It had been about a month since Kirsty's arrest and the DA was ready to move on with their case against her for the cop killing, there was just one thing to sort out.

"Mr. DiFranco, I hope you understand that we just can't take the word of a convicted felon at face value." Jack said as he sat opposite Mike in the DA's office. "If you are truly convinced that Kirsty is behind Gallagher's murder then we are going to need more that just your word to convict her."

"Hey, you got he fingerprints on the knife and that cop's blood was all over Kirsty's clothes." Mike pointed out with a frown as his legal aid lawyer watched on. "What more do you need from me?"

"Before you answer that McCoy, I want immunity from prosecution for any information my client gives you." Chris Andrews, Mike's Legal Aid Lawyer, quickly interjected and Jack shook his head.

"Between you and the girl's lawyer I'm beginning to think that it's amateur hour over at legal aid, none the less I will only grant him immunity if the information is good and if it gets suppressed at trial your immunity goes with it." Jack responded coldly and Mike quickly nodded. "How about we start with how you got access to her apartment in the first place? I checked with her landlord and Kirsty has been living alone in that apartment since she moved in there."

"I hear ya man, Kirsty gave me a spare key to her apartment a couple of months ago, you know, just in case anything came up or, well, you get the idea." Mike responded with a grin and McCoy frowned as he received the information. "What?"

"The police never recovered a spare key, just the key Kirsty uses to get inside her apartment." Jack asserted and Mike frowned. "Are you telling the truth Mr. DiFranco?"

"Yeah man, thing is, I lost the spare key somewhere after I retrieved Kirsty's clothes." Mike asserted and Jack nodded reluctantly. "I swear on my mother's life that I'm telling the truth."

"Swear on this affidavit, then I can introduce your information at trial." Jack responded as he slid the piece of paper over to Mike and after he read through it quickly Mike signed it. "Remember what I said about the information."

"His girlfriend is the one being charged with this crime and is due for arraignment tomorrow." Chris chimed in and McCoy turned to him. "My client has a criminal past but he is willing to help put a cop killer behind bars, isn't that enough for you?"

"With all the press coverage the case has gotten? This case will be under scrutiny by the public, I need to make sure that we have all our eggs in one basket." Jack responded as he glanced over at the legal aid lawyer. "Speaking off, I have an arraignment to prepare for, stay in the city Mr. DiFranco because we might call on your testimony at trial." Jack added and Mike nodded before Jack left the side room.

*the next day, at arraignment*

Today would prove to be one of the worst of Kirsty's life, she had been in arraignment before but that was when she was a minor and over at family court, being arraigned for a murder was quite different from that.

"Docket #64962, People vs. Kirsty Mason, charge is Murder in the First Degree." The clerk called out before handing the paper to the arraignment judge, Kirsty waited with bated breath, just wanting to get this over and done with.

"They make them younger every day." The arraignment judge commented dryly after taking one look at Kirsty. "How does the defendant….."

"MURDERER!" The arraignment judge was interrupted by a man shouting from the crowd and the judge quickly banged his gavel. "She killed my ex-wife!" Jason Gallagher continued as he pointed an accusatory finger at Kirsty who was clearly distressed by his words.

"But I didn't….." Kirsty went to defend herself but was cut off by the gavel and she turned to the judge.

"Young lady I advise you to stay quiet until I ask for your plea, sir? One more outburst like that and I'll have you thrown out of this court room and charged with contempt." The judge responded and Kirsty quickly whilst the widow sat down without another word. "As I was saying, how does the defendant plead?"

"Definitely not guilty." Kirsty quickly asserted and the judge nodded.

"Aren't they all?" The judge commented before glancing up at Serena. "People on bail?"

"Your honour, the people seek remand." Serena stated simply as she glanced over at Kirsty. "The defendant is charged with the brutal murder of an off-duty police officer and fled from two officers when they approached her on the street, we feel that nothing else is appropriate given the evidence against her."

