My testimony was over, Alex had put four more witnesses on the stand, and Marsha had five of her own witnesses on the stand after me. After that Judge Anderson decided to take a five minute break, I sat on tender hooks the same as Alex. Anything could have happened to compromise our case. I could feel my stomach dropping with fearful curiosity.
Alex and I had talked about stunts the defence might pull, but the only truly damaging defence would be to put Natasha on the stand and show the small, shy, crying defenceless, brainwashed girl. And that was all they needed to do to equalise the entire case.
Alex and I shared a look with each other, she looked as confused as I felt.
"They're putting Natasha on the stand when we go back in." Alex said crisply.
"You sound very O.K with that." I said feeling my belly churn.
"I prepared myself for this, a part of me really wants this girl to go on the stand so I can bring her down a few pegs. Olivia, you see that girl she's not remorseful, she's sorry she got caught." Alex said.
She was right, I had watch Natasha June, or Sadie or whoever this girl was during the trial and she wasn't worried. She didn't seem to care at all.
Alex and I went back into the court, Alex took her place, I sat at the back of the courtroom. The judge entered and court started it's proceedings again. The judge was smart, grab a coffee before the possibly lying victim, rapist takes the stand. It's going to be a long day!
"The Defence call Natasha June to the stand." Marsha Paxton said pulling her jacket down again.
Natasha took the stand, this was the thing we least needed. Alex had cross examined all of the Defence's other witnesses, Paxton had cross examined all Alex's witnesses. Everything came down to this one witness. The perp. She was sworn in, then like any good attorney, Marsha asked Natasha to explain how she was associated with Duncan in the first place.
"Daddy had me since I was five years old." Natasha started, she sounded upset, but rehearsed. Like she'd thought about what she was going to say and practice what sounded best. "Daddy took me from my real parents, he told me they were dead and he was all I had in the world." Tears spilled down Natasha's cheeks, "He would keep me locked away, he raped me and sexually abused me for years. Before I even knew what sex was I was having it."
Marsha stepped forward offering her client a tissue, "Natasha, who is Daddy?"
"Daddy is Duncan, he's the man that took me."
"Can you tell us about the recent girls you got for Duncan?"
Natasha sniffed back tears and nodded, "He told me if I didn't get new girls for him, then he would leave me, he said he'd kill me."
I watched Alex write ferociously as Natasha spoke, I felt proud, she was concentrating, she was picking holes in Natasha's story.
"I'm not a monster, I swear." Natasha cried.
"We don't think that Natasha." Marsha began, "Tell us about what happened to the girls."
"When Daddy wanted a new girl, he made me go out with him. He'd tell me a story I would have to tell the girl to gain their trust. Then I had to get them back to the van." Natasha chocked.
"What happened inside the van?"
"Daddy would make the girl lay down, he'd have sex with her, whilst he touched me. Or he'd make the girl perform oral sex on me." The twenty one year old seemed very small at this point. I scanned the jurors faces, all of them looked sympathetic but confused, and as long as they stayed confused, Alex had a chance to pull this back. "I didn't want to do it, I told him I didn't want to but he wouldn't listen to me, he kept saying if I don't he'd leave me, or he'd kill me. He said he was the only person that ever really loved me, and he showed me how much he loved me. He's my Daddy. He didn't mean to hurt anyone, he just wanted to show other girls the same love he shows me."
"Thank you Natasha."
Alex stood up, she was ready. Marsha hadn't coached Natasha as much as Alex had initially feared. Alex headed towards the jury to show she was on their side, "Natasha, when you were growing up with Duncan, he abused you and raped you, correct?"
"Yes." Natasha said softly.
"Please explain, so the jurors and I can understand, if you were being raped and abused from such a young age, why would you then go and do the same thing you hated to other little girls?" Alex looked at the jury waiting for Natasha to reply.
"I was made to. He forced me!" Natasha said quickly.
"Natasha do you know the difference between right and wrong?"
"Yes."
Alex stayed where she was, "So when Duncan let you out of the van to get girls, why didn't you find a police officer? There are plenty of NYPD officers around."
"I was scared."
"Don't you think those other little girls were scared?"
"Yes, I..."
Alex hit every mark, "How many little girls did you and Duncan abuse together?"
"The three that Detective Benson mentioned earlier."
"And how many girls did you and Duncan molest who you didn't give bombs to?" Alex knew this question would break Natasha's story in the juror's eyes if she got it right.
"forty six." Natasha mumbled.
"Please repeat that louder." Alex said.
"Forty six girls, forty nine including the bear bombs."
"How old are you Natasha?"
"I'm twenty one."
"How long have you been finding victims for Duncan and yourself?"
"Years, too long to remember." the girl tried to put the tears on again, but it was too late, the jury already had disgusted, judgemental expressions on their faces.
