Ch.5 igo to Death Row
June 25, 2010
The bailif stood before the witness stand. "Do you swear to tell the truth, the whole truth, and nothing but the truth so help you God?" he asked. Carly Shay didn't think twice. "I do," she replied, with her right hand on the bible. "You may be seated," the officer replied. Sam shifted in her seat. Over the course of the past week, her lawyer had called Principal Franklin, Spencer, and several of her fellow school mates to the stand as character witnesses. He was trying to counter the prosecution's idea of Sam being nothing but a violent sociopath by having people recount how much her behavior had improved. Principal Franklin was forced to admit that while he still had weekly meetings with Sam to discuss her various pranks and other misdeeds, he had felt less of a need to give her detention. "As a matter of fact," he had said when the prosecuting attorney had asked him, "Up untill her arrest, she was going on her third week without a single detention." Ted Franklin was proud of his student.
"Is it true that you have had a good standing relationship with my client for over five years now?" Tim Shivers asked. "Actually, I've known her for about nine years, now," Carly replied. There were several murmers in the court room, which is what Shivers wanted. His plan was to draw sympathy. He was told by Sam that obviously someone was trying to frame her, but with no evidence as to whom, he didn't feel he could use that defense in court. "And is it also true, that in the course of your knowing my client, her attitude and people skills and general obedience of authority have improved dramatically since you met?" he asked. Carly made no hesitation to answer. "Yes, sir, she has," Carly said happily. "She hadn't been bullying other students as much as before," Shivers continued. "No, sir, She regularly hung out with Gibby and his girlfriend, even without me suggesting to," Carly said.
"So you see, members of the jury," Shivers continued. "This is further proof that because of positive influence, my client has all but given up bullying." Shivers hoped that was enough, and sat down. Judge Amy Williams did her job efficiently. "Your witness," she said, nodding to the prosecuting attorney. "Miss Shay," he began, tapping the podium he stood behind with a pencil. "Is it true that Samantha Puckett did have a grudge with Valerie Greene?" he asked. "Well, you see-" "A simple yes or no will do!" he barked impatiently. "Yes, sir," she answered a little fearfully. "And what was the nature of their grudge?" he asked. "Well sir, when our web show, iCarly first started, Valerie had dated our friend Freddie, who produces everything we do. She convinced him to help her with her show, saying she would rid the internet of iCarly."
Sam shifted in her seat. She didn't think that this was relevent. The Valerie thing had happened almost four years ago, and the fact that her show failed miserably when Freddie left it was payback enough as far as she was concerned. "And did you actually hear Valerie say this?" Carly's inquisitor asked. "Well sir," Carly began. "Did you actually hear it, yes or no?" he cut her off again. "No, sir," Carly answered. "You see, this is hearsay evidence that the victim had ever wanted to ruin the show that the defendant participated in to begin with," he said. "SHE TOLD ME!" Freddie yelled from the audience.
"Order in the court," the judge yelled. She slammed her hammer on the gavel, making Carly jump. "Your honor, as touching as this girls defense of her friend is, I think it's clear she's just covering for a murderer," the prosecutor said. It took all Freddie had not to jump the railing and attack the prosecutor. He knew he would have his turn, as he would be called to the stand to testify, and he couldn't wait to deal with this pompous ass of an attorney. His mother was in the audience as well. Surprisingly, she had not freaked out when he told her everything that happened when Sam was arrested. "I think it's good that you show such loyalty to your friends," she had said.
"Your honor, I have no more questions for this witness," he said. "Very well then, you may step down," the judge replied. Carly was once again barely holding back tears. She had known Sam long enough to know that there was no way in a million years she would ever kill someone. Make their lives hell, maybe. Sam had finally reached a point with Freddie where she wasn't constantly insulting him. It made her life easier, because whenever Sam and Freddie went at it, she always ended up playing mediator. She took her seat in the audience as the judge called an hour recess for lunch. She had wanted to sit at the head of the defense team, right next to Sam, but she was told that only lawyers could sit there.
Sam took the ham and cheese sandwich that Spencer gave her and ate greedily. She was still confined in Seattle Police Department during the trial, and their definition of food kind of sucked. Sam was sure that she had eaten cafeteria food that looked and tasted better than what they had tried to serve her in jail. Of course, she had to eat, so she ate whatever looked least disgusting. Her back also still hurt from her encounter with Officer Peters, and she had pointed that assault out when she was called to the stand. She had wanted to cram the prosecuting attorney's pencil down his throat, but she had controlled herself.
The rest of the trial was a blur to Sam. Freddie and the prosecuting attorney ended up in a shouting match that the judge broke up by threatening to hold both of them in contempt. The brave soul had dared to question why Freddie would continue to be friends with someone who constantly picked on him. With that, Freddie had blown his last gasket. He exploded at the man, "You obviously don't have any friends, do you?" Freddie had sarcastically asked. "Sam and I may constantly fight, but I would do anything for this woman, and vice versa." Sam nearly broke down at that. She remembered all the times Freddie had helped her when no one else would, like when that red haired bitch, Missy Robinson had tried to remove Sam from Carly's life.
