Courthouse

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Mayah Playah

Cecil Tealy

There wasn't much excitement in the courtroom. Few people unrelated to the case sat in the audience section to examine the case that was happening so early in the morning. Half of the jury was more focused on waking up than paying attention to what was about to happen.
Adam sat in his section, looking around with a less than comforting expression on his face. He was nervous. That lawyer's confidence was big, so maybe he really could help. He looked over to see a few people, the restaurant owners, talking to their lawyer, a man in a suit that looked more like for a dance than court. He had a bright smile on his face and occasionally ran his gloved fingers through his golden hair. Weird. Adam looked over his shoulder to see other members of the family in the restaurant business glaring back at him. At least he knows why he feels like there are daggers in his back.

"All rise!"

Everyone rose as the judge went to his seat. He looked Sawyer's way. "Is the defense ready?"

?????

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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Sawyer wore one of his favorite suits, but not his absolute favorite. He didn't need it for such a simple case. He'd spent hours pouring over documents, photos, everything he could find, even managing to bring the judge to disregard some pieces of the prosecutions evidence. He'd heard several rumors about the prosecutor, some guy named Sue, and although the guy seemed great, Sawyer wasn't too worried. Besides, if he had any problems, he always had a backup plan. Well, almost always. To be honest, he hoped this was a one-and-done trial. He hated when things were drawn out.
Hearing himself addressed, Sawyer stood, his hands on the table. "Yes we are, Your Honor. The defense would like to concede to the prosecution in the opening statements." He always liked going second when it came to opening statements, which he only ever got to do when he was defending. Almost made him miss his days in the D.A.'s office.


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Cecil Tealy

A shoe slammed against the prosecution's desk, startling everyone. Standing on one leg was the strangely dressed lawyer, the other leg sprawled on his desk with one hand helping keep him up. "The prosecution is ready, Your Honor." announced the grinning blonde. When his leg went back on the ground he walked towards the center of the room. "Fire is a powerful thing - very powerful, indeed. It can warm us, it can help us create magnificent dishes-" His expression turned grave and he straightened up, locking eyes with one of the jury members. "-and it can destroy a building.
"Merely two weeks ago did a tragic thing happen: a restaurant - a family owned restaurant that was built with tears and barely scraped together money - burned to the ground. Why? Because of this man right here!" He pointed at Adam, who flinched when all eyes went to him. "Why would he do that? Oh we'll find out, don't you worry, because although fire is dangerous in today's trial, I will use it to light the way... to justice!" He smiled at his proud opening and returned to his desk.
"Now, I'd like to call a magnificent man to the witness stand. Everyone should know him, he's absolutely wonderful. Officer Cecil Tealy, my partner, will explain the layout of the restaurant and how the fire started." the prosecutor announced. When the small cop moved to the witness stand, Sue's eyes turned into big, glittering black dots of adoration. There was a tiny heart the fluttered around his head for a second.

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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Sawyer sat back in his chair, leaning back and taking in every single thing about the courtroom. He watched the jurors, taking mental note of their ticks, their quirks, and quickly deducing which ones would be the easiest to manipulate. Then he turned his attention to the restaurant owners. The man was a little on the tubby side, wearing a gold neckchain that wasn't new, but an expensive watch that was. His shoes were immaculate. His wife, a woman of about forty or so, had clearly had a little work done. Her face was stretched almost laughingly across her skull, her breasts new and her outfit garish. She wore new jewelry and her wedding ring, while old, was accompanied by several rubies and diamonds that matched the ones in her ears and around her neck. This was going to be a cakewalk.
Leaning over to whisper to Adam, the blonde bit back a smile. "He's good, but he doesn't have any damning evidence. Don't look so tense," he said.