"Your honour, my client has stayed out of trouble since her last arrest three years ago, she has no passport and no means of income, is remand really necessary?" Rochelle tried to defend Kirsty but the arraignment judge shook his head.

"Sorry councillor, but I can't overlook the fact that she's been charged with the murder of a police officer, and if anything jail might keep her safe from the victim's widow." The judge responded with a frown and Rochelle shook her head.

"Your honour the people's key evidence was improperly handled as it was handed in by the defendant's boyfriend." Rochelle continued catching Kirsty's attention in the process. "We will be filing a motion to dismiss that evidence on those grounds and ask that you reconsider you stance on bail."

"Nice try councillor but save that for the trial judge, defendant is remanded, next case." The arraignment judge declared before banging his gavel while Kirsty kept her eyes to the ground, as Kirsty as taken away Rochelle approached Serena.

"Firing off with the motions already, either this is your first homicide case or your desperate to get your client off." Serena commented as Rochelle handed her the motion.

"Both actually, and despite all the evidence against her, Kirsty is adamant that you have your eyes set on the wrong criminal." Rochelle sighed as she glanced over at Kirsty. "And she won't accept any plea bargain either, see you in court." Rochelle added before leaving the courtroom.

*later, at the DA's office*

"Kirsty's legal aid lawyer is grasping at straws." Jack McCoy commented as he read the motion in Nora's office, accompanied by ADA Southerlyn and DA Levin. "But she might have a point about how the police came into the possession of Mason's clothes, what do we know about her boyfriend?"

"His name's Mike DiFranco, he's twenty and he's the son of Italian immigrants, no known links to organised crime but the guy's got a record as well." Serena explained as she shook her head. "And it's all violent crime, Kirsty on the other hand only has convictions for shoplifting and drug possession, both from when she was a minor."

"How did a non-violent felon fall in love with a violent one? Regardless, I need to consider whether to pursue the Death Penalty against Mason if she's convicted." Nora sighed as she shifted her weight. "Not the first time this office has sent an eighteen-year-old to Death Row."

"There's a clear difference between this case and the case against Mitch Regan, Mitch and his friends used a fake delivery order to lure a delivery driver to his death and Mitch never once showed remorse, not even after being sentenced to death." Serena responded as she shook her head and the two older lawyers turned to her. "I was present for both Kirsty and Mike's interrogations and Kirsty was terrified at the prospect of being convicted for first degree murder, to the point that she repeatedly insisted that the cops had made a mistake."

"That might be because both of her convictions before now have been for petty crime and settled in family court, she has never been in the big leagues and if she is acquitted then this will be a reality check for her." Jack responded as he shook his head whilst reading Kirsty's file. "What about Mike's interrogation?"

"Mike pinned all the blame on Kirsty and when Detective Green brought up that the jury would have a better time believing that he committed the crime based on his past he lawyered up almost immediately." Serena explained and Jack nodded with a frown on his face. "If you ask me the police were too quick to pounce on Mason based on what we know, but that doesn't change the fact that the media will be watching this case like a hawk."

"Right, and if we do go after Mike any defence attorney worth his/her salt would move to have the evidence of his past crimes suppressed, we both know that." Jack responded as he shook his head and Serena nodded grimly. "I've got a suppression hearing to attend but in the meantime, have Briscoe and Green triple check every piece of evidence they have in this case."

"You think we made a mistake Jack?" Serena asked and Jack shook his head.

"I haven't met this young woman but for a nonviolent felon to go straight to murdering anyone, much less a cop, is practically unheard off." Jack explained with a frown as he went to leave the office. "There's also the fact that this is a capitol case, we're getting a lot of media attention because we are trying a suspected cop killer, last thing this office wants is to appear incompetent with this many cameras rolling."

"I'll get Briscoe and Green on it." Serena nodded before the two ADAs left the office.

*the next day, at the Suppression Hearing*

"Your honour I have affidavits from several officers saying that a known criminal brought this evidence in to be used against my client." Rochelle commented as she stood beside Kirsty who was beside herself with worry as she watched the proceedings. "Surely that violates several chain of custody rules."