"Are you remorseful for your crimes?"
"I am, so much. I can't tell you."
"Were you remorseful for all forty nine girls you lured to be raped?" Alex said putting on the heat, surprised she hadn't been objected to.
"Yes, since the first girl I swear."
Alex looked at the ground then back up at Natasha, "If you were truly remorseful, then why didn't you go to the police the first time it happened? Or the second? Instead you lured forty nine underaged girls to be raped and abused, and forced to perform oral sex on you."
"Objection, is Miss. Cabot done badgering my witness?" Marsha said from her seat.
"I have no further questions." Alex retorted, she sat back down.
Judge Anderson looked at her watch, "Court is in recess until eight A.M tomorrow morning for closing statements."
Alex packed up her briefcase, I headed towards her with a smile on my face. A genuine smile. "You did great."
"Don't count your chickens yet Liv." she said, "Marsha killed me off with her objection, I was hoping to just leave the jury with forty nine in their heads."
"It's stuck in my head, I watched them, I think you made your point."
The following morning Alex and I were back in court, to be honest, I was hoping today would be the last of this case, because I'd had enough. Together we'd lost a lot, and fought very hard to get where we are, and I needed us to stay here. I needed justice for the victims of Natasha and Duncan.
Judge Anderson had come into Court, she looked tired too. She instructed closing statements, no trick tactics, she wasn't in the mood. She instructed Alex to begin her closing statement. This was something I loved watching Alex do. Alex was always amazing in court, but I loved listening to her opening and closing statements.
Alex stood up and stood in front of the jury box, she looked at each juror as she spoke.
"Ladies and gentlemen of the jury, we have spent a lot of time here trying to decide one thing, is Natasha June responsible for her actions? I put it to you like this, Natasha is aware of her actions, she knows the difference between right and wrong, and yet she continued to rape and abuse little girls as young as six. She has openly admitted to abusing a total of forty nine girls. That's more than a class of first graders. Natasha took forty nine little girls, she took their childhood, those children are fearful, and hurt, they're emotionally scared for life, and you'd think considering Natasha herself was raped and abused repeatedly, that she would not do the same thing. If she hated it as much as she claims, why would she then go and do the thing that she knows hurts her the most in the world? I wouldn't. Would you? Could you receive oral sex from a six year old? It's not even possible to imagine, it's horrifying but it happened because of her!" Alex pointed to Natasha who looked like she had been caught off guard and suddenly made a sorrowful face. Alex turned back to the face the jury letting thirty seconds of silence pass to make sure she commanded the attention of the jurors.
"It is truly horrible what happened to Natasha, but that doesn't mean that she should then go and commit the same crime she had forced upon her for years. She had ample opportunity to run away, to find the police, she didn't take it. She went back to Duncan, who she is still protecting by not giving his location to the police and she continued to go back to Duncan forty nine times." Alex took a breath, "Don't let Natasha fool you with her tears, she knew what she was doing was wrong and continued to rape little girls who trusted her! Now I put the trust of all the little girls of New York in your hands, find Natasha June guilty. Give those forty nine little girls, the forty nine mothers and fathers, ninety eight grandparents lost grandchildren. Imagine if you lost your little girl, a little sister, niece or cousin. You'd want the same justice the families of these little girls want." Alex handed out four A4 sheets, each with year book style photos on them, "These are the forty nine little girls that were raped by Natasha and Duncan. Don't let there be anymore innocent girls hurt by this woman."
Marsha stood up and took Alex's place in front of the jury. "Ladies and Gentlemen, my client hasn't denied hurting those little girls. What she's saying is, she wouldn't have committed those crimes in the first place had she not been conditioned to rape and abuse. She was kidnapped when she was five. What were you doing when you were five? Playing in the garden, riding your bike? Natasha was being raped every day. It's hard to even imagine that happening to someone so little. Natasha believed her parents were dead, she believed she was next if she didn't do as she was told because she was brainwashed by Duncan. If my client didn't want to be found, after sixteen years, my client can fly under the radar. She handed herself into the NYPD because she knew what she was doing was wrong and she finally had the courage to do something about it. Her entire world is Duncan, she's been brave enough to come forward and admit to her sins, lets not punish her anymore."
A/N: I know it's been FAR TOO LONG since I updated this story and I'm so sorry, I loved this story and I'm ashamed of myself for leaving it so long to update.
Now I have three options for this story and I myself am conflicted, so now I'm letting you guys know the three options I have for this story.
1- Natasha is guilty.
2- Natasha is found innocent.
3- I leave it open so you can decide based on your personal feelings...
Now I know if you're anything like me, you'll hate the episode of SVU that leaves the verdict as a blank so we can make our own minds up. Naturally we want answers, so leave a comment. I want to know what you think about the case, what would you do if you were a juror on this trial?