August 1, 10:00 A.M. District Court, Courtroom No. 4
Detective Snodgrass iterated his final testimony to the court. He yelled, "I took over the case file of the attempted assassination of Mr. Watson, and here's what I have decided! Ms. Allison Brooks helped Jamie Patterson slaughter Reggie Simmons, and then she tried to kill Mr. Watson to send the school's staff and students reeling!"
The judge sighed, "Reeling... what is this 'reeling' you're talking about? Reeling in fish?"
Snodgrass groaned, "Not quite. I meant that the defendant was trying to scare the staff into submission to show that she is more powerful and smart than the police and the faculty." His Honor continued, "I see. Ms. Fey, you have my permission to Cross-Examine Mr. Snodgrass."
"I took over the case file of the attempted assassination of Mr. Watson, and here's what I have decided! Ms. Allison Brooks helped Jamie Patterson slaughter Reggie Simmons, and then she tried to kill Mr. Watson to send the school's staff and students reeling!" Maya pointed her finger and screamed, "Objection!"
"Mr. Snodgrass, I feel as if you are making your words have novelty. You see, to be trying and sensationalize the whole incident."
Snodgrass gasped, "Of course I am! I am just trying to tell the court what happened, Ms. Fey!" Maya slammed her hands downward.
"Mr. Snodgrass, you are trying to prove the prosecution's case, not pitch a show idea to CBS! There is no need to go out of your way to tell us what happened!" Snodgrass shook his head and screamed, "Whaaaaaaaat now?!" The gallery erupted into chatter. The judge smashed his gavel down three times.
"ORDER!" "Mr. Snodgrass, you seem to have not heeded my warning. You have also not contributed to the prosecution's case. Therefore, I hereby dismiss you from the stand. Mr. Edgeworth, you may call your next witness."
Snodgrass' head drooped as he walked into the court gallery. Edgeworth grimaced and muttered, "The prosecution has decided on whom to call next. Our next witness is a student at James Madison High School. We would like the call Sybil Mackey to the stand, but she has not yet arrived. Therefore, I would like to have a recess of 10 minutes to allow for her arrival.
The judge sighed, "I suppose, Mr. Edgeworth. You heard him. Court is now in recess!" He banged the gavel. Maya sighed, "I sure hope that Edgeworth doesn't have a nasty trick up his sleeve..."
August 1, 10:12 A.M. District Court, Courtroom No. 1
Officer Meekins was now upon the stand, holding his megaphone in one hand, and saluting with the other. Prosecutor Helado grinned, "Así... where were we?" Meekins announced, "We were about to discuss the arrest of Ms. Jamie R. Patterson, Your Honor!"
Phoenix whispered, "R... what does that even stand for?" Meekins proudly continued, "As you may be aware, I arrived at Ms. Patterson's house on Lucas 12 Street yesterday. She arrived at the door, and I arrested her." Helado sneered, "Go on, Mr. Meekins. Tell us your testimony." The judge said, "Officer, please begin, if you will, please."
"Mr. Helado, yesterday, at 3:34 P.M, I was told by the Chief of Police to place Ms. Patterson under arrest under suspicion that she committed the murder of Reggie Simmons. I arrived at her house, and called for her. She arrived upon the front doorstep, and I told her she was under arrest, and read her rights to her. I then confiscated her wallet, purse, and driver's license, before taking her to the station."
The judge sighed, "It all makes sense. It is not that difficult to arrest someone who is compliant." Helado said, "Would counsel pay attention to the screen? Up there, we are projecting the image of the defendant's driver's license." The image came into focus quickly.
On the right was a picture of Jamie's face. The information portion read:
STATE OF CALIFORNIA INTERMEDIATE LICENSE
PATTERSON, JAMIE RACHEL Sex: F
Hgt: 5'-06"
Eyes: Blue
Date of Birth: 11/23/2002
Lucas 12 Street
Los Angeles, CA 90063
Phoenix sighed, "Well, looks like there aren't any clones of Ms. Patterson running around." The judge coughed. "Mr. Wright, would you perform the Cross-Examination?" Phoenix replied, "Yes, Your Honor." Meekins repeated, "Mr. Helado, yesterday, at 3:34 P.M, I was told by the Chief of Police to place Ms. Patterson under arrest under suspicion that she committed the murder of Reggie Simmons."
Phoenix yelled, "Hold it!" "Did the Chief specifically tell you to arrest Ms. Patterson, or were you given an order to do it?" Meekins screamed through the megaphone, "I WAS GIVEN AN ORDER!" The defense attorney, his ears raped by the horrendous sound of Meekins' voice, was silent. "And when I arrived at her house..."
"She arrived upon the front doorstep, and I told her she was under arrest, and read her rights to her. I then confiscated her wallet, purse, and driver's license, before taking her to the station." Phoenix snapped his body to the left and screamed, "Objection!"
"Officer, you seem convinced that you did the right thing by arresting Ms. Patterson. Is that so?" Meekins groaned, "Well, of course! I did as I was told!" Phoenix slammed his hands down on the bench. "Even when there was no applicable offense? You arrested Ms. Patterson on speculation. You didn't know for sure if the police had probable cause!"
Meekins leaped into the air and screamed. The gallery roared loudly, and the judge banged his gavel. "Order! Order in the court!" he yelled. "Officer Meekins, could you please give..."