She snapped out of it, though. Tomorrow was probably the most important day of her life. The trial was over, and it was time for the verdict. Spencer had all but dismissed Tim Shivers. He had the nerve to question why Spencer and her friends would defend someone so blatantly guilty. She remembered Spencer punching the man in the face and then telling him not to bother showing up for the verdict. That surprised her. Spencer wasn't a violent person, but he had managed to knock a tooth out of Shivers' mouth. The most damning evidence that the prosecution had was a letter supossedly written by Sam that they claimed was found on her dresser. It apparently explained in great detail how Gibby was just going to be the first, and Freddie was next.
Carly and Freddie both showed Sam supporting looks when the prosecuting attorney read the letter in court. They didn't believe Sam wrote it, even when finger prints from the letter matched Sam's. There was no way she wrote it as far as they were concerned. Sam had puched a hole in the desk that she sat in front of when it was read. She didn't remember typing any letters, and she thought it was bullshit how this was going. "Has the jury reached a verdict?" the judge asked. The jury foreman stood and replied, "We have, your honor."
"Will the defendant please rise?" the judge asked. Sam and Spencer stood, waiting for the verdict. "On the charge of the first degree murder of Charles Gibson, we find the defendant, Samantha Puckett, guilty," the foreman informed the judge. "On the charge of the first degree murder of Valerie Greene, what is your decision?" the judge asked. "We also find the defendant, Samantha Puckett, guilty." There were nothing but gasps in the court room. Freddie stood, stoicly staring ahead while Carly cried on his shoulder. Ted Franklin sadly looked away.
"Samantha Puckett, we will adjourn for one week while the jury decides your sentence," the judge said. Sam's face fell, but she remained calm, even as several officers approached bearing handcuffs and leg irons. "You will spend that week in the King County Jail under the maximum security they have," the judge said. The officers moved as a practiced unit, and in no time Sam was cuffed and shackled. Carly looked away as she was led from the court room, the metal of the chains rattling with every step she took. In an apartment in Seattle, Melanie Puckett sat crying. Her captors had released her, telling her she would be monitored, and that if she told anyone what happened to her or sought help for Sam in any way, they would kill her.
July 10, 2010
The week flew by, despite Sam wishing it wouldn't. She had laughed when her former lawyer had told her that the state was seeking the death penalty for the murders. Now that she had been found guilty, that was a possibility. She hoped, as the officers came to her cell to escort her to court, that she would get life in prison with some chance for parole. As she rode in a police van to the court house she began to realize that her best case scenario was probably life in prison with no chance of parole. But that was better than the worse case scenario, which was getting the death penalty and waiting on death row for the State of Washington to decide it was time to pump her full of drugs in fatal doses as if she were a dog being euthanized.
As she was brought into the court room, she caught a glance at Carly and Freddie in the audience. Carly looked like she'd been crying, and Freddie looked angry. It was if she were looking at herself mad, he had channeled her that much. It made sense, considering how many times Freddie had seen Sam mad in the past. Carly looked her right in the eye and silently whispered, "I'm sorry." Sam had never felt so defeated in her life. This was like a really bad nightmare. First her mom disowning her, and then she gets found guilty of two murders she didn't commit.
"All rise," the bailiff ordered as Judge Amy Williams took her seat on the bench. She told everyone to sit, and then it was straight to buisness. "This is the sentencing hearing for the case of the State of Washington vs. Samantha Puckett," the judge said with an even tone of voice. "Miss Puckett, do you have anything before this court passes sentence on you?" the judge asked. "As a matter of fact your honor, I do. This trial has been stacked from the get-go. I have no idea who planted all the evidence, but I swear on my life I didn't kill anyone," Sam practically yelled.
The bailiff handed the judge the paper on which the jury had written their proposal. She read it slowly and carefully, as if she were milking the anticipation. "Samantha Puckett, because of the viciousness and brutality of the murders to which you have been accused, and due to the fact that you had a grudge with Valerie Greene that may have motivated you, it is the order of this court that you be remanded to the Washington State Corrections Center for Women in Gig Harbor, Washington until a covieniant time as to be executed by lethal injection." Sam's face fell, and Carly began to silently cry. Freddie and Spencer each had looks of disbelief on their faces. Sam was still a minor, and thus, shouldn't have been subject to the death penalty.
"Because you are still a minor," the judge continued, "you will not be executed untill you reach eighteen. That said, barring a stay, your most likely execution date will be April 17, 2012. I suggest that any appeals that you may have be filed in that time, because it is my recommendation that you be executed immediatly upon turning eighteen. Court's ajourned." The officers immediatly began to take Sam from the court room. They wouldn't even let her say goodbye to her friends before loading her into the same van that had brought her to the court house. There would be a quick stop at King County Jail to retrieve the few possesions she still had, and then she would go to Gig Harbor, where the female Death Row for the State of Washington was housed.
As she rode, chained in the back, she began to think of everything that had just been cut short. She would not graduate with her high school class, which was a dream of her's forever. She wanted to be the first Puckett to complete K-12 without dropping out or getting a lengthy prison sentence in the process. She wouldn't go to prom, or do any of the other perks that came with being a high school seinior. And to top it off, she was to get a really unwanted eighteenth birthday present from the state. She silently cried as the van made it's way to Gig Harbor.