The State Verses Derek Morgan Ch 46
Mia looked down at her watch and said, "court starts in 5 minutes, are you ready?", Hotch looked up and nodded his head and said, "bring it on, I'm ready", she laughed and said, "now that's what I wanted to hear". They looked around when they heard the doors to the courtroom open, stepping through the door was JJ, Emily, Sarah and Desi and following behind them a couple of minutes were Dave and Fran.
The bailiff said, "all rise the honorable Judge Cindy Appleton presiding", everybody stood up and watched as she entered the room and walked over behind her bench and sat down, she then looked out over the people in the courtroom and said, "you may be seated". After everybody took their seats she looked at the prosecution and the defense and said, "are you ready to continue?", both parties said, "we are" in unison".
Cindy said, "alright, prosecution call your next witness", Scott stood up and said, "the state calls Miriam Fuller", after she'd been sworn in Scott started asking her questions about drugs and how they are broken down by the body. She replied with a clear textbook answer, that's when Hotch knew that he had her, he knew exactly what to ask so when it was time to cross examine her he stood up and walked over to her.
She looked at him and he said, "I only have one question for you Ms. Fuller", Miriam looked at him and waited, Hotch said, "what test did you use on my client to determine how the drugs were broken down in his system?", she looked at him and said, "what test?", Hotch said, "yes, what test did you use for my client?", Miriam was speechless, she looked from the judge to the prosecutor to Hotch.
Finally, Hotch put her out of her misery when he said, "most doctors use cytochrome P450 (CYP450) tests to determine how a body metablizes a drug because of inherited genetic traits can cause changes in the enzymes this can make medications affect each person differently", he stood there for a minute and said, "thank you", he then looked at Cindy and said, "I have no further questions for this witness", Cindy said, "you may step down".
As Mia watched Miriam walk away she smiled at Hotch and said, "good job, you really showed her", Hotch smiled and said, "I knew my research would come in handy" as their attention then returned to the front of the court room as Cindy said, "call your next witness", Scott said, "the state would like to call Dr. Zachary Pointer to the stand", after he was sworn in Scott said, "can you please tell the court what you do sir?", the man smiled and said, "yes, I'm a psychologist".
Scott said, "and what do you cover?", I study emotional and social process and I watch human behavior and how people relate to each out", Scott said, "thank you, now can you tell me what you've come up with about this case?", the court sat and listened as he said, "from what I was able to see of agent Morgan, it appears he had trouble distinguishing between reality and dreams".
Hotch stood up and said, "objection", Cindy said, "on what grounds?", Hotch said, "to my knowledge Mr. Pointer has not even as much as seen my client other than here in the courtroom today so what is he basing his answer on?", Cindy said, "that's a good question", she looked at the prosecutor and said, "has your witness even seen the defendant before today in this court?", Scott said, "no mam but", she held up her hand and said, "objection sustained, please step down Mr. Pointer".
Cindy wrote a few things down in the file in front of her and said, "do you have any more witnesses?", Scott said, "no your honor the state rests", she smiled and said, "thank you", she then looked at the defense table and said, "alright, the defense can now call their first witness?", Hotch stands up and says, "we would like to call Dr. Anita Ledbetter to the stand".
Everybody watched as Hotch asked question after question to Anita, she told how medication gets broken down and absorbed in the body and how since each body is different absorption rates will vary and that is why the defendant's blood levels remained high for almost 72 hours instead of the normal 48".
The state didn't have any questions for the witness so Cindy smiled at her and said, "you may step down Mrs. Ledbetter" and after Anita stepped down Cindy looked at her watch and said, "we'll break here for lunch, we'll reconvene at 1:00". The bailiff glanced at the judge and then faced the courtroom and said, "all rise", everybody stood up and watched as the judge stepped down and headed back to her chambers.
Derek looked at Hotch and said, "so how did that go, it seemed like you did a great job to me", Mia said, "that's because he did an excellent job and Mrs. Ledbetter just helped the judge and jury to see why the drugs stayed in your system longer and caused you more problems that what the attending doctor at the hospital had expected".
Hotch said, "Mia, why don't you go back with Derek, I'll go grab us all something to eat and meet you in the back", Mia and Derek nodded their heads yes, as Hotch stood up and started walking away Derekwas cuffed and led from the courtroom with Mia right behind him.