"You make a strong case Ms. Benjamin, McCoy, do you have anything to argue?" Judge William Wright nodded as he turned to McCoy and Jack shook his head.

"Be that as it may be, Mike DiFranco was acting of his own volition, at no point was he approached by any officers asking him to search his girlfriend's apartment." Jack asserted and Kirsty glanced over at him. "I have a sworn affidavit from DiFranco saying that he had a key to the defendant's apartment with the understanding that he could come and go anytime he wanted…"

"He's lying." Kirsty quickly interrupted Jack as she stood up and there was a murmur in the court before Wright banged his gavel. "I never got around to making a spare key for Mike."

"Normally I'd tell you to let your lawyer do the talking for you young lady but the implication here is too disturbing for me to ignore." William responded sternly before turning to Jack. "McCoy, please tell me Mike produced a copy of this spare key as proof?"

"Mr. DiFranco told us that he had lost it after retrieving the clothing." Jack responded and William's frown deepened as it set in. "We had every reason to believe his word based on the fact that his girlfriend resisted arrest before being brought in."

"My chambers, now!" William instructed the two lawyers who shared a look. "Bring the defendant with you, I want to be absolutely sure that we have all our facts."

"Yes sir." Kirsty gulped before she followed Rochelle and Jack to William's chambers.

*five minutes later, in Judge Wright's Chambers*

Things were tense as they four of them entered William Wright's Chambers and for good reason.

"Let me get this straight McCoy, you were ready to convict this poor girl of this heinous crime based on the perjured testimony of her boyfriend?!" William demanded as he turned to McCoy with a furious look on his face and McCoy stood there silently. "Hey lawyer already mentioned that he has a criminal record and the next thing you're going to tell me is that he has a history of violence as well."

""Yeah, he's been arrested for some violent crimes in the past, I'm not saying I'm perfect in that regard but my crimes were nonviolent.." Kirsty sighed as she glanced at the floor and Judge Wright turned to her. "And no, I don't know what I saw in him after all this."

"More to the point, DiFranco's record is for robbery and assault., Mason was a petty criminal when she was a minor and this is her first time in court since she turned eighteen." Rochelle added as she folded her arms and Wright just shook his head. "Your honour, I think the only way forward is to dismiss the case entirely and lift the remand order, not to mention file sanctions against the DA's office."

"I'm inclined to agree, I'd advise this young lady to speak to a civil attorney but given that she's had to make do with legal aid for the trial, I have to assume that she's not in a position to afford one." William commented with a frown as he turned to Kirsty and she quietly nodded to confirm it. "The case is dismissed with prejudice, I understand the people's position given that this is about the murder of a police officer but don't come to me with evidence this tainted again, am I clear?"

"Absolutely." Jack nodded in response whilst Kirsty breathed a sigh of relief. "But there's still the issue of her fingerprints on the knife that was used in the attack."

"Yeah, about that, I never got a copy of the ME's report, we don't even know that the knife at the scene of the crime was the murder weapon." Rochelle asserted and William turned his attention back to McCoy.

"The Medical Examiner has a backlog at the moment, the only thing she was able to confirm was that the stab wounds was the cause of death." McCoy explained and William shook his head.

"Unbelievable, am I dealing with an executive ADA or a rank amateur here?!" William asked with a frown before he turned to Kirsty. "As for you Ms. Mason, I'm not in a position to give someone as young as you love advice, but all the same, I strongly advise that you kick your boyfriend to the curb after all he's put you through."

"Been practicing how to dump his ass in my head for the past five minutes." Kirsty muttered before realizing that the judge could hear her. "Err, your honour."

"I believe that's everything, Ms. Mason? Stay in touch, McCoy might have need of you soon." William instructed her and Kirsty nodded with a gulp before they left the office.

