going to be Tom's testimony along with that of Marvin Kern. He had decided not to call them as witnesses until he was ready to conclude his side of the case. To open, he called Penhall to the stand to briefly tell how he and Tom had spent the evening in question and how he had left Tom in front of his apartment building. Hayden did not question Doug about finding Hanson. He decided that having the CSI, Angie Hicks, testify to that would be more beneficial to their case. But before Doug was allowed to step down, the defense asked to cross examine him.

Sheffield approached the stand and asked, "Officer Penhall, how long have you and Officer Hanson been…partners?"

Doug ignored the implication in her words and answered, "Three years."

"And in that time, have you known him to engage in homosexual activity?"

"Objection…relevance," stated Hayden.

"Your Honor," Sheffield addressed Judge William Andrews. "That's the whole crux of our case…that the victim is lying to cover up his sexual preferences and promiscuity."

"Overruled," said Andrews. "The witness will answer the question."

"No," Doug said flatly. "I haven't."

"What about an Officer Steven Jacobs? Do you recall him working in your department?" asked the defense attorney.

"Huh?"

"Do you remember him?"

"Yeah…I guess," replied Doug. "But what does…"

"He transferred out of your department after just a few months, didn't he? His file says that he had conflicts with his partner and superiors and exhibited violent and erratic behavior. I believe he was reassigned to desk duty in the fifth precinct. Ringing any bells, Officer Penhall?"

"I remember him, I just don't know what…"

"Isn't it true that he was ostracized because he was frequenting gay bars after work and refused to stop going there in his uniform? That the other officers in the department were embarrassed by him and harassed him until he finally requested a transfer?"

"Objection, Your Honor," said Hayden. "What does this have to do with the current case?"

"Your Honor, I'm laying the groundwork for reasons why the victim would lie to cover up the facts here," Sheffield addressed the judge.

"Overruled," said Andrews again. "But let's get moving on this, Counselor."

"Officer Penhall?" Sheffield stood in front of him with her arms folded.

Doug swallowed hard and looked around the courtroom, his face turning red. "Um…yeah…yeah, it's true."

"So," said Sheffield, "in light of how a gay officer was treated in the past in your department, would it not be reasonable to assume that other gay officers might try to hide their sexual preferences?"

"Objection!" This time the D.A. yelled it. "Calls for speculation."

"Sustained."

Rosa Sheffield looked at Doug with a smile on her face. "Thank you, Officer Penhall. No further questions."

Doug sat for a moment, looking confused, before getting up and heading back to his seat in the gallery. He sat down next to Tom without looking at him. True, he had no control over what the defense attorney had asked him, but still he felt like he had somehow betrayed his friend on the stand.

Angie Hicks was the next witness called. In preparation for her testimony, Hayden propped a stack of large, mounted photos face down on an easel where everyone in the courtroom could see them.

The CSI recounted how she and her partner had been called to the scene after Tom had been found.

"What did you see when you got there?" asked Hayden.

"The victim was semi-conscious, lying on his side. His hands were tied behind him, and he was gagged and covered in blood," she responded.

Hayden turned the first photo over on the easel, revealing a photo of Tom in the position Hicks had described. Tom lowered his head to avoid seeing the photo. The D.A. had shown them all to him prior to the trial so that he would be better prepared when they were presented, but he still did not want to see it. He heard his mother stifle a gasp as it was shown. She had not yet seen the pictures, but had been warned that they were graphic.

"Ms. Hicks, is this your crime scene photo of Officer Hanson as you found him that day?" asked Hayden.

"Yes, it is."

"Have you seen this set of photos before that I have here, and can you confirm that they are all your photos of the crime scene?"

"Yes, they are," she replied.

"Thank you. So what else did you observe when you arrived?" he asked.

Angie took a deep breath and continued, "The ropes around his wrists and mouth were tight…cutting into his skin. We cut those off, and once the paramedics took over and cut his shirt off, we took that into evidence as well."

As she spoke, Hayden showed more pictures that she had taken at the scene…close ups of the ropes binding Tom's wrists and around the gag in his mouth, his bloodied shirt and bruised torso, and the marks on his face and neck. Several members of the jury visibly winced as the photos were shown, and Mrs. Hanson bit her lip, resolved to keep her composure.

"What other evidence did you find? And what were the results?"

"We weren't able to get much from what we collected at the scene. The only evidence we found was what was found on Officer Hanson's body. But other than the blood, which was his, nothing was found to connect anyone to the crime. However, after we received the rest of his clothes from the emergency room we recovered some semen. We ran it through the Combined DNA Index System and got a match to Lee Eckert."

Tom still had his head lowered, and now he shook it slowly. This was proving to be harder than he thought it would be, despite Hayden's preparation. His mother put her arm around his shoulder and gave him a small hug.

"Anything else?" asked the D.A.

"Yes, with a partial description from the victim of an additional suspect and car, we were able to locate a vehicle and suspect, Marty Walsh. The car had been freshly painted, so we were unable to recover any evidence on the outside, but we found a hair inside matching the description Hanson gave of a third suspect. CODIS traced that hair back to a Marvin Kern."

"Thank you, CSI Hicks. No further questions, Your Honor."

"Ms. Sheffield? Your witness," the judge addressed the defense attorney.

Sheffield stood and asked from behind the table, "Ms. Hicks, you stated that you found semen on the victim's clothes and traced it back to my client?"

"Yes, we did," Angie answered.

"Did all of the semen belong to Mr. Eckert?" asked Sheffield.

"No. Some of it was Officer Hanson's."

"Where was this semen located?"

Angie sighed softly. "It was found on Officer Hanson's underwear and on his body…the backs of his thighs and his buttocks…mixed with his blood."

"I see," said Sheffield. "And was there any other evidence that you collected? Perhaps at Mr. Eckert's apartment?"

"Yes." Angie knew the attorney was going to ask the questions anyway, so she went ahead and answered, "we found a sheet in Mr. Eckert's laundry hamper. It also had a small amount of semen from both men as well as some of Hanson's blood."

"Which corroborates what my client says happened, doesn't it? No further questions."

Tom looked up and watched as Rosa Sheffield sat back down behind the defense table and Hicks left the stand. Day one of the trial was almost over, and he had no idea how many more were to come. But he did know one thing. It was going to get worse before it got better.

Thanks for reading! Please review if you have something to say. I like knowing what you think. :-) Again, not as detailed as it really would be in a court trial, but there will be more detail in some testimonies later. I wonder tho...is it boring?