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Cecil Tealy

Cecil held up a map of the restaurant's layout and pointed to a section of it. "The fire started at approximately 2 a.m. in the kitchen. By the way the fire spread so quickly, the firefighters claim that flammable substances must've been spread before the fire was started, pointing towards planned fire. The family lives on the second floor of the restaurant, and no one was even on the first floor when the fire started."
Sue nodded in understanding as he listened to the overview of the case. When Cecil was done speaking he gave him a sparkling smile. "Excellent. Now I'll call the first person to the stand, someone that will give us more detail and the reasoning behind it. P. I. Penelope Ingram, please take the stand."
A blonde woman replaced Cecil on the stand and tried to give as strong an expression as she could.
"Ms. Ingram," started Sue as he paced around at a leisurely speed, his arms folded behind his back. "You have been hired as the restaurant's P. I. more than once, correct?"
She nodded. "This was my third time... No fourth." She looked down, unsure of herself, then looked back up with that strong expression. "Fourth."
Sue nodded, looking like he didn't pay too much attention to her stumble. "And each time you have solved their troubles, yes?"
Again, she nodded. "Twice was over theft. Which, uh, happened to be because of each other. One was for a gas pipe explosion that was the plumber's fault for negligence, and the fourth one... Well, I'm still working on that."
"Good, good." Sue turned to her, giving her a warming smile. "Please describe to me in detail the scene of the crime and what led you to believe Mr. Baum is at fault here."

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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The blonde stood up, his hand on the desk. "Objection, Your Honor!" he called, his other hand reaching out and pointing at the witness on the stand. "Relevance. We just heard about the crime scene from Officer Tealy. Why do we need to listen to her interpretation of the crime scene if her statement is already in evidence? It's just a repeat of what we already know from the presentation of evidence this morning." He gestured to the table holding the evidence, a stamped paper holding the statement of the P.I, as well as several other statements.


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Cecil Tealy

Sue merely chuckled and ran his gloved fingers through his golden hair, sparkles shining around his teeth. "Elaboration and explanation, my dear defender." he replied and motioned towards the table. "What you have there is the basic concept, what we'll hear here is the detailed overview." he said while waving a hand to the testifying stand. He then waved his hand at Sawyer teasingly. "After all, you have a map and an overview on that table as well, yet we listened to Officer Tealy explain it to the room, didn't we?"

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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Sawyer lifted a file, glancing through the papers. "I apologize for questioning the integrity and honesty of a woman who previously confessed to fabricating evidence in a court of law and has been convicted of perjury twice." He glanced sideways at the whispering jury, who were not yet aware of the woman's history, then looked back to Sue. Two could play at his game .Maybe this wouldn't be as easy as he thought.
Standing fully straight, Sawyer set a hand on his hip and raised one perfectly sculpted blonde eyebrow, handsome face doubting his opponent. "Besides, my precious prosecutor, this is the beginning of the trial. Only officials are supposed to be on the witness stand, and Miss Ingram is definitely not an official. She should be on the stand only during the absolute offering of the evidence, not in the opening statements and overview." His brown eyes stared at the prosecutor, his gaze usually enough to melt bone, but sure that now it would mean nothing.


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Cecil Tealy

Sue winced, looking as though he had just been punched in the stomach. "She is the restaurant's private investigator, she has as much authority as an official." he insisted.

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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"Public official, Mr. Yuu," clarified Sawyer, walking around their table and leaning on it, the file open in his hands as he looked down at the words. "It says here that she used to be a public official, actually working as a police officer for several years, before being dismissed for abusing her position. Around that time, Miss Ingram became a P.I. to pay the bills, although it appears that her most frequent customers are the Sorrentinos and their extended family. In fact, Miss Ingram, it says right here that they've hired you for big-time investigations at least seven times in the past year, considering how often money leaves their back account to enter yours."
He shut the file, then circled back around the table. "I move to dismiss the current witness until the presentation of evidence." He said, remaining standing and looking up at the judge.


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Cecil Tealy

The judge nodded in agreement. "There is no need for Ms. Ingram to take the stand." he decided and hit his gavel against his desk.
Sue winced again, but he recovered quickly. "I loathe speeding things up." he murmured and moved to his desk. "But I'm a man that can adapt. You want a witness? Fine. I have on ready, if Your Honor is ready." he said.
Adam tensed up again. "A-A witness?"
Smiling once again, Sue ran his fingers through his hair then kissed the tip of his index finger and pointed it at the stand like a gun. "The prosecution calls Carson Sorrentinos to the stand!"
Sitting at the testimony stand was a short, plump man looking to be in his late thirties or early forties. He was dark, but it was a mystery whether that was from genetics or the sun.
"Carson, you're a cousin of the family, yes?" Sue asked, to which the man nodded. "And you work as... what?"
"I clean up all the messes." he explained in a heavily Boston accented voice.
"Good. Now tell me all about what you witnessed."
"Alright, so I'm going to use the restroom, right? I get up and I smell something. It's hot and I'm wondering if someone's up late cooking something. Well I'm already up so I might as well get some snack, am I right? Anyway, I head down and I see these huge flames eatin' up the kitchen. I'm talkin' HUGE! I only saw it for a second but I know I saw that little twerp running away!" he accused while pointing at Adam, who slammed his fists on the desk in retaliation. "That's bull-"
"The defendant will refrain from commenting or will be held in contempt of court." the judge said, making Adam sink back into his seat angrily.
"I wasn't there!" he hissed at Sawyer.

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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Sawyer was silent for a moment, then decided something. He was a defense attorney for five years, so he definitely defended a good amount of monsters who definitely did what they were denying. He had to do now what he did then: pretend it was all lies. He stood up, another file in his hands. "Objection, Your Honor," he said once again. "Hearsay. Mr. Sorrentino has been in court for his own transgressions many, many times and as well as Miss Ingram, has admitted several times to committing perjury!" He looked up to the man, eyes hard as steel. "I urge you to remember, Mr. Sorrentino, that our state is a three-strike state and you've already had your first two strikes for lying on the stand. I beg you to reexamine your testimony very carefully."
He set the file down, gesturing to the prosecutor. "I must also ask, Your Honor, if you intend to allow Mr. Yuu to pass over me and ignore my questions to the witnesses as he did with Officer Tealy, who he dismissed before I was even able to ask a single question, to permit a recess so that I may go online and find a way to fight a court case in which I am not permitted even a sentence to defend my client except for in the middle of my opponent's argument. For that matter, I move to strike the officer's overview until he is called up for a witness, due to the blatant negligence and amateur ignorance of the prosecution." He tilted his head a little, ignoring the moron not too far away from him.


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Cecil Tealy

"Objection!"
Smiling to himself, Sue ran his fingers through his hair (something he seemed fond of doing) then looked at Sawyer. "How long has it been since you've defended a case, dear defender?" he purred. "It's not time for cross-examination, yet. You must wait for our witness to finish his testimony before you can barge in with what you think are problems. Speaking of which, I find what you found so far to be quite petty." He turned his chin away sharply.
"Is it not possible for man to change?" he asked the jury as he approached them. "We all make mistakes, but that does not drench us with a bad name. Mr. Sorrentino," He turned to the man. "I know you are a good man. You spend your time with your family, you help them, you struggle with them. Court is a very nerve-wracking place, isn't it? Isn't it true that your memory faltered under pressure and that you did not intentionally give false information?" There was something glinting in his eyes, and the man on the stand nodded slowly.
"Y-Yeah. Yeah, that's right. I forgot is all."
Sue nodded. "Of course, I understand far too well. And I know this time is different. This is your family's business - their livelihood - at stake, after all. You would not give false information for that. Especially," He turned to smile charmingly at Sawyer. "When there was decisive evidence found at the scene of the crime."

Sue Yuu

 

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Sawyer Loupohl

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Sawyer blinked. "And how long has it been since you last attended a day in Court, Mr. Yuu? Because you seem to have forgotten that you can't object an objection. You're just saying it because it makes you look cool in front of the jury." He glanced over to them, a smile on his handsome face. "Young, inexperienced lawyers tend to do that, ladies and gentlemen. It's not exactly uncommon. Neither is noninclusive evidence." He walked over to the table of evidence, lifting up a bag with the only physical evidence listed of Baum's presence at the restaurant: a beanie with his DNA.
"This beanie was on the ground outside of the restaurant, on the other side of the origin of the fire, four approximately three years. Because of the sturdy, plastic-based fibers, it's only partially rotted, although you can clearly make out where it was picked at by scavengers." He held it up so the jury could see. "This is the only physical evidence found and accounted for at the scene of the crime, and if the prosecution has any other evidence that they've been obscuring, that, my young friend, would be considered useless in this trial." He looked back to the man on the stand, eyes glinting with his own strategy. "Mr. Sorrentino, I understand if your information turns out to be false. Being in court isn't comfortable, it's incredibly easy to forget what you've seen and possibly state incorrect information. Now, I advise you to reexamine your statement. It would be fairly embarrassing if it turns out that you're lying- er, speaking incorrectly." He set the bag back down, then moved to sit as well. Worst comes to worst, he'd probably have to do something drastic: cast reasonable doubt.


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