*outside on the court steps*

"Mr. Gallagher, are you disappointed in the judge's decision to throw out the murder case against Kirsty Mason?" One of the many reporters surrounding the victim's widow asked the victim's widow, by now word had spread that the case against Kirsty had been dismissed and the DAs weren't all that happy about it as they descended down the court steps, Kirsty meanwhile just put as much distance between herself and the media frenzy as she could.

"Judge Wright was fair in his decision the evidence had been improperly obtained against my wife's murderer and I am confident that justice will be served soon." Jason responded as the media crowd continued to ask him questions. "Unfortunately, that same decision lead to a violent thug being let lose on the city streets! We've already seen what Kirsty did to my wife, what's to stop her from doing it again."

"How about the fact that all signs are now pointing to her being innocent?" Jack whispered to Serena as they walked past the crowd. "If you ask me we need to look at Mike DiFranco for the murder."

"Mike was never seen in the area though, that's going to be a hard sell for any jury." Serena responded as she shook her head "Hopefully Kirsty will keep her head low for a few….."

"YOU SON OF A BITCH!" Kirsty's enraged voice rang out and several court officers went to restrain the teenager as she went for Mike who had been waiting for her on the stairs. "HOW COULD YOU DO THAT TO ME?!"

"See? I told you this bitch was crazy!" Mike insisted as the officers restrained Kirsty. "And they are willing to let her roam the streets?!"

"FUCK YOU!" Kirsty snapped back at Mike as she struggled against the officers but the petite girl was no match for the several officers keeping her at bay, Lennie and Ed quickly arrived on the scene to assist with defusing the situation.

"Hey, HEY! Both of you calm down!" Ed insisted as he glanced between the young couple, he quickly turned to Mike who was already backing off. "You, get out of here, your presence is only making the situation worse!"

"I'm only here to give that bitch a ride back to her apartment man, that's all!" Mike insisted as Kirsty took several deep breaths. "Fine, fine, I'm going!" Mike added before he turned tail and ran off, once he was out of site Ed quickly turned to Kirsty.

"And you, if these officers let you go, you won't go after him, right?" Ed asked and after Kirsty let out several more deep breaths she nodded before the court officers let her go. "Good, now get out of here before you give him more ammunition to use in the media!"

"Oh sure, I'll just take the subway with the exactly zero dollars in my purse!" Kirsty scoffed as she rolled her eyes before sighing. "I've just spent the past several days remanded at Ryker's Island, how am I supposed to get home without money for the subway or a cab?"

"If that's what it takes to get you as far away from him as possible, we'll drive you." Lennie assured her and Kirsty paused before nodding. "Just think of it as the one ride in the back of a police cruiser that you want to take."

"Fine." Kirsty sighed before she got in the car who Briscoe and Green, all the while Jason was using that incident as further fuel for the fire. "I just dodged one hell of a bullet back there and that asshole may as well be trying me in the court of public opinion."

"We'll do what we can to put a stop to Mr. Gallagher's media tour, but in the meantime you had better lay low." Lennie responded as he glanced over at her. "And on that note, you never answered my question about how you knew Officer Gallagher's first name."

"I'm not in the mood to go into detail anyway, but this will be off the record right?" Kirsty asked as she glanced up at thee two officers who nodded. "I never understood why but after Rebecca arrested me on that drug bust, she started helping me."

"Helping you?" Ed asked with a raised eyebrow and Kirsty nodded. "How exactly?"

"She got me a nice apartment and paid the rent for me, even sent me money for groceries and paid for my drug rehab." Kirsty responded and the two officers shared a look. "I've been sober since I got out of rehab! Off course, now that's out the window now that she's dead."

"I'm sure you'll figure something out." Lennie assured her and Kirsty nodded as she looked out the window. "By the way, whilst you were in foster care, did they ever tell you anything about your birth mother?"

"I wish!" Kirst responded as she shook her head and Lennie frowned. "All they told me was that she was alive, living in New York and had me when she was a teenager, and since more and more perspective parents kept turning down the opportunity to adopt me, the more I wanted to meet her and ask her why."

"I'm sure you'll get your answers someday but for now we'd better get you home." Ed responded before they drove off.

*the next day at the DA Office*

"We got the wrong suspect a legal aid lawyer made us look like incompetent fools and now we're being crucified in the press for letting an accused cop killer go free." Nora commented as she read the day's newspaper, the incident on the court steps was from page with Kirsty's enraged faced having been zoomed in on. "At least tell me we have some good news stemming from that motion hearing?!"

"Aside from Kirsty being a lot pickier about future boyfriends? We have reason to believe that Mike was at least connected to the crime." Serena responded as she shook her head and continued. "She'll at least be smart enough to lay low."

"I'm not so sure." Nora sighed as she held up Kirsty's blown-up picture. "If that Mason girl was looking for public sympathy, she lost it by going after her boyfriend."

"The same boyfriend who seemed hell bent on getting her sent to Death Row." Serena pointed out as the took a seat and Nora nodded with a frown. "On top of that, the ME confirmed that the knife found at the scene wasn't the murder weapon, that was a kitchen steak knife, the wounds were more consistent with a switchblade."

"So in other words, we're back to square one and have to drop the charges on Kirsty." Nora commented with a frown and Jack nodded. "There's still the resisting arrest charge."

"I spoke to Van Buren and the police think that Kirsty has been through enough so they have decided not to press charges for that." Jack commented with a frown as he had a thoughtful look on his face. "But maybe it's time we looked at Kirsty's boyfriend for the murder."

"He was interrogated by the cops after he brought her clothes in, they never followed up on that because we thought we had a strong enough case to go after Kirsty." Serena responded as she shook her head. "The only evidence we have is that Mike has a criminal record for robbery and assault, but you said it best before the motion hearing, any good lawyer would go out of their way to ensure that record never gets read out in from of a jury."

"I know, that's why I want Briscoe and Green to dig up everything they can on Mike, his friends, associates, former cellmates, everything, if we do convict him then I don't want to make the same mistake that we made against Kirsty." Jack declared as he picked up the phone to make the call. "And to ensure that he doesn't poison he jury pool any further, I'm filing for a gag order on Jason Gallagher, his press conferences are doing the case more harm than good."

*several days later at Kirsty's apartment*

As it turned out, Mike had gotten access to Kirsty's apartment by breaking in leaving a broken window by Kirsty's bed, but now Kirsty was back home following her stay at Ryker's Island and the teenager had a lot on her mind.

"Don't even know if I should bother having that fixed, the landlord's not gonna let me stay here now that Rebecca's not around to pay my rent." Kirsty thought with a sigh as she glanced over at the broken window before resuming her channel surfing. "And to make matters worse, the only channel that doesn't have me pissed off at Mike on it is MTV! Just my fucking luck!" Kirsty thought with a sigh as se leaned her head back and looked towards the ceiling.

Kirsty nearly jumped out of her skin when she heard a series of loud and rapid knocks at her door, she quickly pulled herself off the couch and went to answer but apparently even that was too slow for her guests. "Kirsty, open this door, we need to talk." A male voice rang out from the other side and Kirsty paused.

"Justin? What does he want? And what does he mean by we?" Kirsty thought before she answered the door and saw Justin and Ryan standing there, neither man looking anywhere near as friendly as they were when she last saw them. "Err, hey guys? What brings you to me…"

Kirsty never finished her sentence as the two much larger men barged into her apartment leaving the door wide open in the process and backed her against the far wall,. for the next several minutes the two men beat the crap out of Kirsty before Ryan grabbed her by her long black hair and yanked her up to her feet and then off her feet. "Let us make one thing very clear little lady." Ryan said as they started into Kirsty's beaten form. "Mike doesn't appreciate being humiliated publicly like that and he sent us to shut you up."

"Fuck you!" Kirst wheezed weakly before spitting in Ryan's face. "You won't get away with this! I'll tell the whole world what you did to me!"

"No." Ryan responded before producing a switch blade and pressing it against her throat. "You won't."