Chapter 6: Hearing

"So what's with this court hearing?" Paul asked.

"This court hearing is to see whether or not Leonardo is competent enough to raise a child. If he isn't then the court will allow Leo's father to take him to get an abortion." Gwen explained.

"OK, what happens if Leo if found competent?" Ivan asked.

"Our rape case goes straight out the window, if he if found competent then all the rapist's defence lawyer is going to focus on is that Leo didn't say no." She explained.

Suddenly a man walked over to her and handed Gwen a blue envelope.

"I'm being served?!" She exclaimed as the man began to walk away. "What for?" Ivan Peterson shouted after him. "I just deliver." The man said with a shrug and left.

Mary suddenly ran into the squad room.

"Gwen, Ben just called and said he got a subpoena and said he wanted to warn you." She said but then noticed to letter in Gwen's hand. "Your about 10 seconds too late." Ivan sighed.

"What's it say?" Paul asked.

"Jackson's lawyer Patrick wants me and Ben to testify because I was in the room with Ben when he evaluated Leo, says that he wants the jury to hear from an attorney and a shrink that Leo is able to raise a child."...

Gwen decide to confront her boss Wendy Vince.

Wendy Vince was a 42 year old mutant wasp with short red hair and green bug eyes. She wore a pale yellow tux. "This is clearly a jeopdy to Leonardo's rape case." She hissed.

"Don't worry, I'll make a call and you won't have to testfiy." Wendy promised.

"I don't think that's a good idea." gwen said finally. "It is if you want to take Leonardo's rapist to trail. You have a duty to the state to bring him to justice." Wendy reminded.

"I also have a duty to protect the victim."

"If you want to work to promote people's rights then go work for social services. Your job is to prosicute criminals."...

After trying and failing to talk to her boss Gwen went to talk to Splinter.

"Your jeorpdising the rape case." She said the the mutant rat when she went to talk to him in his home. "No you are! You and that Jackson Drew, it's him you should be talking to!" Splinter growled.

"I have and Jack has promised not to challenge your gaurdianship if you agree not to abort Leo's baby." Gwen said.

"I can't do that, Leonardo needs this abortion and to have his tube tide so that this never happens again." Splinter sighed. "Mr Hamato, why do you need Leo to be so dependant on you?" Gwen asked with a sigh.

"I know you think I'm cruel Ms Lewis, but I have given up everything to be a good father." Splinter said in a shakey voice.

"Including Leonardo's right to lead his own life." Gwen added before standing up. "I didn't come here asking you to change your mind but I was hoping that you would at least realised that this is hurting Leo far more than anything else."

With that being said Gwen left...

Soon Ben and Gwen had to appear in court to testify.

"Ben, what do you make of Leonardo's mind?" Splinter's lawyer Tom asked. "Leonardo is what we in the psychiatric department would call highly competent for someone with the amount of brain damage he has." Ben explained.

"Do you truly believe Leonardo is capable of taking care of a child?"

"Yes I do. I truely do believe that if Leonardo is given the propear support he will be able to not only live on his own but also be able to raise a child on his own." Ben said.

"So what your saying is that Leonardo needs someone to tell him wht to do." Tome added.

"That's not what I said. Leonardo is capable of making choices for himself based on the propear information." Ben frowned. "Doctor, how long did you spend with Leonardo?" Tom asked.

"About two hours at the day centre."

"So your tell me that after spending just 2 hours and not 17 years with Leonardo that you know his abilities and limits better than his own father?" Tom smirked...

"Yes I was with Leonardo when Detective West and Doctor Ben talked with him." Gwen confirmed.

Tom nodded and picked up a piece of paper from his desk. "This is Detective West's report from the interview at the zoo. Please read the highlighted passage." He requested and handed the paper to Gwen.

"The victim was unable to properly define the assult." Gwen read out loud.

"Now tell me, do you honetly believe that someone who can't even discribe an attack can raise a child?" Tom asked with a cocky grin. "Yes I do think that Leo can take care of a child." Gwen stated...

"So how'd it go?" Ivan asked when Gwen came into the squd room.

"Pathetic. Tomorrow Patrick is going to ask just Ben to testify that Hamato Leonardo is capable to raise his baby." Gwen growled as she took a sip of her coffee.

"So basically our rape case is out the window because we can't get any DNA from the foetus." Mary sighed.

Gwen paused. "Wait, how far is Leo into his pregnancy?" She asked. "Um, 11 weeks which is still too early for a Non-Invasive Prenatal Paternity Test." Ivan replied.

"But not for a chorionic villus sampling." Gwen smiled.

"In english please." Mary asked. "It's when cells are taken from the placenta and used to analyze the fetal chromosomes. We did one for a rape case 6 years ago."

"Okey but how will we get Leo's father to go for it?" Mary asked.

"Tell him it will prove whether or not his grandchild has brain damage."...

It took Ivan and Mary an hour to get to Splinter's house.

"I hate traffic." The mutant lion snarled. "So do you want to tell him or shall I?" Mary asked. Suddenly Hamato Yoshi came running out the house looking frantic.

"Your captain said you were coming over!" He cried.

"Calm down Mr Hamato, what's wrong?" Mary asked. "Today Leonardo was supposed to go to work and he never showed up and no one has seen him!" Mary and Ivan's eyes went wide.

Leonardo was missing...