Before he could say anything more, there was the sound of screeching tires from outside. A few seconds later, a loud noise was heard, as if metal was hitting metal. All became quiet. Helado yelled, "Your Honor! That sound! It was coming from outside!" Jamie gasped, "Car crash!"
The gallery began chattering loudly. A phone ringing sound could be heard faintly from outside. The speakerphone was then turned on, making it audible for all of the court to hear."
"This is 9-1-1. What is your emergency?"
"H-Hello! There was a car crash near the District Court!"
"A car crash? How many vehicles are involved?"
"Two cars. One is a black 2019 Toyota Camry. The other is a 2010 Chevrolet pickup truck."
"I'm getting your location via GPS. I'll be sending the police, ambulance, and fire department."
"O... Okay..."
"Can you see the drivers?"
"Yeah. In the pickup truck, there's a teenage boy. In the Camry, three teenagers. A boy in the driver's seat, and two passengers. Both of them are girls."
"Okay. They will be there shortly."
"I-I'll stay on the line until they get there..."
The court was in total shock. The judge ordered, "Court is in temporary recess. We are now to go outside and see just what has happened out there."
August 1, 10:30 A.M. District Court Parking Lot
Once Phoenix and the people who were in the court gallery exited the courthouse and looked at the parking lot, they immediately were overcome with fear an shock. In one of the cars, a teenage boy was in the driver's seat. He was unconscious and face down on the steering wheel. The girl in the passenger seat had been ejected out a half-broken windshield, and a second girl in the back of the car was bleeding profusely from her nose. Both looked like high school students.
In the pickup, a teenage boy was sitting, cut up in the face. A police car, sirens blaring, pulled up near the pickup truck. He opened the door, and said, "Sir, could you please exit your vehicle?" At the same time, clanging metallic sounds were heard. The whole crowd gasped in horror. Beer cans, some crumpled up and others still full, spilled over the sidewalk.
Helado grunted, "Él es puto borracho. But why did this kid ruin life over such a thing?!" The officer resumed, "Sir, please take a seat in the squad car while we sort things out. I'll talk to you later." Meanwhile, an ambulance and a fire truck pulled into the lot.
Luckily, neither vehicle was ablaze. The fire department ran over to the Camry. They opened the left passenger side door, which was unscathed by the impact, which appeared to be a head-on collision. The girl, who had dark, brown hair that was slightly curled, limped over to the fire truck.
She sobbed, "M-Meg! She's been ejected! My God!" One firefighter dashed over and began checking for a pulse. One the back of his helmet was a name plate that read, H. ROMMEL. He yelled, "V-fib! We need a defibrillator!" An AED was soon in the hands of "Rommel".
He unfortunately realized that if they were going to have any chance of getting her heart restarted, they were going to have to pull her out through the windshield, as removing the battered passenger door would have taken too long.
He called two EMTs near him. They immobilized her neck and pulled her out, being careful not to cut her on the glass shards sticking out of the broken windshield. Rommel quickly used scissors to cut her shirt and place the pads on her chest. He yelled, "200 volts... and clear!"
The girl's body violently lurched. Her auburn hair flipped into her face. A few seconds later, the girl started gasping for air. She coughed, "Oh, what now?" Rommel said, "Listen. You've been in a car accident. We just defibrillated you. Who's the other girl who was behind you?" She gasped, "My sister, Miranda. We're fraternal twins."
Calling for a stretcher, Rommel transported the girl, whose name was Megan, near the ambulance. Meanwhile, the emergency crew kept working on trying to get the driver out of the car.
The officer walked over to his squad car and pulled the pickup driver out. He said, "I'm Officer Rogers. What's you're name?" The boy said, "Reece." "All right, Reece. Have you been drinking today?"
"No."
"Not a few drinks? Not one?"
"I'm sober, officer."
"Very well, Reece. I'm going to conduct some tests now. They are called field sobriety tests. In order to perform them, I need your consent. Is that okay?"
"Yes."
"Here we go. To start, keep your head and neck straight and follow my finger with your eyes." Reece had a very noticeable nystagmus in his eyes. They jerked and bobbed randomly as he attempted to follow Officer Rogers' index finger. Other tests followed, including walking on a straight line while counting up from 1 and standing on one foot. Finally, Reece had to breathe into a Breathalyzer.
At the end of the exam, Officer Rogers said, "So Reece. How do you think you did?" Reece answered, "Pretty good." Rogers replied, "Pretty good? Okay. First of all, do you know what the legal limit is?" The teen replied, ".08 percent." The officer answered, "Yes, but you're under 21. For you, the legal limit is .02 percent. And according to the breath test, you're BAC is almost twice that. Therefore, you are hereby under arrest for driving while intoxicated."
Officer Rogers put handcuffs on Reece and put him in the squad car, before driving off. At the same time, the ambulance sped away, with Megan inside it. A helicopter had landed nearby, and the boy who was in the driver's seat of the Camry was being taken towards it.
Phoenix groaned, "I surely hope that this drunken driving crash isn't the start of something worse. I mean, what if the prosecution tries to allege that Jamie killed Reggie to get money for alcohol? What then? If that happens, we're screwed."
The defense attorney knew that luck was not on his side